Scruffy’s This N That
1 – MUST WIN?: Those proclaiming the Riders are a shoo-in to repeat as Grey Cup champs are now shaking their fists and gnashing their teeth wondering what has happened as the team returns home to play the Argos for the 2nd time at Mosaic. Toronto comes in after a 19-point win versus Hamilton last week and they have shown they can win in Regina having pulled out a six-point win when the two teams met in Week 4.
Many I have talked to over the past week are concerned about Trevor Harris’s play, they are wondering when guys like Ouellette, Schaeffer-Baker and Campbell will be back and predictably they are grousing about the work of the referees. How is it that it’s always the fault of the refs when the Riders lose? It’s an excuse that has been used since the leather helmet days. Is that really the best you can do?
With Edmonton not slowing down and B.C coming on, some are wondering if this game is a must-win. I wouldn’t argue that when it comes to positioning and getting some good vibes back, but the reality is the two games for the Riders that will matter the most come in Week 17 when the /=S=/ and Lions meet again in Vancouver and the last weekend of the regular season when Edmonton comes to town. Let’s also remember the Riders have a back-to-back against Montreal in October and those will be tough—especially Thanksgiving Monday at McGill Stadium. As for what happens tonight, the Riders are favoured by 5.5. If they win – which I do think they do in a game very similar to the first time the two teams met – they aren’t winning by a touchdown. I have got the Argos to cover.
2 – TSN PREGAME (or lack of one): So lemme get this straight, Kate Beirness and the panel can do a pre-game show live from the CNE before the Argos/Ti-Cats game last Saturday and do some vignettes that may or may not have been enjoyable depending on who you talk to, but they can’t do a pre-game show on Sunday before the Riders-Lions game?
I’m not calling for TSN to have the panel in Vancouver and I think the three-letter has been pretty good in getting the crew out to different cities this year. That being said, I do not need to see Marissa Roberto or Jesse Pollock (who thought that guy should be on TV!) or whoever doing one of the network’s lame schedule filling top 50 plays show. Why wouldn’t TSN have a pre-game show before the Riders/Lions game? This isn’t just because the Riders were playing either. If you have a doubleheader, I am fine with no show in between games, but when you are the lone game of the day, I think a pre-game show is needed to get viewers ready by setting up some storylines and other things. Looking at this week, there was a pre-game show before the game in Winnipeg, but it was the same story with a lame top 50 scheduled before the first game of the Saturday doubleheader in Calgary. It seems like a no-brainer to me, but the network fails to deliver. I’d love to know what the reason is. Maybe it’s just me wanting more from the league’s broadcaster especially when I know DAZN will be producing a pre- and post-game show. Will TSN be prepared to up their game when DAZN comes on board? I doubt it! As I’ve said before, I have zero problems with the actual broadcast with Smith, Suitor, Nielson, Willson, Forde, Ferguson and whoever but the overall package could be so much better.
3 – CFL OFFICIATING: Montreal Gazette sportswriter Herb Zurkowsky went after the stripes during Friday night’s Alouettes-Bombers game wondering aloud how Commissioner Stewart Johnston can put up with the shoddy officiating we see and not say anything. I informed Herb that Johnston isn’t saying anything and neither did any other Commissioner during their tenure. CFL officiating is not great, but it isn’t great in the NFL or NCAA either. There are a lot of plays that leave those in the stands or those on TV going ‘Huh?’ and last night in Winnipeg was one of those. Thankfully, Luke Willson was not hesitant to call them out for the endless delays we were seeing and the calls that resulted. Sorry kids, the Nic Demski fumble that wasn’t ruled a fumble was a fumble and the message the league tried to tell us about forward progress being stopped was a load of you know what. That was one of several plays that took wayyyyyyy too long to figure out.
When the quality of officiating is not great in the NFL and NCAA either, it shows you that there is a general problem that needs to be fixed. I don’t know how you start doing that so if you have a solid idea, let someone know. As mentioned before, while some calls are questionable at best, they are generally not the bottom line as to why your team won or lost so stop using that excuse.
4 – HERE WE GO AGAIN: The US College Football season begins today. This means the NFL will be right around the corner meaning my weekend afternoons will see my butt once again firmly placed in the couch as I check on my bets, my fantasy football teams and whether or not the Seahawks are going to make me happy or not.
As the college football season begins, the prediction makers are out to see who if anyone can topple Indiana as the national champs. There are several contenders including Notre Dame. The argument about the Fighting Irish is renewing itself again as they for whatever reason do not play in a conference and are listed as an independent.
We all remember last year how the Irish were crying when they were left out of the 12-team tournament with a loss to Miami early in the season knocking them out. The committee were justified in that pick seeing the Hurricanes got to the final against Indiana before bowing out.
The Irish only have three ranked opponents on their schedule. They are #7 Miami, #14 Brigham Young and #18 Southern Methodist. Gone are the days of them playing USC and Michigan for whatever reason. I’m sorry, but you don’t deserve to be in the national playoff if you are not playing in a conference. Those who win and lose conference championships for the most part, especially in the Big 10 and SEC should be in, but a team that has a relatively soft schedule should not. If Notre Dame loses one game this year, I would say nope you are out and you can keep crying.
5 – DOES VLADDY RUN THE JAYS?: The Toronto Blue Jays are desperately trying to make the playoffs, but they are running out of runway. Their star player has been a disaster, and no one wants to address what is a huge elephant in the room. It amazes me to see the number of fans and people around the team coddle Vladimir Guerrero Junior after what has been his worst season ever. The frustration of the fans may finally be coming out as those inside Rogers Centre as Kansas City destroyed them certainly let number 27 hear it on Thursday night.
As I said on the RP show this week, can you imagine the reaction in Toronto if we were 7/8ths of the way through and Auston Matthews only had 8 goals? The fanbase and the media would be going ballistic. With Guerrero though, he is getting a pass although some are starting to question things.
Many are starting to wonder if the Gatorade bath that he delivers to teammates after a win at home is still needed. I have always said that is dumb when you are celebrating a victory on a Tuesday night in June and that you save that for dramatic wins or playoff-clinching wins but he comes out and does it every night with a smile on his face despite the fact he has not produced. Nathan Lukes was visibly pissed at VGJ after a Toronto win on Wednesday which has some wondering about what the mood in the clubhouse is. Lukes tried to throw “cold water” on that by saying he doesn’t like cold water but there are a lot that believe it is time for the tradition to be curtailed if not end altogether.
Earlier that day, John Schneider cut down any thought of moving Guerrero down in the batting order saying he doesn’t need to be punished. Excuse me!!! Your top hitter has been terrible all year long, but you don’t want to punish him to send a message? Having Vladdy bat 5th or 6th might be a better option, but Schneider doesn’t want to punish him. That is ludicrous. It just makes you wonder who is actually calling the shots. Signing the contract that he did was an indicator that he had to become more of a team leader and that he had to grow up a little. He has not if what we are seeing is indicative of anything.
6 – CONNOR HELLEBUYCK: If only Nathan McKinnon had hit the empty net. The Americans gold medal win in Milan and the over-the-top reaction to it in both countries is changing the NHL landscape as yet another one of the top Americans in the game wants out of Canada.
Connor Hellebuyck in 2023 when he signed his big extension said “I’m ready to be a Jet for life and bring a Cup to this city. I truly believe that we can get it done here.” Fast forward to this week and he says moving on is the best path forward for him and his family. Is it because Winnipeg wasn’t exactly crazy about him winning a gold medal. Your damn right it was.
GM Kevin Cheveldayoff can take his time, and I would love to see him deal his star goalie to another Canadian team, but we know that won’t happen. Buffalo, Utah and Carolina would be the three teams I’d watch.
7 – CHAMPIONSHIP CHANGE: The top 30 players on the PGA Tour are wrapping the season up at the Tour Championship this weekend with the winner taking home the Fed Ex Cup and a whole whack of cash. The Tour Championship is an event that has always beemn a head-scratcher to me and those who follow golf. There were times when you had two winners get crowned (Tour & Fed Ex), but that got changed to make the winner of the final event the winner of the Cup. That means a guy who was in the top 30 but maybe didn’t win a tournament all year could win it all by having a great 72 holes.
Many including me have wondered why the Tour Championship isn’t a match play event, but it will be in 2028 as changes are coming and I love it. Imagine Scottie vs Rory in a Sunday afternoon match play at one of the most iconic courses in the U-S for all the money. Golf fans would be salivating over that and with a March Madness feel to the final event, it will have many eyes on the final weekend of the season which is exactly what any sport wants.
8 – THE BROWNS: Will the Cleveland Browns ever be relevant again? If so, when because it won’t be for the next couple of years. We all know what it is like around here when the Riders are struggling so imagine what it must be like in Cleveland where one of the best fanbases in pro sports must be gnashing on their dog bones after the last week.
I am just amazed as to how a team that has traditionally been so bad can still get sell out crowds of 67,000 people no matter the weather and the record. They truly are suckers for punishment in Ohio.
If there was ever a time to cut the cord with Deshaun Watson, it was Saturday after he went after the fans, but nope! The team doubled down and said he would be the starting quarterback. Money plays a big part in this but has no one with the Browns seen this is just a disaster in waiting. Would this be happening if Shedeur Sanders was a legitimate starter? If Cleveland had a guy like Bo Nix, would be having this discussion?
Poor teams make poor decisions, and Cleveland has been, is and will be a poor team for years.
9 – THANK YOU, NFL: The NFL is doing what it really should have done years ago. The league announced it is scrapping the Pro Bowl. The game wasn’t even a game anymore as it had become a series of events and was just a chance for players, some who didn’t even deserve to be there, to just hang out. The league will still honor its best players, but now they don’t have to play which is something many had said over the years they don’t want to do once their season ends.
An NFL spokesperson in discussing the move said “”It’s OK to be the first league to walk away from a competitive all-star game.” One can only hope that MLB, NBA and NHL are looking at this and saying if they can do it, so should we. The all-star games are jokes and many players would rather take the rest and not participate in a basic rec league game.
10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- Do the contracts of guys like Darren Raddysh and Evan Bouchard look more palatable after seeing the Cale Makar deal?
- There are a lot of candidates, but who is the most disappointing team in MLB this year?
- We are just about two-thirds through the CFL season, and the league decides it wants to start testing out its new app NOW? It’s too late guys. Start it up about two months before the 27 season so you can find and correct any bugs. Knowing the CFL, there will be bugs to correct.
- RIP Dolly Parton. You might have proven that you were the most universally loved person in the world over the years.
That’s all I got. Have a great week and try to stay dry this weekend!
