SCRUFFY’S THIS ‘N THAT

1 – UNPACKING LABOUR DAY CLASSIC: Sunday’s Labour Day Classic wasn’t the best game between the Bombers and Riders that is played on the first Sunday of September, but it was one that will be talked about for a long time for a variety of reasons. Where do you start?

Ex-Regina Ram Jaxon Ford made an impact (shocking!), Jake Dolegala showed that he should be the quarterback of this club for the foreseeable future and that includes life after Trevor Harris, Pete Robertson made an incredibly boneheaded play and the green guys won in overtime in a game that really shouldn’t have gotten to that.

Let’s start with Ford.  One thing that annoys me is the fact that many are football snobs in Regina. It is the Riders and nothing else for a majority of people, but those people think they know it all. If you did, you would know who Jaxon Ford is and how good of a player he is having played for the Regina Rams.  I had one person tell me when he was drafted that he thought that pick was made because of who his grandfather is.  I don’t think that person liked it when I laughed. I asked him if he had seen the Rams play and he said no, he doesn’t go to games.  So many people say they didn’t know this or know that about Canada West players.  I saw those players for years doing the p x p of the Rams and I know how good they are.  I also know how many good players never got a chance to show what they have in the pro game.  People need to start attending Canada West games.

Jake Dolegala continues to improve.  He is doing what has to be done and he is showing some great poise under center.  His interview with TSN’s Brit Dort, who by the way is doing an outstanding job as I knew she would in her role, was hilarious as the 6-foot 7 signal caller was bent over to hear the questions from Brit who said she is 5’4. Dolegala saying after with all the crowd noise, he had to bend over to hear Brit.

Pete Robertson is a good football player.  He is not an idiot like Garrett Marino. However, Pete Robertson did something extremely stupid on Sunday night.  The after the play headbutt on Zach Collaros was dumb and unnecessary. Collaros is pissed off about it and he should be considering his concussion history.  Robertson was suspended which did surprise me because I didn’t think the CFL would do that. The Robertson incident is different than the Marino incident. Pete Robertson is not a dirty player. That play was dirty, but it’s the first time I can recall that he has done something like that. 

What is laughable and downright embarrassing are the amount of Rider fans who are aghast over the suspension and are trying to justify the hit saying it wasn’t malicious and that Collaros flopped making it seem worse. Give your collective heads a shake. Perhaps what you should be asking is how Robertson almost got away with it seeing no flag was thrown until the command centre got involved.   What is also laughable and embarrassing are fans trying to compare the roughing the passer call called on a Winnipeg player to the Robertson play.  This just in—the roughing the passer call happened during the play and the Robertson penalty happened well after the play. Robertson is very fortunate that he was allowed to continue because in my opinion, he should have been ejected or head coach Craig Dickenson should have told him to take off the helmet and park his tail on the bench. Dickie, who I like, should also stop with the “I didn’t see it” excuse when asked about it. A message needed to be sent and he failed to deliver.

At some point, fans need to sit back and just admit that a player in green did something wrong and stop the ‘holier than thou’ attitude.  I do wonder how the tables would have turned though had the Riders lost because of that play.

At the end of the day, the Riders go into Winnipeg to face the Bombers Saturday sitting with a record of 6-5. I think it is safe to say that this team will likely finish 3^rd in the West.  I don’t know if they can get past BC or Winnipeg for 2^nd, but hey you never know right.

2 – 6-5:  The green-and-white go into Saturday’s game with a record of 6-5.  Look back and you will see that was the record one year ago at this time, but it seems as if the feeling around the team is a lot different this time around.  At this time a year ago, the slide had started and as we know that slide continued right through until the end of the season.  This time however, there is a lot of optimism after back-to-back wins over BC and Winnipeg with the number three quarterback.  We all know both Jeremy O’Day and Craig Dickenson are trying to keep their jobs and as always, the fan base is divided as to whether or not that will happen. That will be determined in a few months, but right now let’s enjoy what should be a much better ending to this season than last. 

3 – NOT YOUR GAME, NOT YOUR CALL:  The Riders came out Thursday and said they don’t like Saturday’s game in Winnipeg to be referred to as the “Banjo Bowl”.  If that is what the Bombers want to call it to promote their game so be it.  If you are agitated as a Rider fan then the Bombers have accomplished what they wanted.  Seeing Labour Day is a Monday and the Riders and Bombers meet in Regina, perhaps we shouldn’t be calling it the “Labour Day Classic”.  Bottom line is unless the CFL comes out and says ‘stop’, It won’t. If you want to call it the Labour Day Rematch go right ahead but oh yeah, Labour Day is Monday and not Sunday.  Hey, I understand why Saskatchewan people are against it, but its not your home game.  I think Mitch Picton said it the best when he told reporters Thursday that its almost throwing stones from a glass since it’s coming from Winnipeg.  He’s not wrong. At the end of the day, it’s a football game. Let’s stop crying over every little thing.

4 – THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN IN THE NFL:  Quite the Saturday night for podcaster Stephen Safinuk, one of the men responsible for the “Piffles Podcast”. As an Uber driver, he was asked to go to the Keg to pick up a group of individuals.  Those individuals included Willie Jefferson, Nic Demski and Kenny Lawler.  I am sure there was some good conversation between the players and Stephen back to their hotel. This is one of the things that makes the CFL great.  You would likely never see this happen in the NFL.  Players go out and have fun interacting with fans even if it is fans of other teams. I remember a few years ago, the Argos were in town and they were staying at the Hotel Sask.  I wandered over to the Cornwall Centre food court for lunch on game day and who ended up in line behind me but Ricky Ray.  I started up a conversation with him without microphone in hand and we had a good chat with others recognizing who he was coming up to get a picture or have a conversation.  There was no illwill and it was great.  He then went on his way with a couple of teammates as they enjoyed time wandering around downtown a few hours before kickoff. 

I can’t imagine Patrick Mahomes walking down the street in Denver and stopping in some place for a bite to eat on game day or the night before with most everyone recognizing him.  All one has to do is look at how players and fans engage with one another during Grey Cup which is something you would never ever see at Super Bowl.

5 – SPEAKING OF THE NFL: LET’S GO!!!!  The new season is upon us as Kansas City opened up defence of its Super Bowl title against Detroit.   The Chiefs are trying to repeat as Super Bowl champs and they certainly have a solid chance to do that considering they have the best player in the game under center.  Whether or not Patrick Mahomes can do it will be told over the next few months, but the Chiefs have a lot of competition just to get to the Super Bowl.   One could make a legitimate argument for the Bengals, Bills, Chargers and Ravens to get to the big game.  In the NFC, its likely the Eagles, Vikings and 49ers on the inside track with a lot of teams who could make some noise.  I’m going with a battle of the birds to play in Vegas at Super Bowl 58 with Philly taking on Baltimore.  By the way, how important is it to win your season opener.  Numbers from the NFL show since 2002 when the league expanded to 32 teams, only 82 of the 332 teams that lost in Week 1 have ended up in the playoffs with 50 of those teams winning their division.  The urgency comes right away.

6 – ANGEL HERNANDEZ:  If there is a referee or umpire in professional sports that is worse than Angel Hernandez, please let me know and no, the answer is not Andre Proulx.  I actually don’t mind Andre and if it weren’t for his accent, neither would many of you. Hernandez was behind the plate for a game last Friday night between the Rockies and Blue Jays meaning his incompetence was on full display for Canadians who watched.  Baseball fans know how bad Hernandez is and it showed Friday as he missed 21 calls. I actually thought it could have been more. At least it was bad for both teams.  How this guy continues to be a major league umpire astounds me.  He actually had the gall to go after Major League Baseball citing discrimination for not being given playoff assignments. HAHAHAHA!  The MLB playoffs don’t need Angel Hernandez.  MLB doesn’t need Angel Hernandez.

7 – HMMMMMMMM: Europe’s Champions Hockey League is making some rule changes. Some of these changes are ones that people have advocated for in North America. 

They include:

– A team causing a minor penalty will remain shorthanded even if the opposing team scores a goal, ensuring a full two minutes of power-play time.

– A minor penalty will be served even if a goal is scored while a delayed penalty is pending.

– If a shorthanded team scores, the minor penalty against will end immediately. 

I look at the last one and wonder if this were to be instituted in the NHL if it would mean that your top players would be out there killing penalties.  Connor McDavid is scary enough with the man advantage or at full strength, but if he was out there shorthanded he might lead the league in shorthanded goals and maybe the attitude of “get the puck out of the zone in any fashion you can” might change.  Teams with potent power plays might be able to change a two or three goal deficit in quick fashion if option one were to happen.   What do you think? One has to guess that the NHL and junior leagues will be keeping an eye on this one.

8 – HMMMMMMMM Pt 2: TSN’s Duane Forde made a statement during Saturday’s BC-Montreal game that I found interesting. Forde mentioned Lions receiver Jevon Cottoy had played for the Calgary Colts of the Prairie Football Conference and stated that junior players should be eligible for the CFL draft.  He went on to say how several junior players like Andrew Harris and Logan Ferland have succeeded in the pro ranks.  No doubt the Riders have benefitted from the Regina Thunder with guys like Ferland and Dan Clark.  There are a lot of good players playing junior football across the country and it is an idea worth considering at the league level.  BTW: As successful as the Saskatoon Hilltops program has been, has there been a player from that team besides Larry Wruck that has gone straight from their program to the CFL.  With all the talent the Hilltops have had over the past many seasons, I would think there should be more. Am I missing anyone?

Meanwhile, you can see two battles of Saskatchewan this weekend as the Thunder and Hilltops meet in Regina Saturday night with the Rams and Huskies butting helmets in Saskatoon on Friday.

9 – COACH PRIME: Deion Sanders has never been shy on humility.  “Prime” had the eyes of the college football world and maybe the football world on him last Saturday as he took a Colorado Buffaloes team that he basically started from scratch into Fort Worth, Texas to take on TCU, a team that went to the national championship last year.  Going into the game, many thought Sanders would swallow a bitter pill, but surprise surprise his team walked out with a 45-42 win thanks to the play of his son Shaddeur who threw for over 500 yards.

Sanders and company come home to meet Nebraska this weekend and now the expectations have changed. I don’t know how far this team can go, but like him or not, Coach Prime sent a message. One has to think if he is successful he will springboard this opportunity into one as an NFL head coach and I wonder if the Cowboys don’t get it done this year if Jerry Jones could say see ya to Mike McCarthy and bring Sanders in. Don’t be surprised!

10 – HE SCORED FOUR TD’S IN ONE GAME:  With the NFL season starting, an online publication came out with a list outlining the greatest fictional players on the gridiron. The list included Luther “Shark” Lavay from “Any Given Sunday”, Bobby Boucher from “The Waterboy” and Shane Falco from “The Replacements”.  The list does not include the great Al Bundy!  How can a list like this snub perhaps the one of the greatest TV characters who scored four touchdowns in one game to win the city final. BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!  I repeat BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

That’s all I got.  Have a great weekend!