SCRUFFY’S THIS ‘N THAT

1 – ROCK BOTTOM: If George Reed had been there in his seat in Section 34 Saturday night at the Riders/Ticats game, he probably would have left at halftime and no one would have blamed him, What a disaster! Yes, it’s about as bad as it gets in Rider Nation. I know, you’re saying thanks Captain Obvious. While driving home from Mosaic, CJME Green Zone analyst Belton Johnson put it the best. To paraphrase, he said from the top right on down whether it be offence, defence, coaching or whatever, it was “frickin bad”.  The only person he may have left out of his post-game summarization was Rob Vanstone.

Saying the Riders were bad, or “frickin bad” as Belton put it is an understatement. On a night where the team celebrated George Reed and the 2013 Grey Cup champions, they simply soiled the sheets and I am not talking Kory. That soiling was one of those nuclear explosions that a newborn baby gives you. 

It just looks like most of the players have quit and in a way I wonder if that is the case for the coaching staff too as they know their futures at the end of the season — a season that will likely end in Winnipeg at the Western semi-final if not before. At this point, does anyone have any faith that the Riders could win a playoff game or a game before the season is over?

 I think if you take the 2^nd half of the last two seasons, the team is 3-13. That my friends is not a recipe for success. Am I taking them to beat a bad Calgary team tonight?  Nope! Why would I? If they get the win, it will say more about the Stampeders then it will about the Riders. Some are calling for Craig Dickenson to be fired with three games left in the regular season. That’s not happening. At least I don’t think it does because who would want to take over for three games?  The offseason of change unofficially got started Saturday night. If Ottawa isn’t the worst team in the league than we all know who is and that’s a hard pill to swallow for those who live and breathe Riders football.  

2 – THE RETURN OF DARIAN:  It was great to see the 2013 Grey Cup champs get saluted by those who turned out for Saturday’s game. As you know, several members of that squad were in attendance, but it was disappointing not to see Weston Dressler there. Darian Durant was back though and Rider Nation showed their love for the QB that led his team to the Grey Cup both on that magical November night and two weeks earlier in the West semi-final. The relationship between the organization and Durant had been acrimonious, but it would appear all is good now as Durant was back and he returned the love to many. He certainly didn’t have to, but he spent the 2^nd half walking around the stadium signing autographs. I’ve heard many stories as to why the relationship between Durant and the club soured, but it would appear all is well. So much so that Durant needs to be back as an inductee for the 2024 Plaza and this time he can bring Dressler with him.

3 – UMMMMMM……UHHHHHHHHH! I know they have to do it to honour their commitment to the sponsor amongst other things, but one has to think it was awkward to have to put out a post asking who your Wireless Age Player of the Gamewas. Is Durant eligible?

4 – COMMONWEALTH CLOSURE: There is some angst in Edmonton over a decision by the Elks to close off the upper bowl for games starting next year. Why? The reality is the Elks aren’t going to fill the upper bowl anytime soon and if the need is there they will do what they did in BC and reopen it. I am guessing that the capacity will be around 30,000 and that works.

5 – W(innipeg)HOAAAAA!  There I am watching the 4^th quarter of the REDBLACKS-Alouettes game on Monday when I see on X or Twitter or whatever its called these days that the Winnipeg Jets have signed both Mark Schiefele and Connor Hellebuyck to lengthy contract extensions meaning the two are a part of the organization for a while. I thought both would be wearing another team’s sweater when the new season started and that Kevin Cheveldayoff could likely get some nice assets in return — especially for Hellebuyck who I think is top 5 when it comes to NHL goalies. Adding Hellebuyck to New Jersey would have made them a Cup contender and adding him to Buffalo/Detroit/Ottawa would make them return to the playoffs. 

That talk can be silenced now. I didn’t think Winnipeg would be a playoff team and now I have to rethink that stance. Getting rid of what was an unhappy Blake Wheeler was big, but with the Jets keeping Scheifele and Hellebuyck and adding it to a core that has Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey, Alex Iafallo and Gabe Vilardi makes this team competitive in what is a very good Central Division. They aren’t Colorado good, but they should be able to battle Dallas and Minnesota for 2^nd. By the way, let’s give some credit for Cheveldayoff for getting this done.

6 – BEDARD: If the Connor Bedard hype hadn’t already started, it did Tuesday morning when he met the media before his debut with the Chicago Blackhawks. Could you have squeezed another reporter or microphone in the room where Bedard was? He must have walked in and said “I’m not at the Brandt Centre anymore!” I loved the welcome to the league that referee Kelly Sutherland gave him before dropping the puck and once that happened, the hockey world watched to see how he would do. With the exception of the fact he was 2/13 on faceoffs, he showed he belonged and to me, it looked like he didn’t change his game from what we saw in WHL arenas and that’s a good thing. 

Some have said is the hype too much for an 18-year-old and I say in this social media world no it’s not.  Imagine what it would have been like for Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, Sakic, Modano etc etc etc. Facebook and X were both in its infancy when Connor McDavid started to write his NHL resume. 

7 – PATS TICKETS: I thought this might happen to the Regina Pats in the post-Bedard era and it has. I watched the final few minutes of the Pats-Hitmen game on Access Wednesday night. BTW: Congrats to Daniella Ponticelli for being the first woman to do TV p x p for a WHL game who I thought did a fine job.  While watching, I couldn’t help but notice there were a lot of empty seats and wondered aloud on “X” if they had 1500. The responses started coming in about ticket prices and lo and behold, the Pats announced a sale on tickets for this weekend. 

I’m not a business major, but the Pats have to realize that the price for single tickets is too high and that they need kids pricing. Fans have to realize that like it or not, you are not sitting in the lower bowl at center ice for $15 because that is unrealistic and yes, I have had some tell me that an adult ticket should be no more than $20 with seats behind the goal-line being $10.  

The deal that Pats have for this weekend where gold seats are $27.50 and silver tickets are $23.50 is close.  Some free advice to my friends at the Brandt Centre: make gold tickets $25 and $12.50 for those under 12 and $15 for teenagers with silver tickets being $20 for adults and $10 for kids and teenagers and we are talking. 

Speaking of ticket prices, are the Riders really increasing ticket prices after what you’ve seen for the last two years? What an ill-timed move! Are they planning on closing the upper bowl too? That is not a prudent move especially when you consider they made seven million dollars last season. Craig Reynolds and crew might have wished they didn’t hit send on that e-mail. One could say they are gambling on third and long.

8 – LEAFS GOAL SONG: WHO CARES? Only in Toronto is this a story!

9 – NFL WEEK 6: A couple of things to look forward to

• The Eagles with a win over the Jets on Sunday can become the 5^th team since 1970 to start consecutive seasons at 6-0.
• The 49ers have won 15 consecutive regular-season games since Week 8 of the 2022 season and have scored at least 30 points in each of their past eight wins. With 30 points at Cleveland, the 49ers can become the fifth team in NFL history to score 30 points in nine consecutive regular-season games, joining the 1999-2000 St. Louis Rams, 2010-11 New England Patriots, 2012-13 Denver Broncos and 2006-07 New England Patriots
• Detroit running back David Montgomery ranks third in the NFL with six rushing touchdowns this season. He has rushed for a touchdown in each of his first four games with Detroit, who he signed with this past offseason. ​With a rushing touchdown at Tampa Bay on Sunday, Montgomery will become the first non-rookie in NFL history to record seven rushing touchdowns in his first five games with a new team.

10 – TRY IT TO SEE IF IT WORKS:  On most vehicles there is this little lever on the steering wheel. If you flick it up, there are lights at the front and back of your car that will signal you are turning left. If you flick it down, those lights will indicate you are turning right. Last I looked, the fine people at Bennett, Capital, RMP etc. etc. aren’t selling vehicles that don’t have these levers on them so we all have them at our disposal. When you are out and about, you should maybe use this part of your car. Regina drivers are not great and yes, there are places that are worse but I have never seen a city where people refuse to use their signal lights. It’s not that hard people, Its not that hard.

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