SCRUFFY’S THIS ‘N THAT

1 – BRING ON THE PLAYOFFS:  As November begins, the CFL playoff winds begin to blow.  I don’t know about you but with no game this past weekend having any meaning towards the final standings, I hardly watched.  There was just no reason to do so.  So now we have the Ti-Cats going back to Montreal next weekend for a game that matters with Calgary rolling into BC.  I would be shocked if we get the same result at BC Place that we did the last time these two teams played. So would you! As for the Eastern game, Montreal is favoured but would you be surprised to see the Ti-Cats advance?  I wouldn’t.

2 – SATURDAY PLAYOFFS:  For the first time in a while, the CFL is experimenting with the division semis and finals going on Saturday with the Grey Cup still going on the last Sunday of the month.  I am OK with the playoff games on Saturday as the CFL doesn’t have to compete with the NFL.  They don’t do that after the NFL season starts so why start now? I also think the Grey Cup should be played Saturday night.  Start the game at 7 or 8 Eastern time so that those in attendance can whoop it up after the game and find a way to get home Sunday with tales to tell on Monday instead of having to take Monday off——and in some cases Tuesday if you know what I mean.  If the Vanier Cup is on the same weekend as the Grey Cup, play it Friday night.

3 – NO CHANGE:  For years, I have been an advocate of the CFL scrapping East-West and going to one nine-team league. The powers that be told us all they didn’t care about an East-West Grey Cup when they instituted the cross-over.  My playoff format would see the top two teams getting byes with 3 playing 6 and 4 playing 5.  If you do that this year, nothing changes though. The Argos and Winnipeg are still getting byes with Hamilton playing Montreal and BC battling Calgary.  This will not deter me from standing on the soapbox and calling for East-West to go.  Of course, I also want a schedule where all teams play one another at home and on the road, but that idea seems to have been abandoned for whatever reason.

4 – THE COACHING CAROUSEL IS SPINNING:  I have zero idea when the Riders will announce who Craig Dickenson’s replacement as head coach will be, but the list of potential candidates seems to be growing.  You have Henry Burris as I first mentioned a while ago, Scott Milanovich and current OC Kelly Jeffrey on that list with others like Pete Costanza, Mark Kilam also being mentioned. I threw it out on X asking my followers about Anthony Calvillo and it would seem that most responded with a hard no.  Whoever it is will have to know what it is like in the Rider fishbowl where you have a million general managers.  Personally, I don’t think Milanovich is ready for that and if Hamilton gasses Orlando Steinauer, he probably ends up staying with the Ti-Cats.  Time will tell!

5 – NECK GUARDS:  It is sad to see that we had to wait until a player was tragically killed on the ice by an errant skate blade before the chatter of neck guards came up.  Many say neck guards are needed and were needed yesterday.  That is a conversation that should have been years ago.  We are seeing more and more players get hurt after getting cut by a skate and now sadly Adam Johnson lost his life on the ice because he didn’t have a piece of equipment on that should have been mandated years ago.  I hope the NHL makes this mandatory asap and asap does not mean the start of next year as far as I am concerned. Good on the WHL for acting promptly and saying neck guards are mandatory starting this weekend.  I am guessing and hoping the SJHL won’t be far behind.  I have to admit that seeing nothing but silence from Hockey Canada on this has been disturbing but considering the way that group operates—-not surprising!

6 – ACTUAL PUNISHMENT?  Has the NHL department of player safety gotten it right?  I seriously thought with their lack of teeth that Calgary’s Rasmus Andersson would get two games for his gutless head shot at the end of a game against Columbus.  He got four.  Charlie McAvoy of Boston then destroys Oliver Ekman-Larsson with a cheap shot and he also got four games.  Is that the minimum standard now for a head shot.  I hope so with the potential for more.  I have nothing against good hits…..good legal hits which neither of those two were.

7 – NFL WEEK 9:  Some things to look forward to as you plop your behind on the couch to watch the NFL on Sunday

• Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are in Germany this weekend as the Kansas City Chiefs face the Dolphins in what should be a great game. I have no idea if Kelce’s girlfriend will be tagging along. The two have combined for 50 touchdowns.  If Kelce finds the endzone, he and Mahomes will be tied with Drew Brees and Jimmy Graham for most TD’s at 51.  The two have a long way to get to number one.  Tom Brady and Gronk connected for 90
• Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen leads all quarterbacks with 22 total touchdowns this season (17 passing, five rushing). Last week, he recorded his sixth consecutive game with multiple touchdown passes and his fifth game in the past six weeks with a rushing touchdown. With both a passing and rushing touchdown at Cincinnati on Sunday Night Football, Allen can tie Aaron Rodgers and Steve Young for the second-most games (31) with at least one touchdown pass and one rushing touchdown in NFL history. Only Cam Newton has more at 45
• Last season, 203 NFL games – more than any season in league history – were within one score in the fourth quarter. This year, the league has picked up where it left off. Through eight weeks, 85 of 122 games (69.7 percent) have been within one score in the final stanza. Only two prior seasons in league history (94 in 2022 and 88 in 2016) have had more entering Week 9. Since Monday Night Footballin Week 6, 36 of the last 45 NFL games have been separated by just one possession in the fourth quarter.

8 – ZIP IT:  Congratulations to the Texas Rangers.  The team that finished 8^th in the regular season won their first World Series in franchise history Wednesday night, but for the 2^nd straight year the Rangers weren’t one of the top four teams going in.  Some fans would like to see the playoff system changed because the top teams aren’t involved in the World Series.  Where does it say the top team gets an automatic berth into their sports championship?   Did the Boston Bruins get a free pass to the Stanley Cup final last year? When you get into the playoffs, everyone starts at zero. That’s the way it should be in every sport with the best team being the best team in the playoffs.  Getting in just gives you seeding and not an automatic berth to the final.  

The win by the Rangers also cements the fact Texas manager Bruce Bochy should go down as one of the greatest ever if he already isn’t.   The win by Bochy in what was his first year as skipper is his 4^th —3 with San Francisco in a span of five years.   He is the 4^th manager to win four titles

One more thing and it is a pet peeve of mine.  The NHL does it right with its Stanley Cup presentation as Gary Bettman gives it to the captain of the winning team.  He doesn’t give it to the owner.  It scallops my potatoes when the team owner gets his hand on the trophy before the players who did it.

9 – GOOD LUCK TOPPERS:  The Saskatoon Hilltops are headed to BC to try and win yet another Canadian Bowl.  The Toppers haven’t won a Canadian Bowl since 2019 but they will go after their 23^rd in Langford B.C when they meet the Westshore Rebels.  I am guessing it will be 23 by Sunday night but the BC Conference showed last year how good it is when the Okanagan Sun marched into Regina and beat the Thunder much to the surprise of many.

10 – RIP CHANDLER:  If you are my age, chances are you watched Friends. It was very sad to hear of the death of Matthew Perry at the age of 54.  That’s just too young.  He had his demons like all of us. What more can be said that hasn’t already.

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