SCRUFFY’S THIS ‘N THAT

1 – CODY IS PLAYING FOR THE CUP:  The Cody Fajardo haters won’t give him any credit, but he will be leading the Montreal Alouettes onto the Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton Sunday night as they look to win the Grey Cup. Fajardo and Montreal go into the Grey Cup against Winnipeg having won seven straight. Yes, Montreal’s defense and special teams won them the Eastern Final, but you don’t win seven straight with the offence doing nothing. Fajardo has a nice group to work with and he has done a great job in the second half of the season of managing the game. You can hate it all you want, but the quarterback that the Riders gave up on and the quarterback that many wanted out of town has a chance to win the Grey Cup and if they win, which I don’t think they will, Fajardo will be front and centre.

2 – ZACH COLLAROS:  Zach Collaros will be the first quarterback in the history of the Grey Cup to start four straight games. Many Rider fans say the green-and-white gave up on Collaros and I will be completely honest—so did I! When Collaros was rocked by Simoni Lawrence in the opening game of the 2019 season it was another in a series of concussions. Had he been able to come back, he would have but he didn’t and when Toronto came calling, Jeremy O’Day got something for him. In fact, I think the return in that trade was Kian Schaeffer-Baker. The Bombers stole Zach from Toronto and you know the rest of the story. The question is being asked by some as to where Collaros stands when it comes to the hierarchy of CFL quarterbacks. He is up there, but I won’t put him ahead of guys like Flutie, Moon, Allen, Lancaster, Calvillo and Ray. He’s not top 10 for me, but he is working his way into the top 20. By the way, did anyone ask Collaros this week if he has any updates on the romance that his good friend Travis Kelce is involved in currently? Maybe Zach will be in the wedding party!! By the way, as Collaros and Fajardo get ready to square off Sunday, ask yourself where the Riders might be, where the Bombers might be, where Collaros and Fajardo would be and whether or not the Riders would have a GC with Collaros calling the shots. Considering Cody was a backup when that play happened, would he still be in the CFL?

3 – THE GEORGE REED MOP:  What a fantastic tribute to the great George Reed by the CFL on Thursday night. The league’s best player will now be recognized as the winner of the George Reed Most Outstanding Player Award. We rail on the league and Commissioner Randy Ambrosie when they screw up so be fair and give the league and Ambrosie every accolade you can for honoring number 34 with this.

The first winner of the George Reed MOP is Chad Kelly and that’s no surprise. What was a surprise was Kelly running off the field in a show of poor sportsmanship after the Eastern Final. Yes, he turned into Michael Bishop before our very eyes in that game but running off the field and not congratulating Cody Fajardo was a bad look for the league’s marquee player.

4 – 10 YEARS LATER: I really should have included this in last week’s submission, but I truthfully forgot that November 10 was the 10-year anniversary of the 2013 Western Semi-Final —- a game that the Riders had to win if they were to have any chance at coming back for the Grey Cup two weeks later.  

That game was arguably Darian Durant’s signature game as a member of the Riders. With the Riders down nine points, the quarterback put the team on his back with a 4^th quarter to remember as he ran for 76 yards in the final 15 minutes along with throwing a TD pass as Saskatchewan stormed back for a 29-25 victory.   Without that effort, the greatest night in Saskatchewan sports history never happens as the Riders don’t win the Grey Cup at Taylor Field.

Yes, the defence had to make some plays in that final quarter to give the Riders a chance and they did that leading to Durant’s heroics. There were many great games that Darian had during his Riders career, but there is no doubt that was his biggest one. If you were there or if you watched it, you have to agree.

5 – TRY AGAIN CRAIG: I have said it before in this space and I will say it again — I have no problems with Riders CEO Craig Reynolds, and I think the same can be said on his side. However, when it was announced that Jeremy O’Day was coming back as general manager, Reynolds said at an availability when asked about attendance that a drop in ticket sales is a trend throughout sports. Really?  Hmmmmmm…. the Bombers played in front of their 5^th sellout crowd at the Western Final and the Argos played to what was just about a sellout in Toronto. Yes, the Argos! The bottom line is that ticket sales for the most part will be fine unless you try to gouge your fanbase if you win and that simply isn’t and hasn’t been happening here and people are mad about it. Marketing 101—win and the people will come. Don’t give me an excuse that it’s a trend happening throughout sports because it’s not. I didn’t see many empty seats during the baseball playoffs and I don’t see many watching NFL games on Sunday.

6 – NIC MARSHALL: What more can be said than see ya! He is one of many free agents the green-and-white have but it was obvious to many that his game eroded this year. I didn’t think he would be back and after the gun charge laid against him this weekend the football team released him.  The gun charge and what it results in will tell if Marshall has a CFL future. If he does have one, I am guessing some team will take a chance on him.

7 – NFL WEEK 11:  Here is some stuff to look for this weekend in the NFL

• The 8-1 Eagles meet the 7-2 Chiefs in a game featuring the two teams leading their respective conferences on Monday night. It is also as you know a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl. … The game will be the 9^th in league history between the previous Super Bowl participants.  The previous season’s winner is 6-2 in those games. … Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has recorded at least two touchdown passes in six games which is tied for the second-most in the league.  His 64 career games with multiple TD passes are tied for 2^nd most in the NFL. … This season, Mahomes has recorded at least two touchdown passes in six games, tied for the second-most in the league. His 64 career games with multiple touchdown passes are tied for the second-most in the NFL since he entered the league in 2017. If he throws two or more, he will tie Hall of Famer Dan Marino for number one in that category.

• Since entering the league as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Staffordhas totaled 54,152 passing yards and 341 touchdown passes in 199 games. If Stafford can throw for 198 yards against the Seahawks, he will surpass Matt Ryan for the second-most passing yards by a player in his first 200 games.  The only player to have more is Drew Brees at 55, 439.
• The 6-4 Vikings have emerged from steep adversity this season to enter Week 11 with the league’s longest active winning streak, five. This week, the Vikings meet another team with momentum as they are in Denver to butt helmets with a Broncos team that won three in a row including wins over Kansas City and Buffalo. ). … Minnesota owns a 4-1 (.800) road record, tied for the second-best mark in the league behind Jacksonville (4-0, 1.000). The Vikings also are 19-8 (.704) overall since the start of 2022. In that span, only Philadelphia (22-4, .846), Kansas City (21-5, .808) and San Francisco (19-7, .731) have better records.

8 – JAY WOODCROFT:  The Edmonton Oilers pushed the panic button. It’s as simple as that. The best coach the Oilers have had since Glen Sather was all of a sudden deemed no longer fit to coach the club. Unless there is a lot more to be uncovered here, the decision to fire Jay Woodcroft is just dumb, especially when you relieve him with someone who has never coached an NHL game. Was Brad Herauf not available? That’s not a shot at Brad either! The only thing Kris Knoblauch has going for him right now is that he was Connor McDavid’s coach in junior. As you know McDavid, who I don’t think is 100 percent, now has his former junior coach and his former agent alongside him. I don’t think he orchestrated these moves. I think this is a ploy by owner Daryl Katz to keep him in Edmonton.

Who’s to blame here? Everyone! From Ken Holland to the players. This falls on everyone.

Hot take:  Jay Woodcroft will be the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs when the 24-25 season starts if not before.

9 – THE CANES IN COOPERALLS: The Carolina Hurricanes announced this week that not only are going to go retro by wearing the Hartford Whalers white for the first time ever in February, For warmies, they will wear Cooperalls! As a prisoner of the 80’s, I can only nod my head in approval. Who didn’t love the Whalers logo! One of the best out there.

10 – WHERE’S THE RINK? The lovely and talented Brit Dort of CTV Regina asked a question on X about whether or not it’s a Saskatchewan thing that you pull into a small Saskatchewan town and you don’t know where the rink is, but you just somehow lead yourself there. As I responded to her, I think that is a part of the Saskatchewan charter. If you have a problem finding a rink in rural Saskatchewan, there might not be a rink there. I’m not wrong with that am I? I think the same can be said for the local ball diamond in the summer as well.

That’s all I got.  Have a great weekend! Enjoy the Grey Cup.   Winnipeg 22 Montreal 18

MB