SCRUFFY’S THIS ‘N THAT

1 – AND SO IT BEGINS:  The Corey Mace era in Riderville is officially underway. There has been a lot of talk and conjecture about whether or not he was the first choice and I have heard a lot of stories over the last week, all that have some merit to it but at the end of the day Mace is here and he is saying all the right things.

One of the things he said he will do is make Regina his year-round home and that is great. Is he going to live in that house Bo Levi Mitchell had? We all know the problems with this organization lie deeper than just hiring a new head coach. They have lost a part of their fanbase for a variety of reasons, some that are the team’s fault and others that aren’t, but from now to training camp the organization has to get Mace out there in the community as often as they can and not just in Regina and Saskatoon so that those who are on the fence can get back onside. I think he will certainly do that if his track record means anything.

Mace is saying all the right things, but he has to deliver on those things. Even if he was Plan B, everyone I have spoken to say this guy is going to bring tremendous energy to a team that as we all know needs a big-time jolt.

2 – MARC MUELLER:  I have liked Marc Mueller from the moment I met him so right away, he’s not like his dad!! (Relax Larry, I’m joking!!) This guy knows more about football than many of you and he has the pedigree.  I want him to succeed as offensive coordinator of the Riders, but I wonder if a fanbase that demands instantaneous results will allow it. There are fans out there who will be critical of him as soon as the offence sputters even if it’s on the first drive of the season.  Yes, Marc needs to prove himself as an o-c and yes, he knows he is walking into an environment where the fanbase booed his legendary grandfather.  If he can get things turned around immediately it would be great but show some patience with him which means the entire 24 season.

3 – CODY FAJARDO: You might still not like it, but I love the fact that Cody Fajardo has been rewarded for helping the Alouettes win the Grey Cup by getting a contract extension.  It’s been quite the 365 days for Cody.  From a QB who was no longer wanted here to a QB that now has a Grey Cup on his resume and will be with the Alouettes until the end of the 25 season.  At that time, he can ride off in the sunset if he wants and in a league where quarterbacks move quite a bit maybe he ends up somewhere else, but he has himself some job security for this upcoming year and next. 

4 – WOULD YOU BE DOWN WITH THIS?  I have said in this space before that I think it’s great that the Leader-Post managed to get Darrell Davis back in the fold after the departure of Rob Vanstone.  Darrell is one of the most respected journalists out there and unlike others, he is more than willing to have a respectful discussion with you if you disagree on something.  In a column last month, Darrell brought up the fact that CFL kickers made 86 percent of their field goals.  He went on to ponder whether or not the CFL should take a page out of the NFL playbook and move the goalposts to the back of the endzone to make teams have to get a little deeper into opposition territory to try a three-pointer.

I would like to see a way to make three pointers a little less automatic as even 50 yd field goals seem to be made with a little more ease these days on both sides of the border.  If the CFL cut the endzone down to 15 yards and moved the posts back would you be in favour of it or not?

It also brings up my other pet peeve about the big endzones we have here and why teams don’t throw the ball at the one or two-yard line when they have so much space to work with instead of bringing in the short-yardage QB to put it over the goal-line.   If you can throw an eight-yard out at the 40 yard line, you can do it from inside the three as well.

5 – ARE WE SURE HE’S ONLY 18?:  Connor Bedard’s family was dragged through the mud thanks to the team he plays for and some knuckledragger who thought he would start a rumour that caught fire. As I stated last week, the Blackhawks should be embarrassed and should fire all of their public relations staff for letting rumours go for as long as they did.  I didn’t know if Bedard would say anything and if he did, I wondered if it would be to someone like an Elliotte Friedman so it could be a one-and-done.  With the Hawks in Winnipeg, a reporter decided to pester Bedard about it until he finally said something. Show some empathy here!  The kid is 18 and he is repeatedly asked about something that is extremely sensitive.  I wouldn’t have blamed him if he said something obnoxious to said reporter.  One could have asked “do you care to comment “and if he said no, let it go but that didn’t happen and it resulted in the soundbite occurring.  This story is now over, but the maturity level he is showing on this is exemplary.

If I were him and his family, I would still remember this episode when his rookie deal expires.

6 – NO TO THE NOLES:  Florida State’s football team got jobbed.  Despite going 13-0 on the season and winning their conference championship, 13 people and maybe a network decided that a one-loss Alabama team was more worthy of competing for a national championship saying things like injuries made the Seminoles less competitive.  Sorry that is a weak excuse!  The fact of the matter is the SEC brings more dollars to college football and a marquee program like Alabama means more to them than the ACC champion Seminoles so Alabama gets in and Florida State doesn’t. You can bet your last dollar that if the roles were reversed, a one-loss Florida State team wouldn’t be taking the spot a perfect Alabama team.

This is why it will be better next year when the top 12 have a chance to compete for a nattie with the 13^th -15^th ranked teams being choked even though their shot at winning it all would be very miniscule.

7 – NFL WEEK 13:  Here are a few tidbits for you as you sit down to watch the NFL this weekend.

• More games are within one possession in the final period than any other time in league history. Since the beginning of 2022, 73.3 percent of all games (340 of 464) have been within one score in the fourth quarter. That means three of approximately every four games could go either way when the scoreboard shifts to the final 15 minutes.
• Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, playing his 82nd career game in Week 12, became the fastest quarterback ever to reach 5,000 rushing yards, 22 games earlier than Michael Vick Jackson enters Sunday with 5,011 career rushing yards, fourth most by a quarterback all-time.
• Don’t expect a lot of laundry on the field when the Minnesota Vikings visit the Las Vegas Raiders. That’s because the Raiders (4.67) and Vikings (4.83), respectively, have committed the fewest penalties per game in the NFL.

8 – ETHAN BEAR:  With teams in the NHL looking for defencemen, why hasn’t anyone called Ethan Bear? The pride of the Ochapowace First Nation is looking for a team and several like Toronto are in need of blueliners. The 2017 WHL defenceman of the year won’t cost you a lot and he doesn’t need to be a top three guy. He will also come cheap as he is coming off injury and he will have something to prove.  If he is ready to go, someone can get a good player at the right price.

9 – COUGARS BASKETBALL: If I had told Steve Burrows before the Canada West men’s basketball season started that his U of R men’s basketball team would hit the Christmas break with a record of 8-0, he might have laughed at me and others may have done so too, Look at the Canada West standings and you will see the Cougars are in first place at the Christmas break with a record of 8-0.  A team that has had a lot of injuries will get healthier in January and while the second half schedule is tougher than the first, this is a team led by Matt and Nick Barnard that is ready to make some noise.  Go check them and the women’s team out in the 2^nd half of the season, It would be nice to see that gym full on Friday and Saturday night and both teams are showing they are more than worthy of your support.

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