SCRUFFY’S THIS ‘N THAT

1 – WHAT’S YOUR EXPECTATION? First off, I hope everyone has thawed out somewhat after last weekend. THAT! WAS! COLD! Did you see any EV’s filling up or did those vehicles just stay in the garage? Never mind, I don’t care.

We are a long way away from the Riders and other CFL training camps starting, but we all know people in the 306 want to talk about the green-and-white 24-7-365.

Since the arrival of Corey Mace as Head Coach, many have asked me how I think the team will fare this year.  That’s a question that can’t even start to get answered until free agency has come and gone and we see what type of talent the team has assembled. However, I will say that this rabid fanbase has to have tempered expectations. While Mace said all the right things when hired, he has to prove it and that will be no easy task.  If this team can win seven games and a game from mid-September on it will be an improvement from the last two years. 

As I said, it is hard to say at this time what the various teams will look like. I think you should be happy if this team can be a playoff team with anything else happening being gravy.

We can discuss this again in May. I will say this though: that’s a nice coaching staff he has formed. Adding former Eskimos (that’s what they were called when he was there) linebacker JC Sherritt and former CFL receiver Marquay McDaniel are great adds.

2 – NATHAN ROURKE: Many want to see Nathan Rourke come back to the CFL but it looks like that won’t be happening. The Canadian told a Victoria show last week that he plans on remaining patient and waiting for the right opportunity in the NFL. Can you blame him? Rourke made more money with Jacksonville and New England this season than he would have in the CFL.

New England does have the number 3 pick in this year’s NFL draft, and they could take a quarterback with that first pick seeing Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe don’t appear to be a part of the future but Rourke might be. I can’t see New England giving him the keys to the car and if the Patriots take a quarterback like Caleb Williams or Drake Maye with that 3^rdoverall pick, they are likely the starter but Rourke will make whoever work for it, If they don’t take a QB, Rourke could conceivably be QB1 in New England. That’s a story to follow but don’t look for him to make a return to Canada.

3 – THE BEARS ARE ON THE CLOCK:  The Chicago Bears are on the clock as they have the 1^st pick in the NFL draft. That event is a couple of months away, but with USC quarterback Caleb Williams say he is entering the draft, the talk is on as to what the Bears will do.

Chicago can keep the pick and likely take Williams, or they can stay with Justin Fields and trade the pick. They could also take someone else other than Williams and maybe that player is Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Junior.

A lot of people have already weighed in and many more will weigh in with their opinion. For what it is worth, I’m not a Williams fan. I find him to be a little soft. Chicago has a quarterback in Justin Fields and they don’t appear to be making any changes at head coach as the team has said Matt Eberflus will be back. If that is the case, stick with Fields because moving him to take Williams means you are starting over again. You can trade the pick and get some assets. You can do that by trading Fields as well but again doing that means you are starting over yet again.

4 – HMMMMMM?: I don’t see this ever happening, but my good friend and Regina football icon Gary “Chop” Bresch brought up an interesting point over Facebook regarding the injury to Connor Bedard. That injury to Bedard meant many who had bought tickets in Western Canada to see the future of the NHL play paid a steep price to see the kid play only to find out he won’t.

Chop wondered if those who buy their tickets online pay a little extra for “player insurance” meaning you can cancel that purchase if the player you want to see doesn’t play. You would have to say when buying the tickets and getting the insurance if you chose what player you are putting it down on, but there are still a lot of what if scenarios.  One of them being what if you get to the rink and the player you came to see is not feeling well or got hurt the night before and doesn’t play. At the end of the day, you take your chances and hope it all works out. I had plans to see Connor McDavid play in Edmonton in his rookie season, but a broken collarbone meant I didn’t get to see 97. Thankfully, I have been able to see him a handful of times since and I may just end up dec.iding to take a trip to Rogers Place to see him and the Oilers before the season ends this year.

5 – MID-SEASON PICKS:  The NHL has hit the midway point of the season. This means talk can now begin in earnest for the various awards. My picks for the big 5:

HART TROPHY:  Nathan McKinnon

NORRIS TROPHY: Quinn Hughes

VEZINA: Connor Hellebuyck

CALDER: Connor Bedard  

JACK ADAMS: Rick Bowness.

Who have you got?

6 – HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS? Even hardcore Dallas Cowboys fans weren’t surprised to see their team get schooled by a young Green Bay Packers team at home last weekend. From about halftime and stretching all day Monday, the talk was Mike McCarthy can no longer be the head coach of this football team.  This team puts in solid regular seasons and then falls apart in the playoffs. That has to be blamed on McCarthy.

When everyone thought Jerry Jones would pull the trigger and fire McCarthy, the team announced McCarthy will be sticking around.  HOW BOUT DEM COWBOYS!! The trials and tribulations of that team is a bigger soap opera than the lives of the Ewings and the Southfork Ranch back in the day.

Will the Cowboys be good next year? Yes! Will some talk them up as Super Bowl contenders? Yes! Will they be disappointing again? I think you know the answer to that. What’s it like being a Cowboys/Maple Leafs fan?  The Cowboys are to the NFL what the Leafs are to the NHL.

7 – FROM 32 TO 8: Now the fun starts in the NFL. It’s divisional weekend with the final four being decided Sunday night. Here are some tidbits for you to follow.

• Sunday’s game between the Chiefs and Bills will be the 7^th time Josh Allen has faced Patrick Mahomes. In the regular season, Allen is 3-1, but Mahomes has won both playoff contests both played in Kansas City including that memorable 42-36 overtime win when Mahomes got the team into field goal range after getting the ball with just 10 seconds in regulation. Mahomes is 12-3 all-time in playoffs but with the exception of Super Bowls, he has never played a playoff game on the road
• In six of the previous seven years, at least one road team has won in the Divisional Round. Entering this week, the road team has won five of the NFL’s last nine Divisional Playoff games. Included in that group of road winners are two of the last three Super Bowl champions – the 2020 Buccaneers and 2021 Rams.
• Houston’s C.J. Stroud ast week became the youngest quarterback in NFL history to win a postseason start, breaking the record held by Michael Vick.

8 – HOW MUCH LONGER? We are 69 days from the opening of the 2024 MLB season.  Nuff said!

9 – HEAD TO THE CKHS: Wondering how to spend your Friday and Saturday night in Regina? For a nice low price, you can watch some entertaining basketball as the U of R Cougars take on Mount Royal beginning at 6 with the women’s game. Chances are you will be glad you came.

10 – KEEP THE CHANGE: Maybe it’s just me, but if I walk into a coffee shop and everyone is talking about the same drug including a guy who breaks away from a phone conversation to do so, I’d be a little creeped out. If you don’t know what I am talking about, wait for the Rybelsus ad to come on during a hockey game.

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