Scruffy’s This N That

1 – ROLLIN, ROLLIN, ROLLIN: If you bet the Saskatchewan Roughriders to win over 7.5 games as I did this year, I think it is safe to say you will cash in on that bet at season’s end. I will give the green-and-white a lot of credit as many, including me, didn’t think they would beat the Argos on Thursday night, but they did thanks to a tremendous night from a ballhawk defence that created many turnovers.

Shea Patterson had his struggles in his first game as the number one guy, but I think at the end of the day, Rider fans had to be pretty happy with his performance. It took him a quarter to get comfortable, but at the end of the day I think he had more positives than negatives which is great moving forward.

Patterson knows the big game environment having played at Michigan and Ole Miss and now that he has his first real shot as a starting QB in the CFL, he needs to show that he is up to the task. I think the Riders have a guy here that they can work with and a guy that I would have as the number one guy coming out of camp next year as the Trevor Harris era has to come to an end once the season is over no matter how it ends because of his age/durability.

2 – KEEP THE RETROS: I went to “X” just after Thursday’s game started saying the retro uniform that the Riders wore Thursday night was the uniform that they should wear EVERY home game. I thought that might be an unpopular opinion, but apparently it wasn’t. Nothing against the Riders, but I’m not sold on the new obsidian green look however I know many like it. I understand the business of sports today where you put out new jerseys in an attempt to get some more $$$ out of your fanbase and many do swallow that up and buy one.  For me though, I would much rather have a retro than a new one.

3 – WHY?: Is it just me or did the CFL drop the ball by not having a game on Canada Day? Hamilton and Ottawa played in our Nation’s Capital Sunday night, but could you not have played Monday? Maybe push everything back a day the following week so that the Argos and Riders played Friday night with maybe a Saturday doubleheader followed by the Sunday game. And how is it that the Vancouver Canucks are playing a home game on the same day that the Grey Cup is being played at BC Place? That just doesn’t make any sense.

4 – BE THE COMMISH: Here’s a question for you. If you became the commissioner of the NHL, MLB or CFL for one day and you could change a rule or add one that could not be rescinded, what would it be? So many options. I know when it comes to the CFL, I would love to get rid of the rouge.

5 – THE DRIBBLE KICK: Did any of you answer the above question by saying “get rid of the dribble kick!”?  I know many hate it and it is a huge stretch of the rules, but if it’s legal there is nothing stopping the teams from doing it and why aren’t more teams doing it. Montreal doesn’t have a monopoly on the play do they? Teams must be careful on second and long and if this is a way to keep a drive going, why not?

6 – NFL FANTASY FOOTBALL: It’s always a good day when I get notifications that the fantasy football leagues I am in have been reactivated for another year. Don’t come at me CFL fans. I cannot do CFL Fantasy Football when there is so much roster change and there are only nine teams. The league does what it can, but again there are only nine teams. This also means my satellite radio will be changing from the NHL Network to the NFL Network. I had someone ask me why I listen so much to satellite radio so much when I was a radio guy for so long. I think he answered his own question.

7 – MAKE THE MOVE: When are the Edmonton Oilers going to make Jeff Jackson Ken Holland’s replacement as GM? Jackson, who is currently the CEO of Hockey Operations, was the man tabbed with getting the Western Conference champs through free agency, and I think it is safe to say he has done a tremendous job.  Safe to say that on paper, the Oilers are a better team now than the one that skated off the ice following their Game 7 loss to Florida in the Stanley Cup Final.

Retaining Corey Perry, Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown was exceptional and then you add Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson and it is safe to say the Oilers aren’t content on just getting to the final.  On Friday, Jackson swung a trade that sends Ryan McLeod to Buffalo for prospect Matt Savoie who as local hockey fans know was a key component in the Moose Jaw Warriors run to the WHL title.  What a great trade for Edmonton! All of this from a guy who isn’t a GM. It is time to make that happen. In fact, they should just shut down any and all applications that may come in — especially the one from former Chicago GM Stan Bowman.

8 – UMMMMMM……: A Florida Panthers fan went to “X” on the weekend bemoaning the fact that one day he is celebrating a Stanley Cup title with his team and the next he is saying goodbye to players via free agency. This fan went on to say that the NHL needs to start free agency a month later.

Here’s a better idea: The NHL can leave free agency on July 1 and try to end the season on June 1. I think there are many of us that would be happy with that.

9 – ARE THE KRAKEN REGINA’S TEAM?: The Seattle Kraken are definitely comfortable with having some Pats alumni on their team. Are they Regina’s team going into next season? You have Pats alumni Cale Fleury, Jordan Eberle, Chandler Stephenson, Ryker Evans and Josh Mahura on the roster and while she isn’t a Pat alumni, you know everyone in this province is ecstatic in seeing Moosomin’s/Rocanville’s Jessica Campbell become the first assistant coach in the NHL.  Could she become the first head coach in NHL history? I thought that somehow might fall to Hayley Wickenheiser years ago.

Maybe its time to try and lure the Kraken to Regina for a training camp or at least a pre-season game!

10 – EUROS AND COPA AMERICA: I am not a big soccer guy. I don’t watch MLS, the Premier League or any of the other European leagues but when it comes to the European Championship, COPA America and the World Cup I am dialed in. I know soccer isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s fine. You couldn’t pay me to go to a NASCAR race, but there are some who are religious about it which also is fine. I love watching the powerhouse nations like England, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal go at it and it has been fun watching Canada try to handle teams at Copa America. Did soccer fans in this country think they would get to the semis at Copa? Like it or not, soccer is becoming a bigger sport in this country — bigger than NASCAR and with the World Cup coming to Canada in a few years, there will be even more attention on the sport. Jump on board now kids. Oh, if the people at REAL are reading this, you might want to see what you can do to get an international friendly at Mosaic Stadium. It would be a spectacle if a country that travels well and has a couple of marquee players come to our province.

That’s all I got. Have a great weekend! If you are in Regina, go check out the Red Sox as they play Medicine Hat Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at Currie Field.  The team has had some great crowds over the last couple of weeks so keep it up!