Scruffy’s This N That

1 – OOPS:  The eternal optimist in Rider Nation will tell you the Riders would have won Thursday night in Montreal had Brett Lauther hit two long field goals instead of doink’ing a crossbar and a post (they lost 20-16). Others will tell you that a roughing the passer call should have been called on the last series of the game and others will say the command centre jobbed the Riders. How about you just admit the green-and-white let one get away from them?

When they were up 16-3 at the half, I think many were ready to cash in their slips, but football – as we all know – is a 60 minute game and Jason Maas made the adjustments while Corey Mace just sat back and watched.  The decision to put Davis Alexander into the game was the biggest decision of the night as a good Saskatchewan defence had no answer for him until it was too late.

As a result, the Riders are 5-2 with Edmonton coming to Mosaic next weekend. There shouldn’t be anything to panic about folks.

One thing that should be asked though, especially if AJ Ouellette returns to the lineup, is how do you keep Frankie Hickson on the roster? His performance in Montreal shows that he needs to be on the field contributing, but he needs to be doing that all game and not just in one half.

2 – OTTAWA: I think we all knew Bob Dyce would get things together in Ottawa and he has. The Redblacks curb-stomped the Stampeders Friday night and are now 5-2 on the season. I saw Ottawa being much better than last year, but I have to admit I didn’t think they would be 5-2.

3 – STAN BOWMAN: If the Edmonton Oilers were looking to kill any momentum they had built in the off-season, they succeeded. When word of Stan Bowman being their GM surfaced many said “no don’t do it because of Bowman’s past”. The team didn’t listen.

Yes, Sheldon Kennedy is endorsing the hire and delivered a very complimentary release as to how Bowman has changed. Yes, people deserve a second chance. Yes, the Oilers could have went elsewhere but they didn’t. The reactions are all deserved good and bad.  It is time for Stan to try and erase the past by succeeding in the future.  Good luck with that.

4- JEFF MAREK: Jeff Marek is out at Sportsnet for something that apparently happened at the draft. You mean someone misbehaved in Vegas? Shocking! Not sure what Marek did, but I do know that Sportsnet might be making a mistake with this move. Marek’s podcast with Elliotte Friedman is one of the best ones out there; certainly better than other hockey podcasts out there and his show on Sportsnet was great. I would have to think TSN would be knocking at his door when they are able to.

Marek went to X on Friday to thank everyone for their kind words while Friedman mentioned that the popular “32 thoughts” podcast will not be going away which should be interesting,

5 – SOCCER SCANDAL: Ohhhhhhh boy! The story of filming opposition practices by the Canadian women’s soccer team before the start of the Olympics has overshadowed what should be a good performance by our athletes in Paris.

This story is going to get uglier before it gets better and now it tarnishes the gold medal that was captured at the last Olympics.  Head Coach Bev Priestman has been told she can go home after it was revealed this was not a one-time incident and if TSN’s Rick Westhead is accurate, which he usually is, the national men’s team has some explaining to do as well especially John Herdman

Canada Soccer is an entity that on the field is great, but off the field … well that’s another story!

Some are saying this is the worst scandal to hit Canadian sports. I guess those people forget about what is currently happening at Hockey Canada.

6 – DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME:  The Western Major Baseball League will soon be in playoff mode. Currie Field saw some solid crowds for a potential finals preview Thursday and Friday night as the Okotoks Dawgs. More good crowds will likely be seen at Currie over the weekend to watch a Red Sox team that people are noticing. Go check them out if you can people!

By the way, congrats to the Saskatoon Berries for making the playoffs in year one and congrats to the Berries for coming through and helping out a little Saskatoon girl who had her lemonade stand robbed by some punks this week. The story went viral and the Berries had her come out with the lemonade stand to sell some product at their game the other night with all the players lining up to get some.  Yes, there is some good in this world boys and girls. I wonder how much she could make if the Riders put her in Confederation Park before a game?

7 – QUARTERBACK $$$$: Sorry kids, but Jordan Love and Tua Tagovailoa are nowhere close to being the top quarterbacks in the NFL and they shouldn’t be the highest paid ones.  Quarterback salaries on both sides of the border are simply getting out of control.  I would say that going into this season, neither Love or Tagovailoa would be considered as a top 10 quarterback.

8 – JASPER BURNS:  I have not been to Jasper in many years, but many I know have been and those reading this can likely say they have been there recently. The pictures coming from that area after a wildfire roared through are simply heartbreaking. The one video where the guy stops to look at a smouldering yard and say “that’s Mom and Dad’s house” was gutwrenching.

Social media warriors are quick to jump on the feds and the provincial government for not saving the town.  Perhaps those social media warriors should put their differences aside for a while and do what they can to help rebuild one of the most beautiful places in the world. In fact, social media warriors could maybe stop being so divisive and start doing what they can to make this province, this country and this world a better place instead of what it is.

One thing that was nice to see is that the statue of Jasper the Bear was not damaged. A lot of people have had their picture taken with that bear. I know I’m one of them. At least some memories were not destroyed.

9 – WATERMELON BURGER:  The Edmonton Elks used former Rider and all around good schmuck Eddie Steele in a video on their “X” account to promote the strange food items that will be found at Klondike Days.  One of those items was a Watermelon Burger. How has that not been a staple at Mosaic Stadium and before that Taylor Field? Wasn’t it the creative mind of Trent Fraser that got the watermelon phenomenon started? Someone should have been making watermelon burgers a thing at Rider games for years.  Is this coming to the QCX? If it is I’ll pass along with some of the other items that have been promoted. That shouldn’t stop you from sampling some dill pickle poutine or a mini-donut cornbread bowl.  Actually, that sounds OK.

10 – K-9 GEAR:  Thumbs up to the Pats for launching a clothing line featuring their mascot K-9 with shirts, pins and other things featuring K-9 going on sale. How has this not been done before?