SCRUFFY’S THIS ‘N THAT

— The Riders are on their bye week, and it has been quiet over at Mosaic Stadium. That is not what some members of a divided fan base were looking for, while others are happy it has been that way.  With no news coming out of the offices, it would appear everything is status quo, and there will be no personnel changes at the top with Corey Chamblin and Brendan Taman continuing on in their positions.

If the axe was going to come down, it would only have been plausible for it to have happened early this week so that the new group would have time to get a plan together with the team being on its bye week. Sorry Chamblin haters, sorry Taman haters, but it would appear as if you are going to have keep grumbling for the rest of the season.

— There are two times a year I wish I could see a CFL neg list. One is now and the other is just before the US College Football bowl season starts. The argument comes up many times about why the CFL makes the neg list so secretive and why fans shouldn’t get a glimpse of it. Why not? If a player is at an NFL training camp and fans think he could be a player on his or her favourite team, would it not make sense to allow us to follow his progress and then hope he winds his way north of the border?

When Keith Price was finishing his career with the University of Washington, a CFL front office person emailed me a neg list with the agreement I would not go out and start publicizing who was on what team’s list. Seeing Price was on there, I reached out to Brendan Taman and asked if I could put on this blog that Price was on the list and you could catch him play at the Alamo Bowl against Robert Griffin III and Baylor.

What a game it was as Price threw for 438 yards and four touchdowns (one to current Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse) while running for three others as the Huskies lost to Baylor 67-56 in what was a Madden-style game. There was a lot of interest in Price from that day forward in Riderville. It had people talking the CFL in January and isn’t that what the league wants?

If there are players out there that the respective fan bases can keep their eye on, I say we let them have a chance.  The list changes from week to week so why not just allow us to see a list at the start of the season and the end of the season. Who’s kidding who, the chances of the CFL doing something like this are probably right up there with the chance of some programs being instituted to improve the work of the officiating.

— Another week of CFL play started Thursday night with Edmonton beating Montreal.  Going into the week, there were 5 teams at 4-2. Who is the best team in that bunch? I’ll still go with Hamilton.  After years of being dominant, have the Eastern Division teams finally turned the table. There is actually talk we could see a crossover this year with an Eastern team coming West. Who would have imagined that years ago

— Drew Willy is out for 6-8 weeks, but perhaps the year with a knee injury. We will now find out who has a better football team–the Riders or the Bombers. This just in, my vote goes to the guys who wear green. I think there are many across the league who might feel the same way.

— UFC featherweight champ Conor McGregor says he would dismantle Floyd “Money” Mayweather.  I think there are many out there who would love to see McGregor have the chance. Ronda Rousey also said she could kick Mayweather’s butt in a no-rules fight. That would be awesome, but there is no way the Mayweather camp will ever allow that to happen.

— I can only imagine what it would be like for sports radio not only in this province, but around the country if an incident like what happened at New York Jets camp this week happened in Riderville.

— Blue Jays fans are upset because former major league pitcher now ESPN analyst Dallas Braden referred to them as a beer-league softball team. Doesn’t a beer-league softball team just hit homer after homer after homer and score a lot of runs?

— The Yankees have collapsed! I thought Toronto would win the East if they could give New York a good beatdown in the 13 head to head games the two had against one another, but unless there is a Toronto collapse, I don’t see them giving up first place in the division now. I still say this team will win or lose depending on how David Price does on the mound because while the pitching staff has improved their numbers since the all-star break, that staff doesn’t scare me (Price excluded) if I am the opposition.

As much as this country has gone Jays crazy, this blogger is more interested in watching the equally hot Chicago Cubs try to nail down a playoff spot. I don’t dislike the Jays, but lets just say if for some reason the Cubs and Jays were to meet in the World Series this year, my loyalties would be firmly behind the Cubs. Its been over 100 years while some Toronto baseball fans actually remember a World Series title.  One other note concerning the Jays, it makes me laugh when people say they don’t like the Jays because of their affiliation to Rogers and what they do to the CFL. If that is your reason for hating the Jays, your hate is misguided, but so be it.

— On Tuesday night, the home teams went 15-0 in MLB action. That is the first time that has ever happened in the history of major league baseball.  The odds in that are 1 in almost 33-thousand which is still a better bet than the Cleveland Browns winning the Super Bowl!

— I will give the city of Regina credit as they keep doing what they can to improve the parking situation downtown, but they have a longgggggg way to go. I know many people who won’t go downtown during the day because of parking and if I didn’t work downtown,; my trips would be few and far between.  There are many who work downtown who abuse the system, but the system is heavily flawed as it stands now.  It isn’t going to get any better as the city grows either. In this blogger’s mind, the strategy right now must be scrapped with a new one being developed.

— I don’t know a lot about Lane Zablocki, but he has an impressive resume.  I guess his career in a Pats uniform will ultimately decide the Morgan Klimchuk trade, but right now it looks to be advantage Brandon. Jesse Gabrielle came here with a reputation and now that reputation leaves to Prince George. The Pats are putting a positive spin on the deal as you would expect, but it leaves the trade for Klimchuk a little hollow and once again gives Kelly McCrimmon the advantage.

— Things didn’t start well for the Regina Red Sox in the WMBL final against Lethbridge as they were soundly thrashed 19-3.  I guess its because a lot of these players have to get back to their US college teams, but I don’t think its fair that the winner of the Weyburn-Regina series had to board the bus immediately for Lethbridge. Could the league not have started the series Friday night giving the Saskatchewan division winner at least one day of rest?

— Dustin Johnson has the lead after one round of the PGA Championship. One can’t help but pull for Johnson, who might as well be considered part Canadian seeing he is married to Paulina Gretzky, but with all the bad things that have happened to him at majors throughout the year, you just wait and wonder for the collapse.

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