SCRUFFY'S THIS 'N THAT

Welcome to Friday and the usual set of weekly thoughts running through my muddled mind. As always, they are in no particular order.

 — As mentioned in Monday’s “Something To Mitch About”, I have been away from the confines of Harvard headquarters in downtown #YQR because of a bout with pneumonia for much of the week. In the time off, I learned one thing.  THERE IS NOTHING TO WATCH ON DAYTIME TELEVISION!! One can only see Sportscentre or Connected so many times and Tim and Sid will someday realize that try as they might, they aren’t Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole 2.0 and they aren’t funny! I even looked for Springer and couldn’t find it. SIGHHHHH!!!

— The madness is upon us as the NC double A mens basketball tournament is underway. Did you fill out a bracket? If you didn’t, it is too late now.  For what its worth, Luc Mullinder will be happy with me as I have taken Michigan State to win it all. Here’s one for you to get some talk going. Go to Riderville.com and look at the Rider roster as it stands now, who would be your starting 5 for a Riders basketball team. Since the CFL has a ratio limit, let’s put one on here and say one of those starting 5 has to be a Canadian or a National if you so desire.  Have at er!

 — I thought Riders president and CEO Craig Reynolds did an outstanding job answering questions in what is going to be a major operation in getting season ticket holders from their old seat at Mosaic to their new seat at the new Mosaic on Thursday afternoon. The football team has to try and make 24-thousand season ticket holders happy with their new seats. That is no easy task, but Reynolds was willing to answer many questions from the Rider Nation. I’m sure he will do it again if asked as that is the type of guy he is, but you know it is something you can’t do overnight. You also know there will be some who won’t be happy for one reason or another. For whatever reason, I can’t see them giving up their season tickets though.

— NHL general managers have been meeting in Florida. One of the topics is expansion and what an expansion draft will look like. I’m OK with what is being proposed. I’m not OK with the fact though that if the league expands by one it will be to a place where hockey is a gamble and not where it is a sure thing. How the muckety-mucks can say Vegas over Quebec City is a head-scratcher. There is no guarantee NHL hockey will work in Vegas, but you know NHL hockey will work in Quebec City much like it has in Winnipeg. Nordiques (and yes they will be called that) fans are as passionate for their team as Jets fans are for theirs. The barn will be filled and money will be had. Can the same be said for Vegas? It would just be like giving the NBA a team in Vegas while Seattle sits there with their hand out. It would be better for business if the association went back to Seattle because they are proven unlike Vegas.  I can’t even say this is a Bettman vs Canada thing because its not and the cost of the Canadian dollar has nothing to do with it either.  The better business model for the NHL is to expand to Quebec City.

— As a fan, do you want the call right or not? Wednesday in Edmonton, the Oilers got a Leon Draisaitl goal against St. Louis, but it came after the initial rush by the Oilers was offside.  The offside happened about 30 seconds before the goal, but it did happen and the right call was made.  I am not a fan of the coaches challenge, but I do want the call to be right. If that call isn’t right, the fans squawk and in some cases, rightfully so. As is the case in football, I simply don’t know anymore what is interference in hockey.  Does anyone? What is and what isn’t called interference in both games just leaves me baffled at times.  Replay was brought in to get the call right. While we complain that it takes away from the game, at the end of the day, we are seeing more times than not that the call is right. Where do you draw the line?

— Now that the CFL combine is over, do we get one final pre-draft ranking by CFL central scouting or not? I honestly don’t know the answer to the question. The answer should be yes, but this is the CFL and well, I think you know the rest of the story.

— Eric Tillman is now the GM of the Ti-Cats. He adds that to being GM of the Lions, Riders, Eskimos, Renegades and Argos. Has anyone else in football (both CFL and NFL) ever been the GM of six different teams. That has to be a record!

— Is the WHL’s Most Outstanding Player this year going to go to Moose Jaw’s Dryden Hunt or Regina’s Adam Brooks. Both have a legitimate stake at the award, but so does Brandon’s Nolan Patrick. He has 40 plus goals and 100 plus points at 17. Patrick is the consensus number one pick by NHL Central Scouting for the 2017 draft. I am thinking he could steal the award away from Hunt and Brooks. I think you can make a definite argument for the kid. If you are wondering why Patrick went in the same bantam draft as Sam Steel yet gets drafted a year later, its because Patrick was born in September of 98 while Steel was born in February. You have to be 18 as of September 15 and Nolan was born September 18. I wonder if he would be challenging Matthews for number one overall if he were eligible.

— Tough one for Dave Taylor’s Cougar womens basketball team in Fredricton as they lost their national quarterfinal on Thursday night to Ryerson 73-70. Kenaca Pingue-Giles showed why she is the CIS MOP this year as she had 6 three pointers in what was a 29 point night overall. Her twin sisters are headed to Regina next year and if they are anything like their older sibling, the good times should continue for that program. It’s tough to see another good year end in disappointment, and it is always tough to see 5th years like Kehlsie Crone and Alyssia Kajati walk off the court for the last time, but that program is still one of the best, if not the best in Canada. With Steve Burrows working his magic with the mens program, basketball at the CKHS will be an event next winter and for many winters to come.

— What happens if the Golden State Warriors don’t win the NBA championship this year after all the hype they have been given? Would they go down as the best team in sports history to not get the job done?

— Why do I get the feeling Rogers Communications is going to screw things completely up and have it get to the point where the 2017 MLB season will start with Toronto not having both Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion playing for them. By the way, why is Josh Donaldson on the cover of MLB  16 this year and not Bautista. I thought Jose was the face of the franchise.

— The Adam LaRoche-Chicago White Sox story is a fascinating one. LaRoche is giving up 13 million and retiring because the team doesn’t want his son in the clubhouse all the time anymore.  When I first heard this story, I thought the White Sox were in the wrong. Then I heard LaRoche’s son is 14. Cut the cord dude!! Who brings their 14 year old to work everyday? There is probably more to this story than we are being told, but the guy is calling it a career and giving up a 13 million dollar payday because of his teenage son. Ummmmmmmmm!!!!

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