SCRUFFY’S THIS ‘N THAT
Welcome to Friday! Here are the usual weekly thoughts running through my muddled mind, and as always they come in no particular order:
— IT’S GAMENIGHT!! The Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal Alouettes will battle it out in Friday Night Football in a 5 PM start. Who’s leaving work early today? The Alouettes just played on Monday, and it is somewhat unfair they should have to strap it on again on Thursday, but they agreed to it when the CFL schedule came out so let’s go. Mitchell Gale will start for the Riders, and I am sure Montreal has some things to look at when it comes to the graduate of Abilene Christian who looked good in the win over Ottawa. What worries me going into this game is the Riders o-line. Brendon Labatte, Dan Clark, and Xavier Fulton are out. GULP!! I am guessing John Bowman, Chip Cox, Bear Woods and the rest of that front seven must be smiling like Hugh Hefner at a pool party. It is safe to say Josiah St. John, Andrew Jones, Kennedy Estelle and others will be tested and tested big-time. Get the ball out of your hands quick Mitch and maybe run the ball a few times too to keep that front seven on their heels. On the other side of the ball, this defense seems to be getting better snap by snap so they could make it difficult for Kevin Glenn. I don’t see a lot of points being scored in this game, but I see the Riders getting more points. Let’s go with a 25-16 win.
— What CFL team hasn’t thrown an INT this year? If you guessed the green-and-white, you would b right. Darian Durant had thrown 6 TD’s before he went down to injury and Gale has thrown 2. If typing out this stat results in 3-4 INT’s being thrown tonight, please blame it on Rob Vanstone. It’s what I would do. It refreshes the soul. It really does.
— Ben Cahoon is getting his jersey retired tonight. Is it just me or do teams do these kinds of things when the Riders visit? Then again, the Lions are putting Jason Clermont on their Wall of Fame when Hamilton visits next month so maybe its just me. By the way, congrats to JC on that honour.
— Going into Week 6, 70 TD passes had been thrown in the CFL. Does this mean the game is more exciting? The product is better now than it was a couple of years ago when it was tough to watch a Rider game or any game, but I still find the amount of penalties, reviews and challenges to be taking away from the entertainment value a CFL game should have. Do you like the game as it stands right now?
— A question for Toronto Blue Jays fans. By the way, if you are a Blue Jays fan since July 1, 2015, you can sit down because this doesn’t apply to you. Who is the greatest Jay of all time? I would think the answer would have to be Roberto Alomar, but where do you place Josh Donaldson? He has to be top 5 and maybe even top 2. If Donaldson can get the Jays back to where they were in Alomar’s hey-day and win another MVP trophy, the mantle may be his for the taking.
— I haven’t missed him one bit, but where has Buck Martinez gone? Matt Devlin has done a fantastic job taking over for Martinez in the broadcast booth and has shown once again he is more than just a basketball guy. I don’t know if there are any personal reasons attached to Buck’s absence, but I can’t help but wonder how a baseball play-by-play guy gets two weeks off in the middle of the season. That would be like giving Rod Pedersen time off right now and Phil Andrews time off in January during the middle of the Pats season. Martinez has from October until March to take holidays. It seems a little odd to me.
— NFL training camps are starting. That brings a smile to my face
— A hearty congratulations to Barb Ryan. The mother of Steve and his brother Jon. She was named the 2016 Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year by the Red Cross this week and will be honored at a dinner in October. Those who know Barb know what type of individual she is, those who don’t know her don’t know what they are missing. You do not find much better in this city or this province than Barb. Those who know her agree 100 percent.
— That’s all I got. Have a great weekend. GO RIDERS
Penalties, reviews and challenges are killing our game. And not only that when watching all this on TV they have to show the play over and over again (9 times last night was the average) while the decision is being made. How sickening can it get.
How can you say that Matt Devlin has done a great job filling in for (Where Did He Go) Martinez. Devlin has no excitement in his voice whatsoever and I really miss Martinez when we are hitting home runs.
The NFL is back?? YAAAWN, What a Bore.
People outside Canada need to see how many good p x p voices there are around MLB and then look at Buck. Having the Extra Innings package this year, I have discovered how many good baseball p x p guys there are and Buck isn't on the list.
Roy has to be in the discussion for greatest Jay. Played on some mediocre teams, yet gave a chance to win every 5 days. Also pitched deep so rested the pen, dueled other teams aces, won 20 games, won the Cy. On another team, or in another era, he's a legend.
It's a real treat whenever Dan the man Schulman calls a Blue Jays game. He's so good. Gary Thorne isn't too shabby either, although it is kind of strange hearing him call baseball after playing hours of NHL '16.
Gunderson's Yorkton
Dave steib is tops on my list.
I finally agree with something said by Gunderson!
Have come to hate the challenges. I will take refs judgement and errors as the price to maintain spontaneity any day. When the TD is scored do you wait for head office before cheering? Or … great play and fans get charged up and then sit and quiet down waiting for head office. The 'mo' is lost. That spontaneity is critical for fan excitement/entertainment. And it really is ENTERTAINMENT folks. Let's not make it science.
Dave Spad doesn't like the NFL. Guess what Dave, you are a minority. Ask any football player what league he wants to play in and 98.8 percent will say the NFL. Its OK Dave. You probably are a big American Hockey League fan too and think the NHL is a bore.