The Monday Morning Goalie For SUDS
TRUTH & RUMOURS FOR SUDS CAR WASH
1 – LET THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN: The 2026 CFL regular season is behind us, we’re down to the final six teams, and the playoffs begin on Halloween with Semifinal Saturday (ESF: Winnipeg at Toronto, WSF: Saskatchewan at BC). Radical, radical changes are coming to the CFL next season so for the moment, let’s enjoy the final year of the traditional East-West playoff format and field alignment (BC Lions owner Amar Doman said on the RP Show that if the new playoff format isn’t a success, they can always change it back which I found, among many things, refreshing). Semifinal game predictions? I’ll take the Riders and Argos to win next weekend. As far as the Grey Cup goes, my preseason pick was for Saskatchewan to meet Montreal in Calgary so I’ll stick with that.
2 – THE FINALE: The last two Rider games were yawners at Mosaic Stadium, but they were also wins, giving the Green & White a 10-8 record heading into the playoffs. That team they fielded in Saturday’s 16-9 win over Edmonton was a bunch of strangers – brand names like Trevor Harris & AJ Ouellette got the day off – but the backups did their job. (Btw when Ouellette interfered with that Elks player on the Rider sideline, that should’ve been a penalty). Anyway, QB2 Jack Coan did enough to win and QB3 Brayden Schager didn’t look as firework-y as he did in the preseason, but he was adequate too. I hope Schager’s the one to lead this team when Trevor Harris hangs it up. In the preseason at Calgary, Schager (a Hawaii product by way of Highland Park, TX) looked like the next Matt Dunigan. When people say, “I don’t watch the preseason” in sports, it tells me all I need to know about their fandom. People always tell on themselves eventually. … Anyway, onto the playoffs.
3 – THE REST: Calgary, Hamilton and Ottawa will miss the playoffs. That ain’t the cool kids group! … Stampeders Head Coach/GM Dave Dickenson told the media this weekend he wants to be back next season as head coach but I’d be shocked if that’s the case. Apparently Mark Kilam wasn’t the problem! (Nor Brent Monson for that matter). Both were fired by the Stamps two seasons ago but landed on their feet elsewhere. Reading the replies from Stamps fans on social media, they want a new coach. Who needs openline anymore? … In 2005 both Jim Hopson and Steve Mazurak applied for the job of President of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Hopson got it, but within days Mazurak was added too and the pair made beautiful music together. If the Ottawa RedBlacks were smart they’d do the same with Henry Burris after naming Mike Morreale team President next week. Morreale will be good. Hank would be great.
4 – FLAG FOOTBALL: Last weekend I got tabbed to call the USA Flag Football East Regionals in Jacksonville, FL and am fortunate to be headed to AT&T Stadium in Dallas to broadcast the West Regionals on Home Team Network in a few weeks. Hear me out: the technology they’re using is next level. For instance in Jacksonville, in 28 games, they ran roughly 1,500 plays. In the games I called, there were less than five dropped passes all weekend. A coach here in Miami scoffed, saying “Ya that’s because there’s no tackling”. I disagreed and mentioned it to a coach in Las Vegas. He said, “It is beyond impressive. The high school girls practice on a field next to ours and they’re routinely making Odell Beckham-type catches. The skill is crazy.” … The NFL just invested $32-million into Flag Football, specifically high school girls. … Gretzky went to where the puck was going, not where it was.
5 – WORLD SERIES: Not gonna lie, most of my sports-watching this weekend was centered around the World Series. Milwaukee beat Tampa Bay 5-4 on Saturday night to grab a 2-0 lead heading to Tropicana Field for Game 3 on Monday. But holllllld on, this thing is far from over. The Rays have their #1 ace coming up (Fastball Freddy Peralta) in Game 3 and everybody expects this thing to go the distance. In fact, here are the predictions from the Fox analysts on Friday’s Game 1 pregame show: Derek Jeter (Brewers in 7), Big Papi (Rays in 7), A-Rod (Brewers in 7). It doesn’t get much closer than that.
6 – NHL: It was a fun weekend in The Show. The Heritage Classic in Winnipeg was the spectacle the NHL hoped it would be, and Montreal topped the Jets 2-1. (I picked Winnipeg to win. Think I’ll stop doing that). … The Oilers were humbled 7-2 by the Leafs on Saturday. Oops! I almost said “On Hockey Night In Canada”. Babs didn’t seem too concerned, nor should he be. Edmonton wasn’t going to keep up that 8-1-1 pace forever. … Nice to see the iconic Kelly Hrudey speaking at the Kinsmen Dinner in Prince Albert. … And thank GOD the Connor Hellebuyck drama is over as Winnipeg shipped the star netminder to New Jersey on Friday. Watch the Devils get a turbo boost now, while the Jets try to hold the fort. I’ll take Winnipeg to beat Montreal in the Heritage Classic in Winnipeg Sunday evening now that they thankfully have the ugly Hellebuyck story behind them. … What are people gonna fixate on now in the NHL?
7 – RON DUGUAY: The hockey and pop culture world mourned the loss of Ron Duguay this week, as the New York Rangers icon passed away of cancer at age 69. Through appearances on the RP Show, Duguay and I got to be really close friends and I thank our first producer Clark Munroe for making that connection years ago. You’ve heard all the Duguay stories about Cher, Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Tiegs, the games, the fights, Studio 54, etc. But here’s the Ron Duguay you don’t know: he was just a Canadian hockey kid from Sudbury, ON whose first job was cleaning snow off the cars at a local car dealership before school. He starred for his hometown Sudbury Wolves of the OHL. His sister Diane is still a hairdresser in Sudbury. WE KNOW A MILLION GUYS LIKE THAT, and I treated Ron as such. He appreciated that. Duguay wasn’t overly comfortable with being an icon and a heartthrob, but he just went with it. Did he ever. … His split with the Rangers was very painful and it simply came down to this — New York fans loved Ron more than any other player past and present, 40 years after he played there, and eventually some higher-ups in the organization didn’t like that. He didn’t do anything wrong, but was shown the door anyway. The situation was patched up, thankfully, over the past year which I encouraged him to do. He died at peace with everything in his life. …. There will never be another.
8 – NFL WEEK 7: It was a fun Sunday. The Raiders were humbled 35-21 by the LA Rams and have now lost four in a row. Fortunately, they’ve got the Jets next. … Speaking of, the Gotham Green’s 28-25 loss to Miami was, they’re saying, the worst loss in Jets history. … Only the Vikings are unbeaten now after the Chiefs lost at Seattle, and the 49ers lost at Atlanta. … The Dallas Cowboys visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football to close Week 7. That one doesn’t need to be close. … Oh, and as for the Joe Buck/Troy Aikman drama? Troy found out late that we live in the “Every man for himself” era of the sports, media, & sports media business. (See: Ron & Don) … Hey, I don’t make the rules …
9 – COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 8: It was another wild Saturday, highlighted by UCF’s stunning 39-31 double-overtime upset of No. 2 BYU and Cincinnati’s 37-24 takedown of No. 8 Texas Tech, dealing major blows to the Big 12’s College Football Playoff hopes. No. 1 Miami continued its dominant run with a 52-23 rout of Pittsburgh. Texas rallied to defeat No. 7 Ole Miss 34-27 in a game where Arch Manning shrugged off the heat and lived up to form. Minnesota edged No. 15 Iowa 13-10, and Wisconsin knocked off No. 16 USC 24-7, ensuring the playoff picture will undergo another major shake-up. Oh, and LSU clobbered Auburn 38-17. #1 CFL Draft prospect Ty Benefield notched three tackles and a sack for the Tigers.
10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: For now, TransCanada supremacy belongs to the Regina Pats who flattened the Moose Jaw Warriors 6-2 Friday in the Brandt Centre. Loving the free broadcasts on YouTube. We’re a long ways from the Pack The Dome days, but it looked fun in there. … The Memorial Cup will be played in Guelph, ON. … The Saskatoon Hilltops-forgetting-the-trophy story just looks bad all the way around. Be better. … Still trying to figure out which one of my friends Saul Goodman reminds me of. But it’s haunting. Any ideas? … There’s a guy in Regina who looks just like Nick Lachey. Our kids went to the same school. … Enjoy poisons admiration. … The only one who likes change is a baby. … Would you buy a used couch? … Stop looking at things that upset you. … A mischievous monkey reportedly escaped in a Spirit Halloween store in Plano, TX, causing chaos before eventually being lured with a cookie. The pesky primate reportedly escaped from its owner inside the Halloween-themed store after being frightened by a moving spooky decoration. The monkey climbed into the rafters and swung around for about 30 minutes before its owner lured it back with a cookie. Nobody was hurt in the incident. … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?
Y’er welcome,
RP
