THE WEDNESDAY THRILLER … WITH PHIL ANDREWS

Voice of the Pats Phil Andrews

The roof is falling in Rider Nation. Everyone I talk to, hear on the radio, you name it, is unhappy with the team’s 1-2 start. Granted the team has not looked championship calibre in the opening three games but I for one am not ready to push the panic button. As the management and coaches have said, these problems are fixable and I will bet they will get them figured out.

It will be very interesting to see who starts at running back after the bye week. Will it be Anthony Allen or High Charles? Or will Jerome Messam, Will Ford or Keith Toston get a chance? Ford has yet to sign with the team but I expect it won’t be long until the announcement comes.

Really glad that people are leaving Darian Durant alone in this two game slide. Can’t blame him for what’s happened in my opinion.

I don’t expect Eron Riley to be around for too much longer. Too many mistakes.

Anyone else looking forward to having Dwight Anderson play at Mosaic as an Argo next Saturday? Should be fun.

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Who would have thought that in Week 4 the Edmonton Eskimos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers would be undefeated going into a game against each other. I’m going to pick the Eskimos in this one but I did not see their hot start coming. But again its still early, last year the Riders were 8-1 to start and finished second in the West Division. Lot of football left.

Chad Owens won’t play Friday against the Ottawa RedBlacks. He has suffered a left foot injury and could be out for three weeks. That’s as big of a blow as it comes on offense. Ricky Ray will certainly miss him.

I was so happy seeing Chad Johnson catch his first CFL touchdown last week. Not as happy as he seemed to be, hugging the referee afterwards. However I have always been an Ocho fan so I hope he finds his groove in this league.

No surprise B.C. running back Andrew Harris was named offensive and Canadian player of the week. He was fantastic on Saturday at Mosaic.

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This is a pretty cool story: Former Regina Thunder receiver Brandon Sieber has won 5,000 dollars in the BMO 1st Art Student art competition. His painting titled ‘Transcendence’ (below) won the award and will be displayed this fall at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto and will be featured in a magazine. Sieber is a U of R grad and will be continuing his education this fall at UBC in architecture.

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Some WHL news on Tuesday. The Prince George Cougars hired Todd Harkins as their fifth General Manager in franchise history. Harkins was serving as interim GM since May.

Bryan Maxwell is returning to the Lethbridge Hurricanes as an assistant coach. Maxwell coached the Canes from 95-03 previously. He was the WHL coach of the year with the Spokane Chiefs in 91/92.

Regina Pats forward Dryden Hunt will be attending the Carolina Hurricanes Development Camp later this month. Hunt went undrafted in June.

No news yet on the Pats coaching situation but I can’t imagine it will be much longer.

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I think most people will agree with me that the Home Run Derby on Monday night might have been the worst ever.  Usually I quite enjoy the spectacle but this year’s format change really didn’t work out. The fact that Reds slugger Todd Frazier was in the final against the A’s Yeonis Cespedes was a joke. The guy hit one home run in the semi final. Also there is no way a batter should have to wait almost two hours between at bats. As usual the American League proved they are way better at hitting home runs.

The All-Star game itself however was much better. Derek Jeter went 2/2 and got some love from the fans and players in attendance. The stars came to play Tuesday night. Miguel Cabrera hit a two run homer and Mike Trout had two extra base hits. The American League got the win 5-3 in a very entertaining baseball game. Major League Baseball does the All-Star game better than any league in my opinion.

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Only 50 more days until the start of the NFL season! I predict a Packers win over the defending champion Seahawks in the Thursday night game. I’ve got the itch for Sundays and fantasy football.

That’s it from me, have a good week!

Phil
@PhilTheThrill18