Saturday, November 21, 2009

The Calm Before The Storm


Yes the picture is a little dark, but here is Mosaic Stadium just 24 hours before it hosts its biggest football game as far as Rider fans are concerned in 33 years. The team was surprisingly loose in its pre-game walkthrough. They are ready for tomorrow. As Darian Durant says, "You can't get too uptight. We know the stakes are huge, but at the same time you have to realize that if you are going to get to the Grey Cup, you have to take the same approach that you have taken every other game this year to get to this spot. Just treat it like any other game because when it comes right down to it, that’s what it is." I can't argue with that statement.

If I have said it once, I will say it again. There is no better sports department in Canada than the one at the Regina Leader-Post. Proof positive is the two Rider supplements in Saturday's paper to get you ready for the big game. Is there any angle that was not covered? The thing is they will duplicate it and probably better it should the Riders win tomorrow as they will have to do it all again for next week's paper. Some fans gave guys like Rob Vanstone and Murray McCormick some grief for what they write sometimes. I understand that frustration at times and at times I don't, but what I do know is that Rob, Murray, Ian Hamilton, Tim Switzer and Greg Harder have once again outdone themselves. Reginans should be very fortunate to have this group covering sports for them that you can read on a day-to-day basis. They are one of the reasons why sports plays such an important part of the fabric that makes this city so great.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Top Secret Footage From Calgary

The Stampeders are ready for Sunday. Take a look!!

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Thanks to my good friend Tyler McMurchy for this. You can check out his unique views on the world at http://tymcm.blogspot.com/. I think you'll agree with me when I say I don't think Hank has ever looked better.

When Nice Gestures Go Bad

Ducks d-man Scott Niedermayer was named the first star in last night's 4-3 win over Tampa Bay. Scott had a plan to give his stick away, but as you will see things didn't go as planned.

Could Riders Have Been Reaching For Dynasty Status?

As the Riders prepare to play the Stampeders in Sunday's Western final, I am left to wonder if this football team couldn't be going for its 3rd straight Grey Cup had it not been for the disastrous run of injuries that struck in 2008.

As has been previously discussed on this blog, I believe Ken Miller should have been the CFL Coach of the Year in 2008 for guiding a team that no one thought could come close to repeating after losing Kent Austin to Ole Miss and trading Kerry Joseph to Toronto. Add to that the many devastating injuries the football team had yet Miller still coaxed 12 wins out of a football team with a lineup that on many occasions was no where close to its strongest.

What would have happened in 2008 had guys like (take a deep breath) Darian Durant, Matt Dominguez, DJ Flick, Andy Fantuz, John Chick, Belton Johnson and Jeremy O'Day had not spent a significant amount of time on the injury list. We will never know the answer to that question, but it does make one wonder what if. Could it have prevented the Riders from perhaps going for their 3rd straight Coupe de Grey. There's something you can debate over the weekend as it will kill some time before kickoff.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

It Should Happen, But It Won't

While all of us in Saskatchewan are on pins and needles awaiting the Western final, those that follow "football" or soccer as we know it continue to discuss the highly controversial ending between Ireland and France. In a game where the winner would go to the World Cup, France won on a goal in which there were two egregious errors by the referees. First, two members of the French side were offside which should have blown the play dead, and then a French player was seen to have touched the ball with his hand which is a no-no(or in this case a non-non). They are furious in Ireland and they should be. This call possibly prevented the Irish from completing a major upset and advancing to only their 2nd World Cup. They want FIFA(soccer's governing body) to order a replay of the game. It won't happen. As tough a call as that is, it is the right thing.

Ireland's soccer team would not be the first team to be screwed over because of bad officiating. The Seahawks might have won Super Bowl 40, Brett Hull may not have scored a Stanley Cup winning goal, the Riders would have won instead of tying Calgary this year.
You can cry and complain about it all you want(and Irish soccer fans have every right to), but the game is over and you can't change that. The result has been booked. If teams were given the right to force replays, it would just cause chaos. There is no doubt Ireland gets the short end of the boot in this situation, but they are just going to have to learn to live with it and have the events of their game forever played in infamy.
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Ricky Williams looked like the Ricky Williams of old last night in a win over Carolina. Was he officially classified as a bust in the CFL. Injuries certainly didn't help him in his one year stint in Toronto. Remember the outlandish claims that were made when he first signed up here as to how many yards and touchdowns he was going to score. All of it coming from people who just didn't know how good the CFL is. It was nice to see Cam Wake get some props from the NFL Network play by play guys. I get the feeling Wake is going to be a real force for the Dolphins next year. He should become a starter taking over for either the mouthy Joey Porter or perhaps a retiring Jason Taylor.
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A question was asked of me yesterday regarding our new stadium. The question being is whether or not the layout of the building would make it conducive to try and lure a minor league baseball team here. That's a great question! I know the Northern League would consider Regina if some improvements were made to Currie Field. A stadium with a retractable roof would certainly make Currie Field obsolete if there was room for baseball in it. However, getting a Northern League team in here or even a Pioneer League team might be disastrous for the Regina Red Sox.
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Rumour has it 30-thousand thundersticks are going to be handed out to people coming into Mosaic on Sunday. All I can say is have fun Henry! If you thought it was loud before. Maybe the thundersticks will be loud enough to drown out the guy who sits under the press box and yells "HOLDING" on seemingly every offensive play run by the opposition or "NO YARDS" on every opposition punt. Someone should really break it to this guy that the other team doesn't break the rules on EVERY play.
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Leaf fans I just have one question to ask you. Have you given up yet?

NFL Pix

Its getting tight going into Week 11 of the season. The standings are as such

Rob Vanstone 99-45
Mr. X 98-46
Derek Meyers 96-48
Lee Jones, Keith Colhoun, Moi 95-49

This week's games are

Miami @ Carolina
Indy @ Baltimore
Washington @ Dallas
Cleveland @ Detroit
San Fran @ Green Bay
Buffalo @ Jacksonville
Pittsburgh @ Kansas City
Seattle @ Minnesota
Atlanta @ Giants
New Orleans @ Tampa Bay
Arizona @ St. Louis
San Diego @ Denver
Jets @ New England
Cincinnati @ Oakland
Philly @ Chicago
Tennessee @ Houston

The picks

Vanstone: Carolina, Indy, Dallas, Detroit, GB, Jax, Pitts, Minnesota, Giants, NO, Ariz, Den, NE, Cin, Phil, Hous

Mr X: Carolina, Indy, Dallas, Detroit, GB, Jax, Pitts, Minnesota, Giants, NO, STL, SD, NE, Cin, Phil, Hous

Meyers: Miami, Indy, Dallas, Detroit, GB, Jax, Pitts, Minnesota, Atlanta, NO, Ariz, SD, NE, Cin, Phil, Hous

Colhoun: Miami, Indy, Dallas, Detroit, GB, Jax, Pitts, Minnesota, Atlanta, NO, Ariz, SD, NE, Cin, Chicago, Tennessee

Jones: Carolina, Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, GB, Jax, Pitts, Min, NYG, NO, Ariz, SD, NE, Cin, Chicago, Hous

Blair: Carolina, Indy, Dallas. Detroit, GB, Jax, Pitts, Minnesota, Giants, NO, Ariz, SD. NE, Cin, Phil, Hous

If Tobias Funke Had Directed Brett Favre's Wrangler Ads

If you have never watched the show "Arrested Development" than this post means absolutely nothing to you when it comes to the Tobias Funke reference. If you do know what I am talking about, you will enjoy this. Then again, maybe you will just cringe. Just watch the damn thing!