Oh How The Debate Changes

Just one Twitter from Sportsnet's Arash Madani caused the conversation to do a complete 180 in Saskatchewan on Saturday. The debate had centred on what the Riders would do with their two first round picks (2 and 4) in Sunday's CFL draft, but when Madani let us know that the Riders had secured the number one pick and would take Queens linebacker Shomari Williams along with acquiring the number eight pick from Toronto for numbers 2 and 4 and a veteran, the conversation changed. While many people guessed--and for good reason--that an offensive lineman was on their way to Toronto, many also debated just who the team will now look to grab at eight. Could it be Rams receiver Jordan Sisco? Will it be a defensive lineman? An offensive lineman? The best player on the board? We won't know the answer until the Riders pick at eight if they indeed do. There's nothing saying they couldn't trade down again or perhaps trade up.
Later news came out that the veteran player heading to the Argonauts was Jamie Boreham. This isn't really a surprise. Boreham is the most intense s-o-b you want to see on a football field. He is a punter trapped in a linebacker's body. His demeanour on the field is eventually what cost him his job in Saskatchewan, but fortunately not his career. The neck injury he suffered last year resulted in Louie Sakoda coming in and taking his job away. It didn't end his career though as he will get a chance to keep it going in Toronto. Good luck Jamie!
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The draft's drama has now been downgraded somewhat as we appear to know the first four picks. Williams will go first with Toronto then taking offensive lineman Joe Eppele. The Lions and Argos are then swapping picks with Toronto going at 3 and BC at 4(Did David Braley have anything to do with this?). The Argos will take linebacker Cory Greenwood(the guy I thought the Riders would take at 2) and then BC will take receiver Shawn Gore. Calgary is expected to take a kicker at 5, but no one really knows. Just a reminder, (as if I have to tell you) that TSN will have draft coverage starting at 10 AM our time.
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Was anyone watching ESPN's E:60 last night on TSN? They featured the longest and highest Par 3 in the world. Its some place in South Africa where you tee off from the top of a mountain. Its called the extreme 19th. It takes 26 seconds for the ball to hit the ground once you have hit. If anyone gets a hole in one, its worth a million bucks. Padraig Harrington is the only PGA player to have played the hole---a hole in which a helicopter takes you to the tee box. The guy in charge of the hole wants Tiger to play it to see what score he will get. Would you want to play that hole?
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Game 1 of the Bruins-Flyers series was tremendous. I don't know if I have seen a more exciting overtime period. I was starting to wonder if NBC's Mike Emrick was going to have an aneruysm as he called the O-T.( I love Emrick's call by the way)In the end, Boston won it 5-4 on Marc Savard's winner. You had to feel good for Savard (unless you're a Flyers fan) as it was his first game back since being crushed by Matt Cooke two months ago. It just dawned on me that we could see Boston and Pittsburgh in the East final. Have feelings over that hit waned any? Oh man, that could be a rugged battle.
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Game 1 of the Hawks-Canucks series was a disappointment(unless you're a Canucks fan). Vancouver came out flying in the opener and crushed what looked to be a disinterested Chicago team 5-1. Vancouver got a complete game from all four lines while Chicago never really seemed to get going. I expect a lot better performance from the home side in Game 2.
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The Penguins and Canadiens meet in Game 2 this afternoon in Pittsburgh. This is going to sound off the wall, but if I am the Habs, I start Carey Price. Jaroslav Halak has to be tired after saving Montreal in the first round with his back to back efforts in Games 6 and 7 against Washington. He didn't really have time to top up the tank as Montreal got right back into it Friday and it showed. Playing Sunday afternoon doesn't help his cause any. I would hope if your Jacques Martin that Price can steal one and then you have a healthy and revived Halak for Games 3 and 4 at home. That's just my two cents.
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Two sports that used to be popular were on centre-stage Saturday. Did anyone watch the Kentucky Derby? At one time, that used to be a big event. The same with boxing. I didn't hear a lot of hype over the Mayweather-Mosley fight....one that Floyd Mayweather won rather easily from all accounts. I know that boxing has been supplanted by MMA, but why is there no longer a lot of interest in horse racing? If there is interest, I'm not seeing it.
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The World's biggest garage sale went in Regina on Saturday. I have never been to that. Is it basically people trading in their crap for someone else's. I've never really understood the allure of the garage sale? How some people can make a weekend of it by going from place to place is beyond me! A few years ago, the wife and some girls she works with had one at our house. Come to my driveway and see what things are going to the dump if you don't buy them. I think together the four of them made around 200 dollars. As I watched people pull up and pick through everything, I just wondered why and if the next car would have Ricky, Julian and Bubbles in it.
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I watched Roy Halladay for the first time in a Phillies uniform on Saturday as he delivered a complete game 3 hitter against the Mets. It didn't look right seeing him in Philadelphia colours. It just didn't.
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Could Calgary win the WHL final in four straight? They have just looked to be a level or two higher than Tri-Cities in the first two games. Calgary took Game 2 4-1. They had back to Kennewick for Game 3 on Tuesday.
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The RBC opened up Saturday in Dauphin with the La Ronge Ice Wolves winning their first game. The SJHL champs beat Oakville 3-2 in overtime. Regina's Joel Danyluk was the star as he stopped 43 shots from the Ontario rep to keep his team in it.
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NFL commissioner Roger Goodell must just sit down and shake his head wondering what's next. He just gets finished dealing with a Super Bowl winning quarterback who has strayed off course by suspending Ben Roethlisberger for six games and now he has a Super Bowl coach to potentially deal with. A story out of New Orleans suggests Saints head coach Sean Payton has been stealing painkillers from the club's drug locker. On the surface, it just sounds like a disgruntled team employee is making up some stories, but its a story that investigators feel is worth taking a look at.
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I almost forgot to mention. If you want a great read on the CFL draft and if you want to follow along, check out this from the website CFLdaily.com.
http://www.cfldaily.com/DraftGuide.pdf
I don't know who is responsible for this site, but its a great one. If you do download that PDF, you will see that Kris Hadesbeck has done a tremendous write-up on the Riders. Kris is the son of Rider sideline guru Joe Hadesbeck. I now know where Joe gets his information. :)
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Enjoy the draft, but do me a favour. If you are about to become a parent, don't go naming your child Shomari. Let the guy establish himself first before doing that. Stay dry and have a good Sunday. Remember....
Great food is like great sex -the more you have the more you want.