Rams Send Message

The University of Regina Rams aren't expected by some to do very well this Canada West season. As I said yesterday, the Rams might not be in the same class as defending conference champ Calgary, but they should be able to make some noise in 2010. They were last night. The Rams pummelled Manitoba 45-11 at Mosaic. The defence was huge as they scored three touchdowns---one on a fumble return, two on interception returns.
One could take away from this game that the Bisons are the 1st Winnipeg based team to get clobbered on Mosaic turf this weekend.
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So, how good of a football team are the Montreal Alouettes without Anthony Calvillo. We found out in a big hurry last night what happens when the oil is taken out of the Montreal engine. Chris Leak was horrible and B.C walked away with a convincing 38-17 win. How bad was it for Montreal? They got burned on a fake punt as Paul McCallum succesfully did what he couldn't do when he tried it against the Riders in Week 2 by running for a first down. Watching the play seemed to take about 3 years.
Say what you will about BC's struggles, but with Martell Mallett and Ricky Foley getting cut by their respective NFL teams, they could turn it around in the 2nd half if those guys come back.
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A lot of discussion in Riderville about Stevie Baggs and Rey Williams now that both have been cut by their NFL teams. Can the Riders afford Baggs? Do they want him back? If he does come back, who comes off the active roster. Baggs may not be back though as I'm sure if someone offers him one more dollar than the Riders that he will go there. As for Williams, he has to come back to Riderville if he can't hook on with another NFL team. Would Rey move outside if he had to or would Barrin Simpson. Questions, questions, questions.
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Have you seen the hatchet job done on hockey by USA Today when it comes to current Washington National and former Regina Pat Nyjer Morgan. He has gone a little cuckoo over the past couple of weeks and has been given an eight game suspension by MLB for inciting a couple of incidents. Here's an excerpt....

A young Morgan was taken with the sport after watching the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary, and pestered his parents to play the game until he was able to snag a tryout with the British Columbia Hockey League's Vernon Vipers as a 16-year-old.

He didn't make the team, but bounced around several other clubs in the low Canadian minors until hooking on with the Regina Pats of the famed Western Canadian Hockey League in 1999.

Even now, the WCHL carries with it a reputation of making the tough players tougher and weeding out the rest. Morgan was no exception. He not only had to fight to keep his spot on the team, but also had to fend off cuture shock and prejudice; after all, he was (an African-American) trying to make his way in a sport that is predominantly Caucasian, in a league that is primarily Canadian, and in Regina, Saskatchewan -- a bastion of lily-whiteness in the most lily-white of Canadian regions: the Prairies.

Adds Herpen, perhaps most tellingly:

The Regina Pats also carry with them a tradition of sending cementheads to the pros, guys who at one time might have been able to make a mark playing the game, but who were molded at this step into enforcers ...

HA HA HA HA!!!

By the way ask yourself how many major league brawls have you seen this year and start comparing that to how many hockey brawls you have seen lately. Thank you! Then again, baseball fights might be the worst example of a fight going and when it does happen, it automatically clears the benches unlike hockey.
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Last, but certainly not least. Make sure you see the 100 year Rider supplement that Rob Vanstone and the crew at the Leader-Post have put together today. It once again proves why the Leader-Post has the best sports department in all of Canada. Rob Vanstone and his motley crew of individuals have outdone themselves. If you are a Rider fan and you don't get an L-P where you read this, find someone to get you a copy. Its a keeper!!
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Thanks for reading!