An Interesting Friday

I'm not going to lie to you, I knew I was doing "The Sportscage" on 620 CKRM Friday afternoon because Rod Pedersen is in Minneapolis (check out his blog for sordid details of that trip). As I drove to the mighty Harvard headquarters, I knew that Scott Schultz and I would be talking about the Kavis Reed hiring in Edmonton, but what else would we discuss on "Four Seasons Football Friday". I knew the old 96er would want to talk UFC, but was there enough happening in the CFL to get through two hours. Could we yap about the NFL and would the callers engage in. My how things can change.

Just after getting there at 230, I discovered Andy Fantuz would be working out for NFL teams which is something Schultzy confirmed in a text message to Andy, I learned of the Carter Ashton trade to Tri-Cities and voila, I had two good hours of radio. I gotta tell you that there weren't many nights when I walked out of the CJME studio saying that was a good two hours for various reasons, but I walked out of the CKRM studios into the chilly night saying that was a good show. That was reinforced by a couple of people that e-mailed or texted me after the show.

I'll be filling in for Rod quite a bit over the rest of the month. I know the other shows won't piece together as nicely, but it would be nice if they could.
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My phone went off several times while at High Impact Wrestling Friday night. People wanting to know how "The Honky Tonk Man" was looking. Alas, Honky wasn't there. After performing in Red Deer earlier this week, Honky received a call saying he was needed at home for something so he was a no show for his scheduled Regina performance which was disappointing. The fact Rob Vanstone bailed on me alleging "sickness" was also disappointing, but his absence was more than made up by the presence of one of Regina's leading citizens who likely wishes to remain anonymous to preserve his reputation. He learned what High Impact is all about and he will have some of his cronies for the January show. That could be a night no one forgets!
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How many different jerseys do the Moose Jaw Warriors have. They are starting to look like the Pats when it comes to third and fourth and fifth jerseys. How often have they trotted out the ones they had against Kootenay on Friday.
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Good on Chad Lang for trading Carter Ashton. He could have waited, but he wanted a couple of bodies to be in the lineup for the team when Ashton was at the World Junior camp. You might remember that not having guys like Jordan Eberle and Colten Teubert hurt the team the last two years. Lang also recouped what Brent Parker gave away when he pried Ashton from the Lethbridge Hurricanes last year as three picks in the bantam draft were also acquired from the Tri-Cities Americans. Is Chad done? I don't think he is. Has the white flag been put up? I don't know, but the team simply can't do what it did Friday night. I don't care if you are a good hockey team or a bad hockey team. When you are up 3-0 on a team after 40 minutes, you can't lose. However, the Pats did that dropping a 4-3 overtime decision to the Hitmen. Losing a point is valuable when you are fighting for one of those final spots. That's simply unacceptable. This team has to learn how to win, but it seems as if they have losing big leads downpat as I don't think that is the first time this year they have let one get away that they should have had.
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The Tampa Bay Lightning are crying about last nite's shootout loss to Edmonton and I really don't know why. They don't like what Linus Omark did. Take a look....



The Lightning didn't like the spinnarama at center ice. I guess its OK though when a guy does it at the crease. CMON!!!

With Omark in the Oiler lineup, it truly does spell HOPE (Hall, Omark, Paajarvi and Eberle). Speaking of which, take a look at Jordan's goal in the shootout. LOVE IT!!!!
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I had to wonder how Kamloops Blazers play by play man Jon Keen felt Friday night. It was his new team against his old team as the Swift Current Broncos came to town. I imagine the feelings will be a little different when the Blazers bus rolls into Swift Current next year.
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I know I've harped on this in the past, and I understand the reasons as to why each team no longer comes to each team's building, but I would still like to say every WHL team come into Saskatchewan instead of seeing them once every two years. Fans in Saskatchewan deserve to see the Giants, Blazers, Cougars, etc. etc. etc much like fans in the U-S deserve to see the Pats, Blades, Warriors, etc. etc every year.
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A Winnipeg columnist has suggested Jason Clermont will take his trade to the Bombers next season because he is tired of being a backup in Saskatchewan. If Jason wants to go to the Bombers that's fine, but I don't think he wants to leave Regina and his family behind after just getting here. JC has a role on this team and he plays it well. I don't think he is going anywhere unless the team says they have no desire to keep him. If that is the case and JC still has that itch to play, then I say go for it.
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I hope GSP destroys Josh Koscheck tonight. I can't wait for this one!
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Markus Naslund gets his number retired by the Canucks tonight. Nothing against Markus Naslund, but really? I can think of a few Canucks whose jerseys you might want to retire before Naslund's. I couldn't stand the guy when he played, but retiring Naslund's jersey before Pavel Bure. CMON.
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What's the most popular word that begins with F and ends with K. If you said Facebook, congratulations. What other word were you thinking about?
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Have a good weekend. If you are venturing out into the malls to do Xmas shopping, good luck!