Summer is here! At least for the kids it is. My 7 year old daughter's last day of school is Tuesday and then its
two months off. A kids delight and a parents nightmare. Many of you know exactly what I am talking about. By the way, the forecast calls for a high of 29 on Tuesday and 32 on Wednesday. 32??!!
Another sign that summer is here. The Riders have officially started preparing for Sunday's season opener against the Edmonton Eskimos in a 5 o'clock start at Mosaic Stadium. That's a weird start time for a Sunday night game, but I'm guessing TSN must have something on the grid for Sunday afternoon that delays kickoff. I'm sure those that are from out of town and have a few hours to drive won't be impressed with the late start, but you know they will be there. As I've said before, I don't think there is a perfect time for a Rider home game, but no matter the time, everyone shows up.
The question of the weekend when it came to the Riders were two-fold. 1)Have we picked up a kicker yet and 2) Why didn't the team keep Byron Bullock. To answer those 1) No, they haven't picked up a kicker and it looks like the job may belong to rookie Christopher Milo to start the season off. I am guessing the Riders were hoping a kicker would be cut like Damon Duval or Sandro DeAngelis, but teams kept their kickers around so it won't be happening. We've been spoiled in Saskatchewan over the past many years when it comes to kickers. We went from Dave Ridgway to Paul McCallum to Luca Congi. I can't remember if Congi struggled when he first came to Saskatchewan, but I'm sure he struggled a little. Perhaps we should give Milo a little rope. Some will want him to hang from that rope if he misses a couple of field goals against the Eskimos and they should lose, but you know what I mean. As for Byron Bullock, he obviously wasn't good enough to keep. If it hadn't have been Bullock, it would have been Kye Stewart or perhaps rookie sensation Chris Graham and there still would have been squawking, Bullock will re-surface in the CFL.
Speaking of re-surfacing, I just laughed when CKRM Sportscage contributor Sportsnet's Arash Madani broke the news that Michael Bishop was about to return to the CFL with Calgary. The Stamps need a quarterback after Drew Tate suffered a shoulder injury. Is there really no one out there that is better than Michael Bishop? Can Danny MacManus not be pried out of retirement? Can Khari Jones be offered a contract. Would Danny Barrett like to put the helmet on again.? Can the Stampeders not find another quarterback like a Chris Leak to come in for a couple of weeks. I'd rather have Marc Mueller than Michael Bishop. Its a little insulting to Canadian quarterback Brad Sinopoli as well seeing the Stamps want him to stay at #3. Give him a chance as a backup. Whatever, its not the Riders problem.
Ryan Smyth is an Oiler again and there is a lot of joy. My joy is tempered somewhat. There's no doubt that Smitty is on the downside of what's been a good career. What does he have left in the tank? He will be great for the young guys in the room, but can he be a 50 point guy. I hope so. Speaking of the Oilers, I am surprised that Andrew Cogliano and Ales Hemsky are still a part of the hockey team. I thought they would have been traded on draft weekend.
Sportsnet's Doug MacLean was saying on the weekend that some players aren't too happy with what the San Jose Sharks did to Devin Setoguchi. That is sign him to a new contract and then trade him away. I ask those players this question. If its not fair for a team to turn around and trade someone after signing them to a new contract, is it not fair for a player to say no to a trade because they have a no-trade clause in their contract? If the players association brings this up at some point, I hope the league fires the no-trade clause right back in their face.
How the weather can turn! I went to the Red Sox game yesterday and it was great when I left the house. The sun was out, there was a light breeze and it was a good day for a ball game. All of a sudden, the clouds came in, the sun disappeared, the wind picked up and it started to rain sending several home way too early. By 5 o'clock, it was once again a very pleasant afternoon.
Canada's womens soccer team is a treat to watch. Perhaps more attention should be paid to them than the mens team that seemingly has no hope in the near future at going to a World Cup!
Tims Souvlaki in the Golden Mile remains a secret. The souvlaki, fries and caesar salad is great eatin. If Tims was located in the Southland, I'm guessing there would be several long lineups for his staff to deal with. Speaking of the Southland, when is the Zellers store in there going to open?
I don't know what the pitching rotation looks like for this weekend, but both Roy Halladay and Ricky Romero pitched yesterday. Halladay makes his return to Toronto as the Phillies come into town for games Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I would love to see Halladay go up against Romero as that would be a sensational matchup.
Housework can't kill you, but why take a chance?
3 comments:
If you think having your kids for two months in the summer is a parents worst nightmare, maybe we should pay teachers more for the job they do.
How about teachers just doing the job they're supposed to do and shut up over wages. If you don't like what you're getting paid, get another job loser!!!
All the public servants are now accepting 5.5% over 3 years. The teachers and those health people have screwed themselves with their union boss's nonsense. Even the 3,200 SaskTel and 1700 SaskPower employees just signed 5.5% over 3. 13,000 governement department workers also signed 3 year 5.5% a couple years ago. Teachers out on an island by themselves now. Maybe they'll lock them out for first couple months in the fall. Make it 4 months without pay and see if a 5.5% raise sounds good then.
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