Something To Mitch" About

What did I learn this weekend?  Here ya go


1.  Like it will soon be for school kids across Regina, summer vacation is over.  The Riders have exhausted not one bye week, but both and now we will see them in action the rest of the way. As they did the first time, the team went off on its bye week feeling good about themselves after a win. That was followed up by a less than ideal effort in Calgary.  If the Riders are going to be serious about this season and take a run at the teams ahead of them, they need to compete on the road and that starts Friday at Commonwealth. That isn't a surprise, but it is a message which hasn't seemed to get through this year. 

2. John Chick is an Eskimo? I had to do a double-take when I saw that Sunday morning. The injuries to the Edmonton defense are obviously starting to affect what they do. Andrew Harris had his way with the Edmonton D thanks to an offensive line that dominated a group of mostly second-stringers. Chick helps, but an inside presence might have been a better acquisition.

3.  The Bombers may be 6-2. They may be getting Weston Dressler to do radio ads for the Banjo Bowl saying they don't want to see any green in the stands (that one hurts), and they are puffing their chest out saying they have the loudest fans in the CFL. Puhleez!!! It's time to end this charade once and for all.  Can we get some noise-meters at both IGF and Mosaic Stadium and see just what fan-base does have a louder crowd? Can it be done for the Labour Day Classic and the Banjo Bowl?  Maybe it should be done at a time when both teams are playing someone else.  However you do it, and whatever way you do it, let's just end this with Rider Nation coming out on top the way I know they can.

4. Bo Levi Mitchell doesn't look right. The Calgary quarterback seemed to be very content in just throwing the football while doing no running against the Lions. It showed as he was very ordinary in the victory over BC.  There were whisperings a couple of weeks ago that the CFL's MOP last year was not 100 percent.  That may have been evident with his play against BC in a game I thought Calgary was very fortunate to win.

5. I was asked again on the weekend if the Ti-Cats could go 0-18 this season.  I don't think they will do that, but I wouldn't make a big bet on that. They look horrible! Brandon Banks found himself behind the Ottawa defence Friday and dropped what would have been an easy six. That play killed the Tabbies as it was all REDBLACKS after that.  I can't even think about what is being said by Kent Austin behind closed doors. I'm guessing it isn't PG-13 though.
 
6. I thought the Argos-Montreal game started at 5 on Saturday and not 2. Evidently, the Alouettes thought the same thing.

7. After missing the first Seahawks pre-season game due to the Rider-BC game, I sat back and saw the dismantle the Vikings at CLink on Friday.  Yes, it's pre-season, but Russell Wilson looks sharp which shouldn't be a surprise.  Can I just pencil them in as NFC West champs now?  Can't wait for Week 1 at Lambeau against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.  Both teams have found it tough over the years to win at the other guys place. That is going to be the game of Week 1 for this guy, and Week 1 is getting closer and closer. That is a good thing!

8. Baseball has opened up a real can of worms.  Umpire Joe West was suspended for three games for criticizing Texas' Adrian Beltre earlier this week.  However, when Detroit's Ian Kinsler criticized controversial ump Angel Hernandez saying he is ruining the game and that he should find another career-choice, he only got fined. What is the difference here?  Hernandez is an embarassment to his profession, but if you are going to suspend an ump for being critical of a player, don't you have to do the same when its the other way around. The umps went to wearing white wristbands to protest the fact Kinsler wasn't suspended. Maybe if the umps did a better job of policing themselves this wouldn't be an issue. West shouldn't have been suspended, but Hernandez shouldn't be on a major league field.

9. Sunday's bottom of the 10th inning at Wrigley Field was beautiful.  Just beautiful. Yes, it was! On another note, you can't say the Blue Jays don't have a solid crew that follows them. There was a lot of blue at Wrigley this weekend much like there is when the Jays visit Seattle and Minneapolis. During Friday's broadcast, Cubs p x p man Len Kasper (who was much better to listen to than Buck Martinez all weekend) said this series was basically sold-out the moment the schedule came out and that the only series that sold out quicker was the first St. Louis visit.  Too bad for those Jays fans that they made three visits to Wrigley and didn't see one win. I know I'm heartbroken. HEE HEEEEE!!

10. The poor Edmonton Wildcats. The poor, poor Edmonton Wildcats.  That's what you get when you play a Thunder team that is po'ed.  That my friends was downtown ugly!

11. Grown men are not supposed to do to their bodies what Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe did at the main event of Summerslam. Scripted or not, that will leave some marks.

12. Pats rookie camp starts today. Main camp starts in just a few days. Summer is coming to an end. Where did it go?