If you watched the Wendy's Kick for a Million contestant Friday night, tell me you didn't have to feel some kind of sympathy for Steven Olson. The 25 year old walked out on the Skydome turf thinking he could be Canada's next millionaire and he couldn't wait to walk off that turf and sink back into anonymity.
Nerves got into Olson big-time. You could see his Fruit of the Looms start to tighten when he was being interviewed by TSN's Sheri Forde late in the first half. It didn't get any better. Olson shanked his 20 yard attempt and the look on his face was one of pure panic after that. I think he thought he would win the 20 yard prize of a home entertainment system and maybe have a shot at a new car if successful from 30 yards out, but striking from 40 and from 50 would have been a longshot. That longshot became longer when he shanked the 20 yarder. He was rattled and it showed. If he could have left after that 20 yard kick, he would have.
On the surface, it would appear as if Olson embarassed himself on this night, but could you stand there in a stadium with 25-30 thousand people watching you and then mocking you when you missed the first one.
Olson gets his 15 minutes of fame, he gets a 30-thousand dollar cheque and he goes home with orders likely for this night to never be mentioned again.
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Hamilton beat Toronto in CFL play on Friday night and that was no surprise while Calgary beat what was a lethargic looking Edmonton squad. What has happened to the Edmonton offence? Why did they change offensive co-ordinators because it appears to me as if they were better under Rick Worman then they are under Kevin Strasser. Ricky Ray isn't anywhere near his lethal self. He seems reluctant to throw the deep ball and just wants to throw 5-10 yard passes. You won't win in this league doing that on a constant basis. Is the last deep ball Ray threw the bomb to Maurice Mann that won them that game here a few weeks ago? Ray is taking a lot of heat for his performance this year, but he is only calling the plays given to him. Richie Hall has a long winter in front of him as he rebuilds this team.
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With Calgary winning, it puts the pressure on the Riders to hold serve so that the two teams remain tied for 1st with some distance being put between themselves and the Lions. I can't wait for this one as I think its going to be another ring-a-ding-dong dandy between the two clubs. They have played many close games over the years and I would expect this one to be the same. A one-sided Riders win would certainly strike a message across the league and it could happen, but I can't see this game being a runaway for either team. It will be interesting to see what type of afternoon both Darian Durant and Wes Cates have. Durant has been lights out against the other CFL teams, but the Lions have gotten the better of him this year. B.C. has also had a tough time stopping the run----except for when playing Saskatchewan. If Durant and Cates are solid, Saskatchewan wins. If they aren't, there will be a lot of anger across Saskatchewan Saturday night.
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The NFL goes to England this weekend with the Patriots and Tampa playing at Wembley Stadium. The league has played one game a year in England over the last few years and now NFL commish Roger Goodell says they are considering playing multiple games a year in England. Goodell is ruining a good thing. Fans of the NFL in Britain will pay for one game a year, but I don't think they will pay for 3-4 games---especially if a couple of them are dogs. Just leave things the way they are Mr. Goodell.
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Speaking of the NFL, weekly picks have not gone up yet. The reason being I am waiting for two members of the posse to submit theirs and I may not get them until after the Rider game. However, I couldn't help but notice Faith Hill is making weekly NFL picks on the NBC website. I guess she gets some perks for singing the theme song for the NFL on NBC.(Damn, she looks good doing it too---I love the boots!!!)Anyhoo, Faith is 64-26 on the season. If we put Faith into our group, she would be sitting in 2nd just behind Vanstone. She's doing way better than me---I'm 58-32. SIGHHHHHH!!!! Maybe I need Martina McBride to make my picks.
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2 comments:
Its hard to believe Edmonton beat us twice after looking so bad last night. What has happened to Ray? He seems hesitant to want throw anything more than 15 yards. I wonder if his shoulder is bothering him.
Darrell
That guy was dropping a pile of Baconators if you know what I mean. WOW!! He still got 30-grand, but it was embarassing for him. His buddies will never let him forget that.
peter dalla riva
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