Closer and Closer to Kickoff

Friday is here! Many Rider fans have already arrived in Calgary, and many more are on their way. I'm sure Riderville is already established as the place to be again. I'm sure that 90 percent if not more of the Rider Nation that will come back to Saskatchewan on Monday will be infected with the H1 We Won Flu. I gotta give credit for that line to my good buddy Tom (Mongo) Pura in Grande Prairie. He is a huge Rider fan and has been ever since I first got to know him when I was in Peace River.
Knowing what a huge Rider fan he was, I phoned him from the Rogers Centre turf in 2007 after it was all over. I knew he was going through every emotion I was. It was something that had to be done. Mongo, let it be known right now that you and I are convening in Riderville at Grey Cup 2010 in Edmonton. Its been way too long since we had a cold one or two.
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While many people are arriving in Calgary, one person is leaving and I don't really understand it. That person would be another good friend of mine---the one and only Rod Pedersen. With the Pats on the West Coast trip, Rod is leaving to do games tonight and tomorrow before flying back into Calgary Sunday morning to do the first half of the football game. I don't know the rhyme, the reason or the rationale for this, but certainly Dan Plaster could have done the weekend games thus allowing RP to get ready for calling what I am guessing is the 2nd biggest game of his life. I'm also a little confused with the radio broadcast for Sunday's game. RP will bring the nation the first half of the game with Carm on radio stations across Canada with Rick Moffat (the Alouettes p x p guy) doing the 2nd half. This is dumb! Nothing against Rod or Rick, but the play-by-play guy should be given the opportunity to do the whole game to his home audience. There are Rider fans out there that have the last call of the 2007 Cup from RP. That's a piece of history right there. If the Riders win on Sunday, I don't want Rick Moffat telling me that. Nothing against Rick, but it would be the same if it was Rick Ball in Vancouver, Mark Stephen in Calgary or the legendary voices of Bryan Hall in Edmonton or Bob Irving in Winnipeg. I would want Rod. On the flip side, do you think Alouette fans want to hear Rod Pedersen telling the country that the Alouettes have won? Stupid idea! On Rod's blog this morning, I told him if the Riders are winning and there are three minutes left to yank the national feed and do the rest of the game from somewhere on his cellphone. He deserves his moment. If I'm ruffling some feathers with these statements, well sorry, but that is how I feel. Its tough enough for Rod to get yanked and pulled every which way from the time Pats training camp starts until Rider season ends and this situation doesn't make it any easier. By the way, Rod knows how I feel on the topic because I have told him several times and vice-versa.
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Jamie Nye had David Braley on "Sportsnight" last night. I would have liked his chances at getting Elisha Cuthbert on better than having Braley on. Good work son! I haven't heard the phrase "Someone shoot me now" uttered yet on the show like it was in 2007. That's a story I'm not even going to get started with.
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It was NFL football on a Thursday, but the games were a major league disappointment. Yes, I shouldn't have been expecting exciting football with the likes of the Lions and Raiders playing, but CMON MAN! Even the Giants-Denver game was disappointing. What has happened to the Giants anyways? The best game of the day was the college game between Texas and Texas A and M.
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I think its great that another big time curling event is coming to Regina. We have shown we can host things like the Scotties and the Brier. Those events are I think bigger than a Worlds Men Championship because of the atmosphere that surrounds both events---especially the Brier, but having a Worlds here is impressive. Regina will do a great job in hosting this event. If anyone on the organizing committee is reading this, I am more than willing to help in anyway possible. It would be outstanding if Saskatchewan could end its Brier jinx in 2011 wouldn't it.
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If you are going to Calgary, have a great time win or lose. The Grey Cup is a special event because it does bring people together from across this great country of ours. Its even more special when the Riders are involved. I don't have to tell many of you what 2007 was like in Toronto. Get there safe and get back home safe as there are many stories that will be told. Hopefully one of them is saying you were in McMahon when the Riders won the Cup. Yes, Montreal is a very strong team and they have this mindset to kick our ass after what happened last year, but this is also a team that told me there was no way on earth that Calgary was coming into their stadium to beat them in the big game.
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One last thing. Congratulations to John Chick! I laughed yesterday when Henry Burris told Michael Landsberg that Chick was the biggest trash talker on the team. He wouldn't have been in my top 5. Having said that, if you go back to the Western final if you have it on tape, I think its in the first quarter, Burris makes a throw to Nik Lewis just before he gets pushed to the turf by Chick. On the endzone replay, you can see Chick standing over Burris just chirping at him.
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Just one thought. Who are they cheering for in Gravelbourg this weekend?