Twitter came through big-time for me last night----or should I say my list of followers. There I was in Melfort at the Northern Lights Palace where the SJHL Presidents Tour was wrapping up and the snow was coming down and coming down hard. I knew snow was in the forecast for the region, but the reports I had seen earlier in the day were calling for the snow to start falling around midnight. Those same reports said Regina was to start getting snow in the early morning hours as well.
We left Melfort about 930 and it was not pleasant. It wasn't white-out, but it was close, and it was tough to see the lines on the highway. It was then that I asked the question "Is it snowing in the YQR?". It did not take long for the answers to come flooding in that it wasn't making us know that we could probably drive through this. About an hour later we did and it was clear sailing all the way home. To those who twittered in with the conditions, thanks a bunch!
I have been through Melfort on many a time, but yesterday was the first time I had spent significant time in the community for quite a while---and coincidentally, the last time I was there was to watch the Mustangs. It was 1996 and it was the first ever Royal Bank Cup being played. It went at the Northern Lights Palace and unfortunately for the host team, the tournament ended on a sour note as Melfort was beaten in the final 2-0 after basically owning the event in the round-robin. I don't think anyone from the area thought the Mustangs would lose to the Vernon Vipers in the final of that event as they walked in the rink that afternoon. They were in shock when it was over. What I still remember so vividly from that game is then Mustangs coach Kevin Dickie basically breaking down underneath the stands as he waited for the post-game press conference. Kevin just could not get his emotions under control after that game as he apologized to the town, the league and whoever for not being able to bring the trophy to Melfort. That was a long time ago, and I still remember it so well. Being back in that spot yesterday really brought the memories flooding back. One thing I did forget is that Kings defenceman Willie Mitchell played on that Melfort team that lost. I knew he was a Mustang, but I thought he was there after the RBC appearance.
The Presidents Tour is now over and I had a chance to meet a lot of good people that are connected with the various organizations over the past five weeks. It was a lot of travel, but it was worth it when you see the desire and the passion that a community has to make its team work both on and off the ice. There are many people I could single out, but in every place, clubs and communities are working hard to keep their teams afloat while working to find a way to keep people coming to the rink. Its hard these days to do that, but for the moment, the battle is being won---albeit barely at times.
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The Rider Nation isn't happy that the team hasn't made a free agent splash. What area did you want to see improvement in? Who was the guy that you think the team should have grabbed that got away? Avon Cobourne wasn't needed here and either was Dwight Anderson. I would have liked to seen Kevin Huntley wearing green, but the Argos signed him just before free agency started. It hurt to see Rey Williams go to Hamilton, but this team has a lot of depth and in the first days of free agency, you don't sign guys to fill a spot unless he is an impact guy and the Riders are fine at the impact positions as far as I'm concerned.
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Some have been crying over the fact CFL free agency starts at midnight. I agree! It would be much simpler for free agency to start at 10 AM instead of midnight. In today's world of social media, you can announce the signing at any time, but having it start during working hours would create much more interest in my mind.
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When is the CFL schedule coming out?
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Most everywhere I went on the Prez Tour, I had people asking me about the Riders and how they are going to be this year with Greg Marshall as head coach. I tell them that Marshall has big shoes to fill, and that I don't know if they will finish first, but I think they will be OK. The RN will obviously be disgusted if Marshall doesn't take to the team to the Grey Cup seeing Ken Miller did that the last two years and there is no guarantee that they will get there, but I like the way look and I like the way they stack up against Calgary, BC and yes Edmonton.
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The days of thinking the Alouettes were a classy group may be ending. I wasn't impressed with their whiny attitude during the Grey Cup and the Dwight Anderson signing makes me scratch my head. I am guessing Marc Trestman has told Dwight its my way or the highway and that he better not be the distraction he was in Calgary.
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The Leafs are six points out of a playoff spot?
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Was Darryl Sutter that bad in Calgary? What has gotten into the Flames since he left? The question now is does this team think they can make a serious run even though they are still an older team or do they blow it up to start getting younger. I know what I'd do.
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Has anyone ever told Rod Pedersen about sunscreen? That boy looks as if he needs to stick his face in a snowbank when he returns from his Jamaican vacation. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out his blog. That can't be and won't be pleasant.
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I'm going to join Derek "Duke" Meyers in the Sportscage this afternoon. He has done a tremendous job in subbing in with both Rod and I unavailable. I think we have our number three hitter in the lineup!!
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I'm OK with the Jose Bautista contract if in fact the stories are true about 5 years at 70 million. I don't think Bautista comes close to hitting the homers he did last year, but if can be a 30 homer man, I'll take it.
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Have the Yankees already started making Albert Pujols jerseys yet?
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I just received notification of a fantasy baseball league that I have been in for years starting up again. I am a fantasy sports-a-holic and I am trying to limit the # of leagues that I'm in or hockey pools. It has worked for baseball, not so much for football.
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Talk to ya in the Cage at 4.
3 comments:
I'd say we definitely needed to improve at DB where we got absolutely picked apart at times and as much as we all despise D Anderson around these parts he would have been a huge improvement in talent. We definitely needed to at least keep our O-line together and maybe improve there too as we're getting older and slower.
To say we didn't really need to improve anywhere and that losing depth isn't a big deal is such a rosy view of this team it's crazy. Did we win or lose the last two Grey Cups? That's right - we lost them both and we haven't improved ourselves anywhere so why would we expect a better result this year? Especially considering MTL has been signing up a storm and adding more talent daily.
I'm not saying we suck, but I'm saying we certainly are no better so far(likely weaker) and our main competition the last few years just keeps getting better. How do Rider fans and management think we are now a better team with a better chance at winning when we only lose talented players and add none?
When is the CFL schedule coming out? I thought the league said it would be out by the first part of February.
The Riders will be fine this year. Not surprized that the Riders let Smith and Francis go...the Hudson signing is for depth until Hutchins and the other young OL can take over. With Tearrius signing, will the Riders have to do the Ta George for Tamon and Te for Tearrius? Us oldie moldies will remember the Watson brother in Philly ( Jim and Joe) and the Howe boys (Mark and Marty) having their entire names on their jerseys.
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