Something To Mitch About

Its the day after Craven. How's your noggin? Did you get her phone number? Did you have a good time? Did you get any visits from local law enforcement?

I didn't go out there this year, but if I did, it would just be a day-trip. My idea of camping is an air conditioned room with cable tv, a hot shower and a pool. I am not for one for living in the great outdoors.....never have been, never will be. That being said, I got away from the heat and uncomfortable conditions at Casa de Blair which someday I hope will be fitted with air conditioning. It was just one night, but it was highly relaxing.

Enough about that though. Three weeks into the CFL season and three CFL teams are having quarterback problems. Those three teams are the Stamps, Bombers and Alouettes. Calgary will be without Drew Tate for the season after he decides to undergo surgery to fix his shoulder meaning its Kevin Glenn's team the rest of the way. Is that good news or bad news? I think it all depends on who you talk to. The Bombers are without Buck Pierce again and will go with Alex Brink at quarterback this week even though I think their best guy might be Joe Elliott while in Montreal, the toughness of Anthony Calvillo was on display again this week, but how much more can he take at his age. He's already hurting and we know the Alouettes are a different team without A-C in the lineup.

If you want to go a little further into the equation, Edmonton isn't stable at QB thanks to the up and down play of Steven Jyles and Henry Burris is still making some bad decisions in Hamilton. Someone who isn't making bad decisions is Darian Durant. He is sacrificing the long ball for the short completion and its working. In the three games this year, how many passes over 20 yards has Durant thrown? I'm guessing its less than 10. I had a disagreement with a friend over Darian's effectiveness as he wants touchdowns. I want the Rider offence to move the ball and get points, but I don't want drives disrupted by interceptions. As I said earlier, Darian isn't throwing touchdowns right now, but he isn't throwing any picks either and the team is winning.

While having that conversation, it was also brought up whether or not the Riders should be considered a defence-first team or offence-first team. Make no doubt about it, this team has weapons like Dressler, Getzlaf and Sheets, but they are getting the job done on defence right now. That will likely change as the season goes along, but it does seem right now as if the defence is just a little more advanced.

Listening back to Corey Chamblin's post-game address Saturday night, one thing stood out and that was his hatred for giving away points. Chamblin said he does not want to give teams gift points because they could come back to bite the team in the end. I love that philosophy. He is giving his defence a challenge if they have to punt from deep in their own end and he is giving the offence a challenge by making them get a first down or two to improve field position, but I applaud that aggressive stance.

Other thoughts from the weekend....

--Will Jon Cornish have a belt that works for Thursday's game against the Riders or was he trying to audition for a Canadian version of "Magic Mike"?

--Do Winnipeggers have pools as to how long Buck Pierce will last in a game. It really is getting ridiculous.

--Wasn't Mike O'Shea at one time labelled a special teams guru. How special was O'Shea on Saturday? He got beat by Jim Daley!!!! That's how special he was.

--With the amount of missed field goals getting returned for touchdowns, will coaches start thinking about punting from the 45 instead of trying a field goal? Those 10 point swings have been huge.

--It is the first offer and you knew it would be heavily slanted towards the owners, but I have no optimism that there will be NHL hockey till December or January.

--What was that kid thinking when he picked up Troy Matteson's ball on the 18th hole of the John Deere Classic yesterday? Did he think no one would see him? Did he think he was getting a ball from Tiger Woods? Brain cramp city!

--Jose Bautista wants the Jays to pick up some pitching for the stretch run. Take a number Jose, there are many other teams that want pitching down the stretch too.

--I wonder what CFL quarterbacks think when they see Drew Brees sign a 5 year, 100 million dollar deal. Actually, I know the answer to that as Darian Durant just sighed and nodded his head while trying to grasp the reality of that situation.

--Its a good job Joe Paterno died recently because the man and his legendary status is being toppled and for good reason seeing he knew what was going on and sacrificed the innocence of young children for his reputation and football team. People now want to rip the Penn State football program to pieces because of the Jerry Sandusky story. Hockey didn't rip the Swift Current Broncos to pieces after Graham James. They just found ways to make sure that predators like James wouldn't have a chance to do what he did. That is what needs to be done south of the border. The football players at Penn State shouldn't have to suffer because of the sick actions of one man. How could Paterno or anyone for that matter condone what was being done. I guess that question could be asked to people in Moose Jaw and Swift Current too.

--Eight weeks until the NFL season starts. How many NFL fantasy leagues will I be involved with this year?

--Enjoy your Monday