Something To "Mitch" About

So much for that home playoff game! The Riders were as bad on Saturday in Edmonton as they were good in Toronto on Monday. I thought Carm Carteri hit the nail on the head when right before kickoff, he wondered aloud how it was that this game wasn't being played in Regina and why the Riders had back-to-back road games just a few days apart. Yes, other teams have had to do that, but have they had to fly east and then go the other direction in a short amount of time? I'm not saying the Riders win on Saturday if the game is at Mosaic or if they had played it on Sunday, but the short turnaround definitely was a factor. Here are some thoughts on what happened in Edmonton,

--Kerry Joseph has found the fountain of youth. The 39 year old is playing some of the best football of his CFL career. Its hard not to root for a guy like Joseph because he is one of the good guys in this game.

--The defense had not missed Keith Shologan and Brent Hawkins in the last three games, but their absence was definitely noted on Saturday.

--The Riders looked like they needed to guzzle back a few RedBulls as they just had no intensity and no fire in their belly. Again, I think having to play Monday had a lot to do with that.

--I completely understand the significance of it and I applaud it wholeheartedly, but the pink hoodie that Corey Chamblin wore along with the pink golf shirts worn by Kavis Reed and the Eskimos were too much and TOO pink!

--I've said it once and I'll say it a thousand more times probably. I do not know anymore what is and isn't pass interference in football on both this side of the border and the other. I don't think the stripes do either. It is so frustrating!

Other thoughts on the weekend

--Is the talent level finally eroding in Montreal or are teams just getting better. The Alouettes may be first in the East, but they have given up more points than they have scored. When's the last time that happened? The Alouettes are extremely beatable this year and I think the Riders pin one on them Saturday afternoon. They just don't look right.

--How many people in this province screamed at their TV's as Joey Elliott threw INT after INT after INT in a game that Winnipeg arguably could have won!

--Should the Bombers hire Felix Baumgartner? He's the guy that had the world record freefall on the weekend if you didn't know! Still with Baumgartner, what does it say when he emerges unscathed after a 39-thousand foot freefall while Derek Jeter breaks his ankle when both feet were on the ground!

--Does anyone know what to expect from Hamilton week after week?

--Who runs the Bitter Gainer account on Twitter? Some of his tweets are just pure gold. Some are just plain mean too!

--I'm not missing the NHL yet!

--Tom Brady, you and the New England Patriots are now feeling the same thing other teams have had when visiting the Pacific Northwest. Mwah Hah Hah Hah!!! I still think the Seahawks are a playoff team this year. In truth, I was shocked as I indicated earlier that they won. I said they would need more than 20 to beat New England though and I was right.

--Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers let the NFL know not to write them off. That was some kind of performance against Houston.

--Who had the Atlanta Falcons as the last team to get beat in the NFL this year?

--How good was the first round of the baseball playoffs? How many games went right down to the last at bat? I love the baseball post-season.

--The Washington Nationals now know how the Texas Rangers felt last year. What does it take to kill off the St. Louis Cardinals? I wonder how Stephen Strasburg felt as he watched his team implode knowing that management would not allow him to do a thing. That should cost someone their job!

--Did fans of the Expos chuckle over the demise of the Nats or were they pained?

--Will Alex Rodriguez be a Yankee next year? I am guessing if they can find a team to take the final 5 years of his contract they will. A-Rod a Dodger? Don't be surprised!
How about a Met or a Marlin?

--FOX's Joe Buck did the Niners-Giants game at Candlestick Park and then was whisked across town to A T and T Park to do Game 1 of the NLCS. That was awesome! However, it must be noted that Buck has just taken a page out of the Rod Pedersen handbook as he told me he once did a Riders game, went down the ramps and booted it over to the Brandt Centre to do a Pats game that night. Doubledippers!!!! I wonder if TSN would ever do that with Chris Cuthbert and have him do a CFL game at Rogers Centre and then hightail it to Air Canada Centre for a Leafs game. If it happens, it won't be this year.

--Are you going to vote in less than 10 days time? You should!

--Dave Taylor's Cougars womens basketball team will be a team to watch this year. They were on display this weekend and it wasn't hard noticing Michelle Clark. The former Purdue Boilermaker (hey, does she know Kory Sheets) was simply head and shoulders the best player on the court Friday during a win over Fraser Valley. She will be the next in a long line of great players that have worn the uniform over the years while coached by Taylor or Christine Stapleton. That being said, the Cougs were shocked Saturday night by Carleton who hit 14 three pointers during the game. 14??!! It was an exhibition of shooting!

--Renee Paquette has left "The Score" to go work for WWE. She will apparently be serving as a host for one of their shows that will be on the WWE Network when it launches. Are we really ready for a 24/7 wrestling channel? Then again, it will be better than some of the other crap that's on out there. Yes, her departure means there is one less reason to watch "The Score". If wrestling and college football leave the network, that will likely be it for me.

--Congrats to the Regina Thunder for their big win over the 8-0 Calgary Colts in a PFC semi-final. The Thunder will now take on the Hilltops for all the marbles. A Regina-Saskatoon PFC final----how many have those have we seen over the years!!!

--What exactly was Anderson Silva trying to accomplish in that first round? Whatever it was, it worked!

That's all I got. Have a good week!