This And That

I think Riders coach Corey Chamblin might have said it the best yesterday when he said January could be considered Christmas for his football team. Santa has given the Riders a couple of nice presents this week. Like many of you, I didn't see George Cortez re-surfacing in the CFL with the green and white. Cortez is an offensive genius. He has a lot of talent to work with and I can't wait to see what opposition defenses are going to deal with when Sheets, Dressler, Getzlaf, Simon, Bagg and Smith are on the field doing their thing. Darian Durant can't have any excuses now and he could end up with one of his best years if not his best year on the field if he can play the type of game that Rider fans know he is capable of.

Riders GM Brendan Taman should be commended for getting Geroy Simon. As Taman stated, he didn't want Simon to go to free agency and he wanted him. Did the team spend too much for him? In my mind, I think they did, albeit not by much, but Taman wanted him and really in my mind he didn't give away a lot. Justin Harper has hands and size, but I didn't think he adjusted well to the Canadian game and who knows what the 3rd round draft pick will be and if it will pan out. The Riders look a lot better after this week and you know and I know they aren't done. Until the Simon trade was announced, I thought they might land Romby Bryant. They still could, but I think they now spend their money elsewhere.

I think the big winners in the Simon deal are Weston Dressler and Chris Getzlaf. Simon will create some more space for those two. We know what Dressler can do and we know what Getzlaf can do when he is the number 3 option as he had been when Andy Fantuz was here. Chris admittedly struggled in 2012 as he adjusted to being the number 2 guy. He gets back into a role where he is more comfortable. He should be a huge beneficiary of the Simon move.

I'm guessing Geroy will wear #81 as a Rider. I wish the team would have retired #81 by now as Ray Elgaard  should have been the last one to wear that number, but he's not. SIGHHHHH!!! I'm guessing Ray could care less and probably doesn't mind if a future hall of famer wears the number that helped get him into the CFL Hall of Fame.

I wasn't surprised to see James Patrick released. Patrick had a great 2010, but his play really tailed off in 2012. If you are making the $$$, you have to perform and he wasn't. I was surprised to see Sandro De Angelis get released. I thought he had done a good enough job to at least get a training camp invite. It would be my guess that Coach C wants Chris Milo to handle all three kicking duties. That will open up another Canadian somewhere.

Montreal Alouettes owner Bob Wetenhall has invited potential head coaching candidates to his Florida home so he can decide who Marc Trestman's replacement will be. Why couldn't Wetenhall do this in Montreal? I'm sure there are several hotels where candidates could have stayed. Why is it all leagues and teams seemingly have meetings in warm weather locales. I wish Ryan Whippler and Ryan Pollock would call a meeting with their Riderville writer in some nice place where we could get in a quick 18 while discussing how to take on the next year. Who's kidding who, we don't even have that meeting at a Tim Hortons!

Its been a great CFL off-season. We've seen Marc Trestman go to the NFL, Kent Austin come back to Canada and Geroy Simon switch teams.. Who saw that coming? We've got the draft and free agency coming up as well. Its great to see the CFL continue making headlines when the season is over.

The people of Balgonie should be very proud of their rink. I entered into the Stardome for the first time on Wednesday night as I checked out Draw 2 of the provincial Scotties. Its a nice little facility and its one that if the SJHL ever thought of expanding would be a great place to do so. I know they have a Junior B team there as well, but reach for the sky if you can.  The only thing I didn't see was a good pressbox. There is ample opportunity to build one if they have to though.

I saw a news release from a somewhat credible organization that just made me shake my head this week. Not only was it four days late, but it may have been one of the worst written things I have ever seen. If this organization thinks its helping itself by putting stuff out this late and this bad, good for them. I just shake my head.

I know they are setting it up to make it look like John Cena vs the Rock 2 at Wrestlemania, but for some stupid reason I don't see Cena winning the Royal Rumble Sunday night. I do see the Rock beating CM Punk.

I think many of you will agree when I say Old Man Winter can _______ right off for this year. I've had enough and we haven't even hit the end of January yet. This is one of the worst winters I can remember. I can only hope we have a bug-free warm summer to make up for it. I won't hold my breath waiting.

How historically bad have the Toronto Raptors been? Demar DeRozan hit a buzzer beater Thursday night to beat Orlando. Its the first buzzer-beater the Raptors have had in six years.

Talk by Jerry Rice and Tim Brown that Raiders coach Bill Callahan sabotaged the team before their Super Bowl loss to Tampa is just laughable, For guys like Rice and Brown to make the accusations only cheapens their reputation. I can't see any coach ever ever getting to the big game and then throwing it just because of the respect you have for the other coach. Lets just say I can't see John Harbaugh sabotaging Baltimore's efforts against San Fran just so that his little brother can have a moment in the sun and vice-versa! Here's the reason you lost Tim and Jerry. Your QB sucked and Jon Gruden knew exactly what you were doing!

One more thing. The Edmonton Oilers will be a treat to watch this year, but Nail Yakupov had better learn when is the right time to celebrate the way he did last night. Moments after getting jobbed on a potential game-tying goal in the final minute by a referee who seemed to make it all about him, the Oilers scored with 4.4 seconds left on a goal by Yakupov sparking this...


I am all for kids being excited and it was a big goal, but it was GAME 3 of the regular season. If that's a playoff game and thats an overtime winner, go nuts young man because you deserve to. Jarrett Stoll let it be known after the game that the Kings weren't too happy with that act and I'm guessing Drew Doughty can't wait till Nail comes across the blueline. The kid is going to get a reputation and he will pay for it with an elbow here and a stick there if you know what I mean.

That's all I got. Have a great weekend! Stay warm!