Something To "Mitch" About

Are you enjoying the first long weekend of the year? I hope so. While we didn't get the Sunday snowfall that was predicted, I hear it was another nasty night on the highway so if you were out and about, here's hoping you got to where you wanted to go with no real problems.

The weekend has been highlighted by our play at the Scotties. Jill Shumay and her rink had absolutely no experience going into the event. None, nada, not one end of play at the national level. It sure doesn't look like it early on. The Shumay rink went into Monday morning as one of the unbeatens at 3-0. She is gaining some much needed confidence on the national stage and showing again that if you are from Saskatchewan, you have to be considered a contender at this event. Yes, Shumay has not played the likes of Jones, Nedohin or Homan and they will give her a solid test, but if you are a Saskatchewan curling fan, you have to be proud of what you seeing from this rookie foursome.

The Dwight Anderson signing by the Saskatchewan Roughriders has divided the Rider Nation. Some are furious with Brendan Taman for signing the defensive back who I would say is the CFL's current bad-boy. Others are saying if the guy can come in here and play that his previous hijinx will be forgotten. I will say I'm not a biggest fan of the guy, but I think Anderson is one of those players that you hate when he's not on your team, but if he is on your team that differs. The guy can play and he has showed that in the past. Corey Chamblin believes having Anderson on the corner will make his team a better one. If he takes stupid 15 yard penalties and does some stupid things on the field, he will be roasted by the fan-base, but any player doing that would get that backlash. Welcome aboard Dwight!

One other thought on Anderson's arrival. He has been given #33. The last time I looked a lot of people had jerseys with #33 on the back so on the surface it will look like D-A has a lot of support. Of course, the last Rider to wear #33 was Chris Szarka. He was just a little more popular. Where is Zark these days? I haven't heard anything of him since he lost his city councillor seat. He's been doing whatever he's been doing rather quietly.

What will the Riders secondary look like now? I would think Terrell Maze and Anderson would be at the corner. Eddie Russ and Weldon Brown at the half with Craig Butler at safety. That's a pretty solid starting five if you ask me. You then have the likes of Woodny Turenne, Tristan Jackson, Bryce McCall, Graig Newman and Paul Woldu as backups. Could one of those guys be used as trade-bait to perhaps land us a rush end? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Here's a question! What time do you have to get into "The Keg" on a Saturday? The restaurant opens at 4 on a Saturday. We got there at 515 on Saturday night and the place was packed to the rafters. We were told there would be about a 60-80 minute wait. Does everyone show up at the same time? That's great for biz if you are that packed on a Saturday shortly after opening.

Thank you to the NBA for giving us a solid dose of Ke$ha on Sunday night before the all-star game. What did we as a public do to deserve that! The NBA all-star game is just like the other all-star games. No one is working hard and its a joke. Do we really need it?

Tough to hear about country singer Mindy McCready dying at 37. That girl lived a rough life.

The 2nd Sunday without any football on didn't go much better than the first one. SIGHHHHHH!!!!

Yesterday was the last Sunday in which there won't be a baseball game played until the end of the regular season. YAYYYY!!!!

The Blue Jays proudly announced this week that the home opener sold out within an hour. That's great! Tell me now how ticket sales are going for the game after the home opener. Its just not Toronto where you get a big house for opening night and then get a half-full stadium for night two. Send me a press release that says you have sold out the first homestand and I will know then that Toronto is quite excited for Blue Jays baseball. Who's kidding who, the Red Sox are there on the opening weekend and after the whole John Farrell controversy in the off-season, those are the games I would want to be at.

Speaking of the Red Sox, a friend of mine is going to see the Jays and Sox in September at Fenway. Its the first time he has ever been there. He won some contest that will allow him to sit on top of the Green Monster for the Saturday game. I'm not a big Boston fan, but having a chance to watch the game atop the Monster would be some kind of cool. I would equate that to watching a game at Wrigley from the rooftops across the street. That is something I definitely want to do when I head to the Windy City.

Who is going to stop the Chicago Blackhawks? I know there's a long ways to go, but my pick at the start of the season to win it all looks damn good right now.

What happened to Alexandre Ovechkin?

The Oilers had 56 shots on goal the other night for a team record. Any NHL team getting 45 shots in this world of defense-happy hockey we live in should be commended. The game would be so much better if all teams would adopt the theory of wide-open style that Edmonton wants to adopt. Sadly, in this defense-first mold that the game has become that will likely never, ever happen.

The Sun newspaper chain now gives you a snippet of the story and then allows you to decide if you want to read on or not with the hopes being you will and pay some. The Postmedia newspaper chain (Leader Post, Star Phoenix, Edmonton Journal, Calgary Herald, etc. etc.) does not do this. Can anyone guess where I am reading my stories on out of province teams. While I would hope the Postmedia chain never resorts to this, I am guessing someday they will.

OMG, it will be the Rock and John Cena headlining Wrestlemania for a second straight year. Who'd have thunk it? SIGHHHHH!!!