This And That

--The Edmonton Eskimos were fined 10-thousand dollars for tampering when it came to Odell Willis. If you heard me on the Sportscage Wednesday, you know my thoughts on this.

A)Whoever approved this with the Eskimos should be called to the carpet by president and CEO Len Rhodes. Putting out a release as soon as free agency expires saying you have signed someone and that release has quotes leaves you holding the smoking gun. You are guilty!
B) Who made the final decision? Was it GM Ed Hervey. Surely he is smart enough to not know what was going to happen.
C) The CFL couldn't turn their nose away from this, but they tried. Yes, they fined the Eskimos 10-thousand dollars, but it should have been a lot more like perhaps the loss of a draft pick or perhaps they play this season with a salary cap that is a half-million dollars less than the other teams. The CFL needs to send a message that this won't be tolerated. Its my thought that every team does this in some manner and yes, that includes the Riders. This would have been a perfect way for the league to step in and say this stops now. They didn't
D) There is a thought process out there that Willis and his agent should face some kind of sanction too. I would think this should come through the players association as I don't think the league can get involved.
E) Did Odell get the best offer? If he had waited, would someone (perhaps the Riders) have come up with more money.

--The staff at Riffel High School should be embarassed with themselves for their actions this week with a Grade 12 student who wanted to go out with one last memory for his graduating class. The student, who is the SRC president, wanted the Grade 12's to do "the Harlem Shake". He was told no. He sent an e-mail to John Gormley telling the scholarly talk show host what was going on. Gormley discussed it and soon after, the student was removed as president. CMON!!! I am not a fan of the Harlem Shake and think its stupid, but can someone at Riffel tell me what the reason is for not allowing this to happen. I heard someone say it would be dangerous. That's why you have teacher supervision. What is to stop the Grade 12 class from going somewhere else to do the stunt they obviously want to do? NOTHING! They won't have any supervision either so if something happens, it will fall on the heads of the students. What could be dangerous about doing the Harlem Shake at the school somewhere? Give the kid his presidency back and quit walking around with a stick up your behind and let the kids have their fun.

--Its going to be a longer than usual wait for the sports gang around town. The Pats and Warriors are not making the playoffs and with the Riders holding training camp in Saskatoon, it means even more of a wait for the Regina bunch. SIGHHHHH!!!

--Do yourself a favour and listen to the podcast of Sportscage on Tuesday when Dan O'Toole and Jay Onrait were on together. OMG its funny! Funny in a disturbing sort of way. The two let a secret be known about their show by saying watch them the first time they are on as that is when they get away with most of their antics.

--I kept waiting for local degenerate Josh Shaw, who really needs a job live tweeting the Scotties and Brier for TSN, to interrupt the Saskatchewan-Alberta curling match on Thursday by streaking or something. I think he is in that Kidby-Hebert family circle somewhere.

--Tell me I am not the only one who has looked at the skip of Saskatchewan's entry at the Brier and said "That would be a great porn name!". It is!

--How is it the Edmonton Oilers can get 56 shots in one game and then go a period against the Wild without registering a shot on goal?

--I wasn't enamoured with the choice of Ralph Krueger as head coach for the Oilers. My opinion remains unchanged.

--TSN's Bob McKenzie has over 500,000 followers on Twitter. James Duthie has 190-thousand, Vic Rauter only has 25 hundred. More curling fans need to follow Vic.

--Where's the best place downtown to get a good bowl of soup? The Brown Bag on Broad was filling that void before they closed up shop!

--Every hockey rink in this country that has a game this weekend should if they aren't already play some Stompin Tom! There is talk he should posthumously gain entrance into the Hockey Hall of Fame because of his hockey anthem. That might be stretching it just a little, but "The Hockey Song" is indeed a piece of Canadiana.

--Congrats to Winnipeg for getting the UFC to come to their town. If all goes well, myself and my fellow UFC neanderthals that I get together with to watch the various cards will be hitting the highway to watch UFC 161 in person. It only begs the question, how much longer till Saskatoon or Regina gets an event?

--How wet is it going to be in this city and this province with all the snow we have received? I hope we don't get a repeat of the flooding we saw a couple of years ago, but I'm not optimistic.

--Paul Bearer was one of the greatest characters ever in the WWE. He was gold! Speaking of the WWE, old school RAW on Monday was outstanding. It needed a little Bret Hart though.

--Never give up on your dreams. Keep sleeping!