Something To "Mitch" About

I think the above picture which was tweeted by someone at the Saskatchewan Hockey Association basically sums it up for many of us dont'cha think??

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If you follow the Riders on Twitter or visited their website, you saw a lot of great stuff over the last few days  from Bradenton, Florida as the team held its mini-camp.  Dangerous Dan Plaster and his crew did a tremendous job with photos and interviews to keep everyone informed as to what was going on. This just whets the appetite for training camp which sadly is still a few weeks away, but it gave us a little glimpse of what to expect.

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A few people I talked to asked why the Riders wouldn’t have done this in Regina using the Eventplex or go to Moose Jaw to use the Fieldhouse like they did last year. I think GM Brendan Taman said it the best during a visit to CKRM’s Sportscage on Thursday. Taman said having the camp in the U-S allowed everyone to be there thus insuring no passport problems. That and the fact that I don’t think any other CFL team would camps like this in their home city using places like California, Florida or Texas to find that player that may be able to come a star.

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It’s the biggest story that no one in this country seemingly cared about. It was the Chad Owens-MMA story. If you didn’t know about it, the CFL’s MOP unbeknownst to his team has been training for an MMA fight and he actually stepped inside the octagon and won. While I find it hard to believe that A)Owens wouldn’t tell the Argos about this and B) The Argos would condone it, the story just disappeared completely. Tell me that if it was Aaron Rodgers or Adrian Peterson or JJ Watt stepping into the octagon that this story wouldn’t have wheels to it.  Does that put the blame on the Canadian media or is it just a sign that no matter how much we think the CFL is growing that it is still just small potatoes in the overall scope of Canadian sport. You can banter that around during water-cooler talk.

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Some congratulations are in order. The first one is to the Regina Rebels female hockey team. They are off to the Esso Cup after winning the West regionals on the weekend. Well done girls!  The other is to the city of Moose Jaw as they land yet another big event. It was announced Friday the Moose Jaw Generals will be the host team for the 2014 Telus Cup which is the Canadian midget hockey championship. That will be a great event! Strike up another one for Scott Clark at Mosaic Place. I hope Moose Jaw realizes how lucky they are to have someone of his ilk doing what he is doing for not only the facility, but the city itself.  Not to anger the fine folks in Moose Jaw, but whoever is behind the new stadium here might want to look his way when it comes to an operations manager.  When you think about it, southern Saskatchewan is very lucky to have people like Clark and Neil Donnelly bringing in some top-notch acts to this neck of the woods. Its tough when Saskatoon has Credit Union Place which is much more lucrative to get people down here as well, but both find a way to do it.

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Everyone has Tiger winning the Masters. I’m not one of them. I don’t think Phil or Rory wins either. For some reason, I like Padraig Harrington. No rhyme or reason to that statement. I just do.  I can also see a Keegan Bradley or a Brandt Snedeker coming through and winning it for the first time like Bubba Watson did last year.

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Why on earth the Chicago Cubs kept Carlos Marmol on the roster this year much less as their closer is a head-scratcher. The guy re-defines terrible! He really should be a spokesperson for 7-11, because like them, he doesn’t close. He gassed a game in Atlanta Saturday night and he’s been fortunate to get out of two Cub victories this year.

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Does the R.A in R.A Dickey stand for really awful. So far it has. I thought the Jays gave him wayyyy too much money and early indications are I was right. A knuckleballer is too risky. I don't think Toronto fans need to start pushing the panic button yet though. There is a long ways to go. 

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The Boston Red Sox have a guy named Jackie Bradley Junior in left field. I hear that name and I keep thinking of Jackie Rogers Junior from SCTV. I loved that show. 

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If you are a fan of the old Montreal Expos, you need to read this. I don't know if it will happen, but if someone with deep pockets wants to build a park in Montreal----one that could house the Alouettes as well it could happen as the Canadian dollar and economy is a lot better now. 

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If you watched Wrestlemania, what did you think? By far and away, the best match once again involved the Undertaker as he improved to 21-0 with a win over CM Punk. While that was the best match of the night, nothing else really surprised me and that included the John Cena win. I thought going in that Cena would win, but perhaps turn some of his fans against him for doing something controversial. Nope! I'd like to see an edgier persona on Cena, but he is the WWE's bread and butter right now.
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There is no better introduction in all of sports or sports entertainment than that of the Undertaker! None!
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Wrestlemania needs to come one year from Calgary. What better place to have the event than "McMahon Stadium"?Vince could be so clever on that one.
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My girl Miranda Lambert comes through at the ACM's. No complaint from this guy!
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I’m not going to openly rail on the city for snow removal and street control, but it does baffle me as to how some streets can be in the condition they are in. I was on one street Saturday afternoon in which I was actually wondering if my car would make it down it considering the ruts.  What baffles me even more is I’ve seen a grader go down a street without the blade down when it could easily take a quick detour down a side-street or two with the blade down.  Then again, I also have seen some people shovelling snow into the street over the past few days and really, does that help anything. NO!
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Some were getting all over TSN for not publicizing the Canadian Davis Cup win when promoing Sportscentre Sunday night. Why would they promo an event that isn't a pro league and isn't their property. I'm guessing Sportsnet rarely talks about the Scotties, Brier or Worlds both in setting up casts and on Connected. If you ain't the pros and we ain't paying for it, you aren't going to find out much about it on our network. That will never change. Its why some don't like the fact that TSN has a monopoly on CFL broadcasts again. You don't see much CFL info on Sportsnet, the Score or CBC anymore. 

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Before I forget.....GOBLUE!!! Its Michigan or should I say "Mitchigan" in the NCAA basketball championship tonight against Louisville.
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Sleeping is nice because you're not actually dead and you're not awake so it's a win-win situation.

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Have a good Monday!