Something to "Mitch" About

Say this about your Saskatchewan Roughriders ladies and gentlemen, if they don't win the Grey Cup this year, you can't say they didn't try and they are going to go down swinging.  I have to admit I am surprised the Riders landed Alex Hall in a trade with the Bombers. Sportsnet's Arash Madani had indicated the Riders and Stamps were looking into making a deal with Winnipeg and like Scott Schultz and Luc Mullinder said in the Sportscage Friday, they had a quarterback to deal in Drew Tate. Tate would be an upgrade to what Winnipeg has now, but either Calgary didn't make that kind of offer or the Bombers rejected it to take Patrick Neufeld instead.

I like the deal as the Riders get another tool on what is a smothering defense and while I don't know how he will fit in or who might lose some playing time, the team is getting Hall AND a 2nd round draft pick next year for an offensive lineman who for some reason saw his play slide this year and a 4th round draft pick in three years. Yes, Hall might be a rental, but if he is a rental with a ring no one will mind, and when you give up a 4th rounder I can't see anyone being too disturbed over this deal if for whatever reason it doesn't work out.

I have to tip my hat to Corey Chamblin and crew. When I saw the schedule come out at the start of the season, I didn't think there was anyway they could play in Montreal on a Sunday and then turn around and play and win in Vancouver on a Friday. They did and they looked like the team we saw in the first half of the season. Just some observations on what was seen

  --Kory Sheets may not be the Most Outstanding Player in the CFL, but he is the most valuable. It wasn't hard to see how much number 1 was missed by the way the offense played. Sheets is someone who is needed in that huddle to keep defenses honest. For whatever reason, Chris Garrett did not work out, but with Sheets back in there, the offence was moving again.

 --Darian Durant was at his best. Yeah, he made a couple of bad passes, but he brought his "A" game with him to BC Place. Having Sheets certainly helped him get back on his game. He also made very sure on the CKRM post-game show to "thank" his Twitter friend for telling him to run and to thank the Rider Nation for having his back during that whole fiasco. I think he may have turned a corner with that performance. We will see.

 --Craig Butler had perhaps his best ever game as a Rider. He was flying out there as were the rest of the Rider D.

 --John Chick might not get the sacks he did back in 2009 when he was the defensive player of the year, but the guy is a force out there. Getting his hand on the ball that Dwight Anderson intercepted in the endzone was a huge play. He's doing all the little things right.

 --Chris Milo had a bad game, but all kickers seem to have those from time to time. Its how he rebounds. I don't have any worries that the kick game is going to suffer any in future weeks.

  --We should get an indication as to what GC 101 will be like should the Riders be in it when the Lions visit in two weeks. That will have a playoff game atmosphere to it and the 13th man will have to be at their best. A win over BC and one has to believe the Western semi-final will be at Mosaic. A win in Calgary on the 26th might mean the Western final is at Mosaic. If that game against BC isn't sold out, start asking some questions.

  --I felt bad for Geroy Simon and while I was happy to see his streak continue, I know he didn't want it to continue like that. Geroy had to know he wasn't be going to be the number one option when he came here, but I didn't think he would seemingly be the last option. I said at the start of the season if he caught 50 balls and 5 touchdowns I would be happy. He's still tracking for that I guess, but he didn't look happy after his homecoming. I can't say I blame him.

 --With all due respect to George Cortez, please revamp the short yardage playbook. We have seen third down gambles fail too many times this year. Keep Durant in the game and let the offense continue on.

 --I'm glad to see the BC Lions are thinking about the TV and radio announcers when they bring out those jerseys. I don't know how Cuthbert, Pedersen and BC's Rick Ball could make out who had the ball or who was making tackles for the Lions. That was bad!! Then again, the Lions wouldn't be the first team who isn't co-operative with television for whatever reason. A lot of them can be like that whether they be pro or college.


Ladies and gentlemen, we are living in a world where the Kansas City Chiefs are 5-0. Who saw that coming?

Tom Brady had no running game and his offensive line didn't play very well as he was sacked 5 times by Cincinnati's defence. As a result, he threw for less than 200 yards, threw a game-ending interception as his team lost and he didn't play very well. Hmmm....that's interesting. I will have to check patriotfans.com to see if Brady has gotten too old, if the game has passed him by and if there is a call for Ryan Mallett to play next week and why didn't Bill Belichick pull him for a couple of series so he could see what was happening. Damn you Bill!!! In all seriousness, how bad was Brady on Sunday. Here's a look 

It was a great Sunday of NFL action. The Dallas-Denver game was a Madden game in real-life or an Arena Football game on a bigger field. I shouldn't say if was Dallas playing Denver. I should say it was Allas against Enver because there was no "D" on either side. I just knew Tony Romo would blow it in the end. He throws for 500 yards, but he makes the bad play at the end. Its not like Cowboys fans have never seen that before.

I didn't think the Seahawks would win in Indy, but for a while it looked like I might be wrong. What a great display of what the future of the NFL will be like as Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson did their thing against some good defences. In the end, the former Rider Jerrell Freeman made two big plays to help Indy get the win. It was a great contest and it may have been the beginning of what will be a special rivalry---it won't be Brady-Manning, but it will be something.

One had to wonder what was going through Teemu Selanne's mind as he hit the MTS Centre Ice Sunday night for what is likely his last appearance there. He certainly got a thank you from the Winnipeg fans and a well deserved one at that.. I would still love to see Teemu finish his NHL career as a member of the Jets. That would be great.

Two games in and methinks the Oilers need an upgrade at goaltender. That's two straight games in which Devan Dubnyk has let a long one go past him. Who does he think he is ---Dan Cloutier?

I think it was in the Sportscage where I heard this debate start this week, but I'm not sure. Its been determined Regina is an Oilers town because of their past and the fact Jordan Eberle is now with them. Its also no fact the Oilers have struggled mightily. With Winnipeg back and the Jets being just a short drive away, how much longer will it be before Winnipeg is considered Regina's team. I know it would go a long ways if one of Regina's radio stations ever decided to pick up all or a handful of Jets games and if they came here for an exhibition game or two. How about a training camp?

There are 79 games to go in the regular season for the Leafs and they are already annoying me. Is there any reason for CBC to go outside ACC like they did in the playoffs last year for the fan shots. NOPE!!! If any other team is doing that and its not playoffs, I'm guessing we don't see it.

I didn't watch a lot of the Presidents Cup and I wanted to to see how Graham DeLaet would react with the spotlight really on him. This just in----he passed the test with flying colours. He may have been the best player for the International side on the weekend as he was 3-1-1. He saved one match by holing out from the fairway on 18 on Sunday and then won a match by holing out from the bunker later Sunday in a singles match. He also got a lot of TV time and perhaps maybe, just maybe this will mean more TV time next year since he will hopefully be considered as one of the "established" pros on tour. He did Saskatchewan golf and Canadian golf very well this weekend. He is just scratching the surface when it comes to his game. I think the next couple of years could be incredible for the Weyburn product.

Can we keep this weather going for another six weeks?

If the U of R is going to spend nearly a million dollars on a sign, I hope they have some cash to give SIO extraordinaire Braden Konschuh some more dough. There might not be a better one around than Braden and I do mean that. The Cougars are lucky to have someone like him around campus to spread the message as to what the various teams are doing.

I live for two reasons  1) I was born  2) I haven't died yet

Have a good week!!!