Where to start, where to start, where to start?
I guess no better spot to start than talking about this guy.
The rumours became fact on Thursday afternoon when 620 CKRM's Phil Andrews texted me from a speech Premier Brad Wall was giving to see Brock Lesnar was there followed by a picture of him sitting at a table. I had heard for the last few years Lesnar either had relatives in the Maryfield area or had farmland there himself. Lesnar surprised everyone by calling the Regina Chamber of Commerce saying he wanted a ticket to Wall's address and that he wanted to meet the Premier. He did so and told "the grand poobah" he would like to call Saskatchewan home someday. What an ambassador he would be! Wall tweeted he heard Lesnar wanted to see him and he was glad he wasn't carrying a chair. I'm guessing Brad's pants might have been full of potash if he had been carrying a chair. Hey, if a former WWE and UFC superstar wants to set up roots in Saskatchewan I am all for it. He obviously has spent time in our fine province and he says he loves the wildlife, the tranquility and the rural life. He has obviously also heard about what a fine job Mr. Wall is doing with our province and he someday perhaps wants to be a piece of it. I say that is fantastic! Could he perhaps help the government and Tourism Saskatchewan land a much-coveted UFC bout which is now legal here. The only thing that disturbs me about this story is that I was not there to have a chance to interview this behemoth. That would have been great. I joked with Phil when he got back to the station that the Riders should have brought him over to film the "Lets Bring Em Out" segment before Saturday's game. He could have ripped a jersey off and got the crowd going. That would be awesome!
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I don't know what the CFL standings will look like going into the final week of the regular season, but I will tell you this. If the BC Lions have a chance to beat the Calgary Stampeders at BC Place in the last weekend of the regular season, they will do it. If that means the Riders could finish first, then OK. Kelly Remple seemed to discount that notion when I told him of my thoughts in between commercial breaks on Thursday's Sportscage. The Lions won't roll over and play dead as they will want to send Calgary a message should they get past the Riders in the Western final. They are tough to beat at home and I can't see Mike Benavides resting a lot of guys. If the Riders can pull off wins against BC and Calgary, that last game against Edmonton at Mosaic could very well mean something and I think it will. Who's with me?
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I opined in Monday's "Something To Mitch About" about the Alex Hall situation and how he will go on the Rider ballot for Most Outstanding Defensive Player and all-star consideration. I don't think it is right. A good chat with my friend Rob Vanstone Wednesday just magnified it even more. Is Alex Hall the top defensive player on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers? Absolutely! Is he the best defensive player on the Riders? You can't say that. If he is named the Riders top defensive player, it could leave many worthy players like Chick, Foley, Butler and Brackenridge with a sour taste and not only for that, but for all-star nominations where a bonus could be due. If I was a Western Division defensive lineman, I might be extremely sour knowing a bonus I could have got won't be coming because of a technicality. The CFL needs to change this rule and change it yesterday. It really makes the league look bad. As Rob and I agreed on, why do you need a West and East nominee. Can't you be like the NHL and have three nominees for the year-end award?
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Sportsnet's Arash Madani is probably the best insider in this country and his appearances twice weekly on "Sportscage'" is one of 1687 reasons why the 4-630 timeslot on 620 CKRM is must listen to radio as many of you already know. However, while having respect for Madani, I respectfully disagree when he says the Riders should not throw a lot of money in Kory Sheets' direction because running backs are a dime a dozen. While Madani is right with the latter part, you just don't ignore the type of running back Sheets is. He is the best RB this team has had in a long, long time and that includes Kenton Keith. Madani used the Shawn Alexander analogy where the former Seahawk went from league MVP to being out of the league in a couple of years. A broken foot helped that scenario a lot, but so did age. NFL running backs seemingly hit the bottom of the tank as they hit 30-31 years of age. Kory is 28 right now and will turn 29 next March. He still has some good years left. Personally, I believe (as I have said many times) Sheets will not be wearing Rider green in 2014 as he will head to the NFL where he deserves an opportunity. Many teams employ two running backs now and I can see Sheets being in a rotation. Are you going to tell me the New York Giants couldn't use him? How about the Arizona Cardinals or the Pittsburgh Steelers? He could certainly make Atlanta a better football team. If Kory thinks he can take one last kick at the NFL can, he will and who can blame him. I would love to see him wearing the /=S=/ for years, but I realistically don't think he will be until at least Labour Day next year if at all.
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How about this guy!!! Russell Wilson just continues to impress. 235 yards in the air and three touchdowns for the 2nd year Seattle QB as they get rid of Arizona in the Thursday night NFL game. The thing about Wilson I can't get over is how easy he makes it look. 2nd year quarterbacks aren't supposed to be that poised, that polished and that smart. I don't know if the Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl, but I do know they are set at the QB position for a long time. I don't know how many guys I'd put ahead of him right now when it comes to what the future holds in 2-3 years time. Aaron Rodgers might be the only guy.
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Speaking of great quarterbacks, I can't wait to see Peyton Manning back in Indianapolis this Sunday night. Manning is without a doubt one of the top 5 to ever play the position (Number one in this bloggers book is Joe Montana FWIW) and you can be sure the Colts will pay him one helluva tribute Sunday night as they should. It should be an emotional night and a great one as he goes up against Andrew Luck who is new slouch either.
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I'm sorry, but if I am in charge of music at NHL games I am playing a certain Michael Jackson song everytime Joe Thornton scores. How can you not?
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A shout-out to the performers of High Impact Wrestling. They had a rare Wednesday night show in Regina and it wasn't well attended. That didn't stop the guys from still giving it their all and entertaining everyone in attendance. I don't know how much these guys get for doing what they do, but it can't be a lot. They could have seen what they had and mailed it in, but they didn't. As I've said before, the High Impact stars of today will never ever rival the Stampede Wrestling days of the 80's, but all the HIW stars do what they can to entertain and yes they do entertain.
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Good luck to Moose Jaw as they put in a bid for the 2015 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. I think they would do a fantastic job of hosting the event.
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Week 8 NFL Lock of the Week ---Chiefs over Texans
Week 8 NFL Upset of The Week ---Colts over Broncos
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The Warriors can say goodbye to Morgan Rielly as far as I'm concerned. I would be shocked if the Leafs send him back to junior. He has fit right in with Toronto and is showing he belongs.
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Great story from the majors I heard this week. L-A Dodgers centerfielder Skip Schumaker went to a game as a small child and asked for several autographs from Dodgers players only to be shunned. Orel Hershiser saw the young boy crying and told him he played for the Dodgers. He ended up getting a picture taken with Hershiser and an autograph. Schumaker carried that picture with him throughout the minors and he showed it to Hershiser earlier this year when he ended up with the Dodgers. He even wore Hershisers 55. As a thank you to Skip, Hershiser was honored by the Dodgers before a playoff game against St. Louis this week so he had Schumaker catch the first pitch.
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Congrats to CTV Regina's Lee Jones who enters the world of marital bliss this weekend. Lee and many others in the Regina sports media won't be at the Rider game Saturday night. It just makes me wonder why this isn't the half-time show. Lee could have gone right from his TSN duties interviewing someone to saying "I Do" moments later.
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Have a great weekend!!
13 comments:
Riders won't win in Calgary so your theory gets flushed.
Stumps are "RIPE" for the taking! Arrogance will get them in the end.
Kory Sheets should give the NFL a shout out, and see if there is any serious Interest in his playing services. Don't see him returning to Saskatchewan without a very lucrative contract, and that would not be conducive to the overall salary cap to blow it up on one player while not addressing other areas of team concern. One would assume other CFL teams would also possibly vie for his playing services.
ElA
Mitch,
I like Kory Sheets, but 28 years old is basically an RB on limited time and him being a 180 lb., skat back type runner he doesn't have a long expiry date. They should make his deal incentives based if they do lock him up.
Picking up on the topic of High Impact Wrestling. Maybe there were 75 people there, but I was shocked at the work rate of that show for those wrestlers. The bumps guys were taking to get a reaction whether it was TLC going through the ropes ala Owen Hart or Rex Roberts borderline crippling himself the show was amazing.
A street in Regina needs to be named after Principal Richard Pound who so eloquently stated he will not be staying idle no more.
Line of the night: Rex Roberts, "I just wanna....." Mitch Blair, "SHUT UP" lol. I'm still laughing at that one.
Obama
Sheets in the NFL??? Take your green shades off.
You watch him run with success and yes we all do enjoy it, but watch him pass block. He couldn’t pass block my 91 yr old, walker aided, grandmother.
Runningbacks that can run the ball are dime a dozen in college football, but it’s the ability to be able to protect the QB that sets them apart.
NFL teams would rather grab a college kid and develop his pass blocking skills for a couple of seasons than get sheets who can’t/doesn’t want to? pass block and will start having his skills decline in a couple of years.
Classic line on the Thorton situation...
...heard another great tune following a Med Hat Tiger scrap with one of the Seattle T-bird's;
- during the fight the Tiger threw a few haymakers then one BIG punch that buckled the T-bird to the ground,and as they cleaned up the gloves, sticks etc the DJ played Taylor Swift "we are never getting back together again"
it was sure a great change from "hit me with your best shot" or other overplayed anthems following pugistic endeavours
Get your blinders off! You obviously aren't watching the same guy as the people that matter are. But then why am I saying this because you wouldn't understand anyways.
Why are you creating a debate regarding the Most Oustanding Defensive Player - who cares?
Individual awards are great, but the big team award of a Grey Cup is where the focus needs to be and if its not - something is truly wrong.
I hope the defensive players are tuning this type of chatter out - cause its nonsensical and could cause disfunction for no reason at all at crunch time.
Drop it and talk about this all you want after we win the GC!
Lesnar bringing the team out would be awesome. Did he ever play football?
I think Sheets could get an NFL contract, but he wouldn't see the field he way he does here.
Anon 1. Who are you? Jon Cornish? Riders have won in Calgary before and if first is on the line, they win this one too. I'm with ya Scruffy!!
Did Rod just say only 35-thousand seats have been sold? Cmon people, what do you want! It will be these bandwagon fans that phone into Ballsy to bitch and whine. TERRIBLE!!
perry
dont forget the wwe star brock is married to, she would be a nice addition to our province. (always nice to see them when they enter their local Sask establishment together with there family)
Brock lesner's brother owns property around Virden.
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