Something To "Mitch" About

Well Rider Nation, you can breathe easy this week. It seems as if the team got their you know what together during the bye week as they really took it out on the Argos. Who's kidding who, that game was over 5 minutes in. The defence came to play and I mean they came to play. If they can play at that level and that intensity for the rest of the season, it will be tough for teams to beat the green and white. I fully realize that likely won't happen in the remaining 14 games, but it was a sign that when this team wants to play ---especially on defence---they are pretty damn tough.

Just some thoughts

  --Who had the better game John Chick or Tyron Brackenridge? Am I the only one saying today after watching Chick's play that he is playing at the level he was when he won the defensive player of the year award before bolting to the NFL in 2009. He's been a beast!

 --Has the wheel of running backs stopped on Will Ford? He certainly deserves the start against Ottawa.

--With the way the offensive line runblocks, is it safe to say there are a lot of people out there who could run for at least 60 yards behind them.

--Dan Clark looked great in his debut. Head coach Corey Chamblin says he didn't notice anything bad and that's a good sign.

--While the passing game continues to struggle, one wonders if those struggles end when Chris Getzlaf gets back into the lineup.

--Durant only completed 9 passes. There aren't many quarterbacks who complete just 9 passes while seeing their team score 37 points with none of the points coming directly from the defence.

Lets see if the team can take this new-found attitude and energy and do it again in Ottawa. Two games in five days will be tough, but they should be able to go to Ottawa and win even though the REDBLACKS are better than your usual expansion team. The Winnipeg game will be a definite test.

There has to be concern amongst CFL folks about the Ti-Cats and Argos. Who's kidding who, that looked bad Saturday night at McMaster. More people have been at Rams and Huskies games than there were at Ron Joyce Stadium. I know the stadium doesn't seat a lot, but it looked bad. As one person connected with the CFL said Saturday night, they should have looked at going to Buffalo instead of MacMaster. I couldn't disagree. The University of Buffalo stadium would have been a better venue. So would have Rogers Centre.

Could the CFL survive without Toronto if the Argos franchise moved to the Maritimes.  I'm not sure if it could when Corporate Canada is in T-O.

The Geroy Simon retirement ceremony just seemed awkward to me---especially the part of him addressing the team. That one left me scratching my head when Geroy works for another team. Lets just say I couldn't see Kent Austin coming in and speaking to the Riders if the team were to retire his number 5.  Yes, Geroy's role isn't as high profile as Kent's, but you see what I mean.

This was the last Sunday without NFL football until the week before the Super Bowl. I'm OK with that and I know there are many others OK with that as well.

Other non football related thoughts

Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux went into Baseball's Hall of Fame this weekend. Those guys could twirl the ball. They were something special to watch when they were on their game. How the Braves only won one World Series during those years is beyond me.

Graham DeLaet just couldn't carry the momentum from his course record 63 on Friday in the final 36 holes of the Canadian Open. He needed another couple of 67's on the weekend, but he still finished with another top 10. As for Jim Furyk, he needs to have someone come in to close things out. How many times has Furyk had the lead after 54 holes and lose? I thought he was a shoo-in to win it on Sunday, but Tim Clark had other ideas.

Am I the only one wondering who cares if new Leafs assistant GM Kyle Dubas is a specialist in "advanced statistics". Hockey isn't like baseball and Moneyball can't be replicated on the ice the way it is on the diamond. I can't wait to see how this plays out.

When in an NFL fantasy draft this year----don't wait too long to take Buffalo's Sammy Watkins.

I should not be allowed at times to carry an 8 iron in my hand.

Its Queen City Ex time. How much will it cost me to get a "stuffy" for my youngest daughter this year and can I just go to Toys R Us and smuggle something into the grounds.

That's all I got. Enjoy the week!