This And That

The weekly assortment of thoughts running through my muddled brain in no particular order


 --Is it just me or has interest in the CFL gone down to zero around these parts? No one is talking about the East and West finals around here and if they are, where are they? In other years when the Riders were out, there was still some interest, but it seems to have vanished this year. Hey, I'll admit I'll be as guilty as the next guy on Sunday, The Eskimos and Stampeders will be playing in the Western final and I'll be watching the Seahawks-Cardinals which to me is a much more important contest seeing my team is battling, If the Riders were in Calgary, I'd be PVR'ing or switching back and forth.

--If the CFL had been one nine team league as some have suggested it should be, Calgary and Edmonton would have had first round byes last weekend with BC home to Hamilton and the Riders home to Montreal. Would you have liked that? Would the Riders had won?

--As the weather gets cold, the talk about moving up the season has started again. Here's a novel idea.....lets scrap the 18 game schedule and go to a 16 game schedule thus saving your two weeks. You can still start training camps on June 1 and be done the regular season at the end of October with the Grey Cup being played in mid-November.  Each time would play each other once at home and once on the road. I'm all for that!

--The story of the Humboldt couple who are fighting with Blue Cross over an insurance bill of almost one million dollars has certainly caught the eye of most everyone----unless you think the biggest story in Saskatchewan is the massive snowfall in Buffalo.  Blue Cross' refusal to make any media statements about this matter certainly isn't helping their profile any, Is it worth their silence to keep good public relations. I am guessing their business will take some kind of a hit. That being said, I do question someone being allowed to travel when they are six months pregnant. In the end, this story will work itself out and I think the Humboldt couple will be fine, but many who buy travel insurance will be asking a lot of questions in the future.

--Speaking of the snow in Buffalo, there was some talk about Sunday's NFL game having to be postponed or moved because of all the snow at Ralph Wilson Stadium that needs to be removed, The Bills are asking people to come out with shovels in hand and get paid 10 bucks an hour, As Rod Pedersen and I said on Wednesday's Sportscage, if that call came to Mosaic Stadium, we'd have that sucker cleared in two hours and be glad to have helped out. Word is its about to warm up in Western New York with temperatures in the 6-10 degree celsius range for the weekend. That will melt a lot of snow and create a lot of water!

--Week 12 NFL Lock of The Week--Seahawks over Cardinals
   Week 12 NFL Upset Of The Week ---Falcons over Browns

--Speaking of the Browns, if they make the playoffs with Brian Hoyer at quarterback, what do they do? They invested in Johnny Manziel in the first round and he hasn't seen a lick of action this year as Hoyer has come in and done a great job. This is his last year in Cleveland. If he gets them to the playoffs, you have to give him a new contract don't you. If not, you start over with Manziel and who knows how that works out.

--The Toronto media must really start salivating when the Leafs lose big like they did the other night to Nashville. They are just like dogs on raw meat. It makes me wonder why so many say they would love playing for the Leafs.

--Sportsnet reported earlier this week that the next World Cup of Hockey would be an 8 team tournament, Canada, the U-S, Sweden, Russia, Finland and the Czechs would make up 6 teams with players from other countries like Slovakia, Switzerland, Austria, etc. etc would make up the 7th team with a "young guns team" making up team number 8. How about this? The US, Russia, Finland, Sweden, the Czechs and the International team along with Canada East and Canada West.  A Canada West team with the likes of Getzlaf, Eberle, Toews, Seabrook and Price just for starters would be a pretty good team.

--Who saw Bill Cosby going down? Will anyone be able to watch the Cosby Show in the same way again. For that matter, will the Cosby Show ever come on TV anymore.

--I'm guessing Jack Johnson won't be buying Mom and Dad any Mother's Day or Father's Day presents for a while. Stealing your son's money isn't payback for having to get up early to get him to practice and he shouldn't have to pay you back for all those hot chocolates and coffees you had watching those early practices.

--That's all I got. Have a great weekend!