This And That

The usual assortment of thoughts running through my muddled mind in no particular order


 --Is it safe to say the Saskatchewan Roughriders may have started a succession plan on Tuesday afternoon when they announced assistant GM Jeremy O'Day had signed a three year contract extension and was now director of football operations.  There is no doubt O'Day is one of the bright young minds in the CFL and he has general manager written all over him. Do the Riders take him through to the end of the 2017 season and then make him GM while moving Brendan Taman to a spot higher up in the organization. O'Day has been and will continue to learn from Taman over the next three years and that should make him more than ready to take over.  This was a great move by the team to keep O'Day in the plans for not only the next three years but many more after that I would wager.

 --How many Rider fans breathed a sigh of relief when it was learned Nik Lewis had signed with Montreal. Many hated the Dwight Anderson signing because of his past but they grew past it. I don't think the same would have been said had Lewis been wearing green.

  --I've heard a lot of good things about defensive back Kris Robertson. The Canadian, who played CIS ball, at Concordia is said to be a real ballhawk and a great player. The Riders may have gotten a steal here if he can make that move to the next level.

 --Those suggesting the hit that knocked Patrick Kane out for what likely is the remainder of the hockey season was a dirty one make me shake my head. That hit wasn't dirty! Its a hockey play! Alex Petrovic gave him a stick in the hips like many d-men do and sadly for Kane, he lost his balance and went unprotected into the boards breaking his collarbone. The attention on this play is purely because it happened to one of the NHL's top players. Had Bryan Bickell, Brandon Saad or Kris Versteeg been the victim of this hit, we would not be talking about this.

 -With Kane being hurt, do they give the Leafs a call about Phil Kessel? How about perhaps going after a Jarome Iginla who won't win a Cup in Colorado this year.

 --Was Kane the front-runner for MVP this year, He would have been the first American MVP if he had been voted. How will Canadians react when an American is named MVP of what supposedly is "our game". Will it be treated the same way it was when Steve Nash was named MVP of the NBA and there was considerable moaning.

--Thursday was the night in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs that the David Clarkson era at the same time as the Zach Sill era started!

--I have no problems with the rule baseball is putting in place to speed up the game. Pitchers pitch and batters bat. This other crap that both do have to be stopped. Get the ball, get the signal, let the hitter dig in and throw the ball. No screwing around! Get it done!

 --The Regina Pats will have an "x"  beside their name on the WHL standings meaning they have clinched a playoff spot.  I hope this is the year the team can get to the second round of the playoffs. Swift Current will be tough, but I think the Pats have the horses to get it done. If not, it will be another long summer around here and I don't think QCSE wants that as they try to re-establish this teams identity.

--Speaking of the Pats, last week on the Sportscage, I asked people who was the next player who should have his jersey retired in the wake of the Warriors retiring Ryan Smyth's jersey. A few people said Rick Rypien's #11 and I couldn't agree more. The Winnipeg Jets are doing their best to honor Rypien by starting Project 11. It is a positive mental health program that helps Grade 5-8 kids in Manitoba. It is a Manitoba project, but the website is http://www.projecteleven.ca/. I don't know if there are any plans to expand this into Saskatchewan and I know there are agencies promoting mental health awareness, but lets hope. Here is a video the Jets played inside MTS Centre before their game against St. Louis Thursday night that centers around Rick and what he was all about. Its long, but if you're a fan of Rick, watch it!

For those who wondered why the Saskatoon Blades would play the Pats on a Monday afternoon and laughed about it or thought it was dumb,  Here is what CJWW's Dave Thomas had to say about the affair.

http://toontownsports.net/top-10-tuesday-playing-hooky-for-hockey/#more-4308

PS: This must be a part of the Pats season schedule in 2015-16 and beyond. Why wouldn't you do something like this?

There's an interesting poll on saskatoonhomepage.ca asking about the Riders logo and what your favourite one is. Over half say they like the current one which is fine, but 18 percent say its time to get a new, modern logo. I say no to that idea!

Good luck to Steve Laycock at the Tim Hortons Brier. I don't see the drought ending with rinks like Morris, Jacobs and Kevin Koe in the field, but one never knows. TSN will have multiple games on each draw through their multitude of channels(where was that for the Scotties) with Bryan Mudryk being joined by David Nedohin.

Rob Ford is selling off his Rider jersey, but its for a good cause as money will go to fight the cancer he is battling. You can make a bid on that sweater right here.

I don't know how many radio types across this fine country of ours reads this blog on a day to day basis, but if you are looking for someone who will add to your newsroom, I highly endorse and recommend the name of Thomas Strangward. "Tom the Intern" as he became quickly known at 620 CKRM was a tremendous addition to our newsroom in the month of February from SAIT. If you are looking for someone, he would certainly fit the bill. Good luck Tom!

--Good luck also to the Cougar ladies basketball team. Dave Taylor's crew upset Fraser Valley last week and they have a very tough task this weekend battling UBC in Vancouver. GO COUGS!

And while this damn dress is stirring up debate all over the place for what colours it is, I think I can honestly say around here, there is no doubt as to what the colours of this fine garment are

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