Something To "Mitch" About

--At this time next week, we will be talking about CFL football games being played. Yes, they will be exhibition games, but football will be back. There hasn't been a football game since the Super Bowl so if you are a fan of the game regardless of who is playing it, like me, I think you will agree when I say it is time.

--Playing time for veterans in a short pre-season is always something coaching staffs debate---especially when it comes to quarterbacks. I don't know what Corey Chamblin's plan is for Darian Durant, but he is already in a situation where no matter what he does, he will be criticized. Some believe Durant shouldn't play much in the pre-season as he continues to recover from his elbow injury which brought the 2014 season to a screeching halt while others think he should get perhaps more time than usual just to make sure everything is alright and get those first couple hits out of the way which is perhaps the final hurdle before we can say he is truly healed. I seem to lean towards the latter, but I think if you give him the first half and a bit at the home game against Calgary you are good.

--CFL games will be played in Fort McMurray, Alberta and Quebec City in the pre-season. That is great for the game as a whole, Could the Lions play a pre-season game in Kelowna or Victoria? Can the league go back to the Maritimes for some games? The more exposure, the better!

--I would like to think Paul McCallum would hook on with another CFL team, but I don't know if that will happen----at least not right now. The ageless McCallum may have kicked his last FG in the CFL and if he has, all he has to do now is wait for a call from the CFL Hall of Fame because it will come. Say what you will about him, but he is one of the best kickers pro football has seen north and south of the border. His career should not be predicated on one awful miss in 2004, 

--Canada wins their opening game at the Womens World Cup of soccer and Commonwealth Stadium looked great. Too bad the game wasn't. After all the hype and expectations, we came perilously close to not seeing the result we wanted. Canada did win the game 1-0 on a late penalty kick, but was that a penalty? Yes, the girl did take an elbow to the face, but how many times have we seen that type of call ignored late in the stages of a contest. While many will take the win, I just wonder what the reaction would have been had the same play happened against Canada and China got the win. Its a legitimate question and many of you know the answer.   By the way, I would have loved to have seen a game or two of that event played in Regina. It would have been outstanding for the sport and the growth of it in our province. As I said in an earlier posting though, it doesn't seem like Soccer Canada wanted to promote this event in our neck of the woods. I do know one thing and that is if this tournament was played four years later, it would have been stopping in our fair city.

--James Duthie should be at ESPN or FOX Sports 1. The guy is just too good at whatever sport he is in charge of. I thought TSN might have given the hosting assignment to one of the big 3 ladies at the network (Hedger, Beirness or Staniszewski), and with Canada playing in Edmonton, it would have been a huge honour for Natasha to get it in her hometown, but TSN obviously wanted their best for this high-profile event so they got him even if it means he misses the Stanley Cup final.

--I will have to watch Games 3 and 4 on Hockey Night in Canada because we don't get the NBC Sports Network, but my TV was locked on NBC for Game 1 and 2. Say what you will, but they do a better job of bringing me the game and everything around it.  
 
--A lot of it may be just posturing, but I think you are going to see some big names getting traded at the NHL draft. The Penguins say they want the first round pick they sent to Edmonton for David Perron back and now there is talk Evgeni Malkin is OK with a trade.  There is talk to prevent being in cap hell, the Rangers may be forced to move Rick Nash and we know Phil Kessel will be headed somewhere else. If anything happens, I don't see it happening until the night of the draft or the night before, but it will.

--The NBA Finals have been one or two levels beyond outstanding. Lebron James is defining his legacy as win or lose he is carrying the Cavaliers on his shoulders. Cleveland has no business being in this series without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, but they are getting it done thanks to Lebron. His effort in the first two games have been super-human!


--Would Kelly McCrimmon leave the bright lights of Brandon for Toronto?  I am thinking there are many in the Western Hockey League who would be glad to see him go, but I don't see it happening. The Wheat Kings are going to be a very good hockey team over the next few years and I can't see him walking away from that.

--Congratulations to Curtis Hunt! The former Pats coach will be named the new GM of the Prince Albert Raiders today. 

-- I don't really understand Amy Schumer and I'm not sure I want to.

--How and why do the St. Louis Cardinals continue to sit atop the baseball ladder. Many thought this team was finally going to take a step backwards this year and that talk became exaggerated after one of the best pitchers in the game, Adam Wainwright, went down for the season, yet they have the majors best record right now. They don't show any sign of slowing down either. 


--Not to steal the line from the Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons, but whatever happened to former Warrior Kendal McArdle.

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