Something To "Mitch" About

HAPPY DADS DAY -  I hope whatever you did this weekend, you had some time if you could to spend some of it with your Dad whether it be a phone call or something else. Dads sometimes get the short end of the stick. Why is it all athletes yell "Hi Mom" into the camera. Dad needs that too. Hope all the dads had a great day.


RIDERS - The pre-season is now in the books for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the cuts have been made and it is time for this football team to now show us what they have got. After two pre-season games, there are many questions. We obviously didn't see a snap of the game in Edmonton, but the offence struggled, and the defence is likely still trying to figure out just who is lining up beside them. Many a person has asked me over the last few days how this team is going to do. A 6 win season means they are twice as good as last year and I believe this team can win 6 games. In fact, I think they win 8 or 9. Is that being too optimistic? Some are surprised at the fact Clarence Denmark was let go, but the younger Ricky Collins beat him out.  Chris Jones isn't going to put Denmark out there and let Collins sit like last year when Taj Smith and Jamel Richardson started the year while Naaman Roosevelt sat on the bench. As for Brett Smith, I am surprised the only other QB on the roster besides Darian with experience was let go, but you have to think Jones has his eyes on a quarterback with CFL experience coming in. Who is it though? We won't be waiting long to find out.

COULD IT BE? - Thumbs up to the Calgary Stampeders, and thumbs up to Andrew Buckley. I don't know if he will see any meaningful snaps, but the University of Calgary quarterback has cracked the Stampeders roster. I hope this bodes well for other CIS quarterbacks moving forward with one of those quarterbacks being Regina's Asher Hastings who plays for McMaster. There are good quarterbacks in the CIS and they are virtually ignored once their CIS days come to an end. Hopefully Buckley will be the first of many Canadian QB's we see on CFL rosters in the years to come.

WELCOME HOME - The Chicago Bears visit on Saturday to the Regina Youth Flag Football League was a huge success.  I have never seen so many happy, smiling kids in one place

Riders president and CEO Craig Reynolds was even out there checking things out, but his kid is involved in the league, so he had a reason.

Then again, maybe Craig thought Jay Cutler might be in attendance, and we saw from the cuts the team needs a 3rd quarterback.

The visit also meant the return of Jerrell Freeman, and Akiem Hicks to Regina and the former Rider and former Ram were more than happy to be back teaching the game to young kids

It may have only been a one-time event, but it was an event that many won't forget for a long time.


OJ-MADE IN AMERICA -  Did you watch this documentary? Words can't express how good it was and words can't express how he actually got away with it.  I was as shocked watching this as I was when the verdict was actually delivered. Did the jurors actually exonerate OJ because of the Rodney King beating? That was jaw-dropping. We were warned when ESPN said graphic photos of both Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the death scene would be shown, but you are still just left emotionless when you see what OJ did that night. If you missed this documentary, find a way to see it. It is truly a picture of what America was like and perhaps still is during that time. It was certainly more than a trial.


US OPEN - I can't imagine what was going through Dustin Johnson's head, and I can't imagine what was going thru the minds of the US Golf Association. There is absolutely no way the USGA should have told Johnson they were considering taking a stroke away from him, but not making a final decision until after the round. That is like telling a team that has the ball at their 5 yard line and moves it out to the 40 before the ref says "You know there might have been a penalty a couple of plays ago, but we are going to wait until the drive is over before we decide if we will enforce the penalty." While the USGA was beaten up on social media by the stars of today with Jack Nicklaus weighing in later on, Johnson was unfazed and unlike last year, he closed out the deal to take his first major. I don't think its his last.

BYE GEORGE - If what the Toronto Star's Dave Feschuk is writing is true, George Stromboulopoulos is out and Ron McLean is back in. Rogers needed some kind of shake-up to get dwindling NHL ratings back and this will be a start. Many Canadians including myself just did not think Strombo knew enough about the game to talk about it intelligently on Saturday nights. This does not instantly make the product better, but its a start. Who's next?

MICHAEL SAUNDERS - When the Blue Jays picked up outfielder Michael Saunders from Seattle prior to the 2015 season, I thought it was a good pickup. Toronto never got a real chance to see Saunders in action after he hurt his knee in a freak incident on the first day of spring training. I don't think anyone thought Saunders would be doing what he is right now as he is leading the team in batting at 309 with 15 homers including 3 Friday night. His slugging percentage also leads the team.  What I didn't know until Buck Martinez mentioned it on the weekend is that Saunders is a free agent. So now you have to spend to try and keep Bautista, Encarnacion and Saunders. Good luck with that Ross Atkins, good luck with that Mark Shapiro.

THE KING CROWNS THE WARRIORS  - Cleveland has a professional sports championship thanks to Lebron James. I didn't think Cleveland had a chance to win Game 5 back in Oakland, but James put a city and a franchise on his back with three games that were unbelievable. This should also silence the talk about who is the best NBA team ever. Jordan's Bulls closed the deal and Curry's Warriors didn't. It is as simple as that.

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