Something To "Mitch" About

--There is nothing wrong with a holiday Monday in August.  Nothing at all.  If we didn't know what Chris Jones was doing on his holidays, we do now!  Once again, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are creating stories for the CFL pushing the Johnny Manziel one to the backburner for a few days as we learned Sunday afternoon Jones worked out several players while back home in Tennessee including Terrell Owens.  It sent social media into a tizzy as you knew it would.  Chris Jones wearing something other than black would send the social media world into a frenzied state.

There is nothing wrong with Jones working out the 44-year-old Hall of Famer.  It all worked out that both were going to be in the area, and it isn't like Jones held a private workout for him.  There were others there who might be able to help this football club in the future.

Working out a 44-year-old and signing a 44-year-old are two different things altogether.  By listening to Jones, it sounds as if Owens still can run routes and catch balls, but he is not in football shape.  I am guessing this story will just fade away.  If he does come here though, it will make the circus surrounding Johnny Manziel seem like a day at church.

--That brings me to Manziel.  At the end of the day, what he does and what he doesn't do in this league doesn't bother me at all.  I have said right from his days at Texas A & M that he has been over-hyped. His career took off because of one Saturday afternoon in Alabama with a national TV audience watching.  He didn't even lead his team to a national championship!   He went in the first round to the worst team that could have taken him and we all know about his personal life.

It is far too early to tell what Manziel can or will do in this league, and his debut effort was somewhat Seth Doege-like (remember that game??), but it is up to him to learn the game and get better.  Should he have been thrown to the wolves so early by the Alouettes.  Obviously not, but Montreal has shown they are more concerned with fans in the seats than production on the field.   You can't come in and start tearing up the league immediately.  How long did Darian Durant have to wait before getting a shot.  What about Bo Levi and Mike Reilly?  Success doesn't come overnight.  What will next week bring when he faces Ottawa? It won't take much to be an improved performance, but it is obvious Johnny Football has a long ways to go as do the Alouettes.    How did the Riders lose to them again?  YEESH!!

Poor Johnny....he went from the Cleveland Browns to the Montreal Alouettes! That can't be good for the football soul.

--The Calgary Stampeders are 7-0 and for good reason.. Talk of them coming back to the pack this year by everyone turned out to be wrong.  As long as John Hufnagel is there, that team will win, They don't need any help though.  The penalty on Anthony Orange for gently kicking the ball towards the Calgary bench after an incompletion thus keeping a drive alive was one of the worst calls I have seen in the CFL in recent memory.  Even Chris Cuthbert was shocked in the broadcast booth to see that flag get tossed.  We see that all the time and no linen comes out of the pocket so why this time?  It only makes it worse when Derel Walker was guilty of a throat slash after his TD catch against the Riders which should have been a penalty.   All in all this year, the officiating has been better, but add that play to the Walker play to the schmozz we saw in the Toronto-Ottawa game and it wasn't a good week for the stripes.  Has anyone noticed that the officating started getting better since Glen Johnson was no longer in charge. Hmmmmmmm!!

-It is no secret I am not a big fan of the Toronto Blue Jays, but one has to tip their cap to the many who once again invaded Seattle and made a four-game set against the Mariners seem like a home game.  The fan support the team gets from BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan is tremendous. It makes me wonder why the club doesn't do more things out in this part of the country.   Yes, they had that caravan swing through here and Edmonton in 2017 with Kevin Pillar, Marco Estrada and others, but they could do more in my opinion

By the way, don't think Seattle doesn't like seeing this either despite what the players say. Ticket prices were jacked up and from what I understand, it was a lot more expensive to get a hotel in Seattle this weekend than it was last and what it will be this weekend.

If Jays fans can go do that for Seattle, why not Minneapolis.  I know a lot of people from the 306 head to Target Field when Toronto is there, but not as many Canadians make the trip to the Twin Cities that they do to the Emerald City.

I also wonder if that support for the Jays is being noticed by MLB. You do remember Rob Manfred said Montreal was not the only Canadian city he was looking at when it came to expansion at the all-star break.  Could Vancouver support an MLB team?  I think they could.

--The Boston Red Sox are the best team in MLB right now. There should be no debate on that after their four-game sweep of the Yankees this weekend..  I just get the feeling they are in for another playoff collapse though.

--Going into the writing of today's posting,  the Kiwanis National Little League team was 2-1 and in the middle of the pack at the Canadian Little League Baseball Championship in Mirabel, Quebec.  It is great to see CBC streaming this tournament on their website. More of this is needed not just in baseball, but all sports----LIKE UNIVERSITY SPORTS!!!

--That's all I got. Enjoy the holiday Monday and the rest of the week.