This And That

--Welcome to Friday and the usual thoughts running through my muddled mind. As always, they are in no particular order.

--In the wake of the Odell Willis hit on Zach Collaros, there has been a lot of talk about "targetting" and whether or not the CFL should adopt a rule that is in the NCAA.  Be careful what you wish for. There have been several examples of "targetting" in the NCAA where the call that has been made has been a bad one.  I understand completely you are looking at everything through green-tinted glasses, but when that "targetting" rule takes out a member of the Riders, you will scream your head off saying the hit was justified.  You can't have it both ways.

--I never thought Willis was the most intelligent individual that walks the face of this earth.  That was proven from his Twitter account on Thursday. Ummmmmmm!

--Brandon Banks believes he should not only be the Ti-Cats rep for MOP, but the league's MOP as well.  Is Stevie Baggs now speaking for Banks?

--Is Saturday a must-win game for the Calgary Stampeders? That's a question being asked.  It is if they want to finish first, but a loss doesn't mean the end of the season.  The Lions are going to give Calgary everything they can handle in an attempt to make Wally Buono's last game at BC Place a successful one.  I don't see this one being one where we know who wins with 5 minutes to play.

--If the Riders do finish first, I am OK with the fact they will have a long time in between games. Let's put it this way.  I would much rather play one playoff game at home to go to the Grey Cup than have to win one at home, and then go on the road to win another before heading to the Grey Cup. Having an extra week to prepare would be right down Chris Jones' alley as well and it may give Zach Collaros one more week to get better.

--The CFL has only had one defensive player win MOP honours.  I think that number grows to two this year.  Whether Adam Bighill or Willie Jefferson comes out of the West, I think that person wins.  I don't think you can give Mike Reilly the nod in the West because his team didn't make the playoffs, Ty Long certainly won't get the nod in BC and Bo Levi Mitchell may have won by default in Calgary.

--A couple of weeks ago I asked people on Twitter if they were watching the Toronto/Montreal CFL games. I will ask on this platform if you watched the Niners/Raiders game and if so why? Can we now say Nick Mullens is Joe Montana, Steve Young and Elvis Grbac all mixed into one! OK maybe not.

--Week 9 NFL Lock of The Week --- Vikings over Lions
   Week 9 NFL Upset of The Week ---Saints over Rams

--One month into the hockey season.  Teams we expected to be good like Pittsburgh, Nashville and Tampa are where we thought they would be.  I would say the biggest surprise likely has to be Montreal who has as many points as Toronto, Vancouver, the Islanders and perhaps Arizona.  Meanwhile, are the LA Kings the biggest disappointment. 3 wins and averaging two goals a game in an NHL that has gotten more goal-friendly.

--When Winnipeg's #29 gets three goals in a game as he did Thursday in Helsinki, do we refer to him as Hat-Trick Laine?

--The Pump is closing its doors?  Checkers and Delberts were two of the hotspots during my youth. Does today's youth even know what places like that were all about? The last night in that place will be something to behold.  It's going to be turned into a mosque.  It will be strange driving down Victoria Avenue and seeing what used to be a hotspot turn into a place of worship.

--I shop at Safeway and Sobeys.  Just once I'd like to see my name as a winner for Touchdown to Win or Score to Win.  Just once! I'll take a damn gift card.

That's all I got.  Enjoy the weekend!