This and That

--It's not surprising, but some Rider fans are upset because no "star power" has been brought in.  One said the team isn't as good as it was without Micah Johnson who is now in BC.  What do you want?  In a salary cap world, you can't keep everybody and sometimes the player doesn't want to be here as there is a desire to go elsewhere.  The almighty $$$$ has a role to play too as many would rather go where they are going to get the biggest paycheque.  I'm OK with that and so should you.

GM Jeremy O'Day did a tremendous job in the off-season and getting a majority of the key pending free agents back.  When you look at last year's starting 12 on D, 10 will be back.  The only two who won't be are the aforementioned Johnson and Derrick Moncrief.   Offensively,  Fajardo, Powell, Evans and Moore are around.  On paper, the Riders have the best team in the West in my opinion right now.

--Having Derek Taylor in the building and yapping with him every day brings a new look to the game and the players that play it---especially at this time of year.  Those who know DT or have listened to the Sportscage know he is a numbers nerd (which he is fine with).  He brings out some interesting numbers when it comes to certain players that obviously had no idea of.  At the end of the day, I think too much emphasis is put on numbers and not enough on actual game play, but there are little nuggets of info I get from him each day on players that are interesting.

--The BC Lions are making sure they aren't bottomfeeders again this year. They have made some substantial upgrades to their squad.  It could be said every year, but the Western Conference is going to be a dogfight this year.

--The Argos signed DL Drake Nevis.  Toronto finally has a Drake they can be proud of!

--For the second straight year, I question what Ottawa is doing.

--I am shocked guys like Derel Walker, Derek Dennis and Naaman Roosevelt are still without a team.  What's the holdup?

--Randy Ambrosie will bring his Randy's Road Trip back to Regina for a 3rd  year on February 29.  This is Ambrosie's chance to hear from fans and give his state of the league address.  What is your number one concern about the league right now? 

--Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston had LASIK surgery this week to correct his vision. That one is too easy.  Way too easy!

--Looking forward to being at Mosaic Place for the next week for the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.  Rachel Homan and her Ontario team are favoured, but the website Sportsinteraction.com has Robyn Silvernagle at 15-1.  It was 19-1 on Thursday afternoon.  I'm putting 5 bucks down on her to win.  Betting in curling? Love it!

DT and I will be at Mosaic Place to bring you Sportscage.  It should be a lot of fun.  I did the Cage from there five years ago and it was a blast.  I'm just hoping the roads aren't as slick as they were five years ago.  There were a couple of interesting drives home that week. 

--I'm an Oilers fan, but Zack Kassian needs to sit down for at least five games for his kick on Tampa's Erik Cernak on Thursday.   You can't do that Zack.  You just can't!

--The Pats had created a lot of good talk before heading to Alberta.  The key word being "had".  Getting their doors blown off 7-0 and 8-1 by Medicine Hat and Calgary takes the team back to square one after that 5 game win streak they had.  Despite the two beatdowns, Regina continues to play much better hockey in the second half of the season. That won't translate to a playoff spot, but it will give them momentum if they finish strong going into next season.

--It's hard to like the Houston Astros these days.  What a gong-show their press conference was to talk about the sign-stealing scandal in 2017.  It embarrassed not only themselves, but Major League Baseball.  The Astros hope this story will go away.  Its not!

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