Odds & Ends

Michael Vick cheered in Philly, Dany Heatley booed in Calgary. Irony!

The Pats have picked up where they left off, losing. Who cares, its pre-season.

Speaking of pre-season, can we start the NFL already?

Team Canada. Are we really picking the team already? Do we have to know who the Captain will be? My only comment is that Mike Richards better be on the team. He's a winner!

Mark Mueller looks to be more than ready to guide the U of R Rams into the season.

Word has it that Bekki Schmidt has a bum ankle that could keep her out of game action until the season starts. How good does the pick-up of Joanna Zalesiak look now for Dave Taylor's group.

Zalesiak is a 5'9" 20 year old that can play the 1 or 2 position. And more than that, she is a joy to talk to. The "Polish Princess"will be heard from both on the court and on the air-waves this season.

Gabby Gheyssen: Golfs, plays hoops, pours drinks and is studying to be an accountant. WOW!

Finally got down to the 85 mark this week.

Woodsy has had two different players in his foursome hit hole in ones this week. Crazy! He hasn't seen one in 47 years on the course, now two in a week. I'm booking a tee-time as we speak.

What will the Riders look like in the second half? and more importantly, the 2nd half (7 points in 3rd quarter this year)?

Thunder making noise in the PFC. Good chance they are 3-1 and in first place at the midway point of the season.

Could the Blue Jays win in AAA?

The Press Box is the best place to grab a bite on the weekend for this guy!

Trip to Toronto rocked. Great tour of Sportsnet, watch Prime Time Sports and go to a Red Sox Jays game! Does it get better?

Over and Out for now.

Warriors Camp

I ran into Coach Hunchak after the Warriors Balck&White game last night. He flat out told me to keep on top of this blog. Nice to see that he reads.

Speaking of the Warriors, this is a team that should be vastly improved this year. The team doesn't lose any 20 year olds and their returning players have another year under their belt.

Travis Hamonic will anchor the back end and looked smooth last night, not ever getting beat and carrying the puck at will.

Upfront, Quinton Howden is bigger and faster as a 17 and will no doubt be the offensive leader on this squad. Jason Bast is back and after a short chat with him its evident this kid is ready to guide the Tribe towards a playoff spot.

The only question might be in net as to who will be there and how they'll play. Both Jeff Bosch and Devan Dubyk are back and if they play well, I see the Warriors sneaking into a playoff spot.

The Tribe are off to Edmonton for the pre-season tourney and then back home on the 5th to start their exhibition season.

And peaking into the crystal ball, former GM Chad Lang's final first pick looks to have all the potential in the world. Morgan Reilly played most of the night paired up with Travis Hamonic and I really had to look to see if the 15 year old even made one single mistake. Reilly showed incredible season and vision and doesn't hesitate to jump into the play as well. At first look, this kid appears to be a homerun.

Many Questions Around Riders After Loss

Wow! Where to begin? The Defense couldn't get off the field, the Offence couldn't stay on it and they never should have let the Special teams set foot out there in the first place.

The obvious turning point in this game was the fumbled punt by Gerran Walker that turned into 7 points and gave the Lions the lead after it looked like the Riders were set to go into the half out in front. But that was merely one play that only made it a 5 point game.

Where was the pressure on Buck Pierce? The Riders had 9 sacks in the season opener, but Friday they barely got within shouting distance of the Leo's QB.

Why do the Quarterbacks need to hold the ball so long? Are the Rider receivers not getting open? Or are the pivots simply not getting rid of the ball? If I can predict the play before the snap, you might think the other team is going to figure it out! Why did it take till the 4th quarter to throw a screen pass? Was Chris Getzlaf (last week's hero) even playing in this game? Do we not have a quick hit crossing route in the playbook? Wasn't BC the worst in the league at defending the run?

The game changed on one special teams play, but can be summed up on another. The on-side kick attempt with less than a minute to go, that didn't even have a chance. Kinda like the Riders.

CFL - Predictably Unpredictable

This weekend marks the 1/3 mark of the season and almost nothing is what it seemed.

Sure, the East is almost as pathetic as most years, but with a little twist this year. Hamilton actually looks like a professional football club. I think most would have predicted Montreal being good and Winnipeg being bad, but Hamilton with a winning record? The Cats declawing the Lions, sweeping the season series? Not many would have the stones to have predicted that.

Now, if Hamilton is a shock, then Winnipeg is just what was scripted. Mike Kelly continues to be more abrasive than an S.O.S. pad. The Bombers Coach seems intent on wearing out his welcome in the Keystone province just as fast as he can. Now, the team is hanging their hopes on Michael Bishop? As one former teammate of Bishop's told me, "All the tools, no box." Good luck Winnipeg, but I don't think I'd worry about a late November trip to Calgary, although the Labour Day Classic should be entertaining!

Toronto. Well, KJ is struggling and has nobody to throw to. I can't say too many people in Saskatchewan are feeling bad for Rob Murphy these days, in fact most of the province has Stevie Baggs's spin move around the outspoken O-Lineman as a screen saver on their computers!

In the West, its more like a game of Yahtzee in '09. The Riders look great, 15 minutes at a time. The Esks look like they can't do anything, then beat down on the Als. Calgary is too busy dancing and looking at themselves with pictures of the Grey Cup to remember they have to play football. As for the Lions, did anybody believe Wally when he said that the team didn't lose much with the departure of Wake and Logan? Oh yeah, wins is the only thing they lost.

However, its REAL early in this wild league called the CFL and no doubt every weekend will continue to present the odd head shaking result, and that's why we love it!