• The Roughriders head to Calgary on Friday and will hold a noon hour walk-through at McMahon Stadium complete with a Ken Miller press conference. It will be great to see all the Calgary Rider fans there as that city tends to attract the most day-before fans than any other. It's going to be a fun weekend.
• The last forecast I saw for Saturday's game calls for 9 degrees Celsius and rain. The Stamps are favoured by six points.
• The last word on last week's 42-5 loss to BC is this: after all the fighting Ken Miller has done for his players, they let the coach down in that game. End of story. I expect they will respond with a big effort on Saturday.
• The Riders could actually lose tomorrow and still be alive although I wouldn't advise it. If they lose to the Stamps, they can kiss any chance of catching Calgary good-bye. Then the only hope they'll have is overtaking Edmonton. We'll cross that bridge if/when we get there.
• PLENTY has been made this week about Ken Miller momentarily losing his temper with reporters on Tuesday (or more specifically with me). On Thursday Miller said just before meeting the media: "Sorry I was late. I was doing my makeup. I've got to make some stuff up here now.''
Miller was referring to blog and message board suggestions that he set me up to ask that question about being flat so that he could grandstand. Trust me, that wasn't the case.
• My question is, why does Ken care what message boarders are saying? Ever hear the phrase "What other people say about you is none of your business"?
• The only thing that bothers me about that whole deal is that the team seems uptight. It would be better if they were loose and confident. Maybe by now they are.
• Rider Hall of Famer Dale West said on In The Huddle this week "If the Riders miss the playoffs, it's not the end of the world."
I respectfully disagree.
• Much has been made of the Leader Post report on Thursday that Regina has been awarded the 2013 Grey Cup. The fact is Dave Ash of DASH Tours broke the story on the Sports Cage a month ago.
• This weekend will be fun but it won't be a holiday. Friday I'll be live in studio with the Fan 960 Calgary from 3-4 pm on their Football Friday show, and on the Sports Cage at 5:00 for Four Seasons Football Friday. Then it's a meeting with Fan 960 people afterwards.
• Good luck to Paul McCallum who is two consecutive field goals shy of the CFL record of 28 straight. He can set it tonight at home when the BC Lions host the Edmonton Eskimos in the first game in the newly renovated BC Place Stadium.
• Ran into former Rider assistant coach Gary Etcheverry at McDonald's Thursday morning. He was very candid about the way things went down, and is very happy selling electricity for a Connecticut firm out of Regina. He will be back in football one day.
• Former Rider lineman Mike Abou-Mechrek is running his annual online auction with proceeds to Breast Cancer research. You can big on the spectacular items at http://www.abou67.com/.
• Interesting stats from Eddie St. Pierre of the Moncton Times & Transcript: "While Moncton was 820 fans short of a sellout for Sunday's Canadian Football League game between the Calgary Stampeders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at the Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium, the game outdrew Saturday's Winnipeg Blue Bombers contest at Toronto's Rogers Centre by 1,045. Twenty-thousand, 153 saw the Ticats beat the Stampeders 55-36 here, while 19,108 watched the Argos trim the Blue Bombers 25-24 in Toronto. Meanwhile, a capacity crowd of 20,725 was on hand here last season when the Edmonton Eskimos defeated the Argos 24-6 in the first-ever regular season CFL game played in Atlantic Canada."
• Thursday Lingerie Football League officials announced they've awarded market rights to five Canadian cities for the inaugural season of LFL Canada, set to debut in Fall 2012. Joining Toronto, who currently competes with U.S. teams, the five markets awarded LFL franchises include: Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Quebec City and Montreal.
• Who else thinks the upcoming NHL season is going to be a doozy? We've had suspensions galore in the preseason plus a gay slur and a racial slur. And they haven't even dropped the puck for real yet?
• Free advice, feel free to take it or leave it: Jordan Eberle - save the highlight reel goals for when it matters! And to Winnipeg Jets fans - pace yourselves! I've watched your home games and you're wearing yourselves out.
• Pet peeve: national sports network anchors who STILL refer to Jordan as "Eberlay".
• Physicality does not pass the spell check in my BlackBerry yet it's one of the most-overused terms in hockey these days.
• The Regina Pats shoot for a 4-0 record tonight when they visit the Kootenay Ice at 7:00 on 620 CKRM. Pats historian Ron "Scoreboard" Johnston tells us the Pats are off to their best start since the 1984-85 season when they went 9-0-1.
• Absolutely couldn't care less about CBC'sd Battle of the Blades. Sorry. I actually have some friends in it, but I don't find it entertaining. Good on the guys for doing it, but again, I don't find it entertaining.
• Much was made in the States this week about the locker room scuffle in Philadelphia between two newspaper writers. Punches were thrown. Who would be the first two to throw down in the Regina media? Scruffy and...
• Regina is one of Canada's great hockey towns. Anybody who says otherwise simply doesn't know what they're talking about.
• I love fighting in hockey. Banning fighting because a guy died in a senior game in Hamilton because he hit his head on the ice is like banning elevators because a guy fell down a shaft. Makes no sense. I'd rather have fighting than headshots and hits-from-behind.
• The Tampa Bay Lightning have sent down former Regina Pat Carter Ashton to AHL Norfolk.
• Helene Elliott of the L.A. Times reported on Twitter this week: "Former SJ assistant coach Trent Yawney (Hudson Bay, Sask) now working for Ducks as a scout. Left SJ to pursue AHL head coach job, instead now scouting w/Ducks"
• What do you use your Ipad for? I bought one on Saturday but don't know where to start. What are the best features?
• In case you're wondering when NHL, MLB, CFL and NFL games start an hour later for us in Saskatchewan, the time change is Sunday, November 6.
• One small critique of the movie Moneyball -- they should have had a picture of A's GM Billy Beane at the end. He looks more like Billy Bob Thornton than Brad Pitt. Quick trivia: What do Thornton and Pitt have in common?
• Breakaway, the hockey movie with Rob Lowe, is not one I'll be watching anytime soon.
• Mind you Tooth Fairy, with The Rock, was surprisingly unexpected.
• Regina is absolutely beautiful this time of year.
• The BlogWorld & New Media Expo is in Los Angeles November 3-5. I would give an appendage to be there. Topics include Building A New Media Empire and Is Social Media Still Relevant To Small Business?
• Need an AM/FM Walkman to listen to the Riders/Pats/Rams? Best Buy has them. Walmart does not.
• I have to stop listening to Howard Stern. I'm picking up his bad habits.
• Friday's Press Box Sports Bar lunch buffet courtesy Chef Trent: Seasoned roast beef, mashed potato, seasonal vegetables and gravy, honey mustard chicken wings, pork cutlets with a vodka sauce, seasonal vegetables, caesar salad, fussili pasta with a cream sausage and mushroom sauce, side garlic bread. Sounds like a winner!
ALRIGHT NOW IT'S OFF TO CALGARY. ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!
RP
@sportscage
42 comments:
Grey Cup in Regina is old news already. Dave Ash probably heard it from "Green Buddah" as I think he reported it at least a couple months ago if not longer
End of the world? I agree with 95% of what you write on here but let's be realistic and understand it could happen. The sun will come up the next day.
I'm reading your blog with my iPad. I use it for most of my online reading/surfing, reading email, writing shorter email messages, checking twitter, Riders App, stuff that you don't really need a laptop computer to do, but when your phone screen is just too small. Also, I'm doing all while sitting on the couch watching Rugby World Cup on TSN2.
(Which, by the way, has had a stunning lack of coverage in this blog.)
-Ostrich
Roddy, smart investment in the IPad! A guy like you needs to also get a wireless keyboard and the smart cover. That will make your blogging SUPER easy, believe me.
The app you need to get is Pages. Its the Apple equivalent to MS Word.
Rod, another great Fridays article. Care to expand on on the "Etch" was very candid? The Riders will win by 3, IMO. Pitt/Thorton trivia...Jolie. Sterns bad habits? Burping on air? Scruffy vs Woods...oh the carnage! Where's Regina LFL team?...now I'm depressed!
Babba Booey to you Rod!
I just got Pages thanks! How do you save a new document? Looks like a great app.
What else is out there?
While the Walkman would guarantee a signal from TF, a pair of earbuds (which come with the iPhone) and the app TuneInRadio is all a person needs to listen to the games.
The bonus? If there is something else on that a person wants to listen to from almost anywhere in the world, the app handles that...all for FREE.
For example: I was listening to you and Rempel talking about the Pats in the Cage last night while I was driving home to Warman. Yeah, I could have probably picked it up on my regular truck radio but the powerlines interefence is annoying. On the iPhone being pumped through the truck speakers, it's clear as day. It's been a wise investment!
You'll love the iPad Rod. Takes a little getting used to but it's a very handy unit to have alongside you. BTW you can also download TuneInRadio for the iPad as well and have worldwide radio coverage (including ESPN's NFL coverage, PGA channel, plus lots and lots of sports stations!)
Terry in Warman
RP,
You have to get Angry Birds on your Ipad...it's unreal. The other thing I would recommend is the newspaper apps, Leader Post, Globe & Mail etc. The e-reader feature is second to none on the I-pad, it will make your air travel seem like nothing.
Roddy, how can you give up on Stern, my day is not complete without listening to Stern (and sports cage of course), his interviews have to be the best in the business. You should start to create a "Whack Pack" for your show...not sure if you can top Eric the Midget, Will the farter, Bobo etc, but I'm sure Regina listeners could give it a whirl.
JF
Have fun in Cowtown Rod. GO RIDERS!!
Is Henry Burris going to play in the Lingerie League?
You can use TuneInRadio for your blackberry, I use it all the time, it works great & best of all it is free
Great Friday morning article again. Thanks.
Rempel sounds more like a Pats fan these days.
Go Warriors Go Riders
"I'd rather have fighting than headshots and hits-from-behind."
why do we have to have any of them?
Scruffy Vs Rob Vanstone... In a live televised Curling Game would take the cake!!!!
Brad and Billy Bob both banged Angelina Jolie! What do I win?
As a season ticket holder, I am very hopeful that the Riders can straighten things out and get into the play - offs. However, given the problems of the world that we are fortunate to not have to deal with on a daily basis, the Riders missing the post - season would NOT be the end of the world.
Don't buy the keyboard, that makes buying the ipad useless! You buy it so you don't have all that, then people go out and buy all these things to hook up to it! The Scene-It is fun for you and for the Train, but man...soo many apps.
Riders will win 27-23
Aside from the obvious, Billy Bob and Brad both have the first name of William. What do I win?
JJ in Stoon
Hi Rod, I check out your website everyday...best place for CFL intel. The Riders have to play down by down football and they'll be okay(still maybe not playoffs). I think the instigator rule is the problem in the NHL...no fear of repercussions...just concussions. Yorkton is a great sports town too. Go Patriots(St.Paul's and New England!
To say "I'd rather have fighting than headshots..." is contradictory. Fighting includes headshots so you can't separate the two and say you like one but not the other.
hi rod - for your ipad. Here's a few of my favourite apps - for news reading.. download Zite - it's a vancouver based company that was just bought by CNN. Download skype - makes good use of the cameras.
Also get yourself a stylus - and use it to take notes - check out noteshd or other such tools.
Set up your mail...
and then lastly download angry birds like 50 million other people.
hi rod - for your ipad - download Zite from Itunes - it's a vancouver based company just recently bought by CNN - great for newsreading.
Then get your self a stylus and Noteshd for taking notes
Skype for making phone calls..
then lastly - download angrybirds like 50million other people!
2 things,
Point 1)
It is not the end of the world if the Saskatchewan Roughriders miss the playoffs, and not by a long shot. If they miss the playoffs it is unfortunate, but it allows for a couple of things to happen. Clearly this team is not at the level people expect it to play at. Frankly the talent level and depth are not there. This team will require a hard look in the off season for how the front office is structured, and who has authority over the roster and coaching staff. This season's experiment was a complete disaster.
Point 2)
The fighting in hockey debate is a 20th century fallacy that isn't remotely based in today's reality. This idea somehow if there is fighting it relieves tension and stickwork is bunk. The newsflash is there is already tension and stickwork. If you want to reduce this then adjust the ice to Olympic size and reduce the roster eliminating the fourth line which doesn't play regularly anyway. The problem is then solved, but it will never happen. The recent articles about Enforcers proved the point it isn't needed. These guys have no spontaneaty as they check the schedule ahead of time to see who they will square off against. They're doing this to earn a paycheck and stay in the game.
Where Junior hockey is concerned there is absolutely no reason for teenagers to be to be punching themselves in the face. I went to the home opener. That Regina Pat that got in two fights it wasn't spontaneous and really here is what happened. He got his 1 shift in the period, was knocked on his ass, and skated the length of the ice to follow that Swift Current player around until he'd drop the gloves. It didn't eliminate or reduce anything, and you all know this.
Obama
Good pts Obama
I hope that the technical guys can fix the sound problems with the Sports Cage instant replay.
Download the ESPN The Magazine App. Fantastic!
HEY NOW!
Howard Stern has no bad habits. Jon Hienze on the other hand...
I caught your "GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY!" the other night.
iPad is such a waste. Its essentially a $500 angry birds machine.
Hey Darcy, where do you get this Tune in Radio for blackberry? I can't seem to find it?
I agree chops 13....at first I said it was the ultimate angry birds machine and thought it was a waste, however, Rod, you should download TEAMVIEWER which enables you to access your home computer so basically you can run any Windows program or whatever OS you are running, remotely. Enjoy!
The radio apps for iPhone and Blackberry are quite good, especially since they're free. The only downside is they have a 3-to-6 second delay which is quite frustrating when watching a live event. If you're not at Taylor Field it's a great way to listen to Rod & Carm.
You can definately us the TuneIn app on your smart phone (I have it on my iPod Touch) to listen to the Riders, but not while you're trying to watch the game, 'cuz sound from the www never matches up to real life.
Point 1)If Hank plays in the lingerie league that will give him the two cups he always wanted.
Point 2) Is Obama really Bob Hughes?
Point 3) Has Obama ever played hockey? There IS such a thing as spontanous fighting. Non spontanous fights should be automatic game in my opinion.
The Stomper
Hey Rod,
The new Sportsnet Magazine is out.
Here's a really great article on Derek Boogaard.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/magazine/2011/09/29/popplewell_boogaard/
it might not be worthing you posting on your blog but it's worth a read.
Obama, if you don't like fighting, fine. But get the facts straight. Dyson Stevenson: 1) gets alot more than 1 shift per period, he is a Top 6 forward, DUH! 2) Came to the aid of a team mates, it was him who got rocked it was the young kids who he defended...
For a guy is is so smart, boy oh boy are you dumb!
Kirk
Kirk and The Stomper,
If you say that's how it happened fine. I saw that differently. If fighting was not allowed somehow I think that particular game would go on. However I saw it a little different. That hit on the Pats guy, there was no reason he couldn't stick up for himself. It's the WHL I'm sure he can handle it.
However my point today was for a bigger picture view that people use a critical thinking approach and ask the question, "why". Obviously you and a few others aren't quite there yet with that level of thinking, and it hit a nerve.
Jon Ronson wrote a book called, THEM: Adventures with Extremists. Everytime I engage on this Blog it reminds me there are people that are just a little off kilter with the emotions pertaining to certain topics, and will never look at at different view point.
So for all intents and purposes let us get this straight where Rod's Blog is concerned. We have consensus that:
Hockey Fighting: Good
NDP: Bad
SaskParty: Good
New Stadium: Really Needed
Obama: Poop Disturber
Riders: Good
Take Care
Obama
Someone said getting the wireless keyboard with an IPad is pointless. I disagree. If you're blogging as much as you are, you NEED a full (or close to it) sized keyboard.
Ive tried the Logitech and Apple Bluetooth keyboards and the Logitech is the best one to get.
To save a doc on Pages is easy... PAGES SAVES EVERYTHING! Unless you physically delete the app.
If you want some details on how to use Pages, just go to YouTube, there are lots of tutorials there.
And one more thing... on the IPad there are two versions of Tunein Radio. The paid version gives you record functionality.
There's also a radio app called ooTunes. Personally I find ooTunes better because unlike TuneIn Radio, it has all the Clear Channel stations in the US!
Enjoy your IPad Rod!
Quote: Is Henry Burris going to play in the Lingerie League?
Damned if I know, but it would definitely be a good fit for Henrietta...LOL
The Rock
hockey is a bush league sport. here's hoping the nhl has another lockout, but this one goes for 2-3 years.
I have had enough of the riders game against Calgary. It appeared to me right out of the gate that they have given up on the year and are just showing up to finish the game and collect a pay cheque. I think it is time sit the under performing starters and look at some new talent for next year.
Post a Comment