Early Sunday Sports

(Chick sacks Burris inside the Calgary 5 yard line late in the 4th quarter. Stampeders elect to give up a safety and change a 7-point Rider lead into 9?????? Chris Szarka added a late touchdown to seal it. Photo from calagaryherald.com)

- Riders Win! 30-14 over the Stampeders, to lock up first place in the CFL West for the first time since 1976. I don't even think my parents had MET in '76, so obviously this is my first chance to see my favourite team in any sport host a West Final. I wasn't even nearly as stressed as I usually am watching a Rider game... because they seemed in control for almost the entire contest (expect for their usual 3rd quarter woes). Darian Durant was ON... and found Chris Getzlaf and Rob Bagg for first half TD's, and found Andy Fantuz TWELVE (12!) times, for well over 100 yards. So we're 2-0-1 against the Stamps, but I think there's a great chance we're going to have to win one more against them, and that still worries me a tad. Can they really go undefeated in 4 games against the defending champs? Stampeders host Edmonton next Sunday in the West Semi Final, and we'll actually pick up that game on GX94 as well. The winner will face the Riders November 22nd. Grey Cup is the 29th in Calgary. Time to sit back and watch the Bombers and Ti-Cats this afternoon. Bombers win: They host Hamilton again next week in the East Semi. Tabbies win: They host B.C. next week.

- A little local flavour in all three remaining High School Football Provincial finals after yesterday's results.

9-Man
Swan Valley @ Lumsden

2A 6-Man
Clavet @ Hudson Bay

1A 6-Man
Hanley @ Kelliher

Provincial Finals are all on Saturday, November 14th.

- The Melville Millionaires went 0-and-2 on their Northern trip, falling 3-0 in FF last night. Box Score says 15-year-old Haiden Block was in goal, backed up by Brady Wilyman. Not sure what's going on there. Rakochy played in Friday's 5-2 loss in Nipawin. Could be some more sickness. Forward Dane Bonish came home from Nipawin with Clark and I on Friday for the same reason. Mils are back to .500 at 9-9-2.

- Yorkton Harvest lost 8-3 in Saskatoon to the Contacts yesterday, they're in Beardys this afternoon.

- Just noticed Warren Shymko was the backup goalie for the Moose Jaw Warriors last night. Looks like an emergency call-up situation, as MJ usually has Jeff Bosch and Brandon Glover. Glover played last night and Bosch wasn't on the roster. It'd be nice to see Shymko land a gig in the Dub. Due to a numbers game with the Yorkton Terriers he was assigned to the PJHL's Saskatoon Royals. Nothing against that league, but he's probably a solid Junior 'A' Goalie even at 17, and, as proven again, has drawn interest in the Western League. They've also bounced him around a little, having been traded from Tri-City to Kelowna, then re-assigned to Yorkton, and now picked up by Moose Jaw, at least last night.

- And don't forget about the World Junior 'A' Challenge Gold Medal game today at 3:00. Forwards Clarke Breitkreuz (Yorkton Terriers) and Ryan Marshall (Swan Valley Stampeders), and Coach Barry Butler (Wayway Wolverines), and the rest of Canada West meet Team USA in a rematch of last year's final (States won in a lopsided affair) on TSN2. Hopefully you've got it... I've got SaskTel Max... regular channel is 115, TSN2 HD is 415. Between that and the Bombers/Ti-Cats, and maybe a little NFL, if interesting, it should be a nice Sunday afternoon!