Monday Mumblings

- The word was that this was "The Year of the East Division" in the CFL. It was supposed to be the first time in a while that the East was the strongest division in the league, and it looked more than likely that there would be an East Division team crossing over to the West come playoff time. But, BC and Edmonton are waking up, and the Bombers keep losing close games... so I don't think the Blue and Gold will be visiting Sask or Calgary for post season play afterall. All 4 games this week were cross-divisional... and it was: CAL over MTL, SSK over TOR, BC over WPG, EDM over HAM. A Western sweep.

- Got into a Facebook debate with one of my old school teachers today. He is adamant that the Riders should send Wes Cates packing. He's useless, lazy, slow. My arugment is that they're handing him the ball 5-10 times a game lately, as they've become a pass-first offense since Labour Day. I said if you hand it to him 16-18 times, he probably racks up 100 more often than not. Then I did some research... and found he's only had 15+ carries twice this season, and he picked up 93 and 83 yards in those games. He's had two 100+ yard games, and he had 12 and 13 carries in those. He has infact, averaged just 3.5 yards/carry since Labour Day. Mr. Edwards argues the Riders aren't only throwing more because they have the top crop of WR's in the league... Cates has crapped out on the RB position, leaving them with no choice.

- Rider fans are still hoping for help from Montreal as Calgary visits the Al's this coming weekend. Fact is, the Riders still control their fate. Even if Calgary and Saskatchewan both win this week, the Riders would own the season series against the Stamps if they can beat them at Mosaic Stadium next week... which would give them the tie-breaker.

- I watched about 3 minutes of NFL Sunday night football, and that was the extent of my NFL watching for Sunday. Cut the grass, fertilized it, and poisoned the weeds in the back alley.

- Wayway wins! The Wolverines beat the Blues 4-3 in Wpg yesterday. My game recap is below.

- The Weyburn Red Wings gave up 21 goals the last two nights.

- Why, oh why, have the La Ronge Ice Wolves played only 3 games? I know they had a power failure one night... but still! Most team have played 6 or 7... Yorkton plays their 8th tonight. The Ice Wolves had ALL weekend off, and don't play their 4th game of the year until Friday!

- GREAT to see the Kindersley Klippers back in the WCEC. They treated their home fans to two wins over the weekend.

- I continue to fear for my safety everytime I go into the Superstore/Canadian Tire parking lot in Yorkton. Drivers in this town are a little scary, but ESPECIALLY there. Yielding, stopping, parking between the lines, looking while backing out... all appear optional.

- A lot of people support the new bike lanes in Yorkton. I'm not one of them. I live just off Darlington and that street is kind of a gong show now. It's down to one lane in most places... you have to veer left and right to stay in the proper lane, and avoid the bike lane... sometimes it's BIKE ONLY, sometimes is BIKE/SHARED. They have already re-worked some of the lanes on Gladstone, closer to the Regional High School, and thank goodness.

- September 2010 was likely the healthiest month of my life. Ate the right things, cut out the wrong things, and am 12 pounds lighter because of it. I dropped 25 lbs from September to Christmas this time two years ago... it all came back and then some.

- I've had a few people ask what happens if Drew McDermott doesn't report to Winnipeg. Fact is, the Blues have his rights so it's up to them. If he wants to play somewhere else... it's up to them to make another deal.

- Quote of the week comes from Terrier Coach Trent Cassan... "We lost two quality defensemen and people (Bycyznski/McDermott) in this trade, but all we can do is look ahead and worry about who we DO have. We can sit here and mope about who we DON'T have, but we just have to worry about winning games with the guys we've got." So far, they are... getting points in all but one of the 7 games they've played in... and that was a one-goal loss in Melfort.

- Yorkton's in Notre Dame again tonight, and it's on GX94 (7:50 / 8:00). They were just there on Saturday, and lost 2-1 in a shootout.

- Similar to the Drew McDermott situation... Logan Herauf is La Ronge Ice Wolves property now. At this point I have no idea if he's going to another NAHL team after New Mexico released him, if he's reporting to La Ronge, or wants a trade. I'm pretty sure Melville's in the loop of what's going on there and I hope to find something out later today. But Mils fans... I wouldn't get too excited about thinking he'll end up back in blue and white. La Ronge would ask for a fools ransom in return... and Feez likes his young talent. There's no question he'd look good beside Brayden Metz though.

- The Roy Halladay-less Toronto Blue Jays shocked the baseball world and won 85 games in 2010. That seriously exceeds expectations of most die-hard fans. I love the fact that they held on to Home Run King Jose Bautista, and their top four pitchers (Marcum, Romero, Cecil, Morrow) all had double digits in wins this season, are all young, and will only get better. Also, if you include SS Alex Gonzalez, who was traded to Atlanta mid-season... EIGHT Blue Jays hit 20+ homers this year. Edwin Encarnacion went on a tear over the final weekend in Minnesota to finish with 21, and join the club (Bautista- 54, Wells- 31, Hill- 26, Lind- 23, Gonzalez- 23, Encarnacion- 21, Buck- 20, Overbay- 20).

- MLB Playoffs start Wednesday. In the AL, Tampa won the AL East pennant and play Texas, while the Wildcard winning Yankees meet Minnesota. The NL came down to the final day, and it was San Francisco suriving a scare, eliminating San Diego. The Giants will face Atlanta, who captured the wildcard on the final day, while Halladay and the Phillies face Cincinatti.

- Broadcasts this week... YOR @ ND tonight, SV @ WAY Wednesday, MVL @ YOR Friday... and don't forget about our first Robin's Roundtable on Thursday. A half hour talk show with Don Chesney and Jamie Fiesel, live from Robin's Donuts 2 For 1 Pizza on Broadway Street in Yorkton, from 7:00 - 7:30.

Enjoy your week... there's a LONG weekend at the end of the rainbow!