Deja-vu?

Well, another Western Final is in the books, and once again it was a less than desirable result. It was like a deja-vu really. The only differences between this year's and last are the winner and the amount won by. Otherwise, this game was a spitting image of last year's game. Last year, the Riders made the turnovers and the Lions turned them into touchdowns. This year, the Lions were guilty of giving away the free-bees and the Riders made them pay, although mostly with fieldgoals. The Riders looked like the hungry team and the Lions seemed disinterested at times. How else can someone expain a team that lead the league by a large margin in the giveaway/takeaway ratio, to have a complete meltdown and turn the ball over five times without taking it away once. I will give a little credit to the Riders, as they did play a decent game, but even with all the mistakes the Lions made, they still had a chance to win the game with three minutes to go. So I get to use a line from the Rider fan hand book and say "wait till next year". Rider fans don't know how good they have it. When your team is never expected to go anywhere, you don't get to upset when they don't, but on the other hand, when your team is so successful(as are the Lions)it is a little tougher to accept a loss, especially to a team like the Riders. Even so, I'd still rather be a Lions fan any day.

Gonna Be A Battle!!

Well, it is going to be the game that alot of people have been waiting for for a long time. The Riders and Lions squaring off for the third time in four years in the West Division Final. For most people, this is the game they wanted, and likewise for the league to showcase itself, having the two best teams face off is the best way to show what our league has to offer in way of exciting football.
It should be an interesting week, as both teams prepare for what should be one of the best games of the season. Although it isn't as exciting, I do HOPE that the Lions can repeat what they did to the Riders last year. Do I THINK they will? No. I do think they will still win, but not quite the way they did last year. (45-18) Hoping for a certain result and thinking it will actually happen are two different things. Definitely going to be a game to watch, whether you are a Lions fan, a Riders fan, or just a football fan. The law of averages is definitely in the Riders favour, as they have lost in the western final the last two times they have played the Lions.
And was there a better advertisment for the CFL than those two semi-final games yesterday? I think not. CFL football puts NFL to shame when it comes to excitement factor.

NDP Runs Into a Wall

Finally, after sixteen long years of socialist rule in Saskatchewan, the people have spoken and the Sask. Party, lead by Brad Wall have taken a majority win in tonight's provincial election. Now the work begins to make this province what it can and should be. The Sask. Party has had enough years now to see how not to do things, and now it is up to them to make things right. I can't wait to see how the next four years unfold.

Geroy's The Man

After a slow start, Geroy comes through to lead the CFL in receiving yardage for a second straight year. Way to go Geroy!!

Don't Look Now!

Much to the shock and surprise of most football fans, including myself, the epitome of futility over the last 18 years, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, are in sole position of first place in the west division of the CFL. This is the first time since 1976 that the Riders have had a record of 6-2 after eight games. As hard as this is for me to stomach, being a staunch Lions fan, I only have to hearken back to 2005, when my beloved Leos were 8-0 after eight games. They went on to be undefeated until game 12. Now as most true CFL fans should know, that early success did not translate into a Grey Cup, not even an appearance. So, although I would love for my team to be in first for the whole season, I have been a fan long enough to know that the Grey Cup isn't awarded in August, nor has my faith and support of my team been shaken.
Now as for the Riders, even though I admit I can't stand them, it is nice to see that over their nearly three quarters of a century of ineptitude, that every fifteen years or so they manage to assemble a team that looks more like a contender. We will just have to wait and see if the first half of the season hype will translate into a Grey Cup appearance, or even a victory.
On another note, there have been those who have been hounding me because they feel that I have forgotten or have been to embarassed to make comments following the lions last few games. If they are reading this they should take note that since the season has began, I have only posted one entry, football related or not. Sure it isn't easy to respond to a loss but I can honestly say that the outcome of the games has little to do with my blogging. This is just for fun for me and summer has been quite busy and I am not always thinking of my blog. I will try to be more regular but no guarantee of that happening, as this is only my eighth posting since the beginning of May.
One final thing, if you want to leave comments on my posts, and expect them to be published, you will have to use an ID other that anonymous. I will not publish comments I receive that way.

REMEMBER... I do this for fun and it is not my intention to offend. If my posts offend you, please quit reading them.

Wish I Coulda Been There

Well, Well, Well. What can I say? Just when I had been almost convinced by local media that this will definately be the Riders year, becase they were undefeated this late in the season afterall, (lol) I have been disappointed once again. I was all ready to jump the Rider bandwagon when suddenly it blew a tire. What the heck happened to this seemingly invicible team? Oh yeah, the defending champs came to town and showed them just how far they are from contending. After having trouble winning at the nut house, formally known as Mosaic Stadium, over the past few years, the dirty, classless B.C. Lions managed to squeak out a win on Friday the 13th. By all accounts, the game sounded fairly scary for those beloved Riders. Although they did achieve some priority team goals, namely injuring the oppositions QB's, and they seemed quite proud of that achievement. Just too bad that they forgot about the Lions depth at that position. I can't believe how the Lions are known to supposedly be the dirtiest players in the league, and then someone like the overatted Fred Perry of the Riders, can take a free head shot at one of the leagues premier QB's in Dave Dickenson and get away with it. If that was a hit on Kerry Joseph, the Ridernation would be lobbying for a lengthy suspension.
But no worries, for fear of sounding like sour grapes, after the sound whipping the Leos gave the Riders, it's all good. Just wish I could have been there in person to witness the massacre. Nothing beats watching the Riders get pounded, except watching the Riders get pounded at Mosaic Stadium.
Now if we could just somehow parlay that score into election results next time around I think we come up four seats short to fill the Legislature. Ah we can let the NDP's have 16 I suppose. Don't forget, of all the many Grey Cup Champion teams that the Riders have fielded over the years(2), none of them have won while a socialist party was in power in Saskatchewan. And that's as much support as the Riders will get from me.

What's With Healthcare?

There is alot of talk about healthcare these days and sustainability. There are those who say that health care should only be allowed in the public universal system, and then there are those who think there is a place for private (user pay) facilities to help shorten wait times. It is probably the most debated and discussed issue in terms of government programs, but I have one question. If healthcare is to be funded only by taxpayers and cannot be administerd for profit at a private clinic, and everything is publiclly owned, what happens when one health district raises funds to by beds, for example, and then the hospital is closed by the government latter? Does the government get to keep the equipment that was purchased, and use it where they see fit or does the health district get to sell it to them, since they purchased it with their own funds. No one ever talks about this but it strikes me funny that if a local hospital raises money for something and then is not able to retain it when their facility is closed to turn it back into cash, there is something wrong with this picture. I sure would like some answers, although I'm not sure I will like the answer I get.

An Inconvenient Farce

Well, every once in a while, a person is forced to change the way they think when new facts or evidence on a subject are revealed. That is what happened to me this weekend. I have always believed that this fuss over global warming has been a bit overplayed, but now I am convinced that it has to be true. What else would explain the events of the last few days here.
For as long as I can remember, there has never been snow like this in May, let alone May 18th. But that is the case this year. How else can it be explained other than it is global warming.
Now I'm not trying to scare anyone, but I am just so glad that I have now been informed. I will try do do everything in my power to help change things form the better. I am going to sell my vehicle and get a horse, that should help. And I am going to try and encourage people to breath less often to cut down on that terrible, nasty pollutant carbon dioxide. Oh yeah, and did I mention that I am going to hug every tree that I can because I know that without them we are doomed.
As you may have sensed a tad of sarcasm in this post, it is because I think global warming is a gigantic farce and a waste of time to even discuss. For who does man think he is to say that he can alter the course of the world. Sure, we need to be smart and not wasteful, but to completely shut down our way of living on the off chance that it will make a significant change in the course of nature is ridiculous. So if you ever wanted to give money to a useless cause, here it is. Al Gore and Davad Suzuki can use your money to fly and bus all over the world in their highly polluting transportation to tell you how you shouldn't be doing the same. Sounds like an inconvenient farce to me.

Grasping at Straws

With the support for Lorne Calvert and his band of scally-wags, known as the NDP, suffering dearly, it is no surprise that he is doing everything possible to try and make his party look like something that people would care to back. The latest effort was to pass the buck to the Conservative MP's in Saskatchewan and try to make it look like he is standing up for the province that he has been slowly dismantling. His effort to have the Conservative MP's vote against their own budget apparently fell on deaf ears. He claims that the Conservatives have gone back on an election promise to leave non-renewable resource revenue out of the equalization formula. Apparently he feels that we should not be a have province and would like to go back to being a have-not province. Why else would he be worried about the equalization money the province is going to receive. Let me tell you something Mr. Calvert, "if the province is prospering right now, let's keep it going and quit worrying about asking for handouts. You go all over the country telling everyone how prosperous Saskatchewan is while holding your hand out every chance you get." It's like heading down to the welfare office in your Lexus to pick up your check. It, just like everything he does, just does not make sense.

Code Of Conduct

So today the Saskatchewan Roughriders announced they are implementing a code of conduct for their team. Rumor has it that some of the main points are things such as:
-not looking so happy after a win,
-no celebating a touchdown, with some far fetched dance, when trailing like 45-18 for example,(everyone remembers the 2006 western final)
-and anyone with more than five criminal charges against them will be forced to miss at least three plays. I think it is about time they do this with the number of phelons that have been allowed to play while in trouble with the law. This team has become a place for players to find refuge when other teams have cut them loose because of their antics.
Actually in all seriousness, I do believe this is a good thing and that players should be aware that their off-field behavior is as important as their on field production. These men are professional ateletes and role models and they should carry themselves in that manner.
One last thing for all you Rider fans who may feel that the Riders may be going the wrong direction, their mission statement has remained unchanged by today's news. It still remains "Nothing less than mediocrity will be tolerated".

The Ship Is Going Down!

Anyone can see that in the last few weeks, and even months, that the premier of Saskatchewan, Lorne Calvert, has been losing control of the ship so to speak, but the news this past Friday confirms that the NDP ship, that has been leading (lol) this province for far to long, is taking on water and going down fast. With already five long time NDP MLA's announcing that they will not seek re-election, the ship sprung yet another leak when finance minister Andrew Thompson decided to bail out while still on top. Hopefully this is a sign that the worn out NDP government have finally hit the rocks and their reign as governing party of this province will mercifully come to an end the next time we go to the polls. Stay tuned to see who will be next. There is bound to be more.

The Countdown Is On

Well, training camp is only three weeks away and the memories of last November are still fresh in my mind. Now the biggest question everyone is asking is can the Lions repeat as champs this year.Of course I have a very unbiased opinion about this but I feel they could win every year. Coming off probably the best single season that a team has ever had in the history of the CFL, it will be hard to duplicate the magic of 2006. But I am confident that Wally Buono will be able to fill the few holes and the Lions should be a force to be reckoned with once again this year.
There should be some good competition in the league again this year, as there have been quite a few players changing teams and I think that every team was able to improve their talent in the off-season with the exception of the Eskimos. After their 2006 season that saw them miss the playoffs for the first time in more than three decades, they failed to add any players of much significance in the off-season that would make them much better. So could be another long season for the Eskimos.
I will try to give my predictions as the season gets closer.