Riders Running

Well, the Riders are running strong this year (as are most of their main competition in the CFL West. This is nice to see. There are some things that are concerning to myself as a fan of the Riders. The first thing is the lack of the long game. We have been short passing and running roughshod over everyone, but have not been able to complete a long pass to stretch the defense of our opponents.

The second thing (which may already be fixed) is the kicking game. I don't condone what happened to McCallum after the west final last year, but he has not performed to his abilities this year. Hopefully that is not going to be the case any more this year.

The third point is the penalty situation. What I have seen of the Rider's penalties at the end of the game makes me think that someone has it in for the team. The penalty calls were at best weak. I don't know if that is always the case, but the Winnipeg game last week had a blown call as the Bomber who intercepted the ball at the tail end of the game was never touched when he was down. My understanding of the rules is that he should have been able to run the ball out of the endzone for a return. That would have altered the game as more time would have come off of the clock and the Bombers legitimately would have had a better chance to win.

Hockey Back on the Menu

Hockey is finally back on the menu. I'm on board ... lace them up and play now. I am interested in seeing how things shake out. Some of my favorite players will take a serious hit on this cap, but the league will be much better off in that regard. What will be tough for the league is to get back the fan base that left and does not intend to come back.

Fans like you find in Canada and in some of the US markets will come back and be happy to see hockey again, but if you look at baseball, it was the people who didn't come back that hurt the MLB. That will be the case for hockey as well. The fans on the fringe are what will make or break the NHL. Make the game more appealing and work to bring those fans in (or get new fringe fans) and the league will become prosperous. It may take some time, but it will happen.

There may be some benefits to the players that are intangible to the CBA. I think that the players will be identified with more by fans ... losing 24% of their salary will make players seem more "blue collar" if you will. That will help with the same issue above.

The players can make that an advantage if they can be approachable to fans.

Saskatoon vs. Regina

Lance at Catprint in the Mash makes an interesting point about the visibility of crown corporations in terms of donations versus public / private companies. The point he makes is valid and you can read his full post here.

His comments lead me in a different direction regarding the success of Saskatoon and Regina in terms of our differing situations. The point that I noticed out of this is that Regina houses the majority of crown corporation head offices and that if I were to guess, the majority of employment in Regina is in crown corporations, while Saskatoon's major employers are private / public companies.

Does anyone have any stats to refute or support this hypothesis?

London

Listening to the news on the radio this morning, I was transported back to a morning in September about 4 years ago. What was different is that last time, there was disbelief, and this time there was anger and a desire for vengence. To take those who are responsible for perpetrating this and other terrorist acts and give them the consideration that they give others ... none.

The only way to counter the terrorism that is being fostered is a zero tolerance policy. The people in these groups show no regard for human life in the name of religious zealotry. Beheadings, suicide bombs and indiscriminate killing should be met with something that they will understand ... indiscriminate force.

Premier Calvert says we should try to combat the roots of terrorism. Hell yeah ... wait, what do you do to the roots of terrorism once you find them? Give them counselling? Please don't do that anymore ... no, really please do not. As an NDP foundational belief in disposing of the military, this shows why we need to stand up for what is right, rather than what is popular. And Premier Calvert would know nothing of that.