Top 10 Tuesday

Top Stories Viewpoint

There is a lot happening in the world of sports. Here’s my weekly take in no particular order in another edition of the Top 10 Tuesday:

10 – The Saskatchewan Huskies were able to break into the win column in week 3 of the Canada West season against Regina. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely! However, the team found their finish scoring in the red zone on four of five trips. Additionally, the team didn’t let Regina off the matt when the Rams moved the ball.

9 – I have received some flak for our post-game segment Honk For A Huskie. The premise is that fans have a chance to vote for their game star using their car horn. The flak came in nominating punter Sean Stenger for a player of the game award with some asking how could a kicker possibly be nominated as a game star. If you look back at Friday night’s game he twice hemmed the Rams inside their 10 yard line, including placing the ball on the Rams one-yard-line. Additionally, the hang time and directional kicking didn’t allow Regina to set up their return game. Masterful job!

8 – Staying with the Huskies and some in Regina are discrediting the Saskatchewan win instead pointing to a rebuilding Rams team under the direction of new Head Coach Mike Gibson. What should be considered is that the Huskies forced the Rams into three giveaways and were able to score 21 points off of those turnovers. That speaks to solid team play as opposed to rebuilding.

7 – Last point from Friday’s Huskies game and it’s amazing how confidence and momentum can come into play in a highly physical game. As soon as the Dogs were able to overcome the mental obstacle of scoring in the red zone you could see the team loosen up from the burden of not scoring in the red zone. Here’s hoping the confidence and momentum can continue.

6 – Staying with football and the Saskatchewan Roughriders need to call a spade a spade. The time has come to abandon the season and audition players for the future. As has been in the case all season the Green and White could not get a stop from their defence late in a game to hold off a charging opponent. Yes, I understand that the linebackers have been decimated with Shea Emery and Weldon Brown missing since week one. That being said the team has to figure it out.

5 – Rumour number one from Riderville is that Hamilton may be in pursuit of Kevin Glenn. In all honesty we will not know the desperation of the Ti-Cats plight without seeing them in action this week their first week without Zack Collaros. That being said what would Glenn fetch? The answer may be draft picks which is OK for the Riders to rebuild their National content.

4 – Rumour number two in Riderville is that Marc Trestman may be on the team’s radar as Head Coach and General Manager. While Trestman obviously had success in Montreal I believe that a lot of that success came from the lack of quality opponents in the East. Hamilton was in disarray. Toronto always was a question mark while Winnipeg really had nothing. While you cannot discount Trestman’s Grey Cup championships, you can question whether or not he would be the right man for the job.

3 – More CFL and I wonder the level of the league’s concern having all but two number one quarterbacks miss significant time this season. Travis Lulay is out in B.C. Mike Reilly in Edmonton, Darian Durant and Kevin Glenn in Saskatchewan, Drew Willy in Winnipeg, Ricky Ray in Toronto, Zac Collaros in Hamilton and Johnathan Crompton in Montreal. So, with that laundry list of injuries I wonder if the CFL will attempt to do something to further protect quarterbacks. Heck you can’t touch receivers why not quarterbacks?

2 – To MLB and the Toronto Blue Jays tallied a big win over New York last night. David Price was David Price, the offence did just enough to win and the bullpen overcame some late control issues. Am I sold on the team yet? Not yet but it sure is exciting.

1 – Finally are you ready for some hockey? It seems really early but the puck will drop on the WHL season this week. NHL pre-season is gearing up it’s a fun time of year. That being said I will be extremely curious to see the attendance Saturday afternoon at Sasktel Centre. Of course, no one is talking about whether or not Connor McDavid will play but will the scorned Saskatoon NHL fan shell out regular season prices to face a less than regular season roster? Time will tell.