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What are some examples? I'm looking to be entertained. All events where they might be on TV. Hockey games and curling bonspiels (Brier, Scotties, etc...) It's really sickening. Has anyone mentioned the Arizona Coyotes "Rider Nation" night that they're doing? Getting all those jagoffs to fly down and try to pack their arena with Rider gear. Disgusting. And let's not forget making the Team Canada juniors wear ******* green jerseys. That **** is just an insult to the rest of the country.

I wish rugby was a bigger deal in Canada than it is. If it's ever on TSN I find myself watching it and being fascinated. I have no clue what is going on but it's a ton of fun to watch never the less.

Cotter and Laycock are the biggest surprises to me so far. I keep waiting for Saskatchewan to fall back to the pack because I don't see them as anything more than a middling team, but nothing yet. Cotter has been a bit up and down when it comes to win, but he showed a lot of stones to beat Koe on Saturday night and is the kind of guy who if he gets hot might be a pain in everyones ass.

a big part of it is TSN. They started blowing smoke up the asses of the die hard rider fans when the team started to turn around, and you know what, I got a lot of respect for those die hards who were there through the hard times. The problem was everyone in that god forsaken province started to believe the hype and suddenly EVERYONE was a die hard Rider fan who was there through thick and thin and they really ARE the greatest fans in the world. Just not so, the attendance numbers clearly show the number of real die hards was much much lower, just a lot of really annoying bandwagon jumpers.

That's it. No player coming the other way which is strange considering Calgary lost Mark Giordano maybe for the rest of the season. They're challenging for a playoff spot. That's the thing right there... without Giordano the Flames are not going to be a threat for much. The way he's played this year is phenomenal and it changes the entire make up of the flames team. Without Giordano playing like a norris candidate the rest of the team is nowhere near the same. Brodie is OK but he's riding Giordanos coat tails, Wideman and Russel are OK but again they're in a situation where you can play behind a guy who eats 25 hard minutes at a high level every night. Giordano might be the most valuable player in the league.... well behind Carey Price in Montreal I guess. He means THAT much to the Flames.

Can't wait for that team to implode and the bandwagon to empty out. Started in 2003 and only got worse. Team stopped sucking the hind *** and all of a sudden people who know nothing about football are HUGE rider fans. Just insufferable.

but back in your day it seems like there was more curling going on and it was easier to get involved with anyway. It just seems to me that even at the club level it's gotten too competitive to be easily accessible to newer players. It really killed the mens league and bonspiel in the town I grew up in. guys tried to put in stacked teams to win and you took away from the overall field.

but technically all the best teams were represented when you look at it from the perspective that the provincials are an extension of the national championships.

That's a lot to pay for an old defenceman who only just came back now from a blood clot issue.

We've discussed this before but I just really do like seeing a national championship where every corner of the country has some representation. Everyone has to go through their provincial qualifications so the team that comes out of each province will have to best the top competition there. You really do come across as a butt hurt Mike Mcewen fan who is upset cause he has a bad case of choking when the provincials role around.

why? If there's anything worthwhile at the oscars it shows up on youtube the next day, watch the curling any day over a hollywood circle jerk

I was waiting for you to post this same message as you did in the Free Press. Nice. I always did think that was odd for Ontario to have 2 teams when there were Western Provinces (Alberta and Manitoba) who had at least 2 teams who were consistently better. the reason for that is travel time. Back in the old days northern ontario was just too remote to compete with southern ontario.

I dunno that contracting teams really does much, a shorter schedule would absolutely improve the quality of play though. 82 games plus playoffs is too much. No time for players to recover between games and not a lot of practise time throughout the season.

Gotta think this is his last crack at the NFL though right?

and maybe not blame the ice when he loses to superior teams....

He really should try winning the provincials sometime.

got tickets for a couple draws this weekend, always good times.

Immediately after they expanded however long ago that was your argument made sense, there were a lot more crappy players around, but that's been offset by development around the world. These days every one in the NHL can at very least skate at a high level. The days for the big slow defenseman are over. If a D can't skate he won't play in the NHL because he's not good enough. A forward who can't skate doesn't have much of a career. The skill level is just so high compared to what it was in the past. There will always be a gap between the best players and the worst players, but it's not as wide as it used to be. That's one of the reasons scoring is down. There are less mismatches to be found on the ice.

Good player but his back is screwed up and his career is likely done because of it. Drafted by Florida a while back top 3 in the draft, spent time in Boston, I think he was part of their cup team and then went to Columbus where his injury issues really came to the forefront. Basically works out like this, because the contract isn't insured the Blue Jackets have to pay him, but they're a small market team that cares more about actual dollars than cap hit so they approached the leafs. Took that Clarkson albatross deal off their hands because at least Clarkson will play for them and the Leafs pay Horton to be injured but save the cap space.

This is what happens when you are so tight to the salary cap all the time.

Yeah he improved his blocking and was always good at catching and running in space, but he had a tremendous ability to find a tackler to run into and to go down at the slightest hint of contact and to play like he was afraid of getting hit. No use for a runningback who is a giant *****.

The talent pool is deeper than it's ever been. There are a lot less absolute plugs in the NHL than their used to be. Teams don't even bother dressing a pure face puncher anymore because those guys can't play hockey. The continued development of the game around the world and especially in the United States has greatly expanded the pool of players coming to the NHL. This idea that teams were more talented when there were only 24 is just ludicrous thinking.

But he's been replaced on the roster and he's already bailed on the Jets once, how do the Jets feel about him? Chevy is stubborn as a mule when it comes to trading but this is not one where the player has much chance returning. Like Kane he's just gotta make the move and get the value he can.

As many times as the mind bottling joke comes up it still amazes me that it needs explained every time.

You think they keep all of them around? Unless Grigsby got some balls surgically added in the offseason he's not as good as the other two guys. Call me over sensitive but really beginning to think you don't like Grigsby. And you might be surprised to learn that it has nothing to do with the circumstances of him no longer being a Bomber. The guy is just a giant ***** as a running back. He actually hampered the offense in Winnipeg and made them worse and easier to defend. God knows how many hits he subjected Willy too because he couldn't establish any kind of run threat and allowed teams to pin their ears back. I just have absolutely no use for a runningback who shies away from contact and refuses to hit the line of scrimmage hard and fast and who goes down if you even touch him with one hand.