It’s my Parting Shot for my reactions to the headlines in today’s Star-Phoenix Sports Section…
First headline…Roughriders’ Hughes and Messam playing it cool about facing Stamps. My reaction…The fact they are veterans helps out with not being out-landishly boisterous about them and the Riders. A second, maybe more important, factor for Jerome Messam and Charleston Hughes not cranking up the dialogue against their ex team and mates is that Calgary is 5-and-oh, the best team in the C-F-L while the Riders are 3-and-2 and could be or should be 4-and-1 if not for a loss to the sad-sack Alouettes!
Next headline…DeLaet set to have back surgery, could be out of action for a year. Reaction…the good news, Graham DeLaet has gone through this type of disc surgery before…successfully. The bad news, the Weyburn product needs to have disc surgery a second time. He’s not getting any younger…and, while pro golf has been very rewarding to him from a financial standpoint…all pro golfers will tell you that winning tournaments is the real reward or goal!
Last headline…Power rankings, Week 7. My reaction…it has nothing to do with the order, which includes the Saskatchewan Roughriders ranked third, but everything to do with the comments on the Green and White. The writer is Dan Barnes, a veteran sports columnist based out of Edmonton, who must not be a fan of Riders’ bossman Chris Jones. Barnes starts by saying, “Though we’re still not convinced head coach Chris Jones is the smartest guy in the C-F-L, his insistence on rotating quarterbacks and playing Duron Carter at cornerback worked for another week against Hamilton.” Barnes ends by saying, “And, Brandon Bridge tried to put in a claim on the starting spot for the Riders. We’ll see if that makes any difference with the smart guy who decides his fate.” That’s clip the story out of the newspaper stuff for a many in Rider Nation who agree with Dan Barnes!
That’s my Parting Shot, I’m Les Lazaruk…