It’s my Parting Shot for some Tuesday Tidbits…..
I can only hope that Rider Nation is silent and satisfied for the next week-and-a-half or so after the Roughriders went into Montreal and crushed the Alouettes by four scores on Saturday! It was a dominant effort with all three phases of the game coming out in favour of Saskatchewan! Trevor Harris completed over 70 per cent of his passes – again! He didn’t throw an interception – again! A-J Ouellette rushed for 74 yards on 15 carries – just a hair under five yards per attempt. If you run for 74 yards on average over 18 games, that’s 13-hundred-and-32 yards! Brett Lauther hit four of five field goals – 80 per cent which is acceptable. His lone miss was from over 45 yards and hit the upright! And, the Riders didn’t allow a point in the fourth quarter – winning going away! Sure, the Als were without franchise quarterback Davis Alexander, but they didn’t let McLeod Bethel-Thompson beat them like M-B-T did the week previous to Calgary!. In other words, there should be no complaining from fans and media!!
Two things that might frighten Saskatoon Berries’ fans as the 2025 Western Canadian Baseball League campaign switches from regular season to playoffs. One, the bats going cold as a collective group – as they did with only four hits and two runs off Regina lefty Chris Spry on Saturday at Cairns Field! Two, the Berries play a dangerous Moose Jaw Miller-Express team in the East Division semi-finals. Yes, they were a below-.500 team, but Moose Jaw did hand Saskatoon one of their three home losses this season and were the team that eliminated the Berries from the playoffs last year in the East final! Plus, there’s just been something of a black cloud following Saskatoon teams when playing teams from Moose Jaw of recent – just as the W-H-L’s Blades!!
Between the “Summer of McIntosh” and 18-year-old Victoria Mboko’s coming out party at home on the world women’s tennis stage, that was quite the week for elite amateur sports in Canada! In a day and age where the pros get most of the media attention, and scads of money that the fans and corporations pay heftily for – hence I have no issue with them getting it – it warms the heart to see 18-year-old sensations like Summer McIntosh and Victoria Mboko to put in the work in order to excel at their chosen endeavour instead of feeling entitled to the point of having success handed to them! That happens far too much in today’s world!!
That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!
