The Weekend

Another weekend has come and gone, and an important weekend for a couple of reasons. First off, this is the last weekend of pre - season, meaningless football as the CFL schedule gets underway this week. Secondly, this is the last week of school for most in the province, including myself. Here they are; the thoughts that filled my weekend:

* The Riders made the necessary cuts to get down to their 46 man roster and really only one surprise, and not that big of a surprise at that. Amongst the cuts on Saturday morning were DB Eddie Russ. Russ was the model of inconsistency last year. Even then, his great games weren't that good. I remember once driving home and listen to Coach Chamblin say on the post - game show that Eddie to figure it out if he wanted to be a great football player or an average football player. All to often he was simply average, and from what I have been told he was awful in Thursday's loss to Calgary. The play of guys like Macho Harris and Carlos Thomas to name a few probably made this an easier decision.

* Quick note: The Riders secondary is drastically different than the one that started last season.

* The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are going to be bah - roooo - tal this year. Like that phonetc thing I just did; witty eh? Anyways the Bombers lost their pre - season finale 52 - 0 last Thursday and were outscorted 76 - 6 in their two warm - ups. How do you assess talent on a team that was so bad? The only move they made of any significance this season was re - sign Buck Pierce, a guy who spends more time on the bench or press box. It will be a long season in the Manitoba capital, and let's remember that when things don't go our way for a week or two this year; at least we aren't Bomber fans.

* Already the calls for Geroy Simon's release are rampant. Yeah, he never caught a pass last week. Yeah, he is nursing a bit of a leg injury. Shut up!

* Graham Delaet was oh so close to making a dream come true this weekend. Delaet shot a 69 yesterday to finish as -11 and one back of Ken Duke and Chris Stroud. For his efforts, he earned $418K, jumped to #74 in the World Rankings as well as up to #15 in the standings for the International side in October's President's Cup. If he plays as well as he has between now and then, International Captain Nick Faldo will certainly have to get Delaet in mind as a Captain's pick if he doesn't earn a spot out right.

* Johnny Boychuk is not being suspended for a reason. The hit he laid on Jonathon Toews on Saturday night was in no way, shape of form, illegal or dangerous. Game Six by the way goes tonight in Beantown where apparently 100F heat is playing games with the ice in TD Garden Centre.

* If the Blue Jays repeat this week what they did last they will be owners of an 18 game winning streak. A tough order I know but great to see them turn it around with all summer left to play meaningful baseball. Jose Reyes coming back can only help.

* The Edmonton Eskimos are really tough to respect. They signed Odell Willis five minutes after free agency opened (no big loss anyway), hold an illegal mini camp in Florida and then were 14 hours late annoucing their final cuts. Whether it is arrogance or lack of intelligence, I really dislike the evil empire.

* That's all...CFL preview to come later in the week.