Monday Morning Sentimonies: We’re Back

Well somehow we defied the odds and the entire Rider Prophet crew returned safely from Las Vegas… and weren’t even forced to file for bankruptcy. All in all it was a fantastic trip with the exception of the illness I picked up in Vegas that did not adhere to the “stays in Vegas” rule… Now I know what you’re thinking and no, it’s not an STD… the call girl gave me her word on this.

Here are some random musings from sin city:

- For some strange reason I felt at home in a city where stumbling the streets with an oversized drink is encouraged.

- Despite our best efforts we were unable to locate any Las Vegas Posse merchandise, or any evidence of their existence.

- The 4am shift of cocktail waitresses could easily get walk-on parts in horror movies… Yikes!

- Once while rolling the dice at the craps table, the guy next to me tapped me on the shoulder and said “My nigga!”… I should mention that the guy who said this was almost as white as me… the whole situation was just wrong on so many levels.

- FYI – Panda Express doesn’t actually serve any Panda… needless to say I was thoroughly disappointed.

The Riders were nice enough not to do anything noteworthy in my absence. As for the rest of the league, here’s some random musings on what went down…

- Kevin Glenn signed with the Ti-Cats. With Glenn and Kenton Keith now at his disposal Marcel Bellefeuille must be elated. This will save many days in training camp since they’re already quite familiar with the shotgun draw.

- Jesse Lumsden became a prolific bobsledder. This is just such a weird story. Apparently there’s talk of him even being in the running to compete with Pierre Luders (who is of course the only good bobsledder in the country) in the Olympics. Personally I hope people don’t get their hopes to high… if history has taught us anything, it’s that Lumsden will likely start out dominating the bobsledding world only to somehow injure his shoulder in his 3rd competition and have season ending surgery. The sling is as much a fixture in Lumsden’s look as his overly greasy mullet.

- Burke Dales re-signed with Calgary. I, along with many others, thought that Dales had already signed with Winnipeg… evidently that deal was never finalized. Talk about a lucky turn of events for Dales, instead of being stuck in Winnipeg he gets to go back to the defending champs.

- Winnipeg didn’t come up empty handed in the kicking department though as they signed kicker Kenneth Byrd… who’s most recent accomplishment was getting cut by the Detroit Lions. Byrd vs. Serna… wow the kicking competition at Bomber training camp will be atrocious this year!

- BC traded Jason Pottinger to the Argos for a 1st round pick and a conditional pick in 2010. Pottinger is a solid special teams player but this still strikes me as a steep price to pay for the Argos… then again, nobody ever accused the Argos of being the sharpest knives in the drawer.

And here are some other Ins and Outs that I’m too lazy to write anything about.

Winnipeg
In: RB Lavarus Giles (free agent signing)
Out: DL Matt Kudu, WR Kerry Johnson (released)

Montreal
In: OL Gurminder Thind (free agent signing)

BC
In: Javier Glatt, Aaron Hunt (contract extensions)

Edmonton
In: WR Eric Ware (free agent signing)
Out: Shannon Garrett (retired)

Toronto
In: OL Patrick Atiff, LB Matt Hewitt, DB David Lofton (free agent signing)