It’s January in Saskatchewan
and 90% of any conversation relates to how cold it is. Yes, it happens every
year and yes if we haven’t moved away by now clearly we should have accepted
this as a reality in our lives. But dammit, it’s our right to complain about
it! I’m pretty sure its in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms somewhere.
But what better way to cope
with the cold then to huddle up inside and pass the time reading your favourite
blog… and once you are done that, then this blog.
A few news and notes,
Let’s start once again with
the NFL…
Between Cameron Judge (who's
already worked out for the Chargers), Derrick Moncrief (who's been released to
pursue NFL opportunities and already signed with the Raiders), and Shaq Evans,
it's highly likely that at least one member of the 2019 Riders makes his way
onto an NFL active roster in 2020. Last year, 14 total CFLers signed NFL
contracts. Given that 9 or 14 were on the defensive side of the ball, Judge is
a little more likely than Evans
says Paruk from SportsBettingDime.com.
The Moncrief signing is not
at all shocking. I can’t imagine why he choose Vegas over Saskatchewan. I mean
other than more money, better weather and ready access to pretty much any form
of entertainment your heart (or other body parts) desires there’s really no
difference. Moncrief is very deserving of this opportunity and I think he will
stick down south. Think back to 2018 when we had both him and Eguavoen as our
LBs (both NFL calibre players)… hard to imagine why our D was so go that year.
The funny thing is that the 3rd guy in that LB equation was often
Sam Hurl… one of these things is not like the other.
Nick Marshall’s NFL interest
must have turned out to be minimal as he signed a one year extension, we now
have 4 of our 5 starting secondary under contract with Gainey being the lone
exception. I would imagine though, that
his return is predicated on a salary reduction. While the secondary is looking
solid, the linebackers is another issue… some big holes to fill there.
The other big news was that
Cody Fajardo played through a ton of injuries throughout the year beyond the
torn obliques. It’s crazy going from a QB where a heavy breeze made us
concerned for his safety to one who just casually shrugs of broken fingers and
separated shoulders.
Having had back issues for my skiing addiction to go with separated AND dislocated shoulders etc., I can tell you that the back is a tricky thing & has a habit of coming "back" to haunt you. All of a sudden you bend over to pick up a glass & you can't walk properly anymore. Although hardly an athlete myself I have been on a first name basis with my physiotherapist, a gold medalist in her age class, for a number of years. The days are gone when it is commendable or smart to be playing through torn obliques, separated shoulders or broken fingers. Having had one myself I am more inclined to think the shoulder was dislocated than separated as the latter requires surgery or more than a couple of weeks of letting itself heal. In any case, if you want to play havoc with your body rather than sit out for a game that was ultimately lost anyway, fine. I wouldn't recommend it. Hopefully he's ready to go come May.
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