Who is this guy? – Will Fajardo become the CFL’s Warner?

QB Cody Fajardo has impressed as the Roughriders starter.

    Could Cody Fajardo be living out a football story that was famously seen once before?
    The Brea, Calif., product has experienced a meteoric rise since becoming the starting quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Fajardo’s chance came after spending about two and a half seasons as a reserve quarterback in the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts and British Columbia Lions.
    Before joining the Argos in October of 2015, Fajardo attended training camp with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders before being cut.
    His attempt to make the Raiders came after wrapping up a star career with the University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack Football Team in the top tier of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ranks in 2014.

    Joining the Roughriders this season, Fajardo was pegged to be a reserve quarterback.

    When the Roughriders opened their regular season on June 13 against the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton, Saskatchewan’s starting quarterback Zach Collaros was knocked out of the game with a concussion injury. Collaros made a feet first slide and was hit in the head by Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence on the fourth overall play of the contest.

    Since that moment, Fajardo, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 215 pounds, became the Roughriders main man under centre. The 27-year-old has completed 132 of 177 passes for 1,705 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions over the team’s first seven games.

Cody Fajardo fires a pass from behind protection.

    He has surpassed 300 yards in passing three times and has the Roughriders riding a three-game winning streak to sit with a 4-3 record heading into a Friday showdown with the Alouettes (3-3) in Montreal (5 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).
    Thanks to Fajardo’s play, the Roughriders traded Collaros to the Toronto Argonauts last Wednesday for a conditional fourth round selection in the 2020 CFL Draft.

    Last Thursday, Fajardo left Rider Nation in adulation running in from five yards out to score the winning touchdown with 24 second remaining in the fourth quarter to deliver the Roughriders to a 24-19 victory over the Tiger-Cats at Mosaic Stadium.

    In that contest, Fajardo completed 25-of-31 passes for 313 yards and ran the ball nine times for 56 yards, which included his winning touchdown run.

    His right ankle was sore after taking a sack early in the third quarter, but he said in post-game interviews that he was able to continue thanks to “a sprinkle of Jesus.”

    He celebrated the win eating a corn dog at the Queen City Ex next to the statue of George Reed outside Mosaic Stadium. Fajardo posted the picture of that moment on Twitter.

    A practicing Catholic who is strong in his Christian faith, the phrase “a sprinkle of Jesus” is starting to become a catch phrase for Fajardo.

My victory carnival corn dog. This is what it’s all about! @sskroughriders great team win! pic.twitter.com/1eQusRdowH

— Cody Fajardo (@CodyFajardo17) August 2, 2019

    The rise of the likable and personable signal caller has parallels to the rise of a legendary NFL pivot.

    Way back on Aug. 28, 1999, the St. Louis Rams were playing a pre-season game at home, when they lost starting quarterback Trent Green to a season ending knee injury on a hit from San Diego Chargers safety Rodney Harrison.

    Green tore the medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments and also sustained cartilage damage in his left knee.

The SI cover from when Kurt Warner made his rise.

    Rams head coach Dick Vermeil, who was known for being ultra-optimistic, said his team would rally around backup quarterback Kurt Warner and play good football.

    At that time, the Rams were trying end a streak where they had posted nine straight losing seasons. Pretty much no one knew who Warner was, and there wasn’t much hope outside of the Rams organization that they would have a good season.

    Warner, who stood 6-foot-2 and weighed 214 pounds, became an NFL starter at age 28. All of a sudden, Warner shocked the league.

    He stormed out of the gates in 1999 leading the Rams to a 6-0 start completing 118-of-162 passes for 1,531 yards, 18 touchdowns and three interceptions.

    The sad sack Rams morphed into “The Greatest Show on Turf.”

    Warner kept putting up crazy passing numbers finishing the campaign completing 325-of-499 passes for 4,353 yards, 41 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He led what was arguably the most exciting offence in the history of pro football that seemingly could score a touchdown on any play from any point on the field.

    Warner let the ball fly to talented receivers Isaac Bruce, Tory Holt, Az-Zahir Hakim and Ricky Proehl. For a change up, Warner could hand the ball off or toss it to dynamic running back Marshall Faulk.

    The Rams posted a 13-3 record to finish first overall in the NFC, and Warner was named the NFL’s MVP. From there, the Rams marched on to win Super Bowl XXXIV on Jan. 30, 2000.

The SI cover of the St. Louis Rams’ Super Bowl win.

    In Super Bowl XXXIV, Warner hit Bruce on a 73-yard touchdown bomb with 1:54 to play in the fourth quarter that broke a 16-16 tie and gave the Rams a 23-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
    Warner, who was born in Burlington, Iowa, was named MVP of the Super Bowl having completed 24-of-45 passes for 414 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

    During that fairytale season, Warner’s back story came out. After playing for the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Warner was cut by the Green Bay Packers in the summer of 1994.

    He returned to Cedar Falls and worked out at his old college practice field by day and stocked shelves at a local Hy-Vee grocery store at night. Warner played three seasons with the Iowa Barnstormers in the Arena Football League from 1995 to 1997, one season in NFL Europe in early 1998 with the Amsterdam Admirals before joining the Rams for the 1998 NFL season as their third string quarterback.

    The 1999 NFL season wasn’t the only high point in Warner’s career. The Christian gunslinger guided the Rams back to Super Bowl XXXVI following the 2001 season, where they fell 20-17 to quarterback Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

    Warner played for the New York Giants in 2004 before finishing his NFL career playing for the Arizona Cardinals from 2005 to 2009. He gunned the Cardinals into the Super Bowl XLIII following the 2008 season, where they fell 27-23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Kurt Warner had a Pro Football Hall of Fame career.

    Over his career in the NFL, Warner established a reputation as being personable and likeable. During stints where he wasn’t the starting quarterback on the teams he played for, he was eager to be the best and most supportive teammate on the squad he was on.
    In his 12 NFL seasons, Warner completed 2,666-of-4,070 passes for 32,344 yards, 208 touchdowns and 128 interceptions in regular season play. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

    With that noted, Fajardo has a long way to go if he does have a career even in the CFL that matches what Warner did in the NFL. At the moment, Fajardo is a better scrambler than Warner was but is not at a Pro Football Hall of Fame level when it comes to controlling the game from the pocket.

    Still, the early part of Fajardo’s career as the Roughriders starter does have a lot of similarities to Warner’s beginning as a starter with the Rams.

    This might be a blessed season for Fajardo and the Roughriders.

    The season could still go south for Fajardo and the Roughriders, when they finally play the likes of the Calgary Stampeders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Edmonton Eskimos. The Stampeders have been the year in and year out powerhouse since 2008 in the CFL.

    Still, the Roughriders and their Rider Nation fanbase can dream. Fajardo will put in the work.

The Roughriders hope to enjoy more victory scenes like this.

    He might put together a success story that no one saw coming that goes beyond anyone’s imagination.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Big game spotlight brings out best in Valkyries’ Girolami

Haley Girolami had three catches for 100 yards and three touchdowns for the Valkyries on Sunday.

    Haley Girolami is still oblivious to statistical milestones in football.

    The rookie receiver was unaware how big her performance was in the Saskatoon Valkyries 53-0 romp over the visiting Lethbridge Steel in a Western Women’s Canadian Football League semifinal match on Sunday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

    In that contest, Girolami hauled in three passes for 100 yards and scored three touchdowns. The 23-year-old scored the Valkyries first touchdown on a 28-yard catch with 5:52 expired in the first quarter to give Saskatoon a 7-0 lead.

    During the second quarter, Girolami caught a long pass and on the way to a 66-yard catch and run touchdown to account for her second major.

Haley Girolami reacts to making a six-yard TD catch.

    She hauled in a six-yard reception for her third score of the game before the second quarter expired.
    Girolami didn’t know a 100-yard receiving game is a big statistical moment for a pass catcher. She wasn’t even keeping track of the fact she reached the end zone three times.

    “I wasn’t thinking about it,” said Girolami. “I just knew I had to do my job.

    “If the ball was coming to me, I had to catch it. I did, and I was thankful for that.”

    Before joining the Valkyries this season, Girolami had been out of competitive sports for a lengthy stretch. For three seasons from 2010 to 2013, she was a defender for the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA hockey team.

    After exhausting her midget AAA eligibility, Girolami continued to play sports at the recreational level. She is pursuing studies in nursing at the University of Saskatchewan.

    A year ago, Girolami watched her younger sister, Danielle, play through her rookie season as a receiver for the Valkyries. Haley decided to join her 20-year-old sibling this season.

    “Danielle played last year, and I guess I kind of saw her having fun,” said Haley, who stands 5-foot-9. “I figured I can’t let her have all the fun, so I thought I would join.”

Haley Girolami races downfield after making a catch.

    While Haley followed in Danielle’s footsteps in football, Danielle followed in Haley’s footsteps in hockey. After Haley graduated from the midget AAA ranks, Danielle joined the Stars playing defence for the team from 2013 to 2016. She helped the Stars win Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League titles in 2015 and 2016.

    Growing up playing hockey, the two never got to play a full season together on one team. They would cross paths from time to time with the Saskatchewan provincial hockey team program.

    Football has provided the two sisters the chance to play on a competitive sports team together for a full season.

    “It is great,” said Haley. “I love having my sister there on the other side of me.

    “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

    Valkyries head coach Pat Barry was happy to see Haley Girolami have a big game against the Steel. The sideline boss has been impressed with how well Girolami has balanced playing for the Valkyries along with her commitment to the U of S nursing program.

    “She is an exceptional athlete,” said Barry. “I know she is in nursing, which is a very challenging program.

    “Sometimes, we haven’t had her at all the football games. We’re very pleased to have her, and we have to get the ball to her as much as we can.”

Haley Girolami scores a TD on a 28-yard reception.

    On Saturday, the Valkyries travel to Regina to play in the WWCFL Championship game against the host and two-time defending champion Riot at 4 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium. Barry believes Girolami could have a huge impact on the final outcome of that contest.

    “She could be a big factor,” said Barry. “Again, it is a team game, and we have to have 12 people on the field all pulling together.

    “If that happens, hopefully we will be successful.”

    Girolami has enjoyed the atmosphere of being on a competitive team again with the Valkyries. She missed the comradery that comes with the bus trips and the hotel stays with the team, which doesn’t happen often at the recreational level.

    On top of all of that, Girolami is thankful the Valkyries have been really welcoming.

    “It has been lots of fun,” said Girolami. “I missed competitive team sports, so it was really nice being back with everybody as a team.

Haley Girolami (#17) celebrates a touchdown with her teammates.

    “The girls are really encouraging. It is lots of fun being out there as a team together and you work well.”

    Now, Girolami will try and help the Valkyries win their first WWCFL title since 2016. They fell 14-10 in last year’s league title game to the Riot.

    She believes she will have some nerves going into that game, but expects her teammates will help her out.

    “The atmosphere is going to be a lot different,” said Girolami. “With all the team there, it is going to be pretty exciting I think.”

CFL and CFLPA looks bad on Lawrence suspension

QB Zach Collaros (#17) is out due to a Simoni Lawrence hit.

    The CFL and CFL Players’ Association are getting rightly roasted by pundits over the fallout of the Simoni Lawrence suspension.

    The CFL handed down a two-game suspension to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats linebacker for when he dove and drove his left shoulder into the head of Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Zach Collaros. The play occurred in the Tigers-Cats 23-17 victory over the Roughriders in Hamilton on June 13 in the regular season opening game for the entire league.

    Collaros, who has a history of concussion injuries, was placed on the six-game injured list and hasn’t played since the hit.

    Lawrence received a Grade 2 roughing the passer penalty resulting in a 25-yard gain for Saskatchewan.

    The CFL handed down its suspension to Lawrence on June 17. Last Wednesday, the CFLPA informed the CFL it was grieving the two-game suspension to Lawrence.

    The appealing hearing is set for July 9. Lawrence is eligible to play for the Tiger-Cats until the appeal hearing is held.

    This sort of situation has happened in the CFL before, and it will likely happen again in the future.

    If Lawrence agreed to sit out his two-game suspension, there would have been a lot of people that said justice was served. With that said, there would have been others that said the suspension wasn’t stiff enough, but their voices likely would have faded had there not been an appeal.

    Still, the Lawrence situation would have come to a conclusion instead of being dragged out like it is, if he served the CFL imposed suspension.

    There was a feeling before the season started that player safety would be more important to all parties involved. With how Lawrence’s situation has played out, that doesn’t appear to be the case.

    The CFL looks toothless, because it appears unable to enforce the suspensions it hands out. The CFLPA looks awkward trying to defend a player that has committed an obvious foul, while appearing to overlook an injury to one of its other union members.

    It seems like ensuring Lawrence doesn’t miss getting a game paycheque trumps player safety.

    This is one of those situations where all parties are in the wrong outside of Collaros himself.

    All the criticism that has come and likely is still to come is warranted.

NHL Entry Draft not be all in making league

A David Schlemko hockey card and puck set.

    If you get passed over in the NHL Entry Draft, it doesn’t all hope of having an NHL player career is gone.

    This year’s NHL Draft was held last Friday and Saturday in Vancouver, B.C., and in the immediate aftermath, a lot of draft eligible players are left to deal with the disappointment of going unselected.

    One of my favourite success stories was never selected in the NHL Entry Draft.

    In his final major junior campaign in 2006-07, David Schlemko piled up eight goals, 50 assists and a plus-12 rating in the plus-minus department skating in 64 regular season games with the Medicine Hat Tigers.

    Cementing a solid reputation as an offensive defenceman during what was his 19-year-old season in the WHL, Schlemko helped the Tigers win the WHL title and earn a berth in the Memorial Cup tournament championship game.

    The Tigers fell in that year’s Memorial Cup title game 3-1 to the host Vancouver Giants.

Schlemko, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 191 pounds, was never selected in the NHL Entry Draft, but in July of 2007, he signed a three-year entry-level contract with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes.

    He made his NHL debut during his second year in the professional ranks in 2008-09 with the Coyotes and ultimately played three games that season.

    Over 12 seasons as a professional, Schlemko has played 415 career NHL regular season games collecting 18 goals and 76 assists with the Coyotes, Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, San Jose Sharks and Montreal Canadiens.

    The now 32-year-old’s NHL rights are held by the Philadelphia Flyers. While there is no certainty that he will play with the Flyers next season, his NHL career has to be deemed an unequivocal success.

    If you are signed by an NHL club as an undrafted free agent, most pundits view those types of players as a long shot to make it into the league.

    The fact Schlemko has played over 400 games in the league over 12 professional campaigns blows that notion away.

    He is a smart player who knows when to make the simple plays and went to take a calculated chance on the ice. Schlemko has always been a good teammate, and all those factors have allowed to play in the NHL for as long as he has.

    He showed it is possible for someone to make it to the NHL and play in the league over a long period of time even if they go undrafted.

Being first overall pick doesn’t guarantee anything

    Do you remember who was the first overall selection in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft that saw the Vancouver Canucks select twin brothers Daniel and Henrik Sedin?

    Believe it or not, the first overall selection wasn’t one of the Sedin twins. The Canucks took Daniel second overall and Henrik third overall.

    With the first overall selection, the Atlanta Thrashers picked centre Patrik Stefan from the Czech Republic.

    Who is Patrik Stefan you ask?

    He is best remembered for a regularly shown blooper, when he was a member of the Dallas Stars. On Jan. 4, 2007, the Stars were in Edmonton leading the host Oilers 5-4 in the dying seconds of the third period.

    Stefan had a breakaway towards an empty Edmonton net. He attempted a casual backhand shot that missed the goal, and he also tripped and fell to the ice.

    After falling to the ice, Stefan proceeded to clear the puck to an Oilers player. The Oilers came back up the ice and scored the equalizer that forced a 5-5 tie. Dallas proceeded to win the game 6-5 after a tiebreaking shootout.

    Stefan, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 210 pounds, is remembered more for that gaff than being selected first overall in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

    The 2006-07 campaign turned out to be Stefan’s final season in the NHL, and he retired in October of 2007.

    He appeared in 455 career regular season games playing for both the Thrashers and the Stars posting 64 goals and 124 assists.

    Most hockey players would do something extreme to have an NHL playing career like that.

    When you are the first overall selection of an NHL Entry Draft, those numbers make you a draft bust. While that might be cruel, that is the way it is.

    There is a notion that all first overall selections in the NHL Entry Draft are can’t miss prospects for star status.

    Stefan’s career showed being the first overall selection definitely does not guarantee you will make the Hockey Hall of Fame one day.

    Instead, you can become a permanent feature on the blooper reel.

Raiders, Blades kick off regular season against each other

The Blades and Raiders are set to get it on to start the season.

    Now that the rivalry is back to a fever pitch, the Prince Albert Raiders and the Saskatoon Blades will kick off their respective WHL regular season schedules playing each other in a home-and-home series.

    The archrivals collided in the second round of the WHL playoffs last season, and the Raiders claimed the best-of-seven series 4-2. Prince Albert marched on to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions.

    The Raiders host the Blades on Friday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. One night later, the Blades host the Raiders at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    Both games should draw big crowds, and that is likely an understatement.

    This also marks the first time the Raiders and Blades have opened a WHL campaign playing each other in a home-and-home series since the start of the 2015-16 campaign.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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CFL needs to walk the talk in removing cheap shots

Lawrence suspension a small step forward, more work needed

Zach Collaros throws a pass at Roughriders training camp in June.

    The message isn’t getting through regarding cheap shots in the CFL.
    In the league’s regular season opener last Thursday between the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders and host Hamilton Tiger-Cats, two obvious dirty hits went down in the first six plays of the game. For a league and a CFL Players’ Association that talked lots in the off-season about player safety, the start of the regular season opener showed there wasn’t any more respect for player safety on the field than there was last year.

    On just the fourth play of Thursday’s contest, Roughriders quarterback Zach Collaros ran for a seven-yard gain and gave himself up on a feet first slide.

    Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence dove and drove his left shoulder into Collaros’s head. Collaros left the game and didn’t return after he failed to pass the CFL’s concussion protocol.

    Lawrence received a Grade 2 roughing the passer penalty resulting in a 25-yard gain for Saskatchewan.  

    Two plays later, Roughriders backup quarterback Cody Fajardo overthrew a sideline pass to running back William Powell.

    After the ball had long sailed over Powell’s head, he was decked by Tiger-Cats defensive back Delvin Breaux. Breaux received a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty.

    The hits thrown by Lawrence and Breaux didn’t need to be delivered. They were both plays that were brainless and needless.

    The Roughriders would score a touchdown on that opening series and ultimately lost the contest 23-17.

    In the aftermath, the Roughriders moved Collaros to the six-game injured list on Sunday. While the Roughriders didn’t confirm what Collaros’s injury was, he does have a history of concussion injuries, and it is pretty easy to draw an educated guess on what his exact injury is.

    On Monday, the CFL suspended Lawrence two games for his hit on Collaros. Commissioner Randy Ambrosie stressed the importance of player safety in Monday’s press release sent out by the league regarding Lawrence’s suspension.

    Lawrence can appeal the CFL’s ruling under the league’s collective bargaining agreement with the players. The 30-year-old hasn’t been previously suspended or fined for dangerous play since joining the league in 2012.

    First, I will admit the suspension is a good start, if it holds up. As a general observation on how these situations were dealt with in past seasons, it always felt like discipline handed out by the CFL was toothless.

Brandon Bridge was a head shot victim last season.

    There would usually be a one-game suspension, which would disappear after an appeal was made. It always seemed more weight was thrown behind ensuring an offending player didn’t miss a game paycheque.

    It seems like the only way to get discipline is to handle things an old school way, where your offensive line basically act as enforcers.

    In the old days of football, it was common for an offensive team to run a running play at a defensive player that threw a cheap shot. The focus of the play wasn’t to gain yards but to go after and hurt the defensive player that threw the cheap shot.

    In the modern era, I’m not sure how that type of tactic would be received, if it was utilized.

    The officials in Thursday’s game between the Roughriders and Tiger-Cats called those penalties as they should. They could have elected to eject Lawrence from the game, and that is the only other thing they could have done.

    Still, the CFL as a league and the players have to make it a priority amongst themselves to get the cheap shots out of the game.

    One way the CFL could do more is adopting a targeting penalty that is used in the United States by the football teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

    The penalty in the NCAA is 15-yards with an automatic ejection from the game. If the penalty occurs in the second half of a contest, the offending player is automatically suspended for the first half of the next game.

    With the CFL field being larger, the yardage for the penalty could be 25-yards with those ejection stipulations.

    Amateur football in Canada has a targeting rule that contains a 25-yard penalty, but there are no automatic ejections. In U Sports, the infraction is automatically reviewed for further discipline, and if the targeting infraction is upheld, the offending player is suspended for his squad’s upcoming game.

    A number of pundits were calling for Lawrence to be suspended for three to five games. The CFL and its players have to look at these longer suspensions too.
    There are likely some Roughriders fans looking for the old school enforcer response. Going back to last season, Saskatchewan has gone three straight games losing its starting quarterback in a game due to a head shot.

    In a 23-18 West semifinal playoff loss on Nov. 11, 2018 to the Bombers, Roughriders starting quarterback Brandon Bridge was hit helmet to helmet on the game’s second last play by Bombers defensive lineman Jackson Jeffcoat. Bridge was knocked out of that contest.

    During the Roughriders final regular season game in 2018 on Oct. 27, Collaros was lost as starting quarterback due to a helmet-to-helmet shot from British Columbia Lions defensive lineman Odell Willis in a 35-16 Saskatchewan victory.

    The needless cheap shots need to go in the CFL. Unless is a steady enforcement of ejections and suspensions for those fouls, they will always remain a major problem in the game.

Is CFL football overpriced?

Fans at the 2013 West final in Calgary.

    Is there a lack of interest or a pricing problem, when it comes to CFL football?

    Since at least the start of the 2016 season, it seems a lot of fans show up at CFL game dressed as empty seats. It seems like there are a lot of no shows in the stadium even when a strong attendance figure is announced.

    Announced attendance figures from Week 1 weren’t anything to write home about. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced 22,287 spectators attended their 23-17 victory over the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders at the 23,218 seat Tim Hortons Field.

    On Friday, the Edmonton Eskimos attracted 25,263 announced spectators to their 32-25 victory over the visiting Montreal Alouettes at the 55,819 seat Commonwealth Stadium.

    On Saturday, the Calgary Stampeders drew 26,301 announced spectators to their 32-28 setback to the visiting Ottawa Redblacks at the 35,400 seat McMahon Stadium.

    Also on Saturday, The British Columbia Lions drew an announced crowd of 18,058 spectators to their 33-23 setback to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at the 54,500 seat B.C. Place stadium in Vancouver.

    None of those figures are even close to what those clubs could draw in their heydays.

    Way back in 1972, the Tiger-Cats drew an average of 32,129 spectators to each of their regular season home games, and that mark still stands as a team record.

    The Eskimos set their team record for average regular season attendance in 1982, when they attracted 57,899 spectators for each of their regular season games.

    The Stampeders team record for average regular season attendance isn’t that old. Back in 2009, the Stampeders drew an average of 36,502 spectators in each of their regular season home games.

    The Lions record for average regular season attendance came back in 1986, when they attracted 46,526 spectators per game.

    While numerous factors have to be considered for why fans stay away, one wonders how big of a factor ticket prices play.

    If you are looking to purchase single game tickets in the lower part of each team’s stadium between the 20 yard lines, be prepared to shell out. Those are the sections you can see the most on television and often they seem empty.

    Thanks to Ticketmaster information, here is what you can expect to play for single game tickets in the following eight CFL markets, if you sit in the lower sections between the 20 yard lines. All of these prices come before fees and taxes.

• Calgary - $99 to $120.25.
• Edmonton - $66.75 to $99.75.
• Hamilton - $95 to $110.25.
• Ottawa - $55 to $131.
• Saskatchewan - $106 to $127.
• Toronto - $57.25 to $76.25.
• Vancouver - $90 to $94.
• Winnipeg - $99 to $155.

    I couldn’t find single game ticket sales online for the Montreal Alouettes. Using calculations from their regular season pricing plans on their website, it will cost you $54.37 to $88.91 to sit between the 20 yard lines in the lower sections at Alouettes home games before fees and taxes.

    For the casual fans that attend games, it is safe to say these prices are too high to make an impulse decision to go to a game. You could sit in the end zones or the upper decks where the cheaper tickets are, but casual fans are more tempted to pass on that.

    If it becomes popular to head to a game to be seen, then casual fans will pay higher ticket prices.

    In cities like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, CFL clubs have to compete against other options for the sports entertainment dollar like Major League Soccer. Also, weather conditions will influence a ticket buyer, and those prices will drive people away from bad weather games.

    Even for ultra passionate fans, one wonders how close the CFL is to pricing itself out of the market.

Clouston joins Blazers as head coach

Shaun Clouston, centre, is the new Kamloops Blazers head coach.

    It didn’t take long for Shaun Clouston to resurface in the WHL.

    On Monday, the Kamloops Blazers announced Clouston would be the team’s new head coach and Darryl Sydor, who was a Blazers assistant coach last season, has moved up to the role of associate coach. Sydor is one of the Blazers part owners.

    Clouston was the head coach and general manager of the Medicine Hat Tigers, but he and the Tigers parted ways on May 30.

    One day later, the Tigers announced Willie Desjardins had returned to the team to retake his former roles of head coach and general manager, which he left being in 2010 moving up to the professional ranks.

    Clouston has been with the Tigers for 16 seasons. He joined the club as an assistant coach before the start of their WHL title winning campaign in 2003-04.

    The Viking, Alta., product was promoted to associate coach before the start of the 2005-06 campaign and helped the Tigers win another WHL in 2006-07.

    He became the club’s head coach in 2010 and took on the role of general manager in August of 2012.

    Clouston became the all-time leader in regular season head coaching wins with the Tigers. The 51-year-old put together a stellar 375-241-46 regular season coaching record with the team.

    The Tigers reached the WHL Eastern Conference championship series in 2011 and 2014 with Clouston as head coach.

    Adding in his time as head coach of the Tri-City Americans from the 2002-03 season, Clouston has 391 career regular season victories as a head coach.

    The Tigers put up a solid 35-27-4-2 record last season under Clouston despite suffering some key injuries down the stretch. They fell 4-2 in a best-of-seven first round playoff series to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

    The Blazers parted ways with former head coach Serge Lajoie in April after one season. Under Lajoie, the Blazers posted a 28-32-6-2 record in the regular season and won a standings tiebreaking game 5-1 over the Kelowna Rockets to make the playoffs.

    Kamloops fell in a best-of-seven first round playoff series 4-2 to the Victoria Royals.

    Sydor played defence for the Blazers when they won the WHL and Memorial Cup titles in the 1991-92 campaign. He also played his first games in the NHL ranks that season with the Los Angeles Kings.

    Sydor is best remember for his time in the NHL playing 1,291 career regular season games from 1991 to 2010 recording 98 goals and 409 assists with the Kings, Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets, Tampa Bay Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues.

    He won the Stanley Cup with the Stars in 1999 and the Lightning in 2004.

    Under Clouston, you can be sure the Blazers players will be hearing a lot about playing as a unit of five in all three zones on the ice. In a team press release, Clouston said his family is planning to make Kamloops their new home.

Raptors celebration looked crazy

Speechless. #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/Ulb7MtDnK9

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) June 17, 2019

    The NBA champion Toronto Raptors held their victory parade in the Ontario provincial capital on Monday, and the images show on television and social media looked pretty crazy.

    It is estimated over two-million people turned out to see the parade in downtown Toronto. The Raptors clinched their first NBA crown downing the two time defending champion Golden State Warriors 114-110 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals last Thursday in Oakland, Calif.

    The images of the celebration showed Toronto engulfed by a mass of humanity. The pictures and video showed people from all sorts of cultures getting along together and being happy.

    Unfortunately, the celebrations were marred by a shooting that left four people wounded and three people were taken into custody.

    Hopefully, the good the Raptors did in bringing people together with their run will outlast an idiotic incident.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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