Quick Slants: CFL Draft deals, Jones’ Bad Picks, and Bus Bust
Published: Thursday, May 3rd 2018, 4:05am
by: Greg McCulloch (@GregOnSports)
Quick Slants looks at some of the weekly stories in the CFL and beyond.
Als-Ticats wheeling and dealing but not kiss stealing
I feel sorry for CFL draft guru and friend of the pod, Marshall Ferguson. The man puts countless hours into mock drafts and on days like today, it doesn’t matter in a matter of minutes.
Seemed like every time I checked twitter there were rumours or actual moves happening.
Hamilton traded with Edmonton. Then BC traded with Winnipeg.Then Hamilton and Montreal flipped the chess board.
Hamilton decided it wanted to kick the party off by acquiring the first overall pick from the Montreal Alouettes along with the 31st overall, 44th overall, and a second-round pick in 2019 for Offensive lineman Ryan Bomben, Receiver Jamal Robinson, the 2nd overall pick, 34th overall pick, the 58th overall pick, and a negotiation list player.
In case anyone cares, that neg list player most definitely is not Johnny Manziel.
Don’t tell anyone but I don’t hate this trade from an Alouettes perspective.
Yes, they drop down to 2nd overall but either way, they are going to get a great player and if rumours are true and Ti-cats covet WR Mark Chapman. Kavis can add to their O-line with either Trey Rutherford or Pete Godber. Considering that the Als had one of the worst offensive lines the past few seasons getting a vet like Bomben and drafting a guy that could possibly be ready to contribute this year was a good move by Kavis.
(I feel dirty now)
When it comes to 1st (round) Jones is last
Say what you want about Chris Jones contributions to the Riders as Head Coach, he has definitely made strides on the field. But when he is Chris Jones the General Manager on a draft day, not so much.
In the past 2 drafts as Riders GM, Jones in typical Jones fashion took the biggest athletic potential. First with Offensive Lineman Josiah St. John at #1 in 2016, and Linebacker Cameron Judge at #2 in 2017.
St. John held out most of the 2016 season, got exposed when he finally got to play, fell down the depth chart behind rookie Dariuzs Bladek and spent most of last season as a healthy scratch.
Judge was late for training camp due to “finals”, got hurt early in the season, landed on the IR, and then may or may not have quit football in the strangest twitter meltdown the CFL has ever seen.
Riders don’t pick in the first round till fifth and while Jones stated publicly he is looking at either offensive or defensive line, there are thoughts that he might not be able to look past physically gifted players like DB Godfrey Onyeka or Receiver Rashaun Simonise.
Hopefully, Jones the GM ends his streak this year and gets a player that can contribute quickly.
Bus Bust
When new Mosaic Stadium was about to open the Riders approached the City of Regina offering to fund the Rider Express bus service making it free for patrons to hop the bus to the games.
Honestly, it was a brilliant piece of marketing from both the Riders and the City’s perspective. Utilize public transportation, limit the number of vehicles parked downtown, and hopefully sell more food at drink at the pre-game events.
The system worked well for everyone…. except the tenants of the Normanview shopping centre.
With several bars and restaurants and a movie theatre in the same parking lot, the sudden influx of vehicles didn’t sit well with them. I totally see their complaint, it is very difficult for business to make money if a person can come in because they cannot find a place to park.
However, selfishly, that stop was a 10-minute walk from my front door and I am going to miss it.
For this season I see the Northgate stop being used more than the seemingly pointless two stops they added in the warehouse district, hopefully, this will not affect the game day experience to and from the game too much for the fans that used the Normanview route.
On the plus side, even though we are talking bussing it means its almost kick-off time.
Bring on football!
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