Fasten your seatbelts!

Another action-packed weekend with the munchkin is on the horizon. Friday night will probably be devoted to watching the Bombers and Alouettes, followed by a little Madden on the playstation. Nice way to unwind from a stressful week.

On Saturday, the activity cranks up with (hopefully) tennis in the morning, followed by some cycling in the afternoon, and the Riders and Eskimos in the evening. It'll be interesting to see how fired-up the Eskimos are, now that they're closing in on official elimination from the playoff race. As for the Riders...........damned if I know! Hopefully Barrett's Boys are still riding the wave of momentum generated by last week's overtime win over B.C. That'd be nice.

On Sunday I'm taking Jacob to his first communion class. Granted it's been a while, but when did they stop teaching this stuff in school? Isn't that the whole point of sending our kids to catholic schools - immersion in the faith, introduction to the sacraments, etc...? Just wondering.

On Sunday night I hook up with Rod Pedersen for the broadcast of the Pats vs. Red Deer WHL tilt at the Brandt Centre. It'll be interesting to hear how the leather-lunged faithful treat Rebels forward Martin Hanzal, the Czech import who spurned the Pats - who in turn were unable to trade the enigmatic sniper to one of his "preferred" destinations. Let 'em have it, folks!

SportZone lineup for Sept 25

Here's the lineup for this week's epic. As usual, the show airs Wednesday at 6pm and Thursday at 3pm on Access Channel 7 in Regina.

SportZone Guests for September 25, 2006

Community Co-Host: Dale West

1. The water polo season gets underway in Regina, including the Regina Squids defense of their national senior men’s championship. Guest: Mike Mortin (Regina Squids Head Coach).

2. A profile of the Luther Lions high school football team. Guests: Troy Casper (Head Coach) & (Player tba). (confirmed)

3. Hockey Regina selects a new Executive Director. Guest: Blair Watson (HRI Executive Director).

4. An update on the Regina Minor Football season, including how officials are dealing with the record number of players this year. Guest: Kelly Hamilton (RMF President).

5. An update on the Regina Thunder junior football team. Guests: Bryce McCall & Travis Junior (Players).

6. An update on the University of Regina Rams football team. Guest: Steve Ryan (Rams Defensive Back).

Fantastic Fantuz!

Let's hear it for Roughrider rookie Andy Fantuz! The former Western Mustang star - who played his college ball a two minute drive from my mom's house in London, Ontario - scored his first two CFL touchdowns this afternoon, leading the Riders to a 23-20 overtime win over the B.C. Lions.

Fantuz recovered a Kerry Joseph (who played another poor game) fumble in the end zone, and caught a Joseph warbler for the game-winning score in O-T. I'm thinking young Jacob may have a new favourite Rider. A lot of other people may be Fantuziacs now too, come to think of it. Cool.

On Saturday night, I watched the Regina Pats fall 2-1 to the Saskatoon Blades in the Pats WHL home opener. Better nights are definitely ahead for the young Pats, who seemed to grip their sticks a little too tightly - and spent too much time looking for the highlight reel pass - to overcome some stellar goaltending in the Blades net. And then the post-game show was a technological nightmare. And after that debacle, I temporarily lost my wallet. All in all, not a great night. But, hockey's back in the Brandt Centre. That's never a bad thing.

Big sports weekend

It's shaping up to be a busy weekend for this "occasional" sports broadcaster. I'll swing by Rider practise Saturday morning to record an interview or two for the pre-game show on Sunday. Saturday night, it's the Pats home opener. I'll be helping Rod Pedersen out with the post-game show (and probably intermissions) on the home broadcasts again this year. Then Sunday it's the Riders and B.C. Lions at Mosaic Stadium with Jacob. Good times!

Oh, and there's talk of "changes" coming for my little SportZone show on Access. Changes. That's always a good sign, isn't it? Yeah, that's what I thought.

SportZone lineup for Sept 18

Here's the lineup for this week's show, airing Wednesday at 6pm and Thursday at 3pm on Access Channel 7:

SportZone Guests for Sept 18, 2006
Community Co-Host: Tim Hubic


1. A look at youth curling programming/opportunities through Curl Regina. Guest: Jan Betker (Youth Curling Coordinator).

2. An introduction to the new Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Soccer Association, and a look at winter programming. Guests: Kelly Skotnitsky (SSA Executive Director) & Astrid Baecker (Director, Operations and Promotions).

3. A profile of the Sheldon-Williams high school football team. Guests: Kyle McFetridge (Head Coach) & Marc Mueller (Quarterback).

4. The annual “kick off” interview with the Director of Athletics at the University of Regina. Guest: Dick White (Athletics Director).

5. A preview of the season-ending Enduro at King’s Park Speedway. Guest: Jim “Sharky” Braden (Racer/Organizer).

Jake the Snake

It's official. My kid is crazy about football. Thanks to the splendid weather this weekend, we've spent an inordinate amount of time indoors. And given the choice, young Jacob wants to spend every waking moment watching football. NFL, CFL, CIS, it's all good. I caught him watching Windsor and Queen's locked in a (less than) epic collegiate battle - and I think he liked it! During commercial stoppages, he wants to play catch with me. And when there isn't a game on the tube, he beseeches me to play him in Madden football on the Playstation.

Yup, he's got "the fever" all right. Works for me!

SportZone lineup for Sept 11

Here's this week's lineup, as we return to the weekly taping schedule:

SportZone Guests for Sept 11, 2006
Community Co-Host: Dale West


1. The Regina Red Sox are looking for volunteers to form the team’s Booster Club. Guests: Barb Dedi (Executive Member) & Kip Simon (Red Sox player).

2. A preview of the 2006 season for the U of R women’s soccer team. Guests: Jason Jones (Head Coach) & Kam Bahia (Player).

3. A review of the Regina Pats’ training camp, and look ahead to the regular season. Guest: Terry Perkins (Assistant Coach).

4. The Riffel Royals go for their third straight Regina High School (4A) football championship. Guests: Shawn McCall (Assistant Coach), Jay Smith & Tanner Schmidt (Players).

5. An update on goings-on at King’s Park Speedway. Guest: Stacy Getz (Board Member).

6. An update on the Regina Thunder junior football team. Guests: Jimi Cabylis & Scott Assie(Players).

KJ - Oy Vay!

The Riders evened their record at 6-6 with the 27-23 loss in Winnipeg Sunday in the Banjo Bowl. Not Kerry Joseph's finest work at quarterback, to be sure. Joseph looked tentative in the pocket and his passes were.........erratic (putting it kindly).

Fortunately, Jason Armstead and Kenton Keith made highlight-reel catches in the first half - giving the Riders offense (and quarterback) the appearance of competence. Now, the green guys enter a bye week before facing the B.C. Lions at home on the 24th. And the prospect of a home playoff game slips a little further away...

On the bright side - all-world good guy Jon Ryan made his NFL debut with the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. It's great to see a genuinely nice young man realize his life's dream. Now if only the Packers would start winning the occasional game!

Fancy book-learnin'

Well, I'm back in the world of academia. Tonight was my first class in PR-40 (Electronic Information Design). After this class, I will need only one more to complete my certificate in Public Relations from the U of R. It's only taken.......oh, forever! After getting my certificate, I may go crazy and start working on a BA. But first things first - ten weeks of instruction from Kim Herperger on using websites and the intranet to communicate effectively. Good times!

Who's up for a threesome?

Make it three wins in a row for the Roughriders, following a 39-12 dissection of Winnipeg in the Labour Day Classic. Suffice to say young Jacob thoroughly enjoyed his first taste of the Labour Day atmosphere at Mosaic Stadium. The rematch goes next weekend in the Manitoba capital.

It seemed fairly obvious that Kerry Joseph has not completely recovered from his knee injury. However, he was able to scamper downfield reasonably well, regardless. Where Joseph showed obvious rust was in his passing, completing only 12 of 27 attempts - and missing open receivers in favour of throwing into coverage (more often than not in the direction of Jason Armstead). I certainly hope Joseph rachets his game up a notch next week, or the newly-minted Rocky Butler fans will be howling for a change.

Oh, on a side note - Jacob has started beating me in Madden football. Stupid video games.