Human Sacrifice, Dogs and Cats Living Together... Mass Hysteria!

First and foremost tonight is a reminder to everyone to sign up for the Sports As Life March Madness Pool Party at Sportsnet.ca - the group name is Sportsaslife and the password is sportsaslife. There will be a prize for the winner and general hi jinx and self-loathing for the rest of us. You have until Thursday at 10 AM Central Time to sign up. Do it now!

Of course the elephant in the room that we haven't dealt with on Sports As Life is the recent goings on in the land of makebelieve that is the CFL.

If you live in Saskatchewan (and if you don't, c'mon - why not? we boast the two most dangerous cities in Canada) you have no option but to know about the recent Saskatchewan Roughrider goings on.

The first - the trade of Kerry Joseph, honestly I don't think is a big deal. You win a Grey Cup and suddenly you're an elite quarterback? Puhleeze. Shipping a mediocre, middle-aged quarterback out East instead of paying him half a million dollars was probably the right move. If it wasn't for that pure evil, soul-sucking energy being and his hollow eyes that Winnipeg had playing quarterback in the Grey Cup, there would be no rings anyway. To wit:

K-Jo, as some zealots prefer to call him, is past his prime and betting on an aging quarterback who relies on his mobility is dangerous. I'm in 100% agreement with this trade except for the moments that I remember that Marcus Crandell is the defacto starter now. Remember he's turning 34 and hasn't played in a meaningful game in at least 5 years (I don't really know, I just made that last part up).

But here's a point that CH has brought up in recent weeks... who are the popular players on this team now? Think of jersey's you see in the stands. Reggie Hunt, Fred Perry, Kerry Joseph... all gone. What are fans to think of this? It is true that sometimes people get too attached to players when it's the team they should be cheering for. But that's an awful lot of popular players to be losing in one off-season. So break out your Matt Dominguez, Eddie Davis, and Chris Szarka jersey's - cause they're all you've got left. And if I ever see someone walking down the street in a James Johnson jersey I'll run them down - I swear I will, don't try to stop me.

The last thing Roughrider-related was the new stadium talk - and wow, that sure died down quickly after the reigning Most Outstanding Player got shipped out of town, didn't it? Apparently this is what passes for news here now - some speculation and hearsay by a couple local media hacks. Am I surprised? Surprise would imply some sort of shock or something out of the ordinary.

So an indoor stadium is what we're clamouring for now? Is that so?

Well let me be the first to give this new stadium it's first nickname... the World's Most Expensive Golf Dome. Or how about The Big Empty? That Stadium They Used to Play Football In? Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time?

Anyone want to sit inside on a beautiful summer night and watch football? Didn't think so. An indoor stadium would save fans from how many cold games a year... 2... 3? And that's all part of the experience of going to a football game in Saskatchewan.

Is a new stadium needed? Maybe.

Taylor Field absolutely has to be upgraded and improved. But if a new stadium is followed through with, it has to be open-air. What is a brand new, multi-hundred million dollar indoor stadium going to be used for in the winter? Occasional soccer game? The odd concert Regina can pry away from Saskatoon? Car dealership extravaganzas?

And where might the money come from for this new pipe-dream? Oh, the government you say? I will agree that there is lots of money to go around in the province right now. But let me counter by saying there are a few hundred things that need funding in this province before a new football stadium.

Our infrastructure is crumbling.

Our health-care system is dangerously close to collapsing in on itself (ok, maybe it's not that bad - but I sure don't want to go to the Emergency Room anytime soon).

Affordable housing is a joke and a thing of the past.

I'd like to think that we have a little bit of common sense in this province and we see to it that some of these more pressing issues are dealt with before we build a novelty that will sit empty and unused for half of the year.

However, if this project does somehow start to move forward you can be that I'll be using this platform and it's (non-existent) influence to come out fully against the indoor stadium. Or at least the use of public money to fund it.

That is all.