Monday Morning Meissnervations

A day late and several dollars short, but here we go again........

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The Saskatchewan Roughriders darn near let another one get away again over the weekend, building a 23-0 lead over Hamilton, letting it slip completely away, then dominating most of the 4th quarter to win against the TiCats 33-23. Hamilton tied the game early in the final period, but the Riders responded with 10 points to pull into a first-place tie in the West with Edmonton. While Darian Durant and Steven Jyles weren't spectacular, they finally gave the team some solid play at quarterback and that was good to see. Wes Cates rolled up 117 yards on the ground, becoming the first Rider to rush for over 100 yards this season and even a fat guy got in on the scoring. Defensive tackle Keith Shologan checked into the game as an eligible receiver in the first half and caught a one-yard touchdown pass from Steven Jyles. As a fellow member of the fat guy society(I was a defensive tackle in high school), I was pretty excited to see that. Riders are at 6-1 montreal Friday night at 7:30pm EDT and that'll be a tough one for sure. The Als beat Saskatchewan 43-13 in Regina back on July 18th. Catch the game on http://www.620ckrm.com with Rod and Carm beginning at 6:30pm EDT.

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The Riders and Edmonton are on top of the CFL West at 4-3, with Calgary and BC close behind at 3-4. In the East, Montreal leads at 6-1, Hamilton is 4-3, while Winnipeg and Toronto are both 2-5.

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Winnipeg is really starting to struggle. In their 39-12 home loss to Montreal Saturday, former Oregon State kicker Alexis Serna provided all the offense with 4 field goals. Former Beaver running back Yenson Bernard saw action again, but fumbled twice. I hope he continues to develope and gets a chance. If the Bombers don't pull the plug on him, Bernard could be a huge star running the ball in a league known for throwing it.

BTW: Toronto continues to stink up the Rodgers Centre. After being shut out for the first time in 30-plus years in Montreal the previous week, the Argos were outscored 22-3 in the 4th quarter Friday, losing by 8 to a BC Lions squad they should have beaten. Toronto has lost 9 straight AT HOME and has not successfully defended the honor of the Rogers Centre turf in over a year. It would be easy to sit here and make fun of them, but then I remember how Oregon State football suffered through 28 straight losing seasons. So, GO ARGOS! They're off this week, then host Calgary on Friday the 28th.

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The Tampa Bay Rays, coming off a disasterous 1-5 road trip, have rebounded to win two straight. Sunday against Toronto, they were tied 1-1 in the 8th when Greg Zaun blasted a grand slam to lead the Rays to a 5-2 win. The team continues it's up-and-down season, but remains in the thick of the Wild Card race. Tampa Bay hosts Baltimore for three games starting tonight, then Texas, one of the Rays main competitors in the AL Wild Card chase, comes to the Trop for three games beginning Friday. Tampa Bay heads to Toronto for three starting Monday, then Detroit for four beginning Friday the 28th.

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The Yankees have widened their AL East lead to 7 over Boston and 10 over Tampa Bay. In the Central, Detroit leads the White Sox by 2 and Minnesota by 6 1/2. In the AL West, the Angels are 4 1/2 ahead of Texas and 11 in front of Seattle. In the AL Wild Card race, Texas is 1 ahead of Boston, 4 ahead of Tampa Bay, 6 1/2 ahead of Seattle and 7 in front of the White Sox.

Over in the Senior Circuit, Philadelphia leads the East by 4 1/2 over Florida and 5 1/2 over Atlanta. St. Louis is pulling away in the Central, leading the Cubs by 6 games and Milwaukee by 9. In the West, the Dodgers lead Colorado by 4 1/2 and San Francisco by 5 1/2. In the NL Wild Card race, Colorado is 1 game ahead of San Francisco(GO GIANTS!), 2 ahead of Florida, 3 in front of Atlanta and 4 in front of the Cubs.

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I always write about Tampa Bay on my blog, because they are my local team. But, I've been a Giants fan for as long as I can remember. My parents met and married there, my older sister was born there and my grandparents lived there. It's amazing to think that the Giants haven't won the World Series since they moved from New York when I was 2 years old. Of course, the Cubs haven't won the World Series in 100 years. But, who cares? I don't. GO GIANTS! They pounded out 18 hits and beat the Mets 10-1 yesterday and are at Cincinnati tonight. The Giants are at Colorado for a huge 4-game set starting this Friday, then host the Rockies for three games beginning Friday the 28th.

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In case you missed the big announcement, Jimmy took his first unaided steps Saturday. And Mommy and I both got to see it! Kim has long said how she hoped to get to see his first steps and she did. I am so happy for her too. It was such a cool thing to see our Jimmy walk, that it brought tears to our eyes. We love our little guy more and more each day!

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The TV weather person is talking about Hurrican Bill right now. Even though it's a long way off shore, it's looking like predictions (at the moment) show it missing the Atlantic Coast. Thank goodness for that. We live one block from one of the many sounds off the Gulf of Mexico. A serious storm surge could bury our house. Time to stock up on supplies and get that evacuation plan finalized.

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One of Kim's co-workers gave her a bunch of toys for Jimmy, that her own child had outgrown. Jimmy really enjoys the musical toys and more and more, the toys he can stand up at. Our baby is really gowing fast.

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In entertainment news, the Jonas Brothers are performing tonight at the St. Pete Times Forum. I simply can't wait to miss that one. (BARF!) Big and Rich are part of the Tampa Bay Rays summer concert series and will play after this Saturday's game. Now, I wouldn't mind going to that. But, no more seats in the right field corner. Those are just horrible. ESPN the Magazine voted the Tampa Bay Rays as the best bargain in sports. Obviously, they didn't talk to us when they were conducting that poll.

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Only one doctors appointment this week. Thank goodness. Do have to get more blood drawn though. Last week's trip to Vampires-r-us took two hours. They may be under paid and under appreciated, but when someone who very apparently doesn't care about their job overlooks you, then checks your name off the list thinking they had already seen you, gets no sympathy from me. If I hadn't complained about the long wait, I might still be there. Fortunately, Jimmy fussed very little.

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Well, time to feed Jimmy and then head to the library for Mother Goose story time. Have a great week y'all!