It’s just the second Monday Musings of the year, and already I’m a couple days late. Writing this one with Disneyland just across the street as I’m in Anaheim. Unfortunately for me I won’t be meeting Mickey and the gang as I’m here at a conference and in seminars all day.
This Monday Musings is showing up on the website Wednesday, akin to the 3rd quarter of a football game. Let’s see if I can recover and show as well as the Huskers did in their 3rd quarter this past weekend. I doubt it, as that game will go down as epic on so many levels. But, let’s give it a try with Monday Musings Week 2-Wednesday Edition.
I’ve been around this league since 1992 and can’t remember a game with all the incredible drama this one offered in that time. I should have talked to league historian and all-around good guy Paul Shortt to see if he could come up with something better as he’s been around a lot longer than I have.
As if coming back from a 31-3 third quarter deficit wasn’t enough, a team that hadn’t won in over three years pulling it off? Against the defending champs? That’s one the organization and those involved will be talking about for years to come. I turned off the stream at halftime, while the Huskers played well, and the 24-3 Raiders lead flattered the VI, there was no reason to think this was going to be anything other than another Huskers loss. Then as I’m on the plane to Anaheim about to put my phone on airplane mode conference President Tyler McLaren texts me “Well this is getting interesting.” Back on goes my phone and I managed to catch the last few minutes of what is, was and always will be the game of the year of the 2018 season.
I watched Dom Abassi’s interview with Huskers coach Bob Reist and Snoop Blokker ahead of their game this weekend last night. Dom volleyed up a gem of a question and Snoop obliged by swinging for the fence with some humour…
Dom; “Snoop, what did you think when you saw the score of the Huskers/Raiders game?”
Snoop; “Well, the last time the Huskers beat the Raiders I was the Raiders coach and I got fired, so I hope everything is okay with Hawk on the island.”
I’m still chuckling on that exchange, Sorry in advance for spoiling it for you. I’m guessing when Hawk is up with Dom they will have a laugh over it as well. And for those of you who don’t go back that far, it’s true that in 2007 the eventual conference champion VI Raiders did indeed lose 14-10 to the Huskers and Snoop did indeed get fired that week. That was one of only 2 losses the Raiders would suffer that year and one of only 3 wins for the 6th place Huskers.
And the coach who replaced Blokker for the rest of the season? Current Raiders Head Coach, then defensive coordinator Doug Hocking. Blokker would be re-hired the following season and Hocking would return to the defensive coordinator position.
How’s that for a soap opera?
Fifty-Four…No, that’s not how old I will be in two years (I assume)…that’s how many penalties were called in the Rams/Rebels games Saturday afternoon. Now, I’m going to be cautious what I say here. These are not professional referees, and it’s easy to criticize refs, it’s part of the game some of us love. No doubt some, many of the calls were warranted but what’s wrong with the old adage “let them play?”
Personally. I’ve always been of the belief that at least one in every two penalties called in a game doesn’t HAVE to be called. If I was a referee I would probably be horrible at it because every time a coach yelled at me I would yell back…but I’d stick to that rule of only throwing my flag half the time.
One good thing about all the flags in that game, it made the 25 called in the Huskers/Raiders tilt seem not so bad.
The new Rebels quarterback Mason Brown looks like a difference maker for the Rebels this year. He made things happen with his arm and feet as he contributed 213 and 95 yards respectively.
Talking up Brown isn’t taking anything away from offensive player of the week, Huskers QB Julian Wytinck, who showed he is everything Bob Reist said he would be, a talented leader and difference maker for the Huskers.
Speaking of new BCFC quarterbacks, Jacob Loucks of the Okanagan Sun is, as in the case of Wytinck, everything his Head Coach said he would be as well. He chipped in 127 yards passing and 50 yards rushing with a TD in each category in about a half of football before he was pulled with the Sun cruising over the Broncos.
This is going to be an interesting year to watch some talented quarterbacks in the BCFC.
An assistant coach on the Okanagan Sun who works with that team’s offense told me last week that after practicing against the Sun defense for two weeks he was confident the Sun defence would outscore the Broncos offense 14-0. He was wrong as the Sun D only outscored the Broncos offense 7-0 (the Broncos one TD coming on a Sun turnover). The Sun defence only allowed the Broncos 38 yards of net offence along the way.
Did Snoop Blokker make a tactical error in the Rams 19-16 loss to the Rebels? The Langley Rams have always been positioned on the grandstand side of the field at their home field McLeod Athletic Park. Blokker made the decision to put the visitors on that side with his Rams taking the far side of the field this week. Apparently this was to limit distractions form grandstand fans, but it also kept the visiting Rebels in the comfort of shade all game while the Rams stood in the hot afternoon sun with that sun pounding their eyes. All game you could see Ram players and coaches with their hands over their eyes as a shield, and while league Prez Tyler McLaren ventured to that side of the field for awhile, he eventually returned to the grandstand side because of the heat.
As the Rebels came from behind to win the game in the 4th quarter some observers wondered if the heat sucked some energy from the Rams, that’s debatable, but a valid question, one Blokker might be asking himself this week. As fall approaches it will become less and less of an issue, but you have to wonder if that decision played a role in the 4th quarter Rebels surge and if that loss of 2 points makes a difference come play-offs.
In last week’s interview, new Huskers quarterback Julian Wytinck said that in addition to knowing Bob Reist, one of the reasons he came to the BCFC from Winnipeg is because our conference plays more regular season games than the PFC (10 versus 8). The BCFC has long felt some subtle or not so subtle pressure from the CJFL to fall in line and play the 8 games that the PFC and OFC does. Out here, our coaches have long recruited players with the appeal of getting more game time in, along with shorter road trips. These are two real benefits players get by playing in the BCFC and we should as a conference stick to our guns in this area. The CJFL would like to see a standard number of games played for stats purposes, but when conferences don’t interlock, the concept of playing the same number of games for validity of statistics makes no sense and isn’t necessary.
In the CHL for example, the WHL has for years played 4 more games than the OHL and QMJHL, stats between conferences were always separate. The WHL this year has now reduced from 72 to 68 games but only to make things easier on their high school athletes.
Shorter road trips, more games. Makes sense to me.
Before I forget, I am one of the voters for the year end all-star and major award winners. I just have to pencil in Bob Reist as coach of the year, give me a second before I come back to talk about the upcoming games of the week.
Game of the Week
This is one of the best weekends in the BCFC I can remember, in fact I’m not sure I can remember one with 3 more intriguing games.
The game of the week? Sure, it’s the 1-0 Sun travelling to the 1-0 Rebels as two big, nasty stingy defences look to flex their muscles and make sure their team remains undefeated.
But…The Raiders at home wanting to redeem themselves after last week’s meltdown and the Broncos in need of confidence while having to deal with a long island road trip?
Not to mention the Huskers looking to go 2-0 against their bully brothers from up the highway. These match-ups are awfully interesting as well
This, folks is an awesome weekend if you are a fan of junior football.
Musings does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the British Columbia Football Conference or its member teams
