Weekend Watching

--Finally the preseason is over and now less than a week remains until the Riders begin the 2011 regular season. The Riders announce their final cuts yesterday, and really there wasn't any surprises. Maybe Brian Bullock and Jocelyn Frenette, but all in all the Riders look in good shape heading into the regular season. Their placekicking still needs to be settled, and it might be one of those positions the Riders judge on a week to week basis until Labor Day when Luca Congi comes off the 9 game list.

-- Judging by the preseason action the player who impressed me the most was RB Wes Cates. Even though Cates had a strong season last year, there were plenty of people who were calling for Hugh Charles. In the preseason Cates looked great catching the ball out of the backfield, blocking and of course running between the tackles. Providing he stays healthy for the entire season I think we can see another 1,000 yard season from Cates.

-- The NHL draft was on the weekend, and my team the Calgary Flames provided plenty of news. I'm going to miss Robyn Regehr in a Flames jersey. It seems like yesterday when I heard the news when he was in a car accident that damaged his leg, and there were reports his career could be done. Just over 6 months later, he made his debut in the NHL. Regehr provided lots of great memories in Calgary, but he must be looking forward to playing with Tyler Myers.

-- The Flyers hit the reset button with their trades. While the Flyers really need some stable goaltending, I don't think Bryzgalov on a 9 year contract is the answer.

-- I think the Devils were the team who were the winners of the first round. It seems like they've had some kind of luck lately. They went on a late season run, won the draft lottery and picked possibly the best player in the draft in Adam Larsson. I have a feeling the Devils will be bouncing back this season. (Sure helps that Zach Parise will be back for a full year)

-- Sometimes the Blue Jays are real good and sometimes they are really bad. Which means 81-81 this season.

-- What a finish on the UFC live card between Pat Barry and Cheick Kongo. It appeared Barry had Kongo down for the count after a couple hard rights, and then Kongo on a pair of wobbly legs knocked Barry out. I recommend checking it out if you haven't already. It's just another reason why MMA is so great.