Penton: Heartbreak once again for Bombers in Grey Cup
By Bruce Penton
A baker’s dozen of sports questions, plus one, some of them penetrating, some of them just weird:
Will the Winnipeg Blue Bombers pass on next year’s Canadian Football League playoffs, saying ‘No thanks. The annual heartbreak in the Grey Cup game is just too much to bear.’
After missing up to six weeks with a broken leg, will Alex Ovechkin score 27 more goals this year, giving him 895, one more than the all-time recored held by Wayne Gretzky? Or will it take a few games next season for the Russian superstar to become No. 1?
If the Dodgers sign Juan Soto, adding him to a lineup featuring Ohtani, Freeman, Betts, etc., can Major League Baseball just give the current World Series champs a bye into the 2025 World Series?
Where does the retired Rafael Nadal rank all time in the world of tennis? I have him at No. 5, behind Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg.
Do you worry that hockey’s best player, Connor McDavid, may rack up 2,000 career points or more yet retire in a decade or so without a single Stanley Cup?
Is After Hours, the late Saturday night interview show featuring broadcaster Scott Oake and an NHL player, on the ‘can’t-miss’ channel?
Why are Patrick Mahomes’ stats so ordinary yet his reputation as the best QB in the National Football League so solid?
And if you said that Mahomes is not the best QB and that Buffalo’s Josh Allen is actually better, would you get much of an argument?
A question we ask every year: Will 2025 be the year Rory McIlroy completes the career grand slam by winning the Masters?
Did you know that 90 regular-season games of the Professional Women’s Hockey League will be televised this winter — 57 on TSN, 17 on CBC and another 16 on Prime Video?
Is there a more athletically strong family in Canada than the Nurses? Darnell plays for the Oilers, sister Kia plays pro basketball with the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA and one of their cousins, Sarah Nurse, is a hockey star with the Toronto Sceptres. Darnell and Kia’s father, Richard Nurse, played in the CFL for Hamilton and former NFL quarterback star Donovan McNabb is Darnell and Kia’s uncle.
Speaking of family connections, is it one of the greatest hockey coincidences of all time that Connor Bedard and his cousin through marriage, Medicine Hat Tigers’ Gavin McKenna (class of ’26), will both go into the record books as No. 1 overall draft picks in the NHL?
If you paid $250 for a ticket to watch the Philadelphia 76ers play basketball and star centre Joel Embiid took the night off to rest, because he didn’t want to play on back-to-back nights, would you ask for your money back?
Most golf fans know that Scottie Scheffler was the No. 1 money winner on the PGA Tour this year, and that Xander Schauffele was second, but would they know, or care, who finished atop the LIV list?
Jack Finarelli, from his website sports curmudgeon.com, on some of sports’ dragged-out replay reviews: “I remember the days when they used to refer to it as ‘Instant Replay.’ No more; now we have just plain ‘Replay.’”
Vancouver comedy guy Torben Rolfsen: “Controversial Australian breakdancer Raygun has announced she has retired from breakdancing. She’s thinking of going into competitive Twister.”
RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com: “I decided to check out a local seniors’ basketball league game. Action? Three fast breaks in the first period alone — one wrist and two hips.”
Another one from RJ Currie: “Top three reasons TV viewers love curling: 3. The game has a peel; 2. It's great with takeout; 1. Action is end to end.”
Luke Easterling of Athlon Sports, metaphorically describing Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones’ reluctance to hire a ‘real’ general manager instead of trying to do the personnel job himself: “He clearly likes to shop for his own groceries, but the Sunday meals that result from his choices have inspired more Pepto Bismol purchases than Michelin stars.”
From The Sports Troll, on Facebook: "Disgusting scene at AT&T Stadium in Dallas as security forced a Cowboys’ fan to stay and watch the game all the way to the end.”
Super 70s Sports, on X: “The Giants-Cowboys Thanksgiving game on FOX may be the first game in NFL history where one of the announcers could literally leave the booth and play better than either QB.”
Comedy guy Torben Rolfsen again: “Vancouver Canucks traded Daniel Sprong to the Seattle Kraken for future considerations, aka Seahawks’ tickets.”
RJ Currie again: “What do the Blue Bombers have in common with most of the people at the Grey Cup? They took the day off.”
Headline at fark.com: “Man sues Netflix for not being able to watch Paul vs. Tyson fight. No word on class action suit from those who did watch the Paul vs. Tyson ‘fight’.”
Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca