Update....

It's been awhile between posts so I thought I would fire something up....

- Great news for our province as it appears the joint bid from Saskatoon / Regina has won the right to host the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships. Not since 1991 has Saskatchewan hosted the event. That year the likes of Eric Lindros, Trevor Kidd and Mike Craig led Canada to a gold medal with a thrilling win over the Russians. That was an awesome event.

Kudos to the bid committee which featured several high profile figures including Swift Current native and Premier of Saskatchewan Brad Wall. I'm gonna try and track him down later today for his thoughts. It's a bit of a local connection to the event. Here's hoping Broncos forward Cody Eakin can continue up the Hockey Canada ladder rungs and play a prominent role on the 2010 team.

- The Eagle 94.1 FM played the role of hosts to the biggest rock concert to come through these parts in quite awhile. Last night at the Credit Union I-plex, Default (pictured left) with special guests Mobile and One Bad Son played to a decent Swift Current crowd.

On the floor, I was impressed with the acoustics of the old barn. It sounded surprisingly good. The bands were great, we met the guys from Mobile just minutes before they took the stage.

I have to say my my morning partner Chance on the Eagle 94.1 FM did a great job on stage introducing the bands. He's the rock guy of the Breakfast Boys and was definitely in his element up there. Kudos to him, although he needs a pick-me-up this morning. The dude is worn out living that rockstar lifestyle.

- Quick thoughts on the Riders game from Friday night. I'm more of a critic sometimes when things go bad but I was big-time impressed with how they played in the 2nd half of the game in B.C. They played to their strengths and played mistake free football in the 26-16 win.

Without starting QB Marcus Crandell in the mix because of a hamstring pull and an ineffective Marcus Jyles, cue 3rd stringer Darian Durant. The young QB kept it simple with the offense based around running back Wes Cates. No forced passes, plus he protected the football under some big pressure from the Lions front seven.

The Riders played to their strength which was defense and special teams. That Dressler can scoot. He bailed the Riders out of some bad field position with a couple of key returns. That was big.

It was my first chance to evaluate new Head Coach Ken Miller when faced with a tough situation and with the odds stacked against. He prevailed and impressed me with his decision making. It appears the Riders are in good hands once again.

Wasn't much of a fan of the TSN broadcast though.

Dear TSN, can we get Chris Cuthbert for all Rider games please. He's the best in the game, bar none. Chris has the bar set pretty high, anyone else just appears bad in comparison I guess. Cuthbert called the first game of the night out east in Montreal between the Als and the Bombers. He rarely makes a mistake and in my mind is the best we have in sports broadcasting in this country. Young broadcasters should all aspire to be Chris Cuthbert. Love-in over.

Not much on the Broncos plate these days. Many of the staff are on holidays before training camp opens in, gulp... six weeks.

I ran into Zack Smith last night. The Broncos captain of last year is fresh off a prospects camp in Ottawa. He doesn't know what next season will bring or where he'll be but I'm already ruling him out as a Bronco for next season. I'm expecting he will sign and go on to play in the AHL

His hometown of Maple Creek has a "Zack Smith Night" planned to celebrate his season which culminated in being drafted by the Sens. The night is planned for Monday, July 21st and I'm told it will be a used as a fundraiser. The quiet Smith is a bit overwhelmed by the local support but told me he's game if the night is used to raise some money.

Congratulations to Broncos Athletic Therapist Paul Ayotte and his new wife Tenille. They got married over the weekend in Canmore, AB.

Finally, I posted a couple months ago about getting on the golf course a little bit more this summer and I'm happy to report that's happening. I'm approaching 30 rounds already. UPDATE: I'm still awful.

Call me if you wanna go a round...


Jon