Raiders not playing a game in Saskatchewan. As everyone already knows, the Oakland Raiders had secured a one-year lease for this season in Oakland, but are having to shop around their exhibition and pre-season games to alternative markets. One such market that was, until today, being aggressively pursued was Mosaic Field, the home of the Roughriders. Unfortunately, it's been reported that the Roughies weren't given enough time to change the stadium back over to the regulation Canadian sized field for a CFL game the very next day.
Personally, I don't understand why it was going to be Mosaic in the first place. There are much bigger stadiums in this country (SkyDome, Commonwealth, the Big O) that can handle larger crowds, and are located in much bigger metropolitan areas with proper transit hubs and amenities. Mosaic looks like a nice stadium, but after all, it's still in Saskatchewan regardless.
Bye bye AAF? In a more stunning release, the chief financier of the AAF, Tom Dundon (owner of the NHL's Hurricanes) has said that, "If the NFL players union is not going to give us young players, we can't be a development league. We are looking at our options, which include discontinuing the league."
I find this news very perplexing. I have found the AAF to be a very exciting and action-packed game. Players are trying to prove to just about anyone watching that they are NFL (or CFL) calibre players, and by doing so have raised the bar quite high. There have been big plays, big touchdowns, and not to mention - big hits! It would be sad to see the AAF go the way of the Dodo so early in it's short life. I firmly believe this league can go places, and hope to see it do so.
The AAF's decision will come in the next few days, according to Dundon. We might just have to hold our collective breaths for this one.
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