That was quite a season Kory Sheets had in July.
If the Saskatchewan Roughriders' running back can somehow maintain his July pace throughout the 18-game Canadian Football League season, he will obliterate the CFL's single-season rushing record by about 500 yards.
That's in the sports stratosphere - 92 goals by Wayne Gretzky territory; Barry Bonds' 76 home runs neighbourhood.
Born one day before April Fool's Day in 1985, the 28-year-old Sheets gave notice last year in his rookie season he knew a few things about hitting holes and slicing off major yardage, totalling 1,277 yards to finish runner-up to Calgary's Jon Cornish, 180 yards behind.
Apparently, he was just getting warmed up. The Purdue Boilermaker grad ran roughshod over CFL defences in the Riders' first five games this year as they went 5-0. Sheets rattled off 712 yards in those five starts, an average of 142 yards per game that extrapolates to 2,500 yards-plus for the season if he's able to maintain that pace. (Last year, 712 yards for the entire season would have put Sheets No. 7 in the CFL rushing department.)
It's not a shock to note he was named the CFL's offensive player of the month for July.
Winning is Sheets' No. 1 goal, he told CFL.ca but he says he's well aware of how his rushing stats stack up each game. And so is his offensive line.
"Honestly I think they have more pride in it," Sheets told CFL.ca of his front five.
Mike Pringle, the CFL's all-time leading career rusher, holds the single-season mark at 2,065. Sheets would have to average just 104 yards per game the rest of the way to grab the single-season mark. His lowest single-game total through the first five was 130 yards. Averaging 104 the rest of the way shouldn't be a problem.
Of course, if the Riders keep rolling as they did in July, their last few games in October may be meaningless, which might tempt coach Corey Chamblin to scale back Sheets' playing time to keep him fresh for the playoffs. On the other hand, if an all-time league rushing record is within view, fans in Rider Nation will insist on seeing No. 1 (on the uniform, and in Rider fans' hearts) taking handoffs and hitting the holes.
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald: "Chicagoans were outraged to see a photo of Justin Bieber in the Blackhawks locker room posing with the Stanley Cup. What that tells us is, except for adolescent girls who haven't defected to One Direction yet, just about everybody hates Justin Bieber."
Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald: "The Edmonton Oilers fired coach Ralph Krueger over Skype. Ah, the age we live in. Krueger was then able to moon the owner on Instagram."
Cote again: "The Marlins had a magician, Michael Grandinetti, performing during a recent game. Fans were disappointed, though, when he failed to make owner Jeffrey Loria disappear."
Alex Kaseberg on O.J. Simpson, who has gained a few pounds while in jail: "O.J. Simpson is so fat he wants to go on a long slow police chase in a Good Humor truck."
Colin Cowherd of ESPN, on Twitter, about Alex Rodriguez playing in in the minors on a rehab assignment two days prior to his anticipated suspension announcement: "ARod batting second, playing third and pleading the fifth in Trenton tonight."
R.J. Currie of sportsdeke.com: "NASCAR driver Danica Patrick was chosen No. 1 of Sportsnet's most attractive female athletes. I imagine it surprised Danica; she's not used to finishing first."
Another one from Dickson: "Brian Urlacher is retiring after 13 years with the Chicago Bears. Experts say, in another five years, Urlacher should stop hearing Jay Cutler whining in his sleep."
Another one from Cote: "Kansas football coach Charlie Weis referred to last year's 1-11 team as 'a pile of crap.' It was considered an insult. To crap."
Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, on baseball's PED users: "They got their money, they won their awards and they lost their reputations."
Mike Hart of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Two retail stores have cut prices on Ryan Braun jerseys and shirts. They'd be great to wear golfing in case you have to improve your lie."
Another one from R.J. Currie, on Stacy Keibler's split with actor George Clooney: "Probably not the first ex-wrestler who doesn't want to be pinned down."
Steve Simmons of Sunmedia, on the underachieving Blue Jays taking three of four from lowly Houston: "There is nothing wrong with the Jays that 162 games against the Astros wouldn't correct."
Spotted in Mike Bianchi's column in the Orlando Sentinel: Ex-NFLer E.J. Holub, on his 12 knee operations: "My knees look like they lost a knife fight with a midget."
