It's hard to imagine what amounts to a second-year quarterback looking as much in control as Kerry Joseph did for the Renegades in Thursday night's convincing win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Joseph looked confident and passed with precision. He was a big part in the Renegades coming up with might be the most convincing win by an Ottawa CFL team in maybe 20 years.

SHOULD ONLY IMPROVE

Joseph should only improve as he gets more snaps, which bodes very well for the Renegades' playoff chances.

The same could be said for the new defence under Gary Etcheverry. It was too much for the Bombers to handle and should also get better as the players get a better grip on the Etcheverry philosophy.

The best thing about the Renegades' win was when the Bombers looked to be getting back in the game, Ottawa found a way to take back control.

It was a remarkable trait for a third-year team and speaks volumes about the culture instilled by GM Eric Tillman and coach Joe Paopao.

HEAR AND THERE: Senators owner Eugene Melnyk likes to go for the high-profile coup (okay, maybe not when it comes to hiring a coach for his hockey team). Melnyk is getting jockey Stewart Elliott of Smarty Jones fame to ride Long Pond, Melnyk's entry in the Queen's Plate a week from today ... If there's one thing this U.S. Open is showing us, you don't make golf courses tougher by making them longer. You turn the greens into linoleum floors and give guys a three-foot putt for par that turns into a 12-footer for bogey.

REVELATIONS: O.J. Simpson might host a reality television show. They're looking for a title. Too bad America's Most Wanted is already taken. How about Whose Glove Is It Anyway? ... The CFL has it wrong. The official hamburger isn't Wendy's, but whatever defensive line is facing the Renegades' all-Canadian offensive line ... Some golf clubs, like Augusta National, have names for each of their holes. At Shinnecock, the par-3 seventh, the toughest par-4 on the course yesterday, would be called "Pepto"... The seventh hole is what's known as a "redan," a hole set at a 45-degree angle to the line of play with a bunker guarding the left side and the green sloping away from the player. Redan is an expression from the Crimean War describing a type of fortress. Watching the play at the seventh yesterday, a more appropriate name would be "redo."

SPECULATIONS: The last time we saw David Duval, he was withdrawing from a major after failing to break 80. Now he's back. He still can't break 80, but at least he says he's happy now ... Sylvester Stallone carried the Olympic flame through Los Angeles the other day and proclaimed it "the proudest moment of my life." What about the release of Death Race 2000?

JUST WONDERING: Was it just me or did Karl "The Mailman" Malone play like, well, a mailman? ... If the Pistons had drafted Carmelo Anthony instead of Darko Milicic, hands up everybody who thinks they'd be NBA champions today.

LET ME SAY THIS ABOUT THAT: Nice to see Canada prevailed in our heated soccer rivalry with Belize ... Heading into last night's Grey Cup rematch between Montreal and Edmonton, Eastern teams were 3-0 against their Western foes to start the CFL season. No crossover this year.

NAPKIN NOTES: Interesting to note that in the case of the controversial "belly" putter, just about all the guys who use them have no stomach for putting ... When Butch Harmon was Tiger Woods' swing coach, he got a lousy $50,000 US a year and spent a lot of time with him. Safe to say Woods now needs Harmon, who has no shortage of work (19 players), more than the other way around.

PARTING SHOT: Two equestrian horses in China were banned after testing positive for drugs. Both denied any association with BALCO ... To all those dads out there -- especially mine -- Happy Father's Day. One day sure isn't long enough to say all the thanks we should.

chris.stevenson@ott.sunpub.com