Tag Archives: Charles Roberts

It’s Week 10 in the CFL and it doesn’t get a whole lot more fun that the Labour Day Classics.

Posted on August 29, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

It’s Week 10 and it’s Labour Day Classic Weekend and that in itself is more fun than a human being should be allowed to have.

 

However, it’s also a very big week for two veteran members of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

 

First, Milt Stegall, a 14-year Bomber star, is just 112 yards shy of the all-time receiving yardage record currently held by Allen Pitts (14,892). Pitts set the mark in 176 career games. Stegall, meanwhile, has played only 172 games in his brilliant career.

 

Then there is the great Charles Roberts. He is currently only 63 yards short of a place in the exclusive 10,000-yard rushing club. Only four players – Mike Pringle, George Reed, Damon Allen, and Johnny Bright – have gained more yards on the ground than the Bombers’ outstanding tailback.

 

Individually, Roberts and Stegall might be looking at milestones and records this week, but to be fair, it’s Anthony Calvillo and Henry Burris who are more likely to put up some gaudy numbers. 

 

Here’s a look at the games coming up in Week 10…

 

B.C. Lions (4-4) at Montreal Alouettes (5-3)

 

Friday, 6:30 p.m. CT, TSN

 

Back in Week 6, Montreal was 2-3 and looking shaky. Here we are, after a bye week and the Als are coming off three straight wins. This is a team that will probably win the East and this week, they’ll very likely improve to 6-3. The Lions have already lost four times this year, after losing only three times last year, but if you go back to the 2007 playoffs, you’ll see that the Lions are a mediocre 4-5 in their last nine and neither Buck Pierce nor Jarious Jackson has shown he can lead a football team for an entire game, let alone an entire season. Back on July 25, B.C. beat Montreal 36-34 in Vancouver, but B.C. is only 1-2 on the road this season. Anthony Calvillo will have a field day.

Pick: Montreal

Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2-6) at Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-2)

Sunday, 2 p.m. CT, TSN

It’s been a strange week on the prairies. In Winnipeg, life has been serene. The team is a last-place 2-6, but it’s coming off a big 37-24 win over Hamilton, a win in which quarterback Kevin Glenn called his own plays, got Charles Roberts the football and clearly was the best player on the field. Roberts was pretty good, too, so the Bombers have been strutting around like a 6-2 team. Saskatchewan, on the other hand, has acted like a 2-6 team in the midst of a crisis. Granted, the Riders have 14 players on the DL, have lost two in a row and just traded for a new quarterback (Michael Bishop) and released their old quarterback (Marcus Crandell), but they have no reason to panic. It’s just that you just get the sense that even though Saskatchewan has played better football for most of the season, the Bombers are better prepared for this weekend. 

Pick: Winnipeg

Edmonton Eskimos (5-3) at Calgary Stampeders (5-3)

Monday, 3 p.m. CT, TSN

If ol’ Brain Fart Burris plays a perfect game — something he does seldomly — the Stampeders will put up 60. A couple of interceptions and some bad play calling shouldn’t hurt him, however. He’s the best quarterback in the West and he has so many weapons, it’s almost impossible to beat him. The Stamps can go to 6-3 with a home win this week and they just might find themselves in a tie for first the West. That’s where they should be. The Stamps are coming off a big win IN Vancouver and despite what happened in Edmonton in Week 2 (the Eskimos won 34-31), Calgary is the better football team.

Pick: Calgary

Toronto Argonauts (3-5) at Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-6)

Monday, 6:30 p.m. CT, TSN

Toronto is a mess and this could be the end of Rich Stubler. When  these two teams played in Toronto in Week 2, the Tiger-Cats eviscerated the Argos 32-13. When they played in Hamilton in Week 7, the Ticats won 45-21. This week, it’s going to be more of the same. Hamilton looked dreadful in Winnipeg two weeks ago, but Toronto has looked worse. The Argos have lost three-of-four and we found out this week that Kerry Joseph is uncomfortable calling his own plays, so that job has been handed to Steve Buratto who has already proven he’s not very good at it. The Tiger-Cats aren’t very good, either, but they’ve sure been good against the Argo-nots. Especially at Ivor Wynne. Stubler will be gone before the re-match, if he doesn’t win this week. 

Pick: Hamilton

Last Week: 2-0

Season: 18-6

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The CFL’s finished with the first eight weeks. So what do we know?

Posted on August 16, 2008 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

Here’s what we learned after Week 8 in the Canadian Football League:

 

1. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers should probably fire head coach Doug Berry right now (And yeah, despite Thursday night’s win).

 

2. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a sad football team.

 

3. The Toronto Argonauts are sadder and it’s probably time to replace Rich Stubler as head coach.

 

4. Barring injury, the Montreal Alouettes should cruise to the Grey Cup.

 

And… 

 

5. Could we change the rule and have three Eastern Conference teams eliminated from the post-season? You could always give the Vanier Cup champs the final spot. No?

 

Let’s take a deeper look at our five Eastern issues…

 

1. On Thursday night at Winnipeg’s Canad Inns Stadium, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers drilled the sad-sack Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37-24. Everything Doug Berry told Blue Bombers’ fans for the first seven weeks of the season was a lie and it’s time Berry was removed as head coach. Nothing he believes in works and the things he was being told by frustrated fans and bloggers for the first seven weeks of the season all turned out to be so obviously true that it’s impossible to imagine that this guy really has any idea what he’s doing. On Thursday night, with a 1-6 record going in, Berry threw out his entire philosophy, made Kevin Glenn his No. 1 quarterback again and told Glenn to call his own plays. Glenn immediately started giving the ball to runningback Charles Roberts — who had been ignored by Berry and offensive co-ordinator Kit Cartwright all year — and Roberts carried 23 times for 145 yards and two touchdowns and caught seven passes for 37 more yards. In the meantime, Berry continued to scream at, swear at and embarrass professional athletes on national TV. His dressing-down, in front of the cameras, of Jason Nugent after a marginal blocking-from-behind call on a punt return was an outrage. Meanwhile, the release of kicker/punter Troy Westwood is now, officially, the dumbest thing Berry has ever done. Berry’s replacement for Westwood, Alexis Serna, is now 16-for-26 in field goals (61 per cent) and is dead last in net punting yards with 33. The Bomber players proved on Thursday night that they can run this team without a coach. The Bombers have 17 days before they play again. A smart owner would have a new coach in 17 days. 

 

2.  Doug Berry’s destruction of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is one thing. The incredible ineptness of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats is another thing altogether. Thursday night in Winnipeg, when the game was on the line, Hamilton pissed it away — a fumble, an interception return for a touchdown by Winnipeg’s Tom Canada, and a loss of ball on downs. The Tiger-Cats did a lot of good things for three quarters, but when it mattered, this team disappeared. Speaking of disappearing, whatever happened to that guy who doesn’t like to be called fragile? You know the guy. What’s his name? Lumsden, right? Great football player, never healthy enough to play.

 

3. So who to blame in Toronto? Is it head coach Rich Stubler for running a horrible offence and creating a quarterback controversy that nobody needs? Or is president Michael Clemons and his lieutenants for actually believing that acquiring Kerry Joseph was a smart thing to do? Joseph proved in last year’s Grey Cup win (an unimpressive 23-19 victory over a mediocre Winnipeg team that was very lucky to be there), that he was done. And still, the Argos made a deal to get him from Saskatchewan, pay him $450,000 a year and anoint him the starter. However, when you get blitzed 32-14 in your own building, fall to 3-5 on the season and have to relieve your $450,000 quarterback, you’re screwed up. Blame Clemons. And then make him coach the mess he’s created.

 

4. Calvillo! There is not much more you can say about this year’s first-half most outstanding player. On Friday night in Toronto, quarterback Anthony Calvillo of the Montreal Alouettes completed 27 of 41 passes for 379 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Calvillo, who turns 36 next week, now has a 109.4 passer’s rating with 20 touchdown passes and only five interceptions. He’s completed 67.8 per cent of pass attempts. The Als are now 5-3 on the season and 5-0 within the conference. There’s your most outstanding player.

 

5. As they head into the bye week, the Eastern teams look like this: Montreal, 5-3, Toronto 3-5, Hamilton 2-6, Winnipeg 2-6. Only Montreal deserves to be in the playoffs. Toronto is simply dreadful, Hamilton makes too many mistakes and Winnipeg is badly coached. Oh yeah, and for those Bomber fans who think the team has turned the season around, consider this: With 10 games left, the Bombers, who are 0-3 on the road this season, play six of the final 10 in somebody else’s house. They have 6-1 Saskatchewan back-to-back, home-and-away, and have to go into Calgary and Edmonton. They also play a game each in Montreal, Toronto and Hamilton. They get Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Toronto and Hamilton at home. If they play well, it’s likely they go no better than 5-5 down the stretch and, yet, in the East, 7-11 might make the playoffs. Gawd, Montreal is the only Eastern team that should be allowed in the post-season.

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Time for a major overhaul for Winnipeg’s beloved CFL franchise.

Posted on August 11, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Even the most rabid Winnipeg Blue Bomber fans are starting to think there might be a problem with their beloved football team.

 

This past week, as the Bombers prepared for Friday night’s home game against the Montreal Alouettes, head coach Doug Berry talked about the fact that at 1-5, his team still had a chance in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. 

 

The latest Bomber cheer from that randy Blue Lightning outfit was a hearty, “Still alive at 1-5!”

 

Little did Berry know at the time that the only thing that was still alive was The Curse of Troy Westwood.

 

Friday night, the Bombers were drilled 39-11 by the Als at Winnipeg’s 54-year-old Canad Inns Stadium and for Berry, the story was getting as old as the ball yard.

 

A team that went to the 2007 Grey Cup game was suddenly 1-6 and the head coach had pretty much run out of answers. In the post-game interview Berry was so flustered, he blamed his field goal kicker, Alexis Serna, for the loss. The coach had just watched his team lose by four touchdowns and when it was over, all he had in his quiver was an arrow for a kid who made a field goal from 27 yards and missed once from 40 and twice from 49.

 

But while Berry continues to blame everyone but himself, he’s now in a heap of trouble.

 

Refusing to use his all-Canadian runningback Charles Roberts to any great extent, the Bombers had virtually no ground game – again. Roberts carried a mere 11 times for 61 yards, but as Hamilton, Montreal, Calgary and Saskatchewan proved this week, if you run the football in the CFL, you’ll control the clock and you’ll have a chance to win games.

 

Meanwhile, by replacing quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie with original starter, Kevin Glenn, late in Friday’s game, Berry opened the door to a distracting quarterback controversy. Coming off the bench, Glenn put up Winnipeg’s only touchdown on Friday and until the Bombers win again, River City will talk about little else than who should play quarterback for the Bombers.

 

Then there is the shaky defensive secondary. Berry and his GM Brendan Taman, didn’t re-sign safety Kyries Hebert (he jumped to the NFL) and cornerback Juran Bolden (he was released) and they’ve paid dearly for the loss of their two biggest, fastest, hardest hitters.

 

And, just in case all that wasn’t enough, there is the bad karma that’s wafting through a stadium that just might be in the final months of its existence. From the day Berry publicly humiliated 17-year veteran Troy Westwood, the Bombers’ karma (chemistry, for those who believe in such things) has been lost. Worse yet, Berry has also lost his locker room — despite what the players like to say publicly.

 

Meanwhile, the coach’s hand-picked successor to Westwood, young Alexis Serna is a mess. But, then again, putting Serna in that situation wasn’t fair either. Serna should be the kicker, not the punter, but he’s now 14-for-22 (63 per cent) in field goals and is dead last in punting at 32 yards net. It’s apparent the kid has lost his confidence so, on Saturday, Berry added Warren Kean, an Edmonton Eskimos cut, to the practice roster. That should save the season.

 

Although Berry said on Saturday that he just might let his quarterback, Kevin Glenn — again! — call his own plays against Hamilton this Thursday night, here in 1-6 country, it might be time to make some changes that are substantive. And perhaps this time, CEO Lyle Bauer, might want to orchestrate those changes.

 

Because with the right moves and with way things are in the CFL East, even at 1-6, this team still has a chance.

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Week 6 in the CFL is over. Saskatchewan still unbeaten, Winnipeg and Hamilton still awful.

Posted on August 4, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Saskatchewan will find a way to win, Winnipeg and Hamilton will find a way to flush it down the toilet and home teams win a lot more than they lose.

 

On the one hand, through the first six weeks of the season, we’ve learned that the Western Conference is significantly better than the East. On the other, we’ve also learned that home teams will win most of the time. In fact, if you’ve done nothing but select home teams this season, you’re 15-9 through the first six weeks — 10-2 over the last three weeks.

 

So here’s the deal, when picking winners on your Pro Line tickets, take Western teams to beat Eastern teams first. However, if the teams are playing within their conferences, always take the home team. With the exception of Saskatchewan’s 22-21 squeaker in Calgary, it worked this week. (By the way, we went 4-0 this week, but we’ll brag about that on Thursday).

 

And that’s the good news for the 1-5 Blue Bombers. Their next two games are at home — against Montreal and Hamilton — and by the end of August, they could very well by 3-5 and back in the hunt. Montreal, however, plays two straight games on the road and just like Winnipeg, they could very easily be 3-5 by Labour Day.

 

While Winnipeg head coach Doug Berry whined about everybody else but himself, while the entire province of Saskatchewan praised the Riders defence for its 6-0 record and while the Edmonton Eskimos looked to injured Jason Tucker for the extra jump they needed to beat B.C., we learned a lot about the CFL through the first 1/3 of the season.

 

Let’s look closer…

 

1. An issue was made by Doug Berry this week that his running game hasn’t been very good. He made the point a day after his all-star runningback Charles Roberts had his best game of the season, carrying only 11 times for 66 yards. Berry even hinted that Fred Reid might start on Friday night against Montreal. What a maroon. This year, Roberts has carried 64 times for 263 yards. Last year, after six weeks, he had carried 81 times for 509 yards. Berry, who prides himself in the number of people he can throw under the bus, blamed Roberts — unbelievable — for the lack of production in the running game. Roberts carried the ball 262 times last year (in 2006, he carried it 303 times). He is currently on pace to carry it 192 times this year. Doug Berry has no clue.

 

2. So why is Saskatchewan 6-0 despite the fact that the team has had to use three different quarterbacks over six weeks? Defence. Sure it’s a cliche, but Saskatchewan has the best defence in the CFL and that’s why they’re unbeaten. The Riders are No. 1 in points allowed (131), fewest per game (21.6), total yards allowed (1,627), average yards allowed (325), average gain per pass allowed (7.0), lowest percentage of passes completed against (59 per cent). Winnipeg and Hamilton, by the way, battle for last place in most defensive categories. Anyone surprised?

 

3. Choosing the all-star quarterbacks this season shouldn’t be hard. Anthony Calvillo looks like a 27-year-old (he’s 36) while Ricky Ray might be putting together the best year of his career. The fact that Montreal (3-3 with three straight losses to Western teams) is first in the East and Edmonton (4-2) is second in the West, says a lot about the importance of the quarterback position to a team’s success. Not surprisingly, Hamilton and Winnipeg have struggled at QB all year, but that might be the fault of Doug Berry and Charlie Taafe, not the guys taking the snaps.  

 

4. Here is an interesting stat. The leading tackler in the CFL is Hamilton’s  Rontarius Robinson. Now, on the one hand, the leading tackler should be praised for his hard-hitting approach to the game. On the other hand, however, Robinson is a defensive back. At 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, he’s a tough guy, really hard-nosed. He also can’t cover. In six games, he’s made 66 tackles. Giving him credit for stopping the sweep on occasion, it still means that nearly 66 passes have been caught around him. No. 2 in tackles? Another Hamilton DB named Markeith Knowlton with 62. When two defensive backs combine for a league leading 128 tackles in six weeks, no wonder you’re 1-5.  

 

5. Here’s why the CFL is getting better as a league every year. It’s a news release from the league’s director of officiating, Tom Higgins, that was sent out on Sunday afternoon:

 

The Canadian Football League announced Sunday that it has conducted a supplementary review of a player ejection made during last night’s game between the Calgary Stampeders and the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Calgary. During the game, Calgary linebacker JoJuan Armour was ejected from the game for making contact with a CFL official during the course of play.  Upon review of video footage, it was determined that the contact between Mr. Armour and the official directly resulted from prior contact between Mr. Armour and a Saskatchewan Roughrider player.  The ejection of the player was unwarranted.  CFL Director of Officiating Tom Higgins stated, “We sincerely regret that this officiating error was made and cost Mr. Armour the opportunity to play during last night’s game. Our officials are professionals and do a tremendous job, but when a call is missed we take it very seriously and have an internal review system to deal with it appropriately”.Mr. Armour will be eligible to play in this week’s rematch between Calgary and Saskatchewan in Regina on Thursday.

Everyone knows that officials aren’t infallible. They makes mistakes just like players. Higgins reviewed the tape and instead of blindly supporting the officials, he made the correct decision. That’s s step in the right direction. 

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After the latest mess in Toronto, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are getting closer to requiring a new head coach.

Posted on August 2, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

After Friday night’s game at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Doug Berry told reporters: “If you’ve got any good ideas, I’ll listen to you.”

 

No he won’t.

 

People around town have been giving Doug Berry advice for weeks and while he seems to be listening to some of it, he isn’t listening to the good stuff. 

 

Oh, sure, he listened to people who have never played a down of football in their lives and yet were thrilled that Troy Westwood was publicly humiliated. And he listened to the whining masses who wanted Kevin Glenn removed and then chirped like The Joker when Ryan Dinwiddie’s lame ducks found their intended targets against Calgary’s rotten defensive secondary a week ago.

 

But on Friday, as he asked for advice following a 19-11 loss to an equally-as-inept Toronto Argos outfit (two teams needed a single on the final play of the game to put up a total of 30 points in a CFL game), he continued to forget the most important piece of advice of all: “Give Charles Roberts the damn football.”

 

There will be some who will suggest that Roberts had “another lousy game” against the Argos and will say “he is still struggling.” But let’s put our thinking caps on and look closely at what Roberts did on Friday. 

 

Charles Roberts carried the ball 11 times for 66 yards. The National Post reported that “the Argos shut down Roberts.” Held him, they did. In fact, the Post wrote: “From the opening whistle the Argos focused their attention on stopping Winnipeg’s all-star running back, Charles Roberts. Toronto’s defence — the worst against the run in the Canadian Football League coming into the game — loaded up on bodies on the line of scrimmage and gave Roberts little room to operate.”

 

Trouble is the Argos didn’t shut down Roberts at all. Doug Berry and offensive co-ordinator Kit Cartwright shut down Roberts.

 

Charlie Roberts gained 66 yards on 11 carries. That’s 6.0 yards per carry. Roberts was averaging 3.7 yards per carry heading into the game. It was his best game of the year. At 6.0 yards per carry, two carries per set of downs is 12 yards. That averages out to an unstoppable march down the field. Had the Bombers given the ball to Roberts 30 times, he’d have rushed for about 180 yards.

 

Of course, TSN’s on-line headline was “Argonauts Defence Steps Up To Stymie Blue Bombers.” The only people stymied were the head coach, the offensive co-ordinator and the quarterback.

 

Certainly Toronto’s front seven did a good job harassing Dinwiddie (much better than Calgary’s worthless three-man rush a week earlier) and the defensive secondary, as we suspected, was significantly better than that awful group the Stamps trot out every week. But to suggest the Argos shut down Roberts is to have missed the game entirely.

 

“If you know Charlie, you know he gets stronger as the game goes on,” said his former quarterback Khari Jones, as we did Mike Richards’ radio program on the FAN 960 in Calgary together the other day. “The more you give Charlie the ball, the better he gets.”

 

Giving Charlie the ball 11 times a game is NOT enough. In fact, Roberts also caught one pass for 14 yards, so in total, he picked up 80 yards on 12 touches. 12 lousy touches? No wonder the Bombers are 1-5. 

 

Dinwiddie, meanwhile, went 16-for-28 for 224 yards with one touchdown (and 85-yarder to Romby Bryant) and two interceptions. The Bombers had a grand total of just 13 first downs. On Friday night, Kevin Glenn’s replacement made last week’s win over Calgary look Troy Kopp-esque.

 

The Bombers problem is clearly coaching. The coach humiliated his veteran kicker publicly and half of his locker room lost faith. His new kicker is now 14-for-20 (70 per cent) in field goals and is the first Bomber punter in 35 years to be dead last in the league in punting average after the first six games of the season and now the rest of the room is starting to wonder about the decision to chase Westwood out of the game.

 

What could be worse, however, is that in a panic — or in an effort to find someone else to blame — the coach dumped his veteran starting quarterback and replaced him with a guy who admitted on Tom and Joe’s Show on 92-CITI-FM this week that he had trouble reading the extra man on defence in the Canadian game.

 

Oh, oh.

 

Doug Berry was a great assistant in Montreal. He could be a great assistant in Winnipeg. His 10-7-1 trip to last year’s Grey Cup notwithstanding, he has appeared to have lost his touch as a head coach. 

 

Working in Berry’s favour is the fact his Bombers now play two straight games at home against Montreal and Hamilton. If Winnipeg doesn’t win both, it will be the bye-week and it will be time to make a coaching change.    

 

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CFL Picks Week 6: All four Eastern teams could be tied for first — or last.

Posted on July 31, 2008 by Scott Taylor| 2 Comments

It’s Week 6 in the CFL and it opens with a big night for the Bombers — even though they don’t play — on Thursday night in Montreal. 

 

If the Hamilton Tiger-Cats — with young Richie Williams, not Casey Printers, at quarterback — can somehow upset the Montreal Alouettes, there is a chance that the Bombers could find themselves in a tie for first in the East by late Friday night. Granted, Montreal is a 10 1/2-point favourite and a 6.00 wager on Pro Line, but hey, stranger things have happened in the CFL.

 

So, if the Ticats win in Montreal and the Bombers win in Toronto, every team in the CFL East will be 2-4 by Saturday morning. Granted, that’s not very good, but it’s a helluva lot better than 0-6.

 

And, let’s be honest here, if Ryan Dinwiddie doesn’t give Bomber fans a CFL Offensive Player of the Week performance against Calgary last Thursday night, Winnipeg could very well be 0-6 by the weekend.

 

The is a big week for both Conferences. In the East, two teams are 2-3 and two are 1-4. In the West, Saskatchewan is 5-0 while everyone else is 3-2. The crossover playoff format looms (By the way, if there is a crossover, why doesn’t the first or second place team in the West get to choose which Conference it wants to play against in the playoffs? Why does the fourth-place team in, say, the West, get to crossover to play an obviously weaker East?). And if things keep going the way they’re going, we could have a Saskatchewan-B.C. Grey Cup game in Montreal.

 

Here’s a look at the games coming up in Week 6…

 

Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1-4) at Montreal Alouettes (2-3)

 

Thursday, 6 p.m. CT, TSN

OK, Montreal is the prohibitive favourite and sure, the Als will probably win at home, but 10 1/2-point favourites? That’s kind of out there, don’t ya think? Granted, Richie Williams is the starting quarterback for the ‘Cats, but he wasn’t that bad against Edmonton last week and Jesse Lumsden appears healthy. The Alouettes also have a banged-up defensive secondary and two rookies will move into the D-backfield If Williams can exploit those kids, this game might be close. I’m not crazy, but I’m not sure 10 1/2 is the number.  

Pick: Montreal

B.C. Lions (3-2) at Edmonton Eskimos (3-2)

Friday, 9 p.m. CT, TSN

Edmonton has a decimated receiving corps thanks to the loss of Fred Perry and Jason Tucker for the season, but Kamau Peterson (who suddenly learned how to catch) and Kelly Campbell (the ex-Minnesota Viking) are still there and they have a lot of talent. In B.C. Joe Smith is back this week and that will make the Lions better, but if I’m betting Ricky Ray vs. Jarious Jackson — in Edmonton — I’m going with the home team.

Pick: Edmonton

Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1-4) at Toronto Argonauts (2-3)

Friday, 6 p.m. CT, TSN

The Argos have been improving ever since head coach Rich Stubler said, “One quarterback, thank you.” The Boatmen should still deal Michael Bishop, but at least he’s not a distraction anymore. Kerry Joseph is the No. 1 QB and that’s that. At least, this week. The 2-3 Argos are heavily favoured, but we still have to see if Toronto’s defensive secondary is capable of shooting down Ryan Dinwiddie’s ducks. Dinwiddie threw up a bunch of wobblers against Calgary last week and exposed the Stamps weak secondary. If Toronto is as bad as Calgary was, the Bombers win in a walk. I’m not sure they are, but I’m certain Toronto will give Dinwiddie a better rush (Who, in Calgary, thought rushing three men at a banged-up defensive line and a rookie quarterback was a good idea?). We also wonder if Charles Roberts will actually get a few more touches. 

Pick: Toronto

Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-0) at Calgary Stampeders (3-2)

Saturday, 7 p.m. CT, TSN

Marcus Crandell will get the start for the Riders this week and that shouldn’t matter. The Green Shirts have won five straight times with three different quarterbacks at the helm, so a return to Crandell should be no big deal. Losing receiver Andy Fantuz to a leg injury will hurt, however. Meanwhile, Calgary has a very weak defence — The Stamps new D is called “The No Rush, No Cover Defence” — and Henry (Brain Fart) Burris, the extremely talented Calgary QB who sometimes forgets where he is, will have to put up at least 40 in order to allow his team  compete. 

Pick: Saskatchewan

Last Week: 3-1

Season: 9-3

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Week 4 in the CFL is over. So what did we learn?

Posted on July 21, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Indeed, what did we learn?

 

We learned that the West has dominated the East for two straight weeks and will continue to do so.

 

We learned that Eric Tillman might be the best general manager in the CFL.

 

We learned that when the Calgary Stampeders bring their A game, there aren’t many teams better.

 

We learned that a Montreal-Saskatchewan game in Regina is as exciting as it gets.

 

We learned that if you can run the football in the CFL, you’ll usually win — and the Western teams can run the football.

 

And we learned that when Blue Bomber tackle Doug Brown wrote, “If you aren’t getting better, you’re getting worse,” he was right.

 

Let’s take a closer look at Week 4…

 

1. Once again, the West owned the East and despite Toronto’s brilliant 35-31 come-from-behind victory over Edmonton at Rogers Centre on Sunday afternoon, the football played in Western Canada is far superior — and far more entertaining — than the football played East of the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. After two weeks of crossover games, the West leads the East 7-1. On the bright side for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, even at 0-4, you’re still only two wins, or four points, out of first place.

 

2. When Eric Tillman dealt quarterback Kerry Joseph to the Toronto Argos during the off-season, most of the country’s football scribes thought the Roughriders GM was crazy. Tillman said, “Kerry wanted $450,000 a year to play quarterback for us and I’m not giving up 10 per cent of my salary cap to one player.” Tillman also knew Joseph played lousy football in the 2007 Grey Cup game and was lucky to beat a Blue Bomber team that didn’t have its No. 1 signal caller, Kevin Glenn. However, before the 2008 season began, not many thought Marcus Crandell had the goods to make the Riders a threat. But not only did Tillman have faith in his No. 1 guy, he also liked his No. 2 and No. 3 guys. Right now, his No. 3 guy, Derian Durant, is the most exciting young quarterback to come into the league since Joseph first played in Ottawa. Tillman has always been a great judge of talent. He might be even better than we think.

 

3. The Calgary Stampeders pounded on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this week. Granted, the ‘Cats played without the talented Jesse Lumsden who is sadly starting to appear, once again, to be a very fragile back. However, the Stampeders played a brilliant football game and the 43-16 score might have flattered a Ticats team that just couldn’t get anything going without their power back in the lineup. Henry Burris went 26-for-33 for 345 yards and two touchdowns while Joffrey Reynolds carried 11 times for 99 yards. Without Barrin Simpson, one wonders how the Bombers will shut down the Stamps this coming Thursday.

 

4. Watched a Montreal-Saskatchewan game on Saturday night that was just about as entertaining as a football game can get. Once again, Anthony Calvillo played like the best quarterback in the East while Derian Durant just made one exciting play after another for the Roughriders. The 41-33 score was indicative of the brilliance of the two offences while Wes Cates proved once again how important a solid running game is to a successful CFL offence. Right now, Ken Miller is CFL coach of the year while Eric Tillman is CFL executive of the year.

 

5. When teams run the football, they win. In the pass-crazy CFL, a running game might not seem to be too important to some coaches (see Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive co-ordinator, Kit Cartwright), but clearly people such as Wes Cates, Joffrey Reynolds and Jesse Lumsden are proof that great running games create even greater passing attacks. When Lumsden runs the football, Hamilton wins. Watching Cates and Reynolds help their teams put up 41 and 47 points respectively this week was a clear indication that running the football in the CFL is just as important now as it was when George Reed, Johnny Bright, Normie Kwong, Earl Lunsford, Leo Lewis and Ronny Stewart ran the ball 40-odd years ago.

 

6. On Friday night, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were beaten 27-18 at B.C. Place Stadium by a Lions team that didn’t seem to have the same commitment to excellence as it did a week earlier at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg. Still, the Lions were good enough to beat a Blue Bomber team that is banged-up, beaten-down and as close to imploding as any Bombers’ team in recent memory. As a result of Friday night’s loss, the 0-4 Bombers benched quarterback Kevin Glenn and replaced him with Ryan Dinwiddie. Sadly, head coach Doug Berry is running out of scapegoats. He ran Troy Westwood off the team and his players responded with a “Well, if the coach can humiliate that guy after 17 years, it’s likely he’ll do the same to me,” attitude. The Bombers, who did not improve in the off-season — in fact with the loss of safety Kyries Hebert and cornerback Juran Bolden, they got significantly worse on defence — are now winless in four tries and yet not out of it in the talent-starved Eastern Conference. However, the Bombers plight might not be the fault of Kevin Glenn (see my Monday column in the National Post). The league’s best runningback, Charles Roberts has only 161 yards on 39 carries and if Roberts isn’t running the football, the Bombers aren’t winning. Since Kevin Glenn doesn’t call his own plays, the Bombers coaching staff must take responsibility for the team’s offensive woes. Of course, with middle linebacker Barrin Simpson now out indefinitely with a pectoral-muscle-tear, the team’s real problem might be on defence, not offence.  

 

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Won’t wait for the Riders and Hamilton. I’ll do some “splainin’” now…

Posted on July 12, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Saturday, July 12, 2008, 10:15 a.m.

 

I was wrong about Montreal and I was wrong about Winnipeg, but one thing I won’t allow myself to do: Be wrong about the West.

 

Clearly — and we’re only three weeks into the CFL season — the West is a dominant force and might just make the Eastern champion look pretty mediocre when Grey Cup time rolls around.

 

It became quite obvious on Thursday night, when the Calgary Stampeders went on the road, fell behind 11-0 after the first quarter, and then quietly and methodically altered their game plan and came back to beat what most people thought was a pretty good Montreal Alouettes team, 23-19.

 

Later on Thursday, the new-look Edmonton Eskimos, a team that improved dramatically in the off-season, eviscerated the Toronto Argos 47-28 and left the bumbling Argos stumbling out of Northern Alberta.

 

Friday night, came the old coup de grace. The B.C. Lions arrived at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg and demolished the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 42-24. It was actually 42-8 before B.C. went into prevent and let Ryan Dinwiddie come off the bench to fool the Winnipeg fans into thinking he was some kind of saviour (Troy Kopp did that once, too). 

 

Evidently, Winnipeg is awful. Who knew? It’s a team that didn’t get better in the off-season, made some bad decisions in the pre-season (Where are you now, Troy Westwood?) and has a head coach who believes it’s everybody else’s fault but his own. Doug Berry has lost his room and after Frday night’s debacle, it doesn’t look like he’s getting it back.

 

Of course, it hasn’t helped that he ignores Charles Roberts in the offensive scheme, allows Kit Cartwright to call the plays and couldn’t replace Juran Bolden on the corner or Kyries Hebert at safety. Forget the punting game (Serna had a shaky 36.1 yard average), that horse has left the barn. Two things have contributed to Winnipeg’s 0-3 start — the team did not get better in the off-season and the head coach tends to throw the people who work for him under the bus — with far too much ease.

 

Let’s be honest, people are generally horrible to each other and coaches of sports teams tend to be more horrible than most, but when you need somebody to go to war for you, respect is a much better motivator than blame. 

 

In the meantime, the West is quite superior to the East in the CFL and only Hamilton, at home this afternoon, has a chance to stop what could be a most impressive Week 3 sweep. 

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Back by (un?)popular demand. Here are our weekly CFL picks.

Posted on July 9, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Week 3

 

OK, so nobody really demanded this, but since Joe and I don’t have as much time on 92-CITI-FM as we’d like in order to explain ourselves, I’ll explain myself here…

 

And then I’ll probably do some more “‘splainin” on Sunday.

 

Week 3 starts Thursday night with Calgary at Montreal and Toronto at Edmonton.

 

Calgary Stampeders (1-1) at Montreal Alouettes (2-0)

Thursday, 6 p.m. CDT, TSN

The Alouettes proved quite clearly that scoring isn’t a problem when they put up 33 in Hamilton in their opener and 38 at home against Winnipeg in Week 2. Quarterback Anthony Calvillo has tossed six TD passes in two weeks and get this: Calvillo has only seven fewer rushing yards than Winnipeg’s Charles Roberts (Roberts has 87, Calvillo has 80). Calgary has a nice team, but they proved last week, they don’t play very well — at least not defensively — on the road.

Pick: Montreal

Toronto Argonauts (1-1) at Edmonton Eskimos (1-1)

Thursday, 9 p.m. CDT, TSN

Argos head coach Rich Stubler did what Winnipeg head coach Doug Berry won’t do. He told offensive co-ordinator Steve Buratto to allow quarterback Kerry Joseph to call his own plays. Of course, in his zeal to make Michael Bishop happy, Stubler also told the Toronto media that Bishop would play in Edmonton (Note: 24 hours later, Toronto put Bishop on waivers, suggesting the Argos were going to trade him). The Eskimos meanwhile, got an absolutely brilliant performance from offensive player of the week, Ricky Ray, in last week’s 34-31 win over Calgary and looked like a team that feels comfortable in its own backyard.

Pick: Edmonton

B.C. Lions (0-2) at Winnipeg Blue Bombers (0-2)

Friday, 7 p.m. CDT, TSN

Obviously, Canadian football writers aren’t that bright because almost all of them picked B.C. and Winnipeg to challenge for the title in their respective conferences. Now, two weeks in, and they’re both 0-2 and are barely challenging themselves in practice. Winnipeg will be without Milt Stegall, Dominic Picard and Matt Sheridan. B.C. will be with both Buck Pierce and Jarious Jackson. Not sure which team is worse off. 

Pick: Winnipeg

Saskatchewan Roughriders (2-0) at Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1-1)

Saturday, 3 p.m. CDT, TSN

My goodness the Green Riders look good, especially on defence. So many people — inlcuding me — believed that the Bombers had the best front-seven in the league, but it just might be the Riders. Offensively, Saskatchewan has some serious injury problems, but this defence might just be good enough to carry the defending Grey Cup champs. However, this week, they have to stop runningback Jesse Lumsden, the top Canadian last week after blistering the Argos for 189 yards and two TDs. Still, the Ti-Cats have not beaten the Riders in regulation since Aug. 1, 2002.

Pick: Saskatchewan

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Blaming the snapper? It’s getting to rock bottom in Bomberland.

Posted on July 7, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach, Doug Berry, in his zeal to rationalize and justify the cutting of Troy Westwood, has decided to blame the long-snapper for the fact Alexis Serna can’t catch.

 

Could it be that everything is unravelling in Bomberland? 

 

At best, the coaching staff is simply in excuse-mode. At worst? At worst, this coaching staff is coming apart at the seams.

 

In his almost daily rush to convince himself and everyone around him that cutting Troy Westwood as the team’s kicker/punter was a good decision, Berry blamed long snapper Chris Cvetkovic for the fact Serna dropped his second snap in two games. Serna’s butter-fingers have now cost the Bombers a touchdown a game, but to blame Cvetkovic for a bad snap? What a crock.

First of all it’s not Cvetkovic’s fault that Serna is three-feet tall and can’t catch. It’s also not Cvetkovic’s fault that his snap was helmet high and Serna decided to jump for it. Huh? Catch the damn ball (by the way, the snap Serna dropped in Week 1 was chest high).

Westwood used to say the most important aspect of punting was the drop. In Winnipeg these days, it’s the catch.

But the coaches won’t admit it. They’ve decided that Cvetkovic’s snap was the problem. They also won’t admit that giving Charles Roberts the ball a mere six times (for 11 yards and a touchdown) is a gigantic mistake, even IF you fall behind early.

Fact: When Charles Roberts rushes for 100 yards, the Bombers almost ALWAYS win. Does no one down on Maroons Road know that?

Blaming the long-snapper is one thing. Forgetting about No. 1 is another thing altogether. It appears the problems in Winnipeg could be easily repaired. Just gotta stop throwing people under the bus and start doing the things that got the Big Blue to last year’s Grey Cup.

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