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It’s Week 14 in the CFL. The Bombers and Als are streaking. The Eskies and Argos are sliding …

Posted on September 26, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

It’s Week 14 in the Canadian Football League and there are teams going north and teams heading straight south.

For instance, Winnipeg is playing the best football it has all season and is coming off two straight road wins. Montreal has won six of its last seven. Those are two of your winners — both at home — this week.

Meanwhile, Toronto just stinks right now and hasn’t won since Don Matthews became head coach while Edmonton is coming off a 40-4 loss in Montreal. There are two of your losers.

Let’s take a closer look at Week 14…

Edmonton Eskimos (7-5) at Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-8) 

 

Friday, 7 p.m. CT, TSN

Two teams apparently going in opposite directions. The Eskimos looked absolutely dreadful in a 40-4 shellacking at the hands of the Montreal Alouettes last week while the Bombers went into Hamilton and beat the Tiger-Cats 25-23. Granted, Edmonton played a superior team but when you start losing by five touchdowns on the road, it doesn’t matter who you’ve just played. Kevin Glenn is getting his game together and the Bombers defence is playing better with Zeke Moreno in the middle. This week, Bombers GM Brendan Taman said, “No matter what you think might happen, it doesn’t matter because Edmonton has a great quarterback.” He’s right, but still…

Pick: Winnipeg

Calgary Stampeders (8-4) at Toronto Argonauts (4-8)

Saturday, 5:30 p.m. CT, TSN

The Argos appear to be in disarray. From the start of the season you knew this Argos team was just an injury or a mistake away from collapse and when head coach Rich Stubler decided that he was going to have two “starting” quarterbacks, you kind of figured things would eventually come apart. That happened the day Stubler was fired and replaced by Don Matthews. Matthews is a legend, but he’s 69 and he took over the team in September, at a time when he couldn’t cut anybody without paying them anyway. Makes it hard to be a tough, taskmaster. Meanwhile, Calgary has moved into a first-place tie and last week looked great in a 34-4 shellacking of the sad-sack Argonauts in Calgary. The outcome shouldn’t be much different this week.

 

Pick: Toronto

Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-10) at B.C. Lions (7-5)  

Saturday, 8:30 CT, TSN

This isn’t even fair. Sport Select has made B.C. a 12 1/2-point favourite. The Lions should cover. 

 

Pick: B.C.

Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-4) at Montreal Alouettes (8-4)  

Sunday, 12 Noon CT, TSN

This should be the best game of the weekend. Saskatchewan is still banged up and have lost two straight. Obviously, all the injuries are starting to catch up to the Riders. The Alouettes just might be the best team (right now) in the CFL and it would appear that barring injury, Anthony Calvillo, will be the league’s most outstanding player. Montreal is playing extremely well right now and that 40-4 win over Montreal last week was impressive in all aspects of the game. 

 

Pick: Montreal

Last Week: 3-1

Season: 27-13

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A week of CFL shake-ups: Matthews back, Taafe gone and the Bombers acquire Zeke Moreno for virtually nothing. What does Hamilton know that Winnipeg doesn’t?

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Let’s start with our list:

 

1. In Toronto, the Argos fired Rich Stubler, the head coach of a struggling 4-6 team — a 4-6 team that should be better — and replaced him with 69-year-old Don Matthews. Not quite as old as Cliff Fletcher, but much older than Cito Gaston. No wonder all the teams in Toronto wear blue uniforms. The owners just rummage around in a big blue box and come up with anything recyclable (Hey, is Isiah Thomas coming back to the Raptors?).

 

2. The 2-8 Hamilton Tiger-Cats fired head coach Charlie Taafe (2-8 this season and 5-23 over a season and a bit) and no one argued in the least. Not even a peep. Taafe is replaced by offensive co-ordinator Marcel Bellefeuille.

 

3. The 2-8 Bombers signed 28-year-old import defensive end/outside linebacker Kai Ellis, a recent cut of the Montreal Alouettes. With Joe Lobendahn and Ike Charlton nursing injuries, Ellis will start on Friday in Toronto. 

 

4. The on-going carnival in Winnipeg continued to sell out, but this week it got really crazy — again. After blowing a 31-14 lead with 11 minutes to play, the Bombers lost 34-31 to Saskatchewan in front of a sold-out crowd in the fifth annual Canwest Banjo Bowl on Sunday. You can bet head coach Doug Berry wasn’t going to take the blame for that mess, so he started the week by throwing safety Ian Logan under the bus. In the end, however, he didn’t trade or bench Logan. Instead, he traded defensive end, Tom Canada, one of the city’s most popular players, to Hamilton in exchange for the league’s leading tackler Zeke Moreno (Remember, River City Sports can provide you with a brand new Zeke Moreno jersey at any of its Winnipeg locations).

 

Starts out, Canada isn’t going to report to Hamilton, but he goes for his physical anyway, and finds out he has an enlarged spleen, After a trip to the hospital, he’s put on the nine-game injured reserve list and is out for the season. Still, Bombers GM Brendan Taman is able to finish the deal with 2-8 Hamilton, getting Moreno and a conditional draft pick in exchange for the Bombers first overall pick in the 2009 CFL draft plus the rights to their No. 1 pick in 2007, offensive lineman Corey Mace, who is on the practice roster of the Buffalo Bills. In the end, the Bombers didn’t have to move Tom Canada, but what do the Tiger-Cats know about Moreno that Winnipeg doesn’t? Did Ticats GM Bob O’Billovich get fleeced or has Moreno lost a step? Guess we won’t know until Moreno starts on Friday night in place of the injured Joe Lobendahn against the 4-6 Argos in Toronto. 

 

Meanwhile, Canada is a happy guy even though he spent time in the hospital with an enlarged spleen and will be on injured reserve for the rest of the year. Canada’s happy because he wasn’t traded to Hamilton this week. And that might be OK for awhile, but he’s still finished as a Blue Bomber, at least under Doug Berry’s watch. Fact is, Canada was shopped around to the entire league. Berry doesn’t want him and even though he’s on the injured list for the rest of the season, Canada is only a Bomber because he was too physically damaged to be traded (ules of course, Berry is gone before next spring’s training camp).

 

I have my own opinions on this mess and you can probably detect a little sarcasm in my usually objective accounting of events, so I thought I’d share some e-mails from Bomber fans(?) I received this week:

 

Scott,

 

Here is the skinny. You are (CEO) Lyle Bauer’s boss. That ‘group’….You go to him and say this is what happens today. Berry gets released. Bob Cameron is named as head coach for the balance of the season. Troy Westwood will be the punter for the remainder of the season. Lyle balks at the idea. You give Lyle a fat lip and fire his ass. I tell you what, Bob Cameron is the cure. How long was he on the side lines? How many coaches listened to his ideas? Henry Rosolowski, Winnipeg

Scott,

Incredible. No wonder the Bombers are in disarray! Who is letting this idiot Taman run the club into the ground!  YOU DON’T TRADE TWO NUMBER ONE DRAFT PICKS AWAY UNLESS YOU ARE GETTING THE SECOND COMING OF JOE MONTANA!  

 

The season is lost and even if by some miraculous event they did make the playoffs, how far do you think this team is going to go?  TIME TO BUILD FOR THE FUTURE, NOT NOW!  

 

If and when 2007 first round pick Corey Mace does come to the CFL, the kid is going to be an impact player! The inept Bombers have the best chance right now to have the #1 draft pick next season. Do you know what kind of stud they could draft to go along with excellent rookie Labatt on the O-Line, which is a must in the CFL!  You need the big talented Canadian kids to build your O-Line. And simple football 101 states that if you have no O-Line you have nothing!  

 

Or at least you could draft the best Canadian kid in the country for that porous D-Backfield which, lord knows, under Taman has been the worst secondary in CFL history! You only make a trade like this if you have a bonafide chance to win the Grey Cup. Other than that YOU KEEP YOUR DRAFT PICKS AND FUTURE TALENT! No wonder they have not won a Grey Cup in 18 years and now sit last in the league!

 

Ted Arichteff, Winnipeg

 

(Wow! A lot of capital letters)

 

Scott,

 

Thank you for a great report this morning (on 92-CITI-FM). Honestly I’m not a CFL fan, unfortunately I’m a Dolphin fan (yes they are brutal), but my true love is NCAA football. 

I’m a huge Gator fan and watching them dismantle Hawaii a few weekends ago was a joy. The Bombers have two WAC QBs (Dinwiddie and Chang) and that is a joke. The WAC is a poor conference and the Bombers seem to think these two QBs from there are s-o-o-o good. 

You are 100 per cent right. Drop all these bozos and let (Bryan) Randall play. I watched him at Virginia Tech and he is one hell of a QB! Why don’t the Bombers make a deal with Montreal for Chris Leak. He’s on the inactive roster. I watched him and the Gators take apart Ohio State.I don’t even listen to classic rock but I listen to you guys every morning.

Derek Capri, Winnipeg

The great thing about the Bombers is that EVERYONE (speaking of capital letters) has an opinion. And when they’re 2-8, most of those opinions are not flattering.

 

Friday night, Winnipeg plays in Toronto. The Argos are only four points ahead of the Bombers in the race for second place in the Eastern Conference. If Zeke Moreno and Joe Smith and Kai Ellis and all the big names can get it done, this Bomber team can make the playoffs. If they don’t, it’s time to look at a real, legitimate shake-up.

 

Meanwhile, win or lose, the Bombers will look great in their new retro jerseys supplied by, you guessed it, River City Sports. 

 

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We called it on Friday. By Saturday the MSM entered the fray.

Posted on August 30, 2008 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

It’s amazing what can happen in less than 24 hours. 

 

On Friday, this is what we wrote here at the rivercitysportsblog.com about Monday’s game between the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats: “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.”

 

Earlier on Friday, on 92-CITI-FM, Tom McGouran and I discussed Stubler’s future and I told the audience that I had it on good authority that Stubler was done on Monday night if the Argos lost to Hamilton this weekend. And, no, Steve Buratto would not get the job.

 

Saturday, the Montreal Gazette caught up.

 

On Saturday, a report in the Gazette claimed that Argos club president Michael (Pinball) Clemons has been approached about returning to the sidelines for the Argonauts. The Gazette reported that Clemons would replace head coach Rich Stubler as soon as Monday if the Arfos should lose the Labour Day Classic to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

 

The report states that Stubler would either be fired or could become the team’s defensive coordinator. According to the Gazette, offensive coordinator Steve Buratto is on the verge of losing his job as well.

Clemons was the head coach of the Argos until the end of last season  when he accepted the President and CEO’s job with the club. His first hire was Stubler and that has proven to be a bust. The team is 3-5 under Stubler, it’s in disarray, it’s dumped it’s former starting quarterback and popular safety Orlando Steinauer and it obviously isn’t getting any better. 

As we wrote on Friday, if the Boatmen lose this weekend, Stubler will no longer be head coach. 

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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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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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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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Week 2 in the CFL: Now that the old four-game pre-season is over, do the offences start to pick it up?

Posted on July 5, 2008 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

Back in the day, long before TSN saved the Canadian Football League with its slick, entertaining Friday Night Football package, a package that made the league young and hip (like that word, kids?) again, each CFL team played four pre-season games. Just like the NFL.

 

By the end of this four-week stretch, teams were pretty good. Especially the offences. Granted, it didn’t do the clubs much good at the gate and ultimately, that’s why the final two exhibition games were eliminated and the schedule went from four pre-season and 16 regular season games to two pre-season and 18 regular season games. Teams still lost money. Just not as much.

 

So Week 2 in the 2008 CFL schedule ended Friday night and what we got for the first two weeks of the schedule was, pretty much, two extra pre-season games.

 

So if you were coaching, what did you learn?

 

1. Toronto is still trying to figure out who its No. 1 quarterback is. After losing 32-13 at home to Hamilton, a team that lost 33-10 to Montreal at  Ivor Wynne Stadium a week earlier, one wonders if Kerry Joseph is the answer. Interestingly, a day after the loss, the National Post reported that head coach Rich Stubler kind of laid the blame at the feet of offensive co-ordinator Steve Buratto. The Argos have scored 36 points in their first two games and that’s not much considering all the offensive weapons they possess. Maybe Joseph is done and its time to get serious about Michael Bishop again.

 

2. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are probably better than anyone — including themselves — thought. If Jesse Lumsden stays healthy and the offensive line continues to run-block the way it did in that 32-13 win over Toronto on Thursday, the Ti-Cats should be a threat in the East. 

 

3.  Montreal is clearly the best team in the East, Anthony Calvillo is obviously healthy again and head coach Marc Trestman is not having any problem with the Canadian game. The Alouettes two-touchdown blistering of Winnipeg on Friday night was testimony to a great offence, a pretty fair defence and sharp special teams.

 

4. The Blue Bomber offence isn’t very good. Although the scoreboard will tell the Bombers they lost 38-24 in Montreal, Winnipeg did get an outstanding 80-yard interception return for a touchdown by Javon Johnson. That means the Bombers put up only 17 points on offence. That’s six consecutive games (including two pre-season and two regular season games this year) in which the Bomber offence has not scored 20 points. Of course, this little nugget might have something to do with Winnipeg’s woes: Charles Roberts, six carries, 11 yards, one touchdown. Six carries? No wonder they can’t score. So do you blame Kevin Glenn or Kit Cartwright? We know who Rich Stubler would blame. With back-to-back games against B.C., then Calgary, Toronto and Montreal on the schedule, the Bombers had better pick it up on offence. Of course, in the CFL of 2008, allowing 38 points in a single game is pretty worrisome, too.

 

5. Despite all the gnashing of teeth, despite all the people who worried about the things GM Eric Tillman was doing in the off-season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders have now started with a 34-14 home win over Edmonton and a 26-16 road win in B.C. The Riders lost Kerry Joseph and Kent Austin and they still have a legitimate Grey Cup contender. It’s called defence. No team has yet to score 20 points against them.

 

6. The combination of Buck Pierce and Jarious Jackson in B.C. is not as good as the mainstream media might have you believe. The Lions have yet to score 20 points in a game this season.

 

7. The best game of the week was that 34-31 seesaw battle in Edmonton between the Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders. One senses it won’t be that close when the two teams return to Calgary, but nonethless, Thursday night’s matchup was a dandy. 

 

8. There are still too many teams in the CFL that can’t put up 20 points in a game. There are too many weak, unimaginative offences. Of course, the final “pre-season” game was this past weak. The 16-game schedule starts this coming Thursday night. One would expect the offences are now ready to go

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