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Kevin Glenn off to Toronto??

Posted on January 23, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Reports out of Toronto on Friday morning suggested that the man who has led the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for five seasons, Kevin Glenn, will be Argo bound. 

The Argos claim they have an interest in the Blue Bombers quarterback who is now, officially on the trade block. Argos GM Adam Rita has always admired Glenn (Glenn was an Argo for a few minutes in May of 2004 when the Bombers acquired him in a deal with Toronto) and would like to have him in Toronto this spring to challenge Kerry Joseph for the starting job. 

 

On Thursday, Bombers head coach Mike Kelly told Tom, Joe and the Coach on 92-CITI-FM that he expects lefty Stefan LeFors and veteran Ryan Dinwiddie to battle for the Bombers’ No. 1 job at training camp in June. Kelly also said that there was no possible way a Kevin Glenn-for-Casey Printers deal would ever be made.

 

“Casey Printers is not coming to Winnipeg.” Kelly said bluntly.

 

So that leaves Toronto, one of the two places Glenn told Kelly he’d like to play. 

 

The LeFors/Dinwiddie move will either be brilliant or the second coming of T.J. Rubley. However, to be fair, Coach Kelly is a quarterback expert and Bomber fans should probably give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

One of the many reasons Kelly was brought to Winnipeg was his ability to judge the talent of and subsequently work with, quarterbacks. He knows what he wants and like many Bomber fans, that’s not Kevin Glenn. 

 

Don’t forget, rivercitysportsblog,com will be at the Super Bowl all next week and will be blogging live daily. 

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Bombers drilled by lousy Roughriders and Winnipeg is rewarded with its first sellout of the season.

Posted on August 31, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders proved beyond all doubt on Sunday afternoon that neither team has much of an offence. The Riders beat Winnipeg 19-6 in a dreadful football game at Mosaic Stadium, but give the Riders credit. At least all their receivers are on the DL. Winnipeg was just awful — and badly coached.

 

With the loss, the Bombers dropped to 2-7 on the season. Truly astounding when one considers that earlier in the afternoon, the Bombers announced they had sold out the Canwest Banjo Bowl this coming Sunday afternoon at Canad Inns Stadium.

 

Gotta give Winnipeggers credit, they certainly embrace second- or even third-best. 

 

In most cities, football fans would tell the operators of a lousy home team to shape up by refusing to buy tickets. When you’re 2-7 in most towns, you tell the team’s management you’ll come back when either they get their act together or they get themselves fired. Not in Winnipeg. Winnipeg fans are like Leafs fans. The more you disappoint us, the faster we buy tickets. In Winnipeg, drop to 2-7 and we’ll give you everything you want. If you’re the smiling proprietors, it’s sure a nice deal because it cuts down on any urgent need to fix the mess.

 

Sunday afternoon, the Bombers took everything they learned in last week’s 37-24 win over Hamilton and abandoned it. All of it. They stopped giving Charles Roberts the football and as a result, they had nothing else. The passing game was decent, not great, but decent, but without a running game, they couldn’t create a sustained offensive attack. Glenn went 28-for-42 for 269 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions (the final one IN the end zone), but Roberts carried the ball only 13 times for 48 yards and if he doesn’t see the ball 20 times a game, the Bombers have no chance. No chance at all. That’s just stupid. 

 

When a team puts up only two field goals in the wide open CFL, that’s a bad team. When a team doesn’t use its most important weapon, the coach should get a pink slip. Even if you’ve decided to allow the quarterback to call his own plays, you could still remind him every now and again that No. 1 is in the lineup.

 

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan wasn’t very good on offence, either. Michael Bishop, in his first game with the Riders, was a downright rotten 10-for-24 for 107 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. That’s just horrid. Without the two Glenn interceptions along with fumbles by Charles Roberts and Kevin Glenn, Saskatchewan would have been lucky to score enough points to win. 

 

Winnipeg notched a field goal in the first quarter and another in the fourth quarter and that was it. In the world of real professional football, Roberts would have been given the ball on nearly every play. That’s because Roberts went into the game needing 61 yards to reach the 10,000-yard plateau. In Winnipeg, the coaches don’t care about such nonsense. In Winnipeg, losing big and losing ugly is more important than, well, giving the ball to the greatest runningback in franchise history and, ahh, winning.

 

OK, OK, I’m kidding. But this Winnipeg team couldn’t get Roberts enough touches to gain 61 yards. No wonder they’re looking at Timmy Chang, who failed miserably in Hamilton, as a fourth quarterback.

 

On the upside, with the CFL East as awful as it is, the 2-7 Bombers are still in the playoff hunt so no wonder they sold out the Banjo Bowl.

 

Or did they just sell 10,000 tickets in Regina?

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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 5 is over and we learned a lot. Well, mostly that the West continues to dominate the East…

Posted on July 28, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Whew, it’s over. At least for the time being. The Western invasion of the Canadian Football League is now done until Labour Day. The East is rejoicing.

 

For the past three weeks, we’ve had crossover football and for the East, it has not been pretty. Only Toronto, with a last-minute drive and Winnipeg, with a last-few-seconds drive were able to beat their Western counterparts, once each, over the last three weeks. In total, the West beat the East in 10 out of 12 meetings – and blew out their Eastern opponents in eight of those 10 wins. 

 

Ultimately, it was a good thing for the Bombers. With last Thursday’s thrilling 32-28 win over Calgary, Winnipeg has a chance to move into a first-place tie with a win in Toronto this Friday. A 2-4 record may be weak, but who cares? This is the year that 8-10 or even 7-11 could easily win the east.

 

Meanwhile, Week 5 was sure fun. The West won another three of four to take the season record with their Eastern Conference rivals to 10-2 and that means that this Friday night, the 1-4 Winnipeg Blue Bombers will face the 2-3 Toronto Argonauts at Rogers Centre in Toronto and this one will say a lot about Eastern Conference football. If Winnipeg wins, they’ll be 2-4 and tied with the Argos and maybe even Hamilton and Montreal for first in the East. It’s true, if Hamilton beats Montreal on Thursday night and Winnipeg beats Toronto on Friday, all four Eastern teams will be a dreadful 2-4.  

 

Week 6 in the CFL opens on Thursday night with a pair of games, 1-4 Hamilton is at 2-3 Montreal in the other battle of bad Eastern teams at 6 while B.C. plays at Edmonton at 9. Both games are on TSN.

 

But first, let’s look back at Week 5 and see if we learned anything at all…

 

1. In the East, only the Montreal Alouettes, 36-34 losers in B.C. this past week, have scored more points than they’ve had scored against them. Montreal has 157 for to 134 against. Toronto is 121-154, Hamilton is 99-141 and Winnipeg, with the worst differential, is 114-158.

 

2. Ryan Dinwiddie did what he was asked on Thursday night — he won a game for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He completed 24 of 39 passes for 450 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. His touchdown came with 12 seconds left when a defensive back named Brandon Browner fell asleep, forgot to look at the football and let rookie Romby Bryant catch a lame duck behind him. Well, not behind him actually. Sort of beside him. If Dinwiddie repeats his quacking (that’s quacking, not cracking) performance on Friday night in Toronto, you will start to think that Kevin Glenn has been placed in the witness protection program. In fact, Glenn could be the next Troy Westwood — another veteran humiliated and then dumped by the Bomber coaching staff.

 

3. So here’s the deal in Saskatchewan… Derian Durant gets hurt after going three-for-five for 29 yards and is repalced by Stephen Jyles. Jyles proceeds to play within himself, go 14-for-18 for 201 yards, one TD and one INT and the Riders win 28-22. Wes Cates carries 24 times (see that Doug Berry?) for 130 yards and two TDs and now the Roughriders are 5-0 and clearly the best team in the CFL. Who needs Kerry Joseph when you have the best GM in the CFL?

 

4. With Saskatchewan at 5-0, Edmonton, Calgary and B.C. are all tied for second at 3-2. Every team in the West has scored more points than they’ve had scored against them. Every team in the West has a winning record at home (unlike Hamilton’s 0-3 mark at Ivor Wynne). I will make my prediction now. Only two teams from the East will make the playoffs. There will be a crossover playoff game this year and all four teams from the West will be in the post-season.

 

5. If you’re a Winnipeg fan, remember the name Troy Kopp. 

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Week 5 Picks. Does the West Really Own the East?

Posted on July 24, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

It’s Week 5 in the CFL and this is the one fact we know, the one thing of which we are certain: The West leads the East in crossover games 7-1.

 

There is little doubt that the West plays more exciting football — right  across the board. Teams in the West aren’t as predictable. They try to do things that Canadian football coaches have been doing for years, but the growing number of American coaches working as offensive co-ordinators in the league haven’t actually grasped yet (whose idea was the two-yard out pattern on second and nine?). They run offences with verve and style and they are much more fun to watch.

 

So this week, after going 4-0 last week, we are going to stick with our theory: When in doubt, take the Western Conference team.

 

Calgary Stampeders (3-1) at Winnipeg Blue Bombers (0-4)

Thursday, 7 p.m. CT, TSN

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have decided to promote No. 2 quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie to No. 1 while Kevin Glenn has been benched. Dinwiddie will be an improvement if the offensive co-ordinator gives him a game plan. If indeed, Dinwiddie does the job, we might never hear from Kevin Glenn again. However, the Blue’s offensive line is banged-up and very young. On defence, middle linebacker Barrin Simpson, the heart and soul of the D, is out for the year with a torn pectoral tendon and the defensive secondary has been porous all year. Calgary, meanwhile, has the hottest offence in the game and if Henry Burris doesn’t have a handful of brain farts, Calgary should coast.

Pick: Calgary

Edmonton Eskimos (2-2) at Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1-3)

Friday, 6 p.m. CT, TSN

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are living proof that even if they fall to 0-5, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers won’t be out of the playoff hunt in the East. If Jesse Lumsden, the best runningback in the CFL, plays this week, the Tiger-Cats should win. If he doesn’t, Edmonton will go to 3-2. The Eskimos lost to a spectacular Kerry Joseph performance in the final minute in Toronto last week. Ricky Ray and Co. will be just as good in Hamilton this week.  

Pick: Edmonton

Montreal Alouettes (2-2) at B.C. Lions (2-2)

Friday, 9 p.m. CT, TSN

This could be the closest game of Week 5. Montreal was tremendous in Saskatchewan last week, only to lose late to the best team in the CFL. Anthony Calvillo is good indoors and he’ll be good again this week. On the other side, this is the week Jarious Jackson will have to prove he’s a No. 1 CFL quarterback. After all, when you have Jason Clermont and Geroy Simon catching footballs, you’d better he good.

Pick: B.C.

Toronto Argonauts (2-2) at Saskatchewan Roughriders (4-0) 

Sunday, 6 p.m. CT, TSN

Kerry Joseph makes his first return to Regina since the 2007 Grey Cup parade, but it might not make much difference for Toronto. Last week’s 41-33 Saskatchewan victory over the Montreal Alouettes was one of the finest performances in one of the great football games played in the CFL in a long time. Running back Wes Cates was absolutely sensational, carrying 15 times for 107 yards and catching five pasases for 88 yards. Saskatchewan, thanks to head coach Ken Miller, has one of the most balanced offences in the game and will likely remain undefeated through Week 5 — no matter who happens to play quarterback.

Pick: Saskatchewan

Last Week: 4-0

Season: 6-2

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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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CFL Picks Week 4: After going 2-2, we now understand the dominant nature of the Western Conference…

Posted on July 16, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Last week, there was absolutely no doubt about it, the West is the best.

 

In Week 3, the Western Conference won every game played during the first week of crossover play, two of them by three touchdowns — B.C. whipped Winnipeg 42-24 while Edmonton blasted Toronto 47-28. Meanwhile, Calgary beat Montreal while Saskatchewan went into Hamilton and improved to 3-0.

 

This week, we won’t be fooled again… oh, no.

 

Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1-2) at Calgary Stampeders (2-1)

Thursday, 8 p.m. CT, TSN

The Stampeders did a wonderful job shutting down Anthony Calvillo and the Al’s last week. After falling behind 11-0 through the first 15 minutes, the Stampeders defence made Calvillo look like the Calvillo we expected before the season began — slow and old. In the end, the Stamps won 23-19 and proved they could win on the road. If the can shut down the best running game in the CFL — Jesse Lumsden and Trey Smith — they could blow Hamilton right out of McMahon Stadium. In fact, if they shut down Lumsden, this will be a massacre.

Pick: Calgary

Winnipeg Blue Bombers (0-3) at B.C. Lions (1-2)

Friday, 9 p.m. CT, TSN

Wow, it’s getting ugly in Winnipeg. The Bombers didn’t get better in the off-season and, in fact, with the loss of Kyries Hebert and Juran Bolden, the defensive secondary got worse — much worse! B.C. took advantage of that shaky secondary last week en route to a 42-24 shellacking of the Bombers in Winnipeg, a score that flattered the Bombers. Now, Winnipeg is trying to decide if Kevin Glenn or Ryan Dinwiddie is the No. 1 quarterback. B.C. could put a nail in Winnipeg’s coffin after just four weeks. All they have to do is use Geroy Simon and Jason Clermont the way they used them last week.

Pick: B.C.

Montreal Alouettes (2-1) at Saskatchewan Roughriders (3-0)

Saturday, 6 p.m. CT, TSN

Nobdy thought Saskatchewan would be the best team in the CFL after Week 3, but then again everybody was focused on offence, not on defence. Even with No. 3 Derian Durant at quarterback, coach Ken Miller’s offence is good enough to score 30 points a game. The defence, meanwhile, is as good as the defence that won the 2007 Grey Cup. If they chase Calvillo around like Calgary did for three quarters last week, this one will be ugly.

Pick: Saskatchewan

Edmonton Eskimos (2-1) at Toronto Argonauts (1-2)

Sunday, 3 p.m. CT, TSN

We’ll find out this week if Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray is for real. In other words, if Ray can continue to get the ball into the end zone. Ray has been absolutely outstanding for the past two weeks and when you throw in the amazing play of 22-year-old defensive back/kick returner Tristan Jackson last week, you’ll find a team that can score from anywhere at any time. However, one wonders if the Argos haven’t figured out their quarterbacking mess. If they have, Toronto will be tough at home. If they haven’t, they’ll get their butts handed to them for the second straight week.

Pick: Toronto

Last Week: 2-2

Season: 2-2

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