Tag Archives: Winnipeg

No Fluke: CFL’s Two Best Teams Meet in the Grey Cup

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

At 3 p.m. on Monday afternoon, the B.C. Lions were installed as 7-point favorites. By 6 p.m., the Lions were favored by 7.5.

Travis Lulay1 300x226 No Fluke: CFL’s Two Best Teams Meet in the Grey Cup

Travis Lulay

The Canadian Football League must feel like it won a lottery this season. Not only will it have a hometown team in its 99th Grey Cup game but even the visitor is the right visitor.

It will be the Eastern Conference champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers against the Western Conference champion B.C. Lions in the 2011 Grey Cup game this coming Sunday night at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver.

This past Sunday, in front of 30,000 spectators at the final game ever played at Canad Inns Stadium, Bombers runningback Chris Garrett rushed for 190 yards and a touchdown while the Swaggerville defense shut down Kevin Glenn and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as the Bombers whipped the Ticats 19-3 in the Eastern final. Winnipeg will play in its third Grey Cup game since 2001.

Meanwhile, out on the West Coast Travis Lulay threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a 61-yard major as the B.C. Lions drilled the Edmonton Eskimos 40-23. Geroy Simon caught six passes for 106 yards and a touchdown as the Lions will get to play at home in next Sunday’s Grey Cup game. The big game goes at 5:30 CST live on TSN.

That’s the news. Here’s the story: The two best teams without argument will meet in the biggest game of the year. This will not be the 1981 Grey Cup when the 5-11 Ottawa Rough Riders won the East. This will not be the 1988 Grey Cup when the 9-9 Bombers beat the 10-8 Lions in a battle of third-place teams. This will not be the 2001 Grey Cup when an 8-10 Calgary Stampeders team beat the 14-4 Winnipeg Blue Bombers because Marcus Crandell suddenly figured out how to play football on the same day that Khari Jones forgot (Does anyone remember the Most Outstanding Canadian in the Cup that year? I don’t think Aldi Henry’s family remember either.)

This year the first place team in the East will meet the first-place team in the West in a battle that will absolutely determine the champion of the Canadian Football League.

There was no fluke on Sunday. The Bombers earned first place in the East by beating Montreal and Hamilton in the regular season and by fighting off injuries and a 3-7 slump down the stretch. They turned to the best defence in the CFL and got the job done in one of the most complete games the Bombers played all year against a quarterback who is, arguably, the most inconsistent starting QB in CFL history. Nobody has ever been more “.500” than Kevin Glenn. You can look it up. His epitaph will read: “9-9.”

Meanwhile, out west, the greatest coaching job in CFL history was rewarded when the Lions drilled the Edmonton Eskimos on Sunday. This was a team that started 0-5 and didn’t look like it could beat the Sisters of the Poor. Then, because of Wally Buono’s loyalty to Travis Lulay, got its act together and blew away all challengers, going 11-2 down the stretch: Twelve and two if you count Sunday’s thrashing of the overmatched Eskimos.

So now it’s Grey Cup Week and here’s a quick look at how these two “best teams,” stack up head-to-head.

The 2011 Record: If you’d put money down on the Lions and Bombers on a futures bet in Vegas back in the spring, you’d have been setting up a college trust fund for your kids. The Lions were +825 to win the Cup while the Bombers were +1700. The Bombers were +1200 to make the playoffs. While the odds for Sunday’s game have yet to be set, it’s likely B.C. will be a heavy favorite, even though Winnipeg won the season series. The Bombers beat the Lions 25-20 in Winnipeg on July 28 as Alex Brink came off the bench and led the Bombers to a late game-winning touchdown. Then, Winnipeg went into B.C. and beat the Lions 30-17 on Aug. 13. However, that changed the Lions completely. B.C. went on to rip off eight consecutive victories while, the Bombers seemingly fell apart after that game, going 3-7 down the stretch and finishing the year 3-5 against the West. 11-8 Winnipeg was 5-4 on the road while 12-7 B.C. was 7-3 at home (counting Sunday’s games). Oh, and here’s one thing to remember: It’s very difficult to beat an evenly matched opponent three times in one season.

Buck Pierce 2 200x300 No Fluke: CFL’s Two Best Teams Meet in the Grey Cup

Buck Pierce (Photo by Shawn Coates)

Offense: B.C. ‘s Travis Lulay was the No. 2 quarterback in the league with 4,815 passing yards. Geroy Simon was the No. 2 receiver with 1,350 yards. Buck Pierce, meanwhile, was seventh with 3,348 and Alex Brink was 11th with 1,023. Winnipeg’s leading receiver, Terrence Edwards was seventh with 1,124. B.C. won’t run the football much, but Winnipeg got a real boost from runningback Chris Garrett who carried for 190 yards against Hamilton on Sunday. He’ll be hard to stop. B.C. scored 551 points counting Sunday’s playoff game while Winnipeg scored 451 counting Sunday’s game – afull 100 points fewer. This Grey Cup game will be about Winnipeg’s defense and B.C.’s offense and you know what they say about defense and winning championships. Advantage: B.C.

Jovon Johnson 21 200x300 No Fluke: CFL’s Two Best Teams Meet in the Grey Cup

Jovon Johnson (Photo by Shawn Coates)

Defense: The Lions’ led the CFL by allowing the fewest points (21.4 per game), touchdowns (32) and touchdown passes (20). Meanwhile, they were second overall in sacks (54), in rushing yards allowed (95.9), in passing yards allowed (249.1) and in total yards allowed (318 per game). On Sunday, B.C. forced four turnovers (three interceptions and one fumble) and its offence converted that good fortune into 21 points. Solomon Elimimian was probably the best all-around defensive player in the CFL. However, in fairness, he Bombers were just as good this season. Winnipeg finished the regular season leading the CFL in fewest yards allowed (301.1 per game), most interceptions (25), fewest completions (320) and most sacks (55). Bombers corner Jovon Johnson, perhaps the best all-around football player in the Canadian game, is a finalist for the league’s top defensive player after recording  a CFL-leading eight interceptions, returning two for TDs. Defense should be a toss-up, but somehow, I’d rather have Swaggerville on my side than a Lions defense that gave up 23 points to the Eskimos on Sunday. Advantage: Winnipeg.

lions No Fluke: CFL’s Two Best Teams Meet in the Grey Cup

Solomon Elimimian

Special Teams: B.C.’s defensive star is Andrew Bighill, who was fourth in the CFL with 21 special teams tackles. Rookie Henoc Muamba is the man to watch for the Bombers. He had 15 tackles. B.C.’s Tim Brown had 1,569 return yards this year. Kicker Paul McCallum scored 203 kicking points and averaged 42.1 yards punting this season. For Winnipeg, Jovon Johnson had 795 return yards while punter Jamie Boreham averaged 40.7 yards per punt. Three Bonber kickers combined for 174 kicking points this season. Advantage: B.C.

Doug Brown 2 200x300 No Fluke: CFL’s Two Best Teams Meet in the Grey Cup

Doug Brown (Photo by Shawn Coates)

Intangibles: The last time these two teams met in the Grey Cup, in 1988, Winnipeg’s defense won the game almost singlehandedly, 22-21. Veteran defensive star Doug Brown will be playing his last game for the Bombers and that should be significant considering he’s never won a Grey Cup while Lions star Brent Johnson will also be playing his final game. The Lions will try to become the the first CFL team to win the Grey Cup in their own ballyard since they did it at B.C. Place in 1994, beating Baltimore 26-23 on Lui Passaglia’s last-second field goal. The Bombers haven’t won a Grey Cup in 21 years. B.C. tailback Andrew Harris is a Winnipegger. Buck Pierce returns to B.C. where he started his CFL career in 2005. However, the Lions are at home and that’s huge. I like the Lions intangibles better than the Bombers intangibles. Advantage: B.C.

Coaching: With the exception of Bombers defensive coordinator Tim Burke, I’d take the Lions staff over the Bombers staff any day. The Lions got better as the season went along while the Bombers got worse. And offensively, Paul LaPolice and Jamie Barresi aren’t even in the same league as Wally Buono and Jacques Chapdelaine. Advantage: B.C.

Outcome: The Lions win 28-23

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Will It Be Good Kevin or Bad Kevin? Expect Bad Kevin.

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
Kevin Glenn 229x300 Will It Be Good Kevin or Bad Kevin? Expect Bad Kevin.

Kevin Glenn

This Sunday at Canad Inns Stadium, Kevin Glenn returns to Winnipeg — again — with the Eastern Conference championship on the line.

According to the Hamilton Spectator, this is a big game for Glenn and there is “revenge” at stake. Huh? Evidently, because Glenn was released by Winnipeg three years ago — that’s THREE years ago — and while Hamilton has played Winnipeg at least three times every season since then, this is suddenly the biggest of all big games to Glenn and his apologists.

Seems the one-trick ponies in the mainstream news media still need reasons to rip Mike Kelly so they pulled this old nut out of the bag: The “Mike Kelly was a bad coach because he released Kevin Glenn.” line of baloney.

And believe me, it IS a line of baloney.

First of all, Bombers president Lyle Bauer had as much to do with the release of Glenn as Kelly did because Bauer had already made it known that he had no desire to pay Glenn his bonus for showing up to camp in 2009.

mike kelly3 300x209 Will It Be Good Kevin or Bad Kevin? Expect Bad Kevin.

Mike Kelly in happier times.

Secondly, why wouldn’t a smart president, GM and head coach want to release Glenn? In Winnipeg, he was a .500 quarterback. Since leaving Winnipeg the most inconsistent QB in recent CFL history has guided his Hamilton Tiger-Cats to records of 9-9, 9-9- and 8-10. The fact he helped his team beat an aging Montreal Alouettes team with one of the worst defences in the CFL in the Eastern semifinal in order to get to Winnipeg this week is no reason to believe that Glenn will be any good this Sunday. Chances are very good he’ll do what he does best: Throw interceptions with the game on the line.

This Sunday afternoon, in front of a full house at Canada Inns Stadium, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will play host to Kevin Glenn and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Bombers are 3.5-point favorites for a a number of reasons: No. 1, the Bombers beat Hamilton three times in three meetings this season, No. 2, the Bombers defence will eat Kevin Glenn alive and No. 3, the Bombers will likely have Buck Pierce at quarterback, a guy who, when he’s healthy, is twice the quarterback Glenn was in Winnipeg or is in Hamilton.

If the mainstream media wants to continue to rip Kelly, rip him for not getting a shot at Pierce while he was the coach. Do not rip him for releasing Glenn. Glenn isn’t a .500 quarterback in Hamilton. There is no reason to believe he’ll beat Winnipeg this week no matter what level of “revenge” is at stake.

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From 0-82 to 79-3. That’s What a Win Will Do.

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
129498463 slide 248x300 From 0 82 to 79 3. Thats What a Win Will Do.

Isn't Winning Great?

Funny how all the gnashing of teeth stops when a hockey team wins a game. Especially a game that’s as well-played as the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night.

Perhaps even more important than the win itself is the fact that the Jets will NOT go 0-82 this season. That victory over Pittsburgh, as early in the year as it was , was a huge win for a team that just didn’t play particularly well through its first three games.

Just to re-cap:  The Jets Kyle Wellwood tied an Atlanta Thrashers franchise record with a goal eight seconds after the opening faceoff and then Tanner Glass made it 2-0 before the end of the first period as the Jets held on to beat the Penguins 2-1 at MTS Centre on Monday night.

It was the Jets first win of the season in front of another inspirational crowd and, in the end, the key to the victory was goalie Ondrej Pavelec. He made 28 saves and many of them were outstanding. Clearly the first star of the game and the hero of the night.

Now, the Jets are 1-3 early in their inaugural season and there is less gloom in River City today than there was on Sunday morning — that, of course, was the proverbial cold light of dawn after the Jets were drilled 4-1 in Phoenix on Saturday night.

So here are 10 observations from the first Jets win:

1. The crowd is remarkable and I’m still not buying into “the Jets were nervous,” argument that was made after their 5-1 loss to Montreal in the season opener. That’s hooey. If you can’t play well in front of that crowd, you can’t play well. Those people will love you no matter what and if guys making millions try to use the nervous excuse — I mean really, c’mon man! — they should all find another line of work. These are guys who didn’t like playing in Atlanta because there wasn’t anyone there. Nerves cannot be used as an excuse at any level of hockey and especially at an event that is now known as “The Love-In at the MTS Centre.”

2. Just to keep Monday’s win in perspective, the Penguins played without Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy, Brooks Orpik and Evgeni Malkin. Around the Jets net and even in the Jets zone, you noticed the absence of Crosby and Malkin.

129499108 slide From 0 82 to 79 3. Thats What a Win Will Do.

Ondrej Pavelec

3. Goalies are interesting people. Pavelec was so marginal against Montreal and Chicago and yet so wonderful on Monday night against Pittsburgh. I don’t even think full-time goalie coaches can really figure out goalies.

4. Mark Scheifele played a little more than seven minutes. Send him to junior. If he’ not a Top 6 forward he’s just wasting his time in the NHL. He won’t get better. He needs a year of 20 minutes a game in junior with 150 points, a spot on the World Junior Team and a trip to the OHL playoffs. He’s NOT a fourth-line player and won’t improve by watching.

5. The Jets defence was much better on Monday. It was, perhaps, their best group performance of the season. They still have a tendency to take chances and turn the puck over in the neutral zone too often, but Monday night’s effort was better.

6. Claude Noel looks like a deer caught in the headlights. That’s not to say he can’t coach. He just looks like that.

7. Kris Letang’s hit on Alexander Burmistrov was a cheap shot and should result in a meeting with Brendan Shanahan, Czar of the NHL’s Discipline Division (This just in: Letang is having a hearing Tuesday).

8. By the way, in the pre-season a lot of folks around the MTS Centre said they weren’t impressed with Burmistrov or Nik Antropov. Now that the season has started, Burmistrov and Antropov have been two of the Jets top three or four players. Perhaps they were the only ones who actually knew that pre-season is freakin’ practice!

9.  When the Jets attack the net, they get plenty of really solid scoring chances. That goes without saying. So why did they refuse to do that in Phoenix on Saturday? Were they nervous? If this team remembers to avoid playing perimeter hockey, it will score a lot of goals and win a lot of games.

10. The Jets generate a great deal of offence from the point. Zach Bogosian played 22 minutes and 59 seconds and led the team with six shots. Dustin Byfuglien played more than any other Jet except Tobias Entsrom — 24:14 to 26:33 — and yet Byfuglien had five shots. I don’t know if that means anything, but when you have 34 shots on goals and two defensemen generate 11 of them, it’s certainly a topic of conversation.

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An Invitation to Jets Fans

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

My 28-year-old daughter, Betsy, who lives in Orlando, posted this on her Facebook page early Friday evening:

“So Winnipeggers, tickets to the Jets vs. Lightning game in Tampa start at $4.95. Who’s coming with me, Oct, 29th???!!!”

Actually, since Betsy posted her invitation, cheaper seats have appeared on Stub Hub. As of Saturday morning, there was a pair available to the Jets-Lightning game for $4 each. Another pair for $4.50 each. There was even an instant download for a group of eight for $7 each. In other words, you’d have eight tickets downloaded in your hands for $56. That’s nuts.

Here are some of the ladies who have committed:

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Magic fans off to see the Jets.

Just as an aside, I’d go anywhere with them and in this case, I’ve even been given permission.

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Betsy and Becky getting ready to watch the Jets -- for, like, free.

Later in the evening, Betsy added this to her post: “I’ll be buying tickets on Sunday. So I’ll buy as many as we need, I’ll probably go a little more expensive and closer to the action….. Might be $9 lol.”

LOL is right. If you bought a scalper’s ticket to the Jets opener in Winnipeg last Sunday, you probably paid considerably more than it would cost to buy a plane ticket to Orlando, spend a few days at Disney World, rent a car, drive the hour to the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, watch the Jets there for $4 and then fly home.

In fact, on Thursday, Oct. 20, the Lightning play the New York Islanders in Tampa. Tickets on Stub Hub start at $3 lol. Think about that. You can watch two of the greatest young players in the game — John Tavares and Steven Stamkos — play against each other for $3. What? Is it 1970?

The NHL can say what it likes about the Sun Belt experiment, but Stub Hub doesn’t lie. People in the southern markets don’t care about hockey and when you can get a regular season ticket on the secondary market for $4.95 (and it doesn’t matter who the opponent is), it’s time to start moving these teams to Halifax, Quebec City, Kitchener, Regina and even the Kootenays. Or hell, even Kansas City where they have a great new rink, or Omaha where they have a solid college team a good junior club.

Betsy Jets 223x300 An Invitation to Jets Fans

Betsy and her RCS Jets hoodie.

If you’re in a position to watch a great team like the Tampa Bay Lightning — Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis, Victor Hedman — for $4.95, then you live in a city that hates hockey, will never like hockey and won’t miss it when it’s gone. Because if you don’t like this Tampa Bay Lightning team right now, you obviously hate the game.

Meanwhile, Betsy will look great at the game in her Winnipeg Jets hoodie, purchased right here in Winnipeg from our friends at River City Sports.

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Oct. 9, 2011: Happy Days Are Here Again

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
1 300x221 Oct. 9, 2011: Happy Days Are Here Again

MTS Centre

WINNIPEG — Outside MTS Centre, people were carrying signs and chanting loudly. Some were angry, most were thrilled and others were just soaking up the atmosphere.

This, of course, was no protest march. Most of the signs, carried by the angry and disappointed, read, ”I need tickets.” Most of the other folks gathered along Portage Ave. were either getting set to head inside the building or finished the eight-block trek to the Forks to celebrate.

After an absence of 15 years, the Winnipeg Jets were back and the City of Winnipeg was at a fever pitch. On Oct. 9, 2011, the Jets faced the Montreal Canadiens and, on the edge of the Canadian prairie, all was right with the world.

“Scott, you were there. When we lost the Jets, it was like someone smashed their fist right through your rib cage, and while you were still conscious, pulled out your heart,” said Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz, the morning of the first game. “Now you can’t find words that can actually describe the feelings of Winnipeggers.”

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Opening Night

When the new Winnipeg Jets stepped on the ice to warm-up, about half of the 15,004 who would eventually be in attendance, rose to scream their delight. A sign read, “Our Jets Will Fly Again Tonight,” and no one worried that it might block someone’s view.

It was time to stand up anyway.

“I had to come to Winnipeg and be a part of this,” said former Jets captain Keith Tkachuk. “The place is crazy. It’s wonderful isn’t it? It’s just so exciting to be a part of it.”

In a rink where “original” Jets jerseys outnumbered the new jerseys 2-1, it was indeed “wonderful.” For 15 years, this hockey-mad town had endured, ignored and eventually embraced the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose. Now they had their beloved Jets back and nothing could spoil it. If you didn’t have a ticket to the game, you still had a Social with Blue Rodeo at the Convention Centre or a free party at The Forks.

As one wag said: “In Winnipeg, you can get 70,000 people at the Forks and even if the Jets lose, everyone will just say, ‘That was great!’ In Vancouver, you get 70,000 people downtown for a hockey game and they’ll burn the city down. That’s Winnipeg. That’s the Jets.”

“So improbable is their return that I’m still convinced it hasn’t happened,” Winnipeg film maker Guy Maddin told the New York Times, He also told the Times that he “likened the Jets’ story to ‘ghostly returns in ancient texts’ like Ulysses’ journey in the Odyssey and the shade of Hamlet’s father strolling the parapet.”

Well, it wasn’t quite that historic, but it was still a pretty big deal. It seemed that throughout the afternoon and early evening, the crowd – a very young crowd, by the way — did not need a reason to scream “Go! Jets! Go!”

The introduction of the players was a Love-In. Even the introduction of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, the man everyone loves to hate, was greeted with only a smattering of boos. In fact, most people cheered Bettman’s arrival.

Jim Cuddy from Blue Rodeo along with Winnipeg’s own Chantal Kreviazuk, accompanied by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s brass and percussion sections, sang the national anthem, although they were, more often than not, drowned out by the crowd.

Winnipeggers wanted to celebrate and, on this day, the two Canadian musical stars were more like choir leaders than lead singers. As one sign read, “The Boys are Back in Town,” and it seemed everyone wanted to sing as loudly and as patriotically as possible.

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Rookie Sensation Mark Scheifele

Of course, it would be fair to say the return of the Jets meant as much to Canada as it did to the City of Winnipeg. It was, in many ways, a sign that the nation’s economy is now so strong that the NHL’s still-failing experiment to force hockey onto the people of the U.S. Sun Belt, was dying – and dying a lot faster than anyone could have imagined 15 years earlier. In Canada, we care about the game. South of the Mason-Dixon line? Well, not so much.

Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper was so excited about the Jets return that he requested 14 tickets. Jets Chairman and Governor Mark Chipman had only two spare seats.

“On behalf of the government of Canada, I extend my best wishes to the Winnipeg Jets for a triumphant return to the NHL,” Harper said in a written statement three days before the game.

Triumphant? No question about that.

Besides the Prime Minister, Tkachuk and Hawerchuk, Kreviazuk and Cuddy and even Canadian baseball stars Corey Koskie and Justin Morneau, Dancing Gabe was in the house. If Dancing Gabe has a place to strut his stuff then all is right with the world.

Meanwhile, the game itself seemed somewhat secondary to the simple act of just being in the MTS Centre to watch the Winnipeg Jets play in the NHL.

The Jets started strongly enough, but then Johnny Oduya handed the puck to the Canadiens Michael Cammalleri who walked in and drifted a bullet past Jets goalie Onrdrej Pavelec and it all went downhill from there. The Jets made a game of it early in the third period, but Montreal posted a lopsided 5-1 victory.

Regardless, Jets fans didn’t appear to care one bit. Most fans hung around until the bitter end and for the final minute stood and cheered their new heroes. It would be fair to say nobody even noticed the scoreboard.

The NHL was back. That’s what Winnipeg cared about. The world of major North American professional sports, after a 15-year absence, had once again welcomed a city of 700,000 on the edge of the Canadian prairie to participate in their games and for the time-being, at least, that’s all that mattered.

For the record: 1) Jim Slater took the first penalty for the new Jets at 8:35 of the first period. It was two minutes for holding. 2) The first Jets goal was scored at 2:27 of the third period by Nik Antropov, from Mark Stuart and Alexander Burmistrov. And yes, the building erupted.

Still, those were just numbers and on this evening, the evening of Oct. 9, 2011, the numbers didn’t have as much relevance as “The Feeling.” It felt good to be part of the NHL again. It felt good to have the hockey world notice us again. It just felt good.

The Jets were back. Winnipeg was back. And yes, happy days are here again.

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What a Nice Day

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

It is the opening night of the 2011-12 National Hockey League season.

We aren’t certain that anyone noticed, but it reached 29 degrees C. here in Winnipeg today.

It reached 27 degrees C. in Atlanta.

Don’t know if that means a whole lot because we all know it will be colder than a hooker’s heart in January.

But for today, we Winnipeggers can rest secure in the knowledge that (1) on the opening day of the new NHL season, it was warmer in Winnipeg than it was in Atlanta, (2) that the former Atlanta players like our city’s fans and our golf courses and  (3) we all hope Ilya Bryzgalov has a nice, warm season in Philadelphia.

Enjoy tonight’s party at the Forks, kids.

 

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Chaos, Mayhem Best Describe Finish of Bombers-Als Fiasco

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

The Montreal Alouettes defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 32-26 at Canad Inns Stadium on Friday night. In the end, the officials had nothing to do with the final score.

*   *   *

alex brink1 212x300 Chaos, Mayhem Best Describe Finish of Bombers Als Fiasco

Alex Brink of the Bombers

Let me preface this by saying I have absolutely no use for Canadian Football League referee Al Bradbury’s crew. For full disclosure, this bunch has been the only crew I’ve rated a “Slug” in my weekly CFL Stars and Slugs column at www.fantrax.com.

These were the donkeys who let this year’s Winnipeg-Saskatchewan Labor Day Classic get out of hand at the end, resulting in penalties and disqualifications that simply made the CFL look foolish.

So imagine my thrill when they showed up in Winnipeg on Friday to call the Bombers-Als game. You knew it would get stupid and just as if a call had been made to the crew on the field (“Hey boys, it’s the Commish, time to screw it up, now.”), it did.

It all started with 14 seconds left on the clock when Bombers quarterback Alex Brink threw a desperation pass to no one in the end zone on third-and-10. That should have ended the game right there and while 30,000 Winnipeg fans would have gone home disappointed, the league would not have looked bush.

But it did. That’s because for some inexplicable reason a pass interference call was made against Montreal defensive back Greg Laybourn for getting karate chopped and held by Bombers receiver Greg Carr. If there was interference on the play — which every replay clearly showed there was not — it should have gone against Carr, but because Bradbury’s crew tends to become visually impaired near the end of the game, a flag was thrown and pass interference in the end zone was called against Laybourn.

Now remember, the ball was thrown 20 yards away from Carr. One might have come to the conclusion that he was the intended receiver, but the fact is, the ball was thrown away while Carr beat on Laybourn at the goal line. However, Carr, who would be a prize winner at the Academy of Broadcasting’s acting class, just fell down and out came the flag. At the time the flag was thrown I called it, “The worst call in CFL history,” but that’s probably overstating it. There have been so many bad calls in the CFL, that it was really just another night at the ballyard.

Meanwhile, back at the stadium, the Bombers now had first-and-goal from the one with eight seconds left. On the first play it appeared as if Brink had bulled his way over the goal line but no signal was given, the officials said “no touchdown” so when they checked replay there was no clear evidence to change the call. That left second and goal from the one with five seconds left. Now, remember, the first play took three seconds. The second play, a carbon copy of the first play apparently took five seconds.

Clearly, Brink didn’t get in on second down, but even on replay, when TSN gave us a whistle-to-whistle look, it took only four seconds to run the play. There should have been time for one more play from the one.

But no, Bradbury says “clock is correct,” Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice argues, nobody listens, game over.

Now, frankly, this game should never have reached the point of bush-league fiasco at the end. There was no interference on Laybourn. Period. But in an inadvertent effort to make the CFL look bad again, the Bradbury Crew found a way to screw things up. The only thing that didn’t make the league look completely stupid was the fact the phantom pass interference call didn’t change the outcome of the game.

You know, the football played in the CFL, even by backups (see: Winnipeg Blue Bombers), is pretty good. Too bad the league hasn’t been able to find officiating crews on a par with the players.

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Goldeyes Now Into Run to the Playoffs

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It’s been a great summer here in Winnipeg. The Bombers are 6-1 and the 50-36 Winnipeg Goldeyes, with 14 games to play, are now in the thick of the playoff race in baseball’s American Association.

zach baldwin1 200x300 Goldeyes Now Into Run to the Playoffs

Zach Baldwin: Huge Start Sunday

There are three playoff spots up for grabs and four — maybe even five — teams with a legitimate shot at those three spots. The South Division champions from Grand Prairie, Tex., are through to the post-season and already coasting, but in the North and Central Divisions, there is a real race coming down to the wire.

Winnipeg is 50-36, two games ahead of 48-38 St. Paul in the North thanks to a tremendous start on Sunday by lefty Zach Baldwin. The Goldeyes beat Wichita 4-2 to salvage the final game of a three-game series at Shaw Park and Baldwin’s mastery played a significant role in the outcome. Meanwhile, Gary is 49-37, two games up on 47-39 Wichita. And one probably can’t count out Sioux City, who just happen to be 45-41 in the Central and are now only four back of Gary, two behind Wichita and three behind St. Paul.

However, with a full five-game lead over Sioux City, if the Goldeyes and let the Explorers catch them, both teams will probably miss the post-season with only 14 to go.

Tonight (Monday, Aug. 15), the Goldeyes will open a three-game series with St. Paul. If the Fish win it, they’ll just about bury the Saints with only 11 games left. It’s a huge series.

In fact, all four teams in the thick of the race have a handful of huge series to finish the season. Here are the schedules of the four teams that are really chasing the final three spots:

the park 300x225 Goldeyes Now Into Run to the Playoffs

Winnipeg's Shaw Park

WINNIPEG

August 15 vs. St. Paul

August 16 vs. St. Paul

August 17 vs. St. Paul

August 19 at Lincoln

August 20 at Lincoln

August 21 at Lincoln

August 23 vs. Fargo

August 24 vs. Fargo

August 25 vs. Fargo

August 26 vs. Fargo

August 27 at Sioux Falls

August 28 at Sioux Falls

August 29 at Sioux Falls

August 30 at Sioux Falls

min6 300x225 Goldeyes Now Into Run to the Playoffs

St. Paul's Midway Stadium

ST. PAUL

August 15 at Winnipeg

August 16 at Winnipeg

August 17 at Winnipeg

August 19 vs. Fargo

August 20 vs. Fargo

August 21 vs. Fargo

August 23 vs. Sioux City

August 24 vs. Sioux City

August 25 vs. Sioux City

August 26 vs. Sioux City

August 27 at Gary

August 28 at Gary

August 29 at Gary

August 30 at Gary

gary3 300x192 Goldeyes Now Into Run to the Playoffs

Gary's U.S. Steel Yard

GARY

August 15 vs. Shreveport

August 16 vs. Shreveport

August 17 vs. Shreveport

August 19 at Wichita

August 20 at Wichita

August 21 at Wichita

August 23 vs. Lincoln

August 24 vs. Lincoln

August 25 vs. Lincoln

August 26 vs. Lincoln

August 27 vs. St. Paul

August 28 vs. St. Paul

August 29 vs. St. Paul

August 30 vs. St. Paul

wichita8 300x225 Goldeyes Now Into Run to the Playoffs

Wichita's Lawrence-Dumont Stadium

WICHITA

August 16 vs. Kansas City

August 17 vs. Kansas City

August 18 vs. Kansas City

August 19 vs. Gary

August 20 vs. Gary

August 21 vs. Gary

August 23 vs. Gary

August 24 vs. Amarillo

August 25 vs. Amarillo

August 26 vs. Amarillo

August 27 at El Paso

August 28 at El Paso

August 29 at El Paso

August 30 at El Paso

It is going to be a tremendous race to the finish and the only way in which to guarantee yourself a spot is to just keep winning. Wichita probably has the easiest schedule while Gary has the toughest. Winnipeg plays seven of their last 11 on the road and that won’t be a walk in the sunshine.

It’s going to be fun. See you at the ballpark.

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Things That Make Me Smile

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

James Reimer came up to the Shaw TV booth on Friday night during our telecast of the Goldeyes and Sioux Falls.

The Toronto Maple Leafs netminder is one of those terrific young men you just cheer for. Even if you hate the damn Leafs, you can’t help but want the best for a happy, respectful, intelligent Christian young man like Reimer.

He’s one of the people, places and things that made me smile this week. In fact, without getting too gushy, it’s really been a great week here in Winnipeg and a week that reminded me that life in the summer in this town is pretty darn nice.

Here’s a list of the things that made me smile this week. Visit me on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001559147071) and tell me the things that made you smile:

1) The Winnipeg Goldeyes were outstanding this week. It all started with a complete-game, two-hour-and-24-minute, eight-hit grinder by Ace Walker and finished with a complete-game, two-hour-and 39 minute, six-hit grinder by Ace Walker.

The Goldeyes won 7-2 in Fargo this past Sunday as Walker was terrific, and then they went into St. Paul and emerged as the No. 1 team in the American Association’s North Division. They won a doubleheader, 5-4 and 3-2 on Monday, won 6-1 on Tuesday and 10-4 on Wednesday to take a three-game lead in the race for first.

After losing 17-7 in their return to Winnipeg on Thursday, the Goldeyes rode Walker’s right arm — and the bats of Jon Weber and Brian Myrow — to an 18-1 shlellacking of a good hitting team from Sioux Falls. The Fish almost scored as many runs on Friday as the Bombers scored points on Thursday.

Sunday afternoon, Chris Salamida (7-1, 2.71 ERA) will face former Goldeyes starter Ben Moore (8-2, 2.40 ERA) of Sioux Falls in what should be one of the best pitching match-ups of the year. I’m smiling just thinking about it.

2) The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defense. They’re fast, aggressive, angry, swarming and opportunistic. The best in the CFL. This group reminds me of the late 80s-early 90s Bomber defenses with James West, Tyrone Jones, Paul Randolph, Mike Gray, Rod Hill, and the great Greg Battle.

Too bad the offense has to come out on the field, I could watch that defense all night.

3) Anthony Calvillo makes me smile. It’s amazing, but the guy had cancer last fall. He might be a better quarterback now than he was before the cancer was removed.

Friday night, he completed 29-of-43 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns as he became the career leader in touchdown passes in the CFL with 395.

Meanwhile, he led the Alouettes to a 40-17 drubbing of the Toronto Argonauts as Montreal improved to 3-0. We’re three games into the 2011 season and a guy who has come back from cancer surgery is already on pace to be the CFL’s player of the year.

4) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2 in IMAX 3D at Silver City Polo Park made me happy.

5) The end of the NFL lockout.

The news just gets better every day for NFL fans. My insiders tell me that an agreement between the owners and players is done and will be ratified this week. Free agency will start the Week of the 25th and training camps should open in early August. The Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, is preparing for its Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 7 as if there is no glitch in the schedule. The NFL itself has confirmed that no games — pre-season or otherwise have been cancelled.

I can’t wait. In the meantime, the more I learn about the deal, the wider my smile.

 

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With Any Offense At All, Bombers are 3-0. As it is….

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It was quite an interesting night at Canad Inns Stadium on Thursday night. Interesting in the same sense that a four-hour concert of Sub-Saharan African Music Traditions is interesting.

It was interesting, certainly, but just not particularly entertaining.

The Bombers were beaten 21-20 by the Calgary Stampeders on a sleepy night when the Bomber defense deserved a much better fate.

The Bombers held Smilin’ Hank Burris to just 183 yards passing (a pittance) and only 14 points, and yet the offense not only couldn’t score in a womens’ prison with a handful of pardons, it also gave up a pick six to Keon Raymond.

For the third straight week, the Bombers defense played as if it was the best unit in the CFL. And on Thursday night, they did it without rock-solid Alex Suber who was injured on the first play of the game.

The Bombers offense was downright dreadful on Thursday. This is a team that needs to head back to the drawing board. To make things worse, starting quarterback Buck Pierce was injured in the first half and while Joey Elliott played as well as anyone could ever have expected – coming off the bench against a very good Calgary defense – he was no match for a Stamps team that not only plays tough, it doesn’t give up very many yards.

In fairness to Elliott, he did give the Bombers a chance to win on the final series of downs, but Justin Palardy missed a tough 44-yard field goal against the wind and the Bombers were toast. A 21-20 loss is not a blowout and Winnipeg’s defense showed it could play with Smilin’ Hank and all of that Calgary speed, but Winnipeg’s Paul LaPolice-style offense is absolutely terrible. Dull, predictable – well, often not predictable because it does things on second down that no predictable coach would ever do (Why is it, when the Bombers have second and eight, they almost always throw a four-yard pass? Duh?) — the Bombers offense is weak, slow and stone-handed.

Right now, the Bombers are still in the midst of the easy part of their schedule. They go to 1-1 Toronto next Saturday afternoon, play 0-2 B.C. at home on Thursday the 28th, get Edmonton on Aug. 5 at home, then go to B.C. on the 13th and come back to face Hamilton on the 26th (after the bye week). They are definitely capable of winning all five of those games.

But unless the offense figures things out, they won’t have much left in the defensive tank once they have to go to Saskatchewan on Labour Day. You can’t win consistently  in professional football with only your defense and special teams playing up to snuff.

If this offense doesn’t play better soon, it could be a long season.

 

 

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