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

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.