Riders vs. Eskimos IV

Since this is the fourth time this season that the Riders are playing the Eskimos, I'm running out of good material faster than Rita MacNeil's seamstress. So I decided to write a poem about the green and gold...

Ode to the Edmonton Eskimos
A once great team that now really blows
I'll talk about the offense to start the day
Simply put they have none without Ricky Ray
TD's from a running back? They have just 1
And their top receiver is Kamau Incompleterson
A defensive stand just isn't in the cards
Since they are the 2nd worst team in terms of giving up yards
Not to be outdone their special teams is equally as skilled
Allowing 5 blocked kicks and 5 TDs, they're just getting killed
Let's not forget Sean Fleming, kicker extraordinaire
He's missed more FGs than anyone, even that Bomber with bad hair
Finally there's Maccioccia, to say the least he's not great
The Esks would be better off if they auto-picked plays from Madden '08
Tomorrow the Riders will end their playoff hopes once and for all
And so I have to ask "Whose fault is it now Bryan Hall?"

News form around the CFL...
Yesterday the team nominees for year end awards were announced. Looking down the list there are more than a few names that are there purely because "none of the above" wasn't an option when voting. For example: Shannon James, Scott Flory and any Eskimo not named Ray. Although I'm kinda sad that Jamie "The Juggernaut" Boreham didn't get nominated, I still think the Riders have a solid bunch of nominees and wish them the best of luck.

By the way, remember Monday when I said that Nick Setta should be the Hamilton nominee for MVP, Rookie and Special Teams? Well 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Besides I still contend that Setta is their MVP. He has scored 58% of all Hamilton points this year (by comparison Congi has a meager 33% of our points). You know the football situation in your town is in bad shape when being a kicker actually improves your chances of scoring.

The Bombers, desperate for a kicker who doesn't suck, tried to convince Mike Vanderjagt to play for them this week. This fell through pretty quickly as Vanderjagt apparently wanted $200,000. The kicking situation is so bad that Winnipeg has reportedly contacted all the Kick for a Million contestants for a tryout. Sources also say that the Bombers are interested in AJ Gass since he showed a strong leg when he kicked Brock Ralph last year.

The Sean Millington comeback story just keeps getting better. Apparently he failed his physical so the Argos have sent him packing. To make matters worse for Millington, CBC has already filled his old job so he can't go back there either. Man, if all it takes to get rid a bad football commentator is a shot at a comeback, Winnipeg should do us all a favour and talk to Chris Walby. Maybe he can even kick.

Finally, my favorite story this week has to be Jim Popp. In an interview this week, he said confidently that he's not the problem in Montreal this season. Generally speaking, it's not a good idea for a head coach to blame his players and coaching staff without shouldering some of the blame. In Popp's defense though he may have a point, it's not the head coach's fault that his players suck and his coaching staff is incompetent. The person who should really shoulder the blame here is the guy that signed them all in the first place... the GM. Word is Popp intends to express his concerns to the GM but doesn't expect anything to come of it since the GM is kind of a prick.