Monday Morning Sentimonies: The Dreaded Lull

As expected, last week's flurry of CFL activity has led to an inevitable lull this week. As such I present a series of Random Quasi-Coherent Thoughts

• Dave Ritchie is apparently meeting with the Riders today to discuss our vacant D Coordinator position. While I would love to have Ritchie on our team, the combination of him, Ken Miller and Alex Smith would give our coaching staff an average age that would put most nursing homes to shame. When reading next’s year’s annual statement expect an increase in operating expense that can be attributed to increased spending on Geritol, prune juice and seasons of Matlock on DVD.
• Richie Hall has offered Alex Smith a coaching job in Edmonton. Now before you all start volunteering to pay for his airfare, remember that our highly regarded linebackers are coached by… Alex Smith. While I admit his special teams blocking schemes show the imagination of a can of pickled beets, Smith is still a valued member of our coaching staff (is that statement as awkward to read as it was to write?).
• While many consider the CFL a “joke league”, a quick look around the sporting world shows that comparatively speaking we’re not that bad. I mean we could have the biting and Friday Night Sissy Fights of the NHL, the self inflicted gun wounds of the NFL or the contract offers larger than the GDP of most industrialized nations of the MLB.
• Word is Eric Tillman is poised to offer Kavis Reed a job as our DB coach. Eric Tillman has a very unique recruiting strategy… look for really crappy teams and swoop the few decent people they have. He started with Hamilton (Flick, Boreham, Justin, Smith) and has now moved in to Toronto (Miller, LaPolice, Morley, January, Mitchell). ET’s like the vulture of the CFL, he waits until he see’s a fellow creature in peril and then swoops in and picks off anything that might be useful to him.
• Speaking of coaches, the Oakland Raiders are interested in Marc Trestman for their vacant head coaching spot. Trestman was the offensive coordinator in Oakland during their last Super Bowl appearance… while you have to respect Trestman’s coaching ability after his success last season, I hope the Raiders do hire him… if for no other reason so that I no longer have to look at his creepy alien-like face.
• Tennessee Titans offensive coach Bart Andrus is now rumoured to be the front runner to be the Argos next head coach. Andrus (unlike pretty much all other potential candidates) seems to be interested in the position and the terms of the deal need to be reached. In laymen’s terms, that means Andrus knows he’s in a strong bargaining position and has informed the Argos they need to pay up.
• Was there a more disgraceful display this weekend than that of the Carolina Panthers? After watching Jake Delhomme utterly self destruct all I can say to Panther fans is I know your pain.
• In the least surprising news of the offseason, defensive beast Cam Wake is poised to jump to the NFL. In all, 12 teams have expressed interest with the Tennessee Titans offering the most lucrative deal to date (310K per season plus a signing bonus in excess of $500K). I think O-linemen from around the league will join in my rejoice at Wake’s eventual departure.
• Other CFLers trying their luck down south include Fred Stamps (Houston), Maurice Mann, and Jermaine McElveen (Tampa Bay). There is also rumoured to be interest in Brandon Browner, Sandro DeAngeles and Dominique Dorsey. The one thing all these names have in common… none of them are Riders!

CFL Ins and Outs

Winnipeg

In: Kelly Malveaux (re-signed)

Out: Anthony Malbrough (released)

I’m glad they are getting rid of one of them. Given how similar their names sound, it got hard to figure out which grossly overrated defensive back the commentators were referring to.

Toronto

Out: Kenny Wheaton (released)

The Argos released Wheaton only a few weeks after sending him a letter saying they would honour his 2009 contract… and yet they wonder why they are having so many problems finding people interested in working for their organization.