Monday Morning Sentimonies: The More Things Stay The Same

It seems as though 2010 is set to start pretty much the same way 2009 started in the CFL… Montreal is good, BC is regressing, Edmonton is trying to address their awful defense, Winnipeg and Toronto are yet again looking for a head coach, the Riders don’t have many draft picks left and Eric Tillman is still dealing with legal troubles.

Since the CFL is doing it, I decided that I might as well turn back the clock as well and start 2010 like I did 2009 (mostly because its easier to do that then to put work into coming up with something better). And you know what that means… the likely not anticipated at all return of Random Quasi-Coherent Thoughts where I throw a bunch of words together in point form and pray that they are coherent enough to not to alienate my readers.

- Chris Getzlaf has agreed to a 2 year plus an option extension with the Riders. While this is good news for the Riders, it’s not like it was a big surprise. The odds of Getzlaf signing elsewhere were roughly equivalent to the odds of Roy Halladay spending next season with the Blue Jays. Getzlaf was born and raised here in Regina so it’s not like he was going anywhere. Much like previous contract negotiations with local residents such as Neal Hughes, Chris Szarka and Mike McCullough, it was probably concluded in less than 5 minutes and went something like this… “So Chris, you wanna keep playing here? Good, then sign here.”

- Richie Hall will assume the Defensive Coordinator duties for the Eskimos next season. While on the surface replacing Jim Daley with Richie Hall seems like a massive upgrade on the defensive side of the ball, I really don’t think much will change for the Esks. Given the heavy use of the Scott Gordon blitz I think it’s safe to assume that Hall was already heavily involved with the defensive calls this past season. Besides, even the best defensive coach couldn’t muster a credible defense with the limited talent Maciocia has given them to work with.

- After conducting a study on the matter, the Argos have determined that BMO Field is not capable of being used as a CFL venue as they had hoped. So I guess they are stuck in crappy old Skydome for the foreseeable future… with the worst GM in the league… and no coach… and a roster so devoid of talent that it makes the Lithuanian hockey team look good by comparison… talk about a tough time to be an Argo fan. Then again if there was ever a city that was used to really bad sports teams, it’s Toronto.

- Marc Trestman has signed a 3 year extension with the Alouettes. This was pretty much a no brainer. Trestman has led the Als to the Grey Cup in each of his 2 seasons on the job. About the only way he was going to end up leaving town is if he simultaneously insulted the Habs, poutine, Bonhomme Carnaval, Rock Voisine and announced that he would prefer it if people referred to the team as the Skylarks because the French translation is too sissy for his liking.

CFL Ins and Outs

Toronto

In: Andre Durie (re-signed)

I give Durie credit for his courage. Not many people would ink a 3 year extension with the worst team in the league fresh off the head coach being fired. That’s pretty courageous… not very smart mind you… but courageous nonetheless.

BC

In: Dean Valli (re-signed)

He sure did.

Edmonton

Out: John Comiskey (cut)

I’m thinking we should sign him. If history is any indication by the time training camp rolls around he will get “buyer’s remorse” and we’ll be able to trade him back to Edmonton for a 1^st round draft pick.