Friday Round-Up: The Good, The Bad And the Just Plain Weird

It’s been a fairly steady week across the CFL and the stories have ranged from good news to bad news and from normal to downright weird.

The Good

-       The release of Ryan Dinwiddie of course! (Yes I am still happy about that)

-       The Riders signed OL Clint Oldenburg. He is an import tackle… I can only hope this will help spell the end of Dan Goodspeed. I would even settle for replacing our crappy, high paid import tackle for a crappy, low paid import tackle. Talent is just a bonus

-       The Riders also signed DL Boo Robinson. He instantly becomes my new favourite Rider. For those of you who don’t know, Media Consultant’s last name is Robinson and I think Boo is the best name ver for a Robinson. I plan on spending the 2012 season yelling “BOOOOOOOOOO Robinson!” … Sometimes I may even do it at the football field.

The Bad

-       Jerrell Freeman signing in Indy. We all knew this was coming but it still sucks to lose a player of his caliber. I actually think he has a good chance of sticking even if it’s just on a practice roster. So I guess if we were going to lose him, losing him to the NFL is easier to swallow. I wish him nothing but the best. Plus given how much Indy’s D sucks, you have to like his odds.

-       Dylan Barker being forced to retire. His back is so messed up that he decided to retire rather than try in vain to force out another season or 2 (ala Jesse Lumsden). It’s a sad story because Barker had tons of talent but now will never get the chance to prove it on the field. At least Barker was smart enough to have a solid back-up plan outside of football.

The Weird

-       Khalif Mitchell. Not sure if you managed to follow his story this off season but it almost boggles the mind. He was a free agent and worked out for a number of NFL teams this offseason. He so impressed the Miami Dolphins that they managed to come to a verbal agreement on a multi-year deal that reportedly included a $20,000 signing bonus and a total of $95,000 guaranteed (obviously with the potential to year tons more). So far things seem pretty good but this is where they start to turn. Mitchell managed to part ways with two separate agents and walk away from the Dolphins’ offer and then work out his own deal with the BC Lions of considerably less money. The whole thing shows about as much business sense as Kodak’s decision to not bother with the digital photography craze.

-       Argos newly hired OC Jon Himebauch leaves the Argos just weeks after signing with them to accept a job at Wake Forest. I totally understand the concept of someone wanting the hell out of Toronto (the place where sports careers go to die) but generally they at least wait to get there before figuring out it sucks.

CFL Ins and Outs

Edmonton

In: LB Derek Domino, OL Mitch Erickson, DB Michael Ricks (free agent signing)

Out: WR Jason Armstead, DL Joe Sykes, DB Jykine Bradley, OL Chris Patrick (released)

By now this is becoming an annual event. Armstead gets cut prior to the season and will get re-signed midseason (most likely by Tillman… again). Now Armstead just needs to get into some kind of altercation with his girlfriend and the cycle will be complete.

Calgary

In: WR Chris Bauman, LB Jadon Wagner (free agent signing)

Hamilton

In: Casey Creehan (hired as DC)

Out: Dylan Barker (retired)

Montreal

In: OL Josh Bourke, WR Brandon London, DB Billy Parker, DB Marc-Olivier Brouillette (contract extension)

Out: DC Tim Tibesar (offered DC job at Purdue)

BC

In: OL Angus Reid (returning for 1 more season), DL Khalif Mitchell (contract extension)

Out: DB Tad Kornegay (released)

Winnipeg

In: RB Chad Simpson (free agent signing)

Out: Casey Creehan (offered DC in Hamilton)