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The second last weekend of CFL football delivered one close match-up and one ass kicking. From big plays to questionable calls to scraps on the field,Sunday had everything... it even capped off with Bomber tears.
Let's start out East where the RedBlacks just embarrassed the Ti-Cats. Had it not been for Jonathan Rose and the brewhaha he caused, I likely would have tuned out much earlier. It's probably for the best that BC didn't make it to the East final because if the Ti-Cats beat the the Lions by 40 and then lost by 19 that would tell me the RedBlacks would have won by 59. Yay for math! Hamilton just had no answer defensively for the Ottawa offense. Hamilton let just vaunted offensive threats as Gillanders, Beaulieu and Dubois score. Game highlights for me included the aforementioned Rose being an absolute idiot (seriously how do you not at all pause in that situation and go "Should I push this striped guy over this pile?") Bonus points to Rod Black for doing something right for once and perfectly using the term donnybrook. The other highlight was Ottawa showing a fairly graphic chair shot on Ric Flair late in the game (not sure why TSN thought that was a good idea to show that). It led to a bunch of Wooo's from the crowd. That's some quality trolling.
In the West, I can't really by happy because f&*% the Stamps but I would be lying if I said that seeing Winnipeg's Grey Cup drought extend another year didn't make me feel good. Seriously, decades from now my grandkids will ask me if its true that the Bombers actually used to win Cups. By that point my memory will be long gone and I will honestly answer No. The Bombers played well but just could not stop Eric Rogers. The ultra conservative "don't make Nichols do anything" offense didn't work. He did so little in the playoffs that he might as well have been playing for the Riders' O. Mitchell did not play that good but he at least knew what the endzone was for. The highlight in that game was Dave Dickenson whining on the sidelines (you're shocked I'm sure) the quote seems to be "Why do all the flags thrown in front of Mike O'Shea? Because he's a bleeping Canadian" except he didn't say bleeping. Didn't want to offend any of my readers' sensitive ears. Tell us how you really feel Dave.
This all sets up an Ottawa Calgary Grey Cup where we all hope that Stampeders continue their choking Grey Cup ways.
Tomorrow I will be unveiling the nominees for Fans' Choice Douchebag of the Year award an opening voting. Who will you the fans choose to honour for their outstanding achievements in the the field of douchebaggery?
6 comments:
Of the 6 playoff teams, the 2 with the best QB's won. Pay attention Chris Jones. You have to go back a long way to find a mediocre QB leading his club to a Cup. Masoli was 0-8 this year vs Cal, Sask & Ottawa. Played well but not in big games. Same goes for Nichols. I don't see these guys taking their clubs to the big game. Here's To the Stamps coming up short again.
Good point... though the mess in Edmonton would show that a QB alone is not enough. Need a QB and a supporting cast
True. But Collaros was no better in Regina where the O-line played well tnan in Hamilton where the excuse was the O-line was crap. If the Riders had a good QB, that may have put them over the top. A good QB can't necessarily win with a bad team but a good team needs at least a decent QB to win & average teams can succeed with a good QB. I don't see the Riders winning if they don't get the QB position sorted. All of hem had more int's than td's. It's almost certain Jones doesn't want any of them back. Collaros only returns if he can't land a decent replacement. But he may have to do. I have a hard time believing Mitchell, Harris or Reilly lands in Regina.
Agree better QB play would put us over the edge. But I bet the sentiment is that while Collaros wasn't particularly good, he could have won us the WSF. So while we need better QB play, do we really believe it strongly enough to pony up the big $$ to land one?
Mitchell will be NFL or Calgary don't see him anywhere else. Harris and Reilly could move but I'm not sure we will be willing to pay what is costs to land them. We likely have to pay a bit more to convince them to move than their current teams would.
Would have been a different game on both sides of the ball if Collaros had played. The Bombers loaded up to stop the run & dared Bridge to throw. Would those receivers have gone uncovered if the Bombers had to defend the pass more? We like to think that Collaros would win because he had a 10-4 record. How many of those 10 wins were due to Collaros being the deciding factor? I think 4 of those games featured zero offensive TD's. The feeling is that BC, the Riders & Eskimos will be the strongest suitors for Reilly. Reilly & Mitchell both care more about their legacies than money. They'll get their money anyway. But, disregarding how much things will change with free agency this year, if you're Mitchell, Reilly & Harris your were all top 4 in offence & passing yards & you have Jorden, Rogers, Daniels etc or Walker, Mitchell & probably Zylstra's clone younger brother arriving next year or Ellingson, Sinopoli, Spencer to throw the ball to, why would you go to Regina. Under the CAP they're not going to give you a ton more money. With success, & 12 wins is that, you'll have your own free agents looking for raises. If you actually do want a serious shot at the big 3, I believe you have to go out & get a couple of known big play receivers to complement them. I don't know what the asking price is but I believe the Argos Green & Esks Walker are both in the $200K range so there's your target. I don't often agree with Pederson but I have to agree that Reilly will end up in BC or Edmonton for a lot of reasons & agree that Mitchell will be a Stamp. Haven't seen the free agent list yet but if Ottawa keeps Ellingson & Sinopoli, Harris likely stays there, although I think money talks with him. Jones has a lot of luck on getting guys on defence & there's a reason for that - you can make a name playing for him & up your value. On the other side, why would you not want to play for Dickenson, Elizondo or Maas? Yeah, Maas is a hothead but Reilly & Ray have nothing but praise for him. These coaches have great offences year after year. I think there is a very good chance of Collaros being back. But move on from Bridge & start to develop a young QB. We have yet to see Jones et all do that. Bridge arguably took a big step back but he was not allowed to do much.
I get the proven wr angle but the counter is that the Riders have 4 guys who all impressed in their rookie year. JWL was top 10 in receptions despite missing a game and playing in a terrible offense. Moore is a game changer. Evans lacked consistency but had close to 800 yards. That whole group coming back with a year of experience now has huge potential. Obviously a proven game changer is better than potential but I actually like our WR situation (assuming we find someone to throw them the ball)
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