Friday, October 26, 2007

CFL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK, WEEK SEVENTEEN

The CFL announced it's Rogers players of the week for week number seventeen of play in the 2007 season.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
CHARLES ROBERTS--RB--WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
Unanimous selection

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
CAMERON WAKE--DE--BC LIONS
Runner Up: Lance Frazier, Saskatchewan

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
IAN SMART--RB-BC LIONS
Unanimous selection

CANADIAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
KEVIN EIBEN --LB--TORONTO ARGONAUTS
Runner Up: Doug Brown, Winnipeg

Week Eighteen (October 26-27)

The final two weeks of the CFL regular season are upon us, as two desperate teams try to clinch that last berth in the east, Montreal and Edmonton both of which have been struggling down the stretch are battling it out for the third spot in the CFL east.

Montreal is seeking to hold off the Eskimo charge for a crossover berth, while the Eskimos are hoping to sneak in the back door and rescue a troubled season.

October 26-- BC 27 @ Hamilton 19
October 26-- Saskatchewan 36 @ Edmonton 29
October 27-- Winnipeg 8 @ Toronto 16
October 27-- Montreal 33 @ Calgary 32

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Chasing the crossover berth




The Eskimos are dangling at the edge of the CFL playoff ledge, with consecutive losses to the BC Lions over the last two weeks the Green and gold now rest their hopes for a playoff berth on the crossover rule.

Reducing their season to seeking out a combination of wins (and Alouette losses), in addition to points for and against that maybe, just maybe will salvage their season.

The Esks officially were eliminated from the Western Division chase, after dropping a 37-26 game to the BC Lions at BC Place stadium. In a highly entertaining affair, the Esks at least seem determined to give all they have in their tanks until they’re told that they can’t play anymore this season.

Forced to utilize their third string quarterback Steven Jyles, after Stefan LeFors was sent to the sidelines with a suspected concussion, the Esks made a game of things. With Jyles thrown into the fray the Eskimos refused to let up, even after the Lions put together an impressive first ten minutes of the second half to gain control of the back and forth match to that point.

In fact, heading into halftime the Lions were trailing the Esks as Jyles ran a one yard play into the end zone to give the Esks the temporary lead in the game. Whatever Wally Buono said to his players in the dressing room certainly resonated as the Lions charged out of the dressing room ready to recapture the momentum and the lead.

Ian Smart ran a Sean Fleming punt 81 yards for a touchdown to regain the lead early in the third quarter, while Joe Smith returned to form with a one yard crash of the line for the cushion for the Lions win.

While the Eskimos have done themselves no favors in the last two weeks, the prospect of a playoff spot is not dead yet, the Alouettes who the Esks are now chasing for the cross over spot have shown no indications that they are a sure bet for post season action.

Playing at the Big O and over 44000 fans the Alouettes stumbled badly, incapable of generating much in the way of offence and once again dropping a game to the suddenly surging Argonauts. Montreal has not played well for a number of weeks now, a sputtering offence incapable of putting enough points on the board to secure a victory, leaving the defence on the field for lengthy periods of time to face the onslaught of the opposition offences.

Toronto which has returned to a winning form over the last few weeks now sets their eyes ahead on Winnipeg and a potential shot a first in the east, while the Als keep their eyes on the rear view mirror and an Eskimo squad that has one more chance to try make the season a hopeful one.

With two weeks to go in the season the Esks trail the als by three points, they need Montreal to lose upcoming road games to both Calgary and Winnipeg, while they take care of business on their end with matches against Saskatchewan and Hamilton.

The path to the crossover isn’t an easy one, much like the season has been for the Esks it offers up potential disaster at each turn. For now though it’s the only path the Esks have to take, having squandered opportunities through the year, it’s their last shot at partial redemption for a most disappointing season.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Week Seventeen (October 19-21)

The final weeks of the CFL regular season are upon us, with numerous playoff scenarios still up in the air. The cross over option for Edmonton is still alive, but just barely and home dates are still to be determined. All part of the drama of week Seventeen.


October 19-- Calgary 13 @ Winnipeg 27
October 20-- Toronto 16 @ Montreal 9
October 20-- Edmonton 26 @ BC 37
October 21-- Hamilton 11 @ Saskatchewan 38

CFL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK, WEEK NUMBER SIXTEEN

The CFL announced it's Rogers players of the week for week number sixteen of play in the 2007 season.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
HENRY BURRIS--QB--CALGARY STAMPEDERS
Unanimous selection

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
KERON WILLIAMS--DL--CALGARY STAMPEDERS
Runner Up: Jonathon Brown, Toronto

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NOEL PREFONTAINE--K--TORONTO ARGONAUTS
Runner Up: Ian Smart, BC, Wille Foster, Winnipeg

CANADIAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
ANDREW FANTUZ--SB--SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
Unanimous selection

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The City of Champions is feeling a little grumpy these days!




The hockey team is having a problem scoring goals and winning games and the football team is on the verge of missing the playoffs for the second season in a row. It’s enough to turn even the happiest of Klondike Girls into a shrieking shrew of doom, and it would seem that she would have lots of company.

While the Oilers have at least six months to get back on track, Danny Maciocia’s Eskimos have no such luxury; in fact the season in the eyes of many is over. No mathematical equation it seems is possible that is going to lead to an Eskimo appearance in the post season. And that has many in the city calling for drastic changes to the once flagship franchise of Canadian football.

Most likely to be sacrificed to the Gods of football in Northern Alberta will be the head coach, who has watched his squad stumble down the stretch in two consecutive seasons. Despite the injury to starting quarterback Ricky Ray, which has taken him out of the line up for the rest of the season, there is no mercy rule forthcoming from the supporters of the Green and Gold.

From the radio talk shows to the newspaper columnists, the changes that are to come must include Maciocia, who despite taking the Esks to the Grey Cup two years ago. That was yesterday it seems and this is today. In the eyes of the Eskimo fan, this team has about as much chance of winning a Grey Cup anytime soon, as the Liberals have of sweeping Alberta in the next Federal election. There are those that are preaching patience, even a rival coach has sympathy for the Eskimos plight, but those sentiments it seems are few and far between.

The sin of Eskimo football besides not winning, is losing in horrible ways, self destructing on the field and seemingly becoming incapable of clawing their way back from defeat as past guardians of the game did while wearing Green and Gold.

Even worse, they were only occasionally entertaining this year, offensively struggling under a new system put in place by Jacques Chapdelaine. He joined the Eskimos as offensive co-coordinator after leaving Wally Buono’s staff in the off season. The only problem with the move was that unlike Buono’s Lions who featured great depth in most positions, the Eskimos seemed to be one bad hit away from disaster game after game.

Chapdelaine it seems was ordained to become the head coach in short order, once Maciocia was moved up into the executive offices. After this disappointing season, that prospect must seem as remote a possibility as there could be. In fact Chapdelaine, may be just as likely to be move out as is Maciocia, who surely must feel like a Dead Man Walking with every snap of the ball.

Depending on the volume of the fans and the ability of the Eskimos board and management to hear, there may be a number of vacancies coming up shortly. If the members of the Eskimo board have a radio or read a newspaper, their decisions have already been made!

Don Barnes, Edmonton Journal-One embarrassing mess
Bob Stauffer, Edmonton Sun- Eski-woes extend off the field
Terry Jones, Edmonton Sun- Fall Follies a sequel
Terry Jones, Edmonton Sun- Uncomfortable shoes


Saturday, October 13, 2007

CFL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK, WEEK NUMBER FIFTEEN

The CFL announced it's Rogers players of the week for week number fifteen of play in the 2007 season.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
KERRY WATKINS--WR--MONTREAL ALOUETTES
Runner Up: Kerry Joseph, Saskatchewan

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
BYRON PARKER--DB--TORONTO ARGONAUTS
Unanimous selection

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
DOMINIQUE DORSEY--RB--TORONTO ARGONAUTS
Runner Up: Markus Howell, Calgary

CANADIAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MARKUS HOWELL--SB--CALGARY STAMPEDERS
Runner Up: Mike O'Shea, Toronto

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Week Sixteen (October 12-14)

The season begins to wind down, with some teams already eliminated from playoff contention and others hanging on by the swirls of their fingertips. Week Sixteen could bring joy to Saskatchewan and gloom to Edmonton.

October 12-- Montreal 17 @ Toronto 35
October 13-- BC 24 @ Edmonton 18
October 14-- Saskatchewan 40 @ Hamilton 23
October 14-- Winnipeg 25 @ Calgary 38

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Bob Ackles stands on guard for thee

Normally the President of the B. C. Lions would concern himself mainly with the Lions fight song, but these days he's thinking larger than just his team on the Pacific coast. In fact it's the salvation of the entire CFL that is on his mind as he winds down his many years in all versions of North America's football scene.

As the Blues brothers might say ,



A mission to save the CFL.

It may seem like a silly concept these days, for in the last few years the CFL has seemingly never been stronger, as the eight teams for the most part seem to be functioning without the normal state of panic that we've know in the past.

Attendance this year is beyond anyone's wildest dreams, repeated sell outs in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, healthy crowds in Calgary and Edmonton despite significant injury problems.

Ontario has been fairly steady with Toronto's crowds edging upwards as the team returns to health and just as things turned bad for the Cats on the fied, their fans found still another reason or two to stop by Ivor Wynne for a football game as the excitement over Casey Printers gave new hope in the land of broken dreams.

Ackles own team continues to bring in the large crowds at BC Place regularly passing the 30,000 mark.

While Montreal's only problem is seats, there aren't enough of them, the 20,202 currently at McGill are filled on a regular basis.

And there is once again hopeful talk that Ottawa will soon rejoin the league, bringing back a flood of memories of the days of Jackson, Stewart, Adkins, , Clements, Holloway, Gabriel and host of other names that once made Ottawa one of the CFL's great cities.

So where does Mr. Ackles find the troubling signs that need our attention.

From the south and the always present whispers of an NFL franchise for Toronto.

Ackles has taken on a holy crusade of sorts to try and send the idea to the sidelines on a permanent basis.

In fact he's so concerned at what an NFL franchise may do to the CFL, that he's enlisting Canadians in his efforts to keep the NFL away and to help keep the CFL as a living unique entity above the 49th parallel.

An excerpt from his book TheWaterboy, sums up his feelings quite nicely and sends out a message that Canadian football fans should take to heart and take up the battle with.

But to have 70,000 people enjoy an NFL game in Toronto, you will murder eight CFL franchises, Ackles writes in his book. Other than for a few people and one city, what is the advantage of a franchise -- except, as I say, for a few greedy people to turn $1 billion into $6 billion, while screwing the rest of the country.

Grab your copy of the Ackles song sheet and join in, raise your voice with like minded Canadian football fans to join the cause.

And since every good cause deserves a theme song, we suggest that he take advantage of that good old fashioned wheatland soul. They have the perfect sentiment for the cause!


Thursday, October 04, 2007

Week Fifteen (October 5-8)

Thanksgiving weekend across Canada, as the schedule maker seperates the contenders from the turkeys. Who will throw the touchdown passes, or who will just pass the gravy, we'll know the answers by Monday night.

October 5- BC 26 @ Winnipeg 20
October 6- Edmonton 8 @ Toronto 33
October 8- Hamilton 19 @ Montreal 27
October 8- Saskatchewan 33 @ Calgary 21

CFL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK, WEEK NUMBER FOURTEEN

The CFL announced it's Rogers players of the week for week number fourteen of play in the 2007 season.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
KERRY JOSEPH--QB--SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
Runner Up: Jarious Jackson, BC

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
T.J. STANCIL--LB--SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
Runner Up: Barrin Simpson, Winnipeg, Reggie Hunt, Saskatchewan

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
DOMINIQUE DORSEY--RB--TORONTO ARGONAUTS
Runner Up: Jerome Dennis, BC

CANADIAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
ANDREW FANTUZ--SB--SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
Unanimous selection

CFL Notes: October/November 2007 season


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October 26-- Touchdown in T. O.
October 26-- The NFL in Canada

Lions Notes: October/November 2007 season



We will archive all of our information about the Montreal Alouettes from this location, the links will appear on the right hand column section of the blog.
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November 9- Buono fined for comment on ref's call
November 8- 'Cheap shot' leads to $1,000 fine for Buono
November 8- Voting counts in sport, politics
November 8- Dante Marsh could help set up a BC Lions first
November 8- Higgins points to Buono
November 8- Lions dominate CFL monthly awards
November 8- No pot of gold this time
November 8- A season full of highlights but the best is yet to come
November 7- Lions to take a long, hard look at themselves
November 7- Hamilton after O'Billovich?
November 5- Simon ends regular season on impressive note
November 5- Plenty of time for Clermont's shoulder to heal
November 5- Leos not after records but another Grey Cup win
November 5- Grading the Lions
November 5- Simon says ... and does
November 5- Buono defends Jimenez's play
November 4- Lions squeak in a win against Stampeders in Vancouver
November 4- Lions roll into playoffs
November 4- Cincinnati Kid has long-distance arm
November 4- Fitting end to a winning season
November 4- There's no keeping champs down
November 2- No slacking off allowed
November 2- Spotlight finally shines
November 1- Second chance for B.C. Lion
November 1- Success has come fast for Wake
November 1- Expect us to come out and play hard
November 1- Voters left out best player on best team in the league
October 31- B.C. Lions' three QBs toe line
October 31- 'Lucky' Pierce came out of the box ready to go
October 31- Sleeping next to an elephant isn't so bad. Is it?
October 30- Jackson can join 1,000-yard club
October 29- Best-ever record not good enough
October 28- At least one of them will be healthy
October 28- Lions looking forward to rest
October 27- Pivot-Al victory
October 27- No Lions changes despite Jackson bruising: Buono
October 26- Lions clinch first with win over Hamilton
October 26- Lions tame Ticats
October 26- Printers playing catch-up
October 26- It's all about the playoffs
October 26- These guys are Miles ahead
October 26- These Cats will be tough
October 26- Numerous Leos going unrecognized
October 26- Sometimes stats fall short of the real story
October 26- 24 seconds with Ricky Foley
October 25- Printers is working on his patience
October 25- Too many to choose from
October 25- Mangled sons and caring Moms
October 25- Small man, big impact for Lions
October 24- Birthday card spares butt-kicking
October 24- Awards system lacking
October 23- He's all metal without jacket
October 23- Sadeghian's second chance
October 22- Grading the Lions
October 22- It's nowhere near a dynasty, but the makings are there
October 22- No ribbing: QB can run
October 21- Lions triumph
October 21- Play well or you don't play
October 21- Phillips wants to be first Outstanding DB
October 21- Lions special teams just special
October 21- Jackson has earned start for Western final
October 19- Cincinnati Kid tickled pink
October 19- Millington trying to outrun Father Time
October 19- B.C. Lions happy to play ugly football as long as team keep winning
October 19- Can't keep Williams down
October 19- Eskimo fumes over Facebook hecklers
October 19- Lions mine for gold in junior football ranks
October 18- Johnson returns Sat. to B.C. Lions lineup
October 18- Lions' stash of moustaches
October 18- Leaving Wilson in his Wake
October 18- Analysis easy for Johnson
October 18- Noggin still sloggin'
October 17- Not running for cover, yet
October 17- Another quiet achiever
October 16- Whyte offered Lions contract
October 16- Lions grappling fear of unknown
October 15- Buono sticks with Jackson
October 15- A bad day at the office
October 14- B.C. buries the Esks
October 14- Coach Ritchie gets KO'd
October 13- Coaches keep 'em laughing
October 13- Lions prevail in dying seconds of game
October 13- Chappy's calculated risk
October 12- Smith's reluctant march to history
October 12- Substitute teacher finds lasting job with Lions
October 11- Champing at the bit
October 11- A special word for our unsung heroes
October 10- First step in daunting task
October 10- Lions boss worried about NFL in Toronto
October 10- Lions' Anderson a man for all seasons
October 9- Lions' 3rd-string clearly first-rate
October 9- Dickenson wants back in
October 9- Lions set to finish strong
October 8- Getting a handle on penalties
October 7- Staying cool to beat wind in 'Peg
October 6- Reign of pain wins on plain
October 5- Lions pounce on Bombers
October 5- Bombers make Buono look good
October 5- Glenn stays determined to finish what he started
October 5- Comparing the running men
October 4- Dennis the Menace
October 4- Battle of CFL division leaders set
October 4- Dennis shows he's someone special
October 4- Williams still man for all seasons
October 4- No ifs, ands or you-know-whats, ailing McCallum wants to play
October 4- Time has come to air Glatt's dirty laundry
October 3- Kicking spot up in the air
October 2- Action Jackson makes it easy
October 1- B.C. boys double trouble for foes



























Eskimo Notes: October/November 2007 season


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November 1- CFL fines players
October 27- Over and out
October 27- Same old story
October 26- Goin' down kicking
October 21- 'Sugar' and spice
October 14- By the numbers
October 13- Lions take Eskimos
October 13- Pops on a leash
October 13- Double Trouble

Stampeder Notes: October/November 2007 season


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November 3- No surrender
October 16- Stamps get a boost
October 15- Long bombs away
October 14- In Hank we Trust
October 13- Hank hurries back
October 13- Hank or Sank?
October 11- Welcome Back Hank
October 10- Stamps cut Smith
October 10- Akili's heel
October 5- Healin' Hank

Rider Notes: October/November 2007 season


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November 9-Rider Pride
November 9-This game is Big
November 7- Burris returning
November 6- Cates comes back
November 5- Looking to win
November 3- T.O. 41, Sask. 13
November 2- Rider debut
November 1- Washington injured
October 31- 'Feeling of joy'
October 31- Riders fined again
October 30- Szarka speaks
October 16- Szarka recovering
October 16- Szarka injured
October 16- Flick a 'real pro'
October 12- Kornegay to play
October 12- Dominguez done
October 12- Veteran Murphy
October 9- Down the stretch
October 5- Returning Rider
October 3- Team play shows
October 1- Lucky Flick