The CFL bids farewell to the bye weeks as week seven comes to an end, summer vacation over for all eight of the leagues teams.
While the Lions, Argos, Bombers and Als rested and recuperated, the play on the field offered up the weeks work from Hamilton and Edmonton.
By the time Friday night had played out, parity was the new word of the week for the CFL as the standings tables both east and west became a little cluttered, less the Winnipeg Blue Bombers who appear destined for a season from hell as 2012 heads towards November.
Beyond the Bombers, the rest of the East is a three way tie for first with no clear team trending towards domination, in the West, the Eskimos have claimed a stake to the top spot, a team many though would be also rans when the season started, suddenly looking very solid and in charge of their future.
The results of Week seven can be found below.
Calgary at Hamilton
Last week Jon Cornish was visibly angry at the state of affairs of his Stampeder squad, making the sidelines a less than family atmosphere among the Stamps, one week later, he decided to walk the talk, dominating play in Hamilton as he led the Stamps to a solid 31-20 spanking of the Tiger Cats.
The much vaunted reunion of starting quarterbacks with their former teams clearly was a success for Kevin Glenn, the Stamps QB, who arrived in Calgary as back up but now finds himself as the number one, managed to out perform his rival across field, but a masterpiece of football Thursday night was not.
The weather no doubt had an impact on the outcome, rainy and blustery conditions provided for a rough night of watchable football, mistakes, errors and turnovers made for a less than solid performance by both teams, Mr. Cornish excepted of course.
Henry Burris, with the opportunity to show the Stamps the error of their trading ways, instead had a rather pedestrian game, much to the disappointment of the always boisterous Ti Cat crowd hopeful of a CFL air war, instead Burris, the Cats and their fans were offered up a night of miscues and stalled drives, the score more flattering to the concept of a CFL shoot out than reality actually provided for.
Regardless, someone needed the two points, Calgary decided that they were going to be theirs, a helpful climb up the standings ladder that keeps the Stamps at pace with their fellow West Division residents.
For the Cats, the chance to create some space between them and the Argos and Als was allowed to slip away, the begin the process of recapturing some of that lost momentum in week eight.
The previews and reviews of the week that was can be found here.
Saskatchewan at Edmonton
The final quarter woes of the Saskatchewan Roughriders continue on, the Riders perhaps seeking an audience with the commissioner to adapt NHL game divisions, i.e.: three periods, leaving the fourth to the history books, much like the last few weeks have banished potential Rider wins to the loss column after the fourth quarter meltdowns.
Once again, the talk in Regina is about the defence, which seems to be having troubles closing out a game, surrendering yardage and points at an alarming pace over the course of the final fifteen minutes.
When the Defensive unit wasn't on its heels, the offensive group were contributing to the misery with fumbles, interceptions and incompletions, time consuming drives were in short supply on Friday, adding to the burden for the defense which frequently found itself back on the field with little rest.
Steven Jyles had a redemption of sorts from his woes of recent games, holding the Esks momentum through the fourth and keeping the ball under better control, for many viewing Friday nights game, it was his best performance in Eskimo colours this year.
Jyles had the complete playbook in action on Friday, using a wide selection of receivers and injecting the run game at important parts of the game.
The Esks ability to control the play however did not detract from some late game excitement, as the Riders had a last gasp shot at the end zone that was knocked down by the Riders secondary.
The game had a scary moment as the Esks defensive back Ronnie Prude suffered an injury attempting a tackle, taken from the field with a neck brace and on a stretcher he was transported to an Edmonton hospital, though good news arrived later in the night as he was released, the diagnosis a nerve stinger.
While its anticipated that he will return to the Eskimo lineup, it's considered doubtful that he'll be in the lineup when the Esks meet the Alouettes on Friday night at Commonwealth.
The previews and reviews of the Riders and Esks can be found here.
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