Game Day Thread, Nov 17, 2013 Ham @ Tor, Sas @ Cal

[TheLionKing]

Go Ti-Cats !

[BC 1988]

Turnovers have hurt but Dickenson's offence isn't looking so innovative with 13 points. Credit also has to go to the Regina D..they have played very well.

The way our offence played for most of the game against Regina..this game makes me believe we would be in the Grey Cup game if only we could have shut down Durrant from running in that 4th quarter.

I'm going to be happy, being as our Leos are not in it...to see the Tiger Cats and Riders in the Grey Cup game....it should be a good one.

Yes I remember both of the last 2 Cats-Riders GC's--Chuck Ealey in '72, and the Austin-Ridgeway '89 thriller.

[notahomer]

Yuck! That was an ugly win for the Riders. I mean, they didn't do anything wrong. Its just like the Stamps gave it away.

Well hopefully this will be the road teams year in the CFL playoffs. The AL's didn't get a PI call that would have help them beat the Ticats. BC choked away a win in Mosaic. So road teams COULD have easily won both SEMI's but DID NOT.

Then this week both road teams won. Keep that up please Austin, Burris and the Ticats. I'll be cheering you on next Sunday.

What will the Stamps be doing this off season. They did what we did last season. Choked up a big furball at home in the West Final.......

[Toppy Vann]

Stamps ... wow...more turnovers than a bakery -7. Cornish says - 'caught us guard' - yes... Riders came to play.

Ticats- great win for them - and I hope they can take the Riders. I disliked the arrogant comments from Durant and Sheets post game - can't they just appreciate a win and leave the trash talk discussions in the past?

I wonder if the Riders got threatened with a fine if they didn't come out to to accept the WD winning trophy. What an embarrassment. Maybe they should not have a presentation. Just give it to the winning team GM quietly for their trophy case as that was embarrassing for the CFL and the Commissioner. I know that you don't want to be too high on getting to the final so that your team is just happy to be there and doesn't really focus on winning but the Riders and Durant's arrogance in the post game - what a clown. Sheets yapping late in the game with still time stopped by Geroy.

The Ticats held their trophy up in the post game when Austin said Ticats on 3 and many hands touched it. They are a mix of young and veterans and the risk is that they get too caught up being in the GC that they play flat. Not much to do in Regina other than get on down to the clubs and fight some Riders. It is silly to think that pros can get jinxed by a trophy. Grow up boys.

[notahomer]

Missed the trophy presentation for the West FInal. Missed the trash talk by Sheets/Durant too.

I have to admit, DOES THIS TROPHY MATTER? I mean you want to win your division, of course. But, the Riders are hosting the Grey Cup and NONE OF ANYTHING matters unless they get to win next week.

I sure hope the game is officiated well. I was happy with todays crew. Obviously I thought there were some missed holds but the cliche will be retold, to me....."You can call holding on every play".

[Toppy Vann]

Missed the trophy presentation for the West FInal. Missed the trash talk by Sheets/Durant too.

I have to admit, DOES THIS TROPHY MATTER? I mean you want to win your division, of course. But, the Riders are hosting the Grey Cup and NONE OF ANYTHING matters unless they get to win next week.

I sure hope the game is officiated well. I was happy with todays crew. Obviously I thought there were some missed holds but the cliche will be retold, to me....."You can call holding on every play".

Not sure which sport where this originated in but the Riders actually left the field entirely and Randorph conscious of air time get the Commissioner ready to present when the Rider Captains took the field and no Riders touched the trophy and stood like little kids forced to be there and acted like the trophy had a disease. That to me is a complete lack of respect to the CFL that the team who wins the West Div. Final acts like that after such an important game.

Durant didn't acknowledge at all the Stamps injury situation but brags about how they knew they could run all over them from film or whatever it was.

Sheets and Cornish in his stall had a chance to be gracious but wasn't. Those two clowns are a turn off for me. I dislike no team but those two and their chippy attitudes are so uncharacteristic of the rest of the stars in the CFL.

Riders win should be a huge high for them going into the GC and Hamilton is still a mixed bag of young and old and it has nothing to do with them holding the trophy up and touching it. Just that for younger players and their first GC trip they might not heed the words of Kent Austin post game to them - its a business trip.

It's a good story line though with these two teams but what a collapse for the Stampeders! Wow. I knew they'd be hurt with injuries to their DEF line but I didn't foresee nothing out of Jon Cornish in the first half and the Riders so dominant.

[B.C.FAN]

I wasn't paying close attention during the postgame coverage and didn't notice anything unusual about the trophy presentations. No disrespect to Toppy or Robbie, but the only trophy that matters will be handed out next week. The Riders and Ticats are fully deserving of their victories and are entitled to a night of celebration in whatever way they choose, as long as it doesn't involve a 2 a.m. disturbance outside a nightclub.

[Blitz]

Dickenson only called Cornish's number today 9 times...not many carries for the back who led the league in rushing...

[TheLionKing]

Dickenson only called Cornish's number today 9 times...not many carries for the back who led the league in rushing...

That's astonishing given the cold weather. Calgary receivers couldn't hold on to the football if their lives depended on it. Sometimes Offensive Coordinators go away from things that got them to where they are.

[Sir Purrcival]

Did a bit of lurking over at one of the Stamps forums and in someways, the thread was like looking a bit into a mirror of the threads here last week.
Lots of opinions on what went wrong and what should have been done. They are hurting, just like we were last week. Shows that none of us are all that different when it comes to our respective teams.

However, that being said, we now are coming back to a scenario that I find somewhat disturbing. For the 3rd year running, one of the teams is going to be playing in front of their home crowd for the big prize. Anything can happen in a game but frankly I am none too happy about this trend. We won it two years ago, Toronto last year and now it looks very likely that the Riders are going to do it this year. Maybe it is great for the home fans and probably the gate but if anything it seems like the one team is going to have a huge advantage over the other in what has traditionally been a neutral site game. Maybe I'm a conspiracy theorist but to have the same thing happen 3 years running when it had happened the same number of times over the preceding 30 years is a bit hard to stomach. We know that the Riders loaded up this season on their Oline and on their D. Last year the Argo's had the Ricky Ray fiasco. The only one that seemed somewhat unscripted was ours after going 0-5. I hate to say it but I find it convenient that this has worked out this way and I sure hope it doesn't continue. If teams are going to try and load up for a big run because the game is in their backyard, then it makes you ask a fan why you would bother to go to the games in the off years. I certainly would have no interest in going to a Grey Cup where the fans are predominately from 1 team. It is going to be an overwhelmingly green event this year but not in the environmental way. As of now, I have almost no interest whatsoever in the events or stories leading up to the game because they are likely to be dominated by the home team. It seems very anticlimactic and if the game goes the way I suspect it will with the Green Weenies, taking the cup, I won't be the least bit surprised or probably entertained. I'm sure it is all just a coincidence but 3 times in a row is just too many. 101st Grey Cup = not excited at all.

[notahomer]

Did a bit of lurking over at one of the Stamps forums and in someways, the thread was like looking a bit into a mirror of the threads here last week.
Lots of opinions on what went wrong and what should have been done. They are hurting, just like we were last week. Shows that none of us are all that different when it comes to our respective teams.

However, that being said, we now are coming back to a scenario that I find somewhat disturbing. For the 3rd year running, one of the teams is going to be playing in front of their home crowd for the big prize. Anything can happen in a game but frankly I am none too happy about this trend. We won it two years ago, Toronto last year and now it looks very likely that the Riders are going to do it this year. Maybe it is great for the home fans and probably the gate but if anything it seems like the one team is going to have a huge advantage over the other in what has traditionally been a neutral site game. Maybe I'm a conspiracy theorist but to have the same thing happen 3 years running when it had happened the same number of times over the preceding 30 years is a bit hard to stomach. We know that the Riders loaded up this season on their Oline and on their D. Last year the Argo's had the Ricky Ray fiasco. The only one that seemed somewhat unscripted was ours after going 0-5. I hate to say it but I find it convenient that this has worked out this way and I sure hope it doesn't continue. If teams are going to try and load up for a big run because the game is in their backyard, then it makes you ask a fan why you would bother to go to the games in the off years. I certainly would have no interest in going to a Grey Cup where the fans are predominately from 1 team. It is going to be an overwhelmingly green event this year but not in the environmental way. As of now, I have almost no interest whatsoever in the events or stories leading up to the game because they are likely to be dominated by the home team. It seems very anticlimactic and if the game goes the way I suspect it will with the Green Weenies, taking the cup, I won't be the least bit surprised or probably entertained. I'm sure it is all just a coincidence but 3 times in a row is just too many. 101st Grey Cup = not excited at all.

All good points. So I guess we get the breaks next season?

That bye for finishing first seems to be troubling again too. Okay, we won in 2011 (West Final/Grey Cup both at home). In some ways I think the Riders might of had a tougher time had they had to play this one @ home. They certainly DID NOT dominate the Lions while on home field.

It may NOT be a neutral game. I hope they get a good crew of Zebras who call a consistent game but you have to like the Riders chances. The Ticats seem to have been a good game, bad game kinda crew........

[SammyGreene]

It is weird to think the host team could win the Grey Cup for the 3rd year in a row given BC was only team to do it (twice) since 1977. Not a fan of the Riders but do respect them. Their core on offence Durant, Dressler and Getzlaf have been good for a long time and were probably overdue. Sheets' breakthrough year put them over the top. Will be cheering like hell for a Ti-cat victory but fully expect Geroy to be retiring with his 3rd Grey Cup ring.

Interesting decisions ahead in Calgary starting with who is their starting QB in 2014 and who do they protect in the expansion draft. Tough day for Glenn but I had little faith in Tait and his wonky elbow leading the comeback. Can the Stamps afford to make Bo Levi Mitchell their guy as they try to keep pace with veterans Durant and Lulay in the West? Their season sure looked a whole lot like ours in 2012. Clinched early then a couple of meaningless games to close it out including a no show effort here (just like BC in McMahon last year) that cost them 3 of their starters.

[sj-roc]

Saskatchewan-Hamilton Grey Cup. Should be lots of great story lines.

Yep, it'll be interesting to see if the Riders can win a Grey Cup against a QB who isn't making His First Ever Pro Start.

[Upper Bowl]

I loved the fact the Lions had been the only team to win the GC at home during that stretch from ’77 to ’12. It was good ammunition for those of us who defend the parity and competitiveness of the league. More than anything, I think it was just a fluky streak, and now the statistical pendulum has swung back the other way. Despite being an eight-team league (soon to be nine again) the CFL has lots of little quirky streaks like that…..……like the Lions not finishing second since ’86, and the Argos and Ti-Cats not having played each other in the East Final since ’86. It blew me away to hear that last Sunday, and I follow the league fairly closely.

[TheLionKing]

All teams "load up" in the off season to try to win the Grey Cup whether by trade, signing free agents, or draft picks. Some teams do it better than others.