Re: Games of Week 10, August 17-19, 2018

[WestCoastJoe]

The schedule for Week 10.

OTT @ WPG ... Gotta be Otta? Nope. Take the Peg.

BC @ TOR ... We can win. No guarantees, though.

MTL @ EDM ... Take Edmonton. We beat a very tough team last week.

CGY @ SSK ... Saskatchewan could win. But the odds to me say Calgary.

[WestCoastJoe]

The games of Week 10.

2018-08-12_1854.png

[WestCoastJoe]

Standings.

2018-08-12_1859.png

[WestCoastJoe]

#1 Calgary. Clearly. HC and OC. DC. QB.

#2 Edmonton. Reilly and Maas make a tough team.

#3 Winnipeg. Tied with Edmonton and Ottawa. O'Shea. LaPolice. Harris. Nichols.

#4 Ottawa. Tied with Edmonton and Winnipeg. Well organized. Well coached.

#5 BC. We are showing our talent and grit. Lulay leading. Wally has always had that grit.

#6 Saskatchewan. They can be very tough, especially if Collaros gets going. (This fan wonders if Carter got into something with Collaros or another player. Just pure speculation, apologies to Carter, but something obviously happened. That would mean a quick exit for Carter. Jones would not say what happened, but he also said he didn't want to put anybody on trial. Ooops. He said Carter didn't seem surprised. Carter said he did not have any trouble with the coaches.)

#7 Hamilton. They seem to be slipping. Masoli has slipped somewhat. Maybe the other teams have figured out, to a degree, how Jones operates.

#8 Toronto. I expect they will improve under Trestman. It is actually encouraging to see how well other CFL coaches are doing against Trestman. IMO the coaching standard in the league is very, very high and improving.

#9 Montreal. I wish Manziel well for the sake of the league, and for his efforts to save his life. He is doing OK in my books.

[BC 1988]

Born in Toronto, the Argos were my childhood team.
Argos-Lions games always leave me divided, especially with so much at stake for both teams. At least TOR are owned by MLSE now (with their deep pockets).

I'm on their mailing list (more just to keep up to date, since I seldom have a chance to go back there to watch a game). This caught my attention (wondering why they went with the pre-1990 BC logo).
https://mailchi.mp/argonauts/cne-4-dbp?e=72ad626b68

[Islander]

Very interesting post Champion. I'm a long-time Lions fan, now living in TO and this year I'm a season-ticket holder with the Argos, more to support the CFL and the try and help this market than anything, but I also want to like the Argos.
MLSE does have deep pockets, which has to be a good thing over the long-term, but over the short-term they've made some questionable decisions. Letting go of the Argonotes, the Argos' long-time band, was a really dumb move imo. Also, they instituted a policy this year banning backpacks from BMO field. I brought mine anyway as I bike to games and have no choice to bring it. They let me in no questions asked. Strange. Doesn't seem like they really thought that one through.
The crowds have also been really disappointing, and of course for their home-opener against the Stamps, the Argos were beyond bad, and lost Ricky Ray to a serious injury. Brutal.
Anyway, BMO field is still a great venue to watch a CFL game in, but MLSE needs to do more to appeal to the younger crowd. Get the Argos out into elementary schools, run summer camps, talk about the Canadian game etc. Also, the replay board at the game almost NEVER shows a replay of the play that just happened.

This weekend should be a big game for both teams, but I'm hoping that having Lulay and a good pass rush will be enough for us to prevail. Our D needs to stop Wilder Jr. and prevent the big play. If we can do that, our offence should have opportunities to exploit a tired Argos D.

Here's hoping!

[WestCoastJoe]

Nissan Rankings ...

We have moved up to #5. Seems about right. Defence was very good in the 2nd half versus the Eskimos. Don't wait until the 2nd half to bring the pressure, Mark. Wally needs to stay in Dorazio's ear re the OL. Keep it simple, Dan. Emphasize the power and athleticism of our guys.

2018-08-14_1559.png

[WestCoastJoe]

NISSAN TITAN POWER RANKINGS: THE SECOND TIER HAS EMERGED
The Canadian Press

CFL.CA STAFF

TORONTO — The power struggle continues near the top of the Nissan Titan Power Rankings, led by a trio of 5-3 teams.

The Edmonton Eskimos, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Ottawa REDBLACKS are all in the same boat through nine weeks of the CFL season, with no clear front-runner for the No. 2 spot.

No team is scoring more points than the Bombers, who have leaned on the dominant rushing attack of Andrew Harris and a league-leading 25 takeaways on the way to three straight victories.

The Eskimos are led by the reigning Most Outstanding Player in Mike Reilly, who’s on pace for 52 combined touchdowns and on his way to another prolific season.

Then there are the Ottawa REDBLACKS, who rolled up 587 offensive yards in a win over the Montreal Alouettes, led by a red-hot Trevor Harris.

How does it all shake up, and can anyone push the undefeated Calgary Stampeders?

More in this week’s Nissan Titan Power Rankings:

Header_CFLPowerRankings
1. Calgary Stampeders
Record: 7-0
Last Week: 1
It’s Week 10 and the Stamps are allowing only 12.3 points per game, nearly 10 points fewer than second-place Winnipeg. With four upcoming games against West Division opponents, the toughest stretch of the season starts Sunday with a visit to Regina to take on the Riders.

2. Edmonton Eskimos
Record: 5-3
Last Week: 2
Despite a decisive edge in offensive output, the Eskimos fell to the rival BC Lions in Week 9. In the big picture the Esks still have a good shot at second in the West, but there’s little room for error. Only two games separate second place from fifth in the highly-competitive West.


3. Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Record: 5-3
Last Week: 3
The Bombers continue to steamroll East Division opponents, taming the Ticats in Week 9 for their third straight victory. Mike O’Shea’s team has an impressive formula of taking the football away and making opponents pay, leading the CFL in points (33.5), takeaways (25) and points off turnovers (78).


4. Ottawa REDBLACKS
Record: 5-3
Last Week: 5
Trevor Harris has thrown for 868 yards the last two games, the highest back-to-back total since Darian Durant‘s 918 yards back in 2010. The offence is heating up; now the REDBLACKS just need to limit the mistakes (they turned the ball over six times vs. Montreal) to prove they can rise up and own the East Division.

5. BC Lions
Record: 3-4
Last Week: 7
It can’t be said enough: The Lions are a different team when Travis Lulay is behind centre. Lulay is putting himself back in the elite quarterback conversation, showing flashes of the 2011 Most Outstanding Player. Mark Washington’s defence has also been impressive as the Lions are scratching back following a slow start.

6. Saskatchewan Roughriders
Record: 3-4
Last Week: 4
The Riders drop two spots without even playing in Week 9. Maybe the decision to release Duron Carter ends up helping, but for now the club has just parted ways with its biggest star and most talented and versatile player. With undefeated Calgary on tap, Chris Jones’ team is in danger of falling below sea level in the West.

7. Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Record: 3-5
Last Week: 6
You’ve probably heard this before, but despite owning the league’s second-best offence and third-stingiest defence, the Ticats still can’t figure it out on the scoreboard, dropping to 3-5 after losing in Winnipeg. June Jones has a few kinks to work out, but the Tabbies are not far off from being very, very good.

8. Toronto Argonauts
Record: 2-5
Last Week: 8
The Argos will go as far as sophomore quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson can take them. The 30-year-old pivot is looking to replicate his first career start, in which he threw four second-half touchdown passes and led the Argos back from 24 points down. Anthony Coombs and Bear Woods would be welcome mid-season additions.

9. Montreal Alouettes
Record: 1-7
Last Week: 9
The Alouettes fought tooth and nail with the East-leading REDBLACKS, leading throughout most of the contest before giving up the go-ahead touchdown with under a minute remaining. The six takeaways were a welcome sight, as was the improved play of Johnny Manziel in his second career start — positives that can’t be overlooked.

https://www.cfl.ca/2018/08/14/nissan-ti ... r-emerged/

[BC 1988]

Very interesting post Champion. I'm a long-time Lions fan, now living in TO and this year I'm a season-ticket holder with the Argos, more to support the CFL and the try and help this market than anything, but I also want to like the Argos.
MLSE does have deep pockets, which has to be a good thing over the long-term, but over the short-term they've made some questionable decisions. Letting go of the Argonotes, the Argos' long-time band, was a really dumb move imo. Also, they instituted a policy this year banning backpacks from BMO field. I brought mine anyway as I bike to games and have no choice to bring it. They let me in no questions asked. Strange. Doesn't seem like they really thought that one through.
The crowds have also been really disappointing, and of course for their home-opener against the Stamps, the Argos were beyond bad, and lost Ricky Ray to a serious injury. Brutal.
Anyway, BMO field is still a great venue to watch a CFL game in, but MLSE needs to do more to appeal to the younger crowd. Get the Argos out into elementary schools, run summer camps, talk about the Canadian game etc. Also, the replay board at the game almost NEVER shows a replay of the play that just happened.

This weekend should be a big game for both teams, but I'm hoping that having Lulay and a good pass rush will be enough for us to prevail. Our D needs to stop Wilder Jr. and prevent the big play. If we can do that, our offence should have opportunities to exploit a tired Argos D.

Here's hoping!

I hear you about MLSE and questionable decisions, I was following the emails about the on again/off again experiments with tailgating and the Shipyard. I read they were looking at fixing the deadly endzone area where the turf ends prematurely (probably because Ambrosie was getting involved).
Hopefully they can figure out how to grow a young fanbase back (after it was heavily neglected by the years of Braley ownership.) I'm still grateful both the Lions and Argos were kept going by Braley, but in some cases they were barely kept going.

The first memory I have of the Argos (and the CFL in general) was when my older brother brought home this:

And of course the following year was the lightning bolt season that was Theismann/McQuay

I hope you enjoy the game (whatever happens).

[WestCoastJoe]

https://www.cfl.ca/2018/08/14/oleary-ma ... ne-starts/

Jason Maas accepts responsibility for his team's lack of discipline.

Very good. It has seemed obvious that he is a helluva good coach. And it has been equally obvious that his emotions have been out of control on the sidelines. As a CFL fan I am happy to see that he has looked in the mirror and will make the necessary adjustments.

“I’ll say this about penalties and I’ll say this about discipline. I haven’t done a good enough job since I’ve been here and that’s evident,” Maas said.

“We’ve been one of the worst teams in the league in penalties since I’ve been here. We’ve gotten better in stretches this season but not quite good enough. It’s my fault and I’m going to take the blame.”

“I can tell you from this day forward that things are changing in our organization. It starts with me. The way I approach the game, the way I am, is going to change,” he said.

“I’m going to make sure that I change, so that when I look at players and I talk about discipline they understand it’s everybody and it starts with me as a head coach. It’s not on my players, it’s on me. I need to be better. And I will.”

“We’re going to start kicking guys out of practice for messing up or we’re going to start taking game time away from guys that continue to make penalties. They understand it. They know it,” Maas said. “It’s about holding ourselves accountable and it’s gotten to the point that we can’t tolerate it anymore. It will stop and if not we’ll find other people that can do it.”

“We’ve won a lot of games since I’ve been here and again, I haven’t done a good enough job,” Maas said.

“If we want to win a championship here, this has to stop. We have to get better. And again it starts with me. I put my foot down. I’ve looked myself in the mirror and said I haven’t been good enough. I haven’t been good enough on the field with it, I haven’t been good enough with my attitude at times. There are things that I need to change and I’m going to. It’s going to reflect more on our team and I’ve realized it.”

“We’re getting there. I like to think that if we figure it out, we’ll be a whole hell of a lot better and win the games that we should,” he said.

[WestCoastJoe]

The fiery coach ...

2018-08-14_1630.png

[B.C.FAN]

I hear you about MLSE and questionable decisions, I was following the emails about the on again/off again experiments with tailgating and the Shipyard. I read they were looking at fixing the deadly endzone area where the turf ends prematurely (probably because Ambrosie was getting involved).
Hopefully they can figure out how to grow a young fanbase back (after it was heavily neglected by the years of Braley ownership.) I'm still grateful both the Lions and Argos were kept going by Braley, but in some cases they were barely kept going.

The first memory I have of the Argos (and the CFL in general) was when my older brother brought home this:

And of course the following year was the lightning bolt season that was Theismann/McQuay

I hope you enjoy the game (whatever happens).

That 1970 program cover brings back memories. I think my copy is long gone. Of course, all CFL team program covers looked like that in 1970. It was the psychedelic age.

[BC 1988]

That 1970 program cover brings back memories. I think my copy is long gone. Of course, all CFL team program covers looked like that in 1970. It was the psychedelic age.

Ain't that the truth. (the twitter comments about Wilkie were also very funny). My copy went with me to PEI in 1973, but didn't make the trip out West in 1988. I remember the amazing amount of Argo history in it (purrfect for a budding CFL fan). I believe they were technically a yearbook, but I see this explains how they inserted the "game program" into them.
http://collectingcanadianfootball.blogs ... g-cfl.html

[Toppy Vann]

I hear you about MLSE and questionable decisions, I was following the emails about the on again/off again experiments with tailgating and the Shipyard. I read they were looking at fixing the deadly endzone area where the turf ends prematurely (probably because Ambrosie was getting involved).
Hopefully they can figure out how to grow a young fanbase back (after it was heavily neglected by the years of Braley ownership.) I'm still grateful both the Lions and Argos were kept going by Braley, but in some cases they were barely kept going.

The first memory I have of the Argos (and the CFL in general) was when my older brother brought home this:

And of course the following year was the lightning bolt season that was Theismann/McQuay

I hope you enjoy the game (whatever happens).

That 1970 program cover brings back memories. I think my copy is long gone. Of course, all CFL team program covers looked like that in 1970. It was the psychedelic age.

In those days my friends and I knew every player, number, position of most of the teams and we didn't have all these games on TV like now.

I forgot though that Tom Wilkinson played for the Argos.

https://www.profootballarchives.com/1970cfltor.html

[Islander]

Very interesting post Champion. I'm a long-time Lions fan, now living in TO and this year I'm a season-ticket holder with the Argos, more to support the CFL and the try and help this market than anything, but I also want to like the Argos.
MLSE does have deep pockets, which has to be a good thing over the long-term, but over the short-term they've made some questionable decisions. Letting go of the Argonotes, the Argos' long-time band, was a really dumb move imo. Also, they instituted a policy this year banning backpacks from BMO field. I brought mine anyway as I bike to games and have no choice to bring it. They let me in no questions asked. Strange. Doesn't seem like they really thought that one through.
The crowds have also been really disappointing, and of course for their home-opener against the Stamps, the Argos were beyond bad, and lost Ricky Ray to a serious injury. Brutal.
Anyway, BMO field is still a great venue to watch a CFL game in, but MLSE needs to do more to appeal to the younger crowd. Get the Argos out into elementary schools, run summer camps, talk about the Canadian game etc. Also, the replay board at the game almost NEVER shows a replay of the play that just happened.

This weekend should be a big game for both teams, but I'm hoping that having Lulay and a good pass rush will be enough for us to prevail. Our D needs to stop Wilder Jr. and prevent the big play. If we can do that, our offence should have opportunities to exploit a tired Argos D.

Here's hoping!

I hear you about MLSE and questionable decisions, I was following the emails about the on again/off again experiments with tailgating and the Shipyard. I read they were looking at fixing the deadly endzone area where the turf ends prematurely (probably because Ambrosie was getting involved).
Hopefully they can figure out how to grow a young fanbase back (after it was heavily neglected by the years of Braley ownership.) I'm still grateful both the Lions and Argos were kept going by Braley, but in some cases they were barely kept going.

The first memory I have of the Argos (and the CFL in general) was when my older brother brought home this:

And of course the following year was the lightning bolt season that was Theismann/McQuay

I hope you enjoy the game (whatever happens).

Wow, that is some great memorabilia for sure. This isn't the same era, but it reminds me of the trading cards that one of the gas stations put out of the Lions in the early 80's. I remember my dad and I collecting them every time he filed up the car/truck.

I love the comments that go with it too. Fat QB but LCD...thumbs up.

Thanks! I'm hoping it'll be an entertaining game at the very least, and given the kind of games that both teams just played, it should be. I'll be wearing my Shawn Gore jersey, and pulling to the Lions of course, but part of me will also be hoping the Argos' play well.