Last Week's Results
While I correctly called the Alouettes and Lions wins, I thought the Als-Argos game would be tighter (the Ricky Ray injury on the Argos' third drive and Swayze Watters' seeming inability to connect on FGs are to blame for that) and the Lions-Esk would not be. I got the other two games wrong. That I got the Hamilton-Winnipeg game wrong is no surprise; both teams have been baffling all year.
Record for the week: 2-2.
Record for the year: 30-18.
This Week's Games
Friday
Montréal (8-4) at Hamilton (4-8)
Well, well, look at who is 8-4. Is it just me, of have the Als done this more quietly than in other seasons? Maybe we are at the point where we just expect the Als to be this good, but when the season began they did not look to me like a team that would win 8 of their first 12 games. Now, there is obviously some luck involved, as they had a rather easy time beating the Ricky Ray-less Argos last Sunday. (And incidentally, the Trent Guy 129-yard missed field goal return was possibly the most exciting football play I have seen live. He just blew down the field, past the Argo cover team; it has to be one of the quickest return TD ever.) On the other hand, they have survived injuries to key offensive players such as receivers Jamel Richardson, Brandon London and Brian Bratton (3 missed games each) and RB Brandon Whittaker, who is out for the remainder of the season. As for the Ti-Cats, that they call look all-World two weeks ago in dominating the Eskimos and then get beaten up last week-end by a Blue Bomber team that had looked moribund in previous weeks frustrates me, and I am not even a Ti-Cat fan. I cannot begin to imagine how George Cortes feels. For the Ti-Cat offence it obviously comes down to how Henry Burris plays (or maybe it comes down to how inspired he is? Just asking...) and whether he can figure out the Als defensive schemes. In his two previous outings against the Als, Burris had a ridiculous 158.3 QB rating and threw for 4 TDs on July 21 (a 39-24 win in Hamilton) and a more pedestrian 88.0 rating in a last minute 31-29 loss on August 23 in Montréal. One Good Hank game; one Bad Hank game.
Als by 7, although Hamilton by 25 would not surprise me. That is just how this team rolls.
Edmonton (5-7) at Calgary (7-5)
It is the beginning of the Matt Nichols era in Edmonton. I you are one of my 2 or 3 faithful readers, you will know that I have called for this nearly every week, as Steven Jyles and Kerry Joseph have proven throughout the season to be, well, Steven Jyles and Kerry Joseph. I suspect that the offence might show some signs of life and potentially feed off the energy that I expect Nichols to bring to the game. Who knows? Maybe Fred Stamps will resemble the elite receiver that TSN tries to make us believe he is. Amazingly, the problem for the Esks might be on the other side of the ball. After a couple of difficult weeks, the defence bounced back last week to their early season form to bottle up the Lions offence, especially on the Esks side of the field. However, the Esks D is battling injuries as their D-line has been completely decimated by injuries. Putting even rudimentary pressure on Stamps QB Kevin Glenn has historically caused him to throw ill-timed interceptions. No matter how aggressive the Esks secondary plays (the Esks lead the league in interceptions), the key to the game is whether the injury replacements on the line can both sustain enough pressure on Glenn or stop league-leading rusher Jon Cornish. It will be tall task.
Calgary by 3 (and I hope Nichols has a strong game.)
Saturday
Toronto (6-6) at Winnipeg (3-9)
Can the Bombers actually play two decent, well-executed football games in a row? It will greatly help that they will face Jarious Jackson at QB rather than Ricky Ray. Jackson looked ineffective last week against the Als. With a week's worth of reps with the starting offence, he should be more comfortable this week. However, even with Ray at the helm, the Argo offence has looked ordinary more often than not this year (5th in net offensive yards); subbing in Jackson will not help. The kicking game has to be better this week. Waters missed 2 FGs last week and a third one was botched due to a bad snap. Instead of scoring 9 points, the Argos were minus 6 due to the missed FG return; that is a 15-point swing in a game that was decided by 21.
So let me see if I have this straight: two starting CFL QBs went down with injuries last week-end, and neither of them were Buck Pierce? Has this ever happened before? Assuming some Vegas casino given us a prop bet on that, what would the odds have been? Less than astronomical? What about the odds of Pierce playing two complete games in a row? Less or more than 50-50? Toronto does not have an overly aggressive pass rush (last in the league with 16 sacks), so maybe, just perhaps, Buck might luck it out through another entire 60 minutes. Also, Chris Matthews, after an amazing start to his rookie year, has been relatively MIA since Paul LaPolice got canned (8 receptions for 73 yards and a goose egg last week-end.) I have a rooting interest in this as I have him in my CFL pool, but I wonder whether a) teams have now adjusted their coverage on him; b) he no longer figures prominently in offensive schemes or c) it is a combination of both.
Bombers by 6; Jackson will have troubles effectively moving the Argo offence.
BC (9-3) at Saskatchewan (6-6)
The Green Riders almost let another win slip away last week, as the Stamps mounted a fourth-quarter comeback. They seem to be playing better lately; after having lost 5 straight, they are 3*-1 in the last four (*-two of those wins are against the Bombers). One of the Saskatchewan columnists opined this week that Durant looked once again like an elite QB in the win against the Stamps last week. I have issues with throwing the word 'elite' around after one good start. Durant has looked ineffective for most of the season, in part leading me to wonder how many effective starting QBs there are in the CFL right now. Definitely that camp would include AC, Lulay, Ray and Burris (as inconsistent as he seems often times). One would most probably have to include Kevin Glenn in that camp, ill-timed interceptions and hiccuppy clock management be damned. The two-headed Jyles-Joseph monster definitely is not. This leaves Buck Pierce and Darien Durant. In my view, Pierce is too brittle to be deemed effective; because of his propensity to get injured, he is an unknown on a nearly play-by-play basis. This leaves Durant as the outlier. While he has led his team to two straight Grey Cup appearances, he has not been an effective QB either this year or last. This leaves us with 5 teams with truly effective QBs; of these, AC is 40 and Burris is 37.
Back to the game at hand, BC finds ways to win, on both sides of the ball. Lions by 10.
Oi not again! Sundry Random Pronouncements...
vendredi 28 septembre 2012
mardi 25 septembre 2012
Five CDs In No Particular Order, T=1
I have been meaning to write these types of posts for a while. Why not start at 3 AM on a random Tuesday morning.
First off, some background.
The title of the postmay will not be an obvious reference. It is meant to refer to a segment that David Wisdom used to have as the host of Nightlines, on late Friday and Saturday nights on what used to be called CBC FM, which (I think) is now CBC Radio Two. The amazing Mr. Wisdom used to play 'Ten Singles in Alphabetical Order' where, one night at a time, he would go through his eclectic collection of singles, ten at a time, obviously in alphabetical order. My CD collection is in alphabetical order by artist, not by title; I figured it might be boring to have to go through five CDs from the same artist in one post (if anybody actually reads this...) So I will instead go through five CDs in no particular order. To be crystal clear, whatever music recordings I own are nowhere as close to being as eclectic, complete, diverse, interesting, etc as David Wisdom's were. (Also, I miss David Wisdom on the radio.)
Why five CDs? I have a five CD player, for which I can hit a 'random' button, which quite obviously randomizes the music selection. The point of this post is for me to write about the five CDs I have thrown into my antiquated CD player while they are playing. I am aiming to finish whatever random ramblings I can come up with before the CDs end playing.
What will this accomplish? First, it should not be CFL-related, which will be a relief to those of you (again, there may not be any of you) who do not want to read about the CFL. Second, it will enable me to share some thoughts about some of my favourite music, whether it is about the CD, the artist that recorded it or how I came to appreciate it.
So, for the inaugural 'Five CDs In No Particular Order' post, these are the five CDs to which I am at this moment listening along with some random pronouncements:
- Danko Jones, My Love is Bold
I first saw Danko Jones, probably in spring 2000, play at the Tulip Festival in Ottawa, as the opening act for the Headstones. He (or the band, I am never sure what the name refers to) played a solid set and just diffused pure, unadulterated energy. Right then and there, I bought the My Love is Bold EP and a concert t-shirt which featured a pentacle and what ended up being the opening lines to the EP: 'My Mother raised a Devil child'. I really think my late Mother would have seen the humour in that (or the reality, I am not sure...)
Thirteen years later, I have seen Danko Jones at least half-a-dozen more times in a number of Ottawa venues, I still wear the t-shirt, Danko is still one of my favourite live artists and My Love is Bold still has some of my favourite rock song lines:
'My Mother raised a devil child...'
'What comes out of this mouth ain't called boasting, it's truthing'
'I'm the Mango Kid' (OK, the line itself is not so great, it is the utmost confidence with which it is delivered...)
'Oh, baby I get so excited... God damn, I need a sex change.' (Again, not sure it makes sense when typing it out, but it just works...)
- Mary Gauthier, Drag Queens in Limousines
This is Mary Gauthier's first album. It is not the first one of hers I heard or bought. I do like this one because of the title song (which begins 'I hated high school...'), the earlier, less dark version of 'I Drink' and the somewhat confessional nature of the album, which foreshadows some of her later, more personal (and more polished) work such as Mercy Now. (That is where she sings the darker version of 'I Drink'.) So, basically, it is a more accessible Mary Gauthier album. For me, anyway...
- The Boomtown Rats, The Fine Art of Surfacing
I really did not expect this to be part of my first 'Five CD' blog post as, at some point, if only for posterity, I will have to write a complete post about this most amazing album. It happened to be on the CD player, along with 2 other Boomtown Rats CDs; when I changed the mix, I kept that one in there. The Fine Art of Surfacing has been one of my favourite, if not my favourite, album since it came out in 1979. To me, the absolute worst song on this CD is 'I Don't Like Mondays' because it is the only damn Boomtown Rats song that anybody knows. And that is a damn shame. There are any number of songs on that album which should be universally known, other than the damn 'Mondays' song ....
OK, I will dial it back just a little bit with the superlatives, and just bring up two points (in advance of the forthcoming, probably very long, blog post about this album):
1) 'On a night like this, I deserve to get kissed... at least once or twice' is the opening line to the opening song of the album ('Someone's Looking at You'). And really, doesn't that just perfectly describe the optimism that anyone feels heading out on a Friday night? Or even on a Monday night?
2) 'When The Night Comes' is the third part of a Dublin trilogy that started with 'Jimmy's On the Street Again' and 'Rat Race' from earlier Boomtown Rats albums. It brilliantly describes the 'humdrum and the mundane' that people face when they are working in a nondescript 9-to-5 job and have to figure out how to somehow get some meaning out of their life when the night comes and they have to get beyond the 'three piece cunning camouflage' that they have to wear so that nobody can guess what they are thinking.
And, yeah, Bob Geldof is playing Centrepointe Theatre in Nepean on October 15th. Go see him, dammit. You will thank me.
- Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra, Theatre is Evil
This was also in the CD player when I replenished it and it stayed in. In one of my attempts to try to stay relevant, I backed Amanda Fucken Palmer on kickstarter when it seemed, at least from twitter, that all the cool people were doing so. What I got back for my $25 investment, other than feeling infinitely much hipper than I really am (which is not at all; so right there, not a bad return on that investment) was a gorgeously packaged CD and liner booklet along with a page from the yellow pages and some sort of 3D postcard. I cannot go on enough about how gorgeous the 35 or so-page booklet that came with the CD is, which includes the song lyrics, pictures of AFP and the band as well as art work.
That being said, this is an interesting album, which debuted on the Billboard charts at no. 10 last week. (Did I mention I feel hip? Oh yeah, I am fucken hip...) There are a number of songs which have clearly been written from the heart by AFP and express her deepest feelings, according to her tweets, her kickstarter updates and her other web postings. And to be fair, songs like 'The Killing Type' and 'Grown Man Cry' sound extremely personal and emotional and work in that context. Evidently, according to the countless tweets that AFP retweets, a number of her fans are breaking down in tears just listening to these songs, so they must be greatly cathartic. Now, I gather that probably I am not in the target population to which these songs were aimed (female college students? women in their late 20's? anybody hipper than me?) because I am not crying an wailing at these songs, and that is fine. After listening to the album, however, what sticks rather than the personal, deeply emotional numbers, are great, hooking rock numbers like 'Do It With a Rock Star' and 'Want It Back'. And, quite honestly, 'Do It With a Rock Star' is one of the most kick-ass songs I have heard in a while; it deserves to be a huge hit and known by the general public.
- Hitsville USA, The Motown Singles Collection, 1959-71, Various Artists, Disc Three
I am not entirely clear on the timing, but I think that around 1992, in order to celebrate the upcoming 35th anniversary of Berry Gordy founding his first record producing company (Tamla in 1958), two collections of Motown singles were released. The first dealt with the years 1959 to 1971, when the Motown empire was set in Detroit; the second dealt with 1972 to some future date, the years after Motown was headquartered in LA, and lost its foothold on the sound of American pop culture. I own the four-disc collection that deals with the 1959-71 period. (BTW, best gift ever by the ex.) This was the period when, with Gordy as owner?/executive producer?/Svengali? led the Motown music empire in consistently, year after year, defining American popular music.
Disc Three of the collection includes the Motown hits from late 1966 to late 1969 and covers the essence of the Motown sound. To me, Disc Three stands out because it includes some of classic vocal harmonic hits from The Four Tops (i.e., 'Reach Out' and 'Bernadette', which may be my favourite song ever; the harmonies are god-ly) as well as classic Marvin Gaye duets with Kim Weston and especially Tammi Terrell. This are Marvin's precursor years, just prior to recording What's Going On and really taking off with his own sound, when he is singing gorgeous duets with Tammi ('Ain't No Mountain'; 'Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing'). Throw in some classic hits by the Supremes ('Love Child'), early hits by the Temptations and other imminently recognizable Motown songs ('Jimmy Mack'!) and this is a collection that represents Motown at its best and makes me happily sing along and/or grin like an idiot.
First off, some background.
The title of the post
Why five CDs? I have a five CD player, for which I can hit a 'random' button, which quite obviously randomizes the music selection. The point of this post is for me to write about the five CDs I have thrown into my antiquated CD player while they are playing. I am aiming to finish whatever random ramblings I can come up with before the CDs end playing.
What will this accomplish? First, it should not be CFL-related, which will be a relief to those of you (again, there may not be any of you) who do not want to read about the CFL. Second, it will enable me to share some thoughts about some of my favourite music, whether it is about the CD, the artist that recorded it or how I came to appreciate it.
So, for the inaugural 'Five CDs In No Particular Order' post, these are the five CDs to which I am at this moment listening along with some random pronouncements:
- Danko Jones, My Love is Bold
I first saw Danko Jones, probably in spring 2000, play at the Tulip Festival in Ottawa, as the opening act for the Headstones. He (or the band, I am never sure what the name refers to) played a solid set and just diffused pure, unadulterated energy. Right then and there, I bought the My Love is Bold EP and a concert t-shirt which featured a pentacle and what ended up being the opening lines to the EP: 'My Mother raised a Devil child'. I really think my late Mother would have seen the humour in that (or the reality, I am not sure...)
Thirteen years later, I have seen Danko Jones at least half-a-dozen more times in a number of Ottawa venues, I still wear the t-shirt, Danko is still one of my favourite live artists and My Love is Bold still has some of my favourite rock song lines:
'My Mother raised a devil child...'
'What comes out of this mouth ain't called boasting, it's truthing'
'I'm the Mango Kid' (OK, the line itself is not so great, it is the utmost confidence with which it is delivered...)
'Oh, baby I get so excited... God damn, I need a sex change.' (Again, not sure it makes sense when typing it out, but it just works...)
- Mary Gauthier, Drag Queens in Limousines
This is Mary Gauthier's first album. It is not the first one of hers I heard or bought. I do like this one because of the title song (which begins 'I hated high school...'), the earlier, less dark version of 'I Drink' and the somewhat confessional nature of the album, which foreshadows some of her later, more personal (and more polished) work such as Mercy Now. (That is where she sings the darker version of 'I Drink'.) So, basically, it is a more accessible Mary Gauthier album. For me, anyway...
- The Boomtown Rats, The Fine Art of Surfacing
I really did not expect this to be part of my first 'Five CD' blog post as, at some point, if only for posterity, I will have to write a complete post about this most amazing album. It happened to be on the CD player, along with 2 other Boomtown Rats CDs; when I changed the mix, I kept that one in there. The Fine Art of Surfacing has been one of my favourite, if not my favourite, album since it came out in 1979. To me, the absolute worst song on this CD is 'I Don't Like Mondays' because it is the only damn Boomtown Rats song that anybody knows. And that is a damn shame. There are any number of songs on that album which should be universally known, other than the damn 'Mondays' song ....
OK, I will dial it back just a little bit with the superlatives, and just bring up two points (in advance of the forthcoming, probably very long, blog post about this album):
1) 'On a night like this, I deserve to get kissed... at least once or twice' is the opening line to the opening song of the album ('Someone's Looking at You'). And really, doesn't that just perfectly describe the optimism that anyone feels heading out on a Friday night? Or even on a Monday night?
2) 'When The Night Comes' is the third part of a Dublin trilogy that started with 'Jimmy's On the Street Again' and 'Rat Race' from earlier Boomtown Rats albums. It brilliantly describes the 'humdrum and the mundane' that people face when they are working in a nondescript 9-to-5 job and have to figure out how to somehow get some meaning out of their life when the night comes and they have to get beyond the 'three piece cunning camouflage' that they have to wear so that nobody can guess what they are thinking.
And, yeah, Bob Geldof is playing Centrepointe Theatre in Nepean on October 15th. Go see him, dammit. You will thank me.
- Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra, Theatre is Evil
This was also in the CD player when I replenished it and it stayed in. In one of my attempts to try to stay relevant, I backed Amanda Fucken Palmer on kickstarter when it seemed, at least from twitter, that all the cool people were doing so. What I got back for my $25 investment, other than feeling infinitely much hipper than I really am (which is not at all; so right there, not a bad return on that investment) was a gorgeously packaged CD and liner booklet along with a page from the yellow pages and some sort of 3D postcard. I cannot go on enough about how gorgeous the 35 or so-page booklet that came with the CD is, which includes the song lyrics, pictures of AFP and the band as well as art work.
That being said, this is an interesting album, which debuted on the Billboard charts at no. 10 last week. (Did I mention I feel hip? Oh yeah, I am fucken hip...) There are a number of songs which have clearly been written from the heart by AFP and express her deepest feelings, according to her tweets, her kickstarter updates and her other web postings. And to be fair, songs like 'The Killing Type' and 'Grown Man Cry' sound extremely personal and emotional and work in that context. Evidently, according to the countless tweets that AFP retweets, a number of her fans are breaking down in tears just listening to these songs, so they must be greatly cathartic. Now, I gather that probably I am not in the target population to which these songs were aimed (female college students? women in their late 20's? anybody hipper than me?) because I am not crying an wailing at these songs, and that is fine. After listening to the album, however, what sticks rather than the personal, deeply emotional numbers, are great, hooking rock numbers like 'Do It With a Rock Star' and 'Want It Back'. And, quite honestly, 'Do It With a Rock Star' is one of the most kick-ass songs I have heard in a while; it deserves to be a huge hit and known by the general public.
- Hitsville USA, The Motown Singles Collection, 1959-71, Various Artists, Disc Three
I am not entirely clear on the timing, but I think that around 1992, in order to celebrate the upcoming 35th anniversary of Berry Gordy founding his first record producing company (Tamla in 1958), two collections of Motown singles were released. The first dealt with the years 1959 to 1971, when the Motown empire was set in Detroit; the second dealt with 1972 to some future date, the years after Motown was headquartered in LA, and lost its foothold on the sound of American pop culture. I own the four-disc collection that deals with the 1959-71 period. (BTW, best gift ever by the ex.) This was the period when, with Gordy as owner?/executive producer?/Svengali? led the Motown music empire in consistently, year after year, defining American popular music.
Disc Three of the collection includes the Motown hits from late 1966 to late 1969 and covers the essence of the Motown sound. To me, Disc Three stands out because it includes some of classic vocal harmonic hits from The Four Tops (i.e., 'Reach Out' and 'Bernadette', which may be my favourite song ever; the harmonies are god-ly) as well as classic Marvin Gaye duets with Kim Weston and especially Tammi Terrell. This are Marvin's precursor years, just prior to recording What's Going On and really taking off with his own sound, when he is singing gorgeous duets with Tammi ('Ain't No Mountain'; 'Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing'). Throw in some classic hits by the Supremes ('Love Child'), early hits by the Temptations and other imminently recognizable Motown songs ('Jimmy Mack'!) and this is a collection that represents Motown at its best and makes me happily sing along and/or grin like an idiot.
vendredi 21 septembre 2012
CFL Week Thirteen
Last Week's Results
I went 4-0 for the second consecutive week, raising my record for the year to 28-16. I am sure the one or two people who actually read this are suitably impressed.
This Week's Games
Friday Hamilton (4-7) at Winnipeg (2-9)
What a phenomenal Blue Bomber disaster last week. It reminded me of some of the Ottawa Rough Rider performances from the 80's. (There's one blow-out I remember at the hands of the Eskimos where us South Siders began cheering for the seagulls that had landed on the field. Yes, kids, it was that bad.) On the bright side, it can only get better, right? I am looking forward to seeing and hearing the reaction from the Bomber faithful, especially if the Ti-Cats take a quick lead. It could get ugly at CanadInns Stadium.
Hamilton by 7, but I'm really hoping for Hamilton by 30. As George carlin put it, always root for chaos.
Saturday
BC (8-3) at Edmonton (5-6)
So, let me recap my comments from last week on the Eskimos:- QB controversy. Check. - Kicker controversy. Check. - Three-headed backfield, which is not working out. Check. Add to that a banged-up defence, which had been the team's strength, but now appears tired. Unless either Steve Jyles (ha!) or Matt Nichols can take the helm of the offence and make it somewhat productive (giving the D a much needed break), the rest of the season will be long for the Esks.
Lions by 10.
Sunday
Toronto (6-5) at Montréal (7-4)
I will be attending this game, which probably will not affect the outcome. The Als looked sloppy in the second half last week, dropping several passes from AC. They are also battling injuries to their starting RB and one of their main receivers. That being said, I expect them to bounce back this week.
Als by 3, but that will not stop me from hollering ARRRGOOOS at the top of my lungs. I'm not a Double-Blue fan, but do hate the Als and ARRRGOOOS is a strangely satisfying chant.
Calgary (7-4) at Saskatchewan (5-6)
We have firmly established that the Green Riders can beat the Blue Bombers. Unfortunately for water-melon wearing Sask fans, they are playing the Stamps this week. Whether Durant or Willy plays at QB, the Riders' offence has been simply aneamic this year. The Stamps are really starting to gel as a team, on both sides of the ball.
Calgary by 7.
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.
I went 4-0 for the second consecutive week, raising my record for the year to 28-16. I am sure the one or two people who actually read this are suitably impressed.
This Week's Games
Friday Hamilton (4-7) at Winnipeg (2-9)
What a phenomenal Blue Bomber disaster last week. It reminded me of some of the Ottawa Rough Rider performances from the 80's. (There's one blow-out I remember at the hands of the Eskimos where us South Siders began cheering for the seagulls that had landed on the field. Yes, kids, it was that bad.) On the bright side, it can only get better, right? I am looking forward to seeing and hearing the reaction from the Bomber faithful, especially if the Ti-Cats take a quick lead. It could get ugly at CanadInns Stadium.
Hamilton by 7, but I'm really hoping for Hamilton by 30. As George carlin put it, always root for chaos.
Saturday
BC (8-3) at Edmonton (5-6)
So, let me recap my comments from last week on the Eskimos:- QB controversy. Check. - Kicker controversy. Check. - Three-headed backfield, which is not working out. Check. Add to that a banged-up defence, which had been the team's strength, but now appears tired. Unless either Steve Jyles (ha!) or Matt Nichols can take the helm of the offence and make it somewhat productive (giving the D a much needed break), the rest of the season will be long for the Esks.
Lions by 10.
Sunday
Toronto (6-5) at Montréal (7-4)
I will be attending this game, which probably will not affect the outcome. The Als looked sloppy in the second half last week, dropping several passes from AC. They are also battling injuries to their starting RB and one of their main receivers. That being said, I expect them to bounce back this week.
Als by 3, but that will not stop me from hollering ARRRGOOOS at the top of my lungs. I'm not a Double-Blue fan, but do hate the Als and ARRRGOOOS is a strangely satisfying chant.
Calgary (7-4) at Saskatchewan (5-6)
We have firmly established that the Green Riders can beat the Blue Bombers. Unfortunately for water-melon wearing Sask fans, they are playing the Stamps this week. Whether Durant or Willy plays at QB, the Riders' offence has been simply aneamic this year. The Stamps are really starting to gel as a team, on both sides of the ball.
Calgary by 7.
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.
vendredi 14 septembre 2012
CFL Week Twelve
Last Week's Results:
Thanks to Tim Burke's bone-headed decision to punt with 45 or so seconds left, one of the worst head coaching moves I have seen in 39 years of watching the CFL, which directly lead to the Green Riders beating the Bombers, I went 4-0 last week.
My overall record for the year is now 24-16.
This Week's Games:
Friday
Winnipeg (2-8) at Calgary (6-4)
The Bombers are a mess; there is just no other way to put it. A head coaching change has done little to address on-field discipline problems. Joey Elliott, their starting QB was third on the depth chart at the beginning of the season and with Buck Pierce evidently healthy enough to return to active duties, there is a brewing QB controversy in Winnipeg. Although I am not too sure how much of a controversy there should be when dealing with Buck Pierce; to me, his lack of ability to stay healthy is a detriment to the team. He cannot be counted on to play a full game, which throws a wrench in a any potential planning or preparations by the coaching staff and the offence. Elliott has at times looked quite adequate (OK, faint praise, I know) in moving the Bombers' offence, even though he has not thrown a TD pass in three games now. There is not that much of a step up to Pierce. And see above comments for how much I thought of Tim Burke's improvisational approach to head coaching last week. A bit more on Burke's screw-up: while it is true that punter Mike Renaud has proven quite adept at punting the ball out of bounds near the end zone, I doubt he has ever been asked to angle a 35-yarder to the sidelines, a relatively short punt, with the wind at his back. Just simply a phenomenally bad decision.
Calgary by 12.
Saturday
Edmonton (5-5) at Hamilton (3-7)
The second worst offence in the league (by a mere 28 yards ahead of the Bombers), the Eskimos are facing the worst defence, the Ti-Cats having given up almost 400 yards more than the next worst (the Bombers, again). On the other side of the ledger, the Hamilton offence has been inconsistent all year; while Henry Burris generally puts up nice stats, he is not doing enough to lead his team to victory. Pierre Vercheval (I think) from RDS had a very interesting comment during the telecast of the Ti-Cat-Als game a few weeks ago. He commented that Burris was a lazy quarterback, in that he was over-confident in the strength of his throwing arm and generally did not bother setting himself up adequately physically (legs and body) to make strong, accurate throws. Once you use that lens to look at Burris's performance, you can easily see Vercheval's point. He will be facing an aggressive Eskimos defence, which comes up with big plays, but is ranked in the lower half of the league in yards allowed. As for the Eskimos, there is a bit of turmoil around this team. Let us review:
This one's hard to call. Even though they have looked awful lately, I will take the Ti-Cats by 3, because they are the home team.
Toronto (6-4) at BC (7-3)
Toronto swept the Ti-Cats in the Labour Day + head-to-head series, and looked good in doing so. The Lions, however, are a different breed of feline than the Ti-Cats are. I have written this roughly every week on this blog: they are the class of the league this year. The Lions defence, in just another example of how dominant its season has been so far, completely stifled Anthony Calvillo last week. The Lions have conceded the least net yards in the league this year, 450 yards less than the Argos who are in second place. It will be a challenge for Ricky Ray to move the ball consistently, especially given he will be missing Chad Kackert in the backfield. While Travis Lulay has not had a truly dominant outing yet this year, he seems to mix and match plays and targets enough to give the Lions a chance to win every week.
Lions by 7.
Sunday
Saskatchewan (5-5) at Montréal (6-4)
After losing their previous 5 games, the Green Riders have now won two in a row... against the Blue Bombers, the worst team in the league. They are facing a much more challenging foe this week, in the Alouettes. Despite getting trounced by the Lions last week, the Als have shown throughout the season so far that they are probably the second best team in the league, after the afore-mentioned Lions. Heading back home, they should be hungry to avenge last week's loss. Drew Willy has shown himself to be a valid replacement for Darian Durant at QB for Saskatchewan, but something just has not been clicking all year with the Riders' offence. They do not seem to be able to sustain pressure and move the ball well throughout an entire game. They are 6th in the league for net offence, ahead of only the Eskimos and Bombers. I cannot see them generating enough points on offence to out-score Anthony Calvillo's forces.
Alouettes by 10.
Thanks to Tim Burke's bone-headed decision to punt with 45 or so seconds left, one of the worst head coaching moves I have seen in 39 years of watching the CFL, which directly lead to the Green Riders beating the Bombers, I went 4-0 last week.
My overall record for the year is now 24-16.
This Week's Games:
Friday
Winnipeg (2-8) at Calgary (6-4)
The Bombers are a mess; there is just no other way to put it. A head coaching change has done little to address on-field discipline problems. Joey Elliott, their starting QB was third on the depth chart at the beginning of the season and with Buck Pierce evidently healthy enough to return to active duties, there is a brewing QB controversy in Winnipeg. Although I am not too sure how much of a controversy there should be when dealing with Buck Pierce; to me, his lack of ability to stay healthy is a detriment to the team. He cannot be counted on to play a full game, which throws a wrench in a any potential planning or preparations by the coaching staff and the offence. Elliott has at times looked quite adequate (OK, faint praise, I know) in moving the Bombers' offence, even though he has not thrown a TD pass in three games now. There is not that much of a step up to Pierce. And see above comments for how much I thought of Tim Burke's improvisational approach to head coaching last week. A bit more on Burke's screw-up: while it is true that punter Mike Renaud has proven quite adept at punting the ball out of bounds near the end zone, I doubt he has ever been asked to angle a 35-yarder to the sidelines, a relatively short punt, with the wind at his back. Just simply a phenomenally bad decision.
Calgary by 12.
Saturday
Edmonton (5-5) at Hamilton (3-7)
The second worst offence in the league (by a mere 28 yards ahead of the Bombers), the Eskimos are facing the worst defence, the Ti-Cats having given up almost 400 yards more than the next worst (the Bombers, again). On the other side of the ledger, the Hamilton offence has been inconsistent all year; while Henry Burris generally puts up nice stats, he is not doing enough to lead his team to victory. Pierre Vercheval (I think) from RDS had a very interesting comment during the telecast of the Ti-Cat-Als game a few weeks ago. He commented that Burris was a lazy quarterback, in that he was over-confident in the strength of his throwing arm and generally did not bother setting himself up adequately physically (legs and body) to make strong, accurate throws. Once you use that lens to look at Burris's performance, you can easily see Vercheval's point. He will be facing an aggressive Eskimos defence, which comes up with big plays, but is ranked in the lower half of the league in yards allowed. As for the Eskimos, there is a bit of turmoil around this team. Let us review:
- A pending QB controversy. While Steve Jyles appears ready to return from injury, Kerry Joseph seems to have inherited the no. 1 QB duties, even though he has looked very Joseph-like in the games he has started; i.e., at times sustained drives, mixed in with awful decisions. While Jyles may be ready to return, he certainly did not prove that he could competently lead the Esks offence when he was the starter. I still think Matt Nicholls needs to be given a chance to helm the offence.
- A potential place kicker controversy. The Esks could easily be 7-3, were it not for not one but two flubbed last-second FGs by Grant Shaw. Coincidentally, they have acquired highly-touted Brandon McKnight from the Als to take over punting duties from the injured Burke Dales. How many more pressure kicks can Shaw afford to miss?
- A three-headed monster in the backfield. The Esks are not dressing Cory Boyd this week, so that might be the answer to what to do with not one, not two but three RBs on the roster.
This one's hard to call. Even though they have looked awful lately, I will take the Ti-Cats by 3, because they are the home team.
Toronto (6-4) at BC (7-3)
Toronto swept the Ti-Cats in the Labour Day + head-to-head series, and looked good in doing so. The Lions, however, are a different breed of feline than the Ti-Cats are. I have written this roughly every week on this blog: they are the class of the league this year. The Lions defence, in just another example of how dominant its season has been so far, completely stifled Anthony Calvillo last week. The Lions have conceded the least net yards in the league this year, 450 yards less than the Argos who are in second place. It will be a challenge for Ricky Ray to move the ball consistently, especially given he will be missing Chad Kackert in the backfield. While Travis Lulay has not had a truly dominant outing yet this year, he seems to mix and match plays and targets enough to give the Lions a chance to win every week.
Lions by 7.
Sunday
Saskatchewan (5-5) at Montréal (6-4)
After losing their previous 5 games, the Green Riders have now won two in a row... against the Blue Bombers, the worst team in the league. They are facing a much more challenging foe this week, in the Alouettes. Despite getting trounced by the Lions last week, the Als have shown throughout the season so far that they are probably the second best team in the league, after the afore-mentioned Lions. Heading back home, they should be hungry to avenge last week's loss. Drew Willy has shown himself to be a valid replacement for Darian Durant at QB for Saskatchewan, but something just has not been clicking all year with the Riders' offence. They do not seem to be able to sustain pressure and move the ball well throughout an entire game. They are 6th in the league for net offence, ahead of only the Eskimos and Bombers. I cannot see them generating enough points on offence to out-score Anthony Calvillo's forces.
Alouettes by 10.
vendredi 7 septembre 2012
CFL Week Eleven
Last Week's Results.
I only got the Stampeders win correctly, thus putting my weekly record at 1-3 and my record for the year at 20-16.
This Week's Games (with very few comments).
Friday
Edmonton at Calgary
Kerry Joseph has actually made the Esks' offence look relatively productive over the past 2 weeks. It cannot last.
Calgary by 7.
Saturday
Hamilton at Toronto
Toronto's offence showed signs of life last week, thanks to Chad Owens. I mentioned last week that the Ti-Cats' season was marked by inconsistency and they showed that again last week-end.
Argos by 6.
Montréal at BC
By all indications, a great game between the 2 top teams last week. I only caught the last quarter. This should be another great one.
BC by 3, as the home team.
Sunday
Saskatchewan at Winnipeg.
Gutcheck time for the Bombers, after they put in the worst effort I've seen from a CFL team, and that includes more gawdawful Ottawa Rough Rider and Renegade turn-outs than I care to remember. (Mostly, I have repressed a lot of those memories.) I do not trust either of these teams.
Green Riders by 3.
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.
I only got the Stampeders win correctly, thus putting my weekly record at 1-3 and my record for the year at 20-16.
This Week's Games (with very few comments).
Friday
Edmonton at Calgary
Kerry Joseph has actually made the Esks' offence look relatively productive over the past 2 weeks. It cannot last.
Calgary by 7.
Saturday
Hamilton at Toronto
Toronto's offence showed signs of life last week, thanks to Chad Owens. I mentioned last week that the Ti-Cats' season was marked by inconsistency and they showed that again last week-end.
Argos by 6.
Montréal at BC
By all indications, a great game between the 2 top teams last week. I only caught the last quarter. This should be another great one.
BC by 3, as the home team.
Sunday
Saskatchewan at Winnipeg.
Gutcheck time for the Bombers, after they put in the worst effort I've seen from a CFL team, and that includes more gawdawful Ottawa Rough Rider and Renegade turn-outs than I care to remember. (Mostly, I have repressed a lot of those memories.) I do not trust either of these teams.
Green Riders by 3.
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.
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