Tag Archives: saskatchewan roughriders

I betcha Rider Nation freaks out when they hear the Talking Heads, too…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Rider Nation flew into a panic this holiday season, placing a few “frantic” phone calls to the fire department in the belief that their beloved Mosaic Stadium was ablaze—but it turned out just to be the image of a fireplace on the video board.  As the CBC reports, “For weeks, the cheery image of the burning log was displayed on the video scoreboard at the Saskatchewan Roughriders home venue west of the downtown.  The flaming log was also shown on banner screens across the stands.” 

But where there’s fire, there’s smoke—and perhaps a little Rider green, if ya know what I mean.  Regina’s deputy fire chief Gerard Kay told the CBC “the callers were very descriptive, reporting ‘a very bright flame. In some cases the smell of smoke.’”  Erm, you might wanna check your son’s room in the basement to see where that smell’s coming from, buddy… ;)

In any case, the Riders have agreed to change the image to “something a little more appropriate” that won’t have the 13th man crying foul.  “It’s funny, someone jokingly said, ‘Y’know, I don’t know about that Yule log. Someone is going to think the stadium is on fire,’” team CEO Jim Hopson told our national broadcaster. “Sure as heck, someone thought the stadium was on fire.”

Know what else is funny?  At this moment, some 53 per cent of CBC poll respondents want the old Yule log back.  Burn Baby Burn!

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Here’s hoping that Hufnagel’s decision doesn’t set the stage for a McMahon Stadium Miracle…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

In a hotly-anticipated announcement, Stamps coach John Hufnagel decided today that Drew Tate would be his starting QB for the playoffs.  This, despite the fact that Tate had only played in parts of four games this season, whereas backup Kevin Glenn led the team to a 10-5 record in his absence.  Sure, Tate started the season on top of the depth chart, and Glenn has been an inconsistent journeyman his whole career, but is this really the right choice?

The Calgary Herald points out that Tate “looked good in the first half of Friday’s regular-season finale in Edmonton,” and quoted Hufnagel as saying “He has shown during the past two games he is fully recovered from his shoulder injury.  He is throwing accurately and seeing the field well.”  But I dunno, having watched the first half of last Friday’s game, where he went 11-of-15 for 139 yards and a score, I thought he hardly lit the field on fire.  In fact, Glenn put up very similar numbers (137 yards, one TD) in the second half, despite throwing three fewer passes.  If you were basing it solely on that game, well, it was basically a dead heat.  So why not dance with the one that brought ya?

Furthermore, it’s worth noting that in Tate’s only playoff appearance, he also played just the first half.  Against Edmonton in the West Semi-Final, he was 5-for-10 for just 99 yards passing and a pick, and was benched for Henry Burris at halftime.  On the other hand, Glenn played much better that day, throwing for 275 yards, one TD and a pick in leading Hamilton to an upset win over Montreal.  Of course, it’s not a very apt comparison, as they were playing for different teams—and going up against two very different opponents—but the fact that Glenn has more experience and better postseason results still stands.

As for this weekend’s opponent, the slumping Saskatchewan Roughriders lost four straight games to end the season, and shouldn’t be considered too much of a threat, though it did take a dramatic comeback by the Stamps to beat ‘em at home in OT early in the year.  Mind you, it was Kevin Glenn who led the charge in that one, with 385 yards and four TDs…

I guess I just can’t get past the fact that recent quarterback switcheroos in the playoffs have been largely, and epically, unsuccessful.  In 2004, with ex-Stamps star QB Dave Dickinson suffering an early-season injury, Casey Printers came in and put up a Most Outstanding Player season for the BC Lions.  But Wally Buono decided to go back to Dickinson for the 92nd Grey Cup, where the Leos scored just 19 points in a loss to Toronto. 

And of course, in a 1999 playoff game that still has Buffalo Bills fans crying in their Labatt Blues, another former Stamps star, he of the Flutie Flakes, was benched for Rob Johnson based solely on the latter’s Week 17 performance.  The Bills led the Tennessee Titans by one with just seconds to play in that game, until a controversial kick return gave the home team the win.  All I hafta say is the Stamps better look out for the lateral on their kick coverage this Sunday!!!!

CFL POWER RANKINGS: Week 16

Posted by gruesomegreg on

This week, things pretty much went according to plan.  The B.C. Lions, Calgary Stampeders and Montreal Alouettes all won, the last two clinching playoff spots in the process (B.C. already clinched last week).  The one big surprise was the Saskatchewan Roughriders, winners of three straight, losing–and losing badly–in Edmonton.  The Esks not only look to have third place in the East locked up via crossover, they could very well finish third in the West if they can string a couple more wins together.  Here’s how I saw things this week.

Preseason Predictions

Week 2 Rankings

Week 3 Rankings

Week 4 Rankings

Week 5 Rankings

Week 7 Rankings

Week 8 Rankings

Week 9 Rankings

Week 10 Rankings

Week 11 Rankings

Week 12 Rankings

Week 13 Rankings

Week 14 Rankings

Week 15 Rankings

Week 16 Rankings

1. B.C. Lions (11-4) Last Week: 1.  They came, they saw, they conquered.  Though they weren’t facing the toughest opposition, B.C. came away with a convincing 20-point road win this week.  They’re still the team to beat.

2. Calgary Stampeders (9-6) Last Week: 2.  Week 15 was a tale of two halves for the Stampeders.  They came out all guns blazing in the first, piling on 26 points, but were subsequently outscored 7-6 by the Bombers in the second half.  That said, they still picked up an 11-point win, largely due to their defence forcing eight turnovers–including three end-zone interceptions.  It looks like Calgary’s likely got second-place sewn up, but it’ll take a Week 18 win over B.C. and some help to be hosting the West Final, not the Semi-Final…

3. Montreal Alouettes (9-6) Last Week: 4.  It’s starting to look like the East will go through Montreal this year.  With a two-game lead on the Argos and a tiebreaker in hand, thanks to today’s 24-12 win, the Als appear to be the Beasts of the East for yet another season.  But will this be Anthony Calvillo’s last stand?  The 40-year-old QB has started to look his age of late, though he’s missing some key targets due to injury.  Still a lotta question marks on this team, if you ask me.

4. Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-7) Last Week: 3.  Going into Week 15, the Riders had the second-best defence in the CFL, giving up just over 20 points per game.  But that was before they got torched by a 40-year-old quarterback (OK fine, Kerry Joseph’s 39) and the league’s second-worst offence.  They didn’t execute so well offensively either, Darian Durant throwing for just 204 yards with two scores and two picks.  A significant setback for a team that had really gotten it together these past three weeks–especially considering that Edmonton now owns the tiebreaker should it come down to who stays in the West for the first round.

5. Edmonton Eskimos (7-8) Last Week: 6.  When the Esks scored 35 points against Hamilton last week, I had chalked it up as a bit of a fluke, them going up against the CFL’s worst defence.  But when they followed it up with a 37-point performance against the Riders, well, lightning doesn’t strike twice, right?  Whodathunkit that Kerry Joseph, who hadn’t won a game since ’09, would be the spark this team needed to get back into playoff contention?  Mind you, if there’s one knock against Edmonton right now, it’s that their two big wins both came at the friendly confines of Commonwealth Stadium.  The team is just 2-5 on the road this season, and in all likelihood will hafta travel to meet their playoff opponent.  A nice little run, but they’re probably one-and-done.

6. Toronto Argonauts (7-8) Last Week: 5.  With the Jays’ season over, the Argos have a significant stretch of home games before they call it a year.  But their homestand hasn’t gotten off to a good start–back-to-back losses in which they’ve averaged a mere 11 points per game.  Without Ricky Ray, number two receiver Dontrelle Inman and starting RB Chad Kackert, the Argos just can’t get anything going offensively.  In fact, with a loss to Hamilton in Week 19, they could conceivably be on the outside looking in come playoff-time.  Get well soon, Ricky (and Dontrelle and Chad and whoever else I missed)!

7. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-11) Last Week: 7.  Neither Winnipeg nor Hamilton played well this week, but had the Bombers turned a couple of those INTs into TDs, they could’ve beaten Calgary.  Aaaaand if my aunt had balls, she’d be my uncle.  No excuses for Loseapeg!

8. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (5-10) Last Week: 8.  If this team makes the playoffs, it will only be because they’ve got Winnipeg and Toronto left on their schedule.  And even that doesn’t look likely; one more win by Toronto or Edmonton, and the Tabbies will be punted out the doggie door.  To all the pundits who put them in first place this preseason, I fart in your general direction!  (For what it’s worth, I had them finishing fourth, albeit with an 8-10 record that they likely won’t achieve…)

CFL POWER RANKINGS: Week 15

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Not much movement at the top of the rankings this week–aside from the top spot, while B.C. regains its perch after one week at number two.  Saskatchewan is surging with its third straight win, but still sits behind the Stamps in the standings since Calgary beat them twice.  And while Montreal has now lost to the two worst teams in the league in consecutive weeks, the only East Division team that won this week was Winnipeg–and they’re not moving ahead of the Als, that’s for sure.  Instead of two equal halves, the league can really be divided into a Top Five and a Bottom Three–and whichever member of the second group sneaks into the playoffs is most likely headed for an early exit.  Here’s how things stand after Week 15.

Preseason Predictions

Week 2 Rankings

Week 3 Rankings

Week 4 Rankings

Week 5 Rankings

Week 7 Rankings

Week 8 Rankings

Week 9 Rankings

Week 10 Rankings

Week 11 Rankings

Week 12 Rankings

Week 13 Rankings

Week 14 Rankings

Week 15 Rankings

1. B.C. Lions (10-4) Last Week: 2.  With the win over the Stamps, the Lions became the first team in the league to clinch a playoff spot.  And since they’ve got a two-game advantage and the tiebreaker over Calgary, it’s almost certain that the road to Toronto runs through Vancouver this year.  I think it’s very likely they’ll be back to defend their title, too.

2. Calgary Stampeders (8-6) Last Week: 1.  To Calgary’s credit, their loss to the Lions last weekend was a vast improvement over the 34-8 beating they took in Week Five.  However, they still weren’t able to beat B.C., and now they’ve got Saskatchewan hot on their heels.  Fortunately, they get a break in the schedule over the next two weeks, facing off against Winnipeg and Hamilton.  Then again, I suppose you could ask the Montreal Alouettes how playing the Bombers and Ti-Cats back-to-back worked out for them…

3. Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-6) Last Week: 3.  The Riders showed they could win away from home this week–although with all those green jerseys in the stands, it hardly felt like a road game for Saskatchewan.  Still, this is a team on a roll that could very well end up hosting a playoff game in November.

4. Montreal Alouettes (8-6) Last Week: 4.  If the Als don’t drop in the rankings after losing to the Bombers on their home turf, it’s only because they protected their house a whole lot better than the Argos did.  Sure, there is definitely cause for concern in the Alouette camp, but they remain the best team in the CFL’s junior circuit–for now, anyways.  The Als travel to Toronto to take on the Argos this coming Sunday…

5. Toronto Argonauts (7-7) Last Week: 5.  The only positive the Argos can build on going into next week’s clash with Montreal is that Ricky Ray should be healthy enough to start.  If he isn’t, they’re screwed.  The team did nothing offensively under Jarious Jackson, and they gave up a boatload of points to the Riders, to boot.  Suffice to say that 36-10 thrashing would be even more embarrassing had Saskatchewan not settled for five field goals.  I have a feeling that a fired-up Alouettes squad will put some points on the board next week–it’ll be up to Ray and company to match ‘em.  Stay tuned!

6. Edmonton Eskimos (6-8) Last Week: 7.  Edmonton moves up a spot this week as they set their sights on that crossover spot in the East Division, and they did so by wiping out their main competition on Friday.  The Esks are taking this race seriously, too: they’ve named Kerry Joseph their starting quarterback for the rest of the season.  Ooooh, scary.  But the Ti-Cat defence made Joseph look like a young Ricky Ray last week–which shows you the kind of team they’re up against.  For the record, I think Edmonton will steal that sixth and final playoff spot.

7. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-10) Last Week: 8.  With the win in Montreal, the Bombers have now equaled the Ti-Cats’ road win total.  They’ve also beaten Hamilton twice.  I guess we can call them the second-worst team in the CFL, at least for this week.

8. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (5-9) Last Week: 6.  A streaky team throughout the first half, Hamilton has been so up-and-down lately, you’d swear they still had Kevin Glenn at quarterback.  But no, they traded him for Smiling/Frowning Hank Burris, whose lofty passing statistics have failed to translate into wins.  Their lack of a shut-down defence hasn’t helped, either.  Like Winnipeg, I expect Hamilton to be on the outside looking in come playoff time.

CFL POWER RANKINGS: Week 3

Posted by gruesomegreg on

If you had told me a month ago that the Saskatchewan Roughriders would be the best team in the CFL by mid-July, Ida toldja to run on back to Saskatoon.  But sure enough, the Roughies are 3-0, with a big win over B.C. adding some legitimacy to their record.  Meanwhile, the Stamps are last in the West, but they’re clearly the best 1-2 team in the league, after two tough late losses in the Eastern Timezone.  And it seems the Eskies aren’t the worst team in the league–though it’s starting to look like Winnipeg might hold that title this season.  Here’s how I see things after Week 3.

Preseason Predictions

Week 2 Rankings

Week 3 Power Rankings

1. Saskatchewan Roughriders (3-0) Last Week: 2.  After pasting a pair of patsies in their first two outings, the Riders proved they could play with the best by beating B.C. 23-20 yesterday.  It was hardly a perfect performance–they gave up a ton of yardage on defence, for one thing–but they held the defending Grey Cup champs to less than three TDs, and that has to be recognized.  Will be interesting to see how they fare against the Stamps at McMahon on Thursday.  A big win on the road, and I might hafta stop making Saskatchewan jokes (for a couple weeks, anyways).

2. B.C. Lions (2-1) Last Week: 1.  While the Lions had trouble finding the end zone yesterday, they were still just a couple uncharacteristic Paul McCallum missed kicks away from winning in Regina, a tough place to play.  Thus, the loss doesn’t hurt ‘em too much in my books; they’re still the team to beat as far as I’m concerned.

3. Montreal Alouettes (2-1) Last Week: 3.  Though they wouldn’t have won were it not for a late-game gift from Kevin Glenn, the Als nevertheless fought back from a big deficit to beat the Stamps in style Thursday night.  Their high-scoring performances of the past two weeks show that the Calvillo machine still has some gas in the tank, and Montreal is once again the team to beat out East.

4. Calgary Stampeders (1-2) Last Week: 4.  Though he threw the game away in the fourth quarter, Kevin Glenn had been having a pretty solid second half up to that point.  Drew Tate is out for at least a month, but the Stamps offence has hardly missed a beat, putting up their third-straight 30-point performance.  The downside is that they lost their second straight game by a field goal or less, but had a couple bounces gone their way, this team could easily be 3-0 right now.

5. Edmonton Eskimos (2-1) Last Week: 7.  Coming off a pathetic one-point outing, the Esks certainly had something to prove when they faced off against Winnipeg on Friday night.  While I had expected a low-scoring, hard-fought slobber-knocker, it turns out that the Bombers simply got the slobber knocked out of them, as the tandem of Jyles and Joseph combined for 374 yards and 3 TDs, building up a 35-to-zip halftime lead.  That said, I can’t advance Edmonton more than a couple spots in the standings cuz Winnipeg’s clearly the worst team in the league right now.  Beating them, even by a wide margin, don’t impress-ah me much.

6. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1-2) Last Week: 6.  A team that many expected to contend in the East this year now finds itself in second place by virtue of its win over Toronto.  The Ti-Cats have bounced back from that embarrassing opening loss with improved results the past two weeks, which culminated in their first win of the season last night.  But let’s not kid ourselves here.  Two of the Tabbies five TDs came on kick returns–take those off the board and they lose the game.  Henry Burris completed less than half of his passes for just 181 yards, while their offence managed just seven points in the second half, allowing the Argos back into the game after building up a 21-0 lead.  This team is far from perfect, but should still be strong enough to secure a playoff spot in the East Division.

7. Toronto Argonauts (1-2) Last Week: 5.  Three weeks into the season, it’s clear that Ricky Ray still has to work out some kinks in this new offence with its inexperienced receiving corps.  After a great home opener, he threw for just 232 yards and no scores last night, tossing a late-game pick to seal his team’s fate.  And while this team has always lived and died on the defensive side of the ball, they’ve given up 91 points through three games, just over 30 per content–which, incredibly, is the fewest in the East, although all four Western teams have much lower totals.  Guess that just goes to show the West is the best…

8. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (0-3) Last Week: 8.  Friday was supposed to be a winnable game for Winnipeg, but instead they gave up 42 points to an Edmonton team that didn’t score more than a rouge the week before.  Clearly suffering from the off-season losses of Odell Willis and Doug Brown, the once-vaunted Bomber D has given up the most points in the league this year–while their offence has scored by far the fewest (only Edmonton even comes close), with just 56.  You’d think they might have a chance to pick up their first win on Wednesday against my seventh-ranked team in Toronto, but then again, I also thought they’d win last week, and we all know how that turned out.  Are they any hot prospects with the University of Manitoba Bison they can take first overall to sell tickets in their new stadium next season?

CFL POWER RANKINGS: Week 2

Posted by gruesomegreg on

(Once upon a time, I was the CFL Editor for a sports website that no longer exists.  I watch pretty much all the games when I don’t have other plans, so I figure I know about as much as the other Canadian Football prognosticators out there–y’know, both of them.  Thus, I’ve decided to start doing my own power rankings; we’ll see how long this lasts.)

Preseason Predictions

Week 2 Power Rankings

1. B.C. Lions (2-0) Last Week: 3.  Despite a late-game meltdown that let Hamilton back in it on Friday night, the defending Grey Cup champs are 2-0.  With 72 points on the board through two weeks of play, they’re also the second-highest-scoring team in the league.  But they’ve yet to play a game outside of their home turf, so it remains to be seen how they’ll fare on the road.

2. Saskatchewan Roughriders (2-0) Last Week: 2.  It wasn’t pretty, but they got the job done.  After an impressive 43-point performance last week in Hamilton, the Riders didn’t find the end zone until the two-minute mark of the fourth quarter in their home opener today.  On the other hand, they almost kept the Edmonton Eskimos off the scoreboard, holding their opponents to just a single point.  The Green-and-White are off to a good start against two of the bottom three teams in the league, but will face a much tougher test when they host the Lions next weekend.

3. Montreal Alouettes (1-1) Last Week: 7.  No team looked worse in Week 1 than the Als, who got steamrollered by the Stampeders on Canada Day.  But they bounced back on Friday, putting up 5 TDs on a supposedly-tough Winnipeg defence to even their record at 1s.  They get another shot at the Stamps this week as they host Calgary on Thursday–and if Calgary QB Drew Tate doesn’t play, they might even flip the tables on ‘em.

4. Calgary Stampeders (1-1) Last Week: 1.  The Stamps did well to erase a 15-point deficit on the road in the second half, only to lose to the Argos on a last-second field goal.  But the biggest loss for the Stamps came early in the first quarter, when Tate left the game with a shoulder injury.  The team looked shaky with Kevin Glenn at the helm, but got a big boost from the superb special-teams play of Larry Taylor, who had 292 return yards on punts and kickoffs–not to mention the missed field-goal he ran back 125 yards for a touchdown in the fourth.  Here’s hoping that Tate’s injury wasn’t as bad as it looked, otherwise it’ll be a tough month ahead for Calgary.

5. Toronto Argonauts (1-1) Last Week: 6.  Turns out it only took Ricky Ray one game to get over his new-team jitters.  The all-time great QB had an impressive home debut despite the sparse crowd in The Big Smoke, completing 30-of-40 passes for 407 yards and two TDs–though he was also picked off twice.  Most importantly, he connected on some key throws down the stretch, allowing his team to respond whenever Calgary came up with a big play.  Cleo Lemon couldn’t have completed most of those passes.  Looks like Toronto’s finally got an offence that’s worth watching.  Wonder how many weeks/wins it will take for this city to actually give a damn…

6. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-2) Last Week: 8.  After getting embarrassed at Ivor Wynne Stadium last week, the Tabbies put together a more-respectable showing at BC Place, dropping a tight decision to the Lions.  I am a little worried about the age and inconsistency of Henry Burris at quarterback, though.  After disappearing in the second half of last week’s game, he didn’t really wake up until the fourth quarter against the Lions, though his final numbers (359 yards, 4 TDs) sure look impressive.  He’ll need more than some flashy Chevron Walker-aided stats to stay ahead of Quinton Porter on the depth chart, however, as he faces a familiar foe in Ricky Ray next weekend.

7. Edmonton Eskimos (1-1) Last Week: 4.  Perhaps no team is worse off in the QB department than Edmonton, who rotated Stephen Jyles and Kerry Joseph tonight like they were running backs–not the leaders of the team’s offence.  The two pivots combined to go 13-of-25 with a mere 116 yards passing as the team only put up a rouge off a missed field goal on the scoreboard.  See, this is what happens when you trade your franchise QB for a career backup and a Canadian kicker…

8. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (0-2) Last Week: 5.  In Week One, the Bombers played a pretty solid defensive game in hostile territory before things came unraveled in the 4th quarter. But they didn’t have much going offensively after Buck Pierce went down late in the first half.  And though Buck bounced back with a respectable 255-yard effort in Montreal (with Alex Brink going 3-for-4 and adding 57 yards to their passing totals), it was their defence’s turn to let the team down.  The Bombers are off to a tough start to this season, which opens with four consecutive road games.  And when they finally come home, it won’t be to a brand-new stadium–the opening of which has been pushed back to next season.  On the plus side, they do have a winnable game in Edmonton staring them in the face on Friday.  I’d put the over-under for total points in that one at 25–and no, I won’t be watching.

Are you ready for some Thanksgiving Day football?

Posted by gruesomegreg on

In the States, football and Thanksgiving are intimately linked, with what used to be a doubleheader turning into–what are there, five games now?  And while it might not be quite the holiday staple north of the border, the CFL has long scheduled a Thanksgiving Day doubleheader, with the NFL providing the nitecap with MNF.  Not only that, but the Flames are playing in St. Louis at the early hour of 2 pm–I didn’t know it was a holiday down south!–and thanks to the rain in Texas, there are not one, but two playoff baseball games today.  There’s really no reason to leave the couch today, though I’ll be spending a couple hours in front of my computer to watch the hockey game on Flames Live.

As far as the football goes, we could very well be in for two one-sided matchups.  But as the Montreal Alouettes play host to the lowly Toronto Argos, quarterback Anthony Calvillo needs just 258 yards to pass Damon Allen as pro football’s all-time leading passer.  Worth tuning in to see history being made!  Meanwhile, the Edmonton Eskimos will be looking to bounce back from a rough stretch as they host the shitacular Saskatchewan Roughriders.  A win would give Edmonton a share of first place in the West.  Go Riders! ;)

Perhaps the most hotly-anticipated contest of the day comes on Monday Night Football, where the undefeated Detroit Lions play host to the Chicago Bears, a team that’s tougher than their 2-2 record might suggest.  I gotta say, I’m all for the football resurgence in Buffalo and Detroit–and I’d like to see the Lions win, then go on to knock off the Niners next week, heh heh.

As for the baseball action, I like the Rangers and the Brewers.  I’m currently debating at which sports bar I’ll have Thanksgiving dinner tonite…

I’ve got a bit of a predicament this evening…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

You could say I’m faced with somewhat of a dilemma at 10 o’clock tonite, as it seems my sporting interests have been double-booked.  Both the Stamps and the Flames are in nationally-televised action tonite–and both games start at the exact same time!

The Flames drop the puck on their 2011-2012 season at the Saddledome tonite with the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins coming to town.  Last year, the two teams met in Pittsburgh, where Sidney Crosby notched a hat trick in a 4-1 win.  Fortunately for us, he’s not in the lineup, still feeling the effects of post-concussion syndrome.  On the other hand, Jarome Iginla, who missed a big chunk of training camp, is penciled in on the Flames’ first line with David Moss and Alex Tanguay.  Yeeeeah Baaaaaby!

Even without their star player, the Penguins still won their season’s opener in Vancouver on Thursday, besting the Canucks in a shootout, 4-3.  Matt Cooke, one of those ex-Canucks that I still can’t stand, scored twice against his former team.  Somebody check him into the boards for me, will ya?

Speaking of Vancouver, that’s where the Stamps find themselves tonite, playing at the brand-new B.C. Place for the first time.  The winner of this game will put themselves in first place in the CFL’s Western Division, where the Stamps currently hold a two-point advantage over the Lions.  And it was B.C. who got the best of us at McMahon a few weeks back, in what was one Calgary’s worst performances of the season–surpassed only by that embarrassing Touchdown Atlantic showdown in their next game.

That said, the Stamps ran roughshod over the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week, putting 40 points on the board, with newly-instated starting RB Jon Cornish doing most of the damage on the ground.  But there’s no hotter team than B.C., winners of six straight, who put their own 37-point whipping on the Riders in Week 13.  I think the forecast in Vancouver calls for lots of offence, with both teams looking to take the third and deciding game of the season series.  Should be a good one…

If anything, my focus will be more on football tonite, though I’ll be frantically flipping back and forth between channels, for sure.  Unfortunately, I can’t go to my local sports bar–or any sports bar, really–to watch the two games simultaneously, since there’s some sorta UFC thing on tonite, and any sports bar that doesn’t want to be completely empty, save for a few expat Calgarians, will be showing that shit.  Man, if McGuinty wanted to balance the budget, he should simply stick a civil servant at every sports bar showing ultimate fighting and charge a 10-dollar “idiot tax” to all who enter.  The provincial coffers would be full in no time! ;)

In the meantime, I must apologize in advance to my neighbours–except for the one whose pile of garbage on the balcony brings the bugs to my window–for the string of bilingual profanity that’ll spew from my mouth should things go awry this evening.  Let’s hope for the best, for their sake.