Catatonia

Ticat Depth Chart, Regular Season Finale

2009-11-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

The offensive line is the usual. Gauthier at left tackle, import Goodspeed at right tackle, Dyakowski and Hudson the guards and Hage the centre. Import James is one wide receiver and Bauman is back at the other. Import McDaniel is one of the slotbacks and local boy Dave Stala is the other. Bruce is listed as is customary, backing up Bauman. Rodriguez is listed as backing up James.

Glenn starts, Cobb starts, with non-import Williams listed as the fullback.

On defence, Long and Hickman are the ends, McIntyre and Adams are the tackles.

Knowlton, Floyd and Johnson are the linebackers.

Bradley and Smith are the cornerbacks, with Thompson and Tisdale the defensive backs. Barker starts again as the lone Canadian on defence at safety. Sasha Glavic is listed as his backup, who I thought the Cats had released.

Jeremy Ito is in as the punter and kicker because Setta is injured. Good that we had Ito on the practice roster for a while, although I wonder how he will do.

For Winnipeg on the offensive line, Morley is the left tackle, with import January the right tackle, LaBatte and Mac product Donnelly are the guards and Khan is the centre.

Imports Ryan and Bowman are the wide receivers, Ralph and Hargreaves are the slotbacks. Bishop is the starting quarterback, with Bramlet (who?) the backup. Fred Reid is the starting running back, with Oosterhuis the fullback.

On defence, Hunt and Willis are the ends, with non-imports Brown and Oramasionwu as the tackles. Imports Charlton, Simpson and Shabazz are the linebackers.

Imports Craver and Johnson are the cornerbacks. Imports Walls and Hefney are the defensive backs, with non-import Logan as the safety.

Serna is the placekicker and Troy Westwood is the punter.

Terry Caulley Cut

2009-11-06T12:33:00.000-08:00

Sad to see that Terry Caulley has been cut. Drew Edwards reported it in his blog. Caulley was injured for a lot of the year, and the emergence of Deandra' Cobb kept him on the bench. Caulley was a decent player, however his time corresponded with some low points for the Tiger-Cats. Seems with the signing of running back Tyler Ebell, Caulley became expendable. Still wondering what is going to happen to Kenton Keith in the off-season. Outright release?

Morencie Signing

2009-11-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

There's an article in the Province about the Cats signing Windsor Lancer fifth year player Matt Morencie. BC had drafted him in the third round before the start of this season, but Morencie went back for his fifth year after I assume the Lions released him. That meant with Windsor out of the playoffs and their season done, he was free to sign with any team and ended up with the Cats.

This is an interesting issue as players routinely go back for a fifth year of CIS ball if they can't make the club. BC could have done what the Cats (Zack Carlson) and Riders seem to be doing and kept Morencie on the roster this season, but then put him on the nine game injury list, where he and his salary doesn't count against the cap or the roster limit. This nine game injury list is now a way of getting around the salary cap. Teams with more resources like the Riders can stockpile players, compared to the Argos who tend to be underfunded (probably from paying too much to coaches past and present) and keep the bare number of Canadians and end up screwed when injuries occur.

The Cats are looking good for next year in terms of young Canadians on the offensive line. They have number one pick Rottier, supplementary pick Carlson and now Morencie getting some practice in before next year's camp. Morencie was highly rated going into the draft but somewhat inexplicably dropped down to third. With guard Dyakowski also being quite young, the Cats are probably OK next year even if backup guard Gagne-Marcoux goes to Montreal to replace Bryan Chiu at centre (his natural position). Hudson is getting quite old, although his play has been reasonable and better than Gagne-Marcoux's. Goodspeed and Gauthier will no doubt be back, with probably this year's crop of offensive linemen making their presence felt in 2011.

CFL Previews, Week 19, Part 1

2009-11-05T17:53:00.001-08:00

Pigskin Pete at Ivor Wynne
Originally uploaded by philinator

Edmonton at BC,
So BC is favoured by four at home last I checked, despite BC having had lost two games in a row. Edmonton is on a one game winning streak after spanking the hapless Argos last week. Still not sure who starts for BC this week in a win or go home game (or tie and both stick around) Printers or Buck "the Glassman" Pierce. Printers has played well the past few weeks, but hasn't won. Not sure if BC running back Mallett will play either. BC's defence looks like it has finally adjusted to not having Cameron Wake make everyone else look better. Edmonton's defence has looked porous the entire year. I'm going with BC mainly due to Buono, but really these two teams are not that good.

Montreal at Toronto,
Uh, Montreal is only favoured by 9.5 points? Toronto has lost seven straight, is one and seven at home, whereas Montreal is five and three on the road and has a mighty one game winning streak going. Easy romp for Montreal, especially if Toronto starts Reaves

Odds

2009-11-04T18:32:00.000-08:00

So the last odds I have seen have Winnipeg 1.5 point favourites at home against the Tiger-Cats on Sunday. Winnipeg didn't look great against a Montreal with Calvillo at the controls, but this week they are at home and if they don't win, they are out. Hamilton is in unless BC and Edmonton tie and the Cats lose. I think Hamilton has looked quite good the past two games, especially the defence, so barring Bishop heaving bombs randomly down field that happen to land near Winnipeg receivers, I think we have really should be favoured.

BC is favoured by three at home versus Edmonton in their do or die game. Hamilton and BC winning we mean Printers starting in Hamilton the following week. Somehow I think Ray comes out of this one.

The Riders are favoured by one at home against Calgary in their battle to host the Western final. Saskatchewan hasn't won the division since 1976 which is remarkable in a four and five team division. The Riders looked crap against Hamilton and if they bring that against Calgary, they'll get blown out.

Montreal is favoured by 9.5 against Toronto in David Millerville. Toronto is starting that Reaves kid, however if I was betting, I would be tempted to take Montreal against the spread.

CFL Power Rankings

2009-11-02T17:10:00.000-08:00

1. Montreal
2. Calgary
3. Saskatchewan
4. Hamilton
5. BC
6. Edmonton
7. Winnipeg
8. Toronto

Montreal came back into form with Calvillo back. Calgary won a close one in BC, while Saskatchewan looked terrible in Hamilton, flu or not. Hamilton looked good both
offensively and defensively.

BC can play reasonably with Casey Printers at the controls, but doesn't look like they can make the next step.

Edmonton beats Toronto. Which means little. Winnipeg comes back to earth against a real quarterback. Toronto sucks as per usual. One last game to tie last year's four and fourteen record.

Cats Win!

2009-10-31T15:53:00.000-07:00

Wow. That was awesome and most enjoyable. Especially compared to last year, where sitting as I do in section 5, I was surrounded by annoying Rider fans (or even worse Andy Fantuz fans). This year, there weren't a lot of yappy Rider fans, as pretty much every play except for the phantom interception went our way.

Congratulations to Cobb on going over 1000 yards rushing and picking up 159 yards on 25 rushes. Also, awesome play by local boy Dave Stala with nine catches for 126 yards, including a TD. That represented more than half of Kevin Glenn's 233 yards on 21 for 35 passing. Apparently Bruce was one for one passing for four yards, but I missed that.

Also awesome was the Cat defence with six sacks, which hopefully gets up from last place in the CFL sack race. Durant was a sucky 8 for 20 for 66 measly yards. Andy Fantuz had a mediocre game with three catches for 27 yards, which I enjoyed considering the idot "Tuz" fans in my vicinity.

Good to see over 24,500 fans, although probably close to 5,000 were Rider fans. Thanks for your money!

CFL Previews, Week 18, Part 2

2009-10-31T08:48:00.000-07:00

Calgary at BC,
Calgary is favoured by 1.5 points. BC is only 4 and 3 at home, whereas the Stamps are 3 and 4 on the road, so that's pretty much a wash. Calgary is on a one game winning streak, while BC conversely is on a one game losing streak. Printers looks like he will start again this week, after having decent chemistry again with Geroy Simon. BC running back Mallett is questionable, which shouldn't help the Lions. For the Stamps winning next week guarantees the top spot in the West. BC needs help to come second and also wants to stay ahead of Edmonton who slapped the Argos last night, so one could argue this game means more to them. I still like Calgary.
Calgary 30, BC 28

Winnipeg at Montreal,
So this game means nothing to the Alouettes, although they are trying to maintain their perfect home record. Which is something I suppose, although the ultimate goal is obviously the Grey Cup and Montreal, despite their great teams over the years has been kinda sucky in terms of number of Cups. The Alouettes are favoured by a fairly colossal 9.5 points so I assume Calvillo will play at least part of the game. With Edmonton winning last night, next week's game is more important for the Bombers. On that basis and the fact that Michael Bishop has to regress back to his mean occasionally (Interception City!) I will go with Alouettes to stay perfect at home.
Montreal 25, Winnipeg 19

Depth Chart Analysis

2009-10-31T08:17:00.000-07:00

On the offensive line, the usual this year, import Goodspeed at left tackle, Dyakowski and Hudson the guards, Gauthier the other tackle and the centre Hage. Glenn starts, with Cobb as the running back. Apparently no Terry Caulley this week either. Have we seen the last of him in a Ticat uniform? Williams is listed as the invisible fullback this week. James and non-import Corey Grant are listed as the receivers (Bauman is injured this week, but hopefully he will be back next week). McDaniel and local boy Dave Stala are the slots. Arland Bruce, the third iteration is listed in his weird backup receiver position they list him at every week. Kevin Robinson, who was signed a couple of weeks ago backs up James. Without an injury, I'm not sure if we will see him.

On defence, the Cats are going with the defensive line I assume that they are now happy with, Long and Hickman on the ends, McIntyre (a former end) and Adams in the interior.

Linebackers, surprise, Knowlton, Floyd and Johnson.

Bradley and Smith are the corners once again. Thompson and Tisdale are the defensive backs. Barker is in again for Beveridge, as the lone Canuck starter on the D at safety.

For the Riders on the offensive line, it is non-import Makowsky at left tackle, with import rookie Joel Bell at right tackle. Non-imports Best (who has a colossally nerdy picture on Rider website) and Parenteau at the guard spots and non-import O'Day as the centre.

Durant starts, import Wes Cats at running back, with newly elected Regina councillor Chris Szarka, non-import, as his fullback.

Queen's product Rob Bagg is at one of the wideout spots, with import Johnny Quinn at the other. Non-imports Fantuz and Clermont are at the slots. Former Cat draft pick Chris Getzlaf is listed as a backup slot, but I'm sure we will see him in five and six receiver sets. That's eight Canuck starters on offense.

Baggs and Chick are the ends. Adams and non-import Shologan are the defensive tackles.

Lucas, Williams and former Cat Tad Kornegay are the linebackers.

Non-import Alexander and Moran are the corners. McKenzie and Frazier are the defensive backs. Patrick is the saftey.

So that's two non-import starters on defence, for nine total, two over the nine required. Obviously the Riders have Canadian talent to burn. The Cats, not so much. Sometimes I wonder if O'Billovich's main skill is getting US talent (for example, Cameron Wake). Consider that the Cats have ten players now on the expanded practice roster, but only one is a non-import.

It is freakily windy down here at Tigercataonia HQ right near St. Joe's, so I assume the several miles to the West is similar. Not sure who that will benefit, although Durant seems more apt to run than Glenn, so maybe that edge goes to the Riders. Eleven degrees with a high of thirteen, so quite comfortable temperature wise. Toronto did no favours to the Cats by sucking to Edmonton, but who really expected more.

Anyways, good luck to the Cats on beating the Riders today. Hopefully some Saskatchewan fans will go home sad and depressed for once from Ivor Wynne.

CFL Previews, Week 18, Part 1

2009-10-30T16:53:00.000-07:00

Toronto at Edmonton,
Edmonton is only favoured by four at home which seems a bit disturbing for Edmonton, considering the Argos have lost six in a row. The Argos are 2 and 6 on the road which is actually better than their home record. The Eskimos are even at home. Obviously for the Argos, they are out of it. For Edmonton, winning the next two games guarantees they get the East division crossover, so this game definitely means something. Kerry Joseph will start for the Argos who will likely play their third stringer at some point (I am too lazy to look up his name, you'll know him when you see him out there sucking). The Argos now have a 1000 yard rusher in Jamal Robertson, however their offensive line is still missing two starters and is bad even for the Argos' recent history. Edmonton is no great shakes either, but they have Ricky Ray who should be able to do enough to beat a feeble Argo team.
Smos 31, Argos 21

Saskatchewan at Hamilton,
Important game for Saskatchewan to try and win first in the West for the first time since the seventies. Wowza. Although the Riders are kind of similar to Hamilton, in that the Riders play Calgary next week, so exactly how this game matters, I'm not quite sure. For Hamilton, how important this game depends on how Edmonton does. If Edmonton wins both games, what the Cats do here doesn't matter, they have to win in the Peg next week to get a playoff spot. Hamilton is favoured by one at home which probably reflects the weird nature of the penultimate game of the regular season. The Cats come in on a one game winning streak, as does the Riders. The Cats are going with the more steady Kevin Glenn the rest of the season, however they are missing Rodriguez and maybe non-import receiver Bauman for this game. The Riders are still missing their best receiver Weston Dressler with a broken leg, but have shown their Canadian content at receiver is capable of shredding the Cat defence. The Cats are 5 and 3 at home, whereas the Riders are a reasonable 4-3-1 at home. The Cats will have to start strong to have a chance, however the fact that this game is not truly a must win worries me. That and the Cats history the past few years means that if I were actually betting I would have to pick the Riders.
Sasky 25, Hamilton 22

Playoff Scenarios

2009-10-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should say something about playoff scenarios for the Cats. Edmonton, Winnipeg and Hamilton are all tied with a mediocre record of 7 to 9. For the crossover, Edmonton must have more points than the third placed East team. If Edmonton wins their last two games against Toronto and BC, they get the crossover, because Hamilton and Winnipeg play each other in the last game of the year, thus only one of those two teams can win two games. If Edmonton loses both of their final games, both Hamilton and Winnipeg are in. If Edmonton wins one of their remaining two games, if either Hamilton or Winnipeg wins this week's game and then the other team wins the final game, Edmonton is out. Similarly if both Hamilton and Winnipeg win their games this week and Edmonton only wins one, Edmonton is out.

Interestingly, this week's games for Hamilton and Winnipeg do not decide who hosts the East semi-final. Whoever wins the final game hosts the semi-final. Edmonton winning their last two games would make the Winnipeg game huge; either you host the semi-final or you are out. In the event Hamilton and Winnipeg tie in the final game, assuming both teams either win or lose this week, I believe I read somewhere that Hamilton gets in. I'm too lazy to look it up, so don't count on it.

I will interested to see how many Rider fans show up this week in the Hammer. With Saskatchewan still tied with Calgary atop the West, this is a very important game for them. Winning makes it much easier to host the West final, which is generally an advantage to host the West final. As mentioned for Hamilton, this is a bit of a weird game. Win next week in Winnipeg and what happens this week doesn't matter. Hopefully a decent number of fans show up this week. The Cats don't seem to be whoring out discounted tickets like the last week, so there must be some healthy demand from crazed, watermelon wearing Saskatchewan fans.

CFL Power Rankings

2009-10-27T20:07:00.000-07:00

1. Montreal
2. Saskatchewan
3. Calgary
4. Winnipeg
5. Hamilton
6. BC
7. Edmonton
8. Toronto

Montreal is still number one, despite a rather half-assed effort last week without Calvillo. I liked Saskatchewan's win against a good BC team, albeit one led by Casey "I sucked for Hamilton" Printers. Calgary blew out a rapidly declining Edmonton team, which is not particularly impressive. Winnipeg is looking surprisingly good even with Bishop at the controls. Hamilton looked decent against Toronto, although the lack of second half production was somewhat disturbing. BC with Casey Printers I am not a particular fan of, however he didn't look too bad out there. Edmonton, suck city. Toronto, positively honktastic.

I ended up catching a little of the Argo Access show, hosted by Pinball and some woman who was able to fake some enthusiasm about the Argos, despite them being eliminated from the playoffs. The show is on the Sun network, which is primarily really old sitcoms, plus weird programs that are pretty much just informercials for Casino Rama. Likely the Argos pay for the time (which considering it is Sun TV wouldn't be much) and provide the content. Which got me to thinking about the Cats and CHCH. The Cats pretty much have a lot of video content on their site already, so putting together a half hour show probably wouldn't cost them much extra. Considering that CHCH broadcasts somewhat old movies to incredibly old movies, which I can't imagine get many viewers, there's probably a half hour available for a Ticats show, likely on the weekend. If the Cats made the content available for free, CHCH would probably get more viewers than whatever terrible old movie they would show (which would cost something for the rights, although in reality almost nothing). Hopefully the Cats will get on that.

Argo Game

2009-10-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

It was excellent that the Cats were able to prevail fairly easily over the double blue 26 to 17 on Friday. Retaining the Ballard Cup was also a good thing, although with the Argos seemingly headed for a 3 and 15 season it isn't as satisfying as if the they were a 500 team. It was a little disappointing that the Cats were outscored in the second half 17 to 6, but they were well ahead and teams in that position tend to do that in the CFL.

Glenn pretty much cemented his starter status (although it was against a reeling Argo team) with an efficient 28 for 38 performance for 332 yards and a TD pass. Driving over to watch the game at a friend's house I heard the first play on the radio and almost snapped when I heard Moreno intercepted it for a TD, only to be called back on an Argo offside.

Bruce with five catches for 96 yards was again effective at burning his former team. McDaniel with five catches for 61 yards had a good game, as did James with five for 52. Arguably Bauman had the best game for the non-import receivers with just two catches for 46 yards. Cobb was decent with 17 rushes for 80 yards, albeit a mediocre 4.7 yards per rush. Cobb also had 7 catches for 32 yards, albeit an even more mediocre 4.6 yards average. Cobb is a decent back, but is probably one of those fungible import backs that has a good year or two and then fades away.
The line gave up no sacks against Toronto's defence, which is impressive.

On defence, Markeith Knowlton had seven tackles to lead the Cats. Hickman had four tackles and three sacks, but sadly Hamilton is still last in the CFL for sacks. Some people think sacks are an overrated stat, but I am not one of them. The Argos offensive line was so patched up, that their offense really wasn't much of a test. The Riders definitely will be.

Watching the game, I can't help but think that the biggest mistake of the Argos was signing Kerry Joseph. If the Argos had just went with Bishop, they could have saved Joseph's salary and put it towards a better offensive line, and combined with their strength on defence, they would have been a reasonable team the past two seasons. Now the Argos may get better next year, but I would not expect much of an improvement.

CFL Preview, Week 17, Part 2

2009-10-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

Montreal at Winnipeg
Montreal is favoured by 3.5 points in Winnipeg. Montreal has won six straight, while Winnipeg has lost one as Michael Bishop came back to earth. The big question is whether Anthony Calvillo will play, and if he doesn't, how will the backup McPherson play. Montreal is 5 and 2 at home, while Winnipeg is at 3 and 4. Will Montreal let up on the accelator with no need to win? They didn't do it against Calgary or Hamilton the past couple of weeks. With Hamilton winning last night, the pressure is on the Bombers to keep even. For some reason, I think this may be the week that the Alouettes trip up.
Winnipeg 23, Montreal 19

BC at Saskatchewan,
BC has definitely been a hot team of late, coming off three wins, while the Riders tied last week. The Riders are only 4 and 3 at home, with the Lions even at 4 and 4 on the road, so there's probably not a huge amount of home field advantage effect. The Riders are still missing star receiver Weston Dressler, out with a broken leg, however last week in Calgary the Riders Canadian receivers had a great game. The story of the game though is that former Cat quarterback Casey Printers could start, with Pierce, Jackson and Lulay all injured. The Riders are favoured by four, which probably has a lot to do with Casey Printers starting. Having watched a lot of mediocre Printers play with the Cats, I'm going with the Riders.
Riders 35, Lions 25

CFL Previews, Week 17, Part 1

2009-10-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hamilton at Toronto,
The last line I have seen is Hamilton favoured by 3.5 points. Which sort of makes sense, although when you look at losing streaks, Toronto has lost five in a row, with Hamilton not much better at four. Hamilton has also only won one game on the road against BC early in the season. Fortunately Toronto's home record is about as good as Dalton McGuinty governs, which after yesterday's $24.7 billion deficit is obviously not very good. But I digress. Kevin Glenn obviously starts this week after his monster passing effort last week that he ended up losing to Montreal's little used backup quarterback. As I have mentioned in a previous post, Glenn also was the quarterback in Toronto in September, which he also managed to lose. Fortunately for the Cats, the already mediocre Toronto offensive line has Keeping and Ramsay out so it will probably suck as much as any line has this season in the CFL. If Bart "Count Floyd" Andrus was smart, he would have starter Kerry Joseph roll out on every single play or hand off to Jamal Robertson. Andrus hasn't seem to adjust very well this year, so I'm sure we will see the pocket collapsing and Jospeh dragging himself off the turf, which should be enough for the Cats to win. The Cats are missing Rodriguez again, but that's hardly news at this point. Safety Sandy Beveridge is also out with a thigh ailment, but backup Dylan Barker isn't much of a dropoff and is faster. If the Cats find a way to lose this one, this season has been a failure. Plus we would lose out on the Ballard Trophy, which would be embarassing.

Edmonton at Calgary,
An important game for both teams, as Calgary is still going for first place in the West and Edmonton is trying to win a crossover. The line currently is six points in favour of Calgary. Calgary is missing non-import Labinjo this week, whereas Edmonton might be missing non-import running back McCarty. Edmonton is 3 and 4 away while Calgary is 5 and 2 at home plus a tie. Burris looked like he had returned to form last week after a few mediocre weeks, whereas Ricky Ray managed to beat the Argos. This game looks like it could be one of those weird surprise games, but you can't not pick Calgary, which is good for both Hamilton and Winnipeg in terms of the crossover.

CFL Power Rankings

2009-10-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

1. Montreal
2. Saskatchewan
3. Calgary
4. BC
5. Edmonton
6. Hamilton
7. Winnipeg
8. Toronto

Montreal wins, even without Calvillo. Have to go with Saskatchewan tying Calgary in Calgary over Calgary. Burris looked better this week though. BC beats Winnipeg, even without Pierce or Jackson. Edmonton manages to beat Toronto which isn't saying much. Hamilton puts on a valiant, albeit ultimately futile effort in Montreal against the league's best team. Michael Bishop woke up and realized he was Michael Bishop, complete with ridiculously low completion rate. Toronto just sucks. With three games left, can Toronto win a game and tie last year's 4 and 14 record. I bet no.

Last Game

2009-10-21T11:45:00.001-07:00

A lot of people are raving about Kevin Glenn's performance, especially the fact he passed for over 500 yards. Somewhat lost in the raving is the fact that we lost, despite knocking Anthony Calvillo out of the game, which is what we pretty much had to do. Certainly Glenn warrants the start in Toronto this week, but a lot of people are forgetting the results of the last game in Toronto. Just in case you forgot, we lost. You might have also forgotten the quarterback for that game was, yes that's right, Kevin Glenn who lost to Cody Pickett. So for those that think that Glenn is the savior, give your head a shake.

One point I will make about passing for big yardage, is that you don't always end up winning. I would bet that the quarterback running for over 100 yards has a higher correlation of winning than passing for over 400 yards. Something to think about.

One last thing, currently Hamilton is favoured by 3.5 points against Toronto.

CFL Previews, Week Whatever 2, Part 2

2009-10-18T08:59:00.001-07:00

Hamilton at Montreal,
With Calvillo starting at home, the Cats are in tough. Somewhat unsurprisingly the Alouettes are 12.5 point favourites. Glenn is starting so hopefully the Cats will not get off to a horrid start, which would doom them against Montreal. With Calvillo in, the Cats should make sure to get after him early to make him wish he sat this one out. Cobourne starts again at running back for Montreal after sitting out last week, so the Cats will have to find out some way to neutralize him on first down. The Cats are capable of winning if the breaks go their way, but statistically this seems unlikely. Cats don't let it get totally away.
Montreal 40, Cats 29

BC at Winnipeg,
Winnipeg is 3 and 3 at home and BC is 3 and 4 away, so there's not a lot difference there. Winnipeg is favoured by 1.5. Winnipeg is hot, winning their last three games, while BC has won their last two games. Winnipeg running back Fred Reid is apparently questionable, which is not good news for the Bombers. This is a critical game for both teams, especially with Edmonton beating Toronto on Friday. Michael Bishop paired with a good defence surprisingly works, but I'll take the coaching of Wally Buono over Mike Kelly.
BC 27, Winnipeg 24

Ticat Depth Chart

2009-10-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

Some changes this week.

Standard offensive line this week, import Goodspeed at left tackle, Gauthier at right tackle, Hage at centre, Dyakowski and Hudson as the guards.

Glenn starts at QB, Cobb yet again at running back (no Terry Caulley anywhere it seems) and the starting fullback (which is pretty much a non-existent position on the Cats) Mac product Sadeghian. Import James and Bauman are the wide receivers, with import McDaniel at slot along with Stala. Bruce is listed as usual as a backup to Bauman, which obviously means nothing.

On the defensive line, Hickman and Long are the ends. McIntyre and Adams are new this week as the tackles. Unusual to see McIntyre as the tackle, so the Cats must be happy with Hickman and Long.

Linebackers the usual Knowlton, Floyd and Johnson lineup.

Bradley and Bo "Burnt repeatedly by Michael Bishop" Smith are the corners. Thompson and Tisdale are the defensive backs with Beveridge the lone Canadian starter on defence.

For Montreal on the offensive line, Bourke and Perrett are the tackles, with Lambert and Flory as the guards and Chiu as the centre. Unusually for the CFL, all are non-imports.

Calvillo starts, with Cobourne back as the starting running back, with non-import Kerry Carter as the fullback.

Bratton and Watkins, both imports are the wide receivers. Import Richardson is one of the slots together with non-import Cahoon.

On the defensive line, Bowman and Stewart are the ends, Wilson and Williams are the tackles. All are imports.

Ferri, Guzman and Cox, all imports are the linebackers.

Estelle and Dix (who seems to have hardly played this year) are the import corners. Parker and Brown are the import defensive backs and Boulay is the non-import starting safety.

Calgary Saskatchewan Game

2009-10-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

That was an exciting end to the Riders Stamps game. That game had everything, including a rare pyramiding call on a single point at the end of regulation. Without injured import receiver Weston Dressler, the Canuck receivers for Saskatchewan really stepped up. Considering what we have now for Canadian receivers (Dave Stala excepted) it is sad that we traded away Chris Getzlaf for a pack of Smarties. I liked the fan sign they showed near the end that said, "Kick them in the Regina."

CFL Previews, Week Whatever 2, Part 1

2009-10-15T19:27:00.001-07:00

Edmonton at Toronto,
Even with Edmonton sucking lately, I can't pick Toronto.
Edmonton 24, Toronto 21

Saskatchewan at Calgary,
Calgary is favoured by two at home, however their offense has been relatively horrid of late, sucking against both Hamilton and Montreal. Saskatchewan has not been fantastic, but I will go out on a limb and pick the Riders.
Saskatchewan 35, Calgary 29

CFL Power Rankings

2009-10-15T19:27:00.000-07:00

1. Montreal
2. Saskatchewan
3. Calgary
4. BC
5. Winnipeg
6. Edmonton
7. Hamilton
8. Toronto

Big upheaval in the rankings this week. Montreal stays on top after heartily handling Calgary in a game that didn't mean much for them. Saskatchewan beats Toronto fairly easily. Calgary looked sad and really, has Henry Burris switched bodies with Michael Bishop? BC beats an Edmonton team that has been finding ways to lose for a while and may not even end up with a cross over spot. Winnipeg is surging, with Bishop looking like the second coming of Dieter Brock and somewhat embarrassingly for all of us, Mike Kelly is not as dumb as he looks and sounds. Hamilton should feel lucky I put them above the Argos. As for Toronto, they should really dress a third quarterback.

Disturbing Stat of the Day

2009-10-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

Michael Bishop has more yards passing (2132) than either Quinton Porter (1762) or Kevin Glenn (1698).

Yesterday's Game

2009-10-13T11:57:00.001-07:00

Wow that really sucked. Making Michael Bishop look all world really takes some doing. Also the manner in which the team sucked, right from the get go, really ruined the experience at the game. If they at least kept it close into the second quarter, one wouldn't be depressed for the entire game.

The team definitely needs to start Glenn next game. I'm under no illusion that Glenn is that much better than Porter at this point (although he is better in terms of number of fumbles per game), but you can't keep rewarding suckage over and over. Frankly I am starting to wonder about Tafralis.

I was totally off on the attendance, however where I was sitting in section 5, the whole surrounding area was packed. Annoyingly, I tried getting some seats near my season tickets, however the only ones available were ridiculously far away. Then come game time there were a bunch of empty seats right around me. With the current way the Cats are trying to force more people into certain sections for the television cameras, I would almost recommend getting tickets in the south side stands.

Ugh, now Montreal next week. One can only hope the Alouettes use their backups as much as possible.

Attendance Guess

2009-10-12T11:02:00.001-07:00

Seeing as the Cats have sold a lot of tickets for sections 5, 6, 8 and 9 I can't see the Cats only getting 20,000. I am going to go out on a limb and predict 23,000. Of course the Cats may have just moved people who would have bought a ticket for another section.

One thing the Cats seem to be doing this year is trying to sell more tickets on the North side. I wonder if that is because the television cameras are on the South side and thus generally the North side fans.