Hamilton or Toronto for the 2016 Grey Cup?

I've already blogged about the Ticats having a good chance of landing the 2016 Grey Cup at Tim Horton's Field. However there's some news and not particularly good. Apparently former CFL commissioner and now Toronto Mayor John Tory made a claim about the 2016 cup coming to Toronto in 2016:

Tory, a former CFL commissioner, may have prematurely awarded the league’s championship game to Toronto next year.

Talking with 590 The Fan’s Jeff Blair, Tory said 2016 is going to be a big sporting year for the city, including hosting the Grey Cup.

“Think about what a great year for sports it’s going to be in 2016,” Tory said. “I was reminded of the fact the Grey Cup is here. We’ve got the NBA all-star game, we’ve got the World Cup of Hockey, and that’s on the heels of the Pan Am Games this year.”

But Tory was forced to back off his declaration a few hours later. Tory’s spokesman Amanda Galbraith said the mayor misspoke.

Considering that Toronto just had the Cup in 2012 that seems to me like going to the well to often, especially considering the lack of interest in the league in the Toronto area. Hamilton hasn't hosted since 1996 and 1972 before that and we have a new, hopefully finished soon stadium. 

I'm wondering if the reason for the Toronto rumours is that the league would like to make the Argos more saleable with the profits from a 2016 Cup baked into the cake. Without that need I would feel more confident about Hamilton's chances. Still I think that four years is too short for Toronto.

Kenton Keith

Kenton Keith arrived in Hamilton last year after a bidding war with some fanfare, but was mostly an afterthought because the Ticats season was already pretty much done. He was also injured for several games last season, with only 58 rushes for 204 yards and an anemic 3.5 average in yards per carry. He had 18 receptions for 148 yards.

In 2007, he rushed 121 times for 533 yards and three TDs for the Indianapolis Colts, along with 13 receptions for 77 yards and a TD. Not bad stats, although you wonder why he couldn't have done more with Hamilton last year. Then again, the Cats were 3 and 15 last year with a mediocre offensive line.

Keith has had some good years prior to the NFL with Saskatchewan. The 2004 and 2006 seasons were particularly good: in 2004 he rushed 190 times for 1,154 yards and nine TDs, along with 29 receptions for 295 yards and two TDs. In 2006, he rushed 167 times for 1037 yards and two TDs, and caught 52 receptions for 513 yards and three TDs.

So Keith had decent season in 2004, 2006 and 2007, however the question remains how much he has left in the tank. Keith's ability to catch as well as rush probably puts him ahead of Terry Caulley as the starting RB, but his high salary doesn't seem warranted from last year's performance. A better Ticat offensive line (Rottier?) this year combined with some good performances from Keith hopefully will boost Hamilton's offense from sixth in the CFL (yes Toronto and Winnipeg scored even less points than Hamilton) to maybe third or fourth.

Moreno Gonzo

After the booting of Charlie Taeffe, I certainly was surprised to see Moreno moved to Winnipeg (a divisional rival and in theory a rival for a playoff spot) for DE Tom Canada and a Canadian currently on the Bills practice roster (Corey Mace). Then Canada says he would rather retire and surf in California than report to Hamilton. Then Canada has an enlarged spleen and goes on the nine game disabled list. Finally the trade is reworked, where Hamilton gets Winnipeg's first round pick next year for Moreno and we get
the rights to Mace, a defensive tackle, and we send a conditional third round pick if we sign Mace. Uh,
magic beans?

One thing I will say first is that CFL trades are notorious for being somewhat meaningless in the long term. Certainly one team can lose immediately and the other team can get some results for a year, but after a year or two, often no one involved in the trade is still in the game. With regards to Moreno, I am sad to see him go, however let's face it, the Cats have been crap the past season with him. Last year, he was a force, but this year I often found myself blogging about the need for Moreno to have a big game for us and unfortunately it didn't really seem to happen. During last week's game, BC was repeatedly able to pass into the area that should have been covered by the middle linebacker. He will be 30 soon and there is certainly the possibility that after two more seasons he's not playing in the CFL anymore. Receiving Canada back, as was going to originally going to happen, would have strengthened the defensive line, which certainly needed it, although it seemed pointless to weaken yourself at middle linebacker to do it. Personally, I feel we should have done what Winnipeg did and signed Kai Ellis, a salary cap cut from Montreal to bolster the defensive line and forget this trade (and let Winnipeg rot with the fact they've lost two middle linebackers to injury).

What happens at middle linebacker now? Cornelius Anthony I guess. I'm a bit afraid to see what Ricky Ray does to that this week.

The one positive thing I see coming out of this week, has to do with the Argos firing coach Rich Stubler and hiring Don Matthews. If Hamilton can get him signed next year as the defensive coordinator, that may be an important step in leading us to the promised land of 9 and 9 (ah the soft bigotry of low expectations). Plus we can get rid of Denny Creehan (yes Dennis may be a shitty name, but man up and go by Dennis than rather Denny fuckwit). Don't know what the Don will mean to Toronto.