2015 Labour Classic Tiger-Cat Depth Chart is Out

The Cats just released their depth chart for the game against the Argos.

For the offensive line, as per usual, American tackles with Olson and Lewis. Bomben is out at guard with the veteran O'Neill in. Dyakowski and Filer are still at guard and centre. As per usual the three interior positions are Canadian.

Bakari Grant is still out. Coates is in as the lone starting Canadian receiver at wideout. Tolliver is the other wide receiver, with Sinkfield, Underwood and Tasker as the slots.

Grigsby is listed ahead of Holly at running back, with non-import Prime as the fullback. Collaros is the quarterback with Matthews backing up and likely in for sneaks.

Medlock punts and kicks this week as punter Hugh O'Neill is out injured (likely beard related), with Banks as the returner.

That's four Canadian starters on offense.

On defence, Norwood is out injured at defensive end and Sears Jr is out in the secondary. Import Tracy comes in for him, with Hickman as the other end. Non-import Laurent and Hall are the defensive tackles. Lawrence, Reed and Harris are the starting linebackers.

Gainey and non-import Stephen are the starting corners. Rico Murray and Davis are the starting defensive halfbacks. Non-import Butler starts at safety. So that's three starting Canadian defenders.

Norwood, Grant, Bomben and Sears Jr. being out injured definitely hurts, although not fatally. The question is O'Neill a big downgrade at guard for Bomben and whether Tracy can get pressure on the quarterback in place of Norwood. Laurent, Henry and Hickman are still three solid players on the defensive line.

Also interesting will be the performance at Grigsby at running back. Expect more passes to him, although I doubt a lot of runs. Can Grigsby pass block adequately is another question.

Thoughts on the Ticats Loss in Toronto, Harold Ballard Cup All Tied Up

I attended the Ticats game at the Rogers Centre on Friday against the Argos, which the Ticats ended up blowing a big lead and losing 34 to 33. Being in the stadium was fun as a Ticat fan for majority of the game until the Argos managed to win with two late TDs. My section was mostly an Argo one, although there were plenty of Ticat fans overall and certainly by sound, Ticats plays were cheered loudly (my guess is that the average Ticat fan was at least thrice as loud as the average Argo fan).

The Argos outscored the Ticats 21 to 3 in the final quarter versus the Cats outscoring the Argos 30 to 13 through the first three quarters. Did the Argos make the biggest comeback in the CFL this year? One related point I've made about the Ticats is that the truly good teams in the CFL step on the throats of an opposing team when they get ahead and keep scoring points to absolutely guarantee victory. The Cats were almost there this game, but basically needed another field goal.

The Tiger-Cats did actually have a good chance to win at the end of the game when Sinkfield managed to return the Argos kickoff after the go ahead TD to the Ticats' 51 yard line with around a minute left (Sinkfield actually had a fabulous game returning kickoffs and punts). With the game indoors and having Medlock, that wouldn't have required many yards for a field goal. But the Ticats managed to totally screw up that possession, ending it with a bad snap on a long third down.

Stats wise, Collaros had a pretty good game, going 23 for 32 for 302 yards with two TDs throwing and no picks. Collaros also had seven runs for 65 yards and at TD which is impressive.

Madu had a great day catching the ball with 87 yards on six catches, but only 14 yards on three runs. The Cats don't use the running back to run much, but do use the position as almost the primary receiver. Fantuz had a good day with seven catches for 77 yards and a TD and Tasker had three catches for 71 yards and a TD. Tasker has emerged as the best import receiver.

One interesting reception, Matt Coates caught a single pass for fifteen yards. Who's Matt Coates? I had to look him up. He's a rookie non-import (23 years old, 6'3" 197 lbs.) who came from the Hamilton Hurricanes rather than the CIS or NCAA. I assume he was on the roster for special teams, but another no-import receiver making a catch besides Giguere and Fantuz is always news.

The Cats defence also had a good game until the fourth quarter. Lineback Taylor Reed led with seven tackles. Norwood is also having a great year a defensive end, with six tackles and three sacks, putting him at 11 sacks on the year. Hickman had a tackle. Non-import defensive tackle Ted Laurent had a sack, putting him at seven sacks, which is good for an interior defensive lineman.

Ricky Ray didn't look good for the first three quarters, but ended up with good stats, with 34 completions on a massive 48 attempts for 431 yards, three TDs and a pick. Ray has to be coming close to being a lock for the eastern nominee for most outstanding player, which he won last year (but not the overall award).

Chiles had a great day, with eight receptions for 123 yards. Chad Owens also had a great day with 109 yards from six catches and the game winning TD.

One last thing, the Harold Ballard trophy race (presented to which ever team wins the season series between Toronto and Hamilton) is tied, with each team having a win apiece and the total points scored also tied. If the Cats and Argos tie their next game, I'm not sure what the tie breaker is.

Picture of Rogers Centre Before the Ticats Versus Argos

2014 CFL Prediction Week 6

Winnipeg at Hamilton
Drew Willy versus Dan LeFevour. Who you believe in more is what this game comes down to. The Cats do have have home field advantage here which is definitely important in the CFL as I've posted about many times before. I'll be a bit of a homer here, but I think the Cats have the advantage this game. The Ticats D has looked good the past three games, and I think Drew Willy and the Bomber offense will come out rather flaccid against it. Look for a good game running and blocking by CJ Gable.
Ticats 35, Bombers 29

Toronto at Montreal
This matchup reminds me of the ass to ass scene in the movie Requiem for a Dream. I'm a little surprised that the Alouettes are favoured. The Argos aren't good right now, especially with their receiving corps banged up severely, but Ricky Ray is so much better than Troy Smith that I can't see the Montreal defence playing well enough to win.
Argos 23 Alouettes 19

BC at Calgary
Stamps, unbeaten and at home. Yeah I'm taking Calgary.
Stamps 41 Lions 21

Saskatchewan at Ottawa
I actually thought Ottawa played pretty well in Hamilton last week. Considering the game LeFevour had, the fact the Redblacks were in it until close to the end is impressive. The Riders seem improved so I'll take them, although I don't think the Redblacks are just going to roll over.
Riders 28 Redblacks 26

Raptors Playoff Ratings Game 1, Meh

@TSNScianitti just tweeted television ratings for game one for the Raptors at home against the Brooklyn Nets. Average 539K, "peaking at over 2.17 million unique views." Compared to the CFL the unique views are impressive, but the average is nothing special. That game and all CFL games are on TSN, so there's no broadcast versus cable effects.

As a way of comparison, in 2012, the BC Saskatchewan pre-season game had over 400,000 viewers, whereas the Ticats Argos pre-season game has 336,000 viewers. Generally I think the CFL should broadcast more pre-season games, or at least the Saskatchewan ones.

The CFL has the advantage for advertisers that more fans are in Alberta and Saskatchewan, where males make more on average and the median. I'd be curious to see how Toronto centric viewership was.

Thoughts on the Argos at Ticats Thanksgiving Game

A little late to be talking about Monday's Ticat Argo tilt, but I have some thoughts. First C.J. Gable is turning out to be a great find for the Cats. He had 17 carries for 118 yards, for a solid 6.9 yard average and a TD. In addition he had five catches for 46 yards. Gable has a decent shot at 1,000 yards rushing this year. I'm assuming that Gable signed a two year deal plus a club option year, so potentially the Cats would have him for 2014 and 2015 as well, before he could try the NFL as a free agent. Getting rid of the possibility of option year players to sign with the NFL certainly improves things as a fan.

Luke Tasker had seven catches for 113 yards to lead the Ticats receivers. Ellingson being injured is giving Tasker a chance to make an impression. With Tasker, I wonder if Kent Austin (his coach at Cornell) didn't come back to the CFL to coach, would he have ever had had a chance to make an impression in the CFL? Maybe a team might have invited him to camp, but would they have had any faith in him? Football can be a lucky business and sometimes successful players got their initial chance through luck.

Dobson Collins also had a good game, second in receiving yards with 69 on five catches. With the success the Cats have had with a variety of receivers this year, that speaks well of both Burris, the offensive line and the offensive system.

Fantuz only had two catches for 33 yards. Is his injury still bugging him, or was he just getting a lot of double coverage. Grant only had four catches for 31 yards, so I'm assuming the Argos were putting weaker coverage on Collins and Tasker.

Burris had a great game, with 350 yards passing on 27 completed passes versus 36 attempts. A 75% completion rate is excellent against the Argos defense. One pick versus no TDs, but even Ricky Ray had a pick.

The defence had a good game as well. Bussey, in at linebacker for the injured Jamal Johnson had six tackles. The Cats had two sacks, a pick and a forced fumble which isn't bad.

Overall an excellent game against a tough opponent in a game they needed to win for any hope of home field advantage for the Eastern Final.

CFL 2013 Thanksgiving Television Ratings

The Eh Game blog has the Canadian sports television ratings for the past weekend, which includes the Thanksgiving games. The two Thanksgiving games were third and fourth overall, with the Hamilton Toronto game receiving 956,000 viewers making it the top CFL game of the week. Both teams have trouble drawing fans to their stadiums in Southern Ontario, however those teams can do well in the ratings when it is an important game (and when nothing else is on the television due to the holiday). Considering the value of the Argos for television ratings (and maybe the Ticats), the league might want to pony up some cash for a new stadium. The NFL regularly helps out teams with stadium costs.

The 956,000 number on TSN is also respectable compared to the second place Canucks Habs game at 1,374,000, especially considering that more people can watch CBC (potentially without cable) than TSN.

The Eskimos and Riders game had a respectable 778,000 viewers for the earlier Thanksgiving game, for fourth place which actually seems a bit low for a Rider game, although Edmonton is now out of it.

The Bombers and Alouettes was the third ranked CFL game and sixth overall with 686,000. I'm not sure whether this includes RDS or not. The Lions Stamps game was the fourth ranked game and seventh overall with 659,000 viewers.

I'm a little surprised that the NHL has jumped on the Thanksgiving bandwagon with a couple of games featuring Canadian teams, however it is better for the CFL that they haven't. Frankly I'm surprised the league hasn't made two games traditional. Hamilton at Toronto would be a logical one, considering it is after the baseball regular season, plus a Western match up.

Ticats at Argos Half-Time, October 4th 2013

Good to see the Cats with a big lead after the first half.

Steve Tasker gets his first TD which fortunately for us, Rod Black isn't doing the broadcast, otherwise we would hear endlessly who his father was.

Interestingly the Cats started non-import Wojt at right tackle, breaking with their several year habit of starting two import tackles. If the import isn't any good, it isn't worth wasting a spot on him. O'Neill started at Wojt's guard spot.

Dobson Collins didn't do bad as a receiver so far. The Cats seem to have no difficulty finding import receivers. Still no Greg Ellingson which hurts.

Gable had a good game so far. Burris also did well apart from that one interception that was either under or over thrown.

Durie burnt the Cats pretty badly with yards after the catch. Owens didn't really do much.

Article on Jays Television Numbers

I read with interest this Star article on the Jays television numbers staying strong this year despite the Jays being out of it:

"Except that viewership across all Sportsnet channels is up 21 per cent compared to 2012, while Jays audiences are down only slightly from last season’s record highs despite the team’s poor play."

"Last season the Jays finished with a 73-89 record, and their games drew an average of 540,000 television viewers, up 7 per cent from the previous season and 25 per cent over 2010, according to Rogers.

Before this season many baseball observers labeled the team a World Series contender, and that optimism translated into inflated early-season ratings. This season’s first regular season attracted a record 1.4 million viewers, compared with 1.3 million in 2012."

"By last August, when it had become clear the Jays wouldn’t contend for a playoff spot, viewership dipped to an average of 437,000 per game. Last month, with the Jays again out of contention, ratings fell again but to an average of 475,000 per game."

I was wondering about the comparison with the CFL. The Jays have 162 regular season games per year, so last year the Jays had 87,480,000 total viewers across all games last year. The  CFL has only 72 regular season games per year. Just using an estimate of 600,000 viewers per game that's 42,000,000 viewers total which is significantly less than the Jay total.

A couple of points about that. The CFL numbers are biased towards Alberta and Saskatchewan while the Jays would overwhelming be balanced towards Ontario. Income for Albertans and Saskatchewan people are considerably higher than those in Ontario, so a CFL viewer on average is probably worth more based on location. I would guess the Jays may also have a slightly older audience which isn't worth as much, but I have no data on it.

The CFL's current television deal pays $40 million per year. Using that number for the Jays, the Jays contract would be worth around $83 million, although since Rogers owns both SportsNet and the Jays, there really isn't an open market. Further for both leagues I didn't include playoff games just to keep things simple. The CFL has a bit of an edge there in the sense that the six teams always make it, while the Jays have no guarantee. I also didn't include the pre-season games, where the Jays definitely have an advantage and TSN only broadcast two this year.

With Ottawa joining the league next year, that increases the number of CFL games to 81 per year. Potentially adding an Atlantic team would bump that to 90 games per year.

Toronto Argonauts Must Move From Roger's Centre By 2018

Here's the definitive Globe and Mail article on the subject. The Blue Jays want to install natural grass in the Dome and that precludes the Argos from playing there. I assume that for Grey Cups, the grass is removed at the end of the baseball season and thus Grey Cups in November can be played there.

So the Argos have to find a new home. MLSE has already mulled buying them and having them play at BMO Field. The Argos could play their potentially 11 games a year there on the natural turf without too much damage (rugby is already played on it), however MLSE could put back in artificial turf. That could make CFL haters the Red Patch Boys and former Toronto mayor David Miller* crazy, however Toronto FC has sucked its entire existence, but with and without grass. As I already mentioned in another post, having the Argos play at BMO on national television would boost the value of the naming rights.

Potentially the Argos could try an ultra cheap bare bones stadium somewhere or other. Really the Argos need a small stadium around 20,000 seats they can fill and the CFL needs the television money. People will watch the Argos on television but they won't watch TFC. Maybe the Argos could partner with the rugby and cricket folks for a stadium.

One thing to consider with television is that the CFL needs the Argos. They may be willing to fund $5 million per year over 20 years to help with a new stadium. Perhaps the Argos could partner with a developer and have some condo towers integrated with the stadium and get some money that way. This issue will probably simmer for a few years and then heat up.

*At least current Toronto Rob Ford is a CFL supporter, even showing up at a game in Saskatchewan.

2013 CFL Predictions Week 7

Toronto at Montreal
I'm not sure who's starting for Toronto, although considering the job the backup Collaros did, I'm not sure it matters. Montreal is at home and maybe they have some momentum from ditching their coach and installing GM Jim Popp as the new coach, but I'm going to pick Toronto. They just seem like a better team.
Argos 29 Alouettes 19

Saskatchewan at Calgary
This one is interesting and I'm assuming the Bo Levi Mitchell starts, although I'm not sure of that either. I'm not sure if Durrant starts for Saskatchewan, but I'm guessing he will after a week off. Calgary is at home, but I'm sure there will be a lot of Rider fans in attendance, so that won't be as big a factor as usual. I'm going to go out on a limb though and say that the Riders lose their first game of the season. It has to happen sometime. The Riders aren't that great, more of a factor how poor some of the teams seem this year (especially offenses).

Stampeders 28 Riders 26

Ricky Ray on Fire Against the Bombers, Breask Completion Percentage Record

Didn't watch the game, but just checked the box score. Ray was 19 for 20 (95%) for 286 yards for 2 TDs and no picks and apparently broke his record for the best passing percentage. Plus he led the Argos in rushing with 2 rushes for 24 yards and was sacked a single time.

That's pretty impressive. Or perhaps the Winnipeg defensive backs and pass rush is just that bad. Weirdly the Bombers sacked the Ticats Henry Burris seven times, but still gave up a lot of passing yards. Not good times in the Peg, but I doubt many are really surprised.

2013 Season Opener Aftermath, Ticats at Argos

I was in the US for the game and was only able to follow the CFL.ca game tracker for the first half, so I'm basically looking at the stats for the game for this analysis.

First off, Burris stats were good, which is a positive in the is he too old sense. Going 24 for 37 for 361 yards with 3 TDs and no picks is a good line. He also ran seven times for 36 yards which is also good. Good to see that Fantuz had ten receptions for 155 yards and a TD. Fantuz seems to be on a mission this year which helps the Cats. A surprise in rookie Greg Ellingson, from the august institution known as Florida International University, with 6 catches for 120 yards. Gable picked up two TDs which is also good. Onrea Jones, Bakari Grant and Samuel Giguere only had a catch each.
So for the receiving game, the Cats looked good, with Ellingson emerging as a significant target in the absence of Chris Williams.

The Cat running game was merely meh, but with all the passing attempts was fine, with 103 yards on 16 attempts for a respectable 6.4 yard per attempt average with a mixed group of players.

The defence was poor overall, with Ricky Ray having slightly better numbers for Toronto than Burris, with 24 completions from 34 attempts for 368 yards and 4 TDs and no picks. So not good news for the Hamilton secondary. Veteran defensive back James Patrick, formerly of Saskatchewan had 8 tackles, which isn't always a good sign. No sacks for the Cats either so not a great show by the Cats front four. DE Greg Peach apparently left injured at some point, which isn't good, however he has over his career been injury prone so not much of a surprise.

The Argos gained 121 yards on the ground with 13 attempts for a stellar 9.3 yards per attempt average with 10 of those attempts coming from running back Chad Kackert.

Lindsey Lamar at least returned a kickoff for a TD, which is a positive for the special teams unit and again good to see without Chris Williams.

So the Cats start out 2013 like the 2012 season overall. Excellent offense with a bad defence that ends up losing a lot of close games. Not a great way to start the season, however the Argos were at home, are the defending Grey Cup champs and have a seasoned quarterback in mid-season form. Fortunately for the Cats that last one is a rarity in the CFL. 

CFL Power Rankings 2012 Week 17

I missed last week's power rankings, mainly because the Cats were depressing me. Then they went and lost a heartbreaker on the weekend, despite Calgary committing seven turnovers. It's hard out here for a pimp and it's hard out here for a Ticat fan.

1. BC Lions
No Travis Lulay, no problem, even if their opponent, the Edmonton Eskimos is playing for their playoff lives. Barring a plane crash, it is pretty hard for the Lions to drop out of the top spot, no matter what happens the rest of the regular season.

2. Montreal Alouettes
Anthony Calvillo still getting it done versus a formerly hot Riders team. In the land of the castrated, the one balled man is king. In a CFL year of mediocre teams, the Alouettes are at least good for second best in the CFL.

3. Calgary Stampeders
Despite the aforementioned seven turnovers against the Ticats and basically about to lose until a field goal was muffed with no time remaining, the Stamps still got the W and that's what counts in this league. And pretty much all leagues for that matter.

4. Saskatchewan Roughriders
Sure they lost against the Alouettes, but they had been hot and they are guaranteed a playoff spot. Again in a league of mediocre teams, that's good enough for top half of the power rankings.

5. Edmonton Eskimos
They could have guaranteed a playoff spot, but unfortunately they lost to the best team in the league. Going with Kerry Joseph as your starter is plenty problematic, but what are you going to do at this stage of the season. Winning a game gets them in as the cross-over team, so they should at least try in the last two regular season games.

6. Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Buck is back and the Bombers are hot and on the trail of a playoff spot. Didn't seem likely a few weeks ago, but that's the CFL for you. Mind you they only beat the Argos last week, which isn't say a lot right now and their road to the playoffs is somewhat unlikely. What's important is that there is still hope.

7. Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Sure they've lost a lot in a row and by losing last week gave up control of their own destiny. Still they lost only by a botched field goal on the road against Calgary so that's something. I suppose.

8. Toronto Argonauts
The Argos are close to a playoff spot, and would guarantee it with a win in either of their last two games, or some sucking by some other bad teams. But even with Ray back, the Argos are not a good team. I'm not sure they deserve dead last,  but somebody had to this week.

Cats Find Way to Lose, Pooch Shot at Some Playoff Control

On business in Europe, so I only listened to the first half. Depressing that the Cats had definite opportunities to get way ahead and then screw it up (i.e. Burris' interception going back for a Calgary TD when the Cats were in the red zone). Then apparently the Cats don't give up and almost win at the end after a successful onside kick, but botch the field goal. Crazy. I suppose considering how the offensive line was a jury-rig due to injury that's not bad, but the Cats need wins.

With Toronto losing that makes a possibility still of the Cats making the playoffs via Toronto, and also via Edmonton if they lose their last two games and the Cats win their remaining two (unlikely). Winnipeg also won, tying the Cats with five wins and throwing themselves in the mix.

If the Cats win next week and the Argos lose, that sets up a scenario where the winner of that game might be in the playoffs. The Argos for sure, but for the Cats it is more complicated, since they and the Argos would have tied in wins against each other, but then the tie breaker goes to points against each other. Hamilton won the first game 36 to 27, the Argos the next two 33 to 30 and 45 to 31. So from my calculations the Cats would have to win by 8. If the Bombers also win their next two it would be chaos, and their's always the possibility Edmonton could lose their last two.

The fact the Cats could get a home game at this stage of the year and this stage of their sucking is insane.

CFL Power Rankings 2012 Week 9

1. BC Lions
Can't argue with 5 and 2 and a suffocating defensive performance against the Riders last week.

2. Montreal Alouettes
Sure Calvillo is really old and isn't that consistent this season, but beyond the Lions there isn't any great teams in the CFL. Mostly a nostalgia pick.

3. Toronto Argonauts
Have a winning record, coming off a win, have an experienced CFL quarterback. Sure they released probably the best running back in the CFL recently, but import running backs are a dime a dozen.

4. Edmonton Eskimos
Also have a winning record, coming off a lose, have Steven Jyles as quarterback. Good enough for fourth, which is better than what I thought they would be when the season started.

5. Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Offense has looked the best at times in the CFL and have Chris Williams, maybe the best overall weapon in the CFL this year. Also have managed to honk things up quite frequently.

6. Calgary Stampeders
Not bad considering their putative starting quarterback's shoulder pretty much gave out just after the season started. Team is meh. A few good players like Nik Lewis and Jon Cornish, but just don't have the overall talent of the teams ahead of them.

7. Saskatchewan Rough Riders
Won three to start the season and have lost four straight. Hard to determine how good the Riders are, but the team isn't looking great right now.

8. Winnipeg Blue Bombers
I'm not ready to anoint  Joey Elliot as the new saviour in Winnipeg, but he looked good against Hamilton last week. Still the Bombers only have two wins, so they'll have to show more to move out of their mother's basement in the CFL power rankings.

The Curious Case of Cory Boyd

So the Argos have released Cory Boyd. I think this Damien Cox article in the Star pretty much hits the nail on the head in terms of reasoning: with performance bonuses quarterback Ricky Ray will make a lot money and cause salary cap problems. Cox doesn't mention it, but likely Boyd had performance bonuses based on set yardage totals so releasing him halfway through the season gets rid of more than his base salary as his totals are good this year. Also after I believe nine games CFL veterans are guaranteed their full salary even if released, so Boyd had to go quick.

Ticats fans should pay attention to what happens with sitting veteran running back Avon Cobourne. Likely his contract has performance bonuses, which he obviously isn't hitting so maybe he won't be released before the nine game mark as insurance in case Chevon Walker goes down.

Chad Kackert the new starting Toronto running back has actually struck me as a fairly decent player, thus illustrating my mantra that in the CFL, import running backs are fungible commodities. Also with Ricky Ray as quarterback, rather than a stiff like Cleo Lemon, passing is going to come to the fore and the Argos don't have to lean on their running backs as much.

Not sure how great a pickup this is for the Esks, but he is a good back. I'm shocked the Eskimos are a 4 and 2 this year, but apart from Winnipeg, it has been a weird year of parity in the CFL. I think the salary cap is finally starting to really kick in in the CFL this year. If you've spent a lot on your quarterback, his teammates are going to be smellier.

CFL Power Rankings 2012 Week 6

1. BC Lions
After beating Toronto on the road, the Lions are looking consistent and good. The offence may not be as impressive as one would have thought before the season, but the Lions have an impressive secondary. That never hurts in the CFL.

2. Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Didn't play, but didn't lose either. Power offence with Henry Burris looking like the best old quarterback in the CFL. Defence is good enough when matched with the offence. Burris could however start passing in random directions at any time.

3. Saskatchewan Rough Riders
Also didn't play but still a good team this season with quarterback Durant back on track. Not super consistent.

4. Toronto Argonauts
Sure they lost the Lions, but most teams don't have BC's secondary. The Argos with Ricky Ray as the quarterback are a reasonable team.

5. Montreal Alouettes
Second best old quarterback in the CFL in Anthony Calvillo plus a fairly porous defence. Sure they beat the Bombers at home but that's not saying a lot. Offensive line is kind of meh this year, which means teams are going after and getting to Calvillo. Still have a lot of talent, but have never looked overpowering this year.

6. Calgary Stampeders
Didn't play but got waxed by the Lions the previous week. Tateless and will only go as far as Kevin Glenn will take them. Which won't be particularly far. Still have arguably the best receiver in the league in Nik Lewis when you include blocking downfield.

7. Edmonton Eskimos
Not a bad record, but I just don't have a lot of confidence in Stephen Jyles at quarterback. Defence is impressive.

8. Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Just a mediocre team. Not terrible, but consistently not good enough to lose lots of games. Won't get blown out a lot, which is something I guess. Does Paul LaPolice coach next year?

CFL Predictions 2012 Week 6

Montreal at Winnipeg
Battle of the losing record teams! I assume the Bombers are going with Brink at quarterback, but I don't know that for sure. The Alouettes will obviously go with Calvillo who is a little beat up of late. Montreal is favoured by two on the road, which is basically damning with faint praise. Basically one team has a good offense and a bad defence and vice versa for the other. When that's the case, I'll go with the home team.
Bombers 24 Alouettes 23

BC at Toronto
The Argos now have a competent offense with Ricky Ray at the controls. Certainly not awe inspiring, but Ray is quite capable of burning a secondary if given a chance. The Lions have a ton of talent but have been inconsistent so far this year. Coming off a solid victory last week the Lions are favoured by a mere field goal on the road. I'm not sure if the Argos can contain the Lion offense enough to get by with their offense. Lions.
Lions 31 Team Suck 28

CFL Week 3 2012 Power Rankings

1. BC Lions
Sure they lost to the Riders, but it was on the road and it was close. I'm not willing to cede the top spot to the Riders quite yet.
2. Saskatchewan Rough Riders
Can't argue with three straight wins. Durant is back and the defence is solid.
3. Montreal Alouettes
The Alouettes only beat Calgary because of Kevin Glenn's stupidity, but good teams find ways to exploit other teams' fuckups. Calvillo is starting to look his age, but he still has a lot of weapons available and quarterbacks are starting to drop like flies in the CFL.
4. Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Ticats are back, baby! Sure Toronto may have outplayed them apart from special teams, but multiple special team TDs in a single game is impressive. Chris Williams is a weapon the Cats need to exploit if they want to move up.
5. Toronto Argonauts
Have looked reasonable the past couple games and the offence is satisfactory now. Ray is looking good amongst some of the wankier CFL quarterbacks. Toronto has the added bonus this week of facing the Blue Bombers at home.
6. Calgary Stampeders
Well Drew Tate is done for the year and making an attempt to be Buck Pierce 2, Electric Boogaloo. Kevin Glenn can be an effective quarterback at times and as he demonstrated last week can really pooch things with a ridiculous pick. Does the team rally around Glenn, or give up after week three?
7. Edmonton Eskimos
Smashed Winnipeg, but that doesn't say much. Steven Jyles still hasn't proved he can be a consistent quarterback and GM Eric Tillman is ruing the day he traded Ricky Ray.
8. Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Pierce is in, then out, then in again, then out again, almost like he's doing the hokey-pokey. Was last season's performance an aberration and the team is reverted to the sulkiness they had in previous seasons? Looks like it right now.