Sacre Bleu! No Booze at Argos Game

Seems a bit odd that we don't know what infraction led to two Blue Jay games and one Argo game being booze free, considering the Liquor Control Board of Ontario is a government agency. Perhaps a Freedom of Information request is in order to figure out which event caused the ban. My guess is one of those Monster Jam events as they always seemed quite dubious to me. I guess that pretty much guarantees sneaking in a mickey, as Toronto versus Winnipeg this year will probably be a pretty mediocre game. Seems a bit odd that they couldn't have dinged the exhibition game.

Not much going on, here's some photos... 3

Preseason, Cats versus Argos
Originally uploaded by philinator

As I recall, the Cats ended up winning this game right near the end.Thus the Cats won both preseason games and went 3 and 15. Two years in a row. What are the odds of that?

Not much going on, here's some photos... 2

IMG_1299
Originally uploaded by philinator

Note the giant referee. I was sitting at some seats that were practically at one end of the goal line.

Not much going on, here's some photos...

Jumbotron, Rogers Centre
Originally uploaded by philinator

Not really much to say now until the draft, barring any other trades. I guess the Cats could potentially move the first and third overall picks, but after moving the ninth overall pick in the Goodspeed trade, the Cats will probably stand pat.

Here's some photos I took last year at the exhibition game versus the Argos at their stadium, including one of the Jumbotron. I actually enjoyed going to the game, even though it was preseason. In a way it is too bad the away exhibition game is in Winnipeg this year, as I probably would have gone again.

Correction

I checked the Cat site and Jordan Rempel was born in Saskatchewan and played at the University of Saskatchewan so he is not an import. I don't know what TSN and the Canadian Press were talking about. Crackheads.

Three Way Trade Craziness

Apparently the Cats have acquired Winnipeg import OL Dan Goodspeed, from, er, Saskatchewan. Apparently we gave up OL Jordan Rempel (who is apparently an import according to TSN, which was news to me) and our second round pick in the draft (ninth overall) and we got back a future somebody who will probably never get out of camp (a fifth round draft pick) and no doubt a hardy handshake. Not really sure what this is about. The ninth overall pick seems like it might have been useful, especially with some pseudo Canadians emerging from the NCAA woodwork for this year's draft. Personally I have always thought that import olinemen were a fungible commodity, so swapping them? Goodspeed has more experience than Rempel, so maybe we will be better immediately next year. Or Goodspeed has nothing left in the tank and we've got a sucky oline next year.

Salary Cap and the Nine Game Injury List

Thinking about the Riders going over the cap yesterday, I was wondering about the nine game injury list. If a player is put on the nine game injury list, his salary while on the list does not count against the cap. How does the nine game list work at the end of the season? Say the Cats, with three games left last year, they know they won't make the playoffs. Could they put a bunch of their more expensive players on the nine game list for the last three games to get under the cap if they were over? If putting players on the list would put them under the cap, could the team renegotiate a contract and pay a player a bonus during the last three games to get back to the cap and then pay him less the following year, thus potentially leaving more cap room for the following year? Seems to me, if you're sucking towards the end and know the team will miss the playoffs, there's some manipulating that could be done to leave you better off next year.

I do remember last year where the Cats could have released Casey Printers before the half way mark of the season (veteran players have their contracts guaranteed after nine games), however he ended up "injured" during that crucial period so they couldn't have released him anyways, Certainly in hindsight it would have been better if he had been released.