Cats Signing Kent Austin Thoughts

First I'm a little surprised, considering the Austin rumours were out there, but I thought it would be hard to get him to come back to the CFL. Offering the dual coach GM role was probably required to get him to come and also saves money for the Cats having to pay both positions while they are still paying former head coach George Cortez.

I'm positive towards Austin, although I don't think he is a panacea. I'm sure he also has offensive knowledge similar to Cortez although I'm sure he will hire an offensive co-ordinator. However with either Cortez or Austin next year the Cats need a defensive co-ordinator plus an upgrade in talent to be competitive next year.

Three coaches in three different years isn't a lot of continuity.

I'm sure I'll have more to say soon. After Cortez was gone, Austin was probably one of the best options. The Cats could certainly have done worse.

Cats Relieve George Cortez of Duties as Head Coach

Whoa. Just read on the official CFL twitter feed (@CFL) that the Cats have relieved Cortez from coach and director of football operations.

Didn't see that one coming, although considering the team finished last in the league despite decent talent, it wasn't like there was some justification. I just thought that the offense had good enough stats (Cortez' speciality) that the team would concentrate on the defence during the off-season and go from there. Maybe them going on the road in Guelph has something to do with it who knows. No idea who the next coach will be. 

Grey Cup 2013 Odds

Yes getting them out early for the 101st Grey Cup in Regina. This is as of now, obviously before a lot of free agent action

1. BC Lions
Sure the Lions flamed out at home in the West final to Drew Tate, but they do have arguably the best quarterback in Travis Lulay who is relatively young by CFL starter standards. They also have Canadian running back Andrew Harris who excels at both running and receiving. Lions receivers Bruce and Simon are getting pretty long in the tooth and may not be worth the money their contracts are currently at. The Lions have some decent non-import receiver talent and Buono is a good enough of a GM to find some decent imports if he releases one or both of Bruce and Simon. The defence was good too this year. Their could be some issues with NFL tryouts, but the Lions are stable enough for that to really not matter. 25% 4 to 1

2. Calgary Stampeders
Sure they flamed out in the Grey Cup, but they won two playoff games and Toronto will soon revert to the mean next season and odds are they won't be as hot at the end as 2012. We'll assume for now that Drew Tate will return next year from injury and won't become the second coming of Buck Pierce. They still have Glenn, although as the Grey Cup showed, he can be inconsistent. They have the best running back and a non-import to boot in Jon Cornish, plus a clutch first down receiver in Nik Lewis. Expect the offense to be pretty potent again next year. 16%

3. Toronto Argonauts
The Argos will still have Ricky Ray, although injury problems to him could derail Toronto at any time. The Argos defence will probably still be strong with the likes of non-import Foley and and import Flemons although we may have seen the last of the Kissing Bandit Adriano Belli. Chad Owens might revert to the mean a little bit, but he's been consistently over 3,000 yards for several years now. Durie is actually a reasonable non-import receiver and Kackert is a decent running back although injuries could cause problems next year. Will success spoil the Argos, in the form of a lot of previously unknown guys wanting to be paid more? Maybe although some might want to stay for less money. Scott Milanovich has turned out to be a very good CFL head coach. 15%

4. Montreal Alouettes
Anthony Calvillo looks to be coming back, but is even older and the increasing likelihood of him decreasing in ability is reason enough to have Montreal at four. GM Jim Popp seems to have no real problem finding import offensive talent and the Alouette offensive line will be strong and relatively Canadian, freeing up spots for imports at other positions. The defense wasn't as good as some of the Alouettes ones over the past decade, but it was reasonable considering the Alouettes have a consistent offense. If Calvillo gets injured,  Montreal will have lost its safety blanket. 14%

5. Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Cats certainly won't have the defence next year to be higher on the list, but it will likely improve as defensive co-ordinator Casey Creehan has decamped to Winnipeg and new free agents and newcomer imports replace those that proved not up to snuff last year. The Cat offense was great, albeit inconsistent last year and Henry Burris' stats were fantastic especially for a 6 and 12 team. The Cat offense is relatively set for another good season, although whether running back Avon Cobourne returns is a question. One negative for the offense is that backup quarterback Quinton Porter may depart, robbing the Cats of some depth in case Burris goes down, although Porter barely played at all last year except for sneaks. 12%

6. Saskatchewan Rough Riders
The Riders still have some decent talent, but they still would need to get past both BC and Calgary and then beat the East team to win the Grey Cup, barring some cross-over wackiness. Darian Durant improved from a subpar 2011 in 2012, but the team most fanned down the stretch and in their playoff game. Weston Dressler is still a talent and they have home field advantage in more places than their home field, but nothing really says the Riders will be great next year. 11%

7. Winnipeg Blue Bombers
I don't have much confidence in the Bombers next year. Assuming they don't jettison Buck Pierce, they'll go as far as he go without being injured, which isn't very far. I also don't have much confidence in new defensive co-ordinator Casey Creehan, but I may be biased as a Hamilton fan. The Bomber defence wasn't much in 2012 anyways, so I suppose there's a chance it could improve. 4%

8. Edmonton Eskimos
Sure they made the playoffs, which is something, but they booted Eric Tillman as GM before the playoffs started which says something. Lost the Ricky Ray trade and received magic beans/Steven Jyles in return. Have a logjam of good running backs, which is something, but not what Grey Cups are made of. Rebuilding year. 3%

Casey Creehan Adios!

Much derided Ticat defensive co-ordinator has decamped to more mosquito infested climes in Winnipeg. Double bonus for the Cats, the new co-ordinator can't help but be better and Winnipeg's defence can't help but get worse.

Thinking about the past season and defensive strategies, I'm now wondering why the Cats didn't go really aggressive and blitz heavy. The Cats were the highest scoring team in the league and sure they might get burnt fairly often for a TD, but they had the capacity to score enough to keep up, plus any times they were successful and got to the quarterback, good field position was likely to result which the Cats offense was well-suited to take advantage of. Sure we didn't have the defensive line to totally pull this off, but such an approach had to be better than the mediocrity we endured this season.

Argos Win Grey Cup, Why Can't Cats

The Argos won the Grey Cup yesterday, mainly behind good defence and Chad Kackert's running (so much for Cory Boyd). Contemplating that, I wonder why the Cats haven't been able to win since 1999 (or even get to the Grey Cup). The Argos certainly weren't favourites going into the season, unlike the Cats and their talent isn't that remarkable. They did get hot late though, which obviously counts for a lot.

Looking ahead to next year, I don't think the Cats are that far away from success, provided they can upgrade the defence, mainly through a shift in co-ordinator. It would be ironic if the Cats did have a good season, seeing that they are playing in Guelph, but that's the way things go sometimes.

Vanier Cup Post-Game Thoughts

I attended the Vanier Cup at Dead Ted's Dome (TM) and had a good time at least for the first half. I sat in row 5 of section 509 of the upper bowl, which is actually good for sight lines of the field and a lot better than many seats in the lower bowl. The seats in the upper bowl were also cheaper too at $40. It was good to see over 37,000 fans for a Vanier as well.

I think overall the Laval Rouge et Or were the better team and would probably win most games if they played in alternate universes. Their running game was too strong for the Mac defence, especially on first down. I was really impressed by Boutin, Laval's running back. That said, the Laval quarterback wasn't particularly good passing, especially considering his offensive line was impressive. Maybe he had an off day.

One thing that hurt the Marauders was in the battle of field position, the Laval punter regularly out booted Mac's. In the first half, Mac would gain a good number of yards and then when they punted, their net ended up pretty sad. Unfortunately Mac never got opportunities for field goals, as the Marauders field goal kicking was far superior during the season.

Also I thought the Marauders were a bit unlucky with the first half interception call, where the Mac player looked like he should have kept possession based on down by contact. Maybe that would have changed the game.

At least for Ticat fans, Laval defensive draft picks from last year Plesius and Gascon-Nadon looked good against the Mac run. They may snag a look from the NFL, which would complicate things for the Ticats, but I'm doubting that a Samuel Giguere multiyear practice roster will happen.

I'm not sure what will happen with Mac quarterback Kyle Quinlan in the CFL next year, although he has the size and speed to be a receiver too.

With Quinlan gone, and potentially a lot of other players leaving, Mac will be in tough next year. They still have a lot of talent and an excellent head coach Stefan Ptaszek. I'm not sure that will be enough to win the OUA next year, but I'm sure they have a reasonable chance.

What's the Guelph Equivalent of the Prince Edward Tavern?

I wasn't totally surprised by the Guelph announcement as the 2013 home of the Ticats, although I was thinking it was going to be London. There was some politician before the decision who seemed keen and Guelph is closer than London, although the caravan going up highway  6 won't.

I was surprised that there wasn't more interest for a Moncton game, but it could still happen. I think it would be good for the league, however the team might want to get as much value as possible out of spending for bleachers and such.

I think this is also good for Guelph and the university. If you're not living in Southern Ontario, you may not have heard of Guelph (I've met Westerners whose lack of knowledge of Southern Ontario geography surprised me), but having it on TSN every couple of weeks is great publicity.

Finally what is the Guelph equivalent of the Prince Eddie? If there is one, I'm guessing it isn't by the university.