The CFL Outsiders S02 E11 (The Red Blacks defenders don't seem to have any trouble catching PJ Walker's passes.)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:36):
Hey kids!
Welcome back to another episode of the CFL Outsiders.
I remain as always, your 100 % impartial, thoroughly unbiased and completely curve-fuzzledco-host, Oldman Shoutingatclouds With me, as usual, is MJ.

(00:56):
Hey, how's it going?
I just slid in by the skin of our teeth to win against the Elks.
oh
And GT!
Hey, how is everybody?
I have absolutely no notes, so we're completely winging it this week.
Yes, that's why I am your thoroughly confused and confuddled co-host is I was just tellingthe folks here on the show until 10 minutes ago I thought it was Monday.

(01:23):
So we're fairly unprepared but we're going to get through it as best we can and hopefullystill provide you some entertainment for your non-dollar.
So we're going to start off GT you said you might have a mea culpa this week.
I do.
I did and you actually corrected me last week, Oldman while we were talking and I ranright over top of you.

(01:48):
So that's my first mea culpa.
Apologies for that.
And secondly, yes, I know that when you're on the six game injury list, the team still hasto pay you.
But in my overzealous, feelings about Rogers, I let that go and ran right to it.
So, so yeah.
I will try to remain where I don't let my personal resentment against that corporationcloud my factual judgment going forward.

(02:17):
Okay.
So, so the bull horns are off tonight then.
Okay.
Thank you very much.
And as for running over me, don't worry about it.
That's what we do.
This is just talking football and sometimes it gets a little bit rambunctious, but just,don't have a lot of news to talk about tonight, but a couple of things that we figured we
maybe discuss a bit before we got into the actual game recaps or analysis, whatever theheck it is we do.

(02:42):
And the first thing is MJ apparently has been dusting off the history books and hassomething she wants to tell us about.
just want to talk about Craig Baird has an account and a podcast called Canadian HistoryX.
If you don't know about it, it's on all the major platforms.
It's a podcast and he does Canadian history every day.

(03:04):
He, I'm sure does at least 10 different pieces of history of Canada and people and eventsand different things.
today or was it yesterday?
Today?
He was writing about the Grey Cup and
some interesting teams that have won the Grey Cup over the years.
Craig every once in a while will throw a little tidbit, like he's done, I wrote some down.

(03:26):
He did a whole series on the US expansion.
He did one about the history of the Grey Cup itself.
He did one on Warren Moon, he's done one on Herb Trawick the first black player in 1946.
So he just does these things every once in while, he'll just drop them in.
So this week was,
Teams that have won the Grey Cup that you may not have known about.

(03:48):
there are different ones like from Sarnia and different little teams from the rugby union.
And my favourite one that he was talking about was get ready for it.
The Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers who have been to the Grey Cup four times and have won ittwice.
Once in 1927 against the Hamilton Tigers and won in 1930 against the Saskatchewan RoughRiders.

(04:12):
I was going to say that sounds like another team that wears green.
uh
had been to the Grey Cup before...
what was it?
In the 60s anyway.
Yeah.
Beachers were in existence under the, what is it called?
The Canadian Rugby Union from 1924 to 1957.

(04:36):
And so the CFL was formed in 1958 properly when they got away.
So from 1958 on only professional teams could compete in the Grey Cup.
But it did start in 1909 with the Canadian Rugby Union when amateur teams could compete.
If you want to get into how the West teams used to have to travel to the East because theydid not play for the Grey Cup out on the West.

(04:57):
And there was like drama about teams coming out.
And I guess the first time Calgary played in the Grey Cup, that's when they brought alltheir gear, all their rodeo gear and they caused the drama.
And that's kind of how the Grey Cup celebration started.
But yes, the Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers.
I am going to write the Argos and ask, somebody posted this on BlueSky I thought it was agreat idea, if the Argos could do a Balmy Beach Beachers theme, just for one game in 2027

(05:26):
to celebrate their 100th anniversary of winning the Grey Cup.
Mm-hmm, but I imagine they must have been competing against the Argos because the Argossay they've been around for 150 years or something.
correct.
was actually three teams from Toronto in those early days playing for the Grey Cup.
There were the Argonauts, there were the Beechers, and of course it was University ofToronto because most of the university teams also played for the Grey Cup.

(05:50):
And University of Toronto, in fact, won the very first Grey Cup.
During the 100th anniversary, the 100th year, or the 100th Grey Cup, not the 100thanniversary, but the 100th Grey Cup year.
in 2012, did a terrific job.
The league actually did a really terrific job of bringing out lot of that history and theoriginal field where the 1912 Grey Cups was played, the first Grey Cup was played is

(06:18):
called Rosedale Field and they staged an event with a game at Rosedale Field during theweek of Grey Cup and unveiled a new plaque commemorating it and so on.
So there's actually a lot of really cool history there as well.
I'm gonna have to look into that.
This is all new to me.
Sorry, MG, what did you say the podcast was called that you got this from?
It's called Canadian History X, like E-H-X, like eh-x

(06:41):
I make sure I've got it right and I'll put it in the show notes too.
Yeah,
wants to go out and check it
I just want to do as an aside.
wanted to carry on with the 100th anniversary.
either of you go on the Grey Cup train?
Did it come to your city?
It did the, let me think, where was I?
No, I was here in Toronto.
So it was definitely here, but I did not have the opportunity to get down to the trainitself.

(07:04):
I did almost everything else that week, but I didn't get to the train proper, no.
Yeah, I was living in Vancouver at the time and they had it downtown and it was great.
So every car had like they had one car was set up as like a locker room and then they haddifferent cars had different history things Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

(07:24):
They did such a great job with that gray cup train.
Yeah.
Good to hear the CFL doing something good.
We're always on them about their marketing.
That sounds great.
I'm sorry.
I missed it.
Yeah, uh I've been a long time subscriber to Canadian History X Craig is really, reallygood.
It's a lot of fun and he does a really great job.

(07:45):
I highly recommend it if you're at all into any kind of Canadian history.
It's light, but it's so informative and they're half an hour to 40 minutes max and then hedoes the little sub notes on Blue Sky where you can just read them in five to 10 minutes
and it's really terrific.
But yeah, I'm definitely going to have to check that out because at this point I know alittle bit about back then, but very little actually.

(08:09):
And the only thing I can probably contribute to the conversation here is that I suspect ifthe riders were playing, I think you said in 1928 that they weren't wearing green.
Have I ever shared with you the story of why the riders wear green?
The iconic green that is associated with the whole province and everything?
Mm-hmm.
I know the story.

(08:29):
I'm not sure whether you said it I do.
Okay.
Yeah.
The owner that they got them, I believe it was 1949.
The owner was going through Chicago.
They needed a set of uniforms and he found some green ones on sale.
So they bought them and that has, that has grown into the legacy of green that's therethese days.
I just love that.

(08:49):
I wish they had some of these jerseys available.
Like the I wanna balmy beach beacher's jersey.
Yeah.
There is a, um, a company down in the States that does retro jerseys, but they don't doany of the old CFL ones that I know of.
think they might do some from the U S expansion.
I'm trying to remember.
Yeah.

(09:11):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It'd still be interesting though.
Yeah.
I'll try.
I can't remember the name.
I'll see if I can get it up and put that in the show notes too.
I know that Joe and Oz on the, uh, Rouge white and blue are sponsored by these guys and,uh,
Retro's.
Royal Retro's.
Royal Retros, that's it.
Thank you for once again saving my failing memory.

(09:33):
GT, is that where you got your Sacramento hat from?
Or is that an OG?
that's an OG.
As is this Memphis Mad Dog t-shirt.
ho!
Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah, they were-
that's another one of my things where I just what there was a year where I went out andgot as much us or us stuff as I could and then every game I wore to a different and I

(09:59):
still do that okay just wear different stuff so it's conversation piece
For sure.
on TSN this weekend, they were talking about the fact that there's only been, think theysaid four quarterbacks that have thrown for over 6,000 yards in a season.
And one of them was Jeffrey Archer from the, uh, the U S expansion.
Can't remember who was with Sacramento at the time or one of the other teams,

(10:22):
he was a gold miner and just as a quick aside, he started as a gold miner, ended up as anEscobo and I believe finished in Edmonton, but he might have gone to Toronto or Hamilton
after that.
I'm not 100 % sure.
For some reason, I think he ended up as an Edmonton ended his career with Edmonton andthen did colour broadcasting as well.
And at one of the Grey Cops, I ended up sitting like this first year at Sacramento, 95th.

(10:46):
In the Grey Cup was in Calgary, if I remember correctly, and he was there after they goteliminated, and I ended up sitting behind him, and he was just a great guy.
just like, yeah, he talked to all the fans.
He was really podra, and he was a really good quarterback, David Archer.
Really good quarterback.
I do remember that.
He also got in trouble one time for calling Canadians Americans and then doubled down onit and saying, well, it's North America.

(11:09):
So we're really all Americans, which didn't gain him a lot of extra points.
Anyway, that's our, our trip down history lane for now.
The only other thing we were going to talk just a little bit about was the, uh, therunning game right now in the league this season.
And I was going to have a bunch of,
Statistics all is ready to queue up after MJ suggested we talk about this and everything.

(11:30):
And like I said, I'm completely unprepared, but still I think it's worth talking about.
There's in my mind, there's really only been maybe two or three teams that have committedstrongly to the running game this year.
Calgary definitely has until last week and the riders did except for one game and Winnipegstill does to a degree, although.

(11:50):
I don't see as much in the other seem to be in and out of it.
Butler has a great game in BC and then gets nothing the next week.
Same thing with Rankin up in Edmonton that so just thought I'd ask you guys opinion abouthow do you feel about how they're, how the OCs are using the running game this year?
Is there anybody that's really good at it or do we need to see more?

(12:10):
they doing it right?
Well, I kind of think it's a combination of two things, young OCs and young running backs.
Where you've got the guys that are new, it's not consistent.
Where you've got the more established coaching staffs as well as the more establishedrunning backs, that's the people that seem to be relying on them more.

(12:33):
So I think that's just how I see it.
Whereas the other teams just like,
In Edmonton, you're right, they just seem to come and go this week, next week, and even inMontreal and in Toronto for that matter as well.
They just seem to come and go with whether they decide to run them or not.
So I think it's as much as anything a combination of coaching and the confidence in theyoung backs that they have, where the veteran coaches that have veteran backs are more

(13:02):
than willing to use them.
What was it last week or the week before where there was one team, can't remember now.
I threw away my notes, but there was one team where the quarterback had the most rushingyards.
Was that Cody?
Yeah, like he was there.
rushing yards than either of the backs.
And I think he had more rushes, not just more yards, but more actual more rushes.

(13:26):
think between the two backs that week, they only ran like five times.
It wasn't like they were like this week in Ottawa, Calgary had a terrible running game.
I think they only had like 11 yards or something.
Mills didn't have a game at all.
But it wasn't like they didn't try.
They at least tried to run the ball.

(13:47):
versus other games, it's like they just throw away that whole set of plays and don't evenbother.
And so yes, it's definitely kind of odd.
I was just asking my husband about this, were talking about this because it was like oh,he thinks that the defenses are just scheming against it well this year.
Like there's times that, so.

(14:08):
yeah.
well, they def Ottawa definitely steamed against it last Thursday.
There was, that was a huge, you know, part of the game plan was make, Walker throw theball.
So I think there is some of that in certain circumstances where you can do it.
But like Toronto they cut Carrie and then they cut Brown and then they ended up with
two guys you've never heard of before.
Montreal cut Fletcher, again, all-star guys, and they just cut them out to go with twoguys you've never heard of before, and then they hardly give them the ball on top of that.

(14:38):
And I don't know what the heck's going on in Edmonton, because you had two guys that youwere proving, and they just decided against it.
And in Hamilton, even with Greg Bell, as much as they love him and they
they got rid of Butler because of him, they haven't used him on a regular basis.
It's kind of sporadic.
think that's Milanovic's style is that he doesn't, he's more of a passing coach than arunning coach.

(15:03):
and you get the same thing with Condale in Ottawa.
even back with Hamilton.
He didn't run a whole lot, but yeah, I tend to agree with what you're saying there thatthey, defenses can do that.
But if you watch again, the teams that really are dedicated to running the ball, if adefense does sell out, loads the box up like that and determines they're going to stop the

(15:24):
run, those are the teams that they just start going intermediate 10.
12 yards over top, 15 yards over top of the linebackers to back them up and do it.
So it's not like the defense dictates everything, but it does seem like there are somegames and even teams dedicated to it.
Like I said, the, the Calgary game last week and then the Calgary game againstSaskatchewan, Saskatchewan and Calgary in both those games, they got like less than 10

(15:48):
yards running.
They ran five or six times and then just bailed on it.
And that really surprised me in this last Calgary.
I got to say, I lost everything this week.
We all went two and two in the pick them and I went two and two on my personal one too,with it, even though I'd gone with Ottawa there, I saw that game playing out completely
different.
I've seen Dickinson do this in the past and I think I'm still buying him on reputation.

(16:10):
Cause I was sure they were going to come in, that defense was playing really well.
They'd hold them in the game and they'd give them a steady hard dose of running and they'dwin it like 16, 12 or something.
And instead they, they didn't have a run game.
game plan that was working at all, and even when they had chances to adjust, they didn'tseem to come back to it.
They just left it all on Walker, and that surprised the hell out of me.

(16:34):
We're kind of getting into the first game here, but let's finish this anyway.
yeah, it's just interesting because for a lot of years, the running back was like the starof the team.
You think about like guys like Andrew Harris or John Cornish.
Like those kind of guys were the person on the team and that does this.
mean, there's Brady, but even like his year is quite quiet and even maybe last year, but.

(16:58):
So it's just interesting that it just seems to tend away and we're talking a lot moreabout receivers this year than we're not talking about anybody being a running back star.
Yeah, no, I agree with you there 100%.
It's gone away from being that kind of player that dominates, that position thatdominates.
And I think that's coaching and scheming again.

(17:19):
As they keep saying, telling us on television, defenses are just so much more complicatedthan they used to be.
it's really difficult to count on more than a five yard run at best.
mean, you'll break some, but to, to try and have a running game that you can consistentlypick up first down running is, definitely not a, not an easy thing in the league these
days.

(17:39):
I don't know.
I, still am a firm believer in it.
I still think that you have to, use it.
And as all the color commentators on the broadcast talk about
If you can do it, it pays off late in the game because it does wear down D lineman So Ithink it's important, but I also think that too many coordinators when they, when they
think, well, we're going to commit to the run.

(18:01):
means we're going to run on the first down, the first four or five times we're out there.
And if it doesn't work, then we'll go to passing.
Whereas I think you, you run one or two, even if you go on first down and if it's stuffed,then you start looking at.
what else you've got to back them up a bit.
But there was like the alouettes who didn't run the ball almost an entire half of a game.
So it's just, yeah.

(18:22):
been known for that though.
That's the Moss offense.
And they talk about the fact that, you know, it's, an extended running game because theydo the screen passes and whatnot.
And that there's truth to that.
But on the other hand, was it this weekend or last weekend that somebody jumped one ofthose screens and almost took it back to the house, just barely bobbled it.
So there's also a risk to trying to do those.

(18:42):
They're not quite as safe as actually handing the ball off.
I don't know that we've reached any conclusions, but I feel like I've vented.
Anything else to say about it?
Okay, so let's go on to the games then and we'll start with the first one there that was,here we go.
Let me make sure I get this right.
Yeah, so that was Calgary went into Ottawa and unfortunately did not do well.

(19:04):
Ottawa 31, Calgary 11.
Do you want to take the lead on this GT with it being the Stamps?
Sure, yeah, first of all, will say that, yeah, Ottawa's game plan defensively was to takeaway the run.
They had a quarterback who was playing his first game and wasn't used to the field andwasn't used to being able to, so his limitations on throws were evident over the course of

(19:28):
the game.
He made some good ones, but he made more bad ones than good ones.
But the biggest thing that disappointed me about the game, because I thought the game wasentertaining,
again, the score is in was lopsided, but it didn't look that way.
And when you watched it, but what was the most disappointing was the penalties.
That's two weeks in a row that Calgary took over 130 yards in penalties.

(19:51):
And that's really got to stop unless this team is falling to the, you know, falling to thewayside and is becoming who everybody thought they were going to be.
And maybe they are.
Maybe the first five weeks was a mirage.
We'll have to wait and see over the next few but yeah, they've the last two weeks They'venot played well generally with with the penalties hurting them at inopportune times And

(20:14):
like I said last week bad teams take bad penalties at bad times I was specific on and inEdmonton when I was saying that but Calgary certainly has taken a lot of bad penalties
over the last two weeks
for whatever it's worth, like I said, I expected a completely different game plan fromCalgary.
I was really surprised at the fact that they were putting so much on Walker with it.

(20:35):
But as well, it just, it felt to me like this was the Calgary team I expected to see thisyear.
to me, it says just how much VA brings to that team, not just in his physical play, but inthe hope that he gives them.
It just, it looked like with the whole team has, was less confident, including defensewithout VA in there.

(20:56):
And sometimes you catch that, you know, sometimes you, you catch that magic in a bottlewith uh a new quarterback or a new star player in some high profile position and the team
rallies behind him if that is the case, I hope they can keep it going because the otherthing with that is it's a fragile kind of thing.
the last, last time I really remember something sort of like this in the

(21:16):
in the CFL would have been when Fajardo came out of nowhere with the riders in 2019.
And they had not the greatest season, but they way performed above what they were supposedto do.
When they ended up losing in the Western final on that, it seemed to break the magic andthey could never get it back.
So I'm hoping just because of what we've seen out of VA and the Samps this year that theydon't lose it early.

(21:39):
That he gets back in there and they start playing well.
And along that, there were a couple of things that really bothered me, including the factthat Dickinson went for it on third and whatever, third and 10, deep in his own end zone
with a couple of minutes left.
But the chances of winning that were, were very low.
As a result, they ended up getting the ball on the one yard line and walked in for anothertouchdown easy.

(22:03):
seems like not that much, but that's the kind of thing that as a player, it can really getin your psyche when you're, you're out there fighting hard.
And the defense, you think about it, the defense was really only gave up 17 points theywere responsible for.
They could have, could have won that game like that, but it just, feels to me likesometimes Dickinson is doing really silly things I've never seen him do before.

(22:25):
Yeah, that was also, they needed to get back in the game.
I wasn't adverse to that call.
you were either gonna get back in the game or not at that stage.
But that was situational football that the Stampeders weren't aware of.
When you're down there, just go into the end zone and take a safety.

(22:46):
Why get tackled on the one?
Get your own offensive lineman should be pushing the quarterback into the end zone sothat, you know, not holding him up.
Like that's just, everybody just made a mistake there in my opinion.
It's another, like not a penalty, but another situational thing where they should have hadmore and they would have given up two points and taken over the ball at the 30 yard line

(23:08):
or whatever the case, instead of giving the ball on the one and giving up seven points onthe next play.
It was just not smart football at that stage.
Not the call itself.
but the result of the call.
Well, I will disagree there because I, I do think the call itself was, was bad footballtoo.
The chances were so very slim of it happening.

(23:29):
You might as well have punted and hope you got it back one more time.
But like I said, I just, I worry I've been around football enough to know that big partsof it are emotion and you.
when you've got a team that's on a roll and running well and they start to suddenly hitsome adversity you don't want to add to that.
But that just might be me.

(23:50):
You've been very quiet, MJ.
I pretty much agree.
I just want to talk about a tale of two defenses.
That Hardy touchdown, there were like wheat fields around him.
He was so open, like acres of land around him.
And I was very surprised that the Calgary would have a complete breakdown in coverage likethat, given how well their defense is playing.

(24:13):
Somebody was
Talking about how PJ Walker was throwing the ball too hard and that's why the receiverscouldn't catch it.
Then I said.
The Red Blacks defenders don't seem to have any trouble catching PJ Walker's passes.
They they are catching them just fine.
You guys practice with him for entire week.

(24:34):
You should be able to catch that.
But yeah, this is a game.
Like there was three interceptions.
There was no rushing.
PAREDES was one for three on his field goals and they were blaming the wind and maybe it'strue because Lewis Ward did miss one so maybe there but we like Rene Pérez has played in
Ottawa a lot like that should not be happening and he's a been a bit shaky and this is whyI'm wondering why sometimes they are gambling a little late sometimes because they they're

(25:04):
they just don't trust their kickers.
ah So, PAREDES is when they trotted him out the first one, I immediately looked at mybrother who I was attending the game with and said, he can't make this kick.
It's 53 yards.
He doesn't have the leg anymore and he doesn't.
The second one that he missed, ah I don't know how much they showed it on TV, but live atthe game, we could almost hear him 30 rows up yelling at somebody else that did something

(25:30):
that either the snap was wrong or was a hold was wrong or something, but he was not happy.
with the rest of the snapping team.
The interceptions, one of them he overthrew and it was, you he just overthrew it.
And the second one, it was a typical American rookie kind of quarterback that just did notsee the 12th player on defense.
It was like, he just didn't see him.

(25:52):
It was there wide open, but he just didn't see him.
So yeah, you know.
a lot on the broadcast that he just was not accounting for the extra player.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
So, and on, and on the defense, on the defense, they, you're right, there was a lot ofmiscommunication on both of the touchdowns.

(26:12):
and they had again made a game time decision on Adrian green and not put him back in.
And instead they started someone out, which means they juggled the whole defensivebackfield around.
the communication was way off.
there was a lot of combination of stuff.
The thing is, is that.
I agree with you, old man, is like, we'll see this week.
They're getting VA back.

(26:34):
They're getting a lot of players back, at least two or three other players back as well.
And we'll see if they bounce back.
If they don't bounce back, is this, yeah, the beginning of this or the continuation of thespiral or not?
I said going into that game, the next five, they kind of had to win, I hope, three of thefive.
I don't think they necessarily they'll be able to do that at this stage.

(26:57):
We'll see where they end up.
We'll see where they end up.
They've got Winnipeg, then a bye then Saskatchewan, then back-to-back Edmonton.
that.
was on GTU at the game.
How were the vibes for the red-black fans?
I'm sure they were thrilled.
They were terrible.
wasn't, yeah, no, seriously, I wasn't gonna talk about it.
was like the, no, no, that's only because I didn't want to come on and on a national, whatis a national uh broadcast and say bad things about a fan base, but it was bad.

(27:31):
The whole experience was one of the worst in-game football experiences I've had in a long,long time.
It was.
They were, it was just like, and that's one of the key things.
was their first home win of the season.
It was only their second win of the season.
You think they would have been ecstatic They were sitting on their hands.

(27:51):
They were sitting on their hands.
It wasn't, yeah.
I can see that a bit because last year was encouraging, but they're kind of like Edmonton.
They've been going through this for four or five years now.
So I'm sure it feels like just uh back to that.
And I do want to say to, to give Calgary sort of not give them excuses, but to put thingsin context, we have to remember, like you said, GT, Adrian Green was out of there and as

(28:16):
well, his backup, LeBros, I think it is from last, pronounced.
He was out as well.
So they were going with Onyeka, which was basically a third stringer at that position.
And in a defensive backfield, we all know how critical communication is.
So I can see some of what happened there.
And, and again, they didn't give up all the points in that game.

(28:39):
And on the offensive side, they had two first time receivers in who, one of them at leastdid not seem to know how to catch a football.
I think I saw them targeted four or five times and
and drop easy catches.
uh
yeah, Baldwin, 86.
Yeah, no, was not impressed.
But that's okay.
It's a game.
It's only one game.

(29:01):
yeah, so maybe for all the stamps except Walker, it's a burn the tape game and just moveon.
And maybe we should do that.
Oh, sure.
gripe about TSN.
Dear TSN, please show us the penalty replays.
There was like they talked over top of like the referee.

(29:21):
They weren't showing the replays.
They're like, oh, we're back to the game.
Oh, like, oh, there was a misconduct penalty.
I'm like, was what are you going to say who it was for or where it would want?
No, just carrying on.
Please.
If I
If I was going to that, I might as be singing at the game, trying to talk to my kid abouthis popcorn and miss it.
I don't expect that to happen to me at home when I'm watching with replay available.

(29:44):
wouldn't have missed it at the game because they didn't do it there either.
Another one of mine.
No.
you have a better chance of see, if the camera isn't pointed at it, you can still see it.
They didn't do replays at the game field.
Pardon me.
yeah, there was all, there was hardly any announcements of penalties from the ref, know,miked into the stands.

(30:06):
There was, they didn't show, like there was a challenge.
There was no on the screen reviews of the challenge where you could see the differentangles or anything like that while it was going on and make your own decision and boo
loudly if you were so decided.
They had some kind of, you know,
contest going on in the end zone that was over that drowned out two or three calls by thereferee.

(30:30):
It was a schmazzle in my opinion.
Yeah.
doesn't help fan engagement.
So anyways, I don't want to, but I didn't want to talk about it.
uh
to the next night, to the Friday night when Toronto went into Winnipeg.
And to me, this, this game showed just how much emotion matters in a football game becauseit started out, it looked like it was going to be a repeat of the Toronto game all over

(31:00):
again.
Winnipeg to me looked like they.
weren't terribly focused.
I thought they were going to get beat on and then they got the kick return touchdown andthat just turned the game completely.
The old TSN turning point was definitely that.
They, I didn't think it was in doubt much from there on.
Yeah, I thought we had two pretty entertaining games and two not so entertaining gamesthis weekend.

(31:24):
And I think this was one of the entertaining games that even though the score again waslopsided, I thought it was closer than the score indicates.
If you think about it at Winnipeg scored, you know, it was what?
No, this is the wrong score here you've got, right?
Cause wasn't it 40 to 31 or 40 to 34 or something?
40.

(31:44):
It says 40 to 31.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, sorry.
Yeah, so yeah, so it was very close.
And until Winnipeg scored late and knocked that ball down, Toronto was driving to kind ofget back in the game.

(32:08):
Because it was 37 to 31 with Toronto only down six and had a shot there going in exceptthose long arms of Willie got in the way of everything in the fourth quarter.
But yeah, I thought this was a pretty entertaining game and you're right that that thatkickoff Return right after Toronto had an interception return for a return for a

(32:29):
touchdown.
I just swung everything back in Winnipeg's favor and just they went from there.
you know, and then a punt return later on.
like the Ottawa game, Toronto's, you know, Toronto kind of scored as much offensive pointsas Winnipeg did, or maybe even more, but it was about two special teams that made the
special teams uh touchdowns that made the difference in the game.

(32:53):
Yeah, have like based on stats, the Argos should have won.
They had like double the passing yards.
Yeah, it was weird.
But yeah, special teams.
Well, they keep talking about it's an equal phase of the game up here and games like thisdefinitely show that it is.
like I said, it's one of the things where CFL just, you never know exactly how a game isgoing to go.

(33:17):
And I agree with, with UGT, it wasn't necessarily the, best played game, but there wasentertainment in the returns and that.
in some ways it kind of felt a little bit, like I said, never felt in doubt, but it felt alittle bit to me like the
the Hamilton game in Toronto, where Toronto was scoring points, but they'd fallen behindand it just, they couldn't seem to gain ground at all.

(33:39):
There was always something the bombers were doing that kept them ahead.
Yeah, yeah.
Every time Toronto got closed, Bombers responded with something, whether it be a feel,even a little as much as a field goal, whether it was a knockdown and, you know, there was
what?
Eight knockdowns in that game.
That was the craziest thing.
I think there was eight knockdowns at the line and Jefferson alone had five of them.

(34:04):
It was, it was, that was bizarre.
But, so yeah, even those things were,
You're right, we're just stalling out Toronto, but in the meantime, they were moving theball around.
yeah, but I thought it was, close enough to be entertaining.
Yes.
have a note that it's different when the bombers are different when they plan for Strevlerto play than when Strevler just has to get put into a game.

(34:25):
And so he's 2-0 when he starts.
Right.
But I don't think you can give him that win.
I mean, he'll get it in the records, but he, thought I gave him full credit for the weektwo win there, first win of the season.
He looked very good in that.
I didn't think he looked good this time.
He just, his accuracy was off.

(34:46):
I, it's hard to tell sometimes what's happening downfield.
So I don't know if he was missing people open or not, but it just, he didn't lookimpressive.
Well, it's not good when your OC basically says, yeah, he threw the ball to the wrongspot, otherwise we would have had another touchdown.
And that know, that statement came out this week, you know, on that one that they missedit.

(35:07):
Yeah, they came out.
Basically, well, we made the right call because there was some controversy about why didyou make that call?
It looked like it was not the right call to make for a pass into the end zone.
And the OC said, well, I made the right call.
He just threw it to the wrong spot.
It's not my fault, it's quarterback's fault.
So.
I imagine Coach O'Shea will be having a long talk with his new OC.

(35:31):
Man, that's...
I mean, it...
I don't even recall what he was talking about.
It may or may not have been true, but you do not say that as a coach.
my god.
Yeah, that's gonna get the team fired up.
I don't know that there's a lot more to say than this, other about this, other than whatwe have.
The Toronto outplayed them largely, but the special teams and the momentum and well,frankly, the defense played pretty good, but one player on defense had a career game even

(36:01):
for him.
And it happened.
Yeah, okay then.
So I guess we move on then.
I pull up the other one here as I continue to juggle this.
Maybe I've got these scores close.
Hamilton went into Edmonton and eked out a 28-24 victory.
Does that sound right?
I believe I've got it right.
Whoa, guys, this was so stressful.

(36:22):
At one point I was saying, who is at the top of the power rankings and who is at thebottom?
Because this game was tight.
It was tight.
It back and forth.
There were, were there any field goals?
I don't think there were any field goals.
think this was just, flat out
Shoot him out football.

(36:44):
Bo passed Doug Flutie and Doug Flutie had a really nice message for him that was reallygreat to see.
And Bo.
punted Or 28 yards.
With.
But that's because their long snapper was injured and.

(37:05):
Teams you need to have a long snapper backup.
Oh.
And they kept talking about that on television as well, and that they were very surprisedthat they didn't have someone that could have gone in in that situation.
But he pulled it off, and it didn't look like a complete cluster.
It was not badly executed, actually.

(37:27):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Especially for something I don't think they would practice much.
Right.
Yeah, the Elks should have won this game.
Think they could have easily won this game.
Jullian Grant, that pass in the end zone.
What a heartbreak.
just, I just want to sink into the floor.
The Elks player that I will shout out that did well, their punter messed up that puntbadly and went down and recovered it.

(37:55):
So good job him, heads up play.
One doesn't cancel the other out though and tough, tough, tough to be an elk
He reminded me of Jamie Borum out there getting that punt.
Like a good physical punter Yeah.
And just in case anybody didn't catch the end of the game, what MJ's talking about with,that drop was, yeah, Ken, Julian, Grant was open in the end zone with under, I think a

(38:20):
minute left or just over a minute to go ahead.
And there was just, it was basketball, not football.
There was no bottom in the basket.
went right through his arms and dropped out.
Car Cody.
They, um yeah, that was the most entertaining game of the week.
And yeah, it was a good game.
I actually thoroughly enjoyed that one.
And I was surprised that I did, but I did.

(38:43):
Yes, say what you want about the tiger cats.
They are playing entertaining football.
They are fun to watch and some of it is the plays they're running and some of it is justtheir, their attitude on the field.
It seems like they're having fun out there too.
Yeah, and now you keep looking at their schedule and going, okay, so who do they play nextand how does that team stop them?

(39:08):
Because that's just now it's become how do you stop these guys?
Because every time you turn around, they're using another weapon and going in a differentdirection with the receivers and Bo was just so hot right now.
It's incredible.
Like again, did you have any doubt that at some point he wasn't going to win that game?

(39:30):
You know, as much as, well as Edmonton was playing, it was like, yeah, but Bo's going topull this out somehow.
And he did.
He just, know, so, and I just don't know which defense is going to be able to stop that atthis stage.
I don't know how you, like, what does BC do this week coming up?
They tried something last week.
It didn't work at all.
So it's going to be interesting to see what they do this week.

(39:54):
just got my one elk, my other one elk fun, that did well.
Tyrell Ford, you see him lifting bridges out of bounds.
Just like lifted and pushed him out.
And they're like, no catch.
Yeah.
no interference on that.
Just run them out of bounds.
Yes.
And to what you were saying, GT, I think personally, I think the only way that somebodystops Hamilton and you don't stop them, but the way somebody stops them enough to beat

(40:18):
them is you have to have a good solid defense that goes out and ignores the fact thatKenny Lawler's on that team.
Yeah, I do.
regular defense, you don't do anything special.
You accept the fact we may end up giving up a touchdown to him.
We might even give up two, but we're going to, we're not going to let everything else beatus.
And we're going to get them off the field two series out of three

(40:38):
Yep.
You just man up boys, man up and go get your guy and just run man coverage because zonesare not working.
You can't leave Smith open.
I think that much has been established.
You can cover Kenny all you want, but you need to equally cover Smith.
Well, that's the thing is I've got Smith and on the short stuff, White has been doingokay.

(41:00):
So you've you know, you've got him out there with the stuff and that they've got a lot ofreceivers that can do it.
And, and yeah, you can't, you cannot dedicate.
Well, you can get away with dedicating putting, if you're going to run his own and doubleup Kenny, you can get away with that to a degree BC did for a lot of the games.
You can't do what they did at the end of the drive in the BC game, which is basically haveeverybody covering Kenny.

(41:22):
Yeah.
Yeah.
m
I say you got to play your regular defense.
You got to guard all five receivers out there and the running back and the quarterback andeverything.
You can't focus too much on one.
So what, how do you figure the feeling is in Edmonton right now after coming that close,but now another loss.
Well, Bo in his interview after said that Cody, like he gave Cody his flowers, he saidCody's the most disrespected quarterback in the league.

(41:48):
And the panel was talking about how like this should be like Edmonton had to play the topone of the top teams in the league.
They should feel good about that.
And then Milt was like, there's no moral victories.
Like that's not two points in your wing column.
And that's not two points in your wing column.
And people in Edmonton are done.

(42:09):
They've, Trey was the savior last year and they want to run them out of town this year.
I feel bad for Cody.
He's a good quarterback.
watching them and watching them, Edmonton's a really, I don't know how to say this.
It just seems very fickle here.
But the players seem to want, like the players that were ride or die with Trey last yearand were wanting to run McLeod Bethel out of town and no one wanted McLeod Bethel and

(42:35):
everyone was like behind Trey.
have completely 180'd and we're like, forget Trey, we all wanna play for Cody now.
And I feel like maybe this is just a desperation, we're grasping at rods.
Whoever is playing well is who we're all circling the wagons around.
Like I don't think in Calgary if PJ Walker had played well, they'd be like, well, maybe VAisn't the guy for us.

(42:58):
we move, no.
So Emonton's always balancing.
and they haven't quite figured it out.
And I don't know if that's just players or if that's coaching or management or ownershipthat are causing some issues and drama.
I think it's just everybody's desperate for a win and they just want to win.

(43:20):
And if they feel like that's the guy that's going to give them a win last year, they feltlike it was Trey.
This year they feel like it's Cody.
So I don't care.
as I'm just speaking as a player and probably as a fans as everybody, it's just like, Idon't care how they do just win.
And if this is the guy that's going to let us win, then that's the guy I'm going withright now.

(43:40):
And that's the guy I want to be behind.
they just need to win.
I don't know if they're going to.
They've been so they've been close.
They've been close and they continue to be close.
So at some point in time, I can see it.
I still see that turning around.
It's just.
Yeah.
So in Hamilton a lot of years, would have been flipped and Hamilton would be the team thatwouldn't be able to finish that drive and they would have dropped that pass in zone.

(44:09):
Goodness, they did it in the grey cup.
just couldn't seal the deal and they finally now, Bo, they are finishing their games andEdmonton's now on the outside of that looking in and they're the ones that can't finish
these games off.
and you're right, they're close.
don't think they are as bad as people make them out to be.
Even last year, the last back half of the season, they were winning games.

(44:32):
In some games, they only lost by like a field goal.
Like it was always close.
Can't quite put the last nail in the coffin.
Yeah, it becomes a culture, unfortunately of losing and, you're right.
And it's been actually three or four years as I remember it, that they've been in games.
A lot of them, they just, they, they can't finish it.
And I, for whatever it's worth, I really feel like, um, I think I posted on blue sky lastweek that the Elks are channeling the spirit of the late seventies, early eighties, rough

(45:03):
riders.
Cause it's been a decade of futility there, just like Saskatchewan went through back inthe day and
And to me it's management.
back to last time Hervey was GM and I can't remember who the president was.
And they did a bunch of stupid things, including getting rid of, it Mazuziak, the, theequipment manager that had been with them forever and really sort of tearing down the

(45:24):
team.
And then they got, from that, they went to Chris Jones, which was just pretty much a joke.
And now they get a chance to start new and they get a rookie head coach.
Okay.
Well, Kilam's been sort of.
People have been saying he's the next one for quite a while, but even though they've triedto revive the dead name and say that's the secret to success, it's not there.

(45:46):
And the thing I questioned this year is it's obvious to me that Macymik as an OC does notwant to play a game that Trey can play.
And you've just, they signed Trey before they signed him.
So you've just signed a quarterback that's supposed to be the franchise guy.
to a long-term contract, I think with guaranteed money in there, and you don't talk to theOC about how he's going to use them when you're doing the interviews.

(46:12):
It baffles me.
how much Trey had input on that too.
Like quarterbacks, if you're signing a franchise quarterback that's like getting, likehe's one of the highest paid ones.
He's getting a lot of money to sit on a bench now.
It's weird.
Yeah.
He's not, I don't think he's up in the 500 range, but I think he's making more than Brownis and more than Alexander is.

(46:35):
So he is getting money for it.
They did renegotiate it And yeah, that's the thing is I would have, if it was me, I wouldhave had him, yeah, definitely giving input on who the OC is.
Who do I think I can work with?
But even if he isn't, Killam should be doing that.
Hervey should be doing that.
Rather than say, okay, well, you can come in here with your system you like to run andwe'll somehow make it all work.

(46:58):
When you know you don't have the quarterback you're pinning your hopes on doesn't havethat skillset.
So I put it down to, unfortunately, I think that even under the new ownership, they'rejust making bad moves.
And I don't know what happens to pull them out of the spiral.
I feel terrible for the fans in Edmonton.
Yeah, well desperation moves aren't always...
Yeah, well then desperation moves aren't like always the correct ones.

(47:21):
Like...
Yeah.
Well that's the thing is, if there were changes to be made then I might feel better aboutit.
But the changes have all been made and they weren't done well.
Should I stop my rants, move on?
Anything else for anybody?
Yeah, it's, yeah, it is just, they, they are, that's the upside of it.

(47:47):
And I hope they get something figured out.
You know, I hope that at least Edmonton with Cody in there gets competitive for the lasthalf of the year.
They win, where are they now?
I think they're at seven and one, aren't they?
So they've got 10 games left.
I would love to see them at least go like five and five in the last half of the season orsomething.
And they could do that the way they've played the last two weeks against Saskatchewan andHamilton.

(48:11):
You know, the two top teams in the rankings.
And speaking of those, and then the other one that was a top team and well, still is a topteam, but Saskatchewan went into Montreal and walked away 34 to six.
And this one I'm, again, I didn't get my notes transcribed, so I'm not sure.
And I was a little disjointed because the way it worked out with TSN, they ran theEdmonton game to the end on one channel and started the riders game ahead on the other

(48:41):
channel.
So I watched to the end of the Edmonton game, went over to the other channel to watch therest of the riders game.
And my little Shaw box came up and said, Oh, we can't connect to this.
And then when I phoned in, they were having some sort of regional outage.
so I watched the last three quarters of the game in real time and then Sunday had to getup and watch the first quarter.

(49:02):
So I'm a little disjointed, but to me, just like I said,
Calgary looked like the team I was expecting them to be without VA out there.
And I think they'll turn it around with him back.
Saskatchewan for the first week really looked like the team that I thought they could befrom the beginning of the year.
They went in, they built up a good lead.
They didn't go through their usual third quarter slowdown where they go to and out theentire quarter and let the other team score and get back in it.

(49:31):
They just, they seem to have Montreal's number.
And Montreal to their def, in their defense, as we talked about with Calgary, Montreal hadto do some juggling at the end, right at the last minute or game day decision, whatever.
Anto was out on the corner from there.
So I think they moved roughen out from, I think he was at the, the strong sidelinebackers.

(49:51):
Anyway, it was, it was a complete jumble.
And then later in the game, they lost De Qua as well.
So they had a young safety in there.
their second string safety.
They were down to their third string safety at one point there.
Yeah.
And Montreal just could not seem to move the ball against the Edmonton defense.

(50:11):
MBT looked like he did.
Well, frankly, I think he looked, and maybe it's the defense he was facing, but he lookedthe worst he has yet.
I thought he played better in his first two losses than he did in this one.
Yeah, I just kept thinking and hoping and I kept saying to myself, this is just, know,because MBT is really bad.

(50:32):
And then I kept going, no.
And then I thought, no, this is just Saskatchewan being pretty darn good.
And this is Saskatchewan, the team that we expected when we all had them at the top of theWest or at top of the league going into the season.
So yeah, I think they're starting to show.
I do think there's still some.
some issues there, but I think they're starting to show that they are, you know, they areas good as we thought they were going to be.

(50:57):
So I might just have to kind of put up with it.
Yeah, I think you're right there.
And yet you're right.
There are, you know, it's, it's the same thing that you'll hear any coach say after a goodwin or any win, while there's still stuff for us to work on.
And it's always true, but that was true of the stamps through their decade and a half ofdominance.

(51:18):
And it was true or close to that.
And it was true of Montreal back in the 09, 010, great teams, but you could say, okay,yeah, we can work on this and we can work on that.
And that's where the riders are at.
I mean, the most glaring one is still, does Lauther get his kicking locked down when itreally matters?
Cause that's still a little scary, but it feels like that feels like a traditionalSaskatchewan question to me.

(51:43):
person who doesn't need to work on their kicking is maltose.
Yeah, no, definitely not.
But yeah, Montreal's just needs, they got a, they're in trouble.
They're in trouble.
They're, mean, if, if it wasn't for, you know, Ottawa and Toronto, they would have been,looking at missing, know, looking at being third or fourth right now.

(52:04):
Yeah, I could see, I could see Hamilton wrapping up first place by not long after LaborDay if things keep going the way that they are.
I will say it's just one of those things that, that I noticed, the quirky little things.
Maltose's last three field goals were 58, 56 and 54.
I figure if they follow that trend by the end of the season, they'll be kicking all twoyard field goals.

(52:30):
Just keep working your way in.
They couldn't even get past the 46 yard line though.
Like I don't think I don't think Alouette's got past.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I just thought, again, the thing about Saturday was, as you said, where, Oldman it waslike, what's going on here?
How do we have two different cities in like how far apart and we both have lightningdelays.

(52:57):
It was like, I turned on one game and now I have to go back and watch another game whileI'm waiting for this game.
show up again, was just ah, and then you have to try to find it, because on the recordingit runs over into some other program that's called something about something else
entirely, and yeah, that was.
I had to switch over, I was watching live.

(53:17):
I had to switch over to TSN3 to finish the Elks and Ticats game, because TSN1 was showingsoccer.
And so then I had to flip back to TSN3 to finish that game.
And then the Riders Alouettes game came on, but the video quality looked garbage on TSN3.
So then I had to switch back to TSN1 and then it looked good.

(53:39):
So, I'm just like.
Yeah.
And I Yeah.
And I don't remember it was that game or another one, but they were, they had audioproblems again at one of the games.
That's two weeks in a row.
it's, the Gremlins are coming out in full force.
I think all, all the people that really know what they're doing are on summer vacation andwe've got the interns running the show.
Yeah, you could hear the air horns though.

(54:03):
yes, the Air Horn ban is working, I see.
It's in full force.
Yeah, that lasted what, two games maybe?
I liked them.
I was happy they were back.
So anything else in that game or an overall, anything we learned that matters thisweekend?

(54:25):
I don't really think so because it was...
two lasting thoughts on this.
One, when you only scored six points in this game, why are you punting in the fourthquarter in garbage time?
Just go for it.
Just go for it.
You are losing by so much.
What does it matter anymore?
Just pedal to the metal.

(54:46):
And also, my last thought is McLeod Bethel Thompson cannot talk smack to the TSN panelwhen he plays like this.
Yes.
Yeah, I never heard any reports of that this week.
Yeah.
Mind you, this week I don't think he had to tell them don't say anything good about mebecause...
you worry!

(55:06):
Yeah, so it will be interesting to see who is the quarterback this week for Montrealupcoming.
Will it be McLeod-Bethel Thompson in Edmonton?
I don't know.
Might be Caleb Evans.
I've heard people talk a lot about the, apparently they have another third stringerthey're really high on.

(55:27):
So, but I think he's first year in the season, in the, in the system.
So probably a bit early for that, but, but yeah, we, but like I said, I, all we learnedthis weekend is that Calgary without VA is capable of playing a bad game.
I wouldn't say that happens every game, but you know, that's possible to happen.
These are my takeaways from the game.

(55:49):
know, yeah.
Calgary is possible to play bad game that Winnipeg when they've got emotion at home stillis awful damn hard to beat.
That Hamilton is a lot of fun to watch.
And basically I don't expect that performance from Saskatchewan in two weeks when they'reback against, I think against Calgary.

(56:10):
I hope they play well enough to beat Calgary, but.
That was a thoroughly enjoyable game for a Rider fan.
I don't think any of us that followed the game well and know what we're talking aboutwould say, well, that's it.
We're good for the rest of the season now.
We're going to roll.
This weekend just proves that like what, like, and I don't understand what's happeningthis season.

(56:33):
It's, I remember on last season's broadcast when I was doing this on my own, I talked alot about embrace the chaos.
This is the CFL and we haven't gone away from it this year.
I don't know.
There are people who complain that CFL isn't professional enough and all the rest of it.
I just love all the quirky little stuff that happens in a league this size.
And you know, yeah, there's a lot of players out there playing still hoping to get to theNFL and that, but there's a lot that are playing cause they love to play football.

(56:59):
and this gives them a chance and that just makes me feel good.
How can you not have fun when your top passer in the league is punting in a game?
Yeah, exactly.
Okay, so we've covered those off.
Get to look ahead to this week.
Hopefully I have these all right.
Like I said, I was doing this in a hurry right before the show.
So game one, Friday night or Thursday night?

(57:21):
Thursday night I think.
um BC at Hamilton.
Predictions?
Thoughts?
I'll start saying Hamilton.
don't think Mike Benavides can scheme well enough to keep Kenny Smith, White and Bo underlock and key.
if it had been back to back, I might even think different because those can be hard towin, but it's not back to back for Hamilton.

(57:44):
You know, they've had the game in between here and if they couldn't beat them in BC and Iexpect they'll run a different defense and they'll do somewhat better against Hamilton,
but I just, don't see them having the ability to keep up with Hamilton.
There's some talk, Hamilton's on another short week this week and BC's coming off the buy.
But I don't know, don't think that's gonna matter.

(58:07):
Mind you, like I said, two and four, two out of four last week, two and two.
So I don't know that what I think matters at all, but, but yeah, I I just can't see it.
think Hamilton doesn't have the best defense in the league, but I think they're goodenough to win with that offense they've got.
And I think even at that, they're better than the BC defense.
I would say in just about every facet of the game, offense, defense and special teams, BCis just a step below Hamilton at this point.

(58:32):
And I can't see them winning it.
So did I get you said Hamilton MJ?
Did you say GT?
Yeah, I've got Hamilton as well because I don't have anything to add that you guys haven'talready said.
It's just, yeah, they're just not there.
They're just not there.
Yeah.
And another one that'll be interesting Edmonton at Montreal.
I believe this is the Friday nighter.

(58:54):
Cody's back in there.
Apparently Cody's if there's anything to the chip on the shoulder game against a teamthat's let you go, he's got that going for him.
Montreal didn't look great.
I'm gonna let one of you two go first on this one.
Go ahead, MJ
I think this game is going be spicy.
We got two quarterbacks that were traded in the off season to each other's teams.

(59:16):
There's a little story there.
Montreal is going to be mad about how they played.
Edmonton is going to be mad that they could have won that game against Hamilton.
They're going to be mad.
For chaos, I'm going to pick Edmonton.
Me now?
Okay.
I, I don't know.

(59:37):
I talked my way through this one, I guess it's yeah.
I want to take Edmonton.
I, I do that Montreal defense is just so bloody good, but I see things like one of, wedidn't talk about this in the game, but it just came back to me.
One of the things was Montreal dressed five defensive linemen to play against the ridersthat are, they know are a running team that are going to try and overpower you.

(59:59):
They had one person to rotate.
And one of those was Sean Lemmon who
was just coming off of his year long hiatus.
So he, I doubt he's in game shape.
That, that part didn't surprise me that they weren't really great at putting pressure onthe quarterback or stopping the run.
So if they do that again, I could see Edmonton winning it.
Yeah, I'll go Edmonton.
What the heck.

(01:00:20):
Edmonton has rank and end leak right?
If they can't figure out a run defense.
But Montreal is a lot of, I guess have to do, it may matter who's back for Montreal offthe injury list too.
Is Ebto a one game miss or, mean, how much does the extra week of practice help?
Yeah.
Philpott's still out too.
Why do both Philpott brothers have hamstring injuries?

(01:00:43):
I don't know.
Oh, you just triggered me.
What other thing I was going to say back in the Saskatchewan Montreal game that occurredto me.
And that's that apparently Shane Ray isn't made of glass.
We're nine games into the season and he's still in there playing and getting sacks.
When they signed him, everybody said, it'll last a game.

(01:01:04):
Anyway, sorry.
All these things that would have been in my notes if I'd been prepared this week, they'rejust having to come out of the foggy old memory now.
So.
We've both gone Edmonton.
GT, are you gonna go the other way or?
No, I'm going with Edmonton in the upset.
just think that I just have lost all confidence in Montreal's offense.
You know, as you said, Philpott not back yet as far as I don't, at least I don't thinkhe'll be back this week.

(01:01:28):
And excuse me, I don't know what the status is of, geez, why am I drawing a blank?
Mac, right.
uh Yeah.
Yeah.
So.
I just don't have confidence in Montreal's offense anymore.
So and they haven't established any running games over the course of the year.

(01:01:48):
So why would you think all of a sudden these guys are going to be are going to lead you tovictory?
And yeah, so and Edmonton's been close.
So it's their due, right?
They're due.
So yeah, I'm all in on Edmonton this week.
We're all, we're, we're, very agreeable this week so far.
See, see what happens when we get to the next one.

(01:02:09):
So you get to start this time GT Ottawa at Toronto.
This could be the most entertaining game of the week.
Because for two teams that have not played well and have taken a lot of heat, both oftheir quarterbacks have been slinging the ball.
Arbuckle's been slinging the ball the entire season.

(01:02:32):
And Drew Brown is just, he does it all the time and now he's back.
And so when he's played, he's slung the ball.
So I think this is going to be a really high scoring game.
And I think it's going to be one of those almost whoever has the ball last kind of games.
So it's the hardest one of the week to pick in my mind as well.

(01:02:53):
And, but I just kind of feel like, kind of feel like Ottawa has some momentum right now.
So I'm taking on.
MJ.
Right, this one I think is one of my toughest ones.
I just looked today and it looks like Hardy's injured and is not playing this week.
So that's a big target.

(01:03:13):
Um, Hardy.
So yeah, it's I think they said it was his back.
Maybe because yeah, he's key.
He's really key.
He's got two touchdowns last week and they saved me in fantasy.
ah So yeah, I don't know.
That's a big deal.
I looked at it quickly before I just quickly looked and then I meant to write it down, butI didn't.

(01:03:38):
I can't remember.
I don't know if it was like a did not player if it was a limited, but I think it's a he'sa questionable for sure.
I'll check on that while you keep talking for a minute.
fill, cover for me.
And then I think Eugene Lewis did well and I think Drew's motivated.

(01:03:59):
Toronto, I don't know.
I don't know.
Like that, to lose, this is kind of like their loss against Hamilton where they got blownout, but they played well but got blown out.
This is like, lost, they played well but got lost against Edmonton to Winnipeg.
And sometimes those are really demoralizing because you did the right things.
It's not like you played bad, you did right things and it still didn't pan out your way.

(01:04:23):
And sometimes those really, really cut deep.
So.
It's in Toronto,
If it matters, I'm, I've got the injury reports here and I did see, um, Hardy on thisearlier in the week and he's not on here now.
So let me check one other thing while you do this.

(01:04:43):
And the only other thing I could see is if he somehow ended up on the six game.
I don't...
ooh.
I hope not.
He's playing so well.
didn't see anything last week that would have indicated that.
No, I wouldn't have thought so either, but...
I'm just pulling up the roster to see if where he shows up if he's still on the roster andif he is because he's definitely not on the injury report.

(01:05:04):
So yeah.
maybe he's back.
Okay.
I, let's see here, HHH Hardy.
Yeah, he's still on the roster.
So it must've been just a one day thing.
I thought once he went on the injury report, he had to stay all week, but he must not havebeen in unless I'm missing something here, but I've got, there, is a long list.
There's like 20 players on there.

(01:05:26):
so Hardy's in, so.
Red Black.
Red Black, so Toronto for GT.
you said Ottawa.
Yeah.
So Ottawa for both of you too.
Okay.
Yeah.
So this, didn't make up any game.
I didn't make up any ground on the two of you where you're ahead of me in the pick themlast week.
Cause I got Saskatchewan right when you both picked Montreal, but I also picked Calgarywhen you both said Ottawa.

(01:05:48):
So I'll take the chance here, but I also not just to get a chance on getting to you up onyou guys or catching up a bit.
I do think Toronto is just slightly better team at this point.
I think that they will, you never know.
I agree with what Bolivia said.
It's the toughest game of the week to pick.
An Argo bounce or a red black bounce could change things if there's weather, it couldchange things.

(01:06:10):
But I think on everything I know right now, I just feel like Toronto is a little furtheralong than Ottawa is at climbing out of that awful start that they had.
So that takes us to the last one, which is.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I've been like every last three weeks, I've been like, ah, I wish I could change my pick.

(01:06:31):
Oh, something's come up.
Yeah, you gotta give us another day.
You gotta give us some more time in between to mull these over.
Yeah
this Tuesday to Wednesday broadcast.
Even if we had Tuesday to Thursday, I'd be able to go, change my pick before thebroadcast.

(01:06:52):
Anyway.
But we play the rules we have.
That's it, exactly.
I'll have to like split out our picks into a separate one like 2 and Out does.
Yeah
Yeah, I don't know.
I don't think I have one more show of the week left in me with this.
Between this and doing the fantasy, a retired guy, I'm working harder than I'm used to.

(01:07:15):
Okay, so, yeah, well, hey, we can talk offline about whatever we need to do going ahead.
But yeah, this is...
We, this is all, at least it's all, we, other people might have an advantage over us causethey can put their pick them in later, but this is fair amongst all of us cause we're
still picking on the Wednesdays.
And then we got the last one to do, which again, a lot of variables here, Winnipeg atCalgary.

(01:07:39):
Now let me see if I can check here while you guys jump ahead.
I'll just see what it says about VA at this point.
Cause last that I heard, they said they expected him back.
but he was still limited in practice.
they said he had full practice today and so did olaros
Okay, good, yeah.
see what green was up to though.
didn't, I don't know if I saw, I think I got, the VA thing and got really excited and thenstopped looking.

(01:08:04):
Okay, hold on a sec here, I'm wondering.
you guys keep talking but I think I was reading you the wrong- for some reason I've stillgot week nine up here, so let me just reload this
date.
picks the last week's injury report instead of this week's.
It was awful.
Yeah, it still says week nine here on mine.
I'm going to go out and try to go back in and see.
for a fact that I, I'm sure I looked earlier and saw something anyway.

(01:08:28):
injury report and it was the second one.
It wasn't the top line one, it was the second one down.
do that that way rather than through my bookmark.
Yeah, because it wasn't it kept trying to pull me to week nine and week 10.
They just put out like for.
players on theirs and it said via.

(01:08:48):
There we go.
Hey, did I make up Hardy?
Maybe I was just.
Aha!
We did!
Okay, so, let me pop down here to Ottawa.
Hardy, where are you?
Yeah, they just, they still have just the Tuesday for them and he did not participate.
So we don't know if he'll be out or not.
And with the Calgary, how do they list?

(01:09:10):
Um, let me see how they list VA cause they'll only have the Tuesday there too.
Yeah.
He was full.
Oh, yeah.
What about green?
was in full.
You're right.
So, green.
Well, let's see where he is.
Yeah.
That could be a thing because he did not participate and neither did LeBros.

(01:09:31):
So they're going to have some juggling to do in that, in that backfield.
It's a good thing they have a good number of Canadians because that may help them outsome, but.
Philpott's still out, Moose is still out.
I heard Philpott was, I thought Philpott was back.
I thought Philpott I thought Philpott was, I read somewhere Phil Pot was supposed, wasprobably gonna be ready and Clark Barnes was probably gonna be ready.

(01:09:55):
Yeah, I saw that too.
And Barnes is on, this is just day one.
So they've still got at least two more, maybe three more days of practice to go, but dayone Barnes was full.
Philpott was limited for Calgary.
Okay.
and the Montreal Phil pod is definitely still out.
Yeah.
Letcher's still out for, or did not participate.
All of these guys, Mack, Marhanton, Ducroix, Lawrence from the O line.

(01:10:19):
Yeah.
And the punter.
but that's non injury related.
So he'll be back.
But this is again, day one, I don't freak out too much because I know I've noticed with,um, with the riders who I pay more attention to, of course, cause the other fellow in my
brain that.
There Mondays these days, usually there's a full list of did not participate with theveterans and then they go limited and then full and then they're back in.

(01:10:45):
So with that takes us back to where we were, the Winnipeg at Calgary.
Who wants to, who wants to make the first prediction?
you go GT.
It's your team.
Boil, boil.
I'm going Calgary.
I think a bounce back there.
I just don't, I don't think it's going to be the blowouts that the first two were, but Ithink they can still bounce back enough to be able to.
And I'm not convinced.

(01:11:07):
I'm less convinced on Winnipeg than I was going into the year.
And I think that they're an up and down yo-yo kind of team.
And now that's what I'm sort of how I'm feeling about them.
So I'm not sure they can run to get to back to back.
weeks like they had last week.
so, and it's in Calgary.
Yes, it's in Calgary.

(01:11:27):
So yeah, I'll take Calgary.
Okay.
I'd, in the end, it's going to come down to if VA is in there and it certainly looks likehe is.
So I'm taking Calgary.
would, I would struggle just because unfortunately Walker has looked, looked completelylost.
I don't think I could pick them to win a game with him in there right now, but with VA andI agree with you, GT Winnipeg's tends to be a bit streaky.

(01:11:49):
They're not going to get a couple of touchdown returns against Calgary.
depending on what's happening in that Calgary backfield, they may do a bit better, butCalgary should still be strong against the run and Winnipeg depends on the run to set up
their passing game.
So yeah, I think I'll go Calgary.
That leaves you MJ, final word of the week on these.

(01:12:10):
so Winnipeg got their bell rung twice by Winnipeg badly.
VA's missing couple.
I know.
going to regret that statement when you listen back.
just said Winnipeg got their bell rung badly by Winnipeg for two weeks.
Okay, well, okay.
So Winnipeg got their bell rung by Calgary.

(01:12:30):
And Winnipeg did it to themselves, really.
Yes.
Yeah, you were probably right the first time.
Yeah, maybe.
VA is missing a couple big receivers.
Zach's back.
But I don't know, they're not.
Man, I was so mad because was like Winnipeg's a machine just slotting new people intoplaces and it just carries on and they are not this year.

(01:12:52):
They're not.
Are they gonna go three for three against Winnipeg?
Or is Winnipeg gonna at least eke out one on the season series?
For Chaos, I'll pick Winnipeg.
If it matters to anybody out there besides Barnes coming back, they also show Alfred aslimited in the first day of practice.

(01:13:13):
So there's a possibility he might come back to.
I hope so.
I was thinking about that.
we talked about this, the other two, three weeks ago, you GT said we're going to have himfor a year and he's down to the NFL because he's that good.
I think the only way that doesn't happen if he gets injury prone through the season.
If he's in and out a bunch, it might hurt him.
If he can come back from this and just keep playing, he's, yeah, he's a lock to go south.

(01:13:37):
Yeah, I think if he's available this week, it's not a bad way to be able to run both ofthose guys out back because they play the same position.
Basically, he replaced Barnes when Barnes got injured.
That means they can just take it easy on both of them.
Neither of them have to play an entire game and their first game is back type of thing.

(01:13:57):
So that might work out okay,
And I think that's about all of it.
My voice is almost gone again.
I don't know what's wrong with me this year.
can't, by the time that I get through here, I got to go gargle all salt water every show.
But, so any, let's wrap it up.
Any closing thoughts and your social media for folks that want to follow your brilliantuptakes, hot takes.

(01:14:17):
No closing thoughts and it's at GT Barnum, at bluesky.social.net, whatever there is, goyou guys figure it out.
Somebody posted online asked a question, were you alive when the Ti-Cats won their lastgray cup?
If you want to hear the musings of an old person, please join me on Blue Sky at Sports andPlants

(01:14:41):
Sure.
Hey, I'm old enough I remember all of Saskatchewan's Grey Cup wins.
I was very young for the first one.
I don't actually remember the game, but I was alive when it happened.
Yes, and they lost to the Balmy Beach Beachers.
And I'm old man dash SAC on blue sky.
The show is on blue sky and X both as the CFL outsiders and the show email is oldman allone word dot shoutingatclouds all one word at Shaw.ca.

(01:15:14):
And that's about it.
We hope you have a.
great weekend watching the football.
If you play the fantasy and the pick them, good luck on that.
We're all looking forward to the weekend and we'll be back here next week.
guess same time, same place.
So until next week, Get the hell off my lawn.
I managed to take out my mic on that.

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