CFL 2024 Playoffs Preview!!!

CFL 2024 Playoffs preview show and CFL 2024 season recap!

We went LIVE to preview the CFL 2024 playoffs on Wednesday, October 30th at 4pm PT / 7pm ET.

Join Hussey's Huddle and Anthony Miller as we recap the CFL 2024 season and look ahead toward the playoffs and the 111th Grey Cup in Vancouver, BC.

CFL 2024 Postseason:
Sat, Nov. 2 at 3:00 p.m. — East Semi-Final
(Ottawa REDBLACKS at Toronto Argonauts)
 
Sat, Nov. 2 at 6:30 p.m. — West Semi-Final
(BC Lions at Saskatchewan Roughriders)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Well here. We are back here again Wednesday, midweek here
getting ready for the CFL playoffs. Jason, I were talking offline,
you little drag here near the end of the CFL season.
But we are at the playoffs today, very exciting. I
have my cracking jersey on. Almost wore my commander's jersey
Hottest team in the NFL coming off our big Hail Mary,

(00:56):
but I thought that that would be disrespectful to our
Canadian listeners. Although we did beat the Habs last night
eight to two, so that was exciting. And we have
Jason and Anthony here. I have some bookkeeping stuff off
the top. But first off, Jason, how are you. It's
been a couple of weeks. Good to see you.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah, good to see you too. Read I'm happy to
be here. You know. It's been a long time, but
we're heading into the playoffs here and ready to go
for the stretch run.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Yeah, we have Anthony Sepin. It was trying to get
the professor on. I think the professor is Professor and Andy.
Anthony was on here with me last week all his
workover at Sports Illustrated. Anthony, I wanted to have a
little bit of a roundtable today. Do a little CFL preview.
You were here last week. What are you most looking
forward to here for this weekend.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
I'm just glad if we finally have the playoffs set
and we know exactly who was going to play. And
you know, I think your team Reed probably has my
interest to most because I have no idea which PC
team we're going to see. We're going to see the
Are we going to see the one from the beginning
of the year, We're going to see the one that
was that nearly collapsed at the end of the season,
and so really interested to see how the Lions do

(02:03):
this weekend.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Yeah, and Anthony and I talked a lot about the
Lions last week. I do really want to get Jason's
thoughts on all of that. Speaking off the top, just
to plug here like and subscribe two weeks away from
the Great Cup. We'll probably do a similar midweek things
next week, kind of looking forward to, you know, the finals,
and then we will be live in Vancouver getting that

(02:24):
I'll do a big post, but we're official. Jason and
I will be live at BBC lions Den part of
the media row on Saturday. We'll have all of our
guests as we always do the Nailors and far haunts,
and maybe we'll get Matt Baker or moje or whoever's
walking around, but we'll get all of that thick of things, Dan, Ralph,
everything else. So that should be really exciting. The show

(02:45):
did very well last year. Evan was there. I know
Evan's going to be a part of it. I don't
know if Andy's I don't even know who's coming to
Vancouver or not, but I know Evan's going to be there.
Jason and I. That's all you need plus everything else. Anthony,
how does that sound? Are you excited to to presumably
hopefully watch remote here our big show coming up in
a couple weeks.

Speaker 4 (03:04):
Yeah, you get all those people on. I mean that's
going to be a massive show.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
So, I mean I always watch your stuff for you,
so you know, you know I'm going to be plugged
in and ready to watch.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
Well, and I think I'm about ready to pull gloves
off and fight with Dave Naylor over this CFL the
Saint Louis kind of thing. So we've promised that that's
been brewing for a couple of weeks. Excuse me, I
have a coffee. Dave sent me a YouTube link that
I still need to watch kind of my homework prep
for that, but I think that that will be exciting
because Naylor very high on the CFL at the Saint Louis.

(03:35):
What can't we just replicate it like it was back
at like Dave and we'll talk through all that stuff. Jason,
speaking the Lions, I want to get your thoughts first
off here obviously going and playing Sasketchwan this weekend, but
the game last week we had Vernon Adams there, I
was in attendance. We have a lot of comments of like,
well Montreal was really playing for anything and this doesn't

(03:57):
matter and it's vanilla defense, Like what is that the
Lions team? What did you make of that game? And
what what does that make you think here heading into
the weekend?

Speaker 2 (04:06):
Well, I mean, it certainly is a very unique situation
the whole Lion season this year, being in a great
Cup year with all the pressure associated with that. Then
you also, you know, bring in a guy and Nathan
Rourke's you know, profile in the middle of the season.
I think it's kind of an unprecedented situation. So I think,
you know, just based on who Nathan was and what

(04:28):
he accomplished with the Lions previously and what BA had
already done, uh these past what is it two and
a half years since he's been a Lion. I think
that you know, it was you know, you know, Destin
did really drive a wedge between that team. I think
there's definitely got to be regardless of what they say,
and to the credit of Rourke and b A, they

(04:50):
have you know, you know, been very you know, uh,
you know, very friendly friendly with each other, I think,
you know, relatively speaking, but you know, in that locker room,
there has to be a division between the guys that
are Rourks guys and ba's guys. And I think that's
what we've seen throughout the second half of the season
and why they haven't really really hit their stride since

(05:13):
that first half of the season where they looked really
good and among the best teams in the league. So
I think that going back to VA, I think gets
started as his team this year. I think it's kind
of only right that he you know, tries to get
them going in the playoffs here, but at the end
of the day, there's still is that division, and I think,
you know, until they really move on from BA this offseason,

(05:35):
it's not really going to be totally solid them whose
team it really is?

Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yeah, Anthony, if that's any updated thoughts on that. It
reminds me a little bit. I was watching the Steelers
game was that Monday, right, and you kind of have
Russell Wilson sitting there kind of talking with with Justin
Fields here on the sidelines, and Okay, we're kind of talking,
but like, you don't really know how comfortable he is
with this because it felt like he kind of lost
his job. Similar obviously different dynamics, but kind of similar

(06:03):
situation there. Any updated thoughts on kind of the VA
Nathan debacle here and the fact that they're going to
obviously ride with VA heading into the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (06:11):
I mean, I'm glad that the team is gonna go
with Vernon Adams. He's clearly the better quarterback for that
offense right now. And I think we talked about this
last week, like no offense to Nathan Rourke. You know,
he's got all the potential to be a good starting
quarterback in the CFL. I just think after going through
four NFL teams over the last year plus and then
jumping into the CFL after playing in the NFL for

(06:31):
a year plus, you know, playing American football versus Canadian
football is two different things and it takes time to adjust.
I just don't think Nathan Workers really set up for
success in the first place. So I'm glad that they're
gonna go with Adams, who's been in the system for
a while. He's got chemistry with the receivers, the team
seems to be more comfortable with him. It just makes
all the sense in the world. And then when the
off season rolls around, I mean, they got to go

(06:53):
with Nathan Work. I mean, when you spend the kind
of money that you did on him, where he's got
the biggest contract for in league history, like, you got
to with him. He's he's got to be your future
quarterback and you got to see what you have in
him in the next two three years. So they have
to let Adams walk. So it'll be interesting how the
Lions kind of ads next year. But I think for
the time b I mean this year, it's yeah, the

(07:14):
last few months have been just kind of a disaster
for this team. It's really disappointed because they started out
so good. They were one of the best teams in
the league. And I truly thought this that I really
thought it was going to be bec and Montreal meeting
each other in the Great Cup, and technically it could
still happen. But everything that's happened, I feel like there's
a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes. But
you know, like us you were saying, I think they've

(07:34):
done a great job of hiding that if there is issues,
I think they've been able to do a really good
job of keeping that behind curtains, which is always a
positive thing.

Speaker 4 (07:41):
So you know, hopefully they get through this season.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
Next year they can cut the cord with probably Burden
Adams and you know, roll on with the future with
Nathan Morrik.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
It reminds me and it's obviously different as well, but
I just spend the day kind of watching this Anthony
Richardson debacle, pam out kind of with the Colts, and like, well,
we drafted him and we knew it was a project
and then we you know, he got injured last year
and he starts this year and they were benching him
and like, you know, how much time is enough time?
And obviously we've recounted on here kind of bringing to

(08:12):
Nathan and throwing them right into the gauntlet there. I
don't know, I feel like they didn't do right by him,
but also you certainly didn't do right by va Jason.
Is it? I don't know, is it fair to say that,
like if the Lions played in America with the with
the with the heavier amount of American media kind of
covering the NFL versus and obviously the CFL and Barhunt

(08:33):
and Naylor and everyone do a great job, but like
this might be a bigger story than it is, like
because it feels like it's a similar situation, but obviously,
like the VC Lions are only going to get so
much kind of airtime in Vancouver. Is that kind of
how you feel?

Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, I don't think you'd ever see this situation in
the NFL, just because you know, teams really want to
declare who is their guy, and I think in the
CFL it's less, you know, pronounced. Usually you know what
teams have their number one guy that they roll with,
but it doesn't mean that, you know, some teams that
the starter can't eventually be overtaken by the backup. But

(09:09):
in the NFL you kind of want I think Dave
Naylor says this a lot. You want to have your
backup as a guy that will support the starting quarterback
more or less not necessarily push them to be the
number one guy. So I think it would be a
huge story if it ever did happen in the NFL.
But I think, you know, the quarterback controversy like this,
I think is really a one of a kind situation

(09:32):
that we've seen in BC this year.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
Let's see a couple of other news items and then
we'll kind of do a little bit more of a
deep dive into these matchups. Anthony, I was at our
niece's soccer game Saturday, standing in the rain watching them.
They won a very exciting game. They won that I
don't like soccer, but they won, got the goal. It
was like ten seconds of over its left, and then
they started together like wow, that was really close to it.

(09:56):
I mean, the news came out, I ran, they Ambrosi
down getting ousted, and he didn't have the full support
of the board TOGETHERS just wanted to make sure we
touch on all that go around, because none of us
have really shared the thoughts on that on here. We'll
go first to Anthony on that surprised not and what
do you make of that? Let me see if I
article up here.

Speaker 3 (10:16):
Yeah, I think it was super surprising this is. I
think he's been in that position since twenty fifteen. I
think he's done a lot of good for the league.
I think in terms of what he's done with getting
Americans to watch the CFL, I think has been big.
You know, I think just the evolution of where the
league has been. And also he probably had the the
toughest job of any commissioner and is to get through

(10:39):
get the league through COVID. I mean, he they canceled
the whole season, They lost millions of dollars. I mean,
I can only imagine the turmo that was going on with,
you know, with the CFL, because that it's really important
that they have fans and games and they're playing the
games obviously, but you know, unlike the XFL, which I
hate to knock on the XFL forward, but the CFL
was able to get through it. They were able to survive.

(11:02):
They keep increasing their attendance. I actually just wrote an
article on it today that they actually did I think
thirty thousand more fans total. I think they had a
two percent increase in attendance from last year. So I
think that's a really big thing for the CFL. And
he's really helped with that growth process. I'd be really
interested to see who is coming up to be the
next commissioner, because I'm pretty sure that the probably the

(11:25):
number one thing they're going to be asked is, hey,
when are we getting our tenth team?

Speaker 4 (11:29):
It's finally going to happen.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
I'm sure that was kind of hovering over you know,
Randy this whole time that he's been commissioner.

Speaker 4 (11:36):
He wasn't able to bring it in.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
So this next one is gonna probably that's probably gonna
be the number one priority is can we get a
tenth team in the CFL. But I think overall, I
think he did a good job during his tenure, and
I think the league should be appreciative of it. And yeah,
I think he did a solid job. But it was
a major surprise to see that. You don't see it
very often that commissioners are in and out this way,

(11:58):
but he did a really solid job.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah. Well, we'll toss here to Jason and I'll share
my thoughts because he doesn't. To me, Jason, this doesn't
feel like this is that coveted of a role, like
it feels like it's a little bit more grief than
anything else. I'll I'll let you shure your thoughts first.

Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yeah. Absolutely. My first thought was that I wish that
even though he wasn't perfect, I think the biggest thing
with Ambrosie that I would criticize is that he was
a little bit too much of a cheerleader with his rhetoric,
and you know, I think like he was almost overly
positive and trying to overspeak what the CFL was capable
of doing. But what I was gonna say is that,

(12:34):
you know, he in the history of the CFL, I
believe he's the second or third longest tenured commissioner and
he's only been there since I think it was twenty
seventeen that he got hired, So that really speaks to
how much turnover there is this role. And I was
kind of hoping that he would stay on for you know,
at least another like five years or so, because, you know,
just to bring some more stability to that position and

(12:55):
just show that it's not a complete revolving door. But
in terms of the stuff that he did that I
think were positives, I think the seven year Collective Bargaining
Agreement was a huge thing. I think getting guarantees as
part of the contracts you know, partially guaranteed money for
the first time ever for players. I think that was
a big thing, and that has really helped the teams

(13:17):
as well retaining guys and have less turnover in free
agency each year. So I think that helps the league
in general because there was just too much turnover from
one year to the next. I think that, you know,
the the Global Initiative, if you want to point the
things that he didn't do well, I think the Global
Initiative was a complete waste of time. I think I
don't know the dollar value that they've spent on that,
but I think, you know, in terms of like real results,

(13:40):
I think that it hasn't really produced that many star
players except for some great punters that we've seen in
the CFL the last few years and a couple of
noteworthy examples elsewhere on the rosters. So I think that
was a waste of time. I think that, you know,
the way that he went about again talking about the
tenth team, just really saying that it was super close.
And I get that they did have conditional funding, you

(14:03):
know about uh Stadium in Halifax before COVID. Then then
COVID kind of killed that, but that still wasn't like
set in Stone, and they didn't really have like like
it didn't feel like it was furthered up along for
him to really say that this thing was in the pipeline.
So I think those are my problems I had with him, BROSI,

(14:23):
but he definitely did some good. And to be the
second or third longest commissioner, I have to look that up.
They were saying that on the Three Down podcast this week,
but uh, you know, I think that's an achievement in
itself that he stayed in the role this long and,
as Anthony said, guided them through COVID.

Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yeah, I thought I was speaking of three that. I
thought it was Travis. Was it? Travis and Jason Kelsey
voted People's sexiest podcasters of the year. I saw Hodge
tweet out I think they were a close second. I
would I would cass this into the mix there. I
have slight slightly more hair than John Hodge, not much,
but I do have slightly more hair there. I will
take that to me. The thing with Randy always been

(15:02):
great to the show, friend of the podcast. I think
we had him on three times talking, you know, said
I could call him a friend of the podcast. I
thought the last time I had him on because like,
how many times are you going to ask about like
a tenth team or whatever. But we were talking about you,
what do you want your legacy to be? What you
want to be remembered as, and I thought he got
a little emotional and saying, like, you know, I really
want just the fans to know that, like I gave

(15:23):
it all to them, and I really like I work
hard every day and I wake up kind of wanting
to promote the league. I do believe that. I think
it's a tremendously hard position. That we've talked about this
in the past, and that people want. You know, the
CFL commissioner is not like Roger Goodell with the NFL,
where they have kind of full control. It's very much
kind of the lop sided power on that. I don't

(15:44):
know who's clamoring for the job. I don't know what
else is better out there in terms of that. We've
seen Randy deal with the Montreal Alouette sale twice, right obviously,
the mare Doman sale, like these are things that you know,
as a commissioner you are kind of in the position
to help but navigate through. And I think all of
those things went well, obviously, the COVID and all of that.

(16:04):
You know, I think we could have figured out some
sort of the bubble in Toronto or whatever they were
talking about for that Anthony, any other thoughts on that,
because I just he said he'll stay, you know, in
position until they get someone else voted in. But I
just if the Board of the Governors voted him out
right five to four whatever, like, I just don't know
what those what anyone else wants for someone else to
come in and kind of fill those shoes.

Speaker 3 (16:25):
Yeah, you know, if it is true that he was
voted out, I kind of wish they didn't announce it
as he's retiring. I wish it would just be honest
and just say, hey, we're looking for somebody else to
come in. I would like a little more transparency from
the league on that, because if he did truly get
voted out, I mean, why did he get voted out?
What was he supposed to accomplish? You know, what were
the goals that he didn't reach? Instead of just making

(16:47):
it and I know they were trying to you know,
save face, you know, pr wise and try to make it,
you know, look like he's retiring and stuff. But you know,
like I said, read, I mean, he clearly loves his
job and he wore as harder to sleep, and he's
done a good job with the league. But I really
do want to understand, you where did he miss the
mark him? What does the next commissioner need to do
in order to get the CFL to the next level.

(17:09):
So I wish there was a little more transparency on
the the league side, because it definitely does not sound
like this is the retirement, So I don't That would
be the one part that really bothered me about this announcement,
but otherwise it would be really interesting what the next
commissioner has.

Speaker 4 (17:24):
To do to get the CFL to the next level. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:28):
I liked Randy a lot and as someone that has
you know, had the foraging to kind of interview him
and then even people with like the XFL. Right with that,
we've I've talked with Russ at the showcase you that
we didn't he was like on the podcast on the
podcast here, I had Moose on the podcast, right, had
the other people in those positions, Like anytime like you're
someone like Randy and you're in that position you're doing interviews,

(17:51):
it's always antagonistic, right, Like no one's ever coming up
to the commissioner and being like telling me how great.
Like it's always like, well this was bad or why
do you handle this? Or this is going wrong. It's like,
so you're always kind of in that defensive mode anyway,
So I give a lot of grace, Like I've gotten
a lot of private comments like hey, when Randy was
coming on, a lot of CFL like ask him this

(18:12):
or do this, or hey, be prepared, is it gonna
do whatever? And you're like yeah, but you're always on
the defense. And that was like when Moose came on
and we were talking with Daryl Johnson about the UFL,
like he knows from the second he comes on, right, Hey,
they're gonna be asking about this or that, like how
can I kind of defend that? So you never really
get like the full sense of the man or woman
kind of in that position. But I don't know, I

(18:33):
thought it was really good, Jason, anything else with that,
because I wanted to talk about the Elks and then
we'll kind of do the game stuff.

Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah. I mean I actually personally met Randy and Rosie
a couple of years ago. He did this thing called
Randy's road trip where he did a stop at every
CFL stadium during the off season. I got to meet
him here in Hamilton, and you know, for what it's worth,
I thought he was a genuine guy. I got to
talk to him, shake his hand, and me and my
brother asked him about you sports and what he thinks

(19:00):
about you know, the CFL supporting you sports, and you know,
I think, you know, he just seemed like a genuine
guy that he was able to be approachable and to
do that. So, like you said, I think he loved
his job. He really did love this position. I think that,
you know, there was a lot that came along with it,
but I think the fact that he was a former
player in this league, he shows that he loved this

(19:24):
league and and I think that's what you need to
have if you want to be the commissioner of the CFL.

Speaker 1 (19:31):
We had some other news. I think this just came
down pretty quick. I saw Dave Campbell tweeting about this
and three down together the art the club. But Chris
Moore is ginna be the new president the Edmonton Elks
moving forward here, Anthony, do you have any quick thoughts
he've had a chance to digest all this yet I
know this is just coming down as I saw when
I was getting ready for the show.

Speaker 4 (19:49):
Well, it's quicker than I thought it was going to be.

Speaker 3 (19:50):
I think a lot of people thought it'd be closer
to you know, the Great Cup in a couple of weeks.
But good first stepp for Edmonton. They needed to bring
in somebody. I think he used to play for the
Edmonton Elks, you know that. I guess the the story
Edmondson has been doing is one Larry Thompson has been
a longtime fan. Here comes Chris Morris, who knows the
Edmonton Elk system. So they're really trying to push for it. Hey,

(20:14):
we are bringing in local people. We are bringing people
that know the team, that had some association with them
because they really care about this team winning. So this
is a really big first step. And now the next part,
obviously is going to be who's going to be the
general manager? And I'm it sounds like they're going to
hire a general manager separate from the head coach, which
is probably a good move after what happened with coach
Jones over the last two to three years.

Speaker 4 (20:35):
So be interested. You know, what direction do they go with?
General manager.

Speaker 3 (20:39):
But I think that this sounds like obviously I'm an
outsider just learning about the CFL over the last couple
of years, but this seems like a good first step
in getting the Edmonton Elks to where they need to be.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
Hey, Jason thoughts on this.

Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, I don't know too much about Chris Morris personally,
other than the fact that he's the coach of the
al Berta Golden Bears for the last several years. But
one thing I did see in a report I think
three Down put this out, is that they're looking to
hire both their GM and the head coach. And obviously
they hired the president. They're gonna hire the president tomorrow

(21:13):
by the Great Cups, so that seems like a really
short timeline. We might get a lot of news coming
in the next couple of weeks. But in terms of
Chris Morris the person, I don't know too much about him.
I have to dig in further. I'll be completely honest
about that. But you know, Edmonton, I think you're right, Anthony.
I think they need to have those people that are
invested in the local community, and I think, you know,

(21:36):
this is a good start in doing that.

Speaker 1 (21:38):
It was interesting I think it was Dave Campbell put out.
I think Edmonton must have done kind of their end
of the season stuff and talking about you know, who's
coming back or what's going on, and you know, you
had the whole trade forward thing, and like, well he's undecided,
and I just tweeted like I would tell him to
kiss my ass and walk out the door and tell him,
you know, you've had the timeline here. I don't know

(21:59):
if you can get think Anthony and I talk last week, right, Okay,
maybe you get the new owner in there and say, hey,
we're really committed to you, or we're trying to kind
of figure this out, Anthony, any updated thoughts on that,
and then we'll let Jason chair and then we can
kind of figure out what we want to talk about.

Speaker 3 (22:13):
Yeah, I mean that's the most important thing is you
bring in a whole new staff, a whole news system.
You got to change everything with them, Minton, and you
got to let trad Ford know we're serious about changing
this franchise and making it people who actually care about winning,
because the previous regime clearly did not care about winning
because they didn't put in the better quarterback.

Speaker 4 (22:32):
At the end of the day.

Speaker 3 (22:32):
I mean, trade Ford for the last two years has
been the best quarterback on this team, and it almost
like is like they have refused to put this guy
on the field for some weird reason.

Speaker 4 (22:41):
I don't know what it is.

Speaker 3 (22:42):
I know some of it speculation was, you know, the
maturity issue or whatever. But trade Ford has been the
best quarterback on the team for the last two years.
So bringing in someone like Larry Thomas and bringing in
Chris Morris and then you know, whatever they end up
doing with the GM and the head coach, they have
to make a statement by showing trade Ford, hey, we
are making changes, we're bringing in the top people, and
you're going to be our franchise quarterbacks.

Speaker 4 (23:04):
So we're gonna show it to you with a contract.

Speaker 3 (23:06):
So that's that's really the big thing Evanton's got to do,
and what we talked about last week's got to come
from Larry Thompson. He's got to deliver that message to
tray Ford and bring up bring him home.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
Jason. Let's also touch on like, do you have any
other the thoughts on tray Fords that I forgot what
I want to take Calgary too. Before we get in
everything else. The other thoughts on tray and the Evonton Oaks.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
Well, speaking of the Alberta teams, I don't think it's
a slam dunk that, you know, if they can get
Vernon Adams junior, I think they do that in a
heartbeat instead of bringing back tray Ford. So I think
that we could see, you know, a little bit of
a bidding war between the two Calgary teams, and then
if Vernon Adams goes to Edvonton, maybe tray Ford goes
and says, screw you, Edmondson, I'm going to Calgary. So

(23:47):
it's gonna be really interesting. It's it's always interesting when
in this league when there's only so many chairs available,
Like if tray Ford wants to go elsewhere, where else
is he gonna go? Right, So there's only so many
starting spots and premium you know, backup positions available in
the league. So those are just my thoughts on that.

Speaker 1 (24:05):
I was just looking up here, how old see you
know trade forward's twenty six, still got time. But you know,
you get to this excuse me, get to this point now,
and he's coming off as rookie deal. You're really going
to have to pay up for that. The other thing speaking,
Calgary keeping Dave as president, right and are a head
coach in GM, but then I parton ways with some
of their other coordinators. Anthony first surprised that Dickinson sticking

(24:30):
around there. I mean, I know we talked sometimes coaching
with the CFL and like how many people want to
do or a vast pool people are. Are you surprised
kind of with Calgary's decisions you're heading into the off season.

Speaker 3 (24:41):
I mean, it's tough because Dave has done such a
great job with this franchise that I mean, it's only
been the last two years that this franchise has struggled,
so it's really hard to kind of judge it off
with that because I think he's taking him to like
three Great Cups and they won one, so I mean,
he's had a lot.

Speaker 4 (24:57):
Of success since he's been with the Stampede.

Speaker 3 (24:59):
Unfortunately, he's gonna be the head coach known for kind
of breaking the schnaib on consecutive years they made the playoffs,
which is unfortunate. But now he's gone, and he's also
gone back to back years with a losing record. But
you know, I've always kind of gone with the rule
of thirds, like you give someone three years to get
the job done.

Speaker 4 (25:17):
You know.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
I think there was an understanding what bo Levi Mitchell
left that this team was kind of going through our
transitional period.

Speaker 4 (25:23):
It was not going to be smooth.

Speaker 3 (25:25):
It was not going to you know, it was not
gonna be the you know, the best moments for them.
So I think this is kind of the third and last.
Like I if I'm the Calgary front office, if I'm
the you know, the like you know, if I'm part
of that front office, I'd let him know like this
is probably his last year, Like he's gonna have to
get it done, Like this is a make or break here, Like,
don't be surprised if he makes the kind of moves

(25:45):
that like the Evonton Elves were making last offseason, where
Chris Cholls was desperate and needed to get as many
guys as possible and you know, maybe change a quarterback
and try to get all these new pieces in place
to try to fix what's happening. So now I'm not surprised,
but I am glad that he's making changes on the
coaching staff. These were changes that were absolutely needed, even
though some of those guys were very you know, long

(26:06):
tenured guys that were on the staff. The Sam Peters
need to shake up, They need to change, you know,
some aspects about their coaching staff. So it looks like
there was more of a focus on the defensive side,
which is probably good. They were, you know, for a
defense that added a lot of good pieces in the secondary.
This was one of the weaker defenses in the CFL,
so they really need to make some changes there. So

(26:27):
and then obviously the other question is going to be
what do they do at quarterback? If Dave's job is
going to be dependent on you know, what is what
does he end up doing? Does he end up going
PJ Walker? Does he bring back Jake Mayer? Do they
go somewhere else in free agency for it? You know,
there's if he can knock that out of the park
that will probably save his job.

Speaker 4 (26:43):
But twenty twenty five is gonna be making a break
for him.

Speaker 1 (26:47):
Yeah, jeez. I think it's interesting because obviously BC right,
we'll talk ride with Nathan presumably right, Toronto's kind of
locked up, but I guess Otama right, Drew Brown. I mean,
these are conversations for some of these playoff teams still
to be had, you know, sask with Trevor Harris. But yeah,
both of these Alberta teams really seem like, you know,
Elk's were really trying to figure this out with Trade

(27:07):
Ford whatever. But yeah, there's no way in hell that
Dave Dickinson goes into this and it's like Jake Mayor
is my guy next season? Like I'm Penny my job
on this, right. So I know we all are reading
for PJ Walker just because of his XFL you know,
pedigree and all of that, but realistically, like I know
this is too far to the tuble what early thoughts
on kind of what they do here, because I don't

(27:27):
I don't know if like does PJ Yes and the
Fever Dream come in and win the job and play,
but I think that they're probably gonna have to make
a bigger swing than that.

Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah, I think it has to be the Vernon Adams mover,
like I said, the crazy scenario where Trey Ford comes,
because I think you can't sell this fan base, which
is you know, not showing up in as big a
numbers as they used to the games, that you can't
sell them on Jake Mayor another year of Jake Mayre.
And I was a big believer on Jake Mayor. I
think we both were read. I think, you know, the

(27:57):
way he played the first ten or so games of
his career, he looked like he had a lot of
promise in this league. But unfortunately, you know, whether it
was him or a lot of the situation around him,
I think it just didn't work in Calgary. And I
think he would benefit a lot from a fresh start
somewhere else, and Calgary would just benefit a lot from
getting a guy that's more of a proven guy. That's

(28:18):
why I think it would be better for them to
get Va than go with the Trey Ford or maybe
I'll throw another name out there, Davis Alexander, because I
believe he's a free agent and he's looked really good
and I think he was six and oh this year
or something like that in the games that he started.
So I think that, you know, Calgary the thing with Dickinson,
I probably would have moved on from him. But I

(28:38):
do get with their opinion of let's see what he
does with another quarterback. If he can bring in a
veteran quarterback that's a proven quarterback, let's see if he's
still that coach. But I have doubts with that, because
I've seen some of the play calling he's been using
the last several years in Calgary, or the last two years,
I should say, particularly, and just too many screens. I

(28:58):
think he was part of a problem. It wasn't just
Jake Mayor. I think he was not even allowing Jake
Mayor to really push the ball down field too often.
It was just you know, quick snap, get the ball
out of your hands on a screen pass. And that
was a lot of their offense. So Dickinson will probably
have to look back to the drawing board if he
wants to have success next year and now bring in
a new quarterback. But yeah, it's going to be interesting

(29:20):
to see what happens going forward in Calgary with the
changes that they made to the coaching staff elsewhere.

Speaker 1 (29:26):
Well, and Anthony, what I want to hear what we
can use this kind of transition to the playoffs step
but here, you know, so we had Calgary play last week.
You know, end of the season doesn't matter at Alpha Calgary.
They just played Jake right, Like were you I? And
I tweet because I think it was Mark Stevenson posted like, hey,
it looks like you know Jake's going to be the
starter this weekend, and I'm like, like, what the hell
are we doing here? Like, why wouldn't you give anyone else?

(29:49):
I know there was a lot of criticism I think
I saw about sask not showing up for the game.
I think it was a Jamie and I kind of
thing where he's like, man, like this team really looks lifeless.
But here you're going into the offseason, and why the
hell did not play someone else?

Speaker 2 (30:01):
Here?

Speaker 1 (30:01):
You roll back Jake Mayor. I mean, he plays fine
nineteen twenty six and all this, but like, are you
surprised kind of even going into this, Well, we're still
going to play Jake Mayor here.

Speaker 3 (30:10):
I mean, I think Dave Dickinson still was trying to
decide what he wants to do at quarterback, and I'm
going to defend Jake Mayor a little bit. I mean,
I actually think he played better than what he did
last year. I mean, statistically, he threw more touchdowns and
less interceptions for what he did last year. And I
think also he wasn't like stuck in the pocket like
he was last year. He seemed a little more loose.
He could move out of the pocket and make some
throws on the run. So I think the development was

(30:32):
kind of getting there with Jake Mayor, but I, like
Hussy said, I think he was kind of held back
from what he can truly do. Like if there was
a tenth CFL team, I could see Jake Mayor is
starting for that ten team. Like I actually think there
is some potential there, but it's just something isn't working
there in Calgary.

Speaker 4 (30:48):
You know, doesn't come down to Dave Dickinson.

Speaker 3 (30:50):
I don't know, but I think this was a move
to be like, hey, let's play Jake Mayor. Let's see
if we maybe there's some glimmer of hope of hey,
maybe we can bring him in and maybe can as
a second or third quarterback or you know, bring in
someone from the outside. I think they're still trying to
I think Davi is still trying to decide what he
wants to do because there's there's a lot of things
he's gonna have to fix in the off season. A

(31:11):
lot of it's gonna come from the you know, the
defense side of the defensive side of the ball, but
then on the offensive side, it's all about the quarterback position.
I think right now he probably doesn't know what he's
gonna do, so you probably wanted to get Jake out
there one more time to get some extra tape and
then figure out in the off season you know who
he wants to go with.

Speaker 1 (31:29):
I don't disagree with the anthony, but I do think
that that's like insane. I mean, you do hear that
all the time, and I don't think you're like, well
you guys here. It's like when these coaches try to
do like the two quarterback system and like, well, you know,
we're trying to get do you really think like pulling
the guys in and out after everything? Like I agree
with you though, that's probably the thought process Jason anything
else on that of just like we're rolling out Jake,

(31:49):
like this one more game here, you're playing against you know,
Jack Cohen and Shane Patterson here, like it doesn't even matter.
But it just was wild to me that we wouldn't
get a sight on anyone else.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
Yeah, I mean, I think the problem was is that
Logan Bonner looked so bad in that one game that
he played, and then Matthew Schultze believe was heard or
like there was no point of really playing him either, right,
And then PJ walked or had something where it's like
he would be ineligible to sign on the practice squad
or something like that, or if he had remained, like

(32:20):
if you remained on the Calgary practice squad, he could
still sign in the NFL this year and wouldn't finish
the season on a CFL roster. So there was something
to do with that, and I think that, you know,
going forward, it will be interesting to see what they do.
I think that you know, regardless of what you know
Jake Mayer shown in Calvary, I think that there needs

(32:42):
to be a clean break there. I think both of
these guys, Dickinson and Amheric can still have success in
this league in the respective roles. But I think in
order for that to happen, they have to go their
separate ways, and mayor have to has to go and
find his game elsewhere. I think you'd be a very
intriguing backup for some team in the CFL. I think
he instantly become arguably the best backup in the league.
I think even right now, I would still say he's

(33:04):
like the seventh best quarterback or around there six or
seventh best quarterback in the league. So I think ultimately
that's what they have to do and they have to
have a clean break here and go in a different
direction this offseason.

Speaker 1 (33:16):
Yeah, you got it. This is a cycle here of
you know, it's like and you're in a bad relationship
with someone like is honey, we just got to move on.
We got to get out of here. Blake checking in?
What up? Assuming that's Blake that we were hanging out
with here at the BC here last week, I was
hanging out with him and Jamullen chatting it up. Let's
look here to I have it here and we've had

(33:36):
all these tabs going up here. The CFL schedule playoffs, Right,
it's going to be Ottawa. I'll get this pulled up eventually,
but we're gonna have Ottawa at Toronto. Right. Let's go
first to Anthony on here. You know, Ottawa I had
the chance right to host a home field, ended up
batching that. Thoughts on this one here, Ottawa going into

(33:57):
Toronto here playing the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (33:59):
I think Ottawa's biggest issue is, you know, how are
they going to protect Drew Brown. Toronto is top in
the league in sacks their defensive line. They have four
guys that have six or more sacks. I mean, this
is such a dominant defensive line. I think it's a
nightmare matchup for Ottawa. They have struggled against them. I'll
give Drew Brown credit the last couple of weeks, he's

(34:20):
played really well, but he's been kind of maybe inconsistent
the best. But there's a lot of good traits to
him that I think he can potentially be a really
good starting quarterback in the CFL. But I mean, he's
got no running game. Since Armstead has left, this has
probably been the worst rushing attack in the CFL.

Speaker 4 (34:37):
I don't you know.

Speaker 3 (34:38):
I think the offensive line is really going to struggle
against that Toronto front four. And then you look at
the Argonauts. I mean they have the experience. I mean
that they this is a team that's been to the
postseason year in a year out Ottawa hasn't been in
twenty since twenty eighteen.

Speaker 4 (34:53):
They're going to be heavy underdogs.

Speaker 3 (34:55):
I think what's going to happen here is I fully
expect Toronto to get off to a fast start, get
a nice lead, and then Audiwa's going to do what
Outawa does best and score twenty twenty five points in
the second half and make it closer than what people
think it is. But Ultimately, I think Toronto's just a
better team. They got you know, they got home field advantage.
Chad Kelly has played really well over the last month

(35:17):
or so. He's really cleaned up from since he got
back from his suspension. And yeah, I just think Toronto's
better on paper. And I think the key matchup is
ken Audiwa's offensive line really hold up that defensive line
for Toronto.

Speaker 4 (35:28):
Because they can't, then it's going to be a long
day for the Red Blocks.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
Yeah, Jason, what do you mean because I think I
thought I saw the email Chack Kelly right getting honors
again this week for I think last week of the season,
getting one of the you know, one of the top
you know, the spotlight kind of whatever, like he's gotten better.
I think Toronto had what seven thousand whatever increase in
the tendance, Anthony, were you put someone put? Like I
saw that, Like, you know, clearly that Chad Kelly sit

(35:53):
out maybe didn't hold as much water as maybe people
thought here. But what do you make of Toronto and
Chack Kelly and everything else going into this.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
Well, I think that Toronto should be considered heavy favorites
going into this game. I mean Outawa was two and
seven on the road this year. I think that you
know thing with them and I think is what Drew
Brown are we going to get. He's had really great games,
as Anthony said, but he's also had some really bad
games as well. I've gotten injured a little bit in
there too, So we still don't know if he's the

(36:23):
guy in Ottawa whereas Chad Kelly say what you want
about him personally, but we know that he's the guy
as a football player, right he is a guy that
you know. The first couple of games he came back,
one of these games was against the Red Blacks where
he had, you know, a couple of unfortunate turnovers and
Ottawa actually blew them out in that one. But those
first couple of games were almost like Chad Kelly's preseason.

(36:44):
After coming off the suspension and the last handful of weeks,
he has looked a lot better and Toronto's looked like,
in my opinion, arguably the best team in the CFL
the last you know, five weeks, other than maybe Winnipeg.
So I think Toronto should roll in this one. I
think that you know, there's potential there for Drew Brown
to have a big game Toronto was second last in
passing yards allowed this year, So maybe Drew Brown can

(37:08):
have you know, kind of a great game and you know,
build off that fourth quarter he had a couple of
weeks ago against Toronto. But I think ultimately, you know,
Toronto is the better and more deeper team, more well
rounded team, like they're special teams better too, So I
think ultimately I like Toronto to win this game.

Speaker 1 (37:25):
So Anthony, you know, so let's say Toronto that takes
care of business, right. You know, Ottawa was out uh
ninety eight to one on the season. Here we, like
Jason said, we still don't know about Drew Brown, Like
what did they do? Because it feels like the whole
time that I've ever podcasted the Red Blacks, it's like
what do they want to be? What's the identity? What's
going on? We've had all these injuries, like have they
have you seen enough this year from Ottawa? We're like, Okay, yeah,

(37:48):
there's a lot of good pieces here we can bring
back into next season or what would you do?

Speaker 4 (37:52):
I mean, you got to consider this too.

Speaker 3 (37:53):
I mean a Darius Pickett got injured, and I really
think since he left he got injured, like Ottawa's has
not been the same, so I think they really lost
a key leader on that defense that I think that's
where the downward spiral kind of began for this team,
is not having him there. So I think if he's
healthy and comes back next year, I think they'll be fine.
You got to think about Devonte Williams. You know, he

(38:16):
was their starting running back last year. They lost him
for the season due to injury before the season started.
They're going to have him back next year, so I
think that will kind of alleviate the issues in the
running game.

Speaker 4 (38:25):
So yeah, I think the pieces are there. I mean,
they have a really good receiving corps.

Speaker 3 (38:29):
I mean, Khalil but Pimpleton has been a really standout
guy that they've kind of found that popped out of
nowhere and it's probably one of the top rookies in
the CFL.

Speaker 4 (38:38):
At the receiving corps. You got Justin Hardy, you got
Nick Martner. They have a lot.

Speaker 3 (38:43):
Of talent on that offense, and I think the defense
is really solid to it. I mean, Michael Wakefield's been
one of the best pass rushers in this league and
he's had a really good season for the Red Black
so the pieces are there. They may have to do
a little bit more, maybe in the secondary, maybe add
a piece or two more, but I think there are
a couple of pieces away from actually being really good.
And also, you know, Drew Brown's got his first full

(39:04):
year as a starting quarterback, you know, worked out the
kingson and all that, so.

Speaker 4 (39:08):
Season two should see some improvement with him.

Speaker 3 (39:11):
I think I think this Ottawall team is in a
really good position for the for the future. I don't
know if this is going to be a great Cup
team in the next year or two, but I think
they have the pieces in place to be a competitive team.

Speaker 1 (39:23):
It seems well and obviously like making the playoffs, right,
like Bob Dice is safe, like everyone, because like that's
clearly like the the barrier, the whatever we have here
in the blitmus line, Like, well, if you make the playoffs,
like you're probably like even if you're going to get
you kicked out immediately or you'll lose to Toronto with
embarrassing fashion. But like, yeah, you figure Bob's back, right Dice,
everyone else, Jason the Sean Burke, I mean you feel

(39:44):
like right again, I just kind of get stuck in
this where it's like we'll do okay, we run it back,
but we kind of seen what we see it. Like,
I just don't know how many kind of wax and
the pinata here we get from some of the CFL teams.
I don't know if that's to get me for that,
but any other thoughts are kind of the front. It
just I don't know what, like how Ottawa kind of
addresses this well.

Speaker 2 (40:05):
I think that you know, in most cases, as you say,
making the playoffs and the CFL isn't that much of
an achievement. But given the context of where this team
was the last three years four years, so like, yeah,
they missed THELA last four straight years, not counting twenty
twenty obviously when they didn't play. Twenty nineteen, twenty twenty one,

(40:25):
twenty two, twenty twenty three all missed playoffs, and they
weren't particularly competitive in any of those seasons. So I
think regardless of what happens if they get blown out
by Toronto in this playoff game, I still consider this
season a win because it was a return to relevancy
for this team. I was kind of hoping for the
same result for Edmonton this year, but unfortunately this you know,
got behind the eight ball so early in the season.

(40:47):
So I do think, you know, Ottawa definitely took a
step in the right direction this year. I think, you know,
going forward, whether or not, like Anthony said, are they
a great Cup team? I think they still need to
add some more pieces. And I said, I don't know
yet if Drew Brown is really the guy to lead
them there, but I think I've seen enough to give
him another season of that and you know, hopefully, you know,

(41:09):
he can you know, string together enough of those great
performances that you feel comfortable going into him with him
as your franchise quarterback of the future. So I think
that's the big question for Audawa. But I think in
terms of stabilizing the organization and giving fans some hope,
like this team went seven to one and one at
home this year, I think that's a big thing after

(41:30):
that huge home losing streak that they had for a
while there. So yeah, I think baby steps for Audwa
and this was a step in the right direction regardless
of what happens on Saturday.

Speaker 1 (41:41):
Yeah, it was that famous time when like three different
CFL teams I think have like cobal streaks at the
same time, like, how is the how is this even possible?
It's like right now, amp I was looking like the
NFL draft order, right and you're like, how are all
of these teams like one in six or two and six,
Like how are all of these teams so awful? I mean,
obviously the NFL has a lot more team Anthony. Presumably

(42:02):
Toronto takes care of business. Right, we see a repeat
of last year with Montreal kind of here in the finals.
Early predictions because we'll probably do obviously chatty next week
if some kind we'll figure that out. But early thoughts
on that with Toronto Montreal that.

Speaker 3 (42:17):
It's going to be a much more competitive game than
it was last year. I doubt we see nine turnovers
again from the Argonauts. I expect them to be a
lot more competitive. Look, I think this Montreal team, I
really like their defense, but that offense has not been
the same over the last month or two. I think
the last six games they'd gone like two three of one.
I think losing Tyson phil Pott absolutely killed this offense.

(42:40):
It just seemed like they went on a downward spiral.
And even though they got Austin Mack back, even he's
not really one hundred percent right now.

Speaker 4 (42:46):
He's been in and.

Speaker 3 (42:47):
Out of the lineup with injury, so you know, really
outside of him and Charleston Rambo, I mean, they have
some nice receivers there, but it just feels like this
passing offense has not been where it needs to be.
And you know, Cody fajarals playing well. I mean he's
not playing great like he did the beginning of the season.
He's being efficient and protecting the football. But the one

(43:08):
thing this offense is really lacking in Montreal is that
big play. I mean, they they can't get any big
pass plays down the field. They just don't have that
deepend They don't have that big difference maker like Tyson
phil Pop was. And plus the running game has not
been as good this year. They you know, they don't
have Williams stamp back. They have you know, Walter Fletcher,
who's been nice, but this is still one of the
worst rushing attacks in the league. So that offense for Montreal,

(43:29):
I mean really scares me. And the Toronto defense is
really good, Like I think this is gonna be a
low scoring affair and honestly would not surprise me if
Toronto wins that game. I probably still picked Montreal in
a very close matchup, but would not surprise me in
the least if Toronto picks off Montreal and upsets them
to get in the Great Cup.

Speaker 1 (43:51):
It does feel like and I immediately haven't been as
tuned in to all the minutia every week this year,
just and we we've talked about that on the podcast,
Like it does feel like Montreal is riding a little
bit off of like, well, they're the Great Cup champs
last year, right, and we kind of run them off
last year and they kind of surprised everyone. And has
it been as explosive as a team, like Anthony said,

(44:12):
hasn't been as dominant as they were. What's the record
this year? You know, twelve and five. I mean obviously
still you know, the most wins in the CFL at
twelve five and one, But you know what, I can't
remember what the heck they were last year, But like,
very very good record. I have thoughts on that as
I break my microphone here, just like them not having
the same juice as they did last season.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
Well, I'll say this, it is very different being the
favorite whereas being you know, the underdog, versus being the underdog.
They should say, and you know, that's what Montreal was
last year. They were a true underdog. Nobody was picking
this team to win, you know, the great Copper even,
you know, go into Toronto and really have a game
with them. Of the sixteen and two argos, of course

(44:53):
they're gonna beat the Alouettes that you know, didn't beat
a winning team or one of the better teams in
the league last year in the regular season. But you know,
there was no pressure on them. They had some things
go their way in that game, and I think, you know,
they kind of caught Toronto by surprise, and I don't
think that same was gonna happen this year. I think
if that game does happen, assuming Toronto beats Audawa on Saturday,

(45:16):
I do think I'm going to be picking Toronto to
win that game against Montreal because I think they're gonna
remember what happened last year. I think that there's gonna
be a lot of motivation on that Toronto side, and
I think that you know, on our neutral field, you know,
most weeks, I would pick Toronto to win. I think
they have a better team, even though that game is
gonna be in Montreal and that's a tough place to play,

(45:36):
and they've been really packing that barn this year. But
I think that Toronto, you know, they have the better
quarterback right now. I think, you know, Cordy Pigardo. Obviously,
he turned into like Superman last year for the playoffs
and in the Great Cup in particular, but I think,
you know, we haven't seen that the last couple of months.
As Anthony alluded to, the first half of the season
was spectacular for this team and they were really riding

(45:58):
that high. But I think they kind of cooled off
and they're not quite the same defense as they were
last year. I think that it's still probably the best
defense arguably in the CFL. It's it's right up there
in the conversation, but I don't see that dominance. And
like I said, the turnovers that they got last year
in that game really swung and I think, what do
they force like seven turnovers something in that game that

(46:19):
really swung the scale in that game. And I think
that we're not going to see that this time around.
And I think it's gonna be a great game, but
I think Toronto would be my pick to win that game.

Speaker 1 (46:31):
Yeah, I think Chad Kelly just threw another interception. I
think I just heard that that, But I mean, can
we oh and Tim Caefers checking then, I was gonna
I was just gonna talk about Tim here, Tim's checking
in here, I'm picking out one with the upset over Toronto. Wow,
I was gonna say, Montreal has has done a great
job packing and you're talking about attendance all that. I

(46:53):
saw Tim mccliffey last week. I saw them, you know,
selling their merch and tailgate and all that. I mean,
but it is like they've they've certainly renewed that fan
base there, right, and there's been a lot of excitement
coming off of that. I think that they've really they've
really played that well. I will say, yeah, I think
I love Cody. I think Cody is a great quarterback
that you really had an exceptional moment right in the

(47:16):
Gray Cup. I don't know if that is Cody Pijardo
every day all that. You know, like you look at
some of the elite quarterbacks kind of in the sport
right now, I don't know. I think he lived up
to that moment, right, and if he doesn't make those
throws and like his legacy is wildly different. But I
don't I think that there there's kind of a step there.
There's been a lot of conversation this week about you know,
like good great and then special quarterbacks with the Jay

(47:39):
Daniels and all that, and there's all these see all
these different people talking all this kind of stuff. But yeah,
I think Cody's right at that other level, and I
don't I don't, you know, I think he can step
up to that, but I don't know if he lives
in that space an think anything else on that because
I want to make sure we talk BC and sask
and all that.

Speaker 3 (47:56):
Yeah, I mean it's a big playoffs for Cody for
Gerald because I don't I don't know how much longer
he's gonna play. I know he's a little bit on
the older age. I will say for Montreal, please do
not let Davis Alexander go. Don't make the same mistake
Winnipeg didn't let Drew Brown walk. I really think Davis
Aleenxander could be the future for this team.

Speaker 4 (48:13):
The way he's played this year.

Speaker 3 (48:14):
I mean he's been defeated as the starting quarterback and
I think he's only thrown like one pick this season.
Like that's a guy that can really make a difference
for for this team, And honestly, it wouldn't surprise me
if maybe he sneaks in, you know, get some playoff
playing time, you know, if something happens to Cody Frugarro.
But yeah, I don't know now that The more thing
I think about it, the more I want to go
with Toronto now to beat Montreal because I just that

(48:37):
the defense makes the difference for me. And I think
Toronto's defense versus Montreal's offense is just a better match
up for the Argos, you know, vice versus you know,
Montreal's defense versus Toronto's offense. I almost I'm gonna.

Speaker 4 (48:50):
Change my pick.

Speaker 3 (48:51):
I'm gonna say Toronto win beat Montreal. I think I
think you convinced me. I think I think the Argos
would win.

Speaker 1 (48:57):
I just I'm worried for Montreal. I like my that's
it still carry over a lot of favoritism there. Talk
to a lot we haven't you know, has made player
interviews for lately, but they did a lot of work
there with Montreal. I really appreciate that. H let's talk
BC sask here. I think this game at least has
my eyes. I'll be watching this one Saturday. I think

(49:19):
we have to go visit I got to miss the
cracking game Sunday, we got to go visit family friends.
I'm like, whether we do it with our lives here
at least Commanders play in the morning BC at sask Saturday.
I guess with the Jason, do I have any hope
in the world here?

Speaker 2 (49:34):
Yeah? Absolutely? And you know, any given game, I think
Saskatchewan the home field advantage there isn't what it used
to be. I think that you know, they're not even
tracking for a sellout right now. I've been seeing a
lot of posts about that online, so you know it's
it's a bigger stadium than most CFL stadiums, but still
not tracking for a sellout, whereas in previous years you'd
easily see that place sold out. So I think that

(49:57):
BC has a shot. I just think they need to
go in to that first quarter of that game and
they need to create some big plays. And I think specifically,
Ba's got to get Justin mckinnis going. I think Justin
mckinnis led the league in receiving yard this year. He
looked much better in the first half of the season
when VA was playing than he did when Rock was
put in the lineup, So I think that's a guy

(50:18):
I'm really looking forward to seeing if he can get
going early in this game and create some big plays.
And you know, BC, like I said, when they're playing
I've said many times, if they're playing their best, they
can compete with anybody in the league. But I think ultimately,
you know, Saskatchwan is a pretty good defense. They're gonna
have to be aware of, you know, all the turnovers

(50:38):
that Saskatchwan's forced this season. I believe they led the
league by a pretty wide margin in terms of turnovers
force this season. Cordy Mace did a great job with
that in his first season as head coach. So I
think DC has a shot. But I think, you know,
it really comes down to how the quarterbacks play in
this game. And I think that, you know, it's it's
really gonna come down to BC's offense because I think

(51:00):
that DC's defense, it really is a very middle of
the road kind of team. I think they're not really
you know, there's not a lot of difference makers on
that defense this year. Matthew Betts hasn't been the same
guy since he's returned from the NFL, So I think
that you know, the offense is to have to set
the tone, and we could be in for kind of
a shootout type game because I think Trevor Harris has

(51:22):
been really playing well this year in Saskatchewan too. I
think if he had played the whole season, if you
didn't miss those six or seven games, I think, you know,
if you you pro rate that over the whole season,
I think he would have been the MP this year personally.
So yeah, I think this is gonna be the better
of the two games on Saturday.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
You always know it's you got a good shot when
you're like do I have any chance? And whoever I
asked Jason the case, It's like, well, you know, any
Sunday anything, whatever, you know, anytime, you know always, But
this is what I'm ready for and we'll go to Anthony,
like you know, we love it. I love the Lions right,
all this stuff, but I I am really ready for
either life Gray Cup or we blow all of this up,

(52:02):
like there is there is something fundamentally wrong in this.
And I love Rick and I love all this staff
and all that. But I think it was Rob Peterson
on one of his shows, you know when they when
the hockey people got you know, coaches got let go
and it's like as good as a coach as you
may be or whatever. At some point that what you're
saying starts to lose its residents right in the locker room.

(52:24):
And I don't know if that is the case or
that's a kise with our phillips, so that's the case
with whoever, but like something in that equation needs to
be resolved here, and so I would like to either
we push through this, we figure it out, okay, we
were wrong about VA and all of that, or like
we really need to blow all this up because this,
I mean, this is just a failure. I mean, this
is just a failure. Also, Jason, I did like real quick, Anthony, Jason,

(52:46):
I we are what the hell was it? Anthony and
I were talking. I'm all confused, po I was talking
to on the shows here, Anthony. I were talking last
week about how I talked to a lot of CFL
fans in Vancouver and like people there and they didn't
like know about the Lions or they didn't know that.
There was comments on the YouTube d like, well you
didn't talk to like real people that were born and
didn't I'm like always a caveat always got his name

(53:09):
was Sasketchewan, Like, hey, they can't sell out to see it,
but you know it's it's the bigger stadium that like,
there's always a caveat. There's always anthony thoughts on this.
I know we talked to the alliance off the top,
but like this is like a disaster scenario otherwise.

Speaker 3 (53:23):
Yeah, I mean Husty covered it perfectly. I mean, when
you got the receiving core that you have in BC,
you have the best receivers in the CFL, you have
got to get them the football and you've got to
vombit every single time. Like anything that you can do
to create big plays for this offense. You got to
be able to do it, and you got the playmakers
to do it. So there's really no excuse. But I
will say, Hussey, I know you were talking about, you know,

(53:45):
Trevor Harris potentially being MP. I think the MP is
on the other side on defense with Roland Milligan, that
dude has had such an extacular season and with the
quarterback play you know, being good not great this year.
I mean statistically, I think there needs to be some
to Milligan being able to be in that conversation for
MP he has had a spectacular year. I think he

(54:06):
can make a big difference in this game. You know,
even if he's not getting the the interception so like
he has been all year, I think he can make
a big difference in it.

Speaker 4 (54:15):
I love Saskatchewan in this game.

Speaker 3 (54:17):
There's a part of me that wants BC to win
because I think it would be a great story to
kind of see them make that run to the Great Cup.
But unfortunately, you know, you look at Saskatchewan, They're so
balanced offensively between Trevor Harrison and you know, in the backfield,
you know, they got aj they got Armstead, they got
Frankie Hickson. Like they have a really good backfield. And

(54:38):
I think that someone like Corey Makes is very defensive minded.

Speaker 4 (54:41):
He wanted to be able.

Speaker 3 (54:42):
To pound the football this year on the ground and
he has certainly done that in Saskatchewan, So they have
a really good balance of the offense and defense. I
think those both of those units are top four in
the league and you know what they do. So I
like Saskatchewan winning And honestly, if Saskatchewan was in the East,
I would almost think that they would probably have a
better chance of winning it over Montreal. I think they're

(55:04):
that good of a football team.

Speaker 1 (55:06):
Jason. Obviously, you know the history of all of this
great Canadian sport more than I do. But uh, first
year head coach like this to asked, like if they
were to make it to the Gray Cup, and it's
gotta be pretty Uh, I don't know. It seems unpresidented.
You probably know better than I do.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
The last guy that I believe did it, I'm probably
forgetting someone, so don't quote me on this, but I
think Corey Chamberlain with Saskatchewan won the Gray Cup in
his first year as head coach there and then uh
kind of flamed out, I believe. Or yeah, I think
he was a really young, upstart head coach when he
got hired so and and that was a big great

(55:42):
Cup for them they wanted at home. So that's that's
the one guy I recall. I'll look it up right now,
but I think didn't.

Speaker 3 (55:49):
Wasn't that That's one way, wasn't Jason in his first
year last year when he took Montreal to the Great
Cup and won it.

Speaker 2 (55:55):
Oh yeah, but he had been I had coached before.

Speaker 3 (55:59):
Oh that's yeah, that's true.

Speaker 1 (56:02):
That's interesting. I just I mean, good for to ask here.
Let's round this out before we get out here at
the top of the hour, because then we're going to go.
I gotta go watch the Yankees hopefully beat the Dodgers.
I don't like the Dodgers, Anthony. Winnipeg here started slow.
Everything's churning here. Whenever team goes in. It really feels
like you're living in Winnipeg's world here at thoughts on

(56:24):
the thoughts on Winnipeg here going into the final. Obviously
we'll do more talk next week.

Speaker 3 (56:28):
I mean, this team, what they've been able to accomplish,
I mean, this was they were two and six and
through those first eight nine weeks of the season, and
I'm sure everyone, all of us wanted to write them
off and just say, well, Zach Klaris is washed and
this offense can't do anything. All the receivers are heard,
you know. But the one constant with this team has

(56:49):
been their defense.

Speaker 4 (56:50):
And I know the old cliche is defense wins championships,
but my god, this Winnipeg defense has been incredible all year.

Speaker 3 (56:57):
They have been consistent. They are good all around, you know,
defending the pass, defending the run. They've been number one
all season statistically, and major kudos to Zach Kulars for
fighting through, you know, all the stick that he had
to go through, you know, just kind of get through
the mental hurdles of the struggles he had at the
beginning of the year and being able to pull through.

Speaker 4 (57:16):
And then you know, in.

Speaker 3 (57:18):
The back they they got a running back in that backfield,
Brady that I think can be the MLP of this
league as well.

Speaker 4 (57:23):
He has also been very consistent.

Speaker 3 (57:24):
I think he had six or seven games with over
one hundred plus yards rushing this season. Like and then
they're they're getting healthy at the right time. At receiver ever,
they're getting mostly everyone back, so outside of Dalton shown
but you know, they got Kenny Lawer back and they
got a good receiving course. So I think overall, like
just it's been really impressive to see Winnipeg the turnaround
they had, winning nine in the last ten games. And yeah,

(57:46):
I I I don't think there's a team in the
CFL right now that could be Winnipeg, and they would
definitely be my pick for winning the Great Cup.

Speaker 1 (57:53):
And they clean the This been ages ago in my life,
but they cleaned the clock out of the SASS right
in the back to back? Didn't they just told but
mangible on the Labor Day?

Speaker 2 (58:02):
Right?

Speaker 1 (58:02):
Am I making that up in my head?

Speaker 4 (58:06):
Anyone? It's a long season.

Speaker 1 (58:11):
I know, I'm trying to hear right. In the CFL,
I mean, j Jacob brother, whoever the hell about this
in the thing? But I mean, wasn't that just anyway?
I feel like that? Jason? Any other thoughts on win
to Peg here, let's look back August. Uh, Yeah, Bombers
beat them on the first and then Bombers beat them
at home or whatever back to back on the yes,

(58:31):
so they both times on that. Jason thoughts on Winnipeg
we'll get out of here.

Speaker 2 (58:35):
Well, winn a peg. It's been remarkable this season that
they've had. I left them for dead at two and six.
I thought they were done, Like I thought that was
too big of a hole to climb out of. But
I think in the CFL it's it's very unique. Like
you talk about all these NFL teams that have these
piss poor records right now, then you can pretty much
write them off in the NFL, But in the CFL,

(58:56):
smaller league, if you can get you know, five six
wins together in a oh, like you really can turn
your season around at any point, and I think they
showed that this year, and they showed that they really
have the heart of the champion and they may not
be as scary as they've been in recent years, but
like Anthony said, the defense is looking really sturdy. I
think that, you know, even if their offensive, you know,

(59:17):
passing attack isn't what it used to be. I think
Brady Olavera is still really the heart and soul of
that team, and he's had a great season. So they're
gonna be hard to beat because they got that first
place in the West. You know, we didn't really talk
about it, but that crazy wind affecting that punt that
that you know, may have altered the way Saskatchewan had played,

(59:38):
you know, in in the game against Calgary, and you know,
it's it's really interesting to see that Winnipeg ended up
as the first place team in the West again for
what was the fourth straight year or whatever. But because
they got that game at home, I think they're definitely
a heavy favorite once again to reach the Great Cup
for the fifth graat year. And you know, I think that,
you know, given the fact they've lost the last two years,

(01:00:01):
I'm not super confident that they'll actually win the Great
Cup because you know, they've gotten in these last two
years and they've been classic games, don't get me wrong,
but they just have looked off and Zach Claris hasn't
really played particularly well in these playoff games, but they're
usually good enough to win the West Finals. So I'm
pretty confident that they'll do that. But one thing, when

(01:00:22):
you guys were just talking right there, the last coach,
first year head coach that I've seen that's won the
Great Cup was actually Scott Milanovitch in twenty twelve with
the Town Argonauts. So that's the answer.

Speaker 1 (01:00:34):
Well, there you go. Yeah, we had the wind right
with Castillo's kick or then the pun, and then they
led to the kick and then right I did we
have the walkoff rouge to off the pun or whatever? Right,
there was a couple of different special teams.

Speaker 4 (01:00:45):
Unfortunately. I love that.

Speaker 1 (01:00:48):
Yeah, we're getting out of here, Anthony, anything else from you?

Speaker 3 (01:00:52):
No, this is a probably the most important weekend for
the CFL and in a little while, so I'm excited
that we got meaningful game games that are gonna make
a huge impact on the season. So I'm looking forward
to it. Read hopefully your team can salvage something out
of the season and may pull up an upset.

Speaker 1 (01:01:09):
I'll be a lot to talk about otherwise. Like I said,
we'll figure out something next week, probably midweek going into
the finals, and then Jason and I and the cavalcadd
guests will be there on It'll be Saturday, the sixteenth,
so come stop by. We'll be at the Lions. Then
they say they're making signage for everybody, really really rolled
out the red carpet, so BC is doing a good

(01:01:29):
job there. I think we're gonna have good, reliable internet,
which is always appreciated if that's always my biggest stressing
point going north, so come check that out. I'll post
the links and stuff on live, but we'll be there
always as good, always a fun show. Jason, welcome back, Anthony,
thanks for hopping on and we'll see everyone next time

Speaker 2 (01:02:00):
You