2007 CFL Hot Stove League

[GA Russell]

The Roughriders cut Kerry Joseph's salary from $350,000. to $225,000. today. They had inherited his contract from the Ottawa Renegades.

I don't dislike the guy, but I think that he is the most overrated player in the league. He always throws the ball into the ground. He is a halfback who can throw, not a quarterback who can run.

Last year the Riders' payroll was $4.7 million, and this year the salary cap is $4.05 million; so a change had to be made. The salary cap only covers the players, and does not include the coaches.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

*****

Ticats QB Jason Maas has had surgery on his throwing shoulder. I guess that confirms that he was injured all year.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/200...578607-sun.html

[GA Russell]

Here's an unusually good article that discusses the new salary cap. It breaks down how payrolls will probably be allotted among the players.

Many more will receive over $100,000 than I had thought. Of course, maybe they have always been receiving that amount, and now for the first time their true salaries are seeing the light of day.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/New...606615-sun.html

[GA Russell]

The Players Association announced its 2006 All-Star team today. I think more interesting than who made it were the players the press chose for their team who were slighted by their peers:

Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray (league-high 5,000 yards passing), Winnipeg running back Charles Roberts (CFL-high 1,609 yards rushing), Eskimos receiver Jason Tucker, Lions offensive tackle Rob Murphy (CFL's top lineman award winner), cornerbacks Byron Park of Toronto (eight interceptions, four returned for TDs) and Coby Rhinehart of Calgary, Argos punter Noel Prefontaine (CFL-best 46.3-yard average) and Bombers kick returner Albert Johnson III (CFL-best 810 punt-return yards, fourth overall with 985 kickoff return yards).

It looks like the press used the stats as the yardstick, and the players did not.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

edit for typo

Edited February 15, 2007 by GA Russell

[GA Russell]

The league announced the schedule today.

Opening Night will be Thursday June 28. The Grey Cup game will be November 25 in Toronto.

I haven't found any mention of bye weeks. I hope there aren't any. I read during the year that a number of teams didn't like them.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/New...3617676-cp.html

[GA Russell]

I haven't found any mention of bye weeks.

Ask and ye shall receive!

Here's an article that says that each team will have one bye.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

[GA Russell]

The Argos signed Adriano Belli today. He's a great player IMO, but he causes way too many penalties because of his inability to control his temper.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

*****

Darren Flutie, Rocco Romano, Pierre Vercheval and Greg Battle have been elected to the Hall of Fame.

I'll never forget Flutie's catching the TD pass at the end of the Western Final (Was it in '94?). What a game! And I remember well Romano riding the touchdown horse following the last play field goal which won the Grey Cup! What year was that?

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

[GA Russell]

The Eskimos dropped the other shoe today and cut Troy Davis, even though he rushed for 1,000 yards last year. I guess they think they are set with Josh Ranek.

They also cut Kelly Wiltshire, who got hurt in September. He is 34, so he might be done.

The Als traded Thyron Anderson to the Roughriders for a conditional draft pick. Something must be wrong with him to go for only a conditional pick.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

[GA Russell]

Trevis Smith got 5 1/2 years. The prosecution asked for ten.

Is anyone else struck by the fact that the press refers to him as a former player, as if he played years ago and now has gotten into trouble? The guy was bedding women knowing that he was HIV positive while he was playing!

Furthermore, he continued to play after knowing that he had HIV. And the team let him do so! The team said that it is against the law (privacy rights) to do anything like cut him just because he had HIV and it was not yet made public, but I have to believe that the players to a man didn't like that idea. Think about all the cuts and wounds inflicted on the football field. No one wants to rub up against someone who is bleeding who has a communicable disease.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Sas...3474553-cp.html

[GA Russell]

Tonight I met the owner of the Ticats, Bob Young. Nice guy.

I attended a presentation he made on behalf of his company lulu.com.

I wondered aloud why he traded DJ Flick for Rocky Butler! I'm sure he enjoyed finding someone who cared in North Carolina.

[GA Russell]

Last night Bob Young told me that Jake Gaudaur has published a four-volume autobiography of his years as Commissioner with lulu. So tonight I have ordered Volume 3, which covers 1976-79.

The total including tax and shipping came to $24.57. I'm looking forward to reading it!

[GA Russell]

USA Today didn't say that Jeff Garcia is the most coveted free agent in the NFL, but from the looks of today's paper they sure act like it.

They gave him a big color photo on page one just under the words USA Today, and a second big photo in the Sports section. Nice ego trip for the guy!

*****

The Saints cut Joe Horn today. Anybody else remember when he played for the Memphis Mad Dogs with Damon Allen?

Edited March 2, 2007 by GA Russell

[GA Russell]

Jeff Garcia signed to play for Tampa Bay and Jon Gruden today.

It wouldn't surprise me if Chris Simms were found to be unfit to play because of his spleen being removed; so Garcia may be the starter.

Tampa Bay also acquired the rights to Jake Plummer, but I don't see him beating out Garcia if the offensive scheme is to Garcia's liking.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

[GA Russell]

The Falcons signed Joe Horn today. He's already 35!

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

[GA Russell]

The CFL today outlawed kicking the ball out of bounds on the fly between the 20 yard lines. It will be a ten yard penalty.

The league also returned (after one year) to the old system of blocking on kick returns - blocking on the side and front are legal again.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

[GA Russell]

It's not clear to me how the new rule outlawing kicking the ball out of bounds (in touch) applies to open field kicks. For example, on a field goal attempt the defense will put a kicker in the end zone to recover the missed FG and kick it out. If the ball goes out of bounds on the fly, how will the penalty apply?

*****

The Eskimos cut Singor Mobley and Donald Brady today. They have already cut Troy Davis. I guess after they finished last in the West and out of the playoffs they figure they have to make changes and move some veterans. I don't disagree, but with Hugh Campbell gone for good I don't have faith in the Eskimos like I used to. Maybe they will just be another team now.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

[GA Russell]

The Riders obtained Jamie Boreham from the Ticats today. Thankfully, they won't let him try to kick field goals. They plan to use him for kickoffs and punting. Luca Congi is set as placekicker.

Where that leaves the Ticats for kicking I don't know, but they have to improve in that area to make the playoffs.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

[GA Russell]

Ed Hervey retired today. He was one of my favorites.

I was surprised to read that he made the all-star team only twice. As I think I have said before, I think the league suffers from a shortage of guys who can catch, and Hervey could do that. (I think the NFL has the same problem.)

Hervey is going to be a scout for the Eskimos on the US West Coast.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

[GA Russell]

The league named Mark Cohon its new Commissioner today. He has credentials, having worked for both the NBA and MLB. It was never clear to me what the owners didn't like about the last guy, so it will be interesting to see how long the honeymoon lasts.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...ory/GlobeSports

[GA Russell]

Danny McManus retired today. He stayed a few years too long, but he was one of the greats. I'll never forget the 1994 Western Final in which he led BC to a last play win over Calgary.

He's going to be an analyst for TSN.

There are only eight teams in the league now, and he played for Winnipeg, BC, Edmonton, Hamilton and Calgary.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

[Lush Life]

True story:

Six years ago, my neighbor and I took a "boys' weekend" trip to Dublin, Ireland. Our wives weren't very happy with us, because we had booked the trip in August of 2001, and the flight was late October 2001. IOW, we were flying from the U.S. to Ireland just a few weeks after 9/11,

So we did the rounds: whiskey sampling factory tour at the Jameson plant, beer sampling factory tour at Guinness, etc.

And mid-way through the weekend, we camped on a Saturday afternoon in the pub in the Westin Hotel near Trinity College in Dublin to smoke some cigars and drink more beer. After we'd been there awhile (it was a lazy afternoon, and not many customers in the hotel pub), two guys turned up, obviously U.S. military, and we invited them over for a beer. Turned out they were J.A.G.'s (military lawyers) on leave from Germany for the weekend.

And one of them turned out to be a former CFL football player, an offensive lineman in the early 90s for the Toronto Argonauts. He was really tall, about 6'6", but not heavy at all. He'd played college ball at Kansas.

And he regaled us with the tale of how his professional football career came to a sudden end.

It seems that it was the last exhibition game of the season, the Argos were playing some team, and Doug Flutie was the QB. My friend says he had played pretty well in pre-season, and was sure he had nailed down a regular season roster spot.

The Argos were losing a close one, and then, the last play of the game, as the clock ticked down to zero, Flutie scrambled and tossed a Hail Mary that was caught for a TD, and the Argos dramatically won the game. Now of course this was just exhibition football, but still, a win is a win, especially if you pull it off with the kind of flair that someone like Flutie could do. The Argos all jumped up and down with each other and whooped and hollered at the sheer fun of it all, winning like that. Kind of like you'd do in 6th grade elementary school when you won the game during recess.

But my friend said there was one problem with the victory: just as Flutie got off the Hail Mary, he was absolutely clobbered, leveled, hammered, knocked silly, by a linebacker coming at full tilt, uninterrupted. And the reason the LB had a full head of steam is because my friend the OL missed his block.

Oops.

So it came to pass that on Monday the team had a meeting scheduled to review game films. My friend the OL said he went to his locker, and discovered it was empty. He said he was confused, and asked an assistant coach where his gear was. The coach said, "Sorry, it's out in the hall. Doug was pretty pissed about you missing that block."

And thus the end of a football career. My newfound friend the ex-CFLer said it was just as well that he moved on to law school, that his knees would never have withstood a lot of pro football anyway. But he says he never forgot that Doug Flutie ended his football career simply because of one missed block, and because he was a big enough star that the team would do anything to satisfy his whims.

With the end of that story, we all laughed, and my neighbor and I bought another round for our guests.

Edited April 3, 2007 by Lush Life

[GA Russell]

Thanks for that story Lush Life!

Flutie played for the Argos just two years, '96 and '97; and led the team to Grey Cup wins both years. So I guess the Argos were justified in keeping him happy!

edit to correct years

Edited April 3, 2007 by GA Russell

[Lush Life]

Thanks for that story Lush Life!

Flutie played for the Argos just two years, '95 and '96; and led the team to Grey Cup wins both years. So I guess the Argos were justified in keeping him happy!

Thanks for the timeline, that makes sense. I've tried to look up old Argo and Univ. of Kansas rosters to see if I could remember the name of the guy I met, but I've struck out completely. It's not entirely clear to me (my memory is fuzzy) whether this guy actually made the Argos for a season or two, or whether he only got a training camp shot at the team.

And yeah, he did agree that Flutie was an extraordinary player who paid off for the Argos....

[GA Russell]

The Lions released Bobby Singh yesterday. It appears to be a salary cap move, but he was injured and missed six games last year. The Bombers have indicated interest in signing him.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/BC/...3926142-cp.html

*****

Ricky Williams' agent announced today that he has filed for reinstatement with the NFL.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

[GA Russell]

The league will webcast its draft at its cfl.ca website on Wednesday starting at 1:00 pm eastern.

*****

Calgary has signed former Cincinnati QB Akili Smith to challenge Henry Burris.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

[B. Clugston]

The Lions released Bobby Singh yesterday. It appears to be a salary cap move, but he was injured and missed six games last year. The Bombers have indicated interest in signing him.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/BC/...3926142-cp.html

Singh wound up with the Stampeders.He's not too pleased about being released as he has a young family and is a school trustree in Richmond, a 'burb of Vancouver's.