2025 @CFL hot stove league

[GA Russell]

Greg Xenakes Week 19 picks

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4539696

*****

The league announced today each team's nominees for the CFL Awards.

http://cfl.ca/article/2012-team-player-award-nominees-announced

[GA Russell]

The canada.com website has the CFL Awards printed out like March Madness brackets. Great for office pools!

http://www.cflblogzone.com/2012/10/cfl-teams-announce-individual-award-winners/

*****

Jamie Boreham has retired. His background was in rugby. He often scrambled from punt formation, and if a first down wasn't likely he would kick the ball with his left foot!

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=408607

*****

The Bombers have announced that Tim Burke will be back next year as head coach. (I find it odd that GM Joe Mack is making that decision when it is likely that he will be fired at the end of the season.)

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=408601

[GA Russell]

Toronto Argonauts 43....Hamilton Tiger-Cats 40

http://www.sportsnet...aspx?id=4539996

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=408652

I was very sleepy last night, and felt like I wanted to turn the game off and go to bed with three minutes left, and the Argos leading 40-26. Well, it's a good thing I stayed up. The Ticats tied it at 40, and Swayze Waters kicked a 51 yard field goal on the last play of the game to win it for the Argos, and thus eliminate the Ticats from playoff contention.

Chad Owens set the league record (breaking Pinball Clemons' mark) for all-purpose yards in a season.

Chris Williams set the Ticats team record for touchdowns scored in a season.

The Ticats became the first team in league history (barring something unforeseen in the final three games of this weekend) to lead the league in scoring and finish with a losing record. I guess that shows how bad the Ticats defense is.

At this point we still don't know whether Edmonton or Saskatchewan will be the crossover team.

The Argos rested Ricky Ray and some other starters, and played their second, third and fourth string quarterbacks.

*****

Chris O'Leary Week 19 picks (It's snowing this week in Edmonton.)

http://www.cflblogzone.com/2012/11/week-19-cfl-picks-and-the-eskimos-winter-wonderland/

*****

Mike Beamish Week 19 picks and power rankings

http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/11/01/cfl-final-regular-season-weekend-picks-power-rankings/

Edited November 2, 2012 by GA Russell

[GA Russell]

TSN has released the results of its third annual Players' Poll, which concerns issues such as who is the fastest, hardest to tackle, and most underrated.

You will note that a quarterback, Buck Pierce, was named the toughest player in the league!

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/feature/?id=9535

[GA Russell]

Calgary Stampeders 30....Edmonton Eskimos 27

http://www.sportsnet...aspx?id=4540235

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=408748

Rene Paredes kicked a 44 yard field goal on the last play of the game to win it. The Stampeders had dominated, but the Eskimos caught up.

Matt Nichols played the game for Edmonton. He shows a lot of promise. Drew Tate played for Calgary. It will be intereting to see whom Hufnagel picks to play next week. It reminds me of the controversy a few years ago when Wally had Dave Dickinson start after Casey Printers led the Lions to the playoffs.

The loss means that the Eskimos will finish last and will be the crossover team. This is not a bad thing. The Argos figure to be an easier opponent next week than the Stampeders.

Jon Cornish broke Normie Kwong's 1956 record of rushing yards in a season by a Canadian. There has been a lot of talk about that, but I am unaware of anyone pointing out that Kwong set his mark in a (I think) 14 game season, while Cornish has 18 games.

http://www.tsn.ca/cf...=cfl-stampeders

JC Sherritt set the league record for tackles in a season.

Edited November 3, 2012 by GA Russell

[GA Russell]

Big surprise: Edmonton fired Eric Tillman today, effectively immediately.

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=408782

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/edmonton-eskimos-fire-general-manager-eric-tillman/article4902561/

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Edmonton/2012/11/03/20328556.html

*****

Winnipeg Blue Bombers 19....Montreal Alouettes 11

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4540390

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=408791

The Bombers ended their long stay at Winnipeg/CanadInn Stadium with a win. The Als didn't play Anthony Calvillo, and played McPherson instead. The Bombers played Brink and Goltz.

The Als scored ten points very early, but the Bombers defense hung tough after that.

The win moves the Bombers up ahead of the Ticats, and out of the league cellar.

[GA Russell]

British Columbia Lions 17....Saskatchewan Roughriders 6

http://www.sportsnet...aspx?id=4540562

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=408819

The Lions gave the ball to Andrew Harris enough times for him to lead the league in yards from scrimmage (which I think is the combination of rushing and receiving yards). He becomes the second Canadian to lead the league in that category.

Mike Benevides tied the league record with 13 wins by a rookie head coach.

*****

And thus ends another CFL season. Here are the final standings.

http://stats.sports..../standingAJ.htm

You will note that the win totals are 13, 12, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6, 6. I think that shows good parity this year. Also, I think it is impressive that the two worst teams won six games, which means that no team was an automatic victory during the course of the year.

Edited November 4, 2012 by GA Russell

[GA Russell]

The Bombers have announced that Tim Burke will be back next year as head coach. (I find it odd that GM Joe Mack is making that decision when it is likely that he will be fired at the end of the season.)

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=408601

That link now goes to a story which has been altered, I believe. It now says that the Bombers have announced that both Joe Mack and Tim Burke will be back next year.

Edited November 5, 2012 by GA Russell

[GA Russell]

I believe the statistics this link will take you to are the final stats for the year. You will note that there are further links when you get there so that you can see the full lists.

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/stat/CFL_Leaders.aspx

*****

The league announced the finalists for the CFL Awards today:

http://cfl.ca/article/cornish-owens-lead-finalists-for-2012-player-awards

PLAYER

Jon Cornish (CGY)

Chad Owens (TOR)

DEFENSIVE PLAYER

JC Sherritt (EDM)

Shea Emry (MTL)

CANADIAN PLAYER

Jon Cornish (CGY)

Shea Emry (MTL)

SPECIAL TEAMS

Tim Brown (BC)

Chris Williams (HAM)

ROOKIE

Jabar Westerman (BC)

Chris Matthews (WPG)

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN

Jovan Olafioye (BC)

Josh Bourke (MTL)

My picks:

Cornish

Sherritt

Cornish

Williams

Matthews

Olafioye

*****

Greg Xenakes Semi-Finals picks

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4541161

[GA Russell]

Darrell Royal has passed away. I always forget whether he coached the Stamps or the Eskimos back in the 50s before he went on to fame with Texas.

I moved last week, and my CFL Encyclopedia is packed away. I'll get it out over the weekend and see what his CFL record was.

http://www.newsobser...red-letter.html

PS - This LA Times obit says that he coached the Eskimos in 1953.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-darrell-royal-20121108,0,6342175.column

Edited November 9, 2012 by GA Russell

[GA Russell]

The league today announced the division All-Stars.

http://cfl.ca/article/cfl-announces-east-and-west-division-all-stars

*****

I should point out that all of the games for the rest of the season will be carried live on the NBC Sports channel.

[GA Russell]

I see that in this morning's edition USA Today is reporting that the NBC Sports channel will carry the Argos-Eskimos game live, but it will carry the Stampeders-Riders game on tape delay at 11:00 pm.

[GA Russell]

Lowell Ullrich Semi-Finals picks

http://blogs.theprov...ifinal-edition/

*****

Chris O'Leary Semi-Finals picks

http://blogs.edmonto...emifinal-picks/

Edited November 11, 2012 by GA Russell

[GA Russell]

Toronto Argonauts 42....Edmonton Eskimos 26

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=409278

The Eskimos defense dominated the first quarter, but the Esks led only 7-0 at the break. The Argos then outscored the Esks 31-0 in the second quarter. That 31 point total is a new league record for points scored in a playoff game quarter.

Things were so bad for Edmonton in the second quarter that a shovel pass was intercepted!

The second half was just a matter of running out the string. The Argos will play at Olympic Stadium next week.

[GA Russell]

Calgary Stampeders 36....Saskatchewan Roughriders 30

http://www.sportsnet...aspx?id=4542305

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=409290

Terrific game! Great finish. The Stamps dominated except on the scoreboard.

Very late in the second quarter, Sask scores a TD to take a 16-14 lead. The convert would have given them a three point lead, but it was blocked and run back all the way for two points for Calgary. A couple of plays later Paredes then kicks a 50 yard FG as time expired to give the Stamps a three point lead going into the dressing room.

With 52 seconds left in the game, Sask scores on a TD pass that for a 30-29 lead that looked like it would win the game. But the Stamps came back and scored a TD of their own with 20 seconds left.

*****

Of the five playoff games this year (including the Grey Cup game), the Stampeders-Riders game is the only one played outdoors. From now on, the remaining three will be played in a dome.

Edited November 13, 2012 by GA Russell

[GA Russell]

Greg Xenakes Finals picks

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4542925

*****

Lowell Ullrich reports that the league is considering returning to its former policy of allowing players to try out for the NFL during their option year. This would allow Americans to play only one year in the league.

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/football/bc-lions/could+revive+option+year+rule/7536992/story.html#axzz2CEqoaNG2

[GA Russell]

I forgot to mention the obvious news that John Hufnagel chose Drew Tate to play for the Stampeders Sunday. Now it turns out that he broke his wrist during the game, and is out for the remainder of the year. So Kevin Glenn will get another chance. It would be great if he gets a chance to play in the Grey Cup to make up for the year he couldn't because he broke his arm in the Eastern Final.

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=409551

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Calgary/2012/11/15/20359771.html

[GA Russell]

Sean Fitz-Gerald Finals matchups

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/11/17/road-to-the-grey-cup-final-four-teams-get-set-to-do-battle/

[GA Russell]

Lowell Ullrich Finals picks

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2012/11/18/this-week-in-the-cfl-division-finals-edition/

[GA Russell]

Eastern Final:

Toronto Argonauts 27....Montreal Alouettes 20

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=409775

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/scores/final/boxscore.aspx?GAMEID=1082

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4544137

Upset!!! The Argos defense was strong all day. The Als were the better team in the first half, but the Argos outscored them 14-0 in the third quarter, and held on in the final minute to win.

Every year the Canadian writers say that there is pressure on the team from the city where the Grey Cup will be played to play in the game. IMO this is nonsense, as the Grey Cup is sold out every year. But this year, the home team will really be the home team, although fans from throughout the country will be there to watch the 100th Grey Cup game.

[GA Russell]

Western Final:

Calgary Stampeders 34....British Columbia Lions 29

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4544233

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/scores/final/boxscore.aspx?GAMEID=1083

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=409791

Another upset! Obviously not as big a surprise as the Argos winning, but all year long the Lions have been #1 in everyone's power rankings.

Pure and simple, Kevin Glenn outplayed Travis Lulay. The Western Final is not a good day for Lulay to have a sub-par game.

[John Tapscott]

The Argos are getting hot at the right time. Ricky Ray has been the league's best QB since returning from injury late in the season. Really seemed to catch fire after a lack-lustre start. He's on the same page as his receivers now (and Argos finally have some good ones; receivers have been a real problem area for them until this year.) The Ray deal shows you that sometimes it's OK to trade propsects for a veteran player, esp. a QB.

Haven't follwed the CFL enough this year to make an informed prediction about the Grey Cup. It should be a dandy; indoors, no weather issues. I well remember the last time the Argos played the Stamps in the Grey Cup (at least I think it was the last time). 1971- Calgary 14, Toronto 11, with running back Leon "X-Ray" McQuay fumbling the ball on a sloppy field just as the Argos were in good position for a tying field goal. Game over. Joe Theismann was the Argos QB, and they were heavy favorites. Time for the Argos to avenge that loss.

[GA Russell]

John, "Informed prediction" or not, I hope that you will again play the Grey Cup contest this year!

[Tom 1960]

What became of the injured Alouette player in yesterdays game who had to be carted off the field? It was pretty scarey watching him lay motionless on the field for quite some time.

[GA Russell]

What became of the injured Alouette player in yesterdays game who had to be carted off the field? It was pretty scarey watching him lay motionless on the field for quite some time.

Tom, Marc-Olivier Brouillette suffered a concussion, but is otherwise doing well.

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=409785