2025 @CFL hot stove league

[GA Russell]

Thanks for your help, BClug!

Lots of news to catch up on. I'll try to take it in chronological order.

But first I'll tell you something funny. Saturday I was listening to the Nebraska-San Jose State game on Sirius on my drive back home. San Jose State put up a very good fight, and it wasn't until the fourth quarter that Nebraska was able to put some distance between them.

The Nebraska announcer said something like, "As I've said before, when a team can have a ten point lead with five minutes to go in the game, the game is pretty much over." Can you imagine a CFL announcer saying that? I pity the American rules football fan who thinks that a ten point lead with five minutes to go is safe!

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Now let's begin with a link to the Argos' 34-31 victory over the Ticats Labor Day.

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4177156

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In a blockbuster deal, the Bombers sent Charles Roberts to the Lions for Joe Smith. Roberts is a future Hall of Famer. Smith led the league in rushing last year.

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4177239

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/fo...p-4814373c.html

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Dave Dickenson played more than 30 minutes on Labor Day, but was pulled because of dizziness. Nobody knows on what play the concussion occurred. That's how delicate the guy is. So the Stamps put him on the nine game disabled list, and you have to think that his career is over.

The Stamps signed Ben Sankey to replace him.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...f6-1dcbb4294ef8

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Cal...6654211-cp.html

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Fred Williams Week 11 preview

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4177801

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Calgary Stampeders 38....Edmonton Eskimos 33

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4177997

The Stamps avenge their Labor Day loss.

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British Columbia Lions 35....Hamilton Tiger-Cats 12

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4178126

The Lions are in last place in the West, but at this point I can't imagine them (or whoever finishes last in the West) not crossing over for the Eastern playoffs.

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Montreal Alouettes 45....Toronto Argonauts 19

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4178351

Was this Rich Stubler's last game as head coach?

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Saskatchewan Roughriders 34....Winnipeg Blue Bombers 31

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4178413

What a game! The Bombers had a 17 point lead in the fourth quarter. The Riders then scored 20 unanswered points to win the game with a field goal on the last play of the game. Take that, NFL!

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The Ticats fired Charlie Taaffe today, and replaced him with offensive coordinator Marcel Bellefeuille.

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4178544

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Ham...6700831-cp.html

[GA Russell]

Here's a surprise. The Bombers this afternoon traded Tom Canada to the Ticats for Zeke Moreno.

I thought that both of those guys were valued by their clubs, so I am surprised that each team would let their guy go.

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

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Win...6705141-cp.html

Edited September 9, 2008 by GA Russell

[B. Clugston]

Welcome back GA!

Matt Dunigan was on TSN today saying that the Argos clearly need to go in a different direction and essentially saying Stubler should have been fired last week. He also said Casey Printers is playing too much like an NFL quarterback and wonders why it's taken Printers so long to realize this.

[GA Russell]

The Argos fired Rich Stubler today, and replaced him with...(wait for it) Don Matthews!

Apparently the players didn't like Stubler. Players have always loved playing for Matthews. It's the press who hates him.

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

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Tor...6710706-cp.html

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The Tom Canada deal fell through. Canada has a spleen problem.

The Ticats have agreed to accept the Bombers' first round pick for next year in exchange for Zeke Moreno. They also get the rights to a guy on the Bills' practice roster.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Win...6715266-cp.html

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

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The teams' taxi squads have increased from seven to twelve for a month, to accomodate the NFL cuts.

The Argos have signed two old guys who were NFL first round picks years ago: Duane Clemons (1996) and Kenyatta Walker (2001).

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Tor...710291-sun.html

[GA Russell]

Two games tonight, and two tomorrow night.

Fred Williams Week 12 preview:

http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=s...aspx?id=4179225

[GA Russell]

Winnipeg Blue Bombers 39....Toronto Argonauts 9

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4179314

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

Milt Stegall entered the game 16 yards behind Allen Pitts' career record for most pass receiving yards. His first catch was a 16 yard TD pass, so that tied the record. His second catch was a 92 yard pass and run TD catch to break the record. Some day, huh?

Kerry Joseph stunk the joint out. He threw 3 ints in the first half. I'm sure everyone in the stands was wishing that the Argos hadn't given away Michael Bishop, considering how well he has done in Saskatchewan.

Don Matthews had told the players that he didn't owe anyone on the team anything, and that he considered this game to be a tryout for everyone. So I have to think that there will be some changes made before the next game.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Football/article/497785

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I'm now listening to the Stamps-Als game. With the score tied at 10 and less than a minute to go in the half, the Stamps score a TD to take a 7 point lead. The Als go two and out, and the Stamps have the ball on the Montreal 52 with time for one play. Henry Burris heaves it up into the endzone, and Johnson catches it while covered by three guys!

[GA Russell]

Calgary Stampeders 41....Montreal Alouettes 30

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

The Stamps had a big lead after three. The Als scored 20 points in the fourth to make the score respectable. Considering how much better the Als are than the rest of the East, it looks like we might see an all Western Grey Cup game.

Henry Burris passed Peter Liske for team career passing yards, now trailing only Doug Flutie. I had Liske's bubble gum card when he was a rookie with the Jets. The next year the Jets signed Joe Namath, and it was good-bye Liske!

[GA Russell]

The Als have a player named Imho (pronounced "ee-moe") who had a decent game last night, considering that the Als didn't look very good.

No truth to the rumor that next year they'll sign people named Ymmv and Fwiw!

[GA Russell]

Edmonton Eskimos 38....Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33

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

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4179511

Great game! Very little defense except for the many interceptions. I think that Ricky Ray threw 4 ints. Casey Printers threw 3 ints in the first half alone. Former Ticat Jason Goss had 3 ints, running 2 back for TDs.

Tough loss for the Ticats. They took a 2 point lead with two minutes to go in the game, but couldn't hold on.

[GA Russell]

British Columbia Lions 28....Saskatchewan Roughriders 23

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ory/GlobeSports

Decent game. Buck Pierce had a pretty fair game for the Lions. Michael Bishop never got going for the Riders. The Riders' D kept them in the game.

Edited September 14, 2008 by GA Russell

[GA Russell]

Don Matthews has benched Kerry Joseph!!!! He'll be replaced by Cody Pickett (who?).

Everybody knew that Matthews would make some changes, but who would have expected this?

The Argos also signed Tim Strickland today. I had thought that his career was over. Maybe after this week it will be.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Tor...6772326-cp.html

[B. Clugston]

Don Matthews has benched Kerry Joseph!!!! He'll be replaced by Cody Pickett (who?).

Everybody knew that Matthews would make some changes, but who would have expected this?

The Argos also signed Tim Strickland today. I had thought that his career was over. Maybe after this week it will be.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Tor...6772326-cp.html

Good ol' Don Matthews. That's hilarious.

[GA Russell]

Ron "The Little General" Lancaster has died.

The first CFL game I attended was in Hamilton in August of 1976, with the Ticats hosting the Roughriders. Lancaster was the Riders' quarterback. He went on to win the Schenley Award that year, as well as lead the Riders to the Grey Cup game and a last minute loss to the Rough Riders (the last Grey Cup Ottawa has won).

I had the pleasure of meeting him, I think it was at the 1984 Hall of Fame induction game in Hamilton, when Jake Gaudaur, Terry Evanshen and Joe Kapp were inducted. Real nice guy. As I recall, he was analyzing the CBC games with Leo Cahill at that time. I saw those telecasts at sports bars on occassion, and really enjoyed them.

As a coach, he was one of the biggest surprises ever for me. He coached the Riders to two terrible last place finishes and was fired. I figured that was the end of his coaching career. But about fifteen years later, I was surprised that his old friend and pass receiver Hugh Campbell hired him to coach the Eskimos, and he led them to a Grey Cup win. He then moved on to Hamilton and led the Ticats to a Grey Cup win.

He was one of the greatest personas in the history of the Canadian league, and I'm sure that everyone will miss him. RIP

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4180380

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

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Ham...6804261-cp.html

[B. Clugston]

Lancaster was a great character. I fondly remember him as a broadcaster and have childhood memories of him as a QB. RIP. Another huge loss to the league.

[GA Russell]

Fred Williams Week 13 preview

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4180515

[GA Russell]

Winnipeg Blue Bombers 25....Hamilton Tiger-Cats 23

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4180680

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

The Ticats would have tied it with less than a minute to go with a short field goal, and they blew it with a bad snap from centre. The Ticats have now lost 10 games this season. A team can make the playoffs at 8-10, but I would say never at 7-11 since the crossover began. So one more loss for the Ticats and that will be it.

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Doug Flutie, Pinball Clemons, Mike Pringle et al. are being inducted into the Hall of Fame this weekend.

http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=s...aspx?id=4180771

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ory/GlobeSports

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/New...6820526-cp.html

[GA Russell]

Calgary Stampeders 34....Toronto Argonauts 4

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ory/GlobeSports

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4180891

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Gam...6827331-cp.html

Pretty grim. I listened to the Argos broadcast of the game, and the announcers commented on the idea that the first place Als are now the fifth best team in the league. I attended my first CFL game in 1976, and I believe that the Western Division has been superior to the Eastern every year since then.

The Stamps are in good shape. They are now tied for first with the Riders, and they have coming up two games against the Ticats and one more against the Argos.

The Stamps were my pre-season pick to win the Grey Cup, but of course pre-season analyses aren't worth too much in the CFL, the way things change so much over the course of the year. For example, I liked them because of their QB tandem of Burris and Dickenson. Well, that's over!

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British Columbia Lions 27....Saskatchewan Roughriders 21

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

Great game, but with a huge number of turnovers. Michael Bishop was pulled late in the first quarter in favor of Darian Durant, who is now back from his rib injury.

Paul McCallum kicked six field goals, one short of the team record set twice by Lui Passaglia.

This time out, the Riders lost centre Jeremy O'Day to an MCL injury. That gives them 21 serious injuries, the same number as the points they scored tonight.

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If the Eskimos win Sunday, they will move into a tie for first place with the Riders and the Stampeders.

[GA Russell]

I forgot to mention a few things about the Sask-BC game last night.

The Riders are still in first place (tied), but they have now lost four of their last six games.

With the onset of autumn, the Saskatchewan winds were kicking up. I love those games played in Regina when its windy! It's not uncommon for kicking records to be set with the wind at your back, and for punts to go straight up in the air and come down at the scrimmage line when you've got the wind in your face.

There was a bad call against the Riders which was replayed on the scoreboard. A few fans behind the BC bench started throwing beer cans and coins at the players. Wally Buono briefly took his team away from the bench area.

This sort of thing can get ugly quickly if the ushers don't handle the situation immediately. I didn't know there was any ballpark left in North America that allows beverage cans in the stands.

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

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Montreal Alouettes 40....Edmonton Eskimos 4

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

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4181065

The Eskimos didn't show up. This may have been the worst performance by any team this year.

Ricky Ray was eventually lifted for Jason Maas.

[GA Russell]

The Ticats have signed Kenton Keith.

I guess this means that they have given up on Jesse Lumsden, who gets injured far too often for a running back.

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

[GA Russell]

The Argos also signed Tim Strickland today. I had thought that his career was over. Maybe after this week it will be.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Tor...6772326-cp.html

The Argos cut Tim Strickland today.

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

[GA Russell]

We lost another one today. Ralph Sazio has passed away. RIP

I met him and his wife at the 1978 Grey Cup game. He was a very nice gentleman. At the time, he was the president of the Ticats.

The first CFL game I saw on TV was the 1962 Grey Cup game on Wide World of Sports. I believe that Ralph was the Ticats' head coach that game.

I believe that the Argos' hiring him away from the Ticats was the turning point for the team, but in a bad way. Ralph was a football man, and I don't think that he appreciated how important promotion is. Prior to his joining the team, the Argos stunk every year, almost always missing the playoffs and finishing last, yet they sold out CNE Stadium, and along with the Als would have to share revenue with the other seven teams in the league. When Ralph joined the Argos, they became winners, and the attendance dropped through the floor.

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

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Fred Williams Week 14 preview

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4182012

David Naylor Week 14 preview

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

[GA Russell]

I should add that Ralph's Canadian Press obituary is clearly inadequate. I'm surprised that they didn't have a lengthy one already written up. I'll plan to post what I find tomorrow.

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Winnipeg Blue Bombers 30....Edmonton Eskimos 23

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

While the rest of America was watching the debate, I was listening to one of the most exciting games of the year!

However, one of the reasons it was so close was all the miscues. Alexis Serna missed three makeable field goals. Jamie Stoddard dropped the snap on a convert. Ricky Ray lateralled to a lineman who dropped the ball and let the Bombers recover.

The Bombers have now won three in a row, and for the moment are in second place with five wins.

[GA Russell]

With Ralph's passing, that means that we have lost four greats (all of whom I was fortunate enough to meet) in 2008 - Jake Gaudaur, Bob Ackles, Ron Lancaster and now Ralph Sazio. We also lost Leif Petterson.

Fred Williams says here that Ralph took over as head coach of the Ticats in '63. I guess that means that Jim ("We'll waffle 'em.") Trimble was the Ticats' coach for the '62 Grey Cup game.

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4182153

I should have known that Dan Ralph could be counted on to provide a worthy obituary for Ralph:

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Football/article/507402

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Calgary Stampeders 44....Toronto Argonauts 16

http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=s...aspx?id=4182312

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Gam...6905796-cp.html

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

The Argos were in it until Dominique Dorsey was injured. After that it was all Stamps.

[GA Russell]

British Columbia Lions 40....Hamilton Tiger-Cats 10

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

The Ticats were never in it. Rookie QB Quinton Porter started and played the whole game for Hamilton. The Lions had 10 sacks, including 3 by Cameron Wade, who will probably go to the NFL next year.

Lions third string QB Zac Champion came in late, making his first CFL appearance, and threw a TD pass.

[GA Russell]

Montreal Alouettes 37....Saskatchewan Roughriders 12

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

The Als clinched second place in the East. One more win and they will clinch first. Pretty good for a team many expected to finish last.