Courtesy CFL Digest:

How were your week 1 picks?

Were you as surprised as most of us watching last week’s action? Outside of Calgary I don’t know if anyone picked the stamps to hand it to the lions. The lions looked like a team uninterested. On top of that there is a big question mark to who the quarterback will be that tries to lead this football team. Who knows who is going to be taking snaps in the days to come. Buck Pierce is easily the better of the two quarterbacks but can’t stay healthy while Jarious Jackson’s record as a starter last year was flattering at best. There is no doubt this team has a wealth of talent but if Pierce is damaged goods and Jackson continues to be mediocre they could be looking up at team’s like Calgary and Saskatchewan.

Destined for last place?

In other news, the Edmonton Eskimos still can’t find a way to win football games. You can’t give up 18 4th quarter points and expect to win games. I’m officially on Danny Maciocia watch. I’d be surprised if he lasts through July. The Eskimos have a long tradition and losing isn’t part of it. Better start getting that resume ready Danny.
Speaking of disappointing, the Hamilton Tiger Cats forgot to show up to their home opener. The team had such high hopes going into the season this year, but after a rather embarrassing defeat at the hands of the average at best Montreal Alouettes it appears Ti-Cat fans might be in for another long season of disappointments. Other than the gun sounding to end the game the only bright spot was Hamilton’s Markeith Knowlton who had 14 tackles on defense. Hamilton sports writer Ken Peters thought the Cats had a legit shot to start the season 3-0 but judging their performance Thursday and taking on Toronto and Saskatchewan in the next two weeks, 0-3 seems more and more likely.

Ready to Repeat?

Over in Saskatchewan the big question was quarterback. Could Marcus Crandell be the #1 guy? Fred Perry didn’t think so. He publicly took shots at the rider pivot and former teammate prior to their showdown Saturday saying “Crandell is nothing better than a backup“. To bad it was Perry looking more like the backup Saturday afternoon in Regina. He had only a single tackle and was completely invisible throughout the game. Crandell on the other hand threw a pair of TD’s and other than maybe Henry Burris and Anthony Calvillo was the best performing quarterback all weekend. Much like his performance in the game, Fred Perry was invisible in the locker room after the game for comment.

Question?:

Did that Argo team look like one of the best assembled teams the CFL has ever seen Friday? We sure don’t think so but just last week Mike O’Shea predicted a 15 win season in Toronto. Yes, you just read that correctly, a 15 win season. In my opinion if you win 15+ games in the regular season you can be considered one of the best teams the league has ever seen. Were the Argos bad Friday night? No. But they sure didn’t do anything close to make this fan believe they can win 15 regular season games. Unless that offensive line has major improvements in the weeks to come the Argos are going to be in a dog fight every week to pull out wins.

Things that make you shake your head in disgust:

Ken-Yon Rambo made a circus catch the other night. Too bad the only reason it stood up was because of a circus call. Like most fans I was shocked it counted as the replay clearly showed the ball squeaked out onto the carpet as he was coming down to the ground. Can you imagine if a call like that stands up in the 4th quarter of a tight Grey Cup game because of the way the rulebook is written? Sad. This issue needs to be addressed right away. Use the same rule the NFL does in these situations. At least that rule is cut and dry and there is no question to whether the player has possession or not.

Last word:

Overall it’s great to have football back for another year. Week 2 will bring us better football as teams will have more reps in practice and be that much more familiar with things as they get used to playing at full speed again. I am looking forward to another great week of football and to see what teams start separating themselves from the pack.