Courtesy Stan Peters of CFL Digest:

This is first of many articles by Stan Peters, a hardcore stamps fan who has joined the crew at CFL Digest. Enjoy!

Good Gawd, what a looong off-season!

Especially here in Cowtown, because every street, every office, and every barroom is populated with Riderfans who’ve waited oh so long to gloat, and they’re doing a fine job of it so far.

But, come Thursday, the slate is clean and the gloves are off, and (as always, I know) there’s reason for optimism for fans of the Red and White.

The acquisition of one John Hufnagel could well be the most significant development in Calgary since Doug Flutie came to town, and those of us who believe this, can’t wait to see what kind of an impact he will have.

Huff has shown that he can harness a QB and point him in the right direction, and that is the one thing that Henry Burris has yet to have on his side. When a heavyweight scrap broke out on the last of the grueling two-a-days, he also demonstrated that unlike his predecessor, (God love ‘em,)
he can crack the whip, and guys twice his size will retreat to their locker-room stalls with their tails between their legs.

Last week’s re-signing of Ken-Yon Rambo solidifies one of the best receiving corps in the league, Joffrey Reynolds is healthy, and only ranked third in the CFL because of a lack of touches. There’s some serious depth behind him in Simonton and newcomer Demitris Summers, who sticks after an awesome camp. Speaking of depth, an out-of-bounds cheap shot on Hank this year, means Dave Dickenson gets into the game. To understand the impact of this - see Akili Smith.

Camp and exhibition action saw surprising execution and determination on the part of the offensive line and the entire defense - the two biggest question marks, and two areas that many others in the CFL are hopefully assuming they can exploit. Let’s face it - these two areas could only be better than they were in 07, with nowhere to go but up.

But - camp is camp, and exhibition is exhibition, and come about 11 pm Mountain Standard Time Thursday night - we should have a much better gauge on which to base our optimism and expectations.