Courtesy the Calgary Herald:
VANCOUVER - A skeptic would say the Calgary Stampeders should have stayed home and saved themselves the embarrassment.

Save on airfare, accommodation, per diem and just mail two points to the B.C. Lions.

After all, the Stamps have just one win in their past six starts and a 7-8-1 Canadian Football League record while their hosts have taken seven games in a row and already own a franchise-best 13-3-1 mark.

The Lions had 15 names on the West Division all-star team announced Thursday, while the Stamps had three.

But 42 men dressed in red aren’t listening to the negatives.

“I’m sure it’s perceived by people that we’re taking a knee,” said guard Jay McNeil, the only Calgary all-star to make the trip. “But guys are going out to play, and play hard.”

The Stamps raised eyebrows by choosing to rest running back Joffrey Reynolds, guard Bobby Singh, linebacker Brian Clark, slotback Nik Lewis, defensive tackle Randy Chevrier and punter Burke Dales. Quarterback Henry Burris travelled with the club, but won’t play. Ben Sankey will start.

These absences, combined with disparate records, make Calgary’s status as an eight-point underdog seem a tad generous.

“No one cares about how it looks,” said offensive tackle Jeff Pilon. “The reality is that guys are playing and we’re expecting the same out of them as everybody else. If you’ve been on this team all year and you’ve been practising you should come in and not miss a step.

“I hope B.C. thinks we’re going to come in and they’re going to walk all over us. The last few games we’ve had with them have been close.”

The Stamps are 0-2-1 against the Lions this season, but were in position to win two of the three.

B.C. will finish first in the West Division and have a bye to the Nov. 18 West final. Meanwhile, the Stamps are set to visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Nov. 11 for the division semifinal.

With their playoff appointments already scheduled, the Stamps and Leos head into tonight trying to win, but with different agendas.

“It’s definitely a meaningful game and it’s a tuneup for whoever we play, whether it’s Saskatchewan or Calgary,” said B.C. quarterback Jarious Jackson. “We’ll definitely go out here and try to execute and stay on par and keeping moving, because with that week off we don’t want to take a step backwards.”

The only Lions starter taking the night off is left tackle Rob Murphy, who played through minor injuries the past few weeks.

Jackson will start, followed by Dave Dickenson and Gino Guidugli.

All their first-stringers are expected to see plenty of action.

“I think this game has more importance to us than it does to Calgary,” said slotback Jason Clermont. “We’re of the mindset that we don’t want to have too much time off, while Calgary’s in the mindset that they don’t want to have too much workload.

“They want to rest their guys but still get enough work that they can be effective against Saskatchewan. It’s a fine line. You can’t go out there and tell guys to play at 75 per cent because somebody’s going to get hurt.”

Since this game doesn’t have massive significance for Calgary and so many starters are sitting, many folks are expecting a blowout.

But the Stamps still will put a lot of talent on the field and they’re getting paid for the night’s work.

“Why not go into any game with the mindset that you have the ability to win?” said Calgary head coach Tom Higgins. “Everybody will guarantee us that there’s no chance of us going in there and beating the B.C. Lions. Been there and done that, there’s no guarantee that it can’t happen.

“Why shouldn’t we be optimistic? If they put points on the board before we start the game, then it’s not fair. If we start the game and it’s 0-0 . . . ”

Anything’s possible.