The Canadian Press
Hello, Andre Proulx. “There is no penalty on the play, it was an accident,” was my favourite moment of the past weekend. I do fear that you’ve opened yourself up to every flagged player pleading for mercy because “it was an accident, I’m sorry!”
Here are the Week 20 takeaways:
1. The BC Lions offer the best sports entertainment in Vancouver right now.
With the Canucks enduring an eight-game losing streak and finding the net about as easily as Columbus found India, the Lions showed on Saturday night that they have your West Coast entertainment dollar well looked after right now.
All three phases of their game were humming in their wipeout over Saskatchewan, with spectacular plays coming fast and furious. Doing that in front of their biggest crowd of the season was a good thing; Y’all should go back for the Western Semi-Final against the Blue Bombers because that is gonna be a fun one.
Right now, BC’s offence is as wide open and impressive to watch as Edmonton’s or Calgary’s. Their defence is as aggressive and eye-popping as Winnipeg’s and you can say the same about their special teams. There’s entertainment busting out all over the field, and they’ve added another attraction in the ageless wonder. Which brings me to my next point…
2. Place kickers don’t need to practice so much.
Paul McCallum made all four of his field goals during the Lions win on Saturday night (The Canadian Press)
At least not if they previously kicked in the league for more than two decades.
BC’s Paul McCallum came out of retirement this week and suited up in Saturday night’s win over Sasky. The 46-year-old looked smooth and confident, going 4-for-4 in the field goal department and 2-for-2 in the convert department. He got a nice, easy one for his first attempt, from 24 yards but had one of those finicky 44-yard attempts on his second and was money.
Asked if he’d kicked while he was retired, McCallum reported that he had not, other than dribbling around a soccer ball with his daughter. That’s all you need, veteran hoofers. That and, apparently, some hot yoga.
3. Winston Venable doesn’t know the definition of the word “meaningless.”
Winston Venable sacks Tiger-Cats’ quarterback Jeff Mathews during the game on Saturday afternoon (The Canadian Press)
The veteran Alouettes linebacker played at full speed on Saturday, in Montreal’s win over Hamilton, despite the game having no influence on the standings for either team.
Venable lunged, looped, sprinted and stormed every area of the field and pancaked anyone and everyone that moved, tallying six defensive tackles and another one on special teams, with two sacks stirred in for good measure. His totals were impressive enough without considering the sheer force of each of those hits.
His open field takedown of receiver John Chiles was textbook. No, make that textbooks, plural. One would be a football how-to. The other would be an instructional on flattening metal with a hammer and anvil.
4. James Franklin is ready for the next stage in his progression.
We already know that Edmonton quarterback James Franklin can chew up the Toronto Argonauts’ defence. He did that last year in the first start of his CFL career. The impressive Edmonton sophomore showed that the future continues to look bright with another destruction of the Toronto ramparts, taking advantage of the worst pass defence in the CFL.
Franklin did what he had to do, which was not overthrow perpetually wide open receivers, while having ample time to set up and sling in the pocket on the way to a four-touchdown day in Edmonton’s win. The way Toronto’s defence played, this test was akin to parallel parking on an empty street. Franklin has, obviously, all the tools to be great in this league and is likely to be solid and probably more but we need to see him against tough competition before we get to really gauge how that development has come along. Can’t wait.
5. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are feeling good heading for the playoffs.
With the seconds winding down during their Friday night win over Ottawa, a quartet of Bombers’ defenders – Euclid Cummings, Scott Padric, Shayon Green and Jamaal Westerman – hammed up their camera time on the sidelines by singing Rick James’ “Super Freak.” Sure, the Winnipeg defence was taking on an Ottawa offence jammed with new guys. Still, it beats the alternative and a loss to an Ottawa B squad would’ve been a blow to the confidence heading for post-season. So, go ahead and sing.
Do you guys take requests? ‘Cause I’d love to hear you do “Afternoon Delight.”
And finally: Brandon Whitaker had a season’s total of 992 rushing yards before Argos’ head coach Scott Milanovich took a timeout with 30 seconds left in the game and after Edmonton took a knee on first and second down. Normally, I’d prefer a coach not take a timeout as the clock drained in a blowout, but Whitaker got the ball three more times to get over the 1,000 yard mark. In that case, I’d say it was the right thing to do.
