Jaime Stein
CFL.ca
Raise your hand if you thought that after six weeks of football the Hamilton Tiger-Cats would have more points than any team in the West Division.
Unless you are employed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, put your hand down.
I don’t think anyone outside of Steeltown felt the Ticats would be outgunning the West Division after six weeks. While the Ticats 4-2 record was plausible, that no team in the west is better than 3-3 is somewhat surprising.
Good on Bob O’Billovich and Marcel Bellefeuille for the new attitude they have established in Hamilton.
GOAL LINE STAND
I hate to revisit the same topic each week, but the BC Lions need to figure out their goal line offence quickly. Bringing in their backup QB Jarious Jackson is not the answer. He is cold. They have Martell Mallett. Buck Pierce is agile. Jackson’s INT in the opening quarter against the Riders was not pretty.
The Argos also proved they need to work on their goal line offence. They had three cracks against the Montreal Alouettes and couldn’t break the plane of the goal line. That led to Montreal’s first shutout since 1976 – in a twist of fate, that shutout 33 years ago was also against the Argonauts.
Not being able to score from the goal line doesn’t just cost points. It costs momentum. There are few plays more demoralizing in football than being stuffed on the one-yard line. Plus, it fires up the opposition.
POINTS OR EXPERIENCE
Sticking with the Argonauts goal line attempts; many fans were arguing that the Argos should have kicked a field goal and taken the points. I believe that the Argos made the right call trying to score a touchdown. The only thing a field goal would have done was break the shutout. At the end of the day, that’s inconsequential. The Argos need to get their offence rolling and trying for a touchdown was the best way to gain experience. Bart Andrus made the right call.
FOOTBALL… FOR REAL
Rookie James Yurichuk won’t show up on the score sheet with an assist from Friday night’s game, but his kick on a ball muffed by punt returner Gerran Walker led to a BC touchdown. Dribbling is a rule unique to the CFL and the linebacker out of Bishop’s University showed veteran poise chipping the ball ahead. It was eventually scooped up by O’Neil Wilson who ran in for the touchdown to give the Lions the lead at halftime.
An addendum to this story… it turns out that Jason Arakgi, the player who first touched the kicked ball for the Lions, was offside on the play because he was in front of the ball when Yurichuk kicked it. Regardless, it was a great heads-up play by Yurichuk.
BAGG JOB
Rob Bagg had a game to remember on Friday night in Vancouver. The Queen’s product (Bias Alert: Along with Clime and Cuthbert, I have a Queen’s connection having called football games for the Gaels) had a breakout game with two TDs on five catches for 120 yards.
Bagg had one of the greatest catches I have ever seen. It was 2003 in the OUA Semi-Final between Queen’s and Laurier. Queen’s was trailing, but driving into Golden Hawk territory. It was second down and long for the Gaels. Quarterback Tommy Denison dropped back and was searching for a receiver. As the pressure came, Denison unloaded over the middle to a streaking Bagg. Bagg made the catch and got absolutely run over. One of the biggest hits I have ever seen. Bagg lay motionless on the grass at Richardson Stadium, but he never let go of the ball. He was eventually helped off the field, but his catch kept the drive alive and Queen’s later scored.
Unfortunately, Queen’s lost the game in one of the craziest endings in CIS history – but that is another story for another day. Of note, CFLers Bryan Crawford (Toronto) and Ian Logan (Winnipeg) were also playing in that game.
CAPTAIN KIRK
Continuing with my Queen’s bias… Bob O’Billovich was familiar with defensive lineman Matt Kirk during the pair’s tenure in B.C. When Kirk became available this off-season, Obie brought Kirk to the ‘Cats. On Saturday, Kirk drew a couple of key penalties by the Esks because of his tenacity. However, his biggest contribution came on the Eskimos final drive of the game when he sacked Ricky Ray, snuffing out Edmonton’s final attempt at tying the game. The Ticats went on to win by a slim margin and improve to 4-2 on the year.
CLASSY CAHOON
One of the best aspects of the CFL is the history of the game. This year, we are celebrating the ‘60s including some of the great receivers of all time. Once in a while it is important to be reminded of the greatness that we are watching today. Ben Cahoon is a perfect example. In 30 years time we will be celebrating the 2000s and surely Cahoon will be one of the Alouettes players that fans will honour. Cahoon surpassed 12,000 yards receiving on Friday night and he continues to do it with humility and class. Cahoon is a great role model for young football players and we should take a moment to recognize his contributions to the game today.
RUN ROOKIE RUN
With all the talk of Avon Cobourne facing Jamal Robertson heading into Week #6, there is another running back battle heating up. BC’s Martell Mallett and Hamilton’s DeAndra’ Cobb have been tearing it up over the past few weeks and both backs have rocketed up the rushing charts. With their aggressive running styles, it will be interesting to see if these two can keep up the pace for the duration of the season.
THEY CALL HIM OLD SCHOOL
Sticking with Cobb, he has garnered the nickname “Old School” from his offensive line mates. The connection isn’t in reference to his tough running style, but to the fact that he is one of a very few number of skilled players in the CFL to play without gloves. The rookie running back prefers to handle the pigskin with his bare hands.
DID I HEAR BOOOOOOS?
Gotta love Hamilton fans. In Week #1 they were cursing Arland Bruce III for his Michael Jackson tribute. But those boooooos have turned into Bruuuuuuce and now #4 has become their favourite son. No other group of fans has such a love-hate distinction between their players and those of their opponents. Just ask Mike O’Shea.
HOLD ON
Not a great week for Patrick Kabongo of the Eskimos. He was called three times for holding on Saturday against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. One of those calls resulted in a Graeme Bell TD being called back. The Eskimos lost by a touchdown.
QUICK HITTER
What a great block thrown by Winnipeg’s Yvenson Bernard on Calgary’s Tray Blackmon in the third quarter of Saturday’s game to spring Fred Reid for extra yards. It’s always entertaining to see that kind of extra effort. In addition, Ed Tait from the Winnipeg Free Press informs us that Bernard is a good guy.
STARS OF THE WEEK #6
***** Alexis Serna: Yes, you really did see Alexis Serna
boot at 54-yard field goal on Saturday night. Good for him – after all the adversity he went through last year it is nice to see the Oregon State product experiencing success in 2009.
**** Eric Wilson: The Montreal defensive lineman (he also plays offensive line) recorded his first career touchdown on a pass from Adrian McPherson. Good job using creative plays to involve one of the big men.
*** Brent Johnson: The pride of Kingston, Ont. was the pride of the CFL on Friday night, willing the BC Lions to victory. “We’re sick of losing,” said the Lions defensive end. I’m sure the Rider QBs were equally sick of seeing Johnson.
** Nik Lewis: In his sixth season in the CFL, Lewis surpassed 6,000 yards receiving following his Week #6 effort. That puts him on pace to join some elite company. Plus, Lewis deserves credit for interacting with his fans. His contests rewarding followers on Twitter are entertaining (@nikel18).
* Jermain McElveen: He had three sacks to lead a Montreal defensive line that dominated the Toronto Argonauts en route to the team’s first shutout in 33 years.
