The Canadian Press
Hello, Jason Maas. No, you cannot borrow my Beats by Dre headphones for a sec. No, sorry. I know I’m not using them right now but that’s not the point. Let me look in my computer bag…. Here, I’ve got some old airline ear buds with a frayed wire so they cut in and out that I can lend to you. Enjoy.
Here are this week’s takeaways.
1. THERE IS NO JUSTICE
Travis Lulay could be finished for the season after suffering a knee injury against Montreal (The Canadian Press)
“No justice,” BC Head Coach Wally Buono said late on Friday night. And who could argue with that, given that the context of his comment was that quarterback Travis Lulay, one of the most universally liked people in the CFL had – just hours before – had his season ended with a knee injury on the first series of a game against Montreal. The dutiful Lulay, who never once publicly was heard to mumble a word of frustration after his starting job had been taken away by young hotshot Jonathon Jennings, had just been reinstated as the Lions’ starter in the week prior to the game.
“Here’s a guy that’s been through so much,” said Buono, shaking his head. “All of a sudden (he’s) back on top and it’s taken away from him again.” Does a patron saint of good-guy football players who deserve better exist? Because if they do, they were looking the other way at precisely the wrong time on Friday night.
2. YOU CAN’T TRUST KEVIN FOGG
Look, I don’t know what kind of a roommate he is. I have no evidence that he’d take your last beer from the fridge and then deny it, even as you hear the empty bottle rolling under the couch because he’d just sheepishly kicked it there when confronted. But I do know that Kevin Fogg is not to be trusted when he is back awaiting a return opportunity during a game.
It was his lying that helped the Winnipeg Blue Bombers return a Josh Bartel punt the distance, Mo Leggett scooping the ball on the right side of the field, while over in the middle, Fogg was drifting endlessly to his left, pretending that he was trying to circle underneath a ball that just wasn’t coming that way. Hat tip to Winnipeg Special Teams Coordinator Paul Boudreau for coaching up the unit to be ready for an opportunity like that, one that has to be executed on the fly as you can’t be certain as to just when you’d have a perfect chance to use it until that moment is unfolding. Oh, and it ain’t a touchdown if Leggett doesn’t make Saskatchewan’s Mike Edem miss the first tackle.
Bonus takeaway: Maurice Leggett did EVERYTHING right on Saturday.
3. C.J. GABLE IS REBORN
C.J. Gable has three touchdowns in two games since June Jones took over as head coach (The Canadian Press)
Eleven carries for 74 yards. One thirty-yard rip in the third quarter. Two touchdowns in the heavy, nasty slogging of goal line negotiation. Three catches for 28 yards, 26 of those yards after the catch.
Hamilton tailback C.J. Gable’s performance during Saturday night’s game against Ottawa was a key reason the Ticats won a second straight. Factor in his six rushes for 43 yards and a touchdown – as well as a couple of catches – against the Argos on Monday and you have “Employee of the Week” credentials for the 29-year-old veteran. And that’s something considering the double-threat back was relinquished to a role of diminishing importance this season, even being a healthy scratch at one time. You couldn’t find his rushing totals with sonar. But now? Salvation.
Not so long ago, C.J. Gable might have been a fumble away from a pink slip. Now, he is the face of resurgence and a reminder that sometimes all you need is a boss who believes in you.
4. THERE’S A LESSON FOR MONTREAL IN THAT LAST TAKEAWAY
In my Week 4 takeaways, I’d written that the Alouettes’ offence seemed to be getting on track and that, in my opinion, there was a very good reason for that. Tyrell Sutton who, like Gable, is a powerful, double-threat running back, had been worked hard in the Als’ 30-23 win over Calgary (Wait. What? The only team to beat Calgary so far this year hails from the East?). Things looked good back then but, recently, the Alouettes’ offence has been stalled like… like… like my efforts to come up with a witty comparison that would finish that simile. Which is to say… stalled. I mean, how long do I stare at my computer screen, trying to think of something? It ain’t happening, Landry. Move on. Where was I? Right. Tyrell Sutton.
Sutton had seventeen rushes in that win over Calgary, for 85 yards, and three catches for 22 yards. He’d been nicked up a bit in the following weeks but is in the line-up now, although he was handed the ball just seven times in Friday night’s lopsided loss in BC. Sutton had only six carries the week before and the Alouettes lost big to Ottawa.
Like Hamilton, the Montreal Alouettes just might reap the benefits of a reborn faith in their running back.
5. WINNIPEG FANS WILL LITERALLY REJECT YOUR GREEN-NESS
I’m not sure what Brandon Bridge expected when he made an attempt at leaping into the crowd after scoring a touchdown in the Banjo Bowl.
Perhaps he was pretty certain the Blue Bomber fans sitting there would react like an old man trying to send back soup at a deli, so he was not surprised in the least. Or maybe he figured “we’re all Canadian! We’re all fam!” No. When the Saskatchewan quarterback attempted to jump into the stands behind the end zone, just after scoring a leaping major, the Winnipeg fans sitting in his intended landing area did something that the Bombers’ defence could not do on the play. Stop him. Bridge was rebuffed by an emphatic “hell no” surge, a blue wave of rejection that sent him back to the playing surface with great velocity and second thoughts about the idea. Polite Canadians? I don’t think so, although I do not have actual proof that nobody in that group shouted “sorry!” as Bridge bounded away.
AND FINALLY…
I want a Grey Cup carved outta wood.
