The Canadian Press
Aloha, Chad Owens.
Nice to see you back doing your thing. Because, sure, it’s fun to watch your buddies surf but there’s nothing like shootin’ the curl and ridin’ the nose yourself, amma right, bro? Up top, buddy. You know what I’m talkin’ about. Pound it out (makes little explosion noise with mouth).
Alright, I’ve never surfed and when I got back up on a skateboard for the first time in thirty years I immediately clipped the car and fell over our recycling bin. YOLO, babe. YOLO.
Here are this week’s takeaways.
1. MARC TRESTMAN IS A WILD MAN
The coach did it for the second straight week. He opted to gamble on third and five against the Eskimos during a Week 17 game and he did it twice more against Winnipeg on Saturday, leaving the offence on the field for a third and six and a third and five, both times being in field goal range, both during the first half. In the third quarter, he went for it on third and more than two, from the Winnipeg 41-yard line.
Marc Trestman may fool some with his bookish looks, all button-downed and conservative-like, but I’m now on to him. I believe he owns a 1967 convertible Mustang, and that he regularly pops the top and takes it out to busy parking lots to do high-speed donuts. And does it with his left arm draped over the door, right wrist casually resting on top of the steering wheel, hand hanging down. Maybe even chewin’ on a tooth pick as he does it.
2. ADARIUS BOWMAN IS JUST FINE, THANKS
That was an emphatic statement game by big number four there, wasn’t it?
Sidelined by an early season hamstring injury, and likely hobbled by it even after he first returned to the line-up. Lost in the rise of Brandon Zylstra, too. Adarius Bowman’s 2017 campaign has been disappointing, his numbers waaaaay down from previous levels. In nine games prior to Saturday night’s comeback victory over BC, Bowman had averaged less than 33 yards on three receptions per game. He went six games without a touchdown.
Against the Lions, Bowman looked every inch the guy who gobsmacked us all the previous three seasons, pulling in nine passes for 136 yards and a major, with 40 yards of YAC in the mix.
Sorry to say this to all you secondaries out there: Yes, you need to worry about Adarius Bowman again.
Bonus takeaway: Mike Reilly is just fine, too, leaving those who were calling for his benching just a few short weeks ago to mutter “never mind” under their breath.
3. DEFENSIVE BACKS, YOU’RE UP
First things first: I hope Duron Carter’s sensational night on defence does something to boost his confidence, y’all. A brilliant pick-six can be just the thing to help a young man find a little of the extrovert in himself.
Second things second: Now I want Ed Gainey to line up at receiver for a game, because the defensive back club needs its own hero to storm the castle and show that they can flip the script, too. Ed Gainey is the perfect candidate to do it, too. He already has nine “receptions,” if you will, and that’s without even knowing the route ahead of time.
C’mon, Chris Jones. Got that one up your sleeve? If not, maybe you, Marc Trestman? It’d be another way to let loose your inner riverboat gambler….
4. THE CALGARY STAMPEDERS HAD BETTER BE CAREFUL
Last week I chronicled how the Stamps could lay an egg but still make an omelette anyway. This week, another egg, only this one was stolen by Carter and the Roughriders who picked it up and fired it angrily at the Stampeders’ front door. Took all their candy and smashed their pumpkin as well.
I do want to be fair to the Saskatchewan Roughriders here. So much of the talk around their win can be focused on Carter’s big, dramatic night. A splendid effort all around should not be relegated, however, and the ‘Riders had very few passengers in their upset blowout on the road. They’re heating up at the right time.
But, it can’t go without notice that the irresistible force that had been the Calgary football club has now been shown to be rather ordinary two weeks in a row. Is this loss to Sasky just what coach Dave Dickenson needs to snap the reins on his players’ focus in order to get them back in gear? Or are the Stamps cooling out at a very, very inopportune time?
This is what you’d call a late twist in the plot and the dramatic finish is coming up in the 2017 season’s final act.
5. JAMES WILDER: YOU WANT HIM AT YOUR COMPANY PICNIC
Toronto’s rookie running back seems to turn this neat little trick at least once a game; he pulls a would-be tackler for extra yards; a tackler that is hanging on to one of his legs. Wilder just hops along on the other leg, as he did on his first touchdown against Winnipeg, dragging Bombers’ defensive back T.J. Heath along the ground. Wilder’s power is impressive as he showed on that play and on one a little later in the game where he took a short pass from Ricky Ray and then turned and blasted through another Winnipeg defender, Brian Walker, on his way to a critical first down.
You want Wilder at your company picnic and you want to be his partner in the three-legged race. It doesn’t matter that you can’t keep up with him. He’ll pull you over the finish line and you’ll get a ribbon just for being a passenger. He’ll also sprint the length of the parking lot and tackle a co-worker who’s mistakenly taken your jacket, just – and I mean just – before he gets in his car.
AND FINALLY…
A horse named Flutie won the first race at Toronto’s Woodbine Racetrack on Saturday. It has a beautiful mane of hair, by the way, as did its namesake in his prime. However, Flutie ran in a straight line towards the finish line which was kinda un-Flutie-like. But then again it didn’t have to try to evade horses named Pless or Jurasin.
