The Canadian Press
In sports, don’t we love rooting for the unexpected?
One of the delightful aspects of being a sports fan is when you find yourself in the middle of an upset. Think Leicester City winning the Premier League, Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson or how about the Ottawa REDBLACKS toppling the juggernaut Calgary Stampeders in the 104th Grey Cup?
Speaking of Ottawa, their playoff hopes are not dead yet. Like Mike Myers in Haddonfield or Jason Voorhees at Camp Crystal Lake, the REDBLACKS still have a glimmer of life within them.
So Hamilton, Montreal and Saskatchewan, you better keep eye on them.
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Yes, the odds are slim, they need to win their final three games and could use some serious help from Calgary, who still have two more games against the Roughriders. Ottawa’s gutty 24-18 win over the Montreal Alouettes means this conversation is allowed to happen as they’re still alive for a playoff spot.
That is remarkable when you consider Ottawa is currently on their second head coach and they are the only team in the CFL with three quarterbacks who have all attempted over 100 pass attempts each.
You can correctly point out their faint post-season hopes are linked to the fact that the East Division isn’t having a banner year and Saskatchewan’s offence is under performing, but it is also true that Ottawa deserves credit for staying alive this long despite only having the services of Jeremiah Masoli for four games and are only now beginning to feel settled with Nick Arbuckle at the helm, which we knew would take time as he did start the year as Edmonton’s number one pivot.
Throw in that the team’s second-leading passer has transformed into the league’s best short yardage running back and suddenly the idea of Ottawa still playing football after Halloween doesn’t feel crazy. But isn’t that what we want in our sports world? To have something so unpredictable be a part of it all?
I have nothing against predictable, I’ve watched every victory by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but sports are always better with a balance of what we know happening with a generous sprinkle of, “what the heck was that?!?”
If you live in Regina or in the surrounding area, I’m guessing I have not convinced you and I totally get it. But what about the rest of you? Do you need more reasons to give some love to our capital? How about the interim head coach Bob Dyce? His only other opportunity to be a head coach in this league was when he took over the 2015 Roughriders, who had started the year 0-9 under Corey Chamblin. Bob’s football journey goes back 30 years when he was coaching in the Canadian Junior Football League. An Ottawa playoff berth would go far towards advancing the coaching career of the 56-year-old Winnipeg native.
Nick Arbuckle didn’t light up the stat sheet, but he was deadly efficient on Thanksgiving Monday completing nearly 88 per cent of his passes for 229 yards, hitting seven different targets without committing a turnover. At the age of 29, Nick is nearing “nomad” status as Ottawa represents the fourth team he has started for since 2019. I, for one, would be thrilled if he finally had his moment to shine in this league.
Speaking off offence, for a team without a ton of wins, there are plenty of exciting players to root for. Jaelon Acklin is a fantasy stud, Darvin Adams is on his way to his third 1,000+ yard receiving season (his best play against Montreal was his “tackle” on Marc-Antoine Dequoy, denying the second-year defensive back his fourth interception of the season), and Monday’s leading receiver Justin Hardy.
So, Calgary, for the improbable to happen you’re going to have to do your part. A win this week against Hamilton could lead to the Tabbies and REDBLACKS having identical records, if Ottawa can finally get their first win on home field over Montreal.
Then for safety’s sake you will need to finish the season with back-to-back victories over Saskatchewan. This is not meant to be anti-Saskatchewan, if it was Edmonton who was fourth in the West, I would say the same thing.
In the end I’m not rooting against the West, I am just cheering for the unpredictable and I think we can all agree a West team making the crossover is something we have seen many times but an Ottawa playoff berth after the year they’ve had would be a startling conclusion to the 2022 season.
