Under normal circumstances, Page 4 would already be launching into another tirade about the news that Canadians will, once again, be heading to the ballot boxes for another federal election.
Chances are you’d be reading about how the polls all indicate that the top two parties are basically neck-and-neck and as a result, this election will be nothing more than a massive waste of tens of millions of the taxpayer’s dollars that will ultimately end in another minority government for one or the other.
You could also bet your boots that you’d be reading how, depending on which side of the political fence you stand on, that this election call is, for all intents and purposes, an admission by our ‘leader’ that he is either: a) sorely lacking in the managerial skills required for the job, or; b) a quitter.
After all, it was he who before the last election, campaigned up and down for fixed election dates and made it one of his first orders of business. Yet here we are just over halfway through his mandate and because he isn’t getting exactly what he wants handed to him on a silver platter, he’s breaking his own law by throwing in the towel and making us go through it all over again.
But we’re not going to waste ink dwelling on that mess because these are not normal circumstances.
Now that we’ve passed the mid-point in the season and are in the homestretch, let’s look at something that Canadians really care about at this time of the year…FOOTBALL!
With all due respect to Jim Sutherland who writes a killer CFL column for the Red Deer Advocate and from whom the editor stole the idea, here’s a quick ranking of each team from worst to best.
8) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2-8) – Some might suggest that ranking the Blue Bombers last in the CFL is a bit unfair considering they won the east last year and came within a first down of pulling off a huge upset in the Grey Cup game, but professional football always comes down to, ‘what have you done for us lately’, and the sad reality in Winnipeg is: not much. Quarterback Kevin Glenn seems to have lost his touch over the winter months and hasn’t gotten it back. The trade of their perennial all-star running back Charles Roberts to the B.C. Lions for another running back, that being Joe Smith, at least initially hasn’t netted the Bombers any results. Blowing a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter against Saskatchewan over the weekend and losing by three points certainly doesn’t help matters either.
7) Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-8) – While Winnipeg has beaten Hamilton twice this season, the Tiger-Cats still get a notch above, not so much for their play on the field, but simply because they have much more potential than Winnipeg. On the upside, they have some great running backs in Jesse Lumsden and Terry Caully and an emerging star of a quarterback in Ritchie Williams. On the down side however is the fact that the Tabbies are saddled with paying starting quarterback Casey Printers $500,000 per year who has basically done nothing since his arrival in the Steel City at the beginning of last season. If Hamilton can somehow rid themselves of that hefty hit on the payroll and sign a few key players, they just might have something, but it’ll still be a few years yet.
6) Toronto Argonauts (4-6) – The ‘Arnots’ and their fans probably felt this would be their year after they signed CFL MVP Kerry Joseph as their new starting quarterback in the off-season, but the move has backfired on the Double-Blue. Major holes in their offensive line have meant opposing linebackers have taken more than their fair share of shots at Joseph and it’s starting to show. Toronto was always known for their ferocious defense, but that has also vanished along with any sort of threat in the backfield. The Argos are making noise about signing Kenton Keith who was recently cut from the NFL, but without an offensive line to open holes, even he probably wont be able to help very much.
5) B.C. Lions (5-5) - Once the kingpins of the west – and the entire league for that matter, the Lions have fallen on hard times and now find themselves living in the division’s basement. They might have beaten up Hamilton pretty good this past weekend, but it’ll take a lot more than that for B.C. to get back to respectability. It’s almost a case of having too much talent out on the Left Coast and Lions management not knowing what to do with it. One thing’s for sure, shipping out Joe Smith for the previously mentioned Charles Roberts didn’t help and may very well hurt the team in the locker room. They’ve got explosive receivers in Geroy Simon and Jason Clearmont and solid quarterbacking with Jarius Jackson and Buck Pierce but for one reason or another, they just can’t seem to get over the hump this season.
4) Calgary Stampeders (6-4) - In Cowtown inconsistency continues to plague the Stamps. While the possess possibly the league’s most potent offense with Henry Burris and their receiving corps, the Stampeders have a tendency of coming up with a huge win one week, and then crapping the bed the next. They pulled off big wins over both Saskatchewan and BC, but followed it up by laying an egg at home against Edmonton a week later. While the Stamps have an adequate and average defense, they also have a tendency to shoot themselves in the foot at exactly the wrong time. Including this past weekend’s action, Calgary has given up over one-third of their overall points-against (98 of 265), in the fourth quarter including two losses to Edmonton and Winnipeg on the last play of the game and almost blowing a third in the last minute to Saskatchewan. They also might want to try a little humility while other teams are piling up late points on them too. Ever since Burris, Jeremaine Copeland, Ken-Yon Rambo, Nik Lewis et al arrived, they still seem much more interested in celebrating in the end zone rather than getting there in the first place.
3) Edmonton Eskimos (6-4) - With arguably the CFL’s best quarterback in Ricky Ray, the Eskies possess one explosive offense. Not only does he have a plethora of talented receivers to choose from - despite the loss of Jason Tucker, but Ray is also a threat to run and with back A.J. Harris, Edmonton can burn any team at any time for some serious yardage. A punishing defense only makes them more dangerous. With a break or two in the first half, the Evil Empire – a phrase built out of respect from other teams back in the day when they dominated the CFL for a decade or so, could easily be in the Number 2 spot, but in this case, that honour goes to…
2) Montreal Alouettes (7-3) - While the Alouettes may be the top team in the east under rookie head coach Marc Trestman, and have a solid and lethal quarterback in Anthony Calvillo when he’s on his game, they’ve lost their best player in Avon Cobourne, at least temporarily, who leads the team both in rushing yards and receptions. But the simple fact of the matter is that Montreal has won only once outside of their division – that being against BC, and could very likely end up as little more than fodder for the western representative to chew on at this year’s Grey Cup game. And that team will most likely be…
1) Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-2) - Despite suffering through more broken legs than chuckwagon day at the rodeo; and a whole lot of other major injuries, the Green and White proved that they are indeed the cream of the crop following a stunning come-from-behind win over the weekend that saw them peel off 20 unanswered points to wipe out a big Winnipeg lead for their eighth win of the season. Throw in the fact that they took the bold step of retooling their offense mid-season by replacing starting quarterback Marcus Crandell with the much more mobile Michael Bishop in yet another lopsided trade with the Argonauts, and it was obvious – at least against the Bombers, that the move has paid off in spades. Despite rumours that Keith is headed for TO, even stronger ones are suggesting he’ll be back in Riderville and with the dynamic Wes Cates in the backfield, they may not even need receivers! While offense may fill seats, no matter what the sport is – defense wins championships and that’s why the ‘Riders top this and every other list out there. The news doesn’t get much better for fans outside of the Rider Nation either as the team’s multitude of injured are starting to return and Saskatchewan will only get stronger as the season goes on.
Yes, the last two weeks of action in the world’s most exciting football league has seen fans enjoying some highly intense and thrilling end-to-end action, and it’ll only get better as the playoffs arrive.
Now if we could just figure out a way to keep the politicians (one in particular) and their brutally lame commercials after brutally lame commercials out of football fan’s faces for just a few hours on the weekends, it would be the cherry on top of an already tremendous season of gridiron action.
So the only thing left to say is, “Hey ‘leader’, GO AWAY ALREADY…we’re trying to watch the game!”