After over three and a half weeks away, I’m back in Ontario at long last – this time as a married man. We had an absolutely fabulous vacation and an even better party – I had enough drinks and donairs in me that the wedding band insisted I had to come up and play a few tunes with them, which was hilarious, unexpected, and a wicked time. The best day imaginable. And to boot, the REDBLACKS even won. The cherry on top of an absolutely wonderful time.

Now, I will say that the blown engine on the drive home was a bit of a curveball, and did unfortunately prevent this article from going up in its usual Thursday timeslot, but the good news is that we’re home all in one piece, with all our stuff, including the leftover eight pounds of frozen donair meat and twenty liters of keg beer. Maybe the car is fixable, maybe it’s not, but at least the important stuff is sorted. So I’m choosing to look on the bright side of things.

Reality is going to hit me like a truck as I go back to the classroom… At least we’ve got LaboUr Day football to tide us all over.

In league news this week:

• Former Ottawa Rough Riders and Renegades owner Bernie Glieberman passed away on Monday at age 84. I’m not going to dance on his grave – I’m confident he was probably, on a personal level, a fundamentally decent human being – but to say that his ownership of two Ottawa CFL franchises, which both folded after his tenure, was anything other than an unmitigated disaster would be doing him a massive disservice. The bills were paid, but fans felt disrespected and his son Lonie was a clown as a GM. After he sold his ownership in the Ottawa franchise in favour of an ill-fated expansion franchise in Shreveport, Louisiana, the team folded under new ownership; in 2005, after the expansion Ottawa Renegades needed new ownership, he was inexplicably allowed back into the league to purchase (and ruin) the team a second time. I am glad that CFL football is once again doing overall well in Ottawa following the collapse of two teams, but it’s a reminder that it’s purely in spite of the Glieberman family, and much to do with strong local ownership that doesn’t try to bring in heavily brain-damaged kickers (Bjorn Nittmo, twice) and cocaine-addled linebackers (Dexter Manley), among the many faux-pas that occurred under his tenure.
• Star receiver Austin Mack signed a four-year extension with the Montreal Alouettes upon his return to the CFL last week; this is a wonderful endorsement of the direction of the team and league as a whole. In a time where most CFL player contracts are typically one or two years, with a very small percentage being three-year deals (typically given only to quarterbacks), a long-term deal like this one is really neat and I think sets up Montreal very well both now and in the long term. The team also signed WR Tyler Snead to a one-year extension through 2025.
• After a record-breaking season last year with the BC Lions, sack artist Mathieu Betts was a final training camp cut by the NFL Detroit Lions, and he signed back with his former team to finish out the 2024 season. With 18 sacks in 2023, Betts set the record for most sacks by a Canadian in a single CFL regular season; he’ll be a wanted boost to BC’s front seven through the second half of the year.
• The Ottawa REDBLACKS signed WR Rasheed Bailey to their practise roster; he’ll be bumped up to the active roster in short order. Most recently with the Toronto Argonauts to start the 2024 season, he was leading the team in receiving yards before becoming a surprise cut due to salary cap constraints for the team. Maurice Ffrench, who previously spent time with Ottawa and Edmonton, was also signed to the practise roster; I would imagine with injuries to Jaelon Acklin and Bralon Addison that we may see these two signings on the field fairly soon.
• An independent arbitrator finally issued a ruling on Montreal Alouettes DL Shawn Lemon, who was previously handed an indefinite suspension for gambling on CFL games, including those in which he played; after months of waiting, the suspension is allowed to stand, and it makes it the harshest penalty the CFL has ever imposed on a player. While gambling on your own games clearly warrants harsh punishment, it does leave me wondering a little bit why the league takes gambling violations more seriously than the treatment of women as employees, players and fans of the game of football; Chad Kelly may not necessarily have been convicted of formal charges, but he did settle out of court in order to compensate his victim, and nine games for such egregiously awful conduct feels light compared to what Lemon received for his own poor choices.

Onto the games!

WEEK 12 RECAPS

Saskatchewan 19 vs. Toronto 20: While the return of Chad Kelly to the field was undoubtedly a notable storyline from this game, especially considering all the talk around his egregious behaviour over the course of his career, it was instead surprising to see that the main takeaway from this tight matchup was the fact that the Argos won on a walkoff ROUGE! It’s been interesting to see how divided fans and media have been on the fact that Librium Hajrullahu’s kick missed the uprights but still travelled out the back of the end zone, preventing Mario Alford from returning it… some feel that an apparent miss shouldn’t have allowed Toronto to win, while others feel that the Argo kicker just played his odds conservatively and knew it was a tie game when he stepped up to kick. At any rate, controversy reigns, and the Riders continue to swoon mid-season.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Toronto

Hamilton 23 vs. Winnipeg 26: The Bombers had a scary moment early in this game when All-Star O-lineman Stanley Bryant was rushed to hospital due to illness and heatstroke, but rallied around his absence and held off the visiting Tiger-Cats to improve to 5-6 on the year. While Hamilton’s defence looked far better and played much more aggressively in their first game under Chris Jones as the team’s new defensive coordinator, it wasn’t to be enough; the Bombers managed to mount a late touchdown drive in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter to complete the comeback and send the home crowd home happy. Curious that the team went into prevent with so much time left; they’ve been bad at it all year, and their aggressiveness in the rest of the game seemed to be paying dividends.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

BC 27 vs. Ottawa 34: Nathan Rourke’s second start with the Lions was a little better than his first one, but it’s hard to win on the road, and especially hard to do so when you have essentially no O-line to speak of. The Lions are imploding because of this, and when you have less than three seconds to get rid of the ball, it usually doesn’t really matter who your quarterback is. Credit to the REDBLACKS for yet another strong home performance – the turnaround this year is pretty remarkable, and it came off yet another strong full-team performance. The D bent but didn’t break, and rookie receiver Nick Mardner had a pair of touchdowns to lead the way in the Ottawa passing attack. The Lions also need to improve significantly at tackling – they’re the league’s worst team in regards to allowing yards after the catch, and it showed significantly. That’s now five straight losses for the Lions… yeesh.

PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: Ottawa

Edmonton 17 vs. Montreal 21: The Alouettes were down 17-6 in the first half as Cody Fajardo had to work out some rust after four weeks away with a hamstring injury, but he came to life in the second half and the Als rallied to take back the lead and totally shut down the Elks’ offence in the final two frames. With McLeod Bethel-Thompson starting at QB for the second straight game due to Tre Ford’s ongoing rib injury, the Edmonton offence lacked the same explosiveness and trickery that we’ve become accustomed to. The Elks were missing RB/KR Javon Leake, who’s looked incredible in his introduction into the regular offensive lineup in recent weeks, but they did have RB Kevin Brown back after several weeks away. Edmonton unfortunately couldn’t engage the run game as effectively as they hoped, and the Als deserve huge credit for their halftime adjustments in this one. At 18-1 in their previous 19 games played, this is the best results over that number of games played in CFL history. The Als sure are something special this year.

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Montreal

BYE: Calgary (5-5)

WEEK 13 PREVIEWS

Ottawa (7-2-1) vs. BC (5-6), Saturday, August 31st, 7:00 PM EDT at Royal Athletic Park, Victoria, BC (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): It’s Touchdown Pacific, and the provincial capital of British Columbia, Victoria, plays host to a CFL game featuring the Lions and REDBLACKS. The Lions have always had a small but proud diehard fanbase on Vancouver Island, some of whom will take the ferry for every Lions home game in Vancouver; how fun for this crew to finally have an opportunity to watch their team much closer to home. The novelty factor of Touchdown Atlantic games in Nova Scotia in previous seasons have gone over well, though they haven’t led to any progress on a tenth franchise being added out east; for Lions owner Amar Doman, this game is less about exploring new markets but connecting with portions of their own in a more significant manner. The Lions are also hosting the Grey Cup, and fan expectations are high; this mid-season swoon is not what they need right now in a West Division that is more wide open right now than it has been in many, many years. For the roughly 10,000 fans who will be in attendance for this game, I hope it’s a great one; Victoria and Vancouver Island are stunningly beautiful, and the setting makes for a great backdrop to a key game in the Leos’ season.

PICK: Ottawa

Winnipeg (5-6) vs. Saskatchewan (5-5-1), Sunday, September 1st, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): While Winnipeg has routinely dominated their fierce rivalry with Saskatchewan in recent seasons, the Riders snuck out a surprise overtime win in last year’s Labour Day Classic. After a strong start by the Riders and weak one by the Bombers to the 2024 season, their fortunes have seemingly reversed in recent weeks, and Winnipeg now sits just half a game back of Saskatchewan for the division lead. It’s true that their offence isn’t what it was, but the key to victory for the Bombers lies in their ever-ferocious defence. Trevor Harris made his return last week after being laid up for six weeks due to injury, and if he finds his sea legs after the Argos game, the home crowd could well go home feeling satisfied for the second straight year. At any rate, this rivalry is likely now much more close than it has been in recent seasons.

PICK: Winnipeg

Toronto (6-4) vs. Hamilton (2-9), Monday, September 2nd, 2:30 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): The Tiger-Cats are a sad-sack team this year. Despite some recent success in their Labour Day Classic rivalry with the Argos, I don’t like their chances this time around. The issue with the Tabbies is their utter lack of ability to defend meaningfully; new DC Chris Jones has a Herculean task to rebuild that unit in front of him. Until that happens, this team is going nowhere. I am also curious to see if the Argos can continue the momentum they’ve been on as of late; last week’s win was an extremely close one, and while it’s always nice to add another number in that column, I can guarantee that they don’t just want to sneak past their territorial rivals this week; they want to send a message and obliterate them on a special day. Also, Chad Kelly is a dirtbag and shouldn’t be in the league, but as an accurate passer he will unfortunately likely help the Argos a lot against such a crappy secondary.

PICK: Toronto

Edmonton (3-8) vs. Calgary (5-6), Monday, September 2nd, 6:00 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): Our third and final Labour Day Classic matchup features two more provincial rivals. Edmonton faced league-leading Montreal last week and lost a relatively close game, while Calgary was on a bye. The Stamps are well aware that if Tre Ford is back and good to go that this Elks team is far superior than what their record indicates; they’re only two games back with seven remaining in the season. The Elks can certainly score when they get in a rhythm, particularly when Tre Ford is healthy, but they continue to be a work in progress on the defensive side of the ball. For a QB like Jake Maier, who’s second in the league in passing yards despite having a relatively pedestrian season compared to Stamps greats like Henry Burris or Bo Levi Mitchell, there’s opportunity to use a deep ball or two to pick on Edmonton a little bit. I hope especially in this holiday closer that we see both teams channel their inner Rex Grossman as much as possible. Calgary will also have starting RB Dedrick Mills back in the lineup after missing the last few weeks due to personal reasons.

PICK: Calgary

BYE: Montreal (10-1)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Mitchell, HAM – 3036
2. Maier, CGY – 2624
3. Collaros, WPG – 2483

Passing TDs

1. Mitchell, HAM – 19
2. Maier, CGY – 14
3. Adams, Jr., BC – 14

Rushing Yards

1. Oliveira, WPG – 809
2. Stanback, BC – 717
3. Carey, TOR – 646

Receiving Yards

1. McInnis, BC – 954
2. Hardy, OTT – 804
3. Hollins, BC – 792

Defensive Tackles

1. Morgan, EDM – 74
2. Beverette, MTL – 71
3. Wilson, HAM – 67

Sacks

1. Johnson, SSK – 6
2. Ceresna, TOR – 5
3. Johnson, MTL – 5

Interceptions

1. Milligan, SSK – 6
2. Houston, CGY – 4
3. Amos, TOR  – 4

Field Goals

1. Ward, OTT – 35
2. Castillo, WPG – 34
3. Whyte, BC – 32

PICK POOL

I have a target on my head now, I think. I suppose I’ll have to learn to live with it??

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Enjoy the games, everyone.