Morning-After Thoughts (Week 3)

Another week is in the books; nineteen more to go before we crown a Grey Cup champion. A lot of things happened in the four games this weekend. This is the first week where I didn't see every second of game action. I missed the first quarter of the Montreal-BC game because I was out getting a victory Slurpee following the Cats' win on Friday night, and I was out enjoying my free slice of pizza on Saturday, which made me miss the first quarter of the Edmonton-Saskatchewan game. I still have thoughts on what I did see, so here we go.

1. Is this the year that parity solidifies itself in the CFL? I mean, there isn't one team that I'd say is head and shoulders above the rest so far in 2010. The Riders are 3-0, but they didn't look dominant against the Esks. Each week a new team plays like the top dog. In Week 1 it was Winnipeg; Week 2 it was Saskatchewan; Week 3, dare I say, it was Hamilton. This could be one of the most exciting seasons in CFL history.
2. Montreal does not look like its usual, dominant self. This can't be all about the loss of Brian Chiu, can it?
3. Raise your hand if you had the Argos at 2-1 after three weeks. Yeah, that's what I thought. As much as I hate Toronto, the league is healthier when the Argonauts are a competitive team.
4. Win or lose, I still cannot peg whether the Stamps are good or bad. They haven't looked good in any of their games so far, yet they sit at 2-1. Some bounces and calls don't go their way, and they could just as easily be 0-3. I think the Stamps could be the definition of mediocrity in 2010.
5. Winnipeg did not seem up for the game. With Buck Pierce, they played uninspired football. Without Pierce, they were even worse. The Bombers are probably not as good as they looked in Week 1, and not as bad as they looked this week. If they lose Pierce for any length of time (and right now I do not know the status of his injury) they could be in some trouble.
6. The Als-Lions game was one of the ugliest games I've ever watched. It looked like neither team wanted to win it. Seemed more like a pre-season game than a Week 3 contest.
7. While we're talking about ugly, I'm all for history, but the pants worn by the Saskatchewan coaches were horrendous. Words cannot describe how ugly they were.
8. Still on the topic of ugly, the Red & Black uniform was not good. I understand its historical significance, but it was as weird as the Philadelphia Eagles' Yellow & Blue combo from a couple of seasons ago. Not a good look.
9. It was nice to finally see offside called when a WR was 2-3 yards beyond the line of scrimmage at the snap of the ball. I have seen it happen too many times this season with nothing being called.
10. What happened to that vaunted Blue Bomber pass rush? Their fans were talking about sack records after Week 1, and this week they were manhandled by the Ti-Cat O-Line.
11. Is Simeon Rottier good enough now? That's two consecutive stellar weeks for the man who was completely obliterated by the online community after Week 1.
12. I just love watching Fred Stamps play. The guy is an absolute treat to watch play football.
13. I love the nickname "Big Top" for S.J. Green. They are calling him that because he's always making circus catches. Great nickname, very appropriate.
14. Arland Bruce is like the Terrell Owens of the CFL. Both are elite WRs, and both drop way too many passes. Bruce is one of my favourite players, but he needs to find a cure for the dropsies.
15. Speaking of dropsies, Kelly Campbell, you have to learn how to hold onto the ball in the end zone. Two weeks in a row Campbell has dropped a gimme TD. Football is a team game, and you win and lose as a team, but Campbell's drops really, really hurt the Esks. If he catches those passes, Edmonton might be 2-1, not 0-3.
16. Sandro, Sandro, Sandro. Not a good couple of games for you. I know that you have your worst career numbers at Ivor Wynne, but you must change that or you won't be around much longer.
17. Great game by Sandy Beveridge. I've been hard on him since he first put on a Tiger-Cat jersey, but he played great against Winnipeg.
18. It looks as if the late-season swoon that Henry Burris had to end the 2009 season was not the aberration I thought it was. Maybe Burris's best days are behind him.
19. It looks like Cory Boyd is the real deal, with two straight weeks of stellar play. Boyd could be the 2010 version of DeAndra' Cobb.
20. I really thought that Casey Printers would revert back to his MOP form now that he is back in BC; looks like I was wrong. It looks more and more like the aberration was the MOP season, not the year and a half Printers spent in Hamilton.
21. It's too bad that Chad Owens and Marcus Thigpen play in the same division, because only one will be able to be the nominee for Most Outstanding Special Teams Player. (Yes, I did just hand them their team nominations.) Both are tremendous Special Teamers, and both deserve all the praise they are receiving in this young season.
22. Putting DeAndra' Cobb and Marcus Thigpen in the backfield at the same time is a great move. The more playmakers on the field, the better.
23. So ends the Alouettes' drought in BC. The last time they won on the left coast was when Bill Clinton was the President of the United States. It seems as if the Als can only win in BC when there is a Democrat in the Oval Office. Hm, maybe voting Republican isn't so bad after all.
24. At this point, I think it is safe to say that the Roughriders got the better end of the Prechae Rodriguez trade. Hamilton got a WR that doesn't dress and a neg-list player that, well, hasn't seen a single second of practice, let alone game time. It's not often that someone gets the better of Bob O'Billovich, but this may be one of those cases.
25. This week I went from 'suck' to 'mediocre' with my picks. After last week's pathetic 1-3 showing, I went a more respectable 2-2. That puts me at 5-7 for the season. I could have been 3-1 if I had had the intestinal fortitude to pick the Argos. I wanted to pick them, but I just couldn't. But this isn't about coulda, shoulda, woulda because I didna. Maybe I can finally get over the .500 mark in Week 4. We'll see.