Morning-After Thoughs (Week 9)

This week's games were hyped almost endlessly, and boy did they deliver. Two great back-and-forth contests that had everything a CFL fan could ask for. If you ever want to show someone why you love football, play them the replay of either of these games. Both games came down to, essentially, the very end. Week 9 is what football is all about.

1. This is a question, not an observation: how did Rod Smith do as a play-by-play man during the Hamilton-Winnipeg game? I watched it without sound – I was attending my cousin's wedding reception – so I didn't get to hear Smith call the game.
2. Fred Reid is the second-leading rusher in the league, yet I feel like he hasn't really done anything all season. He just feels... there.
3. We are finally seeing what a healthy Buck Pierce means to a team. He hasn't put up monster numbers – he's ahead of only Cleo Lemon in most statistical categories – but he has helped Winnipeg take a two-game lead in the very competitive East Division, while losing just one game – by a single point, no less – in the process. A healthy Pierce means good things for the Bombers.
4. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have one of the best front fours, if not the best front four, in the CFL. So kudos to Hamilton's Offensive Line for giving up just one sack – which was actually given up by Defensive Lineman Justin Hickman when he was in on a short-yardage play – in Friday's game. In fact, the Ti-Cats have only surrendered three of Winnipeg's league-leading 30 sacks. Not too bad, in my opinion.
5. Dwight Anderson is a goof; I think that opinion is almost universally accepted. So when he danced like a buffoon after clocking Calgary's mack truck of a Receiver, Nik Lewis, even though Lewis managed to pick up the first down, I couldn't help but laugh when Lewis mimicked Anderson's antics. I loved it. Anderson is a showboat (and to be fair, so is Lewis), so it was nice to see someone put Anderson in his place. Great stuff.
6. If Calgary's Defensive Coordinator Chris Jones is not on the short list of candidates for the soon-to-be-vacant position of Head Coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, then something is truly wrong in Regina.
7. Is offensive pass interference the least-called penalty in football? Jamel Richardson blatantly held Keon Raymond, and yet there was no flag. If you put the over/under on offensive pass interference calls in a season at nine (once every other week, on average), I'd take the under every year.
8. At first, the drafting of Johnny Forzani had the same stench as when Kevin Feterik was named the starting Quarterback for the Stamps back in 2004. Feterik's father was the Stamps' owner at the time, and now Forzani's uncle owns the team. It would have been easy to say that Forzani was given his shot simply because of nepotism. Unlike Feterik, Forzani has proven he belongs, and his 101-yard, two-touchdown performance against Montreal was his coming-out party. Forzani has gotten better each week and is looking like he could be one of the next great Canadian Receivers.
9. Is there a better QB-WR combo in the CFL than Anthony Calvillo and Jamel Richardson? I certainly don't think so.
10. So I once again went 1-1 this week, making my bye-week mark a middling 2-2. I nailed the Stamps, but missed on the Cats. My overall record is now an alright 18-14.