Monday Mailbag, Vol. 4

Last week, in lieu of a mailbag, you got a podcast. Fair trade, I would say. Going forward, weeks that there is a podcast will be mailbag-free simply due to the fact that Mike and I cover a few of your questions when we record.

Anyway, no podcast this week, so let’s mailbag it up!

Any rules changes you’d like to see in 2015?

I am not all that big on making rule changes every year, but there is one I would like tweaked and one I would like eliminated completely. Let’s start with the latter: reviewable pass interference.

It was an interesting experiment, but I don’t think that making pass interference reviewable really made all that much of a difference. If it is the first step towards making all plays reviewable, fine, but by itself it was a bit unnecessary. I didn’t much care for it and would like to see it gone (which won’t happen, but I was asked what I would like to see, not what will occur).

One change I would like to see is something I wanted to see way back in 2011, and that is that all plays occurring in the endzone should be automatically reviewed. Both the CFL and NFL make scoring plays and turnovers subject to automatic review, but I think the CFL should take it one step further and review any play that takes place in the endzone. The play that sparked my initial desire to see this rule enacted took place in a game between the Montreal Alouettes and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. I called for the change then and I am still calling for change now.

You can pick one CFL quarterback, past or present, to lead one drive with the Grey Cup on the line. Who do you choose?

It has got to be Doug Flutie. No one I have ever seen play displayed what can best be described as magic on a football field quite like Doug Flutie. Whether it was with his arms or with his legs, Flutie made plays happen. In the most-important drive in the most-important game, I am giving the ball to the six-time Most Outstanding Player and three-time Grey Cup champion.

Did Taylor Reed play much on special teams in '14 or was he only on the field because Plesius wasn't in the Grey Cup lineup?

I received this question when I was putting together the initial mailbag and it took me some time to find an answer, but I found it and the answer is: yes, Reed was on the punt return team prior to the Grey Cup.

I decided to look at a handful of punt returns to see if I could spot Reed and he was a member of the unit prior to the Plesius’ injury. In fact, during one of Brandon Banks’ scintillating punt returns in the East Division Final against Montreal, Reed was out there blocking. While I cannot say if he was a mainstay on the unit, I can say that the Grey Cup was not the first time Taylor Reed was blocking for Brandon Banks on a punt return.

Why should @AmericanCFLFan become a Ti-Cats fan?

Telling someone why they should cheer for a team is always hard. As Mike and I discussed on a recent episode of Podskee Wee Wee, my Tiger-Cat fandom is almost strictly due to being born in Hamilton. But place of birth is not the only reason someone should like the Tiger-Cats.

The Tiger-Cat fanbase as a whole is pretty awesome. Sure we can be loud (check), annoying (check) and sometimes extremely unlikable (check plus!), but you won’t find many fans out there as loyal as Tiger-Cat fans. Success has not come easy for the Cats since they last hoisted the Grey Cup, but the fans have stayed loyal. The team is in a fairly decent boom period right now – five playoff appearances in the last six years and back-to-back Grey Cup appearances – but yet fans still don’t take it for granted.

You also will not chided for backing a winner. Sure, the Cats have been to the last two Grey Cups, but they lost both. You pick a team like Montreal or Toronto, teams that have won multiple Grey Cups since Hamilton last won theirs – and people might consider you a front runner. That said, the Ti-Cats may win the championship this year, so if you pick the Tabbies, you can tell everyone that you were the magic fan who got them over the top.

The team also has a plethora of players that you can’t help but like, such as Simoni Lawrence and Peter Dyakowski. There are others, but those two guys standout as players that, even if they didn’t play for the Tiger-Cats, I would still be a fan of.

Also, we are Canada’s Team! Haha!

If you have a reason why you think @AmericanCFLFan should become a Tiger-Cats fan, tweet at him and let him know.

What's your opinion of the Bombers current sale, trade any Riders gear for 30 per cent off anything in the store?

It is an interesting concept, though I am not entirely sure of its purpose. Is it to convert Rider fans? Get Bomber fans to buy Rider gear and then trade it in? Something else altogether?

I know the Bombers and Riders are rivals, but this struck me as a little silly. I haven’t seen much outrage, which is quite surprising, but I just don’t get it. If it helps boost Bomber merchandise sales, then it will be a success, but I would really like to know the reason behind it and the genesis of the idea.