Bodog, TSN and Five QBs

Quite a bit of news regarding the Tiger-Cats came out over the last few days, especially last night thanks mostly to TSN, but also from the team itself.

For starters, Bodog (a gambling website) released their odds for the upcoming CFL season and they like the Cats. Bodog has the Ti-Cats as the favourites to win the East Division, while placing them behind just the BC Lions as favourites to the Grey Cup.

TSN spent three hours on Monday night covering the CFL. They continued their excellent series of "Road to the Grey Cup" features which looked at last year's champs, the BC Lions. One of the big stories: last season's trade of Arland Bruce. While I concede that the team looks better this year without Bruce, I still have a hard time stomaching just how little the Cats got in return for Bruce. But I don't want to harp on it. What's done is done and it is time (for me) to move on and shut up about it.

TSN followed up their look at last year's Lions by unveiling their list of the Top 50 players of 2012. Out of the 50, seven of them were Tiger-Cats, with Jamall Johnson being the highest ranked at No. 22. Avon Cobourne (No. 46), Markeith Knowlton (No. 39), Chris Williams (No. 34), Henry Burris (No. 32), Rey Williams (No. 28) and Andy Fantuz (No. 25) were the other six. Matt Duingian noted that only four linebackers made the list, and three of them were Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Best linebacking group in the CFL? Damn right!

Marwan Hage did not make the list, which was somewhat of a surprise. My guess is that his injury last season caused his stock to plummet. Should he regain his form, he'll find himself on the list in 2013.

TSN also aired their annual CFL on TSN season preview show, which means analysts gave their predictions. Four panelists picked the Cats to go to the Grey Cup. Milt Stegall, Doug Brown and Matt Dunigan had the Tabbies losing to the Lions in Toronto, but it was Jock Climie who tossed out the dream match of all dream matches, at least as far as I am concerned: Hamilton versus Toronto for the title. Climie believes that with a weaker West Division, the Argos will crossover into the West and win the West Final to earn the right to take on the Tiger-Cats in Toronto for the Grey Cup. That would just be awesome. While I think it is unlikely to happen, I wouldn't be the least bit upset if it did.

And last, but certainly not least, the Ti-Cats themselves unvieled (via the Tiger-Cats Show on AM900 CHML) who are the five quarterbacks that fans will get to choose between for the All-Time Tiger-Cat team. Voting on the team began today, and will continue from now until October 5th, with a new batch of players being unvieled each week until Labour Day on the Tiger-Cats Show. Anyway, here are the five QBs to choose from:

• Danny McManus
• Bernie Faloney
• Joe Zuger
• Mike Kerrigan
• Tom Clements

No real surprises on the list, and I would have to think, as I posited previously, that the battle is between Danny Mac and Bernie Faloney. Only one QB will make the team and my vote is going to Danny Mac. I respect what Faloney did for the team, but I never got to see him play. In my opinion, it would be unfair of me to vote for a player simply on reputation when I saw another player dominate during his time here. If any of the five are voted as the QB, it is deserving, but my vote is going to McManus.

Training Camp Preview: Linebackers

With training camp about to start (rookies report on May 30th, veterans on June 3rd) it's time to look at each position group as we head into the 2012 season. Today, it's the linebackers.

It looks like the Tiger-Cats will once again field the league's best linebacking group. It is almost unquestionable that Markeith Knowlton, Jamall Johnson and Rey Williams form the league's most intimidating trio of linebackers. Their accomplishments speak for themselves. While Williams and Johnson were division all stars last year, it was a bit of a down year for Knowlton. Injuries played a part in that, I fully expect him to bounce back and return to the form that made him the CFL's top defender in 2010.

Behind the three all-star-calibre starters are a plethora of talented, starter-quality backups. The Cats signed Kevin Eiben away from the Toronto Argonauts in what might turn out to be an important acquisition. If one of the starters was to go down, Eiben could fill in admirably. Ray Mariuz returns for another season of stellar special teams play and some spot defensive duty, and so is Ike Brown. Brown missed the entire 2011 season after suffering a knee injury in training camp last year, but after a year off, and with a contract extension, Brown looks poised to pick up where he left off in 2010.

The Tabbies also have two young guys worth watching in Patrick Jean-Mary and Byron Bullock. Jean-Mary was selected in the fifth round of last year's draft and Bullock played sparingly with the Roughriders two seasons ago and was on Hamilton's practice roster late last season. Both will make their biggest contributions on special teams this season, but they could be two players to keep an eye on for the future.

The Ti-Cats have very little to worry about when it comes to their linebackers. Even if one of the starters was to get injured, the team has enough talent backing them up to almost not miss a beat. This is one unit where most everything is set prior to camp. If everything goes as planned, the unit will be a dominant force once again.

New Ti-Cats Ad

The Ti-Cats debuted a new ad during Thursday's draft featuring linebacker Jamall Johnson. The ad is pretty cool, and getting to relive that Buck Pierce hit over and over again is always a good thing.

With this being the final season at venerable Ivor Wynne Stadium, I think these ads (I assume there will be more) strike the right note. I suspect a lot of the team's advertisments this season will focus on the history of the team and the stadium. If the same type of ads are shown throughout the season, these will be much better than last season's mediocre "In Your Own Backyard" ads.

And I don't know about anyone else, but this gets me even more pumped for the upcoming season.

Johnson, Thigpen Named Players of the Week

After Sunday's thrilling 52-44 overtime shootout win over the Montreal Alouettes, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats had two players honoured with Player of the Week recognition.

Jamall Johnson was named the Defensive Player of the Week. Johnson had a monster performance in his return from injury. Johnson had six tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one interception. Johnson's play directly resulted in 10 Hamilton points.

Marcus Thigpen was named the Special Teams Player of the Week. Thigpen provided great field position for the Tiger-Cat Offense all day Sunday, finishing the game with 171 kickoff return yards on seven returns.

Congratulations to both players.

Five Cats Named East Division All-Stars

Five members of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats we named East Division All-Stars earlier today. Justin Hickman, Chris Williams, Rey Williams, Jamall Johnson and Justin Medlock were the five men named.

Justin Hickman tied for the league lead in sacks with 13 and was Hamilton's nominee for Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Defensive Players.

Chris Williams burst onto the scene in his rookie year by leading the team in receptions and yards. Williams is also the favourite to be named Most Outstanding Rookie, so his season was a tremendous success.

Rey Williams and Jamall Johnson both finished in the top-10 in tackles, with Williams finishing with 91 and Johnson finishing with 77. Both players played key roles in getting Hamilton back to the playoffs.

In a year when the kicking game was very strong, Justin Medlock had a banner year. Medlock tied for the division lead in points (197), and finished the season second in field-goal accuracy. He also made a habit of booming 50-plus-yard field goals, hitting more than any other Kicker. Medlock was Mr. Automatic for the Cats.

Congratulations to all five men.

Time to Extend a Couple More

The Tiger-Cats have been handing out a lot of contract extensions this off-season. Markeith Knowlton, Jamall Johnson and Quinton Porter have all received extensions in the past month.

Now it is time for the team to lock up two other players, perhaps Hamilton's two most important players:

Kevin Glenn and Arland Bruce.

The Tabbies seem to be making it a priority to sign their key players, and if that is the case Glenn and Bruce (if they are willing) need to be re-upped pronto.

The resurgence of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats can be traced back to many moves over the past two-plus years, but arguably the most important moves came when the team signed Glenn and traded for Bruce.

Glenn has been nothing short of phenomenal since arriving in Hamilton. He had arguably the best season of his career in 2010, and did so by setting many single-season Tiger-Cat records, erasing Danny McManus from the record book in the process, which is no small feat. Glenn is only 31 and probably has three to five good years left in him. Inking him to an extension should now be of top priority.

Much of Glenn's greatness these past two years can be attributed to being able to hook up with Arland Bruce. Amid much fanfare, Bruce arrived in July of 2009, and while many wondered about his reported poor attitude, Bruce has been a model citizen since coming to Hamilton. He has been the gamebreaking Receiver that was advertised, and then some. If Glenn is the top priority, Bruce is a very close second.

There is no reason to believe that either of these guys wants to leave Hamilton, so if Obie is going to start extending contracts, it's time to get Glenn and Bruce inked to longer-term deals.

Jamall Johnson to Sign Extension

Last week was a busy one in the land of Oskee Wee Wees, but the biggest news should come down later today, as Linebacker Jamall Johnson has reportedly agreed to a contract extension with the Tabbies.

Great news! Johnson has been an absolute stud since coming to Hamilton in 2009. Johnson has had over 100 tackles in each of his two seasons in Hamilton, and if it wasn't for Markeith Knowlton, Johnson might be known as the best Linebacker in the CFL.

With Knowlton, Johnson and the recently acquired Rey Williams all signed through the 2013 season, the Cats have the best Linebacking group in the CFL, and will for many years to come.

Knowlton, Floyd, Johnson: Simply the Best

With the recent news that the Tiger-Cats have re-signed Markeith Knowlton, I figured now was as good a time as any to provide a little insight into the Linebacking corps of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.


Linebackers are considered the heart and soul of every defense, and this is especially true in Hamilton. Without top-notch LBs to anchor a defense, you don't have a defense. The three men that start for the Ti-Cats comprise the best group of LBs in the CFL.

Yes, you read that right. Markeith Knowlton (#25), Otis Floyd (#35) and Jamall Johnson (#28) are the best linebacking group in the entire Canadian Football League.

In 2009, these players exceeded even the most ardent fan's wildest expectations. Knowlton had 95 tackles, one sack, four fumble recoveries, four interceptions, two blocked kicks and two defensive touchdowns and was named a CFL All Star. Johnson led the Cats in tackles with 109, while also recording two sacks and being named a CFL All Star. Floyd finished the season with only 67 tackles, five sacks and one interception, but he was the leader of the group, due mostly to his experience. He was the spokesman for the team, especially the defense; Floyd became the public face of a much improved unit.

All three players will return in 2010, hopefully to anchor an even more impressive defensive unit. Knowlton and Johnson look to bolster their All Star credentials, while Floyd looks to improve on his solid play and continue to be the vocal and emotional leader of the Tiger-Cats defense.

Each team has its strengths and its weaknesses, but few teams have a bigger strength than the Cats have at Linebacker. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have the best Linebacking group in the CFL.