Canadian Football League 2008

[raisethehammer]

this is one of only 2-4 times each year that we get to celebrate a win.
Might as well enjoy it.

[Ayreonaut]

My post was sincere, Hamilton's my favourite team in the East.

[DAVEinEDMONTON]

Originally Posted by Ayreonaut

My post was sincere, Hamilton's my favourite team in the East.

Good effort by Hamilton today...

Winnipeg - Edmonton 14 to 2 after first quarter; 16 to 33 after the second...31 points - most points scored by any team in a single quarter so far this year...should be an interesting second half...

[Nicko999]

Edmonton is winning and we're EAST CHAMPION!!!
Nice win by Hamilton, they played maybe there best game of the season
And our extraordinary offence scored once again 38 points...
Calvillo broke a CFL record today! 44/53 for 468 yards, 4 TD and 1 INT!
The 44 completions are a record, the old record was 41.

Way to go Als, it was just a bad game.

[Denscity]

The Lions have won 5 in a row and is tied for first in the league!

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by Denscity

The Lions have won 5 in a row and is tied for first in the league!

with Calgary, Saskatchewan and Montreal! 4 teams tied.

[Ayreonaut]

I still think that BC's the most dangerous team.

[sledhead35]

CFL commissioner Mark Cohon took a big step towards protecting the league's players this week and a small step towards regaining control of the league from its players association.

Now, we can only hope that Cohon's bold move will ultimately lead to the CFL finally escaping the ignominy of being one of the last pro leagues anywhere that still doesn't have a random drug testing policy.

In case you missed it, Cohon unilaterally handed down a new dictum on Thursday that will impose mandatory suspensions for dangerous hits like the head shot Edmonton Eskimos linebacker Augie Barrenechea laid on Blue Bomber quarterback Kevin Glenn last week.

Cohon not only did it without the approval of the players' association, he effectively challenged them to do something about it, knowing full well that the CFLPA would look awful challenging a new rule aimed at protecting their own members' safety.

And that's exactly why Cohon should follow up with another unilateral dictum aimed at player safety, this one announcing that beginning in 2009, random drug testing will be a condition of employment in the CFL.

The NFL does it. The NHL does it. Heck, even Major League Baseball at least pretends to have an effective random drug testing policy.

And so do the Manitoba Bisons. You read that right -- the city's university football players are randomly tested for drugs, but not its professional football players. They've been doing it in the CIS since 1990. Unbelievable.

The CFLPA has resisted efforts to impose a random drug testing policy in the past and CFL union types will argue they have a contract that extends through 2010 which prevents any drug policy from being imposed on them without their approval.

Tough, I say. If the players don't like it, they can go play elsewhere. We'll all still be laughing when they come crawling back, having realized that for many of them, the CFL is the last and best option.

Now, this is not to say that the CFLPA -- or other players unions -- don't play a valuable role in protecting players' rights, guaranteeing working conditions and ensuring former players have pensions. Those are all good things and they're good for everyone, including the fans.

Indeed, if you want to see what a league without a players union looks like, you just have to look to the stadium at the other end of Portage Avenue where the Winnipeg Goldeyes play.

With no union to represent them, most of the players of the Northern League toil for a few hundred bucks a week. The salary cap for the league is $120,000 a season -- not per player, per team. For the entire season. Believe it, I checked.


Their per diem on the road? A paltry $18 -- not per meal, for the entire day. You cannot eat three squares a day at McDonald's for that and you're not a professional athlete.

All of that in a league where the ballparks in many cities -- Winnipeg leading the way -- are packed night after night.

It's shameful, frankly, and it does a disservice not just to the ballplayers, but also to the fans, who have a right to expect the athletes they've paid to watch haven't had to dig into their own meagre earnings just to feed themselves on the road.

So no one is suggesting the CFL adopt the Northern League's approach to labour relations. Indeed, it was precisely labour relations like that back in the 1930s, '40s and '50s, an era when players were treated like chattel and owners lit cigars with $100 bills, that thankfully led to the formation of the modern player unions.

But what the CFL has in place now -- for no apparent reason given that many players couldn't play anywhere else -- is something approaching the opposite extreme, where the players are dictating policy to the league.

The result is equally shameful and one can only hope that Cohon's unilateral dictum this week is the first step in the league seizing back control.

It should do it for the good of the CFL and they should also do it for the good of the players.

Finally, they should do it for the good of the fans, who have a right to expect that the athletes they've paid to watch are safe -- from drugs and from each other.

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by DAVEinEDMONTON

As an Edmonton fan I hope to see Edmonton play Montreal in the eastern final...

Edmonton is 6 points ahead of Toronto with one game in hand and 5 games left. If Edmonton wins only one more game, Toronto must win all the rest of their games to make it into the play offs...Odds are that is not going to happen therefore I think there is a high probability that a western team will cross over to the eastern playoffs....most likely Edmonton.

The game tonight for Winnipeg at Edmonton might just be a pre-cursor to the eastern semi-final and the Toronto-Winnipeg game next week should be interesting to see who comes out in second place in the east.

Go Eskies go!!!

Calgary, BC, and Saskatchewan have all clinched a playoff berth. Edmonton only needs to win of our their last 4, or have Toronto lose once and they are in as well. The crossover is all but gauranteed, it's just a question of who finishes where in the west.

The schedule for the 4 western teams looks like this:

Saskatchewan:
@ Cal
vs Ham
vs Edm
@ Tor

Calgary:
vs Sask
vs Wpg
@ Ham
vs BC

BC:
vs Edm
@ Edm
vs Tor
@ Cal

Edmonton:
@ BC
vs BC
@ Sask
vs Mtl

Looks like the Eskimos have the toughest schedule and need to make up one game to get back into a tie for first. If they win 1 of 2 vs BC they win the season series, if they beat Sask they also win the season series, and they have already won the season series against Calgary so they are looking good for tiebreakers.

All 4 teams are so equal that I doubt anybody can sweep a 2 game series which means BC/Edm split the next 2 games, and Calgary beats Sask this weekend.

The west is going to go right down to the wire.

[Nicko999]

Montreal won 42-11 against Hamilton

[Rico Rommheim]

^🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵' right.

[shreddog]

Didn't make the game, so I ask this question in earnest - did the 'Riders even show up today or did the Stamps end up playing a high school team left over from yesterday's tourney??

[lubicon]

Looks like the Stamps are in the driver's seat to win the division now. They own the tie breakers (from what understand) over Sask and BC, but not Edmonton but they are ahead of everyone else by a game now. Edmonton has the toughest remaining schedule depending on who Montreal sends to play when they face off again, but they do own the tiebreaker over Calgary. They can also win the tiebreaker against Sask by beating them and are ahead of BC by 12 points in their tie breaker (pending this weekends upcoming game). The West is going to go right down to the wire, although you could argue that it would be easier for a western team to make it to the Cup by going the crossover route.

[Ayreonaut]

What a game, and I'm in Saskatchewan too, so that makes it pretty damn sweet.

[Calgarian]

What an 🞵🞵🞵 kicking, thake that melon heads!

[Boreal]

There's a good chance you'll get to do it all over again next week johnnyc. Winnipeg, on the road in Calgary is horrendous. The weather is never friendly either. I don't think we've received a W in Cow Town since Khari had a good wing. Ouch.

[Beltliner]

Originally Posted by johnnyc

What an 🞵🞵🞵 kicking, thake that melon heads!

"I'm 🞵🞵🞵🞵 Tracy! Take that, Prune Face! I'm Prune Face! Take that, 🞵🞵🞵🞵 Tracy! I'm Prune Tracy! Take that--"

[Denscity]

The BC Lions defeat the Edmonton Eskimos in Edmonton 43 - 28. Now tied for the league lead but with one more loss.

[Great Dane]

Danny Maciocia needs to be fired.

What a disgrace to this great city steeped in sports tradition having such a loser at the helm of the Eskimos. They could easily be 12-4 right now if they had a decent HC and DC.

[Ayreonaut]

To be honest, the Eskimos have exceeded the expectations I had for them at the start of the season. I thought they would be quite a ways behind the rest of the division.