2017 CFL Season

[craner]

^Your nuts!

[tomthumb2]

^ But isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

[GlassCity]

I don't think a bad fumble and a questionable decision to pass into double coverage on the final play should force significant changes. They are still far and away the most dominant team in the league. I don't see how any changes could make them better. A few plays go a different way and they're Grey Cup champions three times in a row. I honestly would just keep trying with this group. How can they possibly be improved? Even the best teams can lose a single game on any given week. The Stampeders have just chosen the wrong games to do it the best few years.

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

I don't think a bad fumble and a questionable decision to pass into double coverage on the final play should force significant changes. They are still far and away the most dominant team in the league. I don't see how any changes could make them better. A few plays go a different way and they're Grey Cup champions three times in a row. I honestly would just keep trying with this group. How can they possibly be improved? Even the best teams can lose a single game on any given week. The Stampeders have just chosen the wrong games to do it the best few years.

Really does remind me of the '09 and '10 Riders though. A strong team for a few years, but just couldn't get it done in the big game.

[tomthumb2]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

I don't think a bad fumble and a questionable decision to pass into double coverage on the final play should force significant changes. They are still far and away the most dominant team in the league. I don't see how any changes could make them better. A few plays go a different way and they're Grey Cup champions three times in a row. I honestly would just keep trying with this group. How can they possibly be improved? Even the best teams can lose a single game on any given week. The Stampeders have just chosen the wrong games to do it the best few years.

Not far and away. Not even close. To be dominant you have to win championships. At least that's how I see it.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by tomthumb2

Not far and away. Not even close. To be dominant you have to win championships. At least that's how I see it.

Haha, fair enough, my friend and I argue about that all the time. But I personally don't put too much emphasis on any one game, regardless of how meaningful that game is. Nor am I at all superstitious or a believer in the whole choking thing, and I play competitive sports myself. I don't think you can just disregard their regular season success as meaningless. Again, I think that just a few plays go differently and they're three time repeating champs. I have a hard time imagining a shakeup that keeps them as good in the regular season, and therefore in my opinion, being in as strong a position to win the Grey Cup.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by craner

Ha - so true. I had to change the channel when that was on.

So did I

[elly63]

Originally Posted by tomthumb2

Calgary has definitely earned the choker label. Maybe they should suck for a few years and try the underdog role because it's obvious they can't handle being favorites.

Clearly they will have to make changes. Not wholesale but this group is not good enough so they have to do something. I think Dickenson and Bo Levi are grossly overrated. Maybe you start with those two?

There's nothing wrong with them that a little humility wouldn't cure. Dig out all the cliches but two years in a row they haven't acted like they've got each other's backs. Hard to go into battle like that and expect a good result.

[tomthumb2]

Well at least it was a good game and Shania Twain was great (at least I thought so). Too bad Toronto has shunned the league and Montreal and BC are dicey situations but somehow our little league keeps on puffing. And maybe Calgary will win another Grey Cup some day and maybe they'll even get a new stadium! Although there's a better chance that a million bucks will fall out of my ass on that one.

Good night my fellow CFL fans...

[elly63]

Originally Posted by tomthumb2

Well at least it was a good game and Shania Twain was great (at least I thought so). Too bad Toronto has shunned the league and Montreal and BC are dicey situations but somehow our little league keeps on puffing. And maybe Calgary will win another Grey Cup some day and maybe they'll even get a new stadium! Although there's a better chance that a million bucks will fall out of my ass on that one.

Good night my fellow CFL fans...

You don't sound like much of a fan And I guess I'm not much of a Shania fan, turned the channel on her as well as the shitty rapper. Rap and country, my favourite musical genres. Thought the escorted dogsled thing was dorky and I kept wondering about her see-through? top. Also think she might have considered more suitable footwear as she looked scared like she was going to fall on her ass if she moved too much. Oh yeah, then I turned the channel.

[Dwils01]

Originally Posted by blacktrojan3921

Ah so Calgary is going through what Saskatchewan went through nearly a decade ago: Losing the Grey Cup twice in a Row

Hamilton also lost twice in a row in 2013 and 2014 to Saskatchewan and Calgary.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Tarsus

Really shitty. I don't know if I'm fed up with the Stamps or the CFL. It was the Stamps who lost it in the end, but I'm also getting tired of mediocre teams showing up for the last couple of games of the season to win it all. It's not something you'd see in the NFL.

Sad to say but this is almost like being in high school again: my team lost or sucks so I tune out the CFL and become an NFL-only fan.

BTW Carolina with a sub-500 record made the playoffs (they actually won their sucky division) a year or so ago and then knocked off 11-5 Arizona in the playoffs.

A sub-500 team could definitely win the Super Bowl.

The 9-7 Giants won it a few years ago.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by elly63

You don't sound like much of a fan And I guess I'm not much of a Shania fan, turned the channel on her as well as the shitty rapper. Rap and country, my favourite musical genres. Thought the escorted dogsled thing was dorky and I kept wondering about her see-through? top. Also think she might have considered more suitable footwear as she looked scared like she was going to fall on her ass if she moved too much. Oh yeah, then I turned the channel.

I wonder if the dog sled was a last-minute thing?

Aside from that I think Ottawa did a really good job. The lighting, stage and fireworks for Shania looked top notch and a cut above what many Grey Cups have had over the past decade.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by tomthumb2

Not far and away. Not even close. To be dominant you have to win championships. At least that's how I see it.

It's hard with just one game though. A two-game cumulative score is probably the way one to determine the best team with assurance.

But we don't do that in gridiron football.

OTOH best of 7 as in hockey is way too long IMO.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

You don't see too many exciting finishes in the Super Bowl. I wasn't expecting one this year at the Grey Cup, but again the game delivered. Sorry your team lost, but is it better to cheer for some distant NFL team just to avoid the intense sting of defeat? Unfortunately, only one team wins each year no matter the league.

In fairness they've had a few good Super Bowls in recent years.

For a while there it seemed like 9 out of 10 in some decades were blowouts.

I guess in some cases it confirms the supremacy of a team but I don't see the fun in a coronation (as opposed to a truly competitive game).

In any event bad Super Bowls never damaged the prestige and allure of the NFL which has continued to grow steadily.

[esquire]

What an electric finish to that game... I thought the Stamps were just going to hit high gear and roll over the Argos at the end, but as with their respective seasons the Stamps peaked early and the Argos just ended with a roar. Cassius Vaughn's fumble recovery, DeVier Posey's long distance TD, Matt Black's late game interception and Lirim Hajrullahu's game winning points now enter the annals of Grey Cup lore

I know many who aren't in the 403 are feeling at least a little schadenfreude toward the Stamps, but at the same time you have to feel for them a little bit too. All that blood, sweat and tears poured into regular season domination only to come up short in the big game, twice. These guys might have to turn down the swagger a little bit... Ricky Ray has all the cockiness of a CPA but he quietly gets the job done with remarkable poise and precision. BLM could take a lesson.

And Ottawa did a bang up job with the whole week... the Shania halftime was awesome. You can't please everyone with the halftime act, but Shania came damn close. Best one since the big 2012 extravaganza.

Good for the Argos fans too. Toronto is the only place where it's hard be a fan of the local CFL team... none of those fans are posers, they weren't at the games to be seen or to ride the bandwagon or whatever. Argos fans cheer on their team in spite of all the reasons not to and they deserve huge respect IMO. (Although now that the Argos have won their sixth Grey Cup since 1991 I think the fans have been fully compensated for their hassles...)

I was so pumped after that great ending that I had a hard time falling asleep... and now they want me to wait six months for more?!?!

[MonctonRad]

It was a great Grey Cup game. I spent the whole day watching football (Patriots and Saints games first), and honestly the second half of the Grey Cup game was just as entertaining as anything emanating from the south of the border.

I think the CFL has a bright future, especially if Toronto can build on this success to strengthen ticket sales, and also if a fabled 10th franchise makes it in Atlantic Canada.

Halifax is 2.5 hours from Moncton. There's a good chance I'll head down there 1-2 times per year to catch a game. I think it would be good PR for any Halifax based team to stage training camps throughout the region and yearly pre season games in Moncton at our stadium. This would certainly help build regional fan support.

[jawagord]

What a way to lose a Grey Cup. Feel bad for veteran guys like Messam who played their hearts out and still doesn't have a championship, he may not get another chance at his age/position. The stars aligned for Ricky Ray and the Argos, hope Ricky has the good sense to retire as a winner. For the Stamps 3rd time will be the charm, will be so much more satisfying to win the cup in Edmonton next year!

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Aside from that I think Ottawa did a really good job. The lighting, stage and fireworks for Shania looked top notch and a cut above what many Grey Cups have had over the past decade.

Yup

[GernB]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

I don't think a bad fumble and a questionable decision to pass into double coverage on the final play should force significant changes. They are still far and away the most dominant team in the league. I don't see how any changes could make them better. A few plays go a different way and they're Grey Cup champions three times in a row. I honestly would just keep trying with this group. How can they possibly be improved? Even the best teams can lose a single game on any given week. The Stampeders have just chosen the wrong games to do it the best few years.

I'd certainly be looking at Tommie Campbell. Tries for the interception twice on he same receiver and gets beaten both times, once for a TD and once for a big gain, then sits back deep on the same receiver late in the game and gets beaten again. Another area is Canadian receivers. How Anthony Parker gets brought back year after year beats me. If Lemar Durant isn't back from injury next year this is going to be a problem area, though Brescacin has come a long way since the start of the year.