The last month has been a race to get my Power Grouping done and this week is no exception. As many of you know, the upcoming weekend is Thanksgiving and likewise I am preparing for company. The race is on, if you will, to get things ready for Turkey Day. On top of that tragedy struck the household yesterday afternoon when the coffee maker broke. No amount of McGyver-ing was going to fix it this time so...Happy October 6th to me - I bought a new Keurig.
So we all have lots going on. Who has time to draw pictures? * shrugs *
Group A - Hamilton TigerCats/Saskatchewan Roughriders
Group B - Winnipeg Blue Bombers/Calgary Stampeders/Montreal Alouettes
Group C - BC Lions/Edmonton Eskimos/Ottawa Redblacks/Toronto Argonauts
One Twitter person says "book it", it'll be the TiCats and Riders in the 2019 Grey Cup. What that person doesn't know is <adjusts tinfoil hat> the conspiracy theory for some time now is that it's supposed to be the Montreal Alouettes and Riders in the Grey Cup because it's the 10th anniversary of the 13th man debacle in Calgary and this year the Grey Cup is indeed once again being held in McMahon Stadium.
The Hamilton team sure is looking good these days and haven't they been blessed with finding Dane Evans. Masoli who? There's still a lot of controversy over Simoni Lawrence but apparently he doesn't care what anyone thinks of him and I heard someone say we aren't supposed to like him or the TiCats anyway. Maybe that's true. They're being talked about either way. Regardless, we can't discount them like next weeks pumpkin pies because they do indeed have the best record in the CFL right now.
Hot on their turkey tails are the Roughriders who keep finding ways to win. In week 17 they battled in the defensive trenches and came up with a 2nd win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to take the season series and move into 1st place in the west division. Early in the game it looked like Cody Fajardo was struggling but things worked out in the 4th quarter when the offence started to click. If you read last weeks blog I mentions that's how the Als beat the Bombers last week yet I didn't want my Riders to use that strategy. Well they might not have planned it but waiting until late in the game to stick the knife in and put the game away worked. Contrats to Shaq Evans who went over 1000 yards receiving on the season and standing ovation to LJ McCray for the circus catch interception. I'm pretty sure arms don't bend that way but his did preventing what seemed like an inevitable Bomber TD.
Now if I had to choose a team in that B group to be wary of it would be the Alouettes because they are surging while Winnipeg is floundering and we're not really sure anymore what the Stampeders are doing. There is no way the Blue Bombers can succeed with the current lineup no matter how dominant their defence appears to be. Green was Streveler's favourite colour on Saturday after all. Speculation is that they will make a move with Toronto on the trade deadline of October 9th.
Where was Willie Jefferson? For a player who has been dominant he sure was quiet in the match up at Mosaic. As I've said for a while now, it's never about personal accomplishments and while Charleston Hughes should get some pats on the back he and everyone else knows that it's meaningless if you don't end up with your name on the trophy in November.
My Roughriders take on the Calgary Stampeders Friday and the battle for first place in the west is once again on the line. They play the Lions and then Eskimos back to back to finish the season. Can the Riders win out the season?
The good news for Group C? The Redblacks didn't lose this week. They were on bye week. The Argonauts on the other hand...YIKES. I didn't see the game as I was on my way home from Regina but I saw the social media comments and lots of people expected Popp or Chamblin or both to be fired immediately. The problem is in this day and age teams just can't do that anymore. The coaching cap pretty much prevents it. Chamblin has trouble bringing out talent in rookies and I've never really believed in Popp's strategies. Is it a lack of talent? A lack of athletes? Meddling from the GM? Why they'd ever choose Franklin over Bethel-Thompson is beyond me.
That's all I've got for week 17 in the CFL. Enjoy the long weekend and spend time being thankful and telling those you love how you feel about them. Life is too short not to.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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