College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

There’s no baseball game tonight. In the NHL there are no Canadian teams in action. The NFL leaves Friday night for high school and college football. So what does that leave us with….CFL Friday night football. More importantly they’re rivalry games which are always more fun to watch. The early game has the Hamilton Ti-Cats making the trip down the QEW to take on the Toronto Argonauts. In the past this series has been lop-sided in the Argos favor, but this season the Argos are absolutely terrible. Since bringing in former Tennessee Titan offensive assistant Bart Andrus and allowed the first time CFL-er to call his own plays the teams offence has been – offensive. Not having a reliable quarterback or core of receivers do not help the matter. The defence has played well, but they spend far too much time on the field and in that situation it’s only a matter of time before the opposing team scores. On the other hand the Ti-Cats have gotten better. Granted they’ve lost four in a row, but they’re 6-9 on the season and tied for second with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East. You also have to remember the Steel-town Tabbies haven’t sniffed the playoffs in five years.

In the late game it’s another provincial showdown as the Edmonton Eskimos battle the Stampeders in Calgary. Calgary sits in second place in the West with an 8-6 record. Edmonton (7-8)  is only three points behind, but are currently occupying the bottom spot in the conference. A win today for the Stamps and they clinch a post-season spot. This will be the fourth team these teams have met this season and so far Calgary has won two of three games. Both teams feature potent offences. Eskimo’s QB Ricky Ray is second in the league with 4097 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. Calgary’s Henry Burris is right behind him. Burris has thrown for just under 4000 yards and 19 touchdowns. On defence, Calgary has the clear advantage. The Stampeders are second in the league in points allowed (25.3) and turnover differential (+7).

On the heels of Saturday’s 29-24 loss at Winnipeg, one question must be asked: Can it get any worse for the Toronto Argonauts?

At 3-9, their winning percentage is worse than Vernon Wells’ batting average (.262). On Saturday night, they showed less discipline than Dennis the Menace. They face another quarterback controversy after Kerry Joseph’s decent play coming off the bench. But it’s also the way they lose games.

It’s hard to tell what’s worse: losing games they led only to give them away in the final minute (BC in Week 7, Calgary two weeks later), or being absolutely terrible for most of the game and still fall just short. They did manage to win the fourth quarter 15-0, but it was a case of too little, too late.

Running back Jamal Robertson was less than convincing, with only 42 yards on 11 carries, which included a lost fumble on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. The defence couldn’t make key stops on second down when it mattered, and two of their best players — Rob Murphy and Zeke Moreno — lost their cool and were ejected in the fourth quarter.

I’ll never call a game “a must-win” until we get to the point of mathematical elimination, but the Basement Bowl was the closest thing. Toronto is stuck at three wins, two games behind BC for the final Eastern playoff spot. Furthermore, they lost both of their matchups against the Lions this season. Winnipeg is in a decent spot. One game behind BC, they play four of their six remaining games at home, including a tilt against Wally Buono and company on October 18th.

On top of that, the Bombers, for once this season, have to be pleased with the play of their starting quarterback. Michael Bishop was very efficient, completing 23 of 32 passes with two touchdowns, but the best part of his game was between the ears. He knew when to stretch the field and when to check it down to Fred Reid, who himself was productive, with 86 total yards on 17 touches.

Before the game, I was walking through Canad Inns Stadium and saw one fan with a paper bag over his head, with black writing that read “Coach Kelly makes me drink”. Another fan came equipped with a sign that said “Gretzky can coach the Bombers”. Funny how after the game, the very same fans likely shared in the collective optimism that surrounds the city of Winnipeg.

Now it’s Toronto that faces all the questions. Could Bart Andrus start Kerry Joseph for the remainder of the season and claim that he’s looking towards 2010? Some might call that naive, seeing how Andrus should be more worried about his job security, but we’ll see how it unfolds.

So can it get worse for the Argos. Yeah, they could get shutout by Montreal next week. That would be rough…

-Marc Tessier

On the surface, there is no reason to tune into Saturday’s matchup between the Argonauts and Blue Bombers. Yes, it’s simply a clash of two 3-8 teams. Yes, the teams might well duplicate the 13-12 snoozer they played earlier this year. Yes, the winner will only slightly improve its chances of making the playoffs. But what about the loser?

In a season that has been disastrous for each team on and off the field, a loss would not only solidify their spot in the CFL’s cellar, but also further question each team’s off-season hirings.

Toronto faced many questions after firing Rich Stubler in early September of last season. Their 0-8 record with Don Matthews — then the winningest coach in CFL history — left them with even more. Enter Bart Andrus. Having spent five seasons as an offensive assistant with the Tennessee Titans, he was given the task of igniting the fire under 2008’s worst offence. The Argos reached the 30 point plateau in their first two games, but haven’t hit it since.

New Blue Bombers head coach Mike Kelly is a reporter’s dream, a funny and honest man who will tell you exactly what he thinks. Though with his team at 3-8, he hasn’t had much positive to say. He entered his first CFL head coaching gig with a fine resume of positions on the offensive side of the ball as well. He had been an offensive coordinator with the Bombers, in the XFL, and at small colleges in the States. The Bombers have only scored 200 points this season (fewest in the league), and granted he hasn’t exactly had Joe Montana and Steve Young on his bench to choose from, his reputation for offensive craftiness has taken a hit.

But for each man, the main critique hasn’t come from their teams’ inability to score, but from handling of fragile situations. Former All-Star receiver Derick Armstrong refused to play for the Bombers in Week 2 unless he started, so Kelly released him. Bart Andrus had a few run-ins with his best playmaker, Arland Bruce, which caused Bruce to be shipped to Hamilton, and create havoc in the Argos’ secondary on Labour Day. Winnipeg’s best player, linebacker Barrin Simpson, was insulted that Kelly would ask him to take a reduced role a few weeks ago, and hasn’t played since.

So will a win on Saturday completely exonerate the winning coach from his mediocre season? Not likely, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the loser is shown a pink slip on the field as the final whistle sounds.

Now that would be must-see TV.

-Marc Tessier

Here are the lineups for the shows at noon:

On Hockey Central at Noon:
Howard Berger Hosts
COLTON ORR 1205
POSSIBLE DAVE NONIS 1225

On Leafs Lunch:
Darren Dreger and Bill Watters
1240 – mike komisarek

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:
t’s semi-finals time at Wimbledon and the ladies lead it off. Huge match on centre court with number one ranked Danira Safina battles number three ranked Venus Williams. There is no love lost between the Williams sisters and Safina. Sister Serena has been very vocal questioning why Safina is number one and still hasn’t one a major. For Safina this is the farthest she has gone at Wimbledon and would love nothing more then to face Serena in the finals.

In the CFL, the new-look Winnipeg Blue Bombers make the trip to Edmonton to tangle with the Eskimos tonight. Not only does Winnipeg have a new coach in Mike Kelley, but they overhauled entire roster. Gone is one-time starting quarterback Kevin Glenn and stepping in is Stephan Lefors. Oh yeah, future hall-of-famer Milt Stegall hung up his cleats as well. Edmonton also made some changes since missing the playoffs for the first time in 35 years. Richie Hall is now at the helm and hopes a healthy Jesse Lumsden will factor in to the Eskies success.

Follow me on twitter at @yyzsportsmedia