Matt Cauz
CFL.ca
CFL.ca’s Jaime Stein told me it’s a badge of honour to be accused of having an “Eastern Bias” by CFL fans from the West. Well after having been given that label a couple weeks ago I banged out over 1,700 words on the West so I figured it’s time to return to my Eastern roots.
The Toronto Argonauts are in a difficult position. They have a tough stadium deal, they have to compete with hundreds of other entertainment options plus the increased presence of the NFL is always looming over them.
So allow me to present my arguments for why the Toronto Argonauts deserve boat loads of money from the rest of the league.
Instead of getting into an Argonauts vs. the rest of the league argument or examining the team’s bank records I want you all to think about just how bad the CFL would be without the Toronto Argonauts.
(1) They make an excellent villain. Who in Canada doesn’t love rooting against Toronto? It’s part of our cultural DNA. You know the drill. Anyone from Toronto believes they live in the real capital of Canada and are unaware of any geographical region north of the 401. If your phone number doesn’t start with 416 than you usually have some sort of resentment towards Toronto. The great thing about the Doug Flutie era was that it was fun for the rest of the country to root against, to hate the Argos. In their two Grey Cup appearances I bet every red blooded Canadian was rooting for Edmonton and Saskatchewan (except maybe Stampeders fans; I have no idea who they were rooting for). I know it might sound bad to say, but sports are often the most fun when there is hate involved.
(2) They make excellent punching bags. Forget about how enjoyable it is to root against them when they’re good, how about how easy it is to make fun of them when they’re bad? Every year they bring in a who’s who of Heisman winners and failed NFL quarterbacks and just about every import falls flat on their face. The team is one loss away from tying their single season record (15). This year has been especially painful if you are a fan of the team, but I’m imagining the majority of you are getting your Schadenfreude on, and loving the 2009 Argonauts.
(3) Without the Argonauts, Hamilton would lose their best rival. The QEW battle would be done, there would be no more Labour Day Classic at Ivor Wynne and in the mid to late 90s what would have happened to Mike O’Shea and Mike Morreale? There would have been no team for them to be traded to, or then traded back to and so on and so on.
(4) Think about how annoyed everyone would be with the “It’s time Toronto got a team again” storyline. How many more Glieberman’s will it take before we can put to rest the idea that Ottawa is ripe for another franchise? We have been hearing for years that the East Coast is ready for expansion. This is not to say it can’t work in either market under the right conditions, it’s just as a sports fan I get tired of being exposed to the same message over and over again.
(5) By the way here is one plus for revenue sharing … every non-Toronto fan can lord it over all of us greedy, soulless Torontonians that we needed your help. Think about it. Toronto is the business capital of Canada, with the highest population yet we still needed help to get by. The fact that I still hear jokes from friends in British Columbia about the time Mel Lastman brought in the army and a fleet of tanks to help shovel the snow tells me the rest of the nation would love to hold this one over us. It’s like loaning your buddy money, telling him he can pay it back whenever he wants and than making subtle digs at the bar about how good that $1,000 bucks would be right about now.
CALGARY vs. BC: LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST TWO DRIVES
I know the team is 0-2 since his return, but Casey Printers just gets better and better. It wasn’t just his numbers on that final drive (5-5, 86 YDS, TD) it was also how at ease he looked back there. How in synch he looked with his wide receivers. On three of the five plays Calgary blitzed sending six men at Printers, but every time the Lions pivot threw quick, crisp passes to four different targets on the drive. This wasn’t just about the quarterback, the line did a good job picking up the blitzes and the wide-outs, especially Paris Jackson, did an excellent job reading the rush and breaking off their routes, giving Printers easy targets to throw to.
The touchdown pass was the only time that Printers left the pocket. Rolling to his right he bought more than enough time for Jackson to torch Dwight Anderson for the 36-yard touchdown. To be fair to Anderson there were four defenders who all came up and bit on Geroy Simon.
Unfortunately for the Lions Jackson’s touchdown gave Henry Burris and the Stampeders offense 1:28 left, which was just enough time for the winning field goal. While Calgary gambled and blitzed, BC was content to rush no more than four on any play. On the critical play of the drive, the 2nd & 13 completion to Jeremaine Copeland (3-39 on the drive) the Lions went ultra conservative rushing only three. Copeland was wide open due to bad positioning by Anton McKenzie and Darren Toney, they both gave Copeland way too much of a cushion allowing the drive to stay alive.
The other big play was the 29-yard run by Joffrey Reynolds that set up the winning field goal. The stars on this one were LT Ben Archibald who sealed off Brent Johnson and LG Tim O’Neill for taking out Anton McKenzie. Those guys made it a relatively easy run for the Reynolds. Two plays and one procedure penalty later and Calgary managed to pull out a 28-26 win.
Can’t wait to see Calgary take on Saskatchewan next week!
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