Rick Moffat
CFL.ca
Ben Cahoon agrees with my conspiracy theory. Anthony Calvillo has earned this much respect around the league for his graceful climb up the passing ranks – the CFL schedule maker buries AC’s 38th birthday obscurely in the bye-week break (August 23 for those of you who are counting).
“Yeah, very clever. He needs to get razzed plenty. I hope you do that,” fires back Calvillo’s most-frequent target during their long years together in Montreal.
“He’s getting old. His shoulders are kinda slumped, he’s holding his back… the Old Man is getting up there. You need to bring that up.”
On pace to eclipse the ageless Damon Allen by season’s end in career regular season TD passes, Calvillo is aging like vintage, according to Cahoon.
“He’s performing at a very high level in spite of his osteoarthritis and the other ailments he’s struggling to battle,” prods Velcro Hands, coming off a 10-catch performance in the loss to the Argos.
The bye week also gives head coach Marc Trestman another opportunity to prove, “all players are created equal but some more equal than others.” Alouettes players travelling to the West Coast have a free pass to skip out on Friday’s postgame meeting (moved to 8 am so all others can get to their five-day respite without too much envy).
Mark Estelle is among those who will benefit. His red-eye out of Montreal immediately following the Blue Bombers game gets him re-acquainted with his infant child.
“Bye week will be severely tainted if we don’t take care of business and we’re not getting out of town too quickly,” says Cahoon, who admits in some past years he’s had his bags packed for family reunions in Utah, which always seemed to follow disappointing Als losses in Vancouver. “There’s always the threat guys are thinking of going home too early. But I like the way Coach Trestman is handling things.”
“Players need to get home to their families and loved ones and come back refreshed,” says the head coach who has racked up the most consecutive home turf victories since ‘50s legend Peahead Walker. Trestman will get a few days of R-and-R himself, back home in North Carolina.
Speaking of numerologically-challenged QBs, will anyone put Brett Favre on their CFL secret negotiation rights list? The day Favre hit Vikings camp, Montreal assistant-GM Marcel Desjardins had already passed through on his scouting trip. Desjardins’ Planes, Trains and Automobiles spy mission had already snuck into Tennessee, Denver, Arizona, San Diego, Dallas camp, the 49ers, but NOT Raiders camp.
“They don’t let anyone in,” says Desjardins, clearly not taking it personally.
Guess the Raiders figure losing is now a patented trade secret.
Alouettes’ Quote of the Week: “Fishing hurts the fish. I don’t like that. I like to hurt people.” -Gordie Judges, defensive tackle 1968-82, reached at his country place northwest of Peterborough, Ontario to give rave reviews to the ‘70s retro Als jerseys worn two weeks ago.
Going into Week 8 has anyone else noticed:
* Winnipeg fans may finally get their wish this year… a berth in the Western Division playoffs!
* Anthony Calvillo’s passing efficiency rating through seven games has equalled his career-best from 2000 at 111.1! He is closing in on Ricky Ray for second-best career, who ranks behind only Dave Dickenson (yes, even higher than Flutie or Moon).
* Despite the media-myth that Avon Cobourne needs to carry the football more, there is only one player in the CFL with more touches than the Alouettes’ running back after seven games. Cobourne’s combined carries and receptions mean the lion-hearted spark-plug has carried a heavier load for his team than the likes of Wes Cates, Joffrey Reynolds, Fred Reid, etc. Only Cory Boyd had more touches 128-111.
* Of greater concern to the Alouettes is Cobourne’s 4.9 yards per carry, 24th among the top 25 rushers.
* Eric Wilson called out the Argos on the CJAD postgame show for celebrating their upset win over the Als like it was Grey Cup. Wilson proved even in defeat he’s a smash mouth football player. A nasty gash on his tongue prevented him from his postgame ritual cigar.
