Matt Cauz
CFL.ca
This weekend I ran the Toronto Marathon. Now trust me when I say I’m not bragging about this fact. I mean even Jared from Subway is running a marathon so really, just how special should anyone feel for completing one?
I only mention this because as a result I had to focus my column this week on the Argonauts/Tiger-Cats game. Trust me it was not my intention to focus on a game involving Toronto for the second straight week. However with the Eskimos/Lions game starting so late and my Sunday spent running, recovering and then getting caught up on all the wine I’ve missed over the past couple months, I didn’t have much choice.
Now let’s be honest this game was a stinker. If you’re from the Hamilton area I fully understand why you would disagree with this sentiment, but trust me, for the rest of Canada this game was a three hour eye sore.
So, as a result I’ll spend just part of this article on Hamilton’s 30-3 beat down of Toronto and the rest analyzing the Wendy’s Kick for Million.
Quick Game Notes/Thoughts:
(1) I thoroughly enjoyed watching Jim Barker facial expression late in the game. It was a cross between “What the hell am I doing” and “What the hell did I eat last night”. Richie Hall still has the most intense “I’m angry” face but give Barker credit, the man has some serious emotional range.
(2) I’ve said this in the past but it bears repeating, Hamilton has got to find the way to get Marcus Thigpen more involved with the offence. He’s one of the few skill players they have who can turn a nothing play into a big gain.
(3) Even for a game where he didn’t “officially” register a tackle (I still don’t believe that stat) Markeith Knowlton still made his presence known. The guy was born to create turnovers, forcing a Cory Boyd fumble and ensuring Dalton Bell would not stay in the game with a perfectly read interception.
(4) Last year it was the pass rushing duo of Stevie Baggs and John Chick causing havoc for the Roughriders. This year Baggs is starting to have the same kind of impact with Hamilton with Garrett McIntyre playing the role of Chick.
(5) In case you missed it, and you probably did, the best thing to come from the Argonauts bench might have been the menacing beard being sported by CFL.ca’s very own David Alter. It was all over the place when TSN cut to Toronto’s bench. Congratulations David, your facial hair has transformed you from innocent looking sports media guy to the “dangerous” member of a boy band.
(6) I understand why it is a topic of conversation but the Argonauts would be making a mistake if they brought in Casey Printers. The guy is damaged goods both physically and mentally. The fact that we haven’t heard any of his teammates defending him is telling about the negative impact he must have had in the locker room. You don’t boot a starting quarterback from your team for just one isolated incident. I think we can all agree that the Clem Lemon / Dalton Bell combo isn’t working out the way Toronto would have wanted; but Printers is not the answer for Toronto. Not for this season and he’s certainly not a long term answer.
(7) Yes the game was so ugly that I felt like apologizing to all viewers watching from the NFL Network but at the very least there were a number of big hits from both sides. It’s nice to have hate in professional sports.
(8) I know their playoff future is up in the air but Barker and the rest of the Argonaut coaching staff will have to seriously consider resting Cory Boyd. It looked like every other series he was limping back to the sideline.
Moving on to Wendy’s Kick for a Million.
After much deliberation I have decided that Matt Dunigan should be hosting ‘The Family Feud’. He’s got the right combination of slick and energy plus I’m sure he’d be okay making out with a couple moms Richard Dawson style. Jock Climie should replace Alex Trebek. They’re both Canadian and Climie has that clinical, measured approach needed for ‘Jeopardy’. I want to see Chris Schultz on ‘Wheel of Fortune’. Not because I think he could replace the immortal Pat Sajak. I just want to see him try to break the wheel by spinning it as hard as he could.
Finally there’s Dave Randorf who has the greatest skill needed to host a game show … optimism. How many times have we seen a contestant give an absurd answer in ‘The Feud’ or way over bid on ‘The Price is Right’ only to have the host do their best to instill hope that the answer may be correct. Well that was Randorf to a tee. He consoled this year’s contestant Kent Wingert after his botched 40-yard attempt explaining the he “just miss hit it a little bit” or that his 50 yarder was “just a little bit short.” The 40 yard miss was Scott Norwood on steroids and the “bit short” is how friends describe me to girls they’re trying to set me up with. I wish I was just “a bit short”.
Some of the other highlights:
(1) I love the fact that Wendy’s trots out, what has to be, the laziest and I’m assuming most out of shape mascot in sports. A giant Frosty? Aren’t mascots supposed to be brawny men or athletic animals? What’s wrong with a leggy red head with pig tails as the official mascot?
(2) As time goes on I think we are going to appreciate Brian Diesbourg more and more. Just who is Brian Diesbourg? Oh how quickly you forget! Brian was the first person to attempt the Kick for a Million promotion and is the only contestant to actually; you know kick for, and win a million dollars. Oh how easy that looked back in 2005! Since then we’ve seen multiple guys miss every kick and others peaking at 20 yards. Out of kindness I won’t mention their names.
(3) Following up on the past four years of failures … the most telling part of the contest had to be Randorf uttering to Wingert right before he attempted the million dollar kick: “For the first time in a few years we believe somebody’s gonna do this.” If I’m one of the past contestants not named Brian Diesbourg I’m a little angry right about now. Basically Dave is saying that he and the rest of the broadcast crew had no faith that in their respective years Bill, Dave, Kevin and Steven (to be fair I still did not give their last names) would actually make the final kick.
Cheers to Wendy’s for once again putting on a great show, this was a game that needed all the entertainment it could get.
