Well, happy Monday here, welcome to the mark has got the banner going
this week? When the entire episode last week was so distraught with the Lions
loss, I didn't get the banner going. We have it here. Had
the Mariners not gone fifteen and two against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday,
I might have thrown my phone through something and injured myself someone else. This
is a rough weekend, guys. How are we doing? I'm doing good,
raid really fighting week week of games and we're excited to get into it
this week. Yeah, I know this year at your Big BOWLD Tiger Cats
in the forum. Appreciate that. Appreciate it. I don't have my BC
Lions talent right now. Mariners deserve my headspace and not be sides. Evan,
how are you doing? Yeah? Doing well? I mean, what
a week, What a time to be a fan of this league and to
be involved. I mean, you know, it was I think, I
mean the slat in general was you know it was. It was mixed.
But I think I think there's one reason that stands out we're about to get
into I don't even have to say I don't want to be the one to
say it, but that makes this week stand out above all the others that
we've seen so far. Yeah, Tim's talking here. Tim mcgot Outwat's flight
tech. Yeah, we'll talk to Alex. We're gonna talk lines first off,
just off the top here before we get and everything. Teased it last
week on the show. Recorded an exciting interview this Friday. Proud to announce
that our commissioner, Randy Ambrosie coming back on the podcast. Had a great
conversation with Randy late last week. I think this was good. This is
the third time he's been on. I think Randy's got some familiarity and Okay,
what is the mark cass? What is going on? I asked him
if I could call him a friend of the show. We talked about Victor
Quee's departure. We talked about what does Randy want his legacy to be as
CFL commissioner. So this is good. This is good. About seventeen minutes
with the commissioner. So I hope you are subscribed. Are we excited,
gentlemen? Is that going to be good? No, that'll be that'll be
good. That'll be a highlight of the season for sure. Yeah. Randy
looked nice. He had a nice jacket on. He complimented my shirt.
He said, oh, you look really good too. So we I think
Randy and I are like, we're basically like best friends now, So maybe
Randy could join us on one of these episodes. All right, so guys,
do we want to talk? Do we want to talk? Else?
Here, I'll get the game up. Oh, we finally did it.
We finally did it, bandaid off everything else. I watched this game started
to finish. Dorothy was coming home from a girls weekend. I guess we'll
go first. Evan, what did you make of this? Yeah, well,
it finally happened. You know, for so many weeks it was I'll
see it when I believe it, and now I can finally believe it.
Just so strange to me. I mean, before we really get into the
game, you know, first home game, after Victor Quee is gone,
and they do this, I can't It's almost like I that's the part that
I really can't believe. Like the Elks, the past couple of weeks have
been trending in this direction. I think we've talked about it, they've made
progress. We'll get into you know, Trey FOURD and everyone that we've talked
about it nauseam this season, but they've been making progress. This was in
the works. Now, we didn't know. I mean, the Victor quee
stuff was extremely sudden. We didn't know that that was going to happen,
and it kind of happened right in the middle of this sort of like they
were starting to get where they needed to go, and now they finally got
over the biggest hurdle. Of course, still a lot of work to do
this season, still a lot of you know, games to win, if
if you want to call this somewhat of its success, but it's something,
you know, it's it's something, and it must feel so good, you
know, if you're an ELX fan, you're from Edmonton, you live in
Edmonton, you went to the game, whatever, it must have been a
great feeling just being there and experiencing that for the first time in yeah,
I mean just about four years, you know, it'll be It was October
twenty nineteen and we're coming up on September twenty twenty three, so I don't
know. It was so nice to see and I mean I think we all
figured it was a possibility, but just to actually see the final score,
you know, with the Elex on top at home. You can't write it
any other way. It was. It was great. Yeah, I mean
I see this is you know, the Elex Elusian Street Kids existed before the
Mark has was the creation. I mean, just to like kind of like
Welfare Jecker, what did you make of this as a longtime fan of the
league? Yeah, I was gonna say the same thing that it is predated
the existence of my channel as well. So I mean, just so happy
for all the fans out there that they no longer have to carry around this
burden of you know, this giant, enormous losing streak. And I think
that just to talk about my experience watching this game, I didn't get to
catch it live. Of course, I was actually working last night, so
I actually stayed up to watch the rerun on TSN two am Eastern to five
am Eastern. So that's commitment for you. Like, they wasn't posted on
demand yet, so that's why I ended up doing that. So I had
to go witness history and that was my experience watching the game. And I'm
just so happy that they were finally able to do it. Yeah, guy,
here we'll get the box screw and all that. Yeah, Evan was
talking. I thought this was not I mean, funny isn't the right word.
But Victor tweeting out last night you incredibly happy for the players, fans,
coaches, and staff who've been working hard for this winning congratulations. I
mean I have to imagine, I mean, Victor quee Edmonton hometown fan,
you know, man still incredibly excited for all this. I mean, he's
still a part of the community and everything. I mean we make jokes about,
you know, him and kind of the departure and everything else from that,
but he has to be excited about that. I mean, Evan said,
we saw it trending in this direction. They you know, they got
the win last week, all the pieces together at Trey Forward. Here pretty
remarkable stat line fifteen of eighteen, many many scramblings and then you know one
TD zero interceptions, clean game. Evan, what did you make of mister
Ford's performance? I mean, this was his most complete game of the season.
You know, there was a lot of talk about you know, I
don't know who he had on your show read that said it. It might
have been Naylor who was talking about, well, you know Ford. Yeah,
it looks like the guy, you know he's making progress, but he's
got to win, you know, and he's got to stay consistent. Now
you're finally starting to see a bit of that consistency on both sides, where
they can win games and he can put together a very solid performance. And
this was above average. I mean, you know, three hundred and seventeen
yards on fifteen completions. You don't see that very often. Really just all
around. I think you know this again, we've talked about Trey Forwards so
much. I don't want to make the entire show about him, but just
while we're on it, you know, Trey Forward. I think I think
we've all kind of you know, been pounding the first on the table for
him, and you know that there were a lot of questions still. I
remember, you know, when Taylor Cornelius was starting, we would always talk
about, well, we'd like to see Trey forward, but that's still not
you know that that's still not a solidified option or anything. There's still a
lot to work around. There are still a lot of you know, things
that they have to uh develop. So the fact that he's doing this,
doing these performances so quickly, I think is a sign of just how prepared
he really was, And you know, I don't think I mean, I
think we can still all agree that he should have been playing earlier in the
season. I really don't think that's up for debate because you know, I
mean, he's been like at this rate. I mean, if they if
they keep this up, I mean, they could really finish the season looking
respectable. I'm not going to say good, because it's already been you know,
way too much bad, but they could finish looking respectable. There's still
time to save this thing with Trey Forward at the helm, and that does
doesn't mean, you know, we're already out of playoffs. We're already you
know, looking at possible coaching changes for next year. Those things might not
be saved, but putting together a decent product on TSN or CBS Sports Network
or whatever, that is still possibility. And I think for the Elks that's
a huge win right now. Yeah, that was Naylor talked about it.
I think it was in the I came out if it was pregame or at
the halftime, and he was saying, you know, he kind of used
the CFL season is you know, if you're playing golf and you got the
front nine and the back nine, and he said, hey, Chris Jones
is one for one right now on the back nine and kind of had half
a season to get this together. I mean, especially with you know,
the Lions kind of poopling right now, everything else has either like they're really
not that far out if all things are being equal, right, Yeah,
exactly, And I think, like you said, it just really comes down
to, you know, the state of the playoff race and all these other
struggling teams right now, specifically the Calgrey Stampeders, who the Elks could even
leap frog in the standings with a victory in the Labor Day game next week.
So really excited for that. That's another point I wanted to bring up,
is that the Labor Day games now look to have a lot more juice
to them that they didn't look like they had prior to this week. So
really excited for that weekend. And I think that the thing, just to
piggyback off of Evan here, I think that, you know, the thing
with the quarterback play in Edmonton is that, you know, not that it
was just you know, slight improvement from tray board, it's really a night
and day difference. And I think that it's really opened up that entire offense.
Maybe some of it is the offensive core dat change that they made a
couple of weeks ago as well. But I mean, like I said,
just night and day, and I think that you're seeing lots of you know,
bootlegs off play action. It's putting a lot of stress on defense obviously.
You know CFL defenses are just not accustomed to dealing with a quarterback as
fast as tray forward. And he's taking advantage by hitting a lot of big
plays out there. And you saw that in this one. Ottawa's really struggled
with giving up big plays over the past month or so. We've talked about
it many weeks now on the show, and you know Edmonton was able to
take advantage of that and get that first win. Yeah, this Monday,
September four, they got the schedule pulled up here tremendously exciting for that,
you know, VC here at Montreal, Tim Tim Scott, Tim Kapper in
the chat talking about how the Lions having you throwback cap available, Tim,
I saved my money for winners. I save my money for winners. Maybe
when we come in again like we did a couple of years ago, beat
the Montreal Alouettes at home. I remember we had that beat where you had
to change your logo off the podcast to VC Lions logos, So maybe we
could go get one of those again. But I have no faith at all
right now. And that yeah, I had the tweet up, you know,
just whatever highlights doing this show and Trey forward and everything else, like
Gina looks great, he was back worth every penny. It really felt like
there was still some Elk stuff in there. We saw some penalties and the
too many men and we still we're still working through kind of discipline issues like
that, but it feels like they're getting here. Evan, how are you
feeling here? Steamrolling? Here are we building? You know, two games
in a row now building momentum? Yeah, it looks good, you know,
every everything looks good right now? Is the bottom line I think we
can all. I mean, there's there's no denying this is the best part
of the Elk season. This is the best that the Elks. I think
it felt in a long time, because even in seasons prior or maybe they
won a couple of games and did some cool things, nothing feels as emotional
as this does. And again I'm not an Edmonton fan. I really have
no connection to the Elks organization, but I can only imagine again, for
the guys like you know, Dave Campbell, you know who I always bring
up, guys like put so much time and effort in that league. I
can't imagine what it feels like right now to just feel like you've done something,
You've at least, you know, made a dent in the season and
made an impact, and you know there's at least some positivity because for too
many weeks, for way too many weeks and honestly even years, because I
mean it's been a couple of seasons of you know, lackluster performances for the
Elks. It's just been way too much negativity, and I always tried to
look at the positives, you know, I think when we've talked about the
Elks and weeks past, I've I've always looked at the team and tried to
point out things, Well, they have you know, this X player who
can do X thing, and that's that's good for the future, right for
when you're trying to you know, build something next season with whoever's there,
and you know it's obviously going to look a lot different still, but Yeah.
I mean I'm just again really really happy and like, how can you
not. I mean, I think the only people who were frustrated about this
were Ottawa fans, but I think the rest of the everyone else involved in
the CFL was just kind of cheering Edmonton on because again it needed to happen.
It just it needed to happen. It was dragging on for so long,
and it was again becoming a point We've talked about this before too,
where it's not just hurting the city of Edmonton and their football team, but
it hurts the entire CFLs ale. Yeah, I got the highlight of that
peer out. You know, it looks like Tree Forwards doing his best Native
market pressure. We matter guys the CFL because Nathan bark is playing in the
NFL now, and then we can we can call. I had tweeted that
previously, I didn't have the clip ready. I said, if Nathan work
does his play Twitter breaks, this is the same thing you see that like
padro Brickholmes, you know, if he does any of this stuff. I
did think it was Oh, that was what I was gonna say, Like
with the whole em Ottawa thing of it all, and Jason, you might
have to. You probably know more about this than I do, like the
Ottawa fan base, Like, what is the mindset of the Ottawa fan base.
I know we have jam a longtime friend of the show, and she's
a Red Black fan, but I can't imagine like the strong lineage that is
an Ottawa Redblacks fan. Can you put me in the mindset here? What
does it feel like to be if you're an Ottawa Redblacks fan in twenty twenty
three. Yeah, Well, it's tough because when the franchise originally came back
in twenty fourteen, they had some pretty immediate success. They had the very
poor first season and I think it was three great Cups in four years appearances
that is, and then they wanted in twenty sixteen. But the last four
years have really just been dreadful. They've been really just as bad as Edmonton
has been the last three years. And I think that, you know,
it's sad because earlier this season they have the two dramatic victories over Winnipeg and
Calgary. Looks like they're turning the corner. Looks like Dustin Prum may actually
be something, but he's clearly regressed as defenses have found a way to take
away that running element, or at least limit that running element of his game.
And I think that, you know, I think it could be another
lost season here. Now that they're one game behind Hamilton, I think they're
two games behind in the lost column. They played another game that then one
more game than Hamilton, and they actually play Hamilton after they come back from
their bye week next week, so that is a huge game for them,
and I think that. As for their fan base is concerned, I think
that they have a pretty loyal fan base. I went to a game a
couple of weeks ago, you know, really good turnout for that one.
They're still drawing around twenty thousand people, and that's pretty remarkable considering because considering
it's an East market, and it's also a team that struggled for the last
three years. Like I said, but yeah, it's it's hard to you
know, there's there's not that much of a history, like you said,
because they've only been around for basically ten years here, and it's you know,
I hopefully hopefully they get it turned around soon. I speak about this
at seven it's like a Seattle see Dragon stand with all of you know,
with all five home games under our belt. Evan, what do we make
of you deston crime Hussy's saying your he's regrassed. It certainly feels that way.
We kind of had the initial stort, what are you making the bottle
way? Yeah, they're in They're in a tough spot right now. I
mean, you could honestly argue, I mean, well, Edmonton's got a
long way to go, but like so does Ottawa. And the reality is,
like Jason said, we talked so much about Edmonton because it looked so
much worse for them, and the media was on them a lot more.
But like Ottawa had a pretty long home losing streak too, and their past
couple of seasons have netted next to nothing. So really, you know,
it's almost I mean, we I'm not saying we should lay in the Ottawa
more. I don't think we should be laying into anybody. We don't really
have the right to do that, but like, come on, I mean,
you know that those guys have their issues, and those issues clearly are
continuing now. This has been an extremely unexpected season for Owood, just like
it was for Edmonton, but perhaps even more because I think Ottawa had a
much different direction in mind, whereas Edmonton still knew that they were gonna be
rebuilding, they just thought they'd have a couple more wins under their belt by
now, I think. But I mean you look at Ottawa like they they
lost a lot early on, and the season outlook is already I think,
so different than from what anybody they're expected on both you know, the staff,
you know, personnel side or whatever, and the fans side. Again,
talking about the fan base that you brought up, I just think it's
it's a bit of a different projection. And yeah, this point, I
mean, you know, they had a couple of games kind of like what
Edmonton's doing here, you know, like they've had that overtime thriller against Winnipeg
that was probably, you know, maybe my favorite game of the season,
just going back on things, and I've brought that up a lot on the
show. They've had games like that. They've kind of reached their PIP as
well, but that's dropped off again and now they're sort of experiencing you know,
I mean, well, they're really at a point where there are seasons.
I mean, it looks like it's almost over, especially with what Hamilton
did against BC, which I know you don't want to talk about read but
we'll get into that eventually, you know. Just just with all that in
mind, I think, uh, yeah, that the outlook doesn't really look
good here and as sad as it is, and there was hope. There
was a lot of hope I think for Ottawa, even when you know things
were at their worst, you know, when Jeremiah A. Souli was injured
and everything, there was hope. But now I think you're already starting to
you know, turn the page and looking at next year, which is a
hard pill to swallow. And I don't think, you know, again,
there's still a lot of season left. You never know, I mean,
you just never know what could happen. I can't rule anything out, but
I'm I think we can all say right now, things don't look great for
that team in terms of their success this season. It's it's almost like you
have to You're starting to get to that point where you're like, Okay,
what's what's twenty twenty four going to look like? Who are keeping around?
You know, who might not be here anymore? Things all look up?
Yeah, I mean that win the Pig Game feels like a lifetime ago.
At this point. I mean, it really does, and it felt I
just I remember we had on whoever it was that week I can't even remember,
you know, talking and it was, oh when I had Steve Simmonson
and he's like, this weekend was arguably the most entertaining of the CFL season
thus far. But he's like, I don't know if this is a good
thing or a bad thing because we have all these undown quarterbacks and people are
getting hurt and kind of all that other stuff. Andy Murray has a comment
under Cornelius, who was fifteen points per game under FOURD twenty seven point six
points per game. Lewis has said, you know, and Professor Andy Murray
and hit the nail on the head, Jason, any other football the stuff.
I have some plenty comments to bring up about this one before we get
up, but you have more football stuff. Yeah. At one point I
want to bring up about tray Board that I don't think gets talked about enough
is that tray Board has been playing Canadian football his entire life, and you
know, compared to these other American quarterbacks that come up here that are learning
a brand new game, I think that it's really helped tray Forward's transition into
the CFL, and obviously that athleticism as well has helped him have success early
on here. So I just wanted to bring that up because I think it's
something that's not brought up enough about him well. And Dunnigan had a really
good quote from him on the Color Commentary where he said his mind is going
faster than his legs, where it really does feel like he's able to process
a little bit more. I guess with probably brings up your point where he's
been kind of in this system and you know, he's not coming in fresh
like a dustin crumb here and Okay, what's going on? And I have
to learn this game. I've talked with Naylor about that. How you know,
it really takes a couple of years to get people figured out. I
had showed this tweet earlier Stephen Friend of the Show, met him back and
Regina last year Tray Forward showing the league had done emondant coaching. SAFF has
been keeping him on the bench as long as they did. I did have
that this was a funny thing too, So Morley Scott, Friend of the
Show, tweeting now the Edmonton Concession and stands I'm very impressed with the bacon
cheeseburger we had and Dave Campbell, Dan, this is a winner. I
privately messaged David. I said, I think we know why why Victor Queen
was dismissed from the Edmonton Ogs, that this was your big, big contenion.
I go, I just got home from t Mobile Park. We have
like twenty dollars slices of pizza and like sushi, hot dogs and everything else.
We have the we have the Morleys Scott bacon cheeseburger. And then from
my poll, this one didn't circulate very well, but they really didn't see
my people were all in on free trade Forward here over crumb Sandity. Evan
anything else on this one? Oh, I had the Jalen Hurts too or
he was wearing. They were showing that during the game, and we mather
as well because Jalen Hurts was wearing the CFL expansion team. I guess his
dad played for them back in the day. Evan anything else on this,
Yeah, just touching on Trey Forward again really quickly, Jason, you know
you said, I mean he's a Canadian quarterback, so he comes in the
league with an advantage. I think that's true, but it's been tough for
him because I feel like with that advantage, you have to capitalize it,
you have to capitalize on it quickly to kind of set yourself apart from the
American quarterbacks. But tray Ford just hasn't gotten the playing time, so we
haven't seen a lot of him until now. I mean, again, I'm
sure like things again are trending in the right direction. It certainly looks like,
you know, he could have a very good season from this point onward,
assuming you know, he starts in every game, doesn't get hurt,
whatever. But yeah, I mean it's an interesting discussion to be had about
you know, Trey fod like maybe if we don't look at it from this
season, but we look at it from you know, twenty twenty four and
beyond. What his outlook really likes is really looks like, excuse me,
as a quarterback and how he could set himself apart by being a Canadian.
I think he already set himself apart when he was drafted that high as a
Canadian quarterback, a first round pick. I think he was eighth overall in
the CFL draft Edmonton, So you know, he's already set himself apart in
that sense, but it will be. You know, tray Forward is one
of those guys that could have one of the more interesting and perhaps again outstanding
careers in the CFL as time goes on. I would certainly hope. So
anything else on this when Jason, you want to move on, Yeah,
let's move on to your favorite game to talk about this week? Well,
and so I had We're I've had the Winnipeg Blue Bomber. They are doing
tremendously well with the social media right now. Live look at the standings after
week twelve. Here I was working, I had a wedding, one of
our last of the season here, you know, watching the score come down
and I'm like, what the hell is going on in this game? This
should be such a cake walk. I don't understand that. I was messaging
with one of my CFL people Saturday night. I don't know if it's like
if it's like the culture it's the right word, or a locker room issue,
like there is something wrong with the BC Lions right now. And it
was kind of like, Okay, we can't get up for the away games
and we play worse on the road. Now, I mean, this is
a cake walk victory. This is okay, thrilled the hometown fans come in
like a Rick had his uh, you know, his postgame like I think
they're a very good football team. That we are not a good football team
today, Like I don't, I don't know at what point, like does
Rick started taking accountability here, like we can't just whitewash these games every week,
like okay, we gotta move on, we gotta move on to me,
we had our d others last week with how bad this was. I
mean, I guess we'll go first to Evan, like this just feels like
the Lions are falling apart. We're seven and four now, and then these
are very very winnable games. Well, I don't know if falling apart is
the right term. It certainly looks like that right now, because the Saskatchewan
game was a surprise, and then you know, this was I mean,
I mean, I would even say this was more unpredictable than Edmonton winning at
home, which is saying a lot, because that was the sort of you
know, I'll see it when I believe it's scenario. I mean, this
was a this was a shocker, you know, and BC like the whole
thing was they don't lose at home, you know that. Yeah, they
struggle on the road a bit here and there, but they don't lose at
home. Now they've lost at home. So that red flag that we talked
about last week, like, Okay, maybe you've got a couple of tweaks
to make, is now elevated because you've lost back to back games, both
home and on the road, and both of those games were extremely winnable.
We all know that anyone who watched is the CFL on a regular basis is
going to know that. Me personally, I don't think they're falling apart.
I still think they have the right personnel. I still believe in Rick Campbell
as a coach, We love Ryan Phillips a defensive coordinator. All the pieces
are there. I think they're just getting too comfortable. That's the best way
I can put it. I think they've been so accustomed to success. And
I'm not saying, you know, they're accustomed to success. But at the
same time, but seven games, this isn't like a dynasty here, No,
I know, but that's what I'm getting at because while they are a
good team, you know, not just in the West, but across the
CFL, they still don't have the championship pedigree that teams like Toronto and Winnipeg
do, and that's the difference here. That is sort of the one.
I don't know if you've ever seen that meme where there's like those it's like
the three dragon heads and there's the one dragon that looks like really like goofy,
you know what I mean with the face. I could try and pull
it up later, you could try and pull it up. But that's what
I think about of the lines right now. I'm not saying, yeah,
that's the one. I'm not saying I'm not saying that's what I necessarily think
of them, like the team as a whole, because I love that team.
Again, we just praised the personnel, we praised all the things that
they have, but the reality is like they haven't gotten to the point that
these other teams, you know, in the Sea. Winnipeg I think has
a different sort of discipline, and I think Toronto's getting to that point too,
but specifically Winnipeg and we'll get into their game against Montreal, but I
think that was a great example where every time you think Winnipeg is gonna lose
or do something stupid. They don't. They change your mind, They'll change
on you and they win the game, and usually they win it in dominant
fashion, as they did this weekend. I'm not gonna get into a big
tangent about Winnipeg here because it has nothing to do with the team that we're
talking about. But again my point being, you know, BC, while
they are a good team, they are still in some uncharted waters and I
think maybe that sometimes I'm not going to say that they get carried away.
I think it's just these quick little mental errors that add up. Again,
you're getting too comfortable. You think that because you haven't lost at home until
now, and you know everyone's been saying good thing about you. Everyone I
think really likes the culture. You know, there's been a lot of praise.
I think some of those guys might have just settled down a bit and
they weren't on their toes and then a team like Hamilton comes in and takes
advantage of that, because we all know how hungry Hamilton is. I went
on the show last week saying Hamilton could go to the playoffs, and everyone
was like, I think, you know, that was like the least popular
option against Ottawa. And Calgary. But I mean, look at Ottawa,
like they you know, they just lost to Edmonton. Things really are looking
good there. I figured Hamilton could do something like this because while their team
has changed a lot and their aggression has changed a lot, like I think,
the overall mentality there is different compared to when they were competing for Gray
Cups. The reality is they still have a lot of those guys like Orlando
Steinauer was the coach that was there for the two Gray Cups. He's still
there, Like, they still know how to be in certain positions and take
advantage of certain things. That's not even something that Rick Campbell has, you
know what I mean, so at least a BC. So you know,
it's a complex thing, I think, and I you know, again,
I'm still again it's it's a real shame that BC came out there and performed
like that. I think that was again, I mean, unacceptable, sure
for and I know everyone there knows that. But yeah, it's uh,
it's tough, you know, it's tough. And I think again, now
we have to start asking these harder questions that maybe we tried to avoid before.
Yeah, I got your meme up here, I've made that tweeted that
out here. If you see Lennepeg Toronto, there you go, There you
go. James. James has a good comment. The Lions have been listening
to the media too much. The bomberage arrangement syndrome caused the media to crown
BC way too early. I would co sign Matt Jason thoughts on this.
Yeah, I mean, like, I still think BC's gonna be a pretty
good team going forward. I think they'll shake this off, but these last
two games are really going to cost them first place in the West Division.
And I think that's that's the reality of the situation. And I think they
needed to host the West Final more than Winnipeg did, and that just looks
like it's, you know, not going to be a possibility anymore. And
I think that, you know, it's weird because they didn't really have too
much pushback in this game, whereas in that game against the Scats one,
they came roaring back and almost wanted at the end. Against Hamilton, they
couldn't get anything going offensively. And I think that, you know, I
think some of that has to do with the Tiger Cats coaching staff and their
familiarity with Vernon Adams. From his time with Montreal, and I think they
put together a really good game plan for him, but some of it was
just mistakes that BC was making. In this one. Javanka Toy had a
big fumble, They had a couple of big drop passes. They just kind
of looked out of sync the entire game on offense. And this defense doesn't
look scary to play against anymore like it did about a month ago. So,
I mean, just disappointing last couple of weeks for the Lions. I
still think they're gonna be a good team going forward, but like I said,
first place just seems like a long shot at this point, I thought,
I tweeted Lower, It's like I remember when they had you. They
basically James Butler had him in the leading rusher, and they traded them away
and really did nothing at all to kind of shore that up. Like you
know, you got my Zell here in nine carries. I mean Vernon throwing
forty attempts here at three hundred and twenty six yards, he had like four
hundreds righting that with the loss against the Scatch one, I just remarkable.
I had a couple of tweets from Dave I showed before a stunning result tonight.
During my pregame prep, I concluded this was one of the single biggest
and physical mismatches of the season, really puts a jolt in the dynamics of
both divisions. And then he had this one. There are just two kinds
of upsets in football. One where a bunch of full moon plays happened from
the underdog and the favorite team just can't ever come them, and then there's
the other where their favorite team just gets flat out beaten. Tonight of Vancouver
it was the latter. I had them the quote from Vernon, I hate
Lucy Man. I hit it. I hit it more than I like winning,
which I do, Like, I mean, I love Vernon. I
just I don't know. I'm really kind of flabbergasted by this one. And
like we said that VC needed to host that West Division final, and I
just don't see that happening. Evan thoughts on this the tie cats, you
know, with would pale everything else. Yeah, So before I get into
some of the matchup stuff, which I also do find really interesting about this
game, Yeah, the point that Jason brought up and what you touched on
about, you know, BC not hosting the West Final most likely. Now
that really sucks, and that I think is gonna be you know, we
will look back on these two games if BC loses the West Final in Winnipeg,
and it's gonna be the biggest you know, face palm that you could
imagine, like it really because that's what they needed. That has always been
the struggle. And again we've already talked about, you know, they their
games on the road this year feels so much different compared to their games at
home. And that's like, you know, BC is a good team,
right, we all know that. Again, great overall roster, great coaching,
everything looks great there. But I think there's teams, you know,
with significantly worse records than BC that you know, probably play better on the
road. And that's that's a big red flag. And I mean, again,
maybe I'm being more critical now, maybe we're talking about more of the
red flags because they've lost at home, like things are. You know,
BC's hitting a rough patch here there. They're sort of low patch of the
season, just like we talked about Edmonton reaching their high and Ottawa kind of
hitting another low. Like it sort of goes. The CFL season is so
long. I'm starting to notice these sort of these waves, you know,
kind of trends things like that. But yeah, I just wanted to point
that out. I think that whole you know, home and away thing for
the playoffs is really that matters here, I think more than anything else when
you look at you know, like division wise standings, all that good stuff.
But I'll get into the game here and things that I thought were interesting
from the stat sheet. We'll start with Hamilton Taylor Powell. I think this
was his most complete game. He's had a couple games where it was some
good and some bad, and then there was a couple other games where it
was just a lot more of you know, you're telling yourself, Okay,
he needs to develop more. You can tell he's been quickly thrusted into this
role. You know. Again, I'm not gonna stay's bad, right,
It's I don't think any I'm never gonna call player bad. That's just not
right. I can't. I can't do that, you know. But Taylor
Powell, you know, this game really showed I think his progression. Now
keep in mind, he didn't have to do a ton because James Butler in
his you know, BC Revenge game. This was one of his more complete
games of the season. And I think we've talked a lot about James Butler
sort of. I don't want to say he looks out of place in Hamilton,
but he you know, he's been way slower this year than he was
last year, and it's just been so I don't know, it feels like
it's been really up and down with him too over the course of the season.
So really good to see him get involved. You know, it's a
shame that he decided to turn things up against Well, it's a shame for
BC fans like you read. I think the rest I enjoyed watching him,
you know, go out and go out and do that. But yeah,
no, I mean it was interesting. And the one thing that really I'll
switch over to BC here, the one thing that I find just fascinating about
this team the lines. You know, win or lose, Vernon Adams still
has these incredible passing games. Like their offense, even on a losing day,
still feels like they can churn out a ton of yardage, especially through
the air. On the ground has been yeah, mixed bag, you know,
Mizelle has been again. They've got some work to do there. I
think losing Butler has really hurt them. And ironically again Butler tore him up
this game, or at least the defense. But yeah, you look at
you look at Vernon Adams, I mean, three hundred and twenty six yards
in a loss. So they only put up thirteen points and he's still had
three hundred plus yards. And once again, look at that. You go
down to the receiving column, You've got one hundred yard receiver and Keyan Hatchers
seven catches, hundred seven yards, one touchdown. Like it is amazing to
me. How like I feel like every time this team loses, which they've
got four losses now, so it's it's starting to become you know, I
mean it was they were what seven in two, seven and yeah last yeah,
so now it's seven and four because they've lost the two. Now it's
starting to become a more common theme. Yet they still have such a potent
passing attack. I I mean, I see things like that in college football,
where you know teams will lose and put up a ton of yards,
but I don't know, seeing it like at this level is extremely interesting.
And I think that again it speaks to just how well rounded this team is.
Like I'm Gonna. I will still give the Lions praise even though they're
going through a tough time here, because even when they lose, I still
feel like they have a somewhat entertaining product. A lot of it just comes
from mistakes, and to be entirely honest, I think a lot of the
blame can be put on the defense in the past a couple of weeks really
for most of their losses. I just don't feel like the offense you know,
has been you know, as much of it. I don't want to
say problem because I still feel like DC's defense is a complete unit as well.
But like there's no denying I mean, the Winnipeg game, you know,
Saskatchewan was just a close one. I don't know if that was really
on either side, but this one definitely felt like a bit of a weird
miss match for BC's defense. And again, it's just it's out of character.
It's it definitely makes you question things. I still think BC will be
good, but like, let's let's put it this way. This is the
last thing I'll say before I give it back to somebody because I've been talking
for too long. But but you know, if BC goes to Winnipeg again
and loses in the West Final again. Is that really a successful season?
Like? Is that really what you went out and wanted to do? No?
Like, this team, we know this team can go out and win
a great cup under the right circumstances. I believe that. Okay, I'm
a firm believer that they can go out and win a championship. I look
at the roster again, coaching, everything that we've already talked about. I
combine all that, and I'm like, this is a championship caliberner team.
But you know, you have to you have to get over the hump.
You know, you don't want to be called you don't want to be one
of those teams I think of. I mean, I don't know. There's
a couple examples in the NFL in recent years, like maybe the Saints,
where it's the classic regular season team. You know you can win, win,
win, and then it comes time for the playoffs where it's instant elimination
and you don't know what to do and it sucks. That's what you That's
I think almost worse Like Vernon had his quote he said, I hate losing
more than I like winning. That's almost in my opinion worse, Like,
if you're a good team in the regular season it constantly loses in the playoffs,
then just being one of those teams as a losing record and doesn't go
at all because you feel like all of your accomplishments have gone out the door.
And again that's that's a conversation and stuff for debate how you feel about
that and how you feel about teams records. But I just can't imagine how
crushing it would be for this BC team to go to Winnipeg again and lose.
I'm not saying it's gonna happen. They could, you know, surely
pull it out and you know, surprise everybody, but it just doesn't look
that way right now. And I just feel like if they lose that game,
you know, because I think they can get through the rest of the
regular season, fine, But if they lose that game against Winnipeg that we've
talked about so much that we think is gonna happen, We're like ninety nine
percent sure is gonna happen. If they lose that, you know, first
of all, to disappointment, but then you start thinking about next year,
like will they have the same personnel, you know, to get to be
in that same position, or our guys gonna leave explore new opportunities. You
know, do they like where is the confidence level? That's that's my big
question there in the locker room. No, That's where I'm at, and
I wanted to get Jason thoughts on on the Tie cast as well. I
have a tweet. You know, last year when we were getting ready for
the Gray Cup show, I remember talking with a lot of the BC people
and this was kind of like post Nathan and Verndon was there and they're like,
well, no, like we really like we're hoping to be there,
like we're hoping to be in the Gray Cup, we're in the conference.
I'm like, okay, I mean there was a little bit of delusion last
year, right. I think I think Vernon kind of kind of held that
ship as long as he did. We're basically like, we didn't just throw
away the season, but it really never felt like they were competitive at all.
After work went down, it felt like, I mean, I in
my mind, I'm like, this could happen this year. They're that dominant
they made and like that's just all totally gone out the window. Jason,
I had a tweet here in the Black and Gold. Let this be a
training point for the tie Cat season, talking about hell BC at home and
kind of all this stuff. Do you view that as that or do you
view it as BC given it the way, I think it was the most
complete effort the tie Cats have shown this season by far, and I think
that even in the games that they had won previously, their three other wins,
I don't think they looked very convincing, and I think in this game
they just came out with a complete game plan. Probably the most shocking team
to me was just the fact that Hamilton was just gashing BC's defense with the
run every single play. Like it seemed like BAC never really had the ball
in this one, even though burning through the ball forty times. It felt
like Hamilton had the ball for the vast majority of this game. And James
Butler just simply was the man in this one. The offensive line, you
know, making holes for him upfront. But I think Butler against his former
team was just a different kind of motivation for him, and I think for
the defense, I think that it was easily their best game of the season.
And I think that, like I mentioned before, I think the Tyecats
coaching staff. It's very familiar with Vernon Adams from his time with Montreal,
so I think they were able to game plan and you know, know his
tendencies a little bit, so I think that played into it. And I
think that you know, they tackled very well, they generated a few takeaways,
and they also had a huge third down stop on the first possession for
BC that really set the tone for the game. So I thought I was
very impressed, and it was totally unexpected from me as a Tycats fan.
I mean, almost all Tycats fans were expecting a loss in this one.
But the CFL is a weird league sometimes and you can't really explain it.
Yeah, that's what I learned. And I remember a couple of years ago
and I did Fantasy. We all did it with the Hub people kind of
the first the first season of that, and I just don't have time,
but yeah, you set up this and okay, I got whoever you know,
and it would never. It was so unpredictable. And that's why I've
always said, like, I'll never I'll never bet on sports because like,
god forbid, I'm I'm said enough about this stuff. Can't imagine that.
The other question I have for Jason was, you know the the OC.
You know, we're switching the coach. Do you attribute a lot to that
as well? Here where it's been a couple of weeks with the new offensive
coordinator. Well, I think it certainly hasn't hurt. I think that,
you know, just having a fresh face in there. I think, you
know, Tommy Condell, he had some great years with Hamilton, but I
think, you know, switching it up and you know, I think they're
probably still running a lot of his Schames, but sprinkling in a little bit
of what Scott Milanovitch is bringing to the table a week by week here.
And I think that the commitment to the running game, like I was saying
before, is a big difference. I think from where they were under Tommy
Condell tach. That's just known notoriously as a past heavy team, but that's
changed this year and the last few weeks, specifically with James Butler and the
fold. So I think, yeah, the offensive coordinator change probably is factored
in a little bit, but I wouldn't attribute it all to that. I
think it was just just a really good game plan in this one. We'll
move on here, what'll kind of double time the other two games, I
had this off the top. I forgot to pull it up. We had
the Rich Stebler passing away at seventy four, I believe yesterday or at least
over the weekend. I wanted to make sure we commented on that. I
probably have the least amount of notes for the the Stan Peters Argos game.
We were at the Mariners Kansas City game on Friday. I guess we'll go
first, Evan on this. You know, Calgary made an effort here four
time, you know, Mayor kind of waking up a little bit. I
had some I saw some memes earlier in the week Ryan, one of the
friends of the show, like Mayor Mayor on the wall, we'll I throw
a touchdown in ball or whatever. But what did we make of this?
At Toronto? Still taking care of business like championship caliber teams do? Yeah?
I mean you know, oh no, I'm glad. I'm that was
that was good? That was good. No, But uh, you know,
I think Toronto, you know every Well, we'll start with Calgary.
I think we're regardless of how you know, maybe disappointing Calgary has been this
season. They'll always give Toronto a run for their money. I don't know
what it is, but like those guys just know how to play against Toronto,
like figuring things out. Unfortunately, I still couldn't get the job done.
But this game was way more entertaining than I thought it was gonna be.
I thought Toronto was gonna beat the brakes off them. I know,
Calgary one last time. But again, you know, a bit of different
circumstances there. I expected this to be sort of more like the Winnipeg Montreal
game was, but it wasn't. I mean, Jake Mayor, you know,
we had said last week we really kind of did a deep dive on
Jake Mayor and just you know how bad his struggles have really been, you
know, pointing out some of the stats that have really again you know,
all looked like in the wrong direction this season. Every everything has not looked
great on his end. But every time you say that, like he has
these games like it just he kind of comes out of nowhere and decides to
decides to dominate again. And I can't really I can't really put my finger
on why that is. Maybe it just has to do with opponent. And
you know, when the game is or whatever. I don't know. Sometimes
there's weird criteria like that, but regardless, Jake Mayer, again, this
is the Jake Mayor I thought we were going to get really this entire season.
Now, I don't know. This was still pretty exceptional performance by that
standard. But you know, like this, like you know, you're talking
about Jake Mayor, like it was so difficult for him to get to two
hundred yards per game and here he is getting close to four hundred, you
know, no interceptions. I mean it was He's had a couple of games
this year, you know, where he really did ball out, but this
one I think felt the most complete, you know. I mean, yeah,
there was high yardage, high touchdowns, but it still felt the most
complete. And yes, Calgary loss, so maybe it takes some points off
for that, but I don't know, I still enjoyed it. I think
that was It was a relief on my end because I just I don't know,
like if Jake Mayer, I feel like, I mean, we were
at a point last week where it was like if Jake Mayor even has a
couple more of these, you know, sub two hundred yard games where they
can't score in the red zone, they might just you know, once,
once you realize your seasons, you know over you might just be putting somebody
else in and seeing how that works out. Did I think that was gonna
actually happen. I don't know, but it certainly seemed like a possibility in
my head. Now, obviously, Jake Meyertt looks like he's proved himself again.
But but the guy really here that I want to talk about for Calgary
before we get into Toronto side of the ball is a Reggie Bagelton. So
I've mentioned Reggie Bagelson a couple times on the show this season, but you
know, he missed a couple of games due to injury, and again,
the passing offense just hasn't really been anything to write home about, so he
hasn't done a lot. But you know, Reggie Bagelton for a while has
been one of the more I think intriguing CFL receiver prospects. And boy did
he show it in this game. I mean this, this was one of
the best, you know, receiving performances you could ask from any receiver.
You know, he looked like one of the best receivers in the league in
this game. And you know, yeah, I mean I don't know the
stat line, like he was targeted a bunch, you know, I mean
he was getting fed. But like you know, even Mark and Michelle you
know, had four for eighty two and a touchdown like even that. Like
you know, like once the passing offense opens up, I know that these
receivers can do great things, like I do think Reggie Bagelton is one of
the better receivers in the CFL, which is the point I'm getting at.
But no one would really know that this season because Calgary hasn't done much throwing
the ball. You know. Now we finally had an opportunity, you know,
where he could get worked into the offense and it's been shown definitely.
I mean, going over two hundred yards in a game at receiver and scoring
twice is ridiculous. I mean that's you know, think about how many fantasy
points that is if you want to get back on that fantasy discussion. But
no, I mean it was good to see at least a bit of a
spark from Calgary. You know, they still didn't win, so it doesn't
feel as exciting. It definitely doesn't doesn't help things out. That's uh,
yeah, I put that in the chat then time to find here. Yeah.
No, but you know, Calgary didn't win, so I don't know.
It definitely makes things feel less exciting, and to be honest, that
it almost feels like a nail in the coffin of their season. I'm not
gonna say that now, because they played really well in this game, but
just looking at the record and everything, I mean, hell, they're getting
like Edmonton's getting close to them now, which is which is staggering. I
mean that's you know, if if for somehow, I mean I'm not saying
it's gonna happen, but if Edmonton finishes over Calgary in the standings, you
know, they swap spots there for fourth and fifth. That's I don't know,
if you're Stampeders fan, I don't know. I just I'm kind of
at a loss at that point. But I won't get into that. I
mean, now we're just kind of cracking meaningless jokes, so I'll get into
Toronto here briefly. You know, do I really need to say anything about
them? No, because they do the same thing every week. Now that
they're starting to get like I mean, we've talked about how they kind of
resemble winning Peg in the sense that they're extremely consistent and even when they make
mistakes, they can come back from them again. That's what made like,
That's why you know, they won the Great Cup last year and probably have
a good chance of doing it again this year. But I look at you
know, chat Kelly that this wasn't a flawless game by him by any means.
It was definitely a bit slower by his standards, you know, throwing
two picks and yeah, he had a ton of yards, but it could
have completed a couple more two. You know, it wasn't flawless, but
four total touchdowns, so that helps. I don't think anyone's gonna argue against
him all around. Yeah, I mean a j Olett. I feel like
he has the same stat line every week, just extremely efficient, close to
one hundred yards, you know, seventy eighty range, demonte COAXI we've seen,
you know, he I feel like, I don't know, I don't
I don't want to say he's one of the top receivers in the CFL yet,
but he's had so many good plays this season where I think the potential
is I mean, he could be, you know, maybe top five at
some point. I don't know. I really liked watching his game over the
course of the season. Devars Daniels, you know, someone I'm extremely familiar
with. Again, another good game. Andrew Harris had a touchdown this game,
which I thought was really cool. You know, we don't talk about
Andrew Harris a lot anymore because he's in an extremely reserved role in Toronto behind
a j O Lett like he you know, and he's really old. You
know, he doesn't he doesn't need to get that much work in because he's
I don't I don't even know how old he is. What thirty thirty something,
mid thirties really old? Like, I don't know. To me,
I always call him the Frank Gore the CFL I I whenever I'm talking to
my friends about, you know, Canadian football, I'm like, well,
you know, there's a guy playing up there right now who's essentially the equivalent
of Frank or he just won't stop. You know, he's still playing.
Yeah, thirty six, that's that's ridiculous. But yeah, overall, you
know, this game I expected Toronto win. They did flow on a bit
differently than I expect, but ultimately, you know, it is what it
is. You know now, now it's time to move on. I don't
know it was. I didn't watch much of this game either, so I
don't know. I'm not going to ramble about it for too long. I
think there's more to talk about there with Calgary though, ultimately than the Argonauts
because we just know what to expect from them at this point. Yeah,
Jason is here enough spark of life here with Calgary. Yeah, I think
that, you know, if that games with Edmonton and Calgary, if either
of those teams sweep that those back to back games, I think it could
change the season for either of those teams. Definitely think there's good things to
take away from this game if your Calgary offensively, But I mean, at
the end of the day, they just didn't make the plays necessary at the
end of the game to win, you know, and that's just been the
case far too often this season with them. I think that, you know,
just to touch on Reggie Bagleton again, I had a video that I
did before the twenty twenty two season where I ranked my top fifteen CFL wide
receivers and I actually had Reggie Bagleton ranked at number one in the CFL,
and I thought, you know, when I saw him in this game.
I said, there's that guy, there's that guy that can be an elite
receiver in this league, and he absolutely was in this one. Fortunate that
he wasn't able to come away with the victory, but at the end of
the day, again, I think there's still some positivity to take away from
this game if you're Calgary for Toronto, I think that Kelly faced him adversity
through the two picks, like Evan said, but he also made several big
time throws down the field. He has great chemistry with Devors Daniels. Davars
Daniels really making good on his potential that he's shown his entire CFL career.
This is a guy that doesn't have on a thousand yard receiving season. I
do believe in his career, but I think that he's definitely going to reach
that this year. He's always had the potential in my mind to be one
of those top ten receivers in the league, and he's shown that this season.
Another guy in Toronto I want to give a shout out to his Dwayne
Hendrix defensive tackle had a couple of massive run stops in this one. That's
another thing Calgary really couldn't get the running game going in this one, so
that was a good thing from Mayer's perspective that he was able to move the
ball efficiently even without the running game. So I think that, you know,
Toronto, same old, same old. Like Evan said, I think
they're arguably the best team in the CFL stale. And for Calgary, I
think their season is not completely lost yet, but the losses are piling up.
Yeah, I'm book in here. As you were talking, looking forward,
you know, we have the Edmonton at Calgary and then the Calgary Edmonton.
You know, sometimes people pooh pooh these home at home, like or
oh, we're playing whatever. I mean, this is kind of you know,
division kind of solidifying stuff here. You know, if like Edmonton could
sweep like you said that series on, that could be interesting. Let's get
to the last game here. I did watch a lot of this one.
Felt like Klaros was a little rusty coming back doing his best Tailor Cornelius impression
and then obviously holding the Alouettes to no points in the way right in the
second half at all interesting here. I wanted to see kind of Cody Cody
kind of wake back up again as well. After we kind of had the
Caleb Evans experience. Let's go to Jason first on this one, like this
is what championship teams do, Like, okay, we face adversity our quarterback
through two pick sixes. I think Zach made the joke like, oh,
I actually threw six six touchdowns in this game. Whatever they come back,
they shut it down, like if this was BC, I would have no
faith, Like they would be flustered and then oh my god, we gotta
go. You know, they they didn't worry about it. They had it
it was tied or they were whatever. At half. What do you make
of this? Yeah, this is a fun first half in this one,
But ultimately Winnipeg just showed that they are the far superior team and Montreal is
really just showing this season that they can't hang with the big dogs. I
mean all of their losses, all their four losses that came against the big
three teams if you will, in the CFL. So that trend is continuing.
But like you said, Colaris, he really, you know, looked
rusty in the first half. I think he also threw another interception in addition
to those two picks sexes. But ultimately, I think he shook it off
and you saw those playmakers really shine for Winnipeg. You just see how much
of a complete offense they really are where they have all those playmakers on the
field. Brady Aliba is having one of the best seasons by Canadian running back
in a long time. I think that Andrew Harris hasn't ever even led the
league in rushing before, but I think that olivera is by far the leading
rusher so far in the CFL this season, So I think he'd be the
first Canadian running back to do that in quite some time. And I think
that you know, like you said, it's what championship teams do. They
bounce back and they were able to really put the clamps down in the second
half. Montreal really didn't get anything going on offense in this entire game.
I mean, you take away those two picks six as they scored three points
in this entire game. And Winnipeg's defense is really just returned to their elite
form after having a shaky start to the season that I was pretty critical of.
Yeah, this reminded me of it was the was it the West Semis
two years ago? It was Winnipeg versus Saskatchewan and like they Winnipeg, I
think, like turned the ball over six times and like Saskatchewan still lost the
game. And you're like that, you know, you have you have to
have a day here when when you're a quarterback, like he said, can
throw three interceptions and he still put up almost a fifty burger here on the
Montreal Uh. Different stat line Evan than like we've seen for Zach here,
but but obviously still coming out with the win. What did you make of
this? Still throwing four touchdowns? Incredible? Yeah, you know, it
was an interesting game. First half. I watched this game and its entirety
by the way first half, Yeah, it felt very competitive in the first
half. Really felt like Montreal had a shot. They were playing extremely well.
I'll give a shout out to you know, I'll talk about Winnipeg first,
but I can't, you know, talk about this game without mentioning Mark
Antoine de Quas first from Montreal. Love that guy. I love the way
that guy plays. And that was I think I you know, I maybe
mentioned him when Montreal had that game against Toronto back last month in July of
you know, the back and forth game, the one that we all really
liked to during that crazy week. I really like Mark Antoine quass safety,
you know, Ally Watts, I don't know, just just really really he
had a really good performance in this one. Obviously it wasn't enough, like
Winnipeg pulled away, but that guy has some serious potential and you know,
I'm glad to see that. You know, Montriol is finding Montreal has found
I mean, shout out to their personnel department. They have found a lot
of guys like Austin mac has been an immediate impact player in this first year
in the league. And you know, just just guys like that really really
stand out. And and it takes, you know, from someone who now
does personnel work like it, it takes you know, it's a long process
to find, you know, guys that can that can do stuff like that,
and it can really get involved in anyway, I won't get too sidetracked.
For Winnipeg. Yeah, it was really I don't know, it was
a very strange day for Zach Colaros. Now obviously you know they pulled away.
Zach didn't even have to play the whole game, but like you know,
he has some just misques, you know, and I think that's part
of you know, get you're coming off a game, you know, you've
been injured, you're you're warming up again, it happens. You know,
Montreal's defense has some good pieces too, Like I think two of those picks
went to the qua, so you know that there's that so if you take
away those that there's only one interception. But you know, yeah, I
mean again, like I said before about Winnipeg, that the same thing applies
here. It's, uh, you know, every time you think this team
is gonna lose or do something stupid or act up, they pull their things
together and they just go get the job done. And you would have never
even thought about it twice. I mean, it's honestly incredible. Like you
know, during the second quarter of that game, it didn't look like it
was even possible for Winnipeg to maybe get to thirty points that night, and
they got damn near fifty. So I think that really speaks again to that
It's just a mentality. You know, it's like, you know, we
can only do you know, whatever whatever happened in the past, like we
can't change that. You know. Now we have to you know, go
out there and just get the job done. And you know, just take
it play by play, you know, don't focus on what happened before,
only focus on what you can do in the future. I'm started sounding a
coach now, but you get the point, Like, I really think that's
what the mentality is there, and that's why they can just keep doing this,
you know, week after week, month after month, year after year.
Now it's honestly just it's one of the greatest you know, no one,
I mean people people really cared. I mean, well, let me
put it this way. This is a bit off topic, but I want
to bring it up anyway, while we're talking about sort of Winnipeg in the
whole dynasty, a lot of people look at Edmonton and they're you know,
twenty two game home losing streak or whatever, and people who weren't fans of
the CFL knew about that. But there's not enough people who you know,
don't fall CFL who are aware of how good the Blue Bombers are as a
football team, because I don't think people understand, like, it's very rare
to see this kind of success, you know, at any pro football level.
I mean, the Blue Bombers are almost I mean, they're getting to
a point where I mean, if they go out and win the Gray Cup
this year, you're looking at like, you know, Patriots kind of thing,
dynasty level. You could honestly argue that they're again different leagues. I
get it. I'm not trying to draw any direct comparisons, but like you
know, in terms of just winning cultures and things like that, that they're
so consistent. You know, it's hard to find that. You think about,
you know, college football, what would the equivalent be for Winnipeg.
Probably Alabama pains me to admit that, but it probably is. They set
a standard, you know, and things just like they just win like it's
nothing, you know, It's just it comes naturally to them. They still
have their mishaps here and there. Okay, even even the greatest winners in
the world don't win all the time, you know, greatest teams, greatest
people, whatever, everyone has their moments. But like Winnipeg, it's just
so I wish more people in sports media. Like I'm not saying like these
people have to you know, become like CFL homers or whatever we call them,
right, but I think it would be nice if like a team like
Winnipeg could get some more coverage for what they've been doing because the reality is,
like you know, I mean, yeah, there was the COVID season,
and yeah they lost a Great Cup last year, but they've been in
three straight championship games and they win the Great Cup this year. I absolutely
think there needs to be more coverage here in the US about that team,
specifically, if there's one CFL team that I nominate to be sort of,
you know, the team that people know here. I mean, now,
now we're getting into like America's CFL team territory, which Reid has already claimed
out the lines, but maybe maybe I take the Bombers just because, like,
again, you know, they're so successful, and I feel like,
you know, people would I don't know if they gravitate towards that. I'm
not necessarily saying, you know, this is a poll for more American fans,
but like, you know, I just feel like this team is so
damn good in all of sports in general, but no one really, no
one talks about it. So I don't know a couple of things here I
want to get Jason. I had this where, you know, the Montreal
the famous airhorn guy, and I thought this is funny pumping out the els.
I did comment in this it's seriously if this guy, like I that
is my one problem with the CFL, is like, oh, like,
let's let this one guy who's having fun take over this entire experience. I
had a tweet here friend of me of the show Ballsy talking like Caleb Evans
should be the starting quarterback? Jason, what did you make of this moncheral
Cody looks shaky, like you said, the offense not really doing a lot.
Yeah, I mean, I think you could argue both quarterbacks looked rusty
at points in this game. But I think Clariss's struggles, I think manifested
itself and as in turnovers, whereas for Fajardo really was just an off game
from him. And I think, like I said, I attribute it to
a lot to Winnipeg's defense really rounding into form. And I think that it
will take a couple more weeks like this to really be concerned about Fajardo,
because I think Fajardo's largely been pretty good this season. I don't think that
Caleb Evans is a full time starter in this league. Played a couple of
really good games, but I think that you know, Fajardo really is the
starter for this team. I don't think going to Evans full time as an
option, so I mean I wouldn't be too concerned just yet for Fajardo in
Montreal. The last note I had on this game, I'd watched this one
as well once it was I kind of turned it off here at the end
of the fourth when it was up a lot. I will just say Marshall
Ferguson is becoming is moving to a different level here in terms of like we're
tweeting shirtless videos, we're blaming Raindolais. I used to work in TV and
I always used to say, like I cover the news, I don't make
the news. I think Marshall needs to cover the CFL will not be the
CFL now. I don't think Marshall is playing in the CFL game. I
don't like this. This This bothers me and it kind of obsess me.
And I don't know if anyone else feels that way, but I just wanted
to get that off my chest. Otherwise, you know, a business as
usual Winnipeg Evan anything else here. We'll start kind of putting this show to
bed here pretty soon. Luis says, questions by the times, you have
a live show that covers the league weekly. I agree. I think the
CFL kind of lives and dies and you know, Sunday and then it goes
away. I like doing the Monday show, but you know, and like
now when they're going to go to double headers or whatever, like you really
kind of do lose that week you know, a weekday kind of stuff.
I know, Twitter exists and all that stuff. I haven't anything else from
you, No, I don't think so interesting point about Marshall Ferguson personally.
I like Marshall. I think he's a cool dude. But I get it.
I get it, you know. Uh. And then we had here,
Oh we're talking that we're I'll get it up here at the tray four
Bandwiga Jason. Anything else from you on here? No? I think that
covers just about everything for this game. Where is this again? Here?
Oh yeah, coach Philips talking. Now y'all don't jump on the tray four
Bandwagan. Now, y'all the ones praying for this far home, we're jumping
the board, getting on board the tray forward Bandwigan. Excited to hear about
that. I guess let's look ahead really quick games next week. Let me
get that up here a week thirteen BC at Montreal. Jason, are we
expecting anything different? I mean we BC has had a couple of bounce back
games here, but now Montreal is probably the safest competition they faced in the
last couple of weeks. Yeah, it's worth noting that BC has traditionally struggled
when they've traveled to Montreal to play. I believe they lost their last year,
so I think that's worth pointing out. I mean, I think that
all four of these games when you look at it, have some juice to
them when you look ahead to next weekend. So I'm really excited for the
week ahead. Yeah. I just thank God for the Mariners leading the LS
right now. I really couldn't I couldn't handle you know, let me you
know, Commanders and defeated in preseason. That that's going strong Mariners here.
We've had two a game win streaks in the last month. But yeah,
BC is really kind of struggling here. Evan, anything standing out for you
for games ahead here? Yeah? Overall, it's a good slate BC Montreal.
I mean, first game of the week, that one could could definitely
be interesting. I just with the way BC's playing now, I mean this
is it's pretty much a must win game for them. I think, not
that it's you know, like not that there's seasons on the line, but
just to kind of you know, salvage well I don't even know if salvage
is the right term, but just to get back to the way things were
a couple of weeks ago. That's the fucking line. But yeah, honestly,
all these games, like Jason said, have some potential, even like
Winnipeg at Saskatchewan, Toronto with Hamilton, I don't know. I feel like
Toronto will take that one. Still, Edmonton and Calgary that's like fifty fifty
split for me. I have no idea that one's gonna matter a lot too
because of Edmonton wins that you know, Calgary and Emonton will have the same
number of wins, which is just unbelievable. That's the same record. They'll
they'll both be three and nine, which is I don't know the fact that
that's even like maybe maybe we haven't talked enough about Calgary this season, but
I'm gonna save that for another day. Yeah, well, I appreciate it.
Like I said, it should be good. Make sure you're subscribed.
And then Jason will do his stuff is previews and everything else on his channel.
Remember we got Randy Ambrosie coming up on Friday. I gotta figure out
send a couple more emails. I think Pat's coming on to do the XFL.
I would cut down day with the NFL here coming up, and then
still trying to work on some interviews. But should be a good show,
Like I said, as you know, seventeen minutes or so with a commissioner,
I thought it was I thought it was good. Like I said,
I asked him, like, you know, what do you want your legacy
to be? And he kind of b asked at first, and I thought
he kind of had a good answer where you know, you kind of got
to get I think like it was the same thing when I had Amar Doman
on before, Like I think you got to get passed about the first ten
fifteen minutes. I'm like, okay, here's all my pre programs soundbites.
Did I say? I think once you get passed, I think you get
a little bit of goal. But I thought Randy was good. I like
him a lot. I know he gets a lot of slack, but I
thought that it was a good interview. Evan appreciate it. Good luck at
college this week, Jason, everything else and stand up till it. What
was it five name? I'm watching in the game. Like I said,
thanks everyone, and yes Luis I did ask him about expansion, so we
get all of that stuff. Should be good. Thanks everyone, We'll see
you next time.