Well here we are happy Mark cast Monday. Later in the day here getting
ready coming off of the Great Cup playoffs, getting ready for the Great Cup
here this weekend. I read here, we got Evan Jason's resetting is rather
having a little bit of just potato. We webcam, we'll get it figured
out. We'll make our big announcement about our show here coming up. I
told Evan, I said, if the BC Lions make it to the Gray
Cup, well I was going to drink mimosas because we were going to do
this earlier in the day. Then I was gonna and drinkas shiner. None
of that happens. So we're here. I got as I cam in my
mouth right now, find off a cold Evan. How are you. I'm
doing well? Yeah, lots to talk about from this weekend. Very interesting
matchup that will be I guess participating in well, not playing it obviously,
but being around next weekend. Very interesting. Not not a scenario that I
predicted, to say the least I know, and I want to get people's
opinions on this. You'll leave your comments whenever. Certainly not the sexiest matchup
here. We have Montreal going into Winnipeg, obviously Montreal looked really good against
Argo's. We'll talk through all that. To me, that's exciting. You
know, I love Cody in Friend of the Show, and you know we've
had a lot of the Alouettes guys on over the years, and I'll tell
you even just to drop a name here, I really enjoy that dming with
Gary Stern about Danny and kind of all the work the Alouettes were doing here
Sunday morning while I was watching Mac Jones to very child Chad Kelly like interceptions
in Germany. So that was fun getting Gary Stotts. Gary's excited for all
of this. So we're doing good. Jason, how are you. I'm
doing good, Raid, thanks for having me as always and looking forward to
the live show on Saturday. Yeah, so we get we're geting a lot
of questions about that. So this is all confirmed now getting it all in
you would have been better under different circumstances. But Saturday in Hamilton, we
are going to be live at the BC Lions Lions Den as part of all
the team headquarters and all of that stuff. It's at the Convention Center.
You do need a ticket for that, but it's like whatever Canadian I think
it's like thirty bucks, but we're gonna be there, Baker and Matt,
Baker and Jordan getting all that set up. This said, we're going to
be in the high traffic area. I'm getting a banner printed out here.
So we're going to be live three to five local times, so feel free
to come by say hi. I guess I'm gonna have a sign already getting
guests. Guests lined up. All the emails have been sent, but we
have confirms. Dan Ralph's going to be on the show. Ted Wyman's going
to be on the show, the guys from the Outlets flight Deck podcast.
I'll post an official list that Baker, of course you want, Jamie,
we got him. Daryld Davis is going to be on, and then of
course that Nailor and far Haun as well. They'll kind of do They normally
do a tag team whenever they can come in, but it should be fun.
It'll be Evan, Jason and I and then kind of a rotating cast.
Jason, what do you make of that? Because we're gonna do the
anchor bar. I think this is good team headquarters, get a lot more
of the CFL people and not like I said, I'll getting a little sign
printed. That'll be fancy. Yeah, I think it will be better this
way. I think that we'll for sure have some traffic going through that area
and whatnot, So I think it'll be good. Ever, you excited first
taste here of the Canadian Hamilton live here for Great Cup weekend? Oh absolutely,
I think I think we're gonna have a great time, So it would
be good. Yeah, So well we posted Saturday, we go live Saturday
at three. That way you can watch it Saturday, you can watch it
Sunday morning, come all the way up through and then usually you know,
knock on will We kind of get a good boost when people are looking for
the Gray Cup and something to watch for that. So live Saturday easier to
do, just obviously with all the different locations coordinated, all that, you
know, reporters are done, you know, team practices and all that kind
of stuff. So that Saturday evening it's kind of a good dead period.
Do that, and then we'll be hanging out Sunday and then you know,
I just like seeing the game Sunday, so I don't like to do you
know, all the other you got the ted Aligemans of the world running around
trying to do postgame interviews, Like I like being able just to hang out,
have a beer and kind of watch that. Yeah, James says,
great lest of guests. I'm waiting to year back. But you know,
like presumably you know, Darren Bombing is going to be on. I think
Tim Baines is going to get back to me, so we'll be good.
It should be about ten guests or so will roll for two hours, you
know, ten fifteen minutes a guest, and then we'll kind of ask questions
and do everything else. But yeah, come come come by, because you
know we got we gotta you know, Baker and everyone, they're putting a
lot of work in here getting a set up in their area, so let's
make sure we get some marcast people coming out. Jason, I don't know
if this is the great Cup that we wanted or deserved, but this is
a great Cup that we want or then we you know, we're getting here
Montreal in Winnipeg. Initial thoughts because this first time ever one hundred and ten
years, we've never had Winnipeg in Montreal. Yeah, I think a lot
of that is due to Winnipeg being in the East for a lot of it's
recent history, at least when Montreal was good in the two thousand, So
I think that explains why we haven't seen this matchup in the Great Cup before.
And like you said, I think it's a totally unexpected matchup. I
thought that Toronto was gonna roll on Saturday. Unfortunately for my prediction, it
didn't happen. But I'm happy for the fans in Montreal that they get to
see their team in the Great Cup for the first time since twenty ten.
It's been a while. Yeah, Evan, you know we were talking obviously
all throughout the group chat lively group chat on Saturday, but you know,
like here we got Andrew Murray. I'm sure he's gonna watch it this year.
He's like, I'm out, Like, I don't you know, Montreal
is boring. I don't care about that. You know. I've had a
lot of the guys on the show here this year, especially this year,
but the last couple and Cody like, what do you make of this?
Because I think we all expected Winnipeg with the Toronto things. That certainly threw
us for a loop. Here. Well, look, it's it's certainly interesting,
right, I said at the top of the show. It's not something
that we predicted happen. Definitely not. I mean, I could have gone
through several other scenarios in regards of Gray Cup matchups at the beginning of the
season, and I probably wouldn't have landed on Winnipeg Montreal despite there only being
nine teams in the CFL. Right, So it's an interesting matchup to say
the least. And I know, you know, there's some people like Andrew
obviously, you know, some guys might not be excited about it, but
I'm remaining optimistic. Obviously, we're gonna dive into the games from this weekend
here. But you know, after seeing Montreal the way their defense played,
obviously, and then you know Winnipeg's offense slowing down a bit against BC.
Now, obviously Winnipeg was still able to win the game, but you know,
I mean, these teams are in the Great Cup for a reason,
right, you can't forget about that. You know, Montreal is obviously the
wild card here, right, That's gonna be the story when we go to
Hamilton next week. You know, the team that no one really expected to
do anything is here competing for a championship. So yeah, I mean,
and then You've got Winnipeg on the other the other side, which is you
know, the experienced group of veterans. You know, their guys are aging,
but they're still going strong. You know, fourth grade cup in a
row going back to twenty nineteen, so really a five year stretch, even
though there wasn't a season in twenty twenty due to COVID. So definitely two
unique ends of the spectrum there. But you know, I'm still excited and
I'm still optimistic. And you know, last year a similar situation happened where
it was Winnipeg versus Toronto. And you know, I remember watching you know,
the Gray Cup, your Great Cup show read, you know, when
you were in Regina, and I think there were some people on there who
were saying, well, Winnipeg's gonna blow them out, and a lot of
people this time around. Again, I'm not gonna get into too many details
here. We're gonna save that for next weekend, but you're gonna have a
lot of people saying the same thing. I'll Winnipeg will just blow them out.
But you know, we'll see, right. I think, you know,
Jason, I think you were the one that said it. Man,
It's it's an interesting league. You know, some funny things can happen,
so again keeping my eyes out for that. I'm I'm really bullish right now,
at least on the Montreal side of Like, I get all sides of
it, and I absolutely get Okay. Last year, you know, it's
these two juggernauts and you know Toronto barely ekes it out, and you know,
it's it is kind of like what we did see in The Rock,
and then they did see The Rock again the following year and the first year,
what was it the scene it or I guess the Rock won the first
year, and then he put over seeing in the second year. Like I
kind of get that, and hey, what you know, we're seeing these
teams again. Obviously Toronto did not you know, I want to get I'm
very excited to get into this. You know, Toronto did not play like
a team that wants to be in the Gray Cups. Really doesn't feel like
this would feel like Jack Kelly wants to. But I'm excited, like just
having you know, talked with Cody Haven, having been on the show,
Jason Moss, all that stuff. I've talked a lot with Rod Peterson over
the weekend as well. Obviously, with him being in the whole Saskatchwan market
and like, here's these guys. They were the total scapegoat, sent out,
you know, kick to the curb, you're the problem. We're gonna
rebuild this whole thing. Obviously, we've you know, chronicled Saskatchewan's problems all
season and to see I just could not be more happy for Cody and his
wife and baby, like their whole family. And obviously there's you know,
many many more players on the team and they all have their individual stories,
but like having lived through a lot of that with these guys this year,
I am excited for that. Like Winnipeg has been here and like we're you
know, Donk's trying to make o Clearo's you know, four time in a
row, and this has never been happening. Like there's a lot of other
stories and kind of everyone's getting their flowers on both sides of it, but
I do I just am really proud for all of that. Jason, any
other thoughts on kind of the Montreal or Winnipeg of it before we get into
the game. Yeah, for Winnipeg, you have a chance to be one
of the true CFL dynasties. And I just before I got on here,
I released a video on the history of dynasties since nineteen fifty eight in the
CFL and how few of them there have been. So Winnipeg has a chance
to etch their place in history. They had a chance last year. I'm
obviously we're heavily favored against Toronto, like Evan said, and you know,
they didn't get the job done, so they kind of have a chance to
make amends this year and for monthreal, I mean, I'm just really happy
again. Like I said, they have not been in the Great Cup game
since twenty ten. They had such a rough patch after Anthony Calbio retired.
You know, I think they missed the playoffs like four or five years in
a row. So I'm really happy for them from that perspective and the fact
that they've gotten so far. Yeah, and you know, obviously, you
know, would have liked BC to be in this. Obviously would like to
be at the lions Den for our live show under you know, under different
circumstances. Obviously it's going to be exciting. We're promoting you know, Great
Cup next year in Vancouver and we'll be involved in all that. But uh,
you know, I said on here. You know, when BC lost
that game at home against Winnipeg was in October fourth, like really kind of
I kind of that night process kind of the end of the BC Lion season.
I mean, it's been happy to kind of follow along and obviously everything
here through the playoffs, I've kind of resigned myself to that. So you
know, even watching the game, the Montreal win was far more exciting for
me than kind of anything with BC. And honestly, I'm happy, you
know, if we can't have the Lions in there, I'm happy that,
you know, Tim and Cliffe and all the work that they put in with
the Outwit's Flight Deck podcast. I'm really happy that, like you know,
I feel like, okay, we'll we'll die this year so you can kind
of live on and they can enjoy that. And I mean they've certainly been
following this much longer than I have. So in terms of we'll start with
Evan in terms of this Argonauts loss, and I was talking with Dorothy about
this. I am not the longest sports you know, a history in my
life, and you know, we really got into this football step of the
marquess. But to me, this was the biggest egg I've ever seen laid
in any sport I've ever fall I've never you know, the Mariners and the
cracket like, I've never seen a bigger just complete following the part here collapse,
Evan, Is that how you took it? And what did you look
at the last year of the Argonauts? Definitely, I mean I will say
this. You know, Mike Mitchell, obviously who covers the Argos, he
predicted that the Alouettes would win this game. But I don't think anybody predicted
it would happen in that fashion where it was a complete domination. You know,
everybody thought that if Montreal had a chance, would be you know,
this close fought battle where somebody wins in the fourth quarter and has that big
play. That wasn't the case. You know, I'm sure Argos fans will
probably be saying this for a while, but Chad Kelly chose to have his
worst game on probably the worst day of the year or the worst time that
it could have happened. Rather, I was stunned, to say the least.
I you know, it raises in my head at least it raises some
questions, you know about I think it was fifty seven days was the number
I heard on TSN you know, from the last time that the Argonauts actually
played a meaningful game, because then they won the East and you know,
kind of just after that, it was, you know, it became more
about you know, the moral victories, right and obviously they were able to
get the sixteen wins, you know, which is tied the CFL record.
But people were saying, right, the one team that I think had sixteen
wins before this Toronto team was the nineteen eighty nine Edmonton then Eskimos now Elks.
But you know, they didn't make it to the Great Cup either,
I don't think, you know, or they lost right along the way.
And you know, I really couldn't. I mean, as much as you
want to, you know, you want to cancel out history or whatever,
and you might not want to think about that. I I was very certain
that Toronto was gonna win this game. I didn't know. It was kind
of hard to predict whether it would be, you know, by ten points
or by thirty points. But I just you know, Toronto was obviously the
win more complete team on paper. And look, Montreal put up a great
performance against Hamilton in the in the semifinal. You know, I think I
talked about that and I said that Montreal did have a chance in this game,
but it was a slim chance. Really, this game, I think
more than anything, you know, it falls on the shoulders of Chad Kelly
because in my opinion, you know, both defenses obviously played very well.
Now, Noel Thorpe's unit in Montreal clearly was from I mean, you know,
from that Mark Antwine de qua pick six at the beginning of the game
where Toronto because they looked like they had all the momentum, right, I
mean, I don't want to get who you know, carried away or lost
here, but really you saw how quick Toronto was moving the ball on their
first drive. It was like four plays and they were already down there by
the goal line ready to go. And then Mark Antoine picks off, Chad
Kelly runs it all the way back however many yards, and Montreal never look
back after that. But my thing here is, you know, I feel
like both defenses played well. Montreal is obviously, you know, they really
stepped up. I mean, you know, seven turnovers or whatever, some
ridiculous number. I mean, it's impossible to win a game when you have
seven turnovers. But they really stepped up. But more than anything, I
just think, you know, Chad Kelly, like the blame really has to
be pointed towards him, because if you go back and you look at this
game, you know, several not even of I mean, look, he
had four interceptions, but even on some plays that weren't turnovers, he just
wasn't seeing in the field well that day. And I don't know what the
case was. It's you know, I can't explain that, right, I'm
not Chad Kelly. I'm not in his head. I don't know what's going
on. And I'm sure he knows obviously that this is incredibly dis pointing and
that he's a much better player than that. But yeah, I mean,
I just, you know, you have to point in the finger at Chack
Kelly. His two pick sixes. I mean, I hate to be critical,
but those were you know, some of the you know, maybe worst
throws that I've seen in a game. You know, given everything that's on
the line, right, I mean, it would be bad in a regular
season game to make those mistakes, but when you're doing it, you know,
in the playoffs, keep in mind, in front of a sellout crowd
or you know, the biggest Argos crowd. I think that there's been maybe
ever. Yeah, right, Jason, wasn't it. It was the biggest
one they've had since moving to BEMO, Right, Yeah, it broke the
twenty seventeen East Final wins the Scats one played there as the crossover team.
Right. But the but the bottom line here is, you know, this
game obviously very surprising result Montreal. You know, I think I think it's
safe to say the reason they scored thirty eight points was because you know,
their defense to two pick six is next week, when we're actually in Hamilton,
I'll get into more, you know, of a deep dive about the
offense and where that you know, might let's just say that Montreal's offense is
gonna have to step up a bit more even than they did in that game,
if they want to have a chance against Winnipeg. But you know,
in this situation, it didn't matter. Right, Argo's just made you know,
mistakes quickly and that was it. That was all she wrote. I
mean at halftime, you know it was only a ten to three game.
At halftime, you know, Argos could have easily gotten back into it.
You know it was one score, but you just felt like it wasn't gonna
happen. You just saw the way that Chad was distributing the ball and you
just had a feeling, or at least I had a feeling that by that
point it was kind of a lost cause. So very unfortunate for Toronto,
very surprising. I'm still, you know again, watching that game. It
was just like you're saying, oh my god, every you know, ten
seconds because there's another turnover and Montreal keeps putting these points on the board.
But ultimately, yeah, definitely, you know, an upset of the year.
And the last thing I'll say about this before I hand it back,
you know, this game proves more than anything. And I love stories like
this, but you know what was really nice to see was I mean my
and this includes myself, but all year, you know, we said,
well Montreal is good, but they don't have a win against Toronto or Winnipeg
and BC. But you watch this game and then you realize none of that
matters if you can just win that one game, right. I think about
like, look, I'm a Rams fan, okay in the NFL, and
you know we lose to the forty nine ers every year. That's like the
one you know kind of thing that you can't get off your back. But
we played the forty nine ers in the playoffs, in the NFC Championship,
won and then won the Super Bowl, right, So it doesn't you know,
as much as we sit here and you know, we have to have
something to go off of. And one of the storylines that Montreal had throughout
the seasons that they couldn't be the team with a winning record, you know,
it doesn't matter. I mean, none of that, All of that
goes out the door because once you get into the playoffs, you know,
I mean, you want to know every week and that I give credit to
Montreal for that, because you know, that's what everybody was saying. You
know, they just can't be the good teams. And had they lost to
Toronto, that trend would have continued. That would have been, you know,
something that people would have still talked about. It would have proved the
point. But instead of you know, just letting them have that, they
went out there and proved a lot of people wrong. And I mean a
lot of people. Yeah, I mean it was just crazy. I'm sitting
there watching and you know, like you said, trying well first off,
so you see they're showing all the pregame and Chad Kelly's doing his interview and
he's got like the bug eye. They're like, oh, man, like
chat. You know, Chad is locked in, locked in, And like
you said, the further the game went along, you could see in his
eyes. I mean they would kind and you just would see him scan in
the field and try to find someone making really terrible throws. Like you said,
you know, the first drive down. I joked yesterday on Twitter when
Mac Jones had this horrendous interception against against the Colts, I said, oh,
I think Chad Kelly got on the plane and went to Germany to go
play for the Patriots today, because here's someone that's been so cold all season.
And I wanted to get into kind of the rest versus rest of it.
But yeah, to watch Toronto go the whole way down the field,
I'm thinking this is going to be a long day for the outlettes. I
mean, this is brutal. And then that pick six and you're like,
goll kitty, maybe they got a little reprieve here. Maybe it's going to
be and then you know, it kept happening and happening, and I just
it got to the point where it was almost comical where it's like, oh,
you know, they tried to you know, go for on third down
and then they got stopped and then Chack Kelly threw another pick six. Like
it just seemed like, you know, it was you know, Chad's no
good, horrible, very bad day or whatever that book is. You know,
it was really just a complete collapse. First off, Jason, what
did you make just the that of kind of the the de evolution of Chad
Kelly here over the last you know, the last whatever it was forty eight
hours. Well, the craziest thing is this was really the first game that
he lost this year, Like he was what fifteen and one. Technically they
credited that Calgary loss that they had against him, but he didn't even finish
that game. So this was literally a perfect season for him up until this
point. And then it just all unraveled all at once. And I think
that in terms of like the biggest egg layings that I've ever seen, if
you want to use that phrase, I would go back to the twenty nineteen
Great Cup with the Hamilton, that fifteen to three team, how excited I
was for that team and how they were favored in a great Cup for once,
and then they just come out and just get destroyed by a Winnipeg team
that we didn't know how good they were at that point in time. They
were a third seed in the West Division coming into the playoffs that year.
And then I go back to twenty thirteen in the Super Bowl where the Denver
Broncos led by Peyton Manning and that record setting offense just getting destroyed by that
Seahawks defense. And it really was a defensive story for Montreal in this game.
I mean, the offenses. The offense for Montreal really cashed in when
they needed to. And I think that is really the key with their team
is when they do get those takeaways, that's when they score their points.
And they've just been a very complimentary team in that regard all year long.
And I think that one thing with this group this year, and I think
it's really key for this entire organization, is that midway through the season.
You know, obviously they had the turmoil in the offseason, but midway through
the season they bring in Darnall Sanky and Sean Lemon and they signify to the
rest of that unit that we're gonna go for We're gonna, you know,
try all out to win the Great Cup this year and ultimately those signings have
paid off in a huge way. What did Darnall Sanky have eight tackles,
two sacks and interception or something like that. Maybe maybe that was last week,
but he had a gigantic game in this one, and Sean Lemon had
a huge impact as well. Yeah, you saw that. Now you saw
a lot of like Johnny Johnny cum lately is on that like, well,
you know we've you know, we've tracted during the Sanky but why why wasn't
he there at the beginning of the season because he was winning the championship for
the XVl Roughnecks and you know, uh the rennagains excuse me, and that
we've you know, we've talked about that a lot. I thought that was
interesting on that. Uh, the Ken has a comment here and they're talking
about the chat chat it feels bad, biggest responsible for five thousand more takets
to the big jump in the TS and audience. I did see that.
I just come before I got on here. I don't know when it was
supposed to I assume earlier today, but you know, good ratings for the
East and we were talking, you know, the Saturday playoffs versus all that
I did that I humored myself, maybe not everybody with the joke that we
finally get the biggest audience in demo history for the Argos and they completely grab
the bed. Now we've lost the Argos for another generation. But it was
a good crowd. I mean, it has to be. I've never been
a fan of like, I've never my team has never been a favorite in
anything. I mean even the cracking last year and we were the underdog going
into the playoffs, and god knows the Mariners and everything else. But I
guess maybe the Seahawks when they were playing the Broncs. Like, I've just
never had that of like having the dominant team go in and kind of have
the rug pulled out from under you. Jason, what did you make just
of that with kind of the we've done this grassroots effort, you know,
Toronto has had a great ear kind of seeing this collapse now, it just
it was kind of a beautiful disaster, if that makes sense. Yeah.
I kind of joked in the group chat that they're not used to playing in
front of this many fans, and I think that when you actually think about
it, that's like ten thousand more people watching you at your in your home
games than when what you usually get in BMO Field. And you know,
if you've ever been to BMO Field, it gets really loud in there,
even when there is like only thirteen thousand people or whatever there. So,
I mean, I can't even imagine how loud it got, and you know
how like silent it got when the game started going sideways for them, and
it was just shocking because it just kept on going downhill for them. I
think that it kind of reminded me as the game was going on of a
couple of years ago when Saskatchwan and Winnipeg played in the West Final and saskatchwe
had like a six to one turnover edge in Winnipeg still won. I still
thought through the majority of this game that Toronto had a chance to get it
together, but it just continued to keep on slow for them in that third
quarter. Really was the exclamation part when point when wasn't it like three interceptions
in a row or something like that from Chad Kelly. So it just completely
unraveled for them. Yeah, we had here Marx putting in the comments,
you know, Chad's only got nineteen starts, you know, obviously with last
year and the you know, the Gray Company you know coming in and relief
and all that. Yeah, Evan, how do you is it just I
mean, I think Chad's going to bounce back. I mean this is obviously,
and I saw he posted I think it was like Instagram that got shared
on Twitter or whatever today and you know, like the whole Hey, this
was what we wanted. But all this kind of winded up. I mean,
Chad will be fine, but just overall, I guess it just thoughts
on that and kind of just the unravely and I guess to kind of round
out that before we talk about the rest of the game. Well, you
know, Chad will be fine. I mean, he's in the MOP conversation
for a reason. You know, we don't forget what he did during the
regular season, you know, but more so than just Chad, I think
the argos will be fine in general, you know, that entire two team.
You know. The one thing that a lot of people brought up is
that you know, this team, I mean they've really you know, they
haven't faced any kind of you know, adversity or any you know issues really
this year, they've just won everything. You know that they never really had
a situation where, you know, there was too much on the line.
It was kind of like, we just go out and win football games and
that's that. And then you know, here they come into the playoffs,
they find themselves in a sticky situation where they're facing a very good defense,
and you know, that's just one of those things we have to learn.
As somebody said it, you know, Chad only has nineteen starts or whatever.
He's very as much as we've we've praised him this year, you know,
he's not Zach Kalaros. I mean, Kolario's has been doing this forever,
you know, or at least, well, he hasn't started his entire
duration, but he's been in the CFL for a long time, you know,
and of course now he's going to be going, you know, four
straight Great Cups. You know, Chad hasn't had that like Chad. You
know, the conversation around Chad Kelly started last year only because he played you
know what a half in the Great Cup and then it's like quite part of
a quarter. I mean, right, I mean I was spoiler, I
was drinking on the concourse it was it was like the end of the fourth,
right, it wasn't even that half. Yeah, maybe maybe like three
drives at most. Yeah, But my point is, you know, the
whole conversation around Chad Kelly started because of a couple of drives. And you
know the fact that he came into this season, you know, as the
starter with MBT off to the USFL and exceeded everybody's expectations. I mean,
that's not that's not easy to do. And what's good, you know like
that, I think more than anything, you know, the Argos now have
found a franchise quarterback. That's what's really important. You know, it's a
difficult loss in the playoffs and it's not what you want to see, but
that was really his first bad game, Like Jason said, that's like the
first game he's ever lost, you know, in the CFL. So as
much as we could sit here and like I said earlier, you know,
you have to put the blame on his shoulders because he made some you know,
not so great throws and you know, they really did have an opportunity
to get back into it, but because of its third quarter, that opportunity
kind of went away. I will say, the other thing that I want
to touch on besides Chad Kelly in the argo's positioning and what the future looks
like. You know, just I lost my lost my train of thought.
But let's the thing. It's okay, Well, so I circle back because
it's going to come back to me. I did that. I did see
a comment where I think it was Derek Dennis posted that, you know,
only having you know, two losses during the season is not enough adversity to
be able to not only for you know, Chad, but for the team
kind of in general. Like you know, we saw that obviously with the
Patriots and the Giants back you know whatever year that was, Like, you
need to be able to go through a little bit of adversity to be able
to figure that out, and it's too hard. Kind of in the middle
of the game. Jason, I know you did your video talking about kind
of how the dynasty right, how the Dynasty however you phrased it right then
the dynasty like that, you know, a video of talking about talking about
the high in terms of them not facing that adversity going down the pipe.
What did you make of kind of out with sixteen and two or whatever.
Yeah, for sure. And Derek Dennis is referring to that twenty sixteen Stamps
team that lost to the Outawa Redblacks in a Great Game, where the Outao
Red Blacks actually had a losing record going into that Great Cup. So I
mean, really shows you what can happen in this league and really in sports
in general. I believe I saw that all of the teams in all the
major sports that have the regular season best records didn't win the championships. So
you look at the Warriors team that went seventy three and nine or whatever it
was. You look at the Patriots team that went sixteen to zero. These
are great regular season teams and great teams overall, but it really just takes
that one game in the playoffs to trip up. And like Derek Dennis said,
the adversity throughout the season, you don't really face it if you have
that easy of a stretch throughout the season. So I think that we have
seen that trend throughoute CFL history, particularly in recent years. I mean you
look back to those Alouette teams with Calvio, they took a long time to
really be, you know, a successful team in the Great Cups, specifically
even though they've had so many great regular seasons. Those Calgary teams, they
had many years where they had disappointing finishes in the playoffs. And ultimately,
Winnipeg really can't be caught off guard by this when they play Montreal, because
I mean, Winnipeg was a fourteen win team this year and didn't go through
a ton of adversity either. I was. I was sectioned, Rod.
You know, I has to ride Pierson a little bit. I said,
Ben those Argo fans, I'd like to have a cloud Bethel Thompson back right
at that now, like, oh, we're all good with Jack Kelly and
all that. Evan, did you remember what your play was? No?
I didn't. I don't know. I don't know what happened. Just it
really slipped away. It's gonna bother me for a while, but I'm gonna
do my best to move on. So here, let's get so obviously,
you know, and we got I want to make sure we obviously get to
be a BC and Winnipeg and all this kind of stuff. Okay, you
know, Chad Kelly collaps, Argonauts, all that stuff. Montreal here,
things that they did well with Talksbar Darnell saying key right, Cody either had
the interception, you know, kind of the Cody game eighteen to twenty five,
you know, almost two hundred yards. Like is this enough because there
was not a lot of offense for the first half of this game from Montreal,
Like, is there enough offense here for them to go up against Winnipeg
If their defense plays like this, they have a shot to beat anybody.
They're on an all time heater in terms of their defense right now. And
this is what this game really showed that the importance of defense in the CFL
win a defense can really take control of a game and force that many turnovers
because really the key to the Alouette season this year has been scoring non offensive
touchdowns and they got three of them in this game. Obviously the two pick
six is the Dakua one, like you guys mentioned, but also that James
Letcher kick return when Toronto looked like they were mounting a comeback in the fourth
quarter, that was huge. I think you got to put James Letcher in
the Mark Cast Hall of Fame after that one, and especially if he wins
the Great Cup on Sunday. So I think at the end of the day,
that's just kind of been Montreal's formula all season long, play ball control
type offense, make the timely plays when they get the takeaways, and they
did exactly that in this game. That's so funny, you know because spoiler
alert, Like I watch all all these games. I had the BC game
on. I'm getting ready for my by Mitzvah. I'm unloading there. But
you know I watched about eighteen football games yes year or whatever. So yeah,
I completely forgot, and I will tell you so because we had James
Letcher on you know whatever it was going into the last week against Hamilton,
and it's like total nothing burger game, right because it's the game before the
playoffs, and I remember sitting there and I'm interviewing him and he's like,
you know, I'm just trying to get my spot. You know, we're
did and I'm thinking, like Montreal's gonna get killed right by by Toronto.
Like this isn't even right, Like yeah, yeah, you know, like
so proud of him because there was that was the thing, like any momentum
here Toronto. Okay, this is the sixteen and two team that we know,
like they're battling back by we see the pig. You so many times
and it was like, just like that, James Letcher's back down the field
and totally the gates a touchdown. Evan to you about Montreal strings here going
in and what they can carry over to the Great Cup. Well, actually,
you know, I did remember what I was going to say earlier,
and it does tie into this conversation because Jason brought up James Letcher. Now
you know I was gonna say that, you know, because besides like the
argos and what their future looks like, you know, there was a point
in that game and even though I knew still that they weren't going to win,
there was a point in that game, you know, in the fourth
quarter where I think Toronto scored fourteen in the fourth quarter. You know,
they had some some quick offense where Chad finally found a rhythm. It ended
up being too little, too late. But that's the one thing I was
going to talk about was James Letcher put the nail in the coffin, you
know, on the on the Argo season, because at one point, I
think it was a one possession game and then he scored on that ensuing golf
from the touchdown and that was when we were all like, okay, well,
you know that's that's gonna be it. I mean we already I kind
of knew by that point. You know, even if Toronto, you know,
does some cool things here at the end, I think Montreal still hang
on. But James Letcher, man, what a cool you know kind of
I mean again, it's one of these things where you know, you might
not hear about a guy until very late in the season. Sometimes in playoffs.
I think about Chris Matthews. You know what he did in that run
with the Seahawks, you know, all those years back when they I think
that was the year they lost to the Patriots, but he had a couple
of big playoff games. I believe he's a CFL alumni as well, if
I'm not mistaken. So yeah, you know, some guy James Letcher,
you know, he had people maybe won't talk about this as much, but
James Letcher had some pretty big shoes to fill because Chandler Worthy their normal return
guy. You know, I would say, I mean, look, we
always talk about I think, well, this season at least we've talked a
lot about you know, Javon Leak and Mario Alford in terms of you know,
eight specialists in the CFL. But you know, Chandler Worthy deserves his
flowers too, man. And you know, he's had some some very big
play I think he's had a couple of touchdowns called back because I feel like
he's done a lot more than maybe stats would indicate. But my point being,
you know, James Lecher had some big, big shoes to fill and
he pretty much, you know, put the icing on the cake to that
game, you know, just as people, because I think there was a
couple of people that were getting excited like, oh, maybe Toronto's gonna do
something in Montreal's offense has been slow all day. But you know, to
get back to what we were talking about in terms of Montreal's strengths, I
mean, in this game, you know, their strength was regardless of how
Toronto was feeling, whether they were stalling or whether they were mounting a comeback,
they kept putting points on the board one way or another. Offense,
defense, special teams. You know, they were able to put points on
the board when it mattered most. And I hope, you know, that's
something they can continue against Winnipeg. Now, obviously Winnipeg, with their veteran
experience, might not be making as many mistakes. You know, again that
was the big difference to me between Toronto and when this season, when you're
talking about top teams in the CFL, Toronto's kind of like, you know,
the hot, new up and comer they have. I mean, obviously
they well they beat Winnipeg in the Great Cup last year, but you know,
you got a new quarterback. It feels a bit different, right,
you really don't know how things are gonna go. But Winnipeg and this,
I mean it goes the same against Montreal. They're kind of the new,
hot and up and comers now after what they've done in the playoffs with their
defense. But Winnipeg is just that old you know. It's like that old
guy who just sits on the you know, his porch and tells you a
bunch of stories. Like they're a veteran team. You know, they know
everything that they're always going to have something to do and something to say.
And you know that's gonna be a tough task for Montreal. But you know,
if we're talking about strength still, I think you know one other thing.
I mean it goes without saying, but their defense, particularly upfront.
I mean, you know, next week I want to get more into We've
been talking so much about Darnell Sanki and Sean Lemon. I'm gonna start talking
about a couple other guys on that defense next week, once I sit down
and really get a better gist of things, but I'll throw in some like
I want to, you know, I'll elaborate next week on you know,
Darnell Sinki, you know possibly, I mean, he has the opportunity to
win two Pro football championships in a year, which I think Ken here pointed
out in the chat earlier. But you know, they're that defense. I
mean when you talk about and I'll cry I was given credit to Noel Thorpe,
to their defensive coordinator. But you know, one storyline I think more
than anything going into this game, the one major strength is that you know,
while their offense, look, you know, their offense didn't have to
do a lot that game, but I mean their offense didn't have to do
much against Hamilton either. I mean, they had their moments, but you
know, none of these Montreal offensive performances have been anything to write home about.
But when you have a defense playing that strongly and can force seven turnovers
against one of the best teams in the league, there's no telling what could
happen. And I understand Winnipeg's a different breed. I understand. You know,
again, they've got all the experience, they've got, all the tools,
they've got all the weapons. It just never ends with them. But
you know, they're like Jeohn Lemon said before that game in Toronto, he
says, we're going to shock the world, you know, and sometimes those
quotes backfire on you, but they really lived up to it, you know.
And again, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna talk too much about Lemon
and thank you here right now because we've already you know, we've we've talked
about those guys at nauseum and I'll be bringing up again, bringing them up
again next week when we're on the longer show and we've got I've got time
to really do a breakdown of every player individually. But man, I mean
that, you know, if they really win, if they win this game
against Winnipeg and that defense plays the same way they did it against Toronto,
that will be one of the most impressive things that I've ever seen across any
pro sport. I'm young, right, you know, I don't I haven't
that wasn't around for some of the great you know, dynasties or great runs
even that we've seen, because I guess Winnipeg is more of the dynasty here,
but that would be extremely impressive. And you can tell that they've found
something special here. They've found that the secret recipe is secret sauce or whatever.
So that's definitely definitely a strength that goes without saying yeah, I had
a hey, I did I like the mustached Collie Ferjardo here. We had
talked last year when Nathaniel Hackett grew the go Tea and it was Ryel Hackett
and I thought, this is like Ryel Frajarva here coming in. I like
this. We had Kale Ferjarda as the man in Black here a couple of
years ago and he was healing on the rough Riders, so I like to
see that. And then I just wanted to shout out before we move on
to the other game, before we get out of here. I like just
giving Andrew, We're going to shout out here cats when the Rough Riders stands
watching their former QB and the lead Montreal to the Great Cup here, So
sad Squidworth, Jason, any other thoughts obviously, Well, you know here
live Saturday, they will do all the other So anything else on this game,
anything else from the East before we move on. Yeah, I just
wanted to shout out Jason Moss, head coach for the Alouettes, and GM
Danny Machoca. I think they've done an excellent job this season. Danny Machocha
having the foresight to, you know, because he was the head coach of
this team last year and the general manager. A lot of those guys wanted
to keep both jobs, but he ultimately decided I'm going to take a step
back and I'm going to hire a head coach, and he brought in a
guy that he's very familiar with in Jason Moss. Jason Moss actually was a
quarterback of a team that he or of Edmonton Eskbos that won the Great Cup
in the early two thousands, so you know, Machocha is pretty familiar with
him. So I think at the end of the day, those two guys
have been a big part of their success this year. Last thought here and
I have this tweet up, well, I had my I like the vanie
and the hat look. I like the and I've noticed not a couple of
games here the Vanie and the hat look that Jason Moss has I tried pulling
that out. Very awkward look here. But you know, we talked here
all season right about the games and all that. I don't know and we
we I don't know when we would ever deep that this or not, but
I don't I don't know if it was the rest versus Russ more than like
we've said before, I don't know if two losses is enough to figure out,
like what is our identity when our back is up against the wall?
That to me is a little bit more of what that is. Do you
guys have any breaking thoughts on that before we get to the Lions game?
No, not really. I mean I would compare it to almost like you
know, always a big Peyton Manning fan back in the day with the Indianapolis
Colts, and like you saw so many times, they get out to those
thirteen and one, fourteen and oh starts and then they rest their guys.
The last few weeks of the season, Toronto, I feel like played a
lot more down the stretch and they tried to keep their guys, you know,
kind of active. But at the end of the day, when you're
not playing meaningful games for such a long time, it can come back to
bite you. All right, let's get here. We got twenty minutes,
let's get to because I want to make sure that we got money on that
football coming up here. This I wasn't even disappointed, like I said in
the Lions, because I really I feel like we all saw this coming,
I guess, which makes it even more like heartbreaking of like, well,
they're going to go in the Winnipeg. They're not going to be able to
run the ball. They're you know, hopefully you know, Vernie doesn't play
horribly, but you know, we had three interceptions. Like it was kind
of like I felt like we had predicted this, not that we're like,
you know, no shredamus on this thing. A lot of people could have
seen this coming, but frustrating, I guess, Evan, what were your
in this thoughts on this? Like, like I said, I kind of
resigned already October fourth, like this is probably the fate for the Lions this
year, and obviously I held that hole. But what was your initial thoughts?
Yeah, well, you know this was the matchup that we predicted.
What happen all the way back in you know, June or whenever the season
started, this seemed like a very likely situation and unfortunately, you know,
I mean the real thing for me about this game that it's really disappointing is,
you know, without that Vernon Adams, hail Mary to Justin mcinness before
half, you know, BC wouldn't have been in this And that's really you
know, after everything that they've accomplished this season, you know, and everything
that they were able to do, it just felt like they they fell flat
really quickly. And you know I point that out not not because I mean
I don't want to add insult to injury. I mean the team lost.
It's it's very disappointing. A lot of guys on that team, you know,
that have been there through thick and thin, and you know it's again
when you lose back to back years to the same team in the same situation
at the same place, I mean, that's gonna leave a mark for a
long time, because I mean, your entire season really comes down to that.
But I but I bring up that they came out flat in particularly because
that's well, first of all, it's the opposite of what we've seen from
this team this year. They have been the most explosive team in the CFL,
big plays across the board, you know, throwing the ball to just
a spread of receivers, you know, And but Winnipeg wasn't exactly dynamic in
this game. I you know, it wasn't like Winnipeg just completely ran them
over. This was a very you know, for these teams, at least
low scoring, you know, relatively defensive affair. And I just thought BC
was going to capitalize on that. But they didn't. And a lot of
the problems that we've seen from this from this team, you know, throughout
the season that we've talked about came up. I mean, once again,
you know, you've got to quantize up five carriers for thirty seven yards.
Great, it's efficient, you're averaging seven point four yards per carry. You
only touching the ball five times, so it doesn't really matter. And the
problem is because they were you know, they got down so early in that
game, they had to keep throwing the ball. And then Keon Hatcher goes
out, and you know, first of all thoughts, before I say anything
else, yeah, players, you know, he you might have the achilles
tear recording the far han and you know that that obviously extends in the next
season. So really a painful not only do you lose the game, but
you lose somebody that's been so consistent for you all year. And you know,
that was really disappointing. That took away, I think from you know,
Vernon's options. He still, you know, was able to distribute the
balls somewhat effectively, you know, like Lucky Whitehead stepped up a bit.
You know, Alexander Hollins, you know, only two catches, but you
know over twenty yards of catch. McInnis the leading receiver in this game,
which I think was a surprise maybe to myself. Obviously Keyon went down,
but there was a couple other guys where I thought, you know obviously like
Whitehead or Howins might be the next one up. Well really mcinness only had
that maybe because of the Hail Maryory you know, before half, but really
just I mean, you know, I don't want to just keep saying the
word disappointment from BC, but you know there was a time like look,
I think the most frustrating part for me was it was eighteen to thirteen at
one point. Really, you know, they came back somehow in some way,
it was eighteen to ten and a half. Then they get the field
goal. I think Winnipeg you know, had to miss I might have missed
that part. But yeah, yeah they're doing But it never felt like you
said. I mean to me, it never felt like it was even even
if it was eighteen thirteen, felt it could have been forty to twelve.
It never felt like it was. It was close, right, I mean,
look, the one the only time in that game where I felt like
there might be some hope was when it was eighteen to thirteen the lines were
driving. But then Vernon throws a pick and then yeah, once that happened,
I mean I knew, you know, I mean the riding was kind
of on the wall at that point. You know that Winnipeg like even with
by that point, you know they can I mean they just got two field
goals after that, and that's all it took. You know, they really
didn't need to do that much. So very you know quiet, you know,
ending to the Lions season and also you know TJ. Lee very unfortunate
injury as well. They lost you know, hatcher Lee. I mean,
some key departures there, you know, in that game. And it just
sucks because, like I said earlier, you know, you lose a game
like that it wears heavily. But you know, those injuries that were suffered
in that game, you know those are significant that that could wear into next
year and it might affect your future plans. And you know, all all
around just an incredibly sad outing. But on the Winnipeg side of it,
you know, Winnipeg again, you know, I will, I will credit
BC to a degree. You know, their defense, I mean, they
really slowed the Winnipeg offense down. You know this offense again. I know
I just said b C was the most explosive offense, but Winnipeg's right there
with them, and obviously well Toronto before they went out. But you know
Winnipeg, you know that they can put up you know, forty points,
no problem if you're not careful. But BC didn't let that happen. Zach
Calaro's fourteen of twenty one for one hundred and fifty eight yards, no touchdowns,
no intercep. I mean, again, not characteristic from him. And
look, I'm not gonna you know, I know BC's different defense is different
and obviously you know it'll be a different game next week, different mindset,
you're in the Great Cup. But I mean, if BC's defense can limit
Winnipeg's offense like that, and you see how Montreal's defense has been playing lately.
You know. Not not gonna give away too much, but that'll be
one of the points I'm expanding on in our discussion next week. So for
Winnipeg, look, you know, I think for them, they got their
run game going one hundred and nine yards and a touchdown from Brady Oliver.
That to me was one of the differences. Again, BC has no run
game. Winnipeg You've got i mean, Preddy Oliver's you know, their MP
nominee for a reason, you know, rightfully, So you know, and
the thing is too, very interesting with Winnipeg, but it's not surprising.
They had a couple guys on their injury report, Nick Demsky being the most
notable one going into this game, and Dalton Showan was out, you know,
he was ruled out prior to this game. But because they just have
so many options. I know, BC had some options too, and they
obviously like you know, Keon was out. But it just never matters with
that team. I mean, someone's always gonna step up. This game.
It was Kenny Lawler, you know, And it's funny with Kenny Lawler because
he got to Winnipeg in twenty eighteen was there through twenty twenty one, so
he saw the first two Great Cups. Left for Edmonton last year for a
year Winnipeg still went to the Great Cups and lost. How funny would it
be if he came back to Winnipeg this year they win the Great Cup and
he just played in you know, he didn't play in every Great Cup,
but he played and everyone at Winnipeg won, which is kind of a you
know, it's random. But I was thinking about that when they did the
postgame interview with him. I thought, you know, he timed that up
well. And he came in late too, because you know, he had
the issue with his his work visa, I believe, so you know,
they obviously got a boost from him mid season. But yeah, you know,
all around, and you know, I don't want to say this was
an expected result, but I think to some people it was. It's just,
you know, I thought this might be a more high scoring affair,
right, I didn't see you know. I mean, there was a lot
of defensive football this weekend the CF I'll tell you that much. But yeah,
ultimately, you know, Winnipeg's experience and there, you know, just
ability to gut things out. Again. This wasn't a very fast game for
him, but it didn't matter because when Vernon, you know, if he
throws three interceptions, which he did, he had one of his I guess
you'd say off days. I mean, he's still throwing for two hundred plus
yards. It's still still an off day for him. But you know,
that's it is what it is. And you know, congrats to Winnipeg what
we are witnessing a dynasty. And I put out on Twitter, I said,
I would have loved to see BC in the Great Cup. But at
the same time, even if we're used to Winnipeg being in this position now,
I'm really excited to get to, you know, witness that team in
person and be a part of you know, what could be a legendary run
if they go out and win the game on Sunday. Well, it's just
it's frustrating to me and I want to get Jason SUTs like there was a
lot made and I had my tweet here because Dunk was going crazy about earlier
in the week and BC, you know, they're practice, they're practicing in
the Dome and the U Sports teams outside and who's going to be more prepared
and I don't you know, obviously the conditions weren't weren't part of it,
but I do think it goes into this narrative that BC is not a strong
team, right, just a physically strong and gored uh that you know,
friend of the show he put out, and I'm certainly not going to you,
I mean Gord's and football guys, so he can use words, but
he said he does not believe the BC is coached to a high enough level
to be able to go in and compete with Mike O'shee and them kind of
pound for pounded physicality wise that way. And you know, I trust Scord's
opinion on that. Like I said, I don't feel like I was,
you know, reading the wedding bieographer. But to me, when you have
someone like Brady Oliver Era and shame on anybody in the world that's like,
oh, should he be the MOP candidate and all that. I mean literally
with the entire first drive, with the entire way down the field, but
you have every single BC defender trying to stop this man rushing down the field
and they can't do it. And it's because Winnipeg is stronger and they can
have physical and you got Brady Oliver that can take on a or and I
these guys and that, to me, that's where it is. And until
BC can get to that level. And we've seen this this year and they
come out like he said, they come out slow, or they come out
they lose at home. I'm living with that right now with the Kraken and
we have Dave Haskell stopping practice and screaming the obscenities at them because they're not
I guess, practicing and playing to the level that they watch with. You
know, I can tell watching from the stands. It's the same way with
BC when everything's going good and they can zip and fly around and it's not
The Dome is not the cause of it, but it kind of symbolizes all
of that. They're just a soft team. I hate to say that the
team, but they're not. It's kind of like the Rams. Don't of
you the Rams as being the all that physicality team like I do, you
know, maybe the Titans running it down your throat or the Browns or whatever.
Jason, what did you make of this? A lot of time without
you talking here? Yeah, No, worries. I think this game was,
like you said, won and lost in the trenches, and I think
the biggest thing that stood out to me was Winnipeg's defensive line won this game
for them. They were just relentless. Bernon Adams had no time to throw
the ball, felt like instantly he always had a defender right in his face,
even the times that he did get protection. I thought that Burnon held
the ball too long and took some unnecessary hits, and Bernon obviously throughout this
game he was really a warrior, and I think that you know, he
wasn't at one hundred percent clearly, but I think a lot of it has
to do with that Winnipeg defensive line. Willie Jefferson, I thought was the
best player on the field on Saturday night, and I think that he is
as good as any player in this league when he's playing his best, and
he's still proved that on Saturday after and so I think at the end of
the day, you know, b C has to get a lot tougher.
I think a guy like James Butler would have made a big impact in this
game. They had that element last year that they really didn't have last this
year. So I think that, you know, maybe they go out and
they add a running back or they add some more beef to that offensive line,
really change their mentality and not be ranked dead last in terms of rushing
next year. I think that's a big component. Maybe get a little bit
heavier on defense. But at the end of the day, you don't have
to be this dominant running team, but you have to be able to run
the ball a bit when you want to, and b C just wasn't capable
of that this year. Yeah, and I don't maybe not soft, you
know, I don't want to. It's not meant to be like offending,
but you know, like more of a finesse team. I don't know.
That's like when we use Lucky to do kick returns and I'm like, I
got you got someone that's like, I'm just worried these guys are gonna break.
And obviously there were field conditions and Keon got hurt and TJ and I
know we saw Big Hill go down for Winnipeg, and I think we're still
I don't know if we with all the travel and stuff, if any of
that stuff is coming out yet off the track, you know, with Darren's
reports, Darren bomb me, but like, I don't know, it just
feels to me when you when you when you have br elivator that can literally
pick up the entire BC team and carram down the field. But yeah,
I just would my final kind of thoughts on this that we'll round this out
here pretty soon, you'or in the top of the hour when we when we
had the second turnover before half, really just felt like to me, Winnipeg
is a team that you have to play a perfect football game against and you
can't have those turnovers. And obviously Vernon had the had the picks, you
know, the interceptions at the end of the game as well trying to go,
but Winnipeg is just too good that way. You just can't. You
got to really play mistake for football when it comes to that. Evan,
any other thoughts on on BC's kind of season here, you know, as
we've kind of prognosticated, been out kind of seeing it come out, well,
it's I mean, I don't think you can call it a success because
they didn't really I mean, they didn't really prove too many people wrong.
They just kind of ended up back in the same spot that they were last
year. But I will say, you do have to give them credit for
I mean, you know, they had one of the most electric quarterbacks that
we see. I mean Nathan Rourke. You know, last year was I
mean, we talked about Chad Kelly being, you know, the kind of
fun guy that everybody was looking at this year. I mean, Nathan Rourke
was better than that. And had he not gotten injured in the middle of
that season, you know, I think he would have really done some great
things. And I know he came back for that playoff game at all.
But what I really credit BC more for than anything is just you know,
they took a chance on Vernon Adams. They brought him in, you know,
from Montreal at the end of that twenty twenty two season because they knew
that Rourke probably wasn't gonna be there next year. They took a chance on
them. They didn't wait, they didn't you know, mess around. You
know that there their entire you know, front office staff. They just brought
him in and they they gave him a shot and he really you know that
entire I mean, they were just fun. They were a fun team.
You know, it's a shame that thing had to end the way they did.
But you know, they were very exciting and I think that they they
should be proud of that. I will say that there's I mean, you
didn't get to the Great Cup. You didn't you know, achieve the ultimate
goal. But like I got to see that team in person this year.
I got to see him last year and it was a great you know,
it was just a great time. And you know, I was still very
happy for Vernon and all those guys, you know who I think maybe prove
some people wrong. You know, I expect to be to be good this
year, but you know, they were good in a way that you know,
I mean, they played you know, just fast, fun football,
and that's that's something that I'll always be a fan of. I will say.
Just going back to Winnipeg for a quick minute, I know Jason brought
up Willie Jefferson and I haven't talked about Willie Jefferson this season, but that's
the guy I'm really looking forward to watching in the Great Cup, just because
I think he's one of the better all around athletes that you'll find in pro
football. I understand that, you know, he was in the NFL and
had to come to the Canadian Football League for one or another. But man,
I mean even at thirty two years old, you know you're watching that
guy, he still has so much juice. And I got to give him
some credit because he's one of my favorite players to watch. So, you
know, hats off to Willie. And you know, obviously, like Jason
said, that defensive line, I mean just had constant pressure on Vernon.
I mean, even if they did have a good running game, you know,
who knows what the way that those guys were playing up front, if
they would have you know, been able to get something going. So obviously
that's more hypothetical. But yeah, man, Willie Jefferson, I got to
you know, I've been waiting all season to kind of bring his name up,
and you know, I feel like now now's a good time to do
that because you know, you don't see a lot of guys. I mean,
he's got six seven, you know, that's like basketball. I mean
you're talking, he's like a power forward in basketball. He just don't see
a lot of guys like that, you know, that are that are that
effective. Maybe. I mean, you know, you get these freak athletes
and a lot of sports, but you know, Willy's been doing this for
a long time. Now you know CFL most outstanding defensive player in I think
it was twenty nineteen, first year they went to the Great Cup. So
you know he's been doing that for a long time, doing the dirty work
in the trenches. And hats off to him. Yeah. No, I
hate Willy Jefferson and him. You know, he's getting this strumming and I
I you know, as someone that's had to play against some mere I hate
Willie Jefferson. I don't even know if I can talk to him on the
podcast, I would be so angry at that. My last thoughts. We'll
get to Jason, We'll get out of here. You know, I had
tweeted and like I said, I'm you know, I got I got my
phone mounted and I'm at my butt. MIT's you're watching this uff I just
said, quoting I think it's t s. Eliott. This is not the
way the world. This is the way the world ends, not with the
bang by the whimper. That's kind of what I felt like the end of
this game, just kind of a little bit of a wet fart, a
little bit uh hoping for a little bit more there and just not really working
out that way. Jason. The final thoughts from you. No, not
really, I mean I just wanted to kind of point to a couple of
key moments of this game, because I do think, unlike you guys,
that BC did have a shot to come back in this game. It felt
like they actually caught some breaks. Obviously with the mckinnis touchdown before the half
that went in their favor. Sergio Castillo missed a couple of field goals for
Winnipeg. But the two moments I'm talking about are the block punt touchdown by
Winnipeg. I mean, that doesn't happen in every game. I mean,
that was a huge swing in this game, and who knows where this game
would have been if that didn't happen. And then when BC was down eighteen
to thirteen, they got the ball back, they were in Winnipeg territory.
And then Demurio Houston got a pick off of Bernon Adams that really I thought
sealed the game at that point, even though it was just a five point
game. Houston's been doing that all year long. I think he had nine
interceptions on the season, so yeah, great job by him, and Winnipeg's
just showing that championship pedigree yet once again. Well, here we go.
We set up the top. We will be live Saturday three to five at
the BC Lions Den here at the team headquarters at the convention Center. Should
be easy to find main convention center there, and they said we'll be kind
of front and center. I will be in Hamilton Thursday night late there.
Friday. We'll probably stop by the media state of the Unions tomorrow, but
I guess Randy, I'll talk to the public Friday, so we'll probably beander
around that and then if people are around Jason, I know we'll meet up.
And I know there is a tweet up at the gown and Gavel that
I've Dorothy and I have been invited to make an appearance out. We did
the one last year too, so we'll be doing that Friday night. Jason,
we'll get together, Evan's getting in, we'll figure out all that stuff,
and then Saturday live show before the Great Cups if anyone's round, and
we'll do all that stuff. But send dms, we'll figure out where everyone.
You know, if you're in the area, s medm we'll meet up.
So Jason, Evan appreciated Evan, anything else from you, I don't
think so. Man, just looking forward to be doing this in person next
week. It's crazy that I mean CFL seasons you know long, and I
mean it's crazy that we've already made it to this point. You know,
we've been doing this since like what beginning of June. That's a long time
weekly recap every day every week since the action and kicked off here, Jason,
anything else from you, no, just daco Evan's sentiment. I just
want to I'm just really excited to see what this live show looks like on
Saturday. Yeah, it should be good. Like I said, a lot
of Marquess guests and you know, Naylor and Farhan and everyone else, so
it should be good. I appreciate everyone go enjoy this should be good tonight.
Let's go watch Russell Wilson just get his teeth kicked in by the Buffalo
Bill. So Jason, well, wishes for your team tonight. And I
know you echo that sentiment as well. So we'll see everyone Saturday. You
know XFL stuff. We were talking the thirteenth. I told Evan like maybe
maybe next week, so we'll see what ends up with that. But we'll
see you guys. You know, stay tuned. The video that stuff happened, so next