Well here we are back here Tuesday this week. I just returned from the
UFL Championship game. Here back talking CFL here week two. Let's see if
we can bring in your internet. It's a little hit and go. We'll
see how we do here. Jason, how are you doing, sir?
Doing good? Raid, Thanks for having me as always, and yeah,
happy to be here. It's good here. We got Zach checking in here,
We've got Chris checking in here. It's good. Up on everything today.
Missed a lot of the excitement this weekend, though, I will say
we were Hussey. We were live in the hotel lobby bar with all the
UFL executives, the professor, Andrew Murray and I and Anthony Miller where they're
watching the BC Lions game on Andy's iPad. So just like I'm doing my
work and then I caught up on everything today. But we were literally like
Russ Brandon sitting there, Moose Johnston is sitting there, and we are watching
the BC Lions. Really kind of hairy win there, and we'll talk about
that. I don't think it was maybe as decisive as that we wanted,
But overall, what do you think CFL Week two? Here? I seemed
like some pretty exciting games. Yeah, I don't think there's been a bad
game this year so far, and I mean you can't really say that about
the previous couple of seasons. So I'm really excited to talk about it today.
Yeah, it's good here. So I thought I've just first off here.
We got Tim chepick in here as well, so we'll probably try to
switch back to Monday's here. I think if we can obviously traveling back yesterday
and Jason being really nice of working out schedules, make sure if you're new
like it, subscribe. We gave away a bunch of tickets to the UFL
championship game. Will do the same for the UFO kickoff if we get that
for season tickets, and we'll do jerseys and stuff. We gave away Doug
Flutie one. At some point we can get some row retros that jersey's on
there as well to get by the way, But I thought today first off,
and we'll obviously go game by game on here. But I thought Mike's
got his power rankings up here. I thought this might be just kind of
a cool conversation started here over at Sports Illustrated. I know Anthony as well
on there. But the interesting thing to me, Jason, obviously montre Alowett's
number one. Maybe that's no surprise here, but Winnipeg Blue Bombers. What
a time in our lives here Winnipeg ranked ninth in the power rankings. What
do you think about that? I personally would still not have them ninth.
I know they you know, I definitely would have the Elks below them personally
based on what I've seen. I mean, Winnipeg, you know, it's
had a couple of rough weeks, but I think they deserve the benefit of
the doubt more than almost any other team. And they have their albums,
like I said, but I think that they'll bounce back probably this week.
Well we'll see. And I when I I pulled up over at CFL dot
ca A here to kind of get everything. Of course now I can't even
pull up the site when I you know, when I switched over here,
I mean, the first thing is what's going on with the Blue Bombers,
I tweeted, I mean this feels like a lifetime ago here on Thursday with
it with the Red Blacks game and the you know, the weather delay and
all that. Like I mean, I've prayed for a time like this in
the West where Winnipeg's zero to two can't score. Zach looks human injuries here
and now we've even seen this week even more right, I think Olivara is
not practicing. They got a lot of guys out of so far haunt and
I think it was far Han tweeted about like, uh, is it just
time has come for the Blue Bombers? I mean, what do you make
of this? Well, I definitely think that, you know, they've lost
some of their core pieces JaMarcus Hardrick on the offensive line, Jackson Jeff cot
on the defensive line, but also, like you said, Age, I
think is starting to catch up with them a bit. They don't have the
same margin of air that they once did. I think that, you know,
they have to have that high level play from Zach, Khalaris and there
others are on offense in order for them to, uh, you know,
have success, and they just haven't been playing very well through two weeks.
Zach has just looked probably the worst two games I've seen from him as a
Blue Bomber through the first couple weeks. He's probably almost most definitely been the
worst starting quarterback in the CFL statistically through two weeks here, So I mean,
if that continues, I don't think this team is going anywhere. And
you know, it was weird to me because obviously the Red Blacks home open
your Thursday. I watched that live kind of through that whole weather delay and
all of that, which is really weird, Like, is is is Otwood?
Just like in the Stormfront? I feel like every other week we have
a have a weather delay in Ottawa? Is that the case here? Andrew
Murray the professor checking in here back and say, but like it really feels
like the Red Blacks have a lot of weather delays. Well, they definitely
do. I think that, you know, they like I always make the
joke and everybody always makes the joke hope that they it rains every Red Blacks
home game. But in terms of like the meteorology of it, I'm not
completely certain that you know, Oudawa gets more rain than others. But I
think, you know, just based on the game days, it's it's been
pretty interesting to see what's happened the last few years with the weather they're in
Ottawa. Yeah, it's weird. It used to be that it was like
the Marshall Ferguson curse and now it's I don't know if that, but my
point is like even in that game, you know, in Winnipeg tied it
up right at one point there, and like it never felt like Ottawa was
in danger. Like it felt like, I don't know, to me,
I felt watching that like we're gonna win this game. The Mariners have had
some game recently with and not that Winnipeg you would traditionally think is an inferior
opponent, but at least in that game Thursday, they felt inferior. It
never really felt like they were in danger. Zach had the interception that got
called back because the defensive pass interference immediately throws another interception. Like it just
really felt like nothing was there. I know they did the weather delay,
like let's just call this game. I mean, and I know that it
came back and they have kind of the Hail Mary there at the end,
but I'm like, let's just call this. It's two minutes left. They
never really felt like a Winnipeg had any chance to get anything going. Yeah,
I thought Ottawa looked very composed throughout this game. I thought that Drew
Brown looked like the veteran quarterback out of these two in this game. And
you know, I really wasn't scared for Ottawa. I was pulling for Outawa
obviously, just to see something different in the CFL from what we've seen the
last couple of years. And you know, I wasn't too concerned with them
being able to hold on to the lead other than and before the rain delay
when Winnipeg started to get a nice looking drive going, but then it you
know, the game was halted for a better part of an hour, and
you know it just didn't happen. Right, So in terms of Ottawa here
and I guess we'll start talking about them. We can go reverse chronological kind
of through the weekend just since we're on it. But either we have Drew
Brown now we're not dealing with Okay Mazzoli at some point and get hurt last
year Dustin Crime is back to me in the short yardage guy, like we're
seeing really good defense. It feels like from Bob Dyce, Like, is
this kind of the vision that the Red Blacks are always supposed to be?
Yeah, I think that you know, Drew Brown, you know, if
they were going to reach their highest potential, Drew Brown had to step up
and be the guy. I think from what we've seen from Drew Brown at
the CFL level, especially last year, he's looked very like a high level
quarterback in this league and a guy that could potentially be one of the best
quarterbacks in this league. I mean, look at last year just statistically alone,
touchdowns, zero interceptions. Again, did not throw an interception in this
game, and that's key for Ottawa. They have not been able to avoid
those turnovers from their quarterbacks the last few seasons. And I think, you
know, that's one thing that Drew Brown has always excelled at. You look
back to his college career. They brought that up on the broadcast. That's
always had a good touchdown interception ratio, and I think, you know,
he's a guy that's willing to take chances down the field. I think they
have a really well called offense now with Tommy Gondell, the former off coordinated
for the Hamilton tiger Cats, being there, Brailan Addison's there from you know,
his time in Hamilton, You're starting to see similar concepts. Brail Addison
took a couple of snaps out of the backfield and this want to leave the
first play of the game from scrimmage was a handoff to Brail and Addison I'm
playing running back. So you're starting to see some of those concepts creep up
from his time in Audawa for his time in Hamilton that is in Ottawa,
and I think, uh, you know, maybe Condell just needed a fresh
start and to get out of Hamilton, and maybe he's gonna have a great
season calling place for the red blocks question for Drew Brown and obviously with Winnipeg
last year in the secondary role here, do you think it's you know,
obviously we saw him last year clearros and all that stuff, and then now
is there just one of those like there's not enough tape on him, because
we saw that with Dustin Crumb last year and he kind of had a couple
of weeks where it was like Crumb sanity or Crimanian and it kind of came
back down to earth because teams, is this just like we haven't seen enough
of him yet and we're going to game plan about that going forward. I'm
curious kind of your thoughts on that. Yeah, I mean I would say
no, I think that he's probably going to be one of those guys that's
gonna be able to overcome it because the level of play that we've seen from
him has just been so high and he's just doing the right things so consistently.
But you never know, you've seen a guy like Jake Mayer, who
I think we both were very high on before last season, really come back
down to earth after he hit that you know, fifteen starter start start so
threshold and like you said, get defense has got tape on him. So
I think at the end of the day, you know, we'll have to
wait and see if that's the case for Drew Brown here on the on the
Winnipig side, here he is ag with a couple of those interceptions, like
we said, he had the one that guy called back immediately, you know,
throws it over again. You know, even like penalties, right,
Big Hill took a penalty and I felt like he didn't he missed week one.
I felt like maybe he was trying to kind of like make up for
lost time here, getting a little excited there and that they waved that off
because it was such a far completion. But it feels like Winnipeg, I
don't know if their confidence is shook in. It just feels like, Okay,
now we're trying to make you know, we're almost trying to play in
spite of whatever, and coming up with some of those mistakes. Yeah,
I think that Zach just looks like he's you know, they've had opportunities to
make plays, they've had open receivers, and it just seems like they're just
a little bit off. And like I said, you can't you know,
they can't afford to have those mistakes from him at this point because their defense
isn't as good as they used to be. Their offense is missing key contributors
right now, all of ra you know, out of the lineup. Johnny
Augustine's a good player. I like him as a backup running back, but
he is no Brady Oliver era and it was quite clear to see that in
this one. Really they didn't trust him only the seven carries in this game.
So, I mean, I think going forward they need to get healthy.
I mean, Kenny Lawler is going to be out for a number of
weeks still, you know, based on his injury. So I mean it's
gonna be very interesting to see how these next few weeks. Because I believe
they have BC this Friday. That's gonna be a big measuring stick game.
For both clubs really with you know, I think both of those teams have
looked a little bit shaky in the early going here, and then I think
Winnipeg has Calgary the week after that, if I'm not mistaken. So a
couple of big West matchups coming up for the Blue Bombers and they hope to
a boy that oh and four start well and we'll talk Calgary here with Kellary.
Looks like they could be one of the best teams in the league.
I mean, I don't want to. I saw Daniel Austin sometimes friend of
the show tweeting about them last week. Kind of feels like the West is
running through them. But you know, we can get to them a little
bit. But yeah, I mean a couple of tough matchup you Augustine here,
you know, getting action obviously the touchdown and all that we're making up.
Olivera not being in there, like you said, a lot of guys
injured this week. I just don't know where that relief comes here, Like
you said, Kenny Lawler being out like it just doesn't feel like they're one
week away of Okay, let's get a couple of guys back in here.
It's going to make a difference. Yeah, I agree, Like I completely
agree in terms of, by the way, defense really good. I kind
of you know, keeping Winnipeg under wraps with that. You know, you
see that dumb rhymes here coming off of the Lions last season. Anyway,
l stand out for you. Surprised you because it just like I said,
we've seen like the Bob Dyce kind of coach team here the last year and
whatever year and a half where we took over the interim role. Like it
feels like defense is playing up, feels like they're kind of a force to
be reckoned with. Now, yeah, I think I have to point out
rykwall Armstead, who you know, I believe you a fifth front pick or
something like that of the Jacksonville Jaguars a few years back, a big power,
blunning back. I think that you know, there was one play where
it looked like he ran into a bunch of bodies right in just a basic
halfback dive play, and he broke out of it and made a big play
out of it. Just a lot of tough running him in this game.
And if they can have that element, because they lost Devonte Williams in offseason
due to a you know, a season ending injury, I think if they
can have that production from the running back position, and we do a lot
of good things for Drew Brown in that offense, and I think, you
know, his performance was noteworthy. Curious, what on the way does right
Mozzoli is still on the men coming back, I presume at some point,
but like, what do we is Drew Brown playing his way into just kind
of keeping the role here? I think he has a pretty long I think
that, you know, even though those other two guys have starting experience,
most notably Mizzoli. I mean, he can't really trust him at this point
even if he gets on the field. They helped me. So I think
you gotta, you know, roll with Joe Brown at least give him like
a handful of weeks to really what he can be at Steph boul level and
you know, get over that. You know that fifteen start threshold. I
think you know how many games he started down in the CFL, like less
than ten. Still, so I think it's gonna be very interesting to see
how that plays out. Dustin problem, I don't think that's really an option,
even though we saw him start a number of games last year. I
think that's a team that, you know, similar to Edmonton. It doesn't
get talked about as enough as much as Edmonton. But they need to win
right now and I think Drew Brown gives him the best chance to do so.
Yeah, I mean they have a lot of the talk. It was
a ten year anniversary of kind of the you know, the team returning to
Ottawa. Okay, we're playing against Winnipeg we had played against before. Do
you feel like this home win, like you said, season now trying to
get people excited about this. I mean, it feels like we're trying.
I don't know, like I've said for a couple of years here, like
I don't know what it looks like to be out of a Red Blacks fan
right now. I don't know kind of what lineage you have for that say,
for that it feels like a fortune to go, you know, great
cup that they won, Like it feels like this is kind of a time
where we got to get this team going well. I hope, so I
hope that this team can. You know, I wouldn't even mind. You
know, it's sacrilegious to say as a tai Cats fan, but I wouldn't
even mind if they had a good season this year, you know, and
the Ti Cats had you know, they seem like they're training towards being a
bad team this year. So I think, you know, on Awa,
I think, you know, I would be happy if they had a good
season this year. But I've been fooled before by them In twenty nineteen,
I believe they started too and oher and then lost a fifteen of the Black
sixteen games. So you know, I've been fooled by them before. But
you know, it was a good start to the season for them. Yeah,
it's good. It's good to see some of these teams. And we'll
talk to Edmonton here coming up, some of the these teams that maybe you
hope we're gonna be better, but didn't you know, good for the crowd
here sticking out. I don't know how many people actually stuck around through the
weather delay and all that. Do you like that new rule that like,
okay, if it's an hour, if it's after I was it part way
through the third quarter, and then we can call it if it's up and
if it's size its gonna be. Do you like that? I think that
was this was the first imput uh if I could say that we're an implementation
of it this year. Yeah, I'm not too sure the specifics on the
rules, but I do know it was very close to being called. I
remember they were saying, like they were really debating it on the TSM broadcast
whether or not they were going to go back out there and match the game.
You know, I think that they have to call it after a certain
point. It sucks, obviously, and it's not necessarily fair. It would
have been really really unfortunate in a game like this that was still hanging in
the balance, a one score game. I believe there was actually a game
called back in I want to say twenty seventeen or twenty eighteen or something between
Montreal and Saskatchwan where the game was called midway through the third quarter. I
think that was a two score game, but still a lot of time left,
and I thought that was you know, it's really unfortunate that it didn't
get to finish. But at a certain point you have to call the game,
and I don't think the CFL has you know, the financial resources really
to you know, reschedule the game to a different date to finish out just
a part of a game. So you know, I get it from that
perspective, from the league's perspective, But yeah, it's unfortunate if it ever
comes to actually canceling the rest of the game. It feels like in the
end they really stretched out. And I will say, very rarely do I
get to watch so I can CFL live a lot on the weekends. It's
catching up. But yeah, it would did not struck me as ironic that
Thursday. I'm sitting there, I have my laptop pulled out to watch the
game. I'm like, oh, great, it's the weather delay for an
hour like this is you know, it is what it is, Like I
said that shout out for that. Anything else, I'm looking at the standings
here, but you know, it's good to see We'll talk Hamilton, but
it's good to see Automa at least alive here. Jenna is excited about it.
I feel maybe you know better than I certainly did last year kind of
with Ottawa. I can't remember with the week that Mozoli went down, but
I don't know. To me, I feel like the arrow is pointing out
right now for Otawa. Last thoughts on that. Do you feel that way
and anything else from this game? Yeah, I mean I think similar to
Winnipeg. What I was saying before, I think this week's measuring stick game
for Autawa as well. They played Montreal, obviously defending great Cup champions,
who are looking very good themselves. If they can go into Montreal and that's
Montreal's home opener, I do believe and win that game, I think we
can safely say that this team is vastly improved over a year ago. Yeah
big, I'm looking ahead here. Yeah, big East Division matchup here coming
up. I mean, Montreal, it is looking fire and all scene this
year. Let's get over. I'll get the game pulled up here. But
we had the the Montreal. Speaking of going into Edmonton here, I will
say, first off, I felt like I was watching the USFL game.
I'm just gonna say, not a lot of people in the stands, Holy
god. And I understand that Edmonton is in the you know, the Stanley
Cup playoffs, and they lost there. They they rebounded Saturday and when eight
to one. We were watching that at the bar alongside the BC Lions game.
We really have I had the Texas Mariners game on. I had my
head. We had the CFL and then that, but uh, there was
like two thousand people I mean that was like, this is like rough times
for Edmonton right now. It's tough to see them struggle like this, it
really is. And I mean like every game. You know, it's similar
to audible what it was just say about Oudawa. It's like you're pulling from
them. Get it going, you know, you know, get some wins
for those fans, and you know, you know, hopefully get some pomentum
bag. They keep shooting themselves in the foot. And you know, in
this game, I thought they played well. I think there's no question you
look at them through two weeks, the Elks are improved, especially on offense.
But you know, the turn the game when they had a chance to
take the lead. There was a one score game for a lot of the
second half, and they just you know, turnovers at inopportune times and penalties
at inopportune times, and I think that's ultimately what did them in. I
thought they played overall, you know, you know, just a grand view
of things. I thought they played really well in this game, but they
couldn't come away with the key plays to win. I thought both quarterbacks felt
pretty uncomfortable with that. Cody, you get knocked down quite a bit McLeod
as well. We talked about that preseason and everything. Do you have tray
Ford in there? Do you have McLeod in there? You know, a
twenty eight four to two throwing for a lot of the yards, had the
two interceptions there. You know, a lots of debates we've had with MBT
and everything on here is he Are the EUKS winning with with tray Ford?
Are they not? I don't know at this point. What's your thoughts?
Well, I mean McLeod definitely has moved the offense better from a past game
perspective than tray Ford. But one thing I want to point out is Kevin
Brown's been pretty quiet through two weeks and I think a lot of his success
last year. He's a great player, but I think a lot of his
success last year down the strike was when tray Ford came into the lineup because
they had to account for you know, trey Ford keeping the ball and you
know edge and I think that Kevin Brown got a lot of open run lanes
and when the cloud in there, you know, that's the polar opposite.
I think that you know, he's a guy that you know, he get
the ball out quick, you know, trademark you know, quick release and
everything like that. But you know, he's not going to be the guy
that's going to really, you know, help your run game in that way.
So I think, you know, getting Kevin Browning is going to be
a big thing for them in the next few weeks. They're going to have
to be a little more creative in that regard. But I don't know how
much they can do with mc cloud back there from that perspective, but I
do think the pass the game looks very good. I think that you know,
some of the receivers are looking really good. I think Eugene Lewis has
been a bit of a disappointment this year the first couple of weeks, you
know, considering he missed most last year. I thought maybe he's going to
come into this year really hungry and create a lot of big plays. Obviously
there's still lots of time for him to do so. But I think,
you know, other guys in that receiving cork getting's clearly mccleob Bethel Thompson still
has a lot of good chemistry with him. Hurjimy Aalis the guy I wanted
to talk about because the first year I started making YouTube videos in twenty twenty
one. You know, I always did the you know, season predictions for
the awards and everything like that, and I actually picked him to win Standney
Canadian in twenty twenty one because in twenty nineteen he joined the Stampeders like halfway
through the season and had like seven touchdowns or something like that in half a
season, and I thought, Okay, you know, second year in the
league, you know, improved training, I think he's going to have a
big breakthrough year. And it just never happened. And he's bounced around to
a couple of different spots since then Montreal and then Hamilton last year, and
then you know, comes into Edmonton as basically insurance, and I believe that's
what Dave Camp said, and you know, he won a job and he's
looked very good and he's a big part of this offense in the early going
here, So really happy to see that from him. Dylan Mitchell looks like
he's primed for a bounce back year after an underwhelming last year. So there's
lots of love on this Elk's offense. But I think, you know,
their defense is what I have a bigger problem with. And again, the
turnovers on offense are really the one key thing that has really shot themselves in
the foot. Yeah, I wanted to co sign you with the Kevin Brown
here because I remember, because you know, Wilder got hurt whatever part way
through last year had to retire and then they really were leaning on Kevin Brown.
And I agree with that, and it was really halfway through the season
and it was kind of that trade for it. I think you're completely right,
and it felt like finally that was kind of the back they needed because
it was such a drop down for Wilder with all of that. Was it
getting Junior that had the or excuse me, that wasn't on the Montreal side.
I'll get to that in a minute. I got another short about that,
but no, my other thing was and I was sitting there watching the
highlights again this morning with McLeod and it was so funny because like, you
know, he's sitting there getting paid like half a million dollars and he's looking
around. You know, there's like fifteen people in the stand to you know,
to juxtapose that with BC and they've got sold out and like, you
know, what did the cost to get fifty in there? But you're you
got fifty thousand people buying popcorn and stuff, and I'm like, because they're
making half a million dollars but not a soul in the stands. Like just
kind of a really weird dynamic, I think for Edmonton right now, at
least on that side as well. But yeah, there's good pieces here.
It just feels like, I don't know, man, I see Chris Jones
after the game and he's walking over and shaking Jason Ass's hand, like,
I just don't know, I don't know what was the future holds for Chris
Jones. Well, I mean, I gotta give credit to the Three Down
Nations guys. I was listening to their podcast the other week, and their
prediction is, you know, after a week five, that's when Chris Jones
gonna get let go, because I think they have a week six by and
you know, they don't look like they're gonna be a team that's gonna be
able to string many wins together till then, and I think, you know,
it's very realistic that they can still have zero wins by then, and
ultimately, you know, that's probably a good time to make that change because
you know, at point the losses just keep piling up. It doesn't matter
what state your team is in. I mean, it's like for Hugh Jackson
when he was with the Cleveland Browns. I mean, I think one win
over two years. You know, they had that whole process that they were
doing. But I think you know, at the end of the day,
you have to win some games, and you know, Chris Jones just hasn't
been doing that in the last few years, ever since he came back to
Edmonton. Well maah, I mean we've talked about this before, but at
some point, it's it's a definition of insanity. And you've had Chris Jones
there and you've given them the time. And I remember because it was a
huge deal when he came in, like obviously you know the history of all
that stuff, and I remember, like Rod and everyone was going crazy about
all that. And then now it's insanity. And then the trade for thing.
We've talked about that, whether it's personality or otherwise, but like now
you're you know, you're buying McLoud to come in to kind of like offset
and you put it. Okay, now now we're doing this kind of kick
the can down the road. But at some point you've had enough. And
I love him and I respect him, and he's been on the show and
he's a great coach. But like, I mean, I think it's very
obvious, like, O, hey, we're going to bring this in and
do a big splash. But if you're not changing anything else, and if
that wasn't you have the answer that you one is under your nose anyway,
and you're just too foolish or or blowhard or mentality whatever to see that.
Like I can't help you at that point, but I would have loved you
have seen trey Ford get all the snaps, come into this season and be
ready to go as supposed to further delay in all this, and then Chris
Jones gets out of there, then you got McLeod. It's like lame duck
quarterback situation. Like I just think that makes to be a mess. And
like McCleod will be fine, right, Like he's good and said and you
know, career wise and life wise and everything. But then you're leaving trey
Ford here languishing, Like I just I don't like that, and I just
think it's kind of set up for failure at this point. Yeah, I
feel the same way about Chris Jones. Loved the guy as a person.
I'm happy that he's in the league, but I think his time as a
head coach in this league, you know, like he you know, went
off to a great start when he was with Edmonton, you know, one
that great cop, but he also had you know, a star level quarterback
in Mike Riley, and I think, you know, he didn't come into
this situation with an established quarterback, and I think that's a big part of
the problem. This team just you know, just can't decide what direction they
like want to go full time at quarterback. I think, you know,
it's gonna be very interesting to see what direction they go with the next head
coach, assuming that Chris Jones doesn't, you know, make a massive turnaround
here. I mean, do they go with more of an inexperienced guy,
you know, one of the up and coming coordinators around the league, or
do they go with them, you know, a guy that's been a head
coach before. I know, those guys aren't hanging around them too much.
But you know, it's gonna be very interesting to see because they're in a
very dire situation and I'm just very interested to see, you know what the
new owner, which, by the way, this team may get sold in
this season. According to Dave Naylor, you know, it's gonna be very
interesting to see what the ownership group decides to do once they come in.
Well, and as we talked about this before, but in any other situation
where you had a GM that's kind of keeping an eye on things that isn't
Chris Jones and you have ownership that isn't in flux and we're trying to sell
this, like, I think that there's just a lot more scrutiny on what's
going on where. I mean, obviously there is that it's a lot of
on Edmon team, but I feel like you would have a lot more internal
pressure there as well. And I just don't know the power dynamic there.
But I have a feeling like, you know, like I am president and
teacher and I'm here or principal whatever, and like I don't have to really
deal with anyone and they're dealing, you know, they're worried about all the
sale, and I don't know, it just feels like a mess. On
the other side here, I mean Cody Fajardo, I mean, the Alolettes
look phenomenal, and I know Tim's happy about that. He says, great
cup banner unveiled Thursday. I'm sure there'll be plenty of Queen like, I'm
sure that'll be fine. But uh, I mean Montreal, Let's looks like
the best team in the league, right I mean they I know Mike had
them number one, but I would co sign out. I mean the Alolette's
number one team by by a mile right now. I really don't think they
have a weakness when I look at them, like, through two weeks,
I think that, you know, if anything, last year, I think
Cody Ferjardo's just ceiling was the weakness for this team. I thought that,
you know, maybe they just weren't the most explosive team. But you see
it this year. He's playing more loose, he's playing more confident, he's
taking the shots down the field. Case in point, the first play of
the game bomb to keayon Julian Grant and it really set the tone for the
rest of the game. And he's a guy that you know, you know,
now that he's had a lot of starts under his belt in the CFL,
we know he can play at an acceptable level at his worst. He's
a guy that's willing to take more chances now that he has that great cup
ring and he's really playing like it. And I think another thing is Walter
Fletcher, I think is an upgrade on Williams stand back from last year.
I think Williams standback hasn't looked good in the first couple of weeks with d
C. I didn't think he looked very good the last couple of years with
Montreal getting up there in age. And Walter Fletcher, who by the way,
was originally traded from Edmonton to Montreal after having a promising debut with Edmonton.
You know, he looks like an incredible running back and a great fit
for this offense. Makes plays through the air as well as on the ground,
you know, pretty exploding back. So I think you pair that with
you know, a great group of receivers, you know, a couple of
really good Canadian receivers, which is always important in the CFL, very hard
to have success if you don't have, you know, at least a couple
of good starting caliber receivers or starting caliber options at receiver. And you know
they have that in Phil Pott and Julian Grant, and you know Cole Speaker
stepping up as well. I mean I had that concern, I said last
week that they wouldn't be able to replace Austin Mack. But I think they've
done a really good job of doing that so far. Yeah, Phil Potler's
great, as Cliffy with Al's Five Deck podcast predicted in the beginning, it's
almost like they know that team. It's almost like they really know what they're
talking about over there with the outlets. But I will say, and it
is, it's such a cool situation for Cody. You know, we've talked
about this, but like you know, the Saskatchewan and all that, but
I do feel like, you know, and this is such like a stupid
thing like winning the Great cuple like because it's so hard, but like Cody
is like made now right, Like if you're Cody, that was the big
Like you know, everything was against you. You felt that way whether it
was or not, but it certainly you know, felt that way to Cody.
And you are in such a tough situation and you go to the al
Wettes and you really bet on yourself and you're there with Moss and you really
kind of prove all the you know, all the doubters whatever you do it
and now I feel like, yeah, I can play free, Like I
made forever if I never do another thing ever in my life, Like I'm
a great Cup winning quarterback and I had that, Like I just I feel
like he's totally, like you said, just playing free now and it's just
kind of a different level. We talked last week on here. Cody's a
very emotional quarterback and same with Va. I mean a lot of guys,
but like I don't know, like I said, the monkey off, It's
like like I was in the runnings for the Seattle Best Sledding stuff for a
long time and it was always like and then I won. I'm like,
I don't care if I ever win again. Now I'm an award winning Like
you don't have to deal with that, but I do feel that way.
And then you have to love this with the Walter Fledger because they kept talking
about that like, oh it was with Edmonton. You gotta love that and
him just absolutely running rockshot over at Edmonton all over the field, like well,
Chris Jones, like you know, like you always feel that way too,
Like because there was another guy too with Montreal than that. What was
I going to say here? Charleston Rambo looked really good. Julian Grant and
we see the one with the that I texted you, the the one arm
Cat said Dustin Yill said, oh my god, he's out and he did
that. Cole Speaker actually, well speaker. Yeah, I'm watching on the
trema. I had to get my Destiny said, oh my god, why
is he going? Why is he going? But no, I mean Alwt's
looked great, like I said, Tyson Phil about all that other stuff coming
in. So they're going to have their home opener Thursday, and I'm looking
to head here Ottawa going in. It should be a big matchup. I
expect Montreal to ride the emotions and you know, open up at home,
maybe a way that the tie Cats did not. We'll get to that.
But what do you make here just kind of early preview with Ottawa going to
Montreal. Yeah, I mean I'm very interested to see how, you know,
the audible red blocks offense plays against the you know, Alouettes defense.
I think that one thing I wanted to bring up is the Sean Lemon situation.
You know, I think, uh, you know, Dave Naylor said
his arbitration date for that gambling suspension is set for early July, so we
could play up to four games before that, and he's clearly when you watch
him, he's clearly a difference maker out there. Stell like, even at
his advanced age, he's a guy that makes a difference for that team.
And so you know, with him out there on Thursday, I think that
it's gonna be very interesting to see how those Audall Red Blacks tackles do in
that situation. And you know, I think, you know, Darnel Sanki
another guy that I had a really good game in this one, you know,
having his first full season as an Alouette. So I'm really excited to
see how that game plays out. And I'll be watching it on Thursday.
All right, So let's get move on here, Let's go and the big
and like I said, we're watching this up you never doubt, never doubt
the I would love to be in this game. I just like, well,
I got it. I gotta do that. I gotta do the championship
game stream and all that. But we didn't go, you know, just
to put in perspective, not quite Great Cup numbers. I think we had
like thirty five hundred and four thousand people. We had like sixty seven thousand
before the Great Cup shows it is slightly different for that, but it was
good to get all that first off. So obviously we had the fifty cent
thing, which was cool. Have you been tracking all of the kinds of
controversy where like people came for the concert and they didn't care about the game.
Have you been tracking any of that on Twitter? Because I think that
was kind of an interesting debate. I don't. We don't have to go
super far on it, but I do think it's interesting, like, you
know, we're bringing people in or they staying for the game. Is that
better? Is at worse? Like Amar Doman kind of buying attendance? Any
thoughts on that? Yeah, I do have thoughts on that. I think
that, you know, I hate the negative discourse around it. I think
that you know, nobody you know, I'm not one of these cfl old
heads that agrees with everything the league does. I do think the league has
to change some stuff. But when they do make a good thing, can't
we just celebrate that they did a good thing and they're making the extra effort.
I think that, you know, obviously a lot of those fall left,
like after the concert. I think a lot of those people, you
know, it's the same thing with them. You know, anytime there's a
big you know, music act playing at a sporting event, a lot of
people are just there for that. But even if they were taying one percent
or half a percent of those people that came, I think it's worth it
because you didn't get it increased exposure and you know it just be able to
put out that attendance number. I think it's absolutely worth it for the BC
Lions. And you know, I definitely don't agree with the negative, you
know, comments that I've been seeing from people on that. My feeling is
and I agree with you that, like, uh, you can't scream do
something and then people do something and then it's like not like that, not
like that, and I I, you know, Paul and I dealt with
that for a long time with kind of the some of the some of the
CFL online kind of the really really homer like kind of the three down adjacent
kind of there, and they're like, we want more people to cover the
CFL, and then like Paul and I would tie rightther no, not no,
not like that, not like that. It's like, well no that's
not that's not how it works, right, And we deal with that with
the UFL right, Like, Okay, we wanted to doing and then I
have like, well, we don't like your take, like not, you
know, you can't kind of control the narrative the whole way across there.
But I agree with you, like he's taking the swing, he's buying attendance.
It is what it is. Can you do that every week? No?
But like you said, you get fifty two out what was it,
fifty two, seven hundred whatever the heck? It was in their biggest home
open there in franchise history. Like even if you retain one percent of that,
they're making it back off of you know, the merch and concessions and
kind of everything else in there for that, Like, I think you have
to applaud that when people are taking swings, because not all ownership is either
willing to do that or equipped to do that. Like I think you need
to take that, and especially this season with you know, BC being in
the spotlight hosting the Great Cup and everything, and I think you you need
to have an owner like a Mardoman that's willing to kind of take swings like
that. Do we lose you? Yeah, one hundred percent agree. I
think that you know it's gonna be in see. Sorry, you're good.
Okay, Sorry, I was just saying it's gonna be interesting to see,
you know, if other ownership groups around the league, when the new Edmonton
own ship groups around the league, what they try to do to get fans
in the building, because you know, you know, I think this is
a good template to at least try to temporarily boost attendance. And I think,
you know, it would be very interesting to see, you know,
like I said, what other teams do. Because I think Amar Doman is
doing great, great things in BC. I don't think you should listen to
the haters. I think you know, he's gonna put on a great,
a great coup festival this year. And I think, uh, you know,
overall, if you look at the Lion's attendance, it is up over
though. I think ultimately at the end of the day, I think,
God, the Lions are doing good things. Yeah. And also the last
thing on that, you know, just like you said, with the other
ownership, it kind of puts that put you know, puts a target out
there of like, hey, this is what we're doing. I mean,
it kind of encourages other people to do stuff like that. I you know,
I don't see and again montre Outlett's ownership great. I don't see them
bosting any big you know, big concerts or anything like that. Thus far.
Here, let's see how you're Internet peer at Jason. As we kind
of get into this, BC felt very close to losing this game, Like
we watched it live, we watched the highlights. Today, Calgary looks like
the better team. I thought, kind of general overall thoughts of this game,
and then we can dive down into some players. Yeah, I mean,
there's never necessarily a good loss, but I think Calgary looked very good
in this game. I think that you're starting to see those good signs from
Jake Maher again. I think that is so important for this team obviously for
them to have success this season. And I think, you know, the
receivers are starting to make plays. I think Jalen Philpott being back out there
that is huge for this team after missing all of last year. I think,
you know, their defense still not taking the ball away and I think
that was really the difference in this game. Is that one interception that Mayor
threw, which was his fault, granted because he did like kind of aim
it was a short pass. He aimed a little too much, went a
little high, deflected, and was intercepted. So I think that was a
big turning point in this game. But I think otherwise they were punched for
punch with BC much more competitive in this game than they were a year ago.
And I think when you look at the history of the last couple of
years between these two teams, you know, BC has really you know,
took control of the series, and you know it's been really one sided.
So I think Calgary should hang their hat on that and be able to you
know, come out next time and potentially get the W against them, like
to me, and like you said, way different than maybe kind of last
year, where oh Calgary's coming in, you know, chalk this in the
win column. We're at home, Like I am scared of Calgary right now.
Like I watched these games and I watched the physicality, especially the physicality
they run as well, Like Calgary really scares me in a way that I've
said before. I'm hearing kind of the softness of BC, Like Calgary just
looks really impressive. And then we've taught like like what did they change in
the offseason, Like what did they move? Like it just feels like a
totally new breadth of energy are there. I don't know. To me,
they feel like they're firing on all cylinders and maybe maybe I don't know that's
a bad thing, and just how long the CFL season is, but it
feels like they're at least cresting pretty high right now. Well, I think
the biggest thing for them is that, you know, their biggest addition was
the players that got healthy over the offseason, because I think this was the
most injured team. Quote me up, I'm wrong, but I think that,
Like, correct me if I'm wrong, I should say, but I
think they were the most injured team by the end of last season, the
most players on injured reserves. So I think that, you know, just
by that alone, I think they should improve, and I think we have
seen that through a couple of weeks. I think BC you're also seeing the
opposite side of that because they lost a couple of players in the playoff game
last year against Winnipeg. You know TJ Lee, longtime leader in that secondary.
You know secondary didn't play terrible in this game. But I think they're
still missing him back there. And then Keon, I think, you know,
missing him. I think he's arguably, he arguably was their best receiver
last year. So I think that you know, having those two guys missing
right now for BC, they just a little bit of that upside that they
did and that explosiveness that they had last year. So I mean, I
think that it kind of closes the gap between you know, the bottom teams
in the West and the top teams in the West. Well, I think
if you look here, even in Vernon's kind of receiving core Hereal Hollands and
mcginnit's getting kind of the bulk of that. But I really it doesn't feel
like it spread out maybe as it normally used to be with that with it
felt like Va had five or six targets that he could really go to consistently.
McGinnis I think has looked really good. Hollands had I think it was
Holland's had the ball basically in the breath, like over the shoulder, right
in his hands, bounced up, was almost picked, came back and got
the end of the touchdown later on to kind of make that up. But
like you have to catch that, I mean, you can't he I mean,
it's hitting him in stride, perfect throw from Va. You know,
stand back here trying to get something going. I agree with you. I
don't know, I stand back. We talked about this last week with the
you know, Vernon bringing him in and the friendship and all that, and
then Vernon still taking way too many hits here. I don't love how you
have Vernon as the short yardage guy. I know pre Coop was playing right
with with Edmonton, right in my fever dream with all that stuff, But
I don't know, to me, the way too long of a season,
that'd be Vernon having QB sneaks here and in the second game of the season.
Yeah. Absolutely, I think that you know, Va is not the
biggest guy either. He's not a guy that you want take. Like you
said, I think, you know, he's a valuable player for this team.
He is, you know, has really become and grown into this team's
franchise quarterback, if you will. And I think you know, he's still
playing very well. I think that's a good sign. I think that he's
still playing at a sustainable level that he did last year. So I think
that is a really good sign. But I think, uh, at the
end of the day, like you said, they they they're not spreading the
ball around like they used to in that receiving corps. A couple of rookies.
Aidan Aberhart, he had the nice reception in this one, but beside
that, didn't have any other targets. Travis Fulgum, I think he was
a guy that you know, was a draft pick and got some playing time
in the NFL, but he got a lot of targets in this one didn't
take advantage. I don't I can't remember if those throws were just off from
Vernon or what. But I think, you know, want to see more
production out of those other guys in the receiving corps, and I think,
you know, they just look like a less potent offense this year than they
did a year ago. I think their defense looked better this week. I
thought against Toronto they looked pretty poor defensively, but this week against Calgary they
were able to stop the run, which is something that they've been lamented before
for not being able to do, especially in those matchups going up to Winnipeg.
So I think, you know, the additions of Christian Covington up front
that's really going to help them in that regard. He had his first career
CFL sack in this one. And if you didn't know, he's actually the
son of Rob Covington, who is the CFL's all time leading sac leader who
played his entire career with Hamilton. So I'm good to see that for Covington.
Hopefully it continues as he gets more adjusted to the CFL game after playing
a long time in the NFL. So I think there's some good signs for
BC, but I think at the end of the day, they need to
still show that upside and a big test is coming up this Friday against Winnipeg.
Yeah, now I want to touch on that. And yeah, it's
like it's like the whole thing with Vernon, you know, has had injury
history even last season, lower body injury history, you know, foot,
leg, ankle, kind of whatever that banged up, and that's his strength.
I mean, Vernon running, passing, in motion, escaping. Like
I just and I'm not a football coach, but I just I can't where
that is still his strength. And God knows how long he's going to be
able to be that mobile, just with age and kind of everything else,
but like still having that mobility and then like, yeah, we're also just
going to throw him into a pile of you know, ten other guys like
like that. That just seems like a great situation where that's like the one
difference he has over like at Trevor Harris, right, even like Cody and
Cody can run, I mean, Cody can get some action going, but
I feel like, you know, Vernion is a couple steps quicker and kind
of more more mobile than that. Just really weird to me. And like
you said, here coming up against Winnipeg, like let's kick them all.
They're down BC. Winnipeg traditionally owns you, especially at home, Like let's
come in here, let's take care of business. I hope that they step
up. I mean to me, this is a huge game. You know
it's early in the season, but start making some separation because you know these
games you're gonna come back in the end, Like we talked about this all
last year, like, oh well, like you know what's gonna come back
to the final two weeks of the season. Who's got home field advantage,
So go in there, you know, kick a wound to the animal.
I don't know, I mean, if Winnipeg starts owing three, I don't
know which would be more surprising BC one and two or Winnipeg. I mean,
clearly Winnipeg going through, but either one, it doesn't feel like any
either team can really afford this losses early. Yeah, I mean I was
starting to contemplate, like when we saw how Calgary was really hanging in this
game, what would it be like if BC and Winnipeg started oh and two
and it looked like a very real possibility for a while there, but ultimately
BC gets to win there, I think. Yeah, Like I said,
huge game on Friday, I think that, you know, Winnipeg, I
mean, you can't count anybody out in the CFL, because we did see
once upon a time win five team go on to win the Great Cup,
and that was BC back in twenty eleven. So things can happen in the
small league like this, where it's relatively easy to make the playoffs and you
know, get hot at the right time. But I mean, you don't
want to start oh and three. I think you don't even want to start
one and two if you're the Lions because it's going to be a very tight
race because we'll get to them in a minute. But Sasketch one also looking
very good despite playing kind of sloppy the first couple weeks, but coming out
with a couple of victories. So yeah, it's going to be a very
interesting year in the West. Last thing for me, and we were talking
about this, I was talking about this with Andy and Anthony and kind of
the whole BC of it all. Like I love Rick Campbell and you know
it, certainly BC has had a lot of success, but like, I
don't know here. I mean, you got to see and especially with you
know, hosting and everything this year, but like, I just feel like
they've had so much talent on the roster the last couple of years, and
you know, the big addition here a standback, and we kind of would
be poop poo back and forth about that and this whole Crew Cup thing,
Like I just don't know, I don't want, I don't He's not on
a short leash, but I feel like he should. Like I don't know
if if Rick is the guy here to get them over the hump later,
I don't know. Curious if you have any updated thoughts on Campbell, because
we were talking about it, Like, I don't know if it's if it's
a coaching style, if it's whatever. It just it always feels like a
little too lax Like. I get that he's like a hard edged guy,
but it doesn't feel like it always comes across that way. I mean,
I've depending with myself for years whether or not Rick Campbell is a good CFL
head coach or not. I mean, he did win a great Cup with
the on one but that team, let's remember, was eight nine and one.
I believe they were They had a losing record that year, and they
had a couple of good years in Ottawa where they had a winning record,
but otherwise I believe they had a losing record over the course of his tenure
there. And then he comes to BC. They have Mike Riley at the
beginning, have a disappointing year, and then you know, I think because
of the what you call it, they because he was a first year head
coach, they didn't I didn't let him go after that first season with BC,
and so he kind of catches fire, you know, two years ago
with Nathan Rourke, and then last year he has some sustained success and I'm
thinking, oh, maybe he is actually a good coach. But you always
wonder what stratically does he bring to the table. I mean, I think
he's more of a defensive guy. You look at his background, but I
don't think he doesn't call plays. I don't think he's you know, a
guy that Yeah, I don't think he's a guy that like innovates very much.
I think, you know, I'm obviously not inside the locker room,
but I don't think you're seeing the adjustment mid game with him. And I
think, uh, like I said, I've always debated with myself whether or
not this guy is a good coach because I think he's made that you know,
middle line where it's like, if you're better than Rick Campbell, you
are a good coach. But if you're worse than Rick Campbell, I think
you probably need a new coach. No, I agree. I think that's
really good. I appreciate you kind of being as just eloquent with that and
kind of I don't know, just just because I agree with that. Also
to me, Ryan Phillips kind of questionable right now, where it felt like
he was kind of the hot shot coach and you know, kind of the
coach and waiting and all that. Like, I don't feel like BC's defense
is like exceptional and obviously him getting he had probably the last year ride he
was the full DC and then now that I mean people were talking about him
taking overhead coaching positions, thoughts on him and just kind of that before we
get to the last game. Yeah, like I said, I thought their
defense played very poorly Week one against Toronto, especially against a guy and Cameron
Duke said, who had you know, made very few starts before that point.
But this week I thought they looked okay. I thought, you know,
nothing too concerning from that perspective. Like I said, I think they've
had some changes on that team. You know, Josh Woods is a guy
that's starting in the linebacking core for them. Now they kind of a look
to try to make it a more run stopping heavy defense than they were more
of a pass defense defense before. So it'll be interesting to see how it
plays out over the course of the season. Obviously, last year you had
the Donut Boys with you know, those two shutouts against Edmonton. But it's
gonna be interesting to see how they play against some of these better teams and
better offenses in the CFL as we go forward with the season. Last game
here, let's get to got a heartbreaker. Now has the Father's Day.
We had a lot of touchy, a lot of talk about the UFL the
championship game being on Father's Day. Did you make it out to the Hammer
on Father's Day? I did. Yes, I saw every single second of
this one, and boy, it was a great game. I mean from
an objective perspective, it was a great game. But yeah, the tight
Cats always seem to be on the wrong end of these. Yeah, So
the thoughts on this here, I mean, okay, let's start on the
positive. Bow's back, right, like bo is officially is he back?
Yes, it kind of looks like it. It looks like you're starting to
see you know. Yeah, the numbers are there, obviously, great numbers.
Definitely the best game I saw from Bow in a long time, bar
none. But I think just the you know, the physical health you're starting
to see. I think he's moving around so much better than he has been
the last couple of years. He's taking the deep shots down the field and
actually connecting on them, because how many times have we seen last couple of
years taking deep shots down the field and just you know, it's sailing over
receivers heads. So I think at the end of the day, you know,
this is the biggest positive to take away from this game. If you're
Hamilton. You have other guys on this offense that are playing well right now.
Some of that aren't playing well. Tim White unfortunately just had a couple
of rough weeks. But like I said last week, I think, you
know, very inconsistent player, He's gonna pop off one of these weeks for
like one hundred and fifty yards. You just know what's gonna happen. But
I think at the end of the day, some untimely drops and I think,
you know, if they just make a couple of different plays, right,
I think they win this game. Obviously. Yeah, Butler looking good,
kind of running all over the field. I just like to me,
I because we caught the last half of this game. We had just got
done with the championship beginn We're back at the bar with all the UFL people,
we're watching the game. We knew that Saskatchewan won with a kickoff,
with a walkoff kick right, like kind of all that stuff. But even
I'm rewatching the game this morning, and I'm like, Okay, I understand
the Saskatchewan was this game. I don't really know how though, because it
really felt like the tie Outs were the better team leading up to I don't
know, the last ten minutes of the game. Yeah. Absolutely. I
think the biggest thing though, is that Hamilton did not step on their throat
when they had the lead. I think they just let him hang around in
that ten point range. And I think you really have to get to that,
you know, to score or two touchdown lead in the CFL to field
any sort of comfort. Because even with four minutes left in the game,
which I believe that's when saskatchwon, you know, scored their you know,
first points to get it up back to not first points of the game,
but first points to cut the deficit to seven points and then you know,
you can get it quick to and out and get the ball right back in
the CFL, so you really don't need much time to make some you know,
make up some ground, I think, and Saskatchewan really did that and
we'll get to them. But they look really good offensively. I think that,
you know, Trevor Harris, I mean what it's worth it, you
know, two weeks into the season, probably the MP runner right now,
but like I said, long long way to go on that one. But
read your take from the preseason is not looking too good with the Trevor Harris,
But it's not looking good that I wanted to talk about this because and
I saw Hodge going crazy about this as well, like the penalties that the
Riders are facing, and we got a penalty problem, like they're two and
O like who cares. Yeah, I mean, these are the type of
things you can complain about, but at the end of the day, what
really matters, like you said to and oh, and I think, yeah,
like that's kind of the scary thing about them is that they haven't played
very you know, clean football through two weeks. They've had some turnovers,
they've had a lot of penalties, like you said, lead in the league
in penalties. Uh, but you know, at the end of the day,
and and obviously they've had to come back from uh you know, multiple
you know, deficit, double digit deficits, uh, two weeks in a
row. So they haven't played perfect football, but there's still too and oh
and I think, you know, under our new coach, those things are
gonna be you know, corrected. And I think at the end of the
day, you know, soa Skatchwan's looking pretty good here and they're only going
yeah, let's talk when you know, let's talk the A J L L
Like how how is he looking here? I know we I think we said
first week he wasn't looking maybe back up to up to form, But what
do you make about aj Yeah, he's he's been pretty quiet the first couple
of weeks. I don't know if that's because defenses are kind of loading the
box against him or you Knowchan's offensive line isn't as good as Toronto's, which
I definitely don't think it is as good. But yeah, just not the
reduction you want to see early on this season. But the passing game is
more than made up for it. I think you're seeing a lot of guys
really step up and have really good chemistry with Trevor Harris. You know,
Jered Sterns really had a big breakthrough game in this one. I can see
him being a huge part of this offense now with Sean Bain left the game
with injuries, so we'll see if he misses multiple weeks. But I think
Jared Stearns is a guy that's gonna step up in his absence if he misses
extended time and play a bigger role. Keon Schaeffer Baker one of the best
Canadians receivers in the league. We've seen that the last couple of years,
and I think, you know, he's a guy that you know, is
more able playing you know, a number one or number two receiver role in
this league. So I think this is a team that has a lot of
talent, a lot of flexibility on the offensive side of the ball. I
think if their offensive line can hold up, which is the biggest question,
you know, I think this is going to be a very offense this year.
And I think, you know, trumfor Harris deserves a lot of credit
for looking like he's in great shape at thirty eight years old. Them read
and I think that he's going to be a guy that as long as he's
healthy, this offense is going to keep coming. Yeah. So the last
thing here will kind of round this out. Here, I get out of
here at the top of the hour, Hamilton, oh and two here,
I like I said, I thought they looked really good in the game.
I feel like Bo really joeing with the guys, and I think he's good
to be back. I'm obviously like having a lot of rest here through the
last half of last season and kind of like, you know, even if
he's a little bit older here, Okay, he's been able to kind of
make some time, you know, on the side, kind of rebuild all
that. Like I think Hamilton looks good. Like I said, they're oh
and two are are they too far out? I mean, what do you
make about that? Because to me it feels like they can still be competitive
here. I just feel like this game was an interception, you know,
turn over there right at the end, put him in field, Go Ray
and Drels got You know, this is going to overtime and god knows what
happens. Like doesn't feel like Campbelton's day and two team. Yeah, definitely.
I think they've had some great moments in these games. Against Calgary,
they made it a very competitive game despite not their best and last week I
thought they were the better team, or this week, I should say I
thought they were the better team. But honestly, speaking as a fan,
I'm just so tired of them starting off the seasons like this. I mean,
they've been doing this all my life basically, you know, the last
three years in particular, so I think this is the third year in a
row they've started owing two. If they lose next week, it will be
the third straight year they start owing three, and last year they actually started
going four, so we'll see if they do that. But I mean,
you can overcome it, like I said in the CFL, I mean big,
you can make up ground, especially with a lot of the head to
head matchups, but you don't want to keep digging yourself such a big hole.
And you know it basically, you know what it does. It doesn't
eliminate you from making the playoffs, but what it does early in the season,
it kind of eliminates you from that first place race. And I think,
you know that's going to be so crucial to winning the Great Cup.
It's very much easier just to win that one game and get to the Great
Cup. And you talked about it all the time with BC that it's just
much easier to do that and you know, win a game at home than
it is to win two games to get to the Great Cup like Montreal did
last year. So I think at the end of the day, I'm just
tired of it. As a ty Cats fan, I think they need to,
you know, start getting off to seasons better. I think they've lost,
you know, just going back to last week, but they lost like
sixteen the last seventeen, like opening games of the season. Something crazy like
that. It's just been happening all my life. And like I said,
I'm tired of it. Let's look ahead here, we'll get out of here.
So coming up this week, like we talked about Montreal having their home
opener here with Ottawa Saskatchewan as well opening at home. You got this,
you know already in the season. We got the home at home here with
the Hamilton going back in the Saskatchewan BC at Winnipeg. It should be competitive
there and then Toronto's back I predicted through the loss for Edmonton, Toronto looked
really good week one here. Any other thoughts looking at these games coming up?
I know we talked to Montreal and all of that at BC, but
you know, Hamilton running into the bus, I mean Saskatchewan, let's say
they repeated at home here. Could you zero and three for Hamilton not gonna
be good? Yeah, I mean, let's not talk about that game.
Let's talk about Edmonton Toronto. And I think one thing I'm looking at in
this game is a ploid about the person's return to Toronto. I'm sure he'll
be have a warm reception given them. He gave a good five years of
his career there and obviously was a huge part of that twenty twenty two Great
Cup winning team, so interesting to see how he plays in his return to
Toronto. Definitely, do not expect the Elks to win that one. I
gave that Toronto is an incredibly hard place to play. Toronto's coming off the
buy this week, so you know it's gonna be a tough task for Edmonton
to win that game. But Edmondson has looked intriguing. I'll say that the
first couple of weeks they definitely look a lot more entertaining than they did at
points last year. So I'm a lot to see if they, you know,
can string together enough plays to keep it competitive in Toronto. But looking
forward to that game and all these games next week, well there you go
here. A week two in the books should have UFL insider Mike Mitchell on
for Friday's episode. We'll be abbreviated just Mike this week. I gotta travel
across the mountain on Thursday night to do some work on Friday over in Spokane.
We'll do that with Mike and then Jason. I will be back next
week for our CFL Week three recap, and then I will start getting some
player interviews at that point. Once we're back from the UFL Championship and all
of this stuff, I'll get back on the horse. We'll start getting that
stuff going here for the Friday episodes now that we're done with UFL coverage,
Jason, anything else before we get out of here, No, I just
wanted to say that it's looking like a great season this year. I really
am very optimistic about what we've seen so far, especially from these quarterbacks.
I think, you know, Zach Klaris has been the worst of them,
and I think you know, there's a good chance he rebounds. So I
think at the end of the day, that's a great s for the league
and this season going forward. Well, I agree, and as someone that
has covered the UFL here the last couple of weeks of the season, we're
pretty dull just with teams being locked up and kind of positioning, certain teams
being out beginning of the season. I do think even even the teams,
like we talked with Hamilton, like even the teams that are are are struggling
right now, I think have a lot of upside to look at. Or
you have teams like Winnipeg where you're like, Jesus, what the hell is
going to happen here if they're oh and three or you know, one and
one and three or oh and three or you one and four, whatever,
so should be interesting that way. Be subscribed on here. Appreciate everyone checking
out Chris with a lot of comments is always appreciated, and we'll see you
guys next time. Let's get out of here. Thanks guys,