Argos Magic Run Ends.
The unexpected and exciting
Argo drive to the playoffs came to a crunching halt when the Als took out
Reggie Slack on the 2nd drive of the East Final. Als defensive
player Fortin
managed to whip his leg sideway
as he attempted to sack Slack and hit him on his bad knee. Watching the hit in
slo-mo frame by frame I am convinced it was a deliberate injury attempt.
The Argos had a good 1st drive, and the Als came out with a lame 2
and out offering. After Slack returned CFL bad boy Ed Philion hit him in what
looked like a helmet spearing to the
gut and knocked Slack out of the game for good. Ballard came in
and was as ineffective as he seems to usually be against the Als, who put on a
good defensive showing and won the
game, beating the Argos 3rd string QB Brady, who was in
way over his head and it showed. Basically I saw it as a freebie for the Als,
who had coasted into the playoffs.
Is this a GC or SuperBore?
The GC festivities looked
like fun, and from what I heard/read from others it was a success in almost
every way. BUT…can’t say I thought much of the game itself. The Eskies coach
looked like a deer in the headlights all night, and his team
played a sloppy game highlighted by very questionable coaching decisions. The
Als offence looked as lame as they did the
week before, but their defense did just enough to help the
Eskies lose this one. Only 7 1st downs and a completion rate of 11
of 31 actually won AC the MVP. Yes, the field was poor but
the 96 GC was played in way worse conditions and was a far
superior game IMHO. Remember how Gizmo caught that ball that should have been a
fumble, by using his foot? No effort
like that was apparent in this game, and essentially the Eskies
gave the game to the Als by playing just bad enough that the Als lackluster
effort won the day for them. I’m sure Als
fans can ignore the shallow victory, but I won’t. So I call them
the Faux Champs and will for the entire year they remain so.
Thoughts on Next Year….
Adam Rita as HC? NO! I don’t believe he was all that much
responsible for BC’s turnaround. The players were the same; they just got off
their butt and played up to their potential.
Rita as 2nd choice
maybe, but I’d like to see the Argos try to get Jim Barker back. Even as a
rookie we went 9-9 with Coach Barker and since then he has had success in the
XFL and
the Als, good seasoning indeed.
Maybe even some good players will follow him and weaken the Als, I’d like that. Coach Lancaster is a good choice, but too old for much continuity
at
the HC position. And I wouldn’t want his son at all, leave him for
the Cats!! ;)
RANT: The Als are due
for some ‘rebuilding’ years where we see just how good their fan base truly is.
I’m tired of them dominating the East then choking/coasting into the playoffs,
and this year getting lucky
in having an opponent as hapless as the Eskies were.
The Argos should try to keep
players like O’Shea and Mookie; team leaders who still have an impact on
field. For QB I’d like to see Jackson,
Slack, Ballard and Brady compete for
spots. Let Bishop go, he seems injury prone and can’t read a
defense. Maybe snap a few FA’s from other team before they do it to us. Looking
forward to next season with some
optimism based on the 2nd half of this year’s season.
Let’s hope the CFL get a real
good TV contract too. And no more unbalance schedule!
Man, this is gonna be a LONG
offseason, I can just feel it…
AD
4
