Monday Morning Sentimonies: The Countdown Is On

The 2010 season is still 5 months away but I’m already starting to get excited. The excitement increased this morning with the release of the CFL schedule. If you are like me you are currently clearing your schedule, rescinding accepted wedding invitations and informing your employer of the list of days not to expect you at work. Though I’m sure some people are already developing an advance list of excuses for why they will be late for home games. Highlights of the Riders’ schedule include a Canada Day home opener against the Als and 4 games against the Esks… the lowlights include a back to back series against the Argos (or as it's more commonly referred to: the free space on the bingo card).

The 2010 season will also feature a regular season game in Moncton, NB featuring the Eskimos and Argonauts. Though I’m sure Moncton residents are excited to get their first live taste of CFL football, it’s too bad they will be forced to endure watching the Argos to get it.

While the season is still 5 months away, another fairly important day in the CFL is just 2 weeks away. Feb 15 is important for 2 reasons. 1 – It is the deadline for CFL players in their option year to sign with an NFL team. 2 – It is the first day of free agency.

In terms of option year players, Andy Fantuz (well technically he is a free agent), Louie Sakoda and Joel Bell are the most notable for the Riders. Though big names like Gene Makowsky and Mike McCullough are also in their option year, let’s just say I’m not as concerned about them catching on down south. The good news is, thus far, none of these Riders have even had a workout so we just have to hope like hell that nothing changes in the next 14 days.

In terms of potential free agents, 13 Riders are slated to hit the market on Feb 15, including Stevie Baggs, Tad Kornegay, James Patrick and Eddie Davis. I expect the list to shrink by a few names in the coming days and will break down the entire Rider free agent list later in the week.

Eric Morris has followed the lead of fellow Texas Tech alum Graham Harrell and taken an offseason coaching job in the NCAA. Morris will serve as an offensive assistant at the University of Houston. It appears however that Morris’ knee (which he injured part way through last season) still isn’t healed, meaning Morris probably won’t be healthy in time for training camp, not that that’s a huge loss. His 1 reception and sub par kick returns probably won’t be missed. In fact, I think the only reason we signed Morris was to help convince Harrell to sign here too.

Around the CFL…

The Argos continue to reach new lows for idiocy in football. They offered their Head Coaching job to Als OC Scott Milanovich only to have Milanovich decline. Now that in and of itself isn’t news, it’s been common practice over the last 2 years for people to decline positions with the Argos. However, what is newsworthy is the reason that Milanovich declined. Apparently the Argos offered him a whopping salary of $175,000, which is only $25K more than Milanovich’s current salary and would be by far the lowest head coach salary in the CFL.

The logic here is astounding. Last year the Argos offered Bart Andrus $475K per year (tops in the league) despite the fact that he had zero qualifications. This year they offer a highly qualified candidate $300K less?! My only theory for this ridiculous display of decision making is that the Argos are learning from the Stubler/Andrus debacles and instituting a new policy of not paying coach’s very much so that when you inevitably have to fire them, it's pretty cheap. Regardless of their reasoning, the Argos are now in the exact same position they were in last year… nobody who is remotely qualified wants the job. Since the whole “import what’s left of NFL Europe” strategy didn’t work last year maybe this year they will scour the remains of the now defunct Arena League for a coaching staff.

Stampeder OC George Cortez has accepted a job with the Buffalo Bills as their QB coach. Given Cortez’ history of developing great QBs (Garcia, Dickenson) you’d think he could find a better team than the Bills. Henry Burris always said that he wanted to be the greatest QB Cortez ever worked with… at least now with Cortez having to coach Trent Edwards, he won’t be the worst… well maybe he still will be but at least it will be close.

The Alouettes have added QB Tim Tebow to their negotiation list. Odds are slim of him venturing north anytime soon but it’s still a decent use of a neg list spot. I mean it’s not like the Als added Donovan Bailey, Deion Sanders or Brock Lesnar… I mean it would take some kind of idiot to do that… oh wait… awkward.

CFL Ins and Outs



Calgary
In: Ken-Yon Rambo (contract extension)
When healthy, Rambo is one of the top receivers in the CFL so it’s no surprise to see the Stamps lock him up. This does however leave the Stamps with Lewis, Copeland, Rambo and Bryant under contract, which is a lot of money tied up in import receivers. I would think something has to give. I’m betting Bryant gets traded since he plays Rambo’s wide-out spot.

Montreal
In: OL Bryan Chui (contract extension)
Good lord would some of these Alouettes retire already. To give you an idea of how long Chui has been playing… during his rookie season Shonte Peoples was a league all-star with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Hamilton
Out: K Nick Setta (released)
Setta used to be the lone bright spot on what was otherwise a pitiful excuse for a football team. Last year though, the rest of the team progressed by leaps and bounds while Setta seemed to regress at a similar pace. It makes me wonder if Setta was actually ever that good or if he was actually crappy but just looked really good compared to the rest of his team.

BC
Out: OL Jason Jimenez, LB Javier Glatt (released)
Wouldn’t be the offseason without some vets being shipped out by Buono. For the most part he has a pretty good track record of releasing vets just before their best before dates, although Glatt probably should have been turfed last year because his production has been plummeting at Edmonton Oiler-like rates. Jimenez however I find a bit odd. While he’s not quite the dominant player he was in ’06-’08, he was still a decent tackle and quite frankly the Lions need all the help they can get when it comes to protecting their fragile QBs. I’m guessing the decision to cut him was based on $$$. Then again, maybe Jimenez has received a better offer from another team and wants to move on - Wally's a humanitarian now you know.

Friday Roundup – Lots Going On

Here’s what been happening in a surprisingly busy week in the CFL…

The Riders have opted to swap 1st round picks with Winnipeg as part of that overly complex Bowman/Goodspeed/Rempel deal. It’s not clear whether the decision was one that Tillman made on his way out or that Taman made on his way in… but given that this involved trading away our first round pick, I think its safe to assume that it was a Taman decision.

Joe Womack has been offered a position as head of US Scouting for the Riders. On the surface this would seem like a sign that the Riders still consider Womack to be an important part of the team and want to retain him. Unfortunately it’s not really the case. Given that the US Scout position is to be based in the States, the Riders are basically saying, you can stay with the team but you have to leave the country. That’s kinda like a girl saying that she wants to date you but you’re not allowed to be in the same location as here and all communication is to be by phone or email. I really like Womack and hope he stays with us but I’m not thinking that’s going to happen.

Elsewhere in the CFL

- The Argos have narrowed their search for a head coach down to Doug Berry or George Cortez. I’m thinking if Cortez (who has repeatedly passed on Head Coaching opportunities) is interested he’ll be the guy. Though I’m curious as to what happened to Scott Milanovich, who up until now was the front runner (and an excellent choice to boot). It probably boiled down to logic… I’m just not sure whether it was the presence of logic on the part of Milanovich in deciding to pass or lack of logic on the part of the Argos which they have a long documented history of.

- Greg Marshall is still the front-runner in Winnipeg to be the new head coach (though Paul LaPolice is in the running). That’s not really news since I’ve been telling you that for weeks on this blog. But since I’m the guy that also wrote that the Riders would not win the ’07 cup, that Anton McKenzie has re-signed with the Riders and that I am bigger than Jesus I won’t fault you for taking what I write with a grain of salt.

- Speaking of the Bombers, they are expected to be over the cap (by how much remains unknown at this point). The good news is that even though they are likely to face penalties at least their salary expenditures we’re put to good use… such as the $80K they paid Dan Goodspeed to help the Ti-cats finish with a better record or $60K they paid Milt Stegal to make TSN appearances or the combined $115K they paid Joe Smith, Armstrong, Dinwiddie, O’Meara and Giles to sit at home. They investment clearly paid dividends so Bomber fans can take some solace.

- Rickey Foley will be trying out for the NY Jets as well as a couple other NFL teams in the coming days. If Foley bolts then BC will have lost the CFL Rookie of the Year, their top kick returner and the top sack getter/top Canadian in one season. Oh well, its nothing that one of Casey Printers’’ famous motivational speeches can’t overcome.

- Kent Austin is set to become the head coach at Cornell University. You might remember Cornell from last year’s Salute to Bad Team Names. They are the mighty Big Red… with the Brown Bear mascot. While Cornell is nowhere near as prestigious as Ole Miss, it’s a chance for Austin to get some experience as a head coach and pad his resume for a more prestigious head coaching opportunity in 2-3 years. I want to see a commercial that shows Kent Austin saying “I’m Kent Austin. If you don’t cheer for Big Red then **** you!”

CFL Ins and Outs


Saskatchewan
In: DB Omarr Morgan (contract extension)
Though I’m glad Morgan is staying here part of me was hoping he’d sign elsewhere only to watch as the Riders won another Grey Cup.

Hamilton

Out: DB Lawrence Gordon (released)
I got nothing.

BC

In: DL Brent Johnson (contract extension)
Johnson had a noticeable slip in production when Wake left, now if Foley leaves too I wonder if he will continue his slide… Oh well, its nothing that one of Casey Printers’’ famous motivational speeches can’t overcome (yeah I copied and pasted this from above. So what? It’s Friday and I’m lazy, cut me some slack).

Toronto
In: DB Ahmaad Smith (free agent signing)
Smith was a finalist in the reality show 4th And Long (where the winner got a spot in Dallas Cowboys training camp). Now he gets to appear in a reality series entitled (insert your own humourous ending here).

Winnipeg
In: WR Vincent Marshall (free agent signing)
Out: WR Otis Amey (released)
I guess the Bombers are trying to capture some of the magic that the Bishop/Marshall connection showed in the ’08 Banjo Bowl… which is likely to deliver similar results as when they acquired James Johnson.


Montreal
In: WR Eric Deslauriers, DE Jeff Robertshaw, OL Paul Lambert, LB Diamond Ferri (contract extension)
Either Ferri’s parents where trying to toughen him up (ala Boy Named Sue) or they assumed that he would grow up to be a drag queen or hair stylist… Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Calgary
In: DL Miguel Robede, WR Arjei Franklin (contract extension), OL John Comiskey (free agent signing)
I wonder if Comiskey has finally comes to terms with the fact that the Stamps like Tsoumpas better than him? When they had a chance to draft Tsoumpas they quickly traded away Comiskey. Only now that Tsoumpas has jumped ship to the NFL do the Stamps welcome him back. Odds are good that if Tsoumpas comes back that Comiskey will either be traded or cut.


Edmonton
In: DB Willie Amos (contract extension)
Odd fact about Amos… he won the World Jump Rope Championship in 1999. Seriously check it out. After watching that I’m convinced that the Riders are in trouble next season. I mean how are we supposed to compete with a team that boasts one of the world’s best at skipping in a synchronized fashion. First Lumsden the bobsledder, now Amos the skipper… I wonder what obscure sport they will recruit from next… ice dancing perhaps?

Monday Morning Sentimonies: News A Plenty

Last week, the Riders search for a new GM dominated the news but there was a ton of other goings on so let’s get you caught up on things.

- Though I have been quite vocal about my distain for Taman, I would like to go on record as saying I am glad that we ended up hiring Taman in light of the fact that apparently Glen Suitor was also a candidate. Yes you heard me right… Glen freaking Suitor! It’s no wonder Taman seemed like such a strong candidate if he was only up against the likes of Suitor. Hell a half eaten danish would have looked like a strong candidate by comparison.

- Bob Wylie has left the Riders to accept a job with the Denver Broncos. Wylie is a good coach and I hate to see him go. My reaction to this news went something like this.

- On the free agent front, it appears we are close to finalizing new deals with Wes Cates and Omarr Morgan. Morgan re-signing was pretty much a guarantee. Given what a resounding success his last decision to sign elsewhere was, I can’t see Omarr making that mistake again.

- QB Graham Harrell has accepted a coaching job in the NCAA with Oklahoma State. Apparently it’s only an offseason job and Harrell should still be back here for training camp.

- Word is that the Riders will open the 2010 season at home against the Alouettes on July 1^st. A franchise that originated in the US, is led by a Mexican, and represents a province that has repeatedly tried to separate from Canada… yup that seems like the perfect team to be prominently featured on Canada Day.

Elsewhere in the CFL…

- Joe Mack has been named the new VP of Football Operations in Winnipeg. Though Mack has previous experience with the Bombers as well as NFL experience, there are some concerns being raised over the fact that he hasn’t worked in the CFL since 1987 and hasn’t worked in any league since 2001. Mack was quick to put those concerns to rest by stating that he has “a number of friends up here still”… well that’s reassuring. I mean Bart Andrus said the same thing when he was hired and that turned out alright.

- Speaking of the Argos, it seems Lions’ owner David Braley is on the verge of taking over the team. The current owners can’t manage to secure a new partner (go figure… the Argos seem like such a good investment). While the optics of one man owning 25% of the teams in a league are suspect at best, Braley has proven repeatedly that he has the best interest of the league in mind. Besides, given that he would own the worst franchise in each division, even if he pooled all the good players into one team it’s not like they would be all that good anyway.

- Sandro DeAngeles has worked out for the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys in recent days. Given the quality of kickers in the NFL post season, you gotta think that DeAngeles will get a contract offer… about the only way he could screw it up would be to do one of his stupid celebration dances during his tryouts.

- Ben Cahoon has no plans to retire and wants to return for a 13^th season. There’s just one snag… Cahoon is entering his option and wants new deal signed before he returns. I don’t get this. Cahoon is already among the top paid players on the team and obviously the Als will keep him as long as he can still play. I’m not sure what the push is for a new deal… does he have couple new wives to support or what?

- Casey Printers is releasing a book entitled From High School to the Pros: The Ultimate Guide for the Student Athlete. That’s right for the low price of $19.95 you can learn the secrets of how to go undrafted, spend a year as 3^rd stringer in the CFL until you finally get your break, when you finally do get your break turn down a $1M multi-year extension with that team on 2 occasions to go to the NFL, fail miserably in the NFL and get cut, get signed to a huge CFL contract only to fail miserably and be cut, end up unemployed and only get back into football because your old team suffered injuries to all of their QBs and where absolutely desperate. Sounds like a soon to be bestseller to me.

CFL Ins and Out

Montreal

In: DL John Bowman, OL Jeff Perrett (contract extension), DL Nuvraj Bassi, OL David Bouchard, OL Scott Burley, WR Daron Clark, LB Jerrell Guyton, DL Chris Parris, LB Sam Pope, LB Neil Puffer, DE Darrell Robertson, LB Tyrell Sales, DL Lorenzo Williams (free agent signing)

Out: DL Riall Johnson (released)

While I’m still a big fan of Bassi’s beard, I think it’s safe to assume that given that it’s been 5 years since he was drafted and he has yet develop into even a serviceable back-up that the beard may be all Bassi has going for him at this point.

BC

In: RB Brad Lester, RB Yonus Davis (free agent signing)

Out: RB Martel Mallett (signed with Philadelphia Eagles)

Wally Buono has been very secretive about his reasons for releasing Mallett (the CFL Rookie of the Year) from his contractual obligations early (a questionable move at best). While Wally isn’t giving a reason, there are some theories out there. The leading one is that Wally’s heart grew 3 sizes that day.

Calgary

In: LB Malik Jackson, RB Jon Cornish, WR Blaine Kruger, LB Justin Phillips (contract extension)

Hamilton

In: OL Matt Morencie, WR Scott Valberg (free agent signing) DB Raymond Wladichuk (2009 draft pick signing)

So follow if you can. Morencie was drafted last year by BC but they decided to send him back to school. On his way home, he was almost swooped by Eric Tillman for the Riders but Morencie decided against it at the last minute… and now Hamilton ends up swooping him… all this fuss over a 3^rd round draft pick.

Winnipeg

Out: WR Titus Ryan (signed with Dallas Cowboys)

Ryan becomes the 4^th Bomber to sign an NFL contract, more than any other team in the league. When you factor in the fact that they had one of the league’s top RBs in Fred Reid and one of the league’s most dynamic players in Jovon Johnson it makes you wonder how they managed to do so bad. Then again they did have Mike Kelly and Michael Bishop to deal with which would more than compensate for numerous talented players.

Okay With New Structure… But Still Not A Taman Fan

I had resigned myself to the fact that whoever was chosen to replace Eric Tillman would likely be a downgrade at the GM position. But I was hoping for a small downgrade as opposed to a monumental step back. Seriously it’s not a good sign when on day 1 you are already less popular than the guy who had to resign because he pled guilty to sexual assault.

Tillman led this team to levels of success not seen in these parts in decades. In just 3 years he delivered 3 winning seasons; 3 home playoff games; 1 first place finish; an MOP, Rookie, Defensive Player and Coach of the Year, 2 Grey Cup appearances and 1 Championship. Obviously his philosophies on building a successful team worked extremely well. So you’d think the logical thing to do to ensure we continue our successful ways would be to hire a GM who had similar philosophies to Tillman. Instead the Riders have hired a GM who is essentially the polar opposite of ET.

ET’s philosophy involved hiring great coaches, placing a premium on Canadian talent, constantly replacing aging veterans with young up and comers that he scouts relentlessly, emphasis on depth at every position (especially QB) and using draft picks to actually draft quality players or trading them away for quality Canadians.

Taman’s philosophy involves hiring the likes of Jim Daley as a coach, placing absolutely zero emphasis on Canadians, keeping aging veterans well past their best before date and signing others teams aging vets as well as he’s too lazy to bother with much scouting, no emphasis on depth (especially at QB where he never had a viable back-up) and trading away any and all drafts picks for Americans of varying quality.

That said the Riders threw a curve ball and changed the structure so that Taman now reports to Ken Miller (the new VP of Football Operations). Though I’m decidedly anti-Taman, if we are stuck with him, this new structure at least a decent compromise and shows that, despite the fact that they hired Taman, Hopson and the Board still have some brains.

Basically Ken Miller is in charge but since he can’t do everything (what with his requirements for a daily nap, Matlock fix and early morning mall-walking), Taman will handle scouting, recruiting, contract negotiations and the salary cap... which I guess means he’ll have a lot of time to negotiated and manage the cap since he’s not big on scouting.

I, for one, welcome our new aged overlord. While I have big concerns with Taman’s abilities, I’m hoping that with Ken Miller calling the shots and Womack (hopefully) still scouting for us that most of that can be mitigated. I have every reason to trust in Ken Miller so I just have to hope that under his guidance Taman won’t revert back to his old habits.

I just hope is that Miller doesn’t awake from one of his naps to find that Taman has traded away both our 1^st round picks for James Johnson and the neg rights to that guy from the movie Blindside. Actually given the likelihood of that actually happening I suggest that Miller lock all important documents, cell phones and writing utensils in his office while he naps, just to be safe.

Top 10 Reasons I Don't Like Taman

10 – Personal Appearance

Maybe it’s petty but I expect the man in charge of one of this country’s premiere sports franchises to look like he just came from a boardroom instead of a soup kitchen.

9 – Head Coaches

Taman’s past choices for Head Coach were that loveable loser (emphasis on loser) Jim Daley and that ball of rage who tends to lose the locker room, Doug Berry. With Ken Miller set to retire in the near future, the though of Taman picking his successor is concerning.

8 – Step Back

I'm sure Taman would have looked awesome compared to Al Ford, but unfortunately for him he doesn't get to replace Ford. First we had a guy that was pretty good at recruiting little known Americans, but he ended up over paying them in the long run and didn't put any value in Canadians. Then we replaced him with a guy that could find the obscure Americans, loved his Canadian talent, and refused to overpay for anyone. Now we've got Taman. Can't scout, hates Canadians, and pays his vets so much that I think Winnipeg is still paying Stegall for another 4 or 5 years.

7 – Signing Rejects

Taman did admittedly recruit a few future stars but for every success he had there were a string of terrible recruits. Most of them tended to be aging veterans that other teams no longer wanted (Nate Davis, Andrew Greene, Dwan Epps, Tyrone Williams, Fred Perry, Matt O’Meara etc…)

6 – QBs

Kevin Glenn represents Taman’s only success when it comes to recruiting the most important position in football. He auditioned and endless parade of losers including Timmy Chang, Ryan Leaf, Ryan Dinwiddie, Brad Banks, Bryan Randall, and Spergeon Wynn. His inability to find a viable QB other than Glenn ended up costing him his one Grey Cup chance.

5 – Negotiation List

While most GMs fill their neg list with top young prospects from down south, Taman filled his with the likes of Brock Lesnar, Dante Culpepper, the guy who won the Wendy’s Kick For A Million and a horse that some guy is training to play offensive tackle.

4 – Scouting

Taman’s “scouting” consisted of scanning the CFL transaction list for players that other teams had cut and whatever he could get in return for a 1^st round draft pick.

3 – Drafting

I’m not sure whether Taman has some sort of religious beliefs that prevent him from participating in the CFL draft but he seemed to avoid it like the plague. With Taman at the helm the Bombers made only 1 first and 2 second round picks in 5 years. Which placed them behind the defunct Ottawa Renegades in terms of number of early round picks.

2 – Canadians

With the exception of Doug Brown, Taman’s track record when it comes to Canadian talent is abysmal. Honestly I’m struggling to think of one other notable Canadian under Taman’s watch (with the exception of Brendan Labatte recently). He preferred filling his roster with 4^th and 5^th round draft picks and hoping his imports compensate for the crappy Canucks he was fielding.

1 – Track Record

In the end winning is all that matters. Problem is Taman doesn’t have a great track record in that department. In his 5 years as GM of the Bombers the team had only 1 winning season, missed the playoffs twice and were eliminated in the East Semi-final twice. Roy Shivers did better than that and we fired him, so I’m not sure why is Taman’s resume all of the sudden so attractive?

Monday Morning Sentimonies: When Crisitunity Knocks

Unlike previous offseasons where by this point I would by into a steady string of filler posts than get steadily less and less football-related, December and January have been filled with Rider and CFL news at unprecedented rates. Much as I did with my pumpkin investments, I assumed this boom would never end and accordingly did no contingency planning whatsoever. So imagine my shock when I went to write this post and found absolutely nothing to write about… and record low prices for pumkins.

Now many would see this as a crisis, but as I’m sure you’re well aware the Chinese have the same word for crisis as opportunity… crisitunity. So I decided to seize this crisitunity by coming up with a creative new post for today…but then I realized how much work and effort that would involve and opted instead to just fall back on my standard lazy response to a slow news day…

Random Quasi Coherent Thoughts

- Greg Marshall is still the front runner to take over in Winnipeg. Though I have no idea how there can be this much clarity on the head coaching position when the President and VP of Football Operations remains up in the air.

- Scott Milanovich appears to be the front runner to be the next head coach in Toronto. I for one am shocked… not because Milanovich is a bad choice. Quite the opposite. Milanovich is a fantastic choice for the struggling Argos. This uncharacteristic display of logic and sound reasoning has me wondering if Eric Tillman has already secretly assumed power in TO… there’s no way Adam Rita is smart enough to make this kind of decision.

- Speaking of uncharacteristic… Wally Buono has given Martel Mallett permission to work out for the St. Louis Rams and Philadelphia Eagles even though Mallett’s option year isn’t until next year. I’m fairly suspicious as to his motives for doing this. Buono does things out of the goodness of his heart about as often as Nate Kaeding makes playoff FG attempts.

- Free Agency opens in just over a month. Already 2 very high profile players have declared their intentions to test the free agent market: Kerry Watkins and Ricky Foley. While I would welcome the chance to add either to our team, I don’t expect us to be in the running for them or any other big name free agents for that matter. The Riders aren’t likely to offer big money to any free agent and historically don’t go after other teams players… and those odd times we do, we just end up trading the guy back to where he came from anyway.

- I was glad to see my Vikings embarrass the “Man In the Bush-endorsed” Cowboys. Given that the Man In the Bush endorsement also proved to be the kiss of death for the Cardinals and Ravens, he is under strict instructions to endorse the Saints in the conference championships.

- Did you the hit that Kurt Warner took on that interception return against the Saints?! Gotta love a sport where delivering a bone jarring hit to a borderline senior citizen is not only allowed but greatly encouraged.

- Are you still reading? Or can I stop here?

- Still reading hey? … ummm …. Uhhh… Woozle Wuzzle

Friday Roundup

Well the weekend is upon us once again and you’re probably off to go stock up on supplies for the weekend…liquor, smokes, prostitutes, fireworks, Victoria Secret catalogue, Sears catalogue, or whatever is it you need to have a good time (I don’t judge). But before you get to your weekend tomfoolery and chicanery allow me to get you up to speed on what’s been happening in the CFL this week.

- The Riders’ search for a new GM continues. Apparently John Murphy has added his name into the mix of potential candidates. Murphy is currently the Bombers’ Director of Player Personnel and has previously worked as a scout for the Stampeders. Though he’s young (37) and relatively inexperienced compared to other candidates, he has a pretty good track record when it comes to recruiting… plus he has that whole “not being Brendan Taman” thing going for him, which I see as a huge plus.

- On the player front, the team announced that they have re-signed Hugh Charles and Chris Getzlaf… though the Getzlaf extension has been public knowledge for close to a month now. I wonder if Charles did a celebratory flip when the contract was signed.

- It was a good week for Mike Kelly. He reached a financial settlement with the Bombers over his dismissal and had the assault charges he was facing dropped, provided he attends anger management training and stays away from his ex-girlfriend for 3 months. As good a week as Kelly had, I’d say the Bombers and his ex-girlfriend had even better weeks by virtue of not having to deal with Kelly again for the foreseeable future.

- Adrian McPherson is apparently sick of Anthony Calvillo’s Damon Allen impersonation. He is tired of being stuck behind Calvillo and has requested a trade from the Als in the hopes of getting a chance to compete for a starting job elsewhere. I can see McPherson’s concern. I mean at the rate AC is going, by the time he finally retires and gives McPherson his shot, all the talented Als will either be retired or dead… including McPherson.

- To be fair, McPherson may be younger and more athletic than AC but the aged Calvillo’s mental sharpness is still miles ahead of McPherson. You’d never see AC make this mistake…

- McPherson isn’t the only Alouette looking to get out of town. Damon Duval has a workout with the Atlanta Falcons in the hopes of catching on down south. While I’m sure an NFL contract would constitute a pay increase for Duval, I would be reluctant to give up what he has in Montreal. He’s playing the least physically demanding job in football, for one of the top teams in the league and just happens to be boinking the Team President’s daughter. That’s a pretty sweet deal.

CFL Ins and Out

Calgary

In: Joffrey Reynolds (contract extension)

Reynolds is the best and most consistent RB in the league so it’s no surprise to see the Stamps lock him up before he hits free agency. That said I’ve always wanted to see the day were Reynolds finally flips and puts Burris through a table before walking out the door for good.

Winnipeg

Out: LB Derrick Doggett (signed with Pittsburgh Steelers)

Much like Dudley Guice, I had to look up who this Doggett fellow was… I assume that if someone is good enough for the NFL I should at least have heard of them. Turns out he was 4th in the league in special teams tackles. Who knew? At first I was somewhat impressed then I realized that nobody punted more than the Bombers last season (no doubt completely unrelated to starting Bishop at QB) so his impressive stats are probably more just a product of having a ridiculous amount of chances than they are of Doggett’s talent.