Tight-lipped Bell mum on shove
When Josh Bell turned on the highlights of Saturday’s game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, he was surprised to see himself front and centre in the clip that kicked off the game recap.
Instead of any number of big plays from the Stampeders’ 27-10 win, it was a clip of Bell pushing Riders receiver Duron Carter during warm-ups that led the TSN SportsCentre highlight package.
The context: Carter had crossed into Stamps territory and was running his mouth and Bell reacted by shoving him back across the 55-yard line.
“It was kind of surprising to see that as the first thing I saw on TV,” Bell said. “You don’t realize cameras are around sometimes.”
When Bell was asked whether he would have done anything differently if he’d thought about the possibility the cameras were on, he said ‘no.’ And while Carter clearly crossed a line — literally and figuratively — with the Stamps safety, it doesn’t sound like we’ll ever know the full details of what transpired.
“What goes on in the arena among the gladiators, I think, stays there when it comes to the verbal,” altercations, Bell said. “I think everybody who sees and knows, they know anything can be said on the green. So we’ll keep it there. I live by that code of conduct and honour among the gladiators.”
The incident came after a week in which trash-talking and spying were major news items in the lead-up to the game and Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson said Sunday the bad blood between the Stamps and Riders was a little bit blown out of proportion.
“I didn’t pay much attention to (the Bell-Carter incident) when it happened. I think all that stuff is overrated, just people talking too much,” Dickenson said. “We backed up our talk more than they did, but to me it never really plays much of a factor in the game.”
GOOD NEWS FOR STAMPS
The Stampeders escaped from Saturday’s game with few injury concerns. Considering the way this season has gone, that’s a minor miracle.
Bell left the game in the third quarter with what appeared to be an ankle injury and didn’t return, but that appears to be the only real concern.
“Doesn’t look super serious, but we’ll have to see,” Dickenson said about Bell. “We’re going to get some imaging done and see how it looks.”
HE WANTED ONE MORE
Charleston Hughes had a serious impact on Saturday’s proceedings after missing two weeks with a leg injury.
The defensive end burst back onto the scene with a three-sack night, terrorizing Riders QB Kevin Glenn and providing a reminder of why he’s as good as it gets in the CFL when it comes to making life hard for offensive linemen.
Hughes was certainly happy with his performance, but there was one thing bringing him down: Three sacks is great, but Hughes firmly believes he should have been credited with a fourth.