QB wants to face ‘the best’ in the west
The question has been asked a million times. It’s never been answered. And Bo Levi Mitchell wasn’t about to become the first.
“Everybody keeps asking me, ‘Who do you want to play?’ ” the Calgary Stampeders star quarterback said of his preferred opponent for the West Division final on Nov. 20. “My answer to that is, ‘Whoever wins the game, because that’s the better team.’ That’s the competitor in you.
“The selfish person would say, ‘I want to play whoever gets injured the most because that’s the easiest road to the Grey Cup.’
“The competitor in all of us wants to play the best team. We want the quarterbacks to be healthy. We want everybody to be healthy so you deserve to hold the trophy over your head.”
To be fair, there’s not much to choose from between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the B.C. Lions.
The Leos won a dozen games, one more than the Bombers.
They both surrendered 454 points this season.
And their two head-to-head clashes were nail-biters, although the Bombers took them both.
They won 37-35 in Winnipeg and then, six days later, scored three times in the final three minutes to stun the Lions 35-32 at BC Place.
“I think B.C. and Winnipeg are both great opponents,” Mitchell said. “Obviously they’ve had some great down-to-the-wire games these past couple weeks. “I’m excited to watch them.” The Bombers and Lions will meet in Vancouver in Sunday’s West Division semifinal (2:30 p.m., TSN).
The Stamps have good reason to be wary of either club.
The Lions handed the Red & White one of their two regularseason losses, a 20-18 setback way back in the season-opener.
They were also in full control of a Week 6 matchup at McMahon Stadium but the Stamps roared back with 22 fourth-quarter points and stole a 44-41 overtime victory.
And that thriller was nothing compared to a wild Week 14 tilt when the Bombers also thought they had the Stamps number. But No. 19 was having none of it. The Bombers overcame a 24-0 deficit to take a 34-33 lead but they left 15 seconds on the clock.
Mitchell moved the ball 36 yards in 11 ticks and Rene Paredes booted a game-winning 52-yard field goal with zeros on the clock.
So both teams have the Stamps’ full attention.
And Mitchell isn’t going to wait for Sunday to start preparations.
“We’re preparing for two opponents,” Mitchell said. “We’re breaking down every single thing.
“The coaches are up there meeting right now self-scouting and trying to find any edge we can gain.
“As players, we’re all preparing. We’re looking at film from all the games from both teams and preparing ourselves for what we might see.”
NOTE: Nine members of the Calgary Stampeders have been voted to the 2016 CFL West Division allstar team.
The Stamps placed more players on the all-star squad than any other club in the division, and the Calgary contingent includes four offensive players and five on the defensive side of the ball: QB Bo Levi Mitchell RB Jerome Messam OG Spencer Wilson OT Derek Dennis DE Charleston Hughes DT Micah Johnson DB Jamar Wall CB Tommie Campbell CB Ciante Evans Hughes is a west all-star for the fifth time in his career. Messam is selected for a third time. Mitchell, Wilson and Wall are second-time all-stars. And Evans, Campbell, Dennis and Johnson are each honoured for the first time.