ARGOS MISFIRE AT WRONG TIME
Toronto needs to perform better at new home
The stadium wasn’t completely full and the home team produced an ugly performance, but the bottom line is a new era in Toronto football was born on Thursday night.
Will it work? It’s too early to tell. Does it have to work? Yes, because there’s nowhere else to go
More than enough ink has spilled about Toronto’s new home at BMO Field, but on television it sure looked like they’ve picked the best spot to give it a go.
Now all the team has to do to keep the momentum going is start playing better than it did on Thursday night against the Ticats. Opening night jitters. We get it. But the buzz of a new stadium will die quickly.
Winning more games than they lose has never been more important for the Boatmen than it is this season. Fancy stadiums are sweet and all, but winning teams are much more attractive to the casual fan.
IT’S WHO THEY ARE
“But it’s only Week 1!”
That’s what the losing teams say when things don’t go their way on opening weekend in the CFL, and the line about how the most adjustments are made between Weeks 1 and 2 gets trotted out ad nauseam.
Don’t buy it, because it turns out the first week of action in each of the last three seasons has been remarkably indicative of how the ensuing season played out. In fact, only one game of the last 12 on opening weekend was out of the norm when compared to the rest of the campaign. That was Toronto’s blowout win over Edmonton last year in Fort McMurray, Alta., because the Eskimos bounced back and went on to win the Grey Cup.
Other than that, in nearly every instance the team that won on opening weekend ended up finishing higher in the standings than the squad it beat.
It’s something to think about as the league embarks on its sixmonth journey to BMO Field on Nov. 27.
ONE WHO GOT AWAY
We told them last November to do whatever they could to make it happen, but the Argos.were unable to keep both Ricky Ray and Trevor Harris this off-season.
If Week 1 is any indication, it could be a move the Boatmen end up regretting.
Ray, who is coming off three injury-plagued seasons, looked rusty, old and slow in his team’s loss to the Tiger-Cats, while Harris, the new backup in Ottawa, lit up the Eskimos after Henry Burris went down with a finger injury.
It only made sense for Harris to sign a free agent deal in Ottawa, where he is behind a 41-year-old Burris instead of a 36-year-old Ray, but the Argos took a chance in hooking their wagon to the future hall of famer who hasn’t looked like one since 2012.
NO PRESSURE
The Stampeders will put an impressive streak on the line Friday night when they host the Bombers at McMahon Stadium.
The Red and White haven’t lost two regular season games in a row since the second and third weeks of the 2012 season, which is stunning when you think about it.
You know someone who doesn’t want that streak to end this week? Dave Dickenson, who took over from John Hufnagel this year and would start his head coaching career with an 0-2 mark if it happens.
KICKING IT
Nothing gets written about Justin Medlock in Winnipeg these days without “most accurate field goal kicker in CFL history” being written before his name.
That’s a title battle that could be fun to watch this season, as four of the top five kickers in league history are all active and have success rates in the same range.
Medlock’s top mark dropped from 87.5 per cent to 87.1 and Calgary’s Rene Paredes went from 85.7 per cent to 85.0 on opening weekend, while Edmonton’s Sean Whyte catapulted from 84.1 per cent to 84.4 after going 5-for-5 against the Redblacks. Ottawa’s Chris Milo is now tied for fourth with the retired Sandro DeAngelis after going 4-for-4 himself in that game.
A few more wild weeks like that and “the most accurate kicker in CFL history” title might have a new owner.
NICE DEBUT
Chad Owens is going to be a bargain for the Ticats if he keeps playing the way he did against the Argos.
The slotback took a big pay cut to stay in southern Ontario, and he looked like a kid again in grabbing six balls for 67 yards and a touchdown against his former team.
LATE HITS
The CFL still has some work to do when it comes to its website. There were going to be growing pains with a new stats system, but the league needs to bring it up to speed in a hurry or it’s going to get left behind ... Bombers wide receiver Weston Dressler appears to be making progress through the league’s concussion protocol after suffering a head injury against the Alouettes, and he could play on Friday night in Calgary against the Stampeders ... The favoured team lost every game in Week 1, and the home squads were 1-3.