Official all-purpose CFL thread

I know this will appeal more to the SJ.ca crowd, but whatever ...

The new CFL season kicks off on Thursday, so I thought an all-purpose CFL threaad would be appropriate.

Here are my early predictions on the season ahead.

West

1) Calgary – most talented team in the league, but still have to win the big game and that will not happen with Burris at the Helm
2) Edmonton – it appears they will have an offensive line this year and their defensive secondary is much improved, however, their receiving core is largely untested outside of Jason Tucker. Ricky Ray will rebound and have a big year.
3) BC - they will live and die with Dave Dickenson who has already broke his non-throwing hand once in trainign camp. They will also miss O-coordination Jacques Chapdeline more than they think.
4) Saskatchewan – Will take to long to get everything together to really get on track with completely knew coaching staff and front office, also had their secondary completely dismantled in the off-season. I like their direction and they could surprise, but it will be a few years before they really contend.

East
1) Toronto – After building for the past several years, they are finally in position to take the East.
2) Montreal – They always seem to find a way to be competitive. I think this is finally the year Anthony Calvillo regresses, and with a rookie head coach in place it will be interesting to see how things are handled.
3) Winnipeg – They won't sneak up on anybody this year. They will only go as far as Kevin Glenn will carry them and that's not very far. They have one of the most ferocious D-lines in the league and that will be their backbone this year.
4) Hamilton – I don't even know where to begin with them. They can only go up from last year?

 

Word is coming out that Jim Balsillie wants to buy the Tennessee Titans and move them to Waterloo.

 

The new comish had some interesting points in his first state of the union adress

1) He is actively seeking a drug testing policy with the guidance of WADA's Dick Pound
2) He is rigidly going to inforce the salary cap for the first time in CFL history
3) He's looking at having a CFL all-star game
4) Looks like he has a bunch of promotional ideas on board like a retro jersey week, and some development stuff with grass roots programs, and is trying to get teams to designate two players each for league promotions.
5) Will continue to look for Canadian expansion possibilities, having a suitable venue being key to attracting a team.

http://tsn.ca/cfl/news_story/?ID=211853&hubname=cfl

 

My friend used to play for the Hamilton team. I guess they are really as bad as he said.

 

My contribution to this thread is that my friend and I are planning to attend the Toronto-Montreal game in Toronto in October. Word from JR is that tickets are pretty easy to get, anyone else have contradicting advice.

 

Retro jerseys would be cool., I loved the old Ti-Cat jerseys from the Mosca era and the Argo ones from the early 80s. How about the green and orange Alouette ones?

 

Tickets should be very easy to get. It's a 50,000 seat stadium and they usually average less than 30,000. They should also be dirt cheap.

 

Thanks, good to hear.

 

Cheapest seats are $20.00. Most expensive are $75.00.

Damn Ticats just released linebacker Rob Hitchcock and slotback Mike Morreale, two of the best known and most respected players on the tean.

Not holding up too much hope for my team this year

 

I can't add much to this thread, but I do watch the CFL when I can. Do you know channel on DirecTV I can catch them on? thanks,

 

Dave Dickenson did not break his non throwing hand he dislocated a finger.
Their backup QB Buck Pierce would start on half the teams in the league.
This organization has completely turned themselves around since they brought back Bobby Ackles and brought in Wally Buono. I believe they had 8000 season tickets when Ackles came back and now are above 23000.