After 3 weeks, 5 of the 8 teams are 1-2, including the entire East Division. The West has been the best for some time in the CFL, but this is rather extreme.
Montréal only managed one offensive touchdown at home against Calgary. The revenge game is the ESPN2 game this week. In fact, the Alouettes will be on ESPN2 for the next two weeks. Montréal's defense and special teams will have to come up with ways to score to not embarrass the team on U.S. TV.
The Friday night game has Toronto going to Winnipeg; the winner taking first in the East and might hang on for the whole week. The Esks travel to Vancouver for the other revenge game, this time guaranteed not to be subject to rain.
If CFL has true parity, Hamilton has a chance to beat Saskatchewan with the Roughriders at home. Parity, perhaps. But a Tiger-Cats win would be a gigantic upset, especially since Saskatchewan's undefeated offense is rolling even as Geroy Simon is expected back, though Darian Durant might be out with a sprained foot.
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ESPN2
Saturday
Montréal @ Calgary, 7p (TSN simulcast)
TSN
Friday
Toronto @ Winnipeg, 8p
Saturday
Montréal @ Calgary, 7p
Edmonton @ BC, 10p
Sunday
Hamilton @ Saskatchewan, 7p
Montréal games also air on RDS. ESPN3 carries all non-TV games in U.S.
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Rain did not make the ESPN2 Game of the Week look that good. The torrential rain followed Edmonton for the second week in a row, first in Guelph and then at home.
A 3-1 Edmonton halftime lead doesn't make for good television.
The 1 in the B.C. score might have confused casual fans watching the game. Hugh O'Neill tried a FG attempt for the Lions. When the hold was blown, O'Neill punted the ball into the end zone to get the single point.
While missing the FG without a return also would have given the Lions a point, the blown hold wasn't going to allow for that. O'Neill's quick thinking got B.C. on the board in the first half.
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In this climate, you can't complain too much if the ESPN2 coverage of the Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game extended 4 minutes into the window of Saturday night's CFL game. Was hoping for bonus coverage of the Winnipeg-Hamilton game but that ended before the 9:30 pm Eastern window.
Zubin Mehenti was once again at the controls on ESPN2 and transitioned cleanly between the lacrosse and sending us out to Edmonton. We saw highlights of the Calgary-Montréal game before the feed went out to TSN.
At halftime, we saw Winnipeg-Hamilton and Calgary-Montréal highlights (what no Saskatchewan-Toronto highlights) and a segment, via TSN, on CFL receivers weighing in on their greatest catch.
Mehenti is meticulous to work in mentions of U.S. colleges where these players attended. This is a great way to tie in these players in Canada who are often American. He mentioned the 20 passing records Hamilton quarterback Henry Burris set with the Owls. At first glance, I heard "Als" as in Alouettes. I knew this couldn't be right since Burris had never played in Montréal. Turns out Burris went to Temple University, nickname Owls.
Here at CanadianCrossing.com, we are in favor of whatever gets Americans to watch more Canadian football.
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We mentioned the rain that has followed Edmonton the last two weeks. Even if conditions were better in Toronto by the time Thursday came around, the Argos and their fans were certainly glad to be indoors.
The Argos game only drew about 18,000, but you have to figure that some fans were more concerned about flooded basements than a trip by the Roughriders.
You might not think games with a domed stadium could be cancelled due to rain, but my aging brain recalls a Houston Astros game was cancelled after massive flooding hit Houston in 1976.
Speaking of flooding, this will be the first look for the U.S. at Calgary since the huge flooding that hit that city, and the Stampeders first home game since the opening week.
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When the Tiger-Cats return to Hamilton, the team will play at Tim Hortons Field. The new stadium, which will also be used for soccer in the 2015 Pan-Am Games, gets the new name as part of a 10-year partnership agreement.
Assuming the stadium will be ready for the 2014 season, that year will mark 50 years since the first Tim Hortons was established, in Hamilton on Ottawa Street.
The stadium will also contain a museum focusing on the history of Tim Hortons, the Tiger-Cats and the City of Hamilton. You had me at "museum" and "donuts."
The facility will have 22,500 permanent seats but expandable to some 40,000 seats for major events, such as the Grey Cup. The move is a bit of a surprise, since Ivor Wynne Stadium held 29,600. Hamilton sold out the old stadium pretty well, as I found out when they sold me a seat that didn't exist. At 22,500 seats, the capacity is less than Montréal has for Stade Molson.
The Ivor Wynne name on the old stadium had been up there since 1971. Wynne was the long-time athletic director at McMaster University in Hamilton. Wynne's advice had been sought as major renovations were first made to Civic Stadium in 1970. Ironically, Wynne died in November 1970 of a rare blood disease and never saw the completed renovations.
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The 101st Grey Cup in Regina is sold out. A lottery took care of the last 5,000 seats. The capacity at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field will be expanded to about 50,000.
Some tickets could become available, depending on which teams are in the game. If the Roughriders are in the Grey Cup, good luck getting a ticket.
There are many events connected with the Grey Cup. You can check out the official Web site for more details.
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The TSN announcing pattern may just come down to Glen Suitor not working as many games early in the season. Chris Cuthbert worked with Suitor in Edmonton and Duane Forde in Toronto. Rod Black teamed up with Matt Dunigan in Montréal Friday night and Forde on Saturday in Guelph.
Working in a third team of people isn't a bad idea. When CBC carried the games, Mark Lee and Chris Walby were the "third crew" on CFL weekends. And for holidays and playoffs, Steve Armitage and Darren Flutie were the CBC backup team.
TSN signed on for more years of CFL exclusivity, and they are expanding the announcing teams as needed.
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photo credit: Hamilton Tiger-Cats
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