The U.S. gets a pair of CFL battles: Thursday night football (again) and a late Saturday game with the RedBlacks in Calgary. The Thursday game features Edmonton traveling to Molson Stadium in Montréal.
The Friday night tilt has another Toronto road game this time in its old Eastern rival city of Winnipeg to take on the Blue Bombers. The Lions go to Tim Hortons Field for the early game on Saturday; maybe the U.S. audience will get the end of the early game when we join the coverage.
Saskatchewan has a much deserved week off in Week 8 after a tough loss in Toronto.
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ESPN2
Thursday
Edmonton @ Montréal, 7:30p
Saturday
Ottawa @ Calgary, 10p
TSN
Thursday
Edmonton @ Montréal, 7:30p
Friday
Toronto @ Winnipeg, 8p
Saturday
BC @ Hamilton, 7p
Ottawa @ Calgary, 10p
Bye week
Saskatchewan
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Michael Sam made his professional football debut in the Alouettes loss in Ottawa. Sam didn't make a tackle in the game but looked okay overall.
"I'm not going to lie, there were some big jitters out there, and I was nervous when I first got on the field. I didn't get any opportunities to make many plays. I had some good pass rushes, I thought, but close enough is not a sack," Sam said after the game.
Rod Black certainly played up Sam's debut but the telecast didn't go overboard. It's supposed to be about the football, after all.
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We knew that the BC Lions have attendance problems. The upper deck has been closed all season and the lower deck wasn't sold out either.
The 20,316 crowd got louder toward the end of the first Lions win this season that didn't involve Saskatchewan.
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Drew Willy will be out for 6-8 weeks with a right knee injury. Winnipeg has not done well within a game once Willy left the field.
If the Blue Bombers can't produce offensively in Willy's absence and Saskatchewan can't turn things around, the 4th place East team, currently the Alouettes, could cross over to the West. No East team has ever crossed over to the West in the CFL playoffs.
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The Brandon Banks bio ran during the Hamilton game. That was the only bio we saw all weekend.
The ESPNews telecast matched the ESPN2 telecasts in every way. The Blue Bombers game in Hamilton is the only scheduled CFL game on ESPNews.
The Tiger-Cats remain undefeated at Tim Hortons Field.
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U.S. CFL fans were glad to have the CFL back after a 20-day hiatus. The BC-Winnipeg game on Thursday, July 30 drew 201,000 viewers on ESPN2, a season high up to that point.
The Friday game with Saskatchewan at Edmonton drew around the U.S. TV average of 163,000 on ESPN2.
The Monday holiday battle with Toronto at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton drew 235,000 viewers, the new season high water mark on ESPN2.
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Glen Suitor was out for his son's university graduation until Sunday. Jock Climie worked the sidelines for the Ottawa game.
| Game | Announcers |
| Edmonton @ BC | Chris Cuthbert/Matt Dunigan |
| Montréal @ Ottawa | Rod Black/Duane Forde |
| Saskatchewan @ Toronto | Chris Cuthbert/Duane Forde |
| Winnipeg @ Hamilton | Rod Black/Glen Suitor |
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