ESPN2 will have 3 of the 4 games this weekend. The channel added the Sunday night game as part of a series of changes. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will go with Matt Nichols at quarterback against Nichols' former team in Edmonton on Thursday Night Football.
The Roughriders go to Montréal in the Friday night opener that is only on TSN. The B.C. Lions travel to Calgary as the top West teams battle in the second half of the Friday night doubleheader.
The Sunday night contest has the Toronto Argos going to the nation's capital where former Argo Trevor Harris will sit out with an injury.
Hamilton doesn't want a break after its amazing comeback win, but will get one anyway.
ESPN2
Thursday
Winnipeg @ Edmonton, 9p
Friday
BC @ Calgary, 10p
Sunday
Toronto @ Ottawa, 7:30p
TSN
Thursday
Winnipeg @ Edmonton, 9p
Friday
Saskatchewan @ Montréal, 7p
BC @ Calgary, 10p
Sunday
Toronto @ Ottawa, 7:30p
Bye week: Hamilton
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31-6 is an extremely safe lead in the NFL. A 31-6 lead at home is a safe lead in the CFL, especially when the team from behind has been struggling on offence with a backup quarterback.
The Hamilton comeback was aided by that backup quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who completed 23 straight passes for a CFL record. In his first 25 attempts in the second half, Masoli was 23-25 for 278 yards and 3 TDs.
Edmonton is a tough place to play, especially for a team out east. But this kind of a comeback is much more possible in the CFL.
Watching the 2016 CFL season on ESPN (updated)
ESPN2 made a series of changes to the CFL TV schedule. The Toronto-Ottawa game on Sunday and the Saskatchewan-Edmonton game on August 26 are now on the schedule. The East final is also now on TV though on ESPNews.
Calgary-Saskatchewan on August 13 as well as the Toronto-Calgary game on October 21 are dropped and will be on ESPN3. The tradeoff is positive but losing the late-season game is a little sad since there won't be any TV link between August 27 and the playoffs.
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The U.S. audience got to see the first home win at BMO Field for the Toronto Argonauts. This was also the first home win for an East team this season. Winnipeg is the only West team to not have a home win at 0-3.
We got a ESPN promo for Rakeem Cato, and then soon after, we got the real Rakeem Cato in the game. Both Kevin Glenn and Ricky Ray left the game, though Glenn returned.
Montréal had the 8-0 lead, but the Argos scored 21 of the next 22 points. Between penalties and missed opportunities, the Alouettes made things much harder on themselves. And they don't have a terribly powerful offence to start.
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In Toronto, Damon Allen was sitting next to Peter MacKay, former defence, foreign affairs, and justice minister. Rod Black and Duane Forde joked about whether they were talking offence or defence. "Maybe they're talking American politics because they could be talking all night," said Black. A very odd non-sequitur from Black.
While MacKay is from Nova Scotia, MacKay moved to Toronto, joining the Toronto law firm Baker & McKenzie as a partner in February.
MacKay did not run in the 2015 election but is considering the leadership of the federal Conservative Party when the party members pick their permanent leader on May 27, 2017.
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The battle of former Toronto Argos QBs didn't last long in Regina. Trevor Harris got hurt in the first 4 minutes of the game, going down similarly to Darian Durant who was hurt on that same turf the previous week. Mitchell Gale looked a lot better as the Roughriders squeezed out a 1-point win for their first win of the year. Brock Jensen did an outstanding job coming into the game for the RedBlacks but the team fell short of a win. This was the RedBlacks first loss of the year.
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Unlike the NHL telecasts, TSN doesn't show O Canada before CFL games. So when I was in the Prairies, I observed the anthems in Regina. The Winnipeg singer went with the new lyrics "in all of us command." There was a hint of "True North" during the anthem. I actually heard the anthem in Winnipeg for baseball (Goldeyes) and football (Blue Bombers) and heard hints of "True North." Of course, the Jets fans go full throat on "True North" in the anthem.
The Saskatchewan singer went with the traditional version with "in all thy sons command."
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The #2 crew did a game in Regina, the furthest west they've been this year. With 3 games in the west, the crew had to do one of them.
Chris Cuthbert, Glen Suitor: Calgary @ Winnipeg; Hamilton @ Edmonton
Rod Black, Duane Forde: Ottawa @ Saskatchewan; Montréal @ Toronto
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photo credit: CFL on TSN via ESPN2
Black and Forde worked CGY-BC in week #1. Cuthbert and Suitor had OTT-EDM the same night.
Posted by: Tyler | July 28, 2016 at 05:44 PM