ESPN2 gives the U.S. audience some Thursday Night Football as the Toronto Argonauts get a taste of the Canadian Rockies by traveling to Calgary. The Argos appearance means Saskatchewan is the only team without a U.S. TV appearance in the 2019 season.
If your TV listings don't show the ESPN2 game, tape it anyway. This is the second CFL game this season where the game wasn't in my TV listings.
Friday Night Football has a tough inter-division battle as Ottawa goes west to Winnipeg.
The Saturday doubleheader has Edmonton in La Belle Province in the late afternoon and the BC Lions going to Saskatchewan in the nightcap.
Hamilton gets to enjoy more donuts in its week off.
ESPN2
Thursday
Toronto @ Calgary, 9p
TSN
Thursday
Toronto @ Calgary, 9p
Friday
Ottawa @ Winnipeg, 8:30p
Saturday
Edmonton @ Montréal, 4p
BC @ Saskatchewan, 7p
Bye week: Hamilton
The last time Hamilton beat Calgary was the 2011 Touchdown Atlantic game in Moncton. The Tiger-Cats outlasted the Stampeders 55-36 on September 25, 2011.
The streak was 14 (15 if you count the 2014 Grey Cup). Hamilton came out on the winning end Saturday against Calgary. Special teams dominated a game where there was only a single point in the 1st and 3rd quarters combined.
The Tiger-Cats had a kickoff (Will Likely, 115 yards) and a missed FG (Brandon Banks, 105 yards) return for a touchdown in the 2nd quarter. Jeremiah Masoli threw his first touchdown ever against Calgary, throwing 2 TD passes to Banks.
Calgary is on the road because of the Calgary Stampede.
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Montréal fans got a pair of wishes this week with a victory over rival Ottawa and the firing of general manager Kavis Reed. The surprise of the firing came in the timing (after a win) and reasoning (not for performance). The desire for Reed to go stemmed from poor decision making, chaos in some decisions, and an overall sense that Reed was in over his head. The new ownership can start fresh with former Winnipeg GM Joe Mack helping out on an interim basis.
"Joe Mack will now have oversight of all football operations, but the team will be jointly managed with (coach) Khari Jones," said Alouettes President and CEO Patrick Boivin.
Vernon Adams Jr. had a career high 327 passing yards in the Montréal win. The Alouettes are now 2-2, 2-1 in the East Division.
Montréal had lost 10 of the previous 12 meetings with Ottawa. If Toronto continues on its path, Montréal and Ottawa will battle for a playoff spot where the Als currently have the tiebreaker.
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Simoni Lawrence will sit out the next 2 Hamilton Tiger-Cats games, the result of his suspension for a dangerous hit on Saskatchewan quarterback Zach Collaros in the first quarter of the CFL season. Lawrence appealed his suspension and the ruling came down this week.
Lawrence will miss the Ticats home encounter with Winnipeg on July 26 and the August 1 road trip to Saskatchewan. He can return August 10 at home against the BC Lions.
Too often in sports, the suspension doesn't come against the team affected by the hit. Best for all parties if Lawrence doesn't go to Regina, especially since Collaros is still out of action.
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The Toronto Argonauts got to keep a tie for the first 15 seconds of the game. Lucky Whitehead returned the opening kick 104 yards for a touchdown. Any thoughts of a trap game disappeared quickly. McLeod Bethel-Thompson did have 388 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Argos. He did have back-to-back tip-drill style interceptions late in the first half.
Winnipeg played another solid game, remaining the league's only undefeated team.
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Edmonton had another lopsided win over the BC Lions. Mike Reilly kept getting chased all night. When Trevor Harris did get hurt, the timing toward the end of the first half meant he didn't miss a play. Edmonton fans are used to their starting quarterback staying healthy. After all, Reilly, last year's Edmonton quarterback, didn't take off for a down.
Best TD celebration of the week went to Edmonton receiver Natey Adjei, who stuck the football under his jersey. Turns out Adjei's wife is due in August.
The CFL on TSN panel got on Duron Carter for the BC woes. The team has worse concerns than Carter, though Davis Sanchez and Milt Stegall are correct to point out that Carter needs to perform better.
40 years ago today I did my first sportscast at CKWS in Kingston. Didn’t pronounce the M in Schmidt but otherwise I survived. Thanks to Kingston legend Max Jackson for giving me a chance. He said you’ll never forget that. I haven’t. #boomgoesthedynamite pic.twitter.com/KYQBDt6Evf
— Chris Cuthbert (@CCtsn) July 7, 2019
Congratulations to Chris Cuthbert for celebrating 40 years in sports broadcasting. Cuthbert has been a part of hockey, football, and Olympics for a very long time. He isn't the flashiest play-by-play guy but is highly consistent and you always learn something by watching him.
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We are rooting for the Atlantic Schooners to get off the ground and play football in Halifax. The criticism has been that there is no stadium and not huge enthusiasm for a stadium in the HRM. The Halifax Wanderers are playing in a "stadium" in the Commons. The Wanderers won its home opener of the Canadian Premier League season before a sold out crowd of 6,113.
The good news is that Halifax is supporting a team. Football should be next.
First CFL regular season game coming up from Ottawa. pic.twitter.com/QZtq3LeYJM
— Dustin Nielson (@nielsonTSN1260) July 13, 2019
Dustin Nielson made his CFL regular season debut Saturday with Matt Dunigan in Ottawa. The plan is for Nielson to call 8 regular season games. The broadcasting future may be people such as Nielson and Derek Taylor, the new Saskatchewan Roughriders radio voice.
I thought Nielson did a good job in his debut. Instant critique: Nielson used the "he wanted that one back" for the RJ Harris fumble that Tommy Campbell recovered. Nielson wanted that one back. He can solidly call a game; we need to see more of his personality.
Rod Black and Duane Forde were in Hamilton for their only game this week. Cuthbert and Glen Suitor handled the games in Vancouver and Winnipeg.
ESPN+ covered the halftime analysis of the game in Vancouver with an extra commercial break. Instead of acknowledging the mistake, they kept the break going.
Speaking of Canadian CFL announcers, we ran across this tidbit via The New York Times on Cuthbert and Gord Miller during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Twitter captures: @CCTSN; @nielsonTSN1260
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