The CFL is back to starting its week on Friday night.
Winnipeg and Edmonton play the second half of a back to back with the trip on Friday night to the home of the Elks.
The Montréal-Ottawa rivalry also has a back to back with a late afternoon start in the nation's capital on Saturday.
Calgary plays a team other than Saskatchewan going to the west coast for a late afternoon start in Vancouver.
Speaking of Saskatchewan, the Roughriders along with Hamilton and Toronto have the week off. The Argonauts played 2 games last week so the players and staff deserve some rest.
TSN
Friday
Winnipeg @ Edmonton, 9p
Saturday
Montréal @ Ottawa, 4p
Calgary @ BC, 7p
Bye week: Hamilton, Saskatchewan, Toronto
🥲♥️🎙Sad to say goodbye today to my friends at CTV and TSN but so excited for my next chapter which will be as amazing the last. Thank you. Had the time of my life. Cheers🇨🇦👊
— Rod Black 🇨🇦 (@RodBlackTSN) October 14, 2021
The 3 individuals trusted to call the CFL not that long ago were Chris Cuthbert, Rod Black, and Gord Miller. TSN has expanded that list lately, especially after Cuthbert left for Rogers Sportsnet and the NHL and Miller is not to expected to call any CFL games in 2021. Now Rod Black is leaving TSN and the CFL.
Name a sport and Rod Black has likely been involved in some way. Like recent retiree Jim Hughson, Black also called MLB games: Toronto Blue Jays on CTV Sportsnet (1999-2000) and TSN (2002-2009). He also had hosting duties for Toronto Raptors games.
Then there is the CFL. Rod Black has called games, mostly in the east, since 2005. Black did fill in on CFL telecasts in 2002.
We have poked fun at Black for his TD calls before the ball got in the end zone and his obsession with sons of NFL players. Black was enthusiastic for Canadian football and we love him for that.
Rod Black had a few more years left in his career. This looks like he's being forced out. Rod Black deserved a lot better exit, regardless of his peculiarities. Hello Canada indeed.
Rod Smith was promoted for the big games where Rod Black seemed content in the #2 role for the CFL on TSN. We are a bit stunned at the news and the timing, though we may not find out why.
We factored in that Rod Smith would go out west for the playoffs. Now we may see Smith stay east while Dustin Nielson calls playoff games out west.
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
The Toronto Argonauts went 2-0 since we last met. The Ottawa RedBlacks went 0-2 in that stretch. Ottawa and Toronto played 14.29% of their seasons from Wednesday to Monday last week.
In the opener for both teams, Toronto remained undefeated at home. A blocked punt and a pair of Pick 6 for major scores were exciting plays. Ottawa got a blocked punt for the team's only touchdown in the 4th quarter.
Toronto had good weather, celebrating the 1991 Grey Cup winning team, with an opponent the Argos would likely beat. The game drew 6,788. Ouch.
Hamilton seemed like the team would put away the tired Argos on Monday. McLeod Bethel-Thompson and the Argos offence kept up the push, getting the leading touchdown after a roughing the passer penalty. Hamilton kicker Taylor Bertolet missed a conversion that would have been the difference.
The Tiger-Cats also should have had a touchdown on the late drive that produced a field goal giving Hamilton a small lead. Hamilton has now lost 2 home games in a row.
This was the first regulation win for Toronto in the history of Tim Hortons Field.
The Toronto Argonauts get to rest. They earned that rest.
2021 CFL Week 10 preview
Rod Black said, paraphrased, it's how you start and how you finish. The phrase is rather lame, though in context, described Montréal's offence to a T, as in touchdown. The Alouettes had a beautiful opening drive, a great closing drive, and scattered field goals in between.
The RedBlacks stayed in the game with 4 field goals and 2 safeties. Vernon Adams Jr. had the opening TD drive for the Als while Matthew Shiltz had the closing TD drive for Montréal. Adams was placed on the 6-game injured list.
Ottawa could have been tired from playing 2 games in 6 days. The RedBlacks pattern: Wednesday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Monday, and Saturday this week.
The Alouettes won their first home game of the season. Montréal has now crawled into second place, 1½ games behind Toronto and ½ game ahead of Hamilton in the CFL East Division.
Canada observes the initial National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are off to an 8-1 start, the team best since 1960. Bud Grant was the coach for that team. The 1960 team started 10-1 and finished 14-2. I've seen the Bud Grant statue outside IG Field.
Edmonton conceded 3 safeties and a punt single in the 30-3 loss. The Winnipeg kicking game struggled again with Ali Mourtada going 1-4 in field goal tries, hitting from 24 and missing from 42, 47, and 46. Tyler Crapigna got injured early and the Blue Bombers kicking game is a potential issue.
Taylor Cornelius is back at quarterback for the Elks. No matter what happens this weekend, Edmonton can't catch Winnipeg in the standings. The Blue Bombers have the tiebreaker over the Elks.
2021 CFL Week 9 preview
Calgary needed to get the better of Saskatchewan to climb out of its self-dug hole in the West standings. The Stampeders have not blown out the Roughriders but did just enough to gain momentum. Calgary now has tied BC in points (with an extra game) and are 2 points behind Saskatchewan for 2nd place. The Stampeders have the tiebreaker with the Roughriders after the 2 wins.
Saskatchewan, BC, and Calgary are bunched up behind Winnipeg. Still too early to tell if there will be a crossover team this year so one of those teams might not make the CFL playoffs.
Winnipeg and Saskatchewan are now the only CFL teams to have a starting quarterback start every game for their team.
Jake Maier won't be the Calgary backup quarterback for awhile. Maier has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.
2021 CFL Week 8 preview
Ontario shifted to full capacity as of 12:01 am Saturday morning. This affects ⅓ of the teams in the league. The change kicked in for the Thanksgiving game in Hamilton. The Ottawa RedBlacks get that added capacity starting Saturday. The Toronto Argonauts crowds will have plenty of social distancing.
Vancouver might get a boost closer to the NHL Canucks home opener on October 26. The BC Lions would get a small boost with a full capacity. The upper deck will still be closed at BC Place.
A 24,000 seat Grey Cup is not ideal but that is the revised CFL plan. The details are out for a much scaled back presentation. The league awarded the 2023 Grey Cup to Hamilton to make up for a diminished 2021 Grey Cup. The 2022 Grey Cup is set for Regina, the scheduled home of the 2020 Grey Cup.
Getting to BMO Field in Toronto should be a good experience
We helped out a CFL fan to find a better way to the Argos home in Toronto. Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton offer local train options to get to the stadium. Ottawa, Hamilton, and Winnipeg have strong bus service. You can walk from downtown Regina to the stadium. Montréal requires an uphill walk from the McGill stop off the Green Line.
Getting to BMO Field can be tough in rush hour, depending on how far away you are from the downtown core. The Exhibition stop is only a single stop from Union Station.
Short-term solutions for TSN to replace Chris Cuthbert on CFL telecasts
Marshall Ferguson did his second CFL game of the season, working with Duane Forde in the Wednesday game in Toronto. Ferguson will get a lot more work with the sudden exit of Rod Black.
Rod Smith teamed up with Glen Suitor in Winnipeg on Friday. Dustin Nielson was back and working with Suitor in Regina on Saturday.
Rod Black and Forde gathered in Montréal for the early game on Thanksgiving Monday. Turned out to be Black's CFL swan song. The news is still a bit of a shock.
Smith and Matt Dunigan drove out to Hamilton for the Thanksgiving nightcap. This was Dunigan's second game in the booth in 2021.
Milt Stegall sat out Wednesday with Davis Sanchez via remote. Stegall was back on Friday and Jim Barker in for Sanchez. Sanchez was back in the studio on Monday with Barker in for Dunigan.
While everyone in Ottawa is eagerly waiting for Brady Tkachuk to sign…I’ll casually drop in to say I’m joining the @TSN_Sports team in #YOW!
— Claire Hanna (@clahanna) October 9, 2021
So excited for this opportunity & I can’t wait to cover all the major sports stories in our nation’s capital 🇨🇦🍁 pic.twitter.com/03gtmapxQA
If you wondered why Sara Orlesky was in Regina the day after being in Winnipeg last week, Claire Hanna shifted her focus from CTV Regina to covering sports in Ottawa for TSN.
Hanna hosted the Ottawa Senators home opener on TSN5. She also may work the sidelines for RedBlacks games, shifting Matthew Scianitti to only working Argonauts games.
My favourite @RodBlackTSN call of the @CFL. Frantic, excited, wrong. This captures his long career calling the @CFLonTSN. Will be missed. @TSN_Sports https://t.co/d89eYktMGb
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) October 14, 2021
This is my favourite Rod Black CFL on TSN call. It's not excellent or completely correct. Black says the last kick went out of the end zone even though the ball didn't reach the goal line. Duane Forde steps in to describe what happened. Neither Black nor Forde point out that an Argonauts player knocked punter Noel Prefontaine out of the end zone so he couldn't do the kicking.
I've used that footage to sample new phones in the store and to show casual fans how wild the CFL can be. Rod Black is enthusiastic on this call yet misses so much. This is why I love it so.
Thanks to the CFL YouTube page for the footage. Best of luck to you, Rod Black. Thanks for all you did.
logo credit: CFL
Twitter captures: @RodBlackTSN; @clahanna; @canadian_xing
always enjoy these takes on the CFL....as good or better than our own :) ...fun fact...if the bombers win next week...the longest serving coach or player in the league at present will finish 1st for the first time in his career...ncaa and 36 years in the CFL...four championships but never 1st...i guess finishing first is a tad overrated :) ....cheers
Posted by: Guy Scholz | October 16, 2021 at 03:02 PM