The CFL promised CBS Sports Network would carry the key Labour Day weekend games. The U.S. network is missing for the revenge games.
Hamilton at Ottawa starts out the week, division rivals on some level just not a revenge game. This is the only CBS Sports Network telecast of the week.
Revenge Saturday has Montréal in Toronto. Formerly significant rivals, again not revenge rivals. This game starts out the Saturday tripleheader.
The prairie teams play in the Banjo Bowl in Winnipeg with the tiebreaker on the line.
The Battle of Alberta ends the tripleheader with the Elks looking for revenge and a home win against Calgary.
BC gets to recover from its longest road trip of the season to bask in the sun on the West Coast.
CBS Sports Network
Friday
Hamilton @ Ottawa, 7:30p
TSN
Friday
Hamilton @ Ottawa, 7:30p
Saturday
Montréal @ Toronto, 1p
Saskatchewan @ Winnipeg, 4p
Calgary @ Edmonton, 7p
Bye week: BC
The CFL says quarterbacks need to be protected. Zach Collaros is a quarterback of high prominence in the CFL. Collaros would disagree with the first sentence.
Collaros suffered a late hit to the neck that went unpunished against Edmonton. Defensive lineman Pete Robertson headbutted Collaros on Sunday in Regina. There was a penalty called eventually, thanks to the command centre. Robertson did get a 1-game suspension, though he could have been removed for the rest of the game.
Usually in sports, we complain that the most talented get breaks other don't. Not the CFL. All quarterbacks should be protected, even the good ones.
2023 CFL Week 13 preview: Labour Day rivalries
Zach Collaros normally enjoys Labour Day weekend, headbutts aside. Before Monday, Collaros had been 6-0 on Labour Day weekend: 3-0 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 1-0 for Saskatchewan, and 2-0 with the Blue Bombers. Collaros struggled in the pocket to start the game on Sunday.
Saskatchewan snapped a 2-game losing streak on Labour Day weekend. The Roughriders had taken 14 of the last 17 games before Sunday.
Adam Korsak scored 2 punt singles for Saskatchewan in the 4th quarter, helping the Roughriders to tie the score and force overtime. Talk about Collaros and Jake Dolegala all day but don't forget the kickers.
Edmonton Elks end long home CFL losing streak at 22
Down 28-13 in the fourth…
— Calgary Stampeders (@calstampeders) September 5, 2023
12 and co. pulled off a Labour Day Maier-acle 😤 pic.twitter.com/GIFIhBKgG2
Tre Ford was a balanced attack on his own, setting a Canadian quarterback record by rushing for 135 yards. Ford went 14-for-23 for 136 passing yards. Yet Jake Maier and the Calgary Stampeders, trailing by 15 points going into the 4th quarter, came alive at the end to pull off the comeback in front of the home crowd.
Though Calgary won a last minute victory over Saskatchewan in Regina, the Stampeders have lost 6 games this season in the final 3 minutes.
Elks wide receiver Kyran Moore threw a touchdown pass to Steven Dunbar Jr. for a nice trick play.
The 4-point win for Calgary is significant to note since the teams only play twice. If the Elks win on Saturday at home, the margin of victory would be the tiebreaker. That could be the difference for which team might crossover into the East for the playoffs.
Tre Ford. Escape artist.#Elks #ElksCharge #Stamps #CFL #LDCpic.twitter.com/5rGrINT4cY
— 3DownNation (@3DownNation) September 5, 2023
The Labour Day game almost didn't happen on Labour Day. The CFLPA was greatly concerned about the air quality in Calgary. The air quality read between 8 and 10, registering a 9 at 4 hours after kickoff. Games are supposed to be halted if the air quality registers a 7.
The CFL and CFLPA say an independent third-party organization will test air quality and provide measurements for future games.
2023 CFL Week 12 preview
Toronto has now won 2 straight Labour Day games in Hamilton, the first 2 such wins at Tim Hortons Field since the stadium was introduced on Labour Day 2014. The rivalry has been one-sided of late with the Argos being the dominant team.
AJ Ouellette threw a TD pass to go with the regular quarterback Chad Kelly, who threw for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns. Hamilton's Taylor Powell threw for 296 yards and 3 touchdowns in a losing cause. The Argos are 3-0 against the Tiger-Cats in 2023.
2023 CFL Week 11 preview
Vernon Adams Jr. had a nice return back to Montréal, going 21-for-33 for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Alouettes didn't get a touchdown until the 3rd quarter.
BC and Montréal are not rivals in any sense but do play often on Labour Day weekend.
2023 TIFF preview
Our TIFF 2023 preview featured a lot of Canadian films but not Running Back Relentless, a new documentary coming out in 2024 about CFL running back Andrew Harris. The documentary, which will air on Apple TV, showcases Harris' final year in the league and a look back at his story.
CBS Sports Network was clearly going to run over on Sunday with NWSL coverage. A few minutes wouldn't be terrible. 8 minutes of extended time, a commercial break, and a recap cost U.S. viewers the first 3 playing minutes of the Winnipeg @ Saskatchewan game.
What did the U.S. audience miss? A beautiful onside kick recovered by Roughriders kicker Brett Lauther. You can watch the CFL game recap.
Compared to ESPN, CBS Sports Network has been a breeze outside of what happened on Sunday.
This is the part of the year where the U.S. audience loses its TV package for the most part. There are only 3 games after this week left on the U.S. schedule, playoffs and everything.
Friday September 22 Saskatchewan @ Ottawa, 7p
Friday October 6 Edmonton @ Toronto, 7p
Monday October 9 Ottawa @ Montréal, 1p
That's it. CFL+ or watch the video recaps, even for the playoffs. Ugh.
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
Rod Smith and Duane Forde started out the holiday weekend on Saturday in Montréal with Kenzie Lalonde and then went to Hamilton with Matthew Scianitti on Monday. Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor were a matched set with Brit Dort in Regina on Sunday and Claire Hanna in Calgary on Monday.
We haven't seen Hanna on the CFL sidelines since she was in the Southern Hemisphere for the Women's World Cup for TSN. As we noted, TSN doesn't have a regular reporter in Calgary.
The CFL on TSN panel made their way to Hamilton on Labour Day, including Paul LaPolice. This week with the tripleheader will likely mean a return of Marshall Ferguson and Matt Dunigan, possibly in Toronto.
logo credit: CFL
Twitter capture: @calstampeders; @3DownNation
video credit: YouTube/Upper Canada Films
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