The Ottawa RedBlacks finally get its 2024 season underway with former Winnipeg quarterback Dru Brown welcoming his old team to TD Place on Thursday. The RedBlacks were significantly better at home in 2023 than in recent seasons.
The Blue Bombers will be without running back Brady Oliveira in the short run and Kenny Lawler in the long run.
The Edmonton Elks get a second straight home game with Montréal going very far north on Friday night. The Alouettes hopefully stayed out west after a successful trip to Winnipeg to start the season.
BC starts its home season with the Calgary Stampeders in Vancouver. The Lions are hoping to play the final game of the season at home (2024 Grey Cup). Calgary has a lot to prove and success inside the dome will help. Oh, and I hear there is a concert. CBS Sports Network has this Saturday game in the States.
Saskatchewan stays on the road with a trip to Hamilton, site of last year's Grey Cup, on Sunday night. CBS Sports Network has this game in the States.
Toronto gets to rest after last week's home win over BC.
CBS Sports Network
Saturday
Calgary @ BC, 7p
Sunday
Saskatchewan @ Hamilton, 7p
TSN
Thursday
Winnipeg @ Ottawa, 7:30p
Friday
Montréal @ Edmonton, 9p
Saturday
Calgary @ BC, 7p
Sunday
Saskatchewan @ Hamilton, 7p
Bye week: Toronto
🤯 That was fast! We see you B.C!
— BC LIONS (@BCLions) May 27, 2024
The Upper Bowl is NOW OPEN! 🔥
Tickets are flyin' for our Concert Kickoff on June 15! Be there when @50Cent hits the stage on @SaveOnFoods Field at @BCPlace.
🎟️ DON'T MISS OUT! https://t.co/6qwQe8b0op#BCLions #RoarLikeNeverBefore pic.twitter.com/IxavQOkNpm
The BC Lions under owner Amar Doman brought in One Republic (2022) and drew 34,000 and LL Cool J (2023) and drew 33,000. All numbers according to Farhan Lalji. 50 Cent gets the honours this year of being the concert act for the Lions home opener.
The crowd should be much larger from what we heard, a likely sellout.
Opening up the upper bowl has been rare for the Lions and Vancouver FC Whitecaps in MLS. Your humble narrator has sat up in the upper bowl and you get a beautiful view of the whole field up there. A comfortable place to see a game and a concert.
The 4 pm local start can give you a game, concert (3 pm PDT), and plenty of time for a lovely meal in downtown Vancouver.
Kate Beirness and the CFL on TSN panel will be live in Vancouver on Saturday.
US Viewers 🇺🇸: Due to today's previous kickoff time change, the game will be available on CBS SN on tape delay at the originally scheduled time of 7PM ET 📺
— CFL (@CFL) June 8, 2024
Alternatively, the game remains live on CFL+ at 4PM ET: https://t.co/JPskxCyjIf 💻 https://t.co/MWP3cK5TFm
The promos were out that CBS Sports Network would carry the Roughriders-Elks game, presumably live at 4 pm Eastern. We didn't find out until after kickoff that the game would air tape delayed in its original time slot. The bowling fans are thrilled that the bowling content aired in its original time slot.
The game got on the air, which is the important thing. Letting us know this on Thursday or even Friday would have helped.
Games on CBS Sports Network are not normally on CFL+ so the league recognised the need to make the game available live.
The U.S. audience missed the Lions-Argonauts open and kickoff on Sunday for … live bowling. Yes, live bowling was the reason why the U.S. outlet kept the Saturday slot. Let's hope this is an exception as the season goes along.
2024 CFL Week 1 preview: Opening week
Montréal had a chip on its shoulder having to open in Winnipeg despite winning the Grey Cup. Winnipeg was out of sync on offence though the Alouettes defence has its reasons why that happened.
The Als stay out west in Edmonton this week. This means more home cooking later in the season for the defending Grey Cup champs. Montréal also had a significant advantage on turnovers.
Was fun to see Chris Streveler back in a Blue Bombers uniform though he didn't attempt a single pass. Easier to defend if you only think Streveler is going to run. Kenny Lawler's fractured arm will be a problem for the Blue Bombers.
Bo Levi Mitchell got a hero's welcome in Calgary on Friday night. The Stampeders want to be a whole lot better and played a really good home game. Mitchell went 27-for-38 for 300 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Tiger-Cats struggled on offence with 7 points and no touchdowns through the first 3 quarters. even if they made the game look closer than it was.
Calgary has had problems closing out drives, though Rene Paredes picks up the team; he was a perfect 6-6 on field goals. The 2024 version of the Stampeders has a winning record, which Calgary did not have in 2023.
The problem later this summer might be fire and smoke but in Calgary, the game went on despite a water shortage.
No other pro league uses chipped footballs in the kicking game and every CFL kicker voted against these footballs. This has a negative impact on the integrity of the game and is a very sad for the league to disregard this issue @cfl @cflp https://t.co/2BHEA7NLsq
— Lewis Ward (@LewyWard17) June 7, 2024
The league quickly responded that kickers did not have to use chipped balls in games. Kickers usually go along and watching so many of them unite meant they were likely right. Older readers should know these are electronic chips and not like damaged balls.
2024 CFL preview
Shawn Bane Jr. had a hat trick with 3 TD passes from Trevor Harris to lead Saskatchewan past Edmonton. The Roughriders were down 21-8 with about 12 minutes left in the 4th quarter. The Elks had 3 turnovers and a missed FG by Boris Bede in that stretch. Saskatchewan scored the final 21 points of the game.
Both teams have numerous discipline penalties. The worst of them was Saskatchewan offensive lineman Logan Ferland throwing and landing a punch and getting ejected.
The BC Lions might still win the 2024 Grey Cup, especially if they don't have to play in Toronto. BC looked great in the first half but the Toronto defence made life very unpleasant for Vernon Adams Jr. Trading field goals in the second half wasn't fun to watch yet the Argos rose to the occasion.
The Argos last home loss was the final regular season game in 2022. BC hasn't won in Toronto since 2019.
What was missing last year and we get this year: The Argonauts will play in Vancouver on September 13.
2024 CFL preseason schedule
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
Rod Smith and Glen Suitor with John Lu were in Winnipeg for opening night on Thursday. Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor saw Bo Levi Mitchell in Calgary on Friday night with Brit Dort on the sidelines at McMahon Stadium.
Nielson and Suitor likely drove up to Edmonton blasting country music for the afternoon contest on Saturday, meeting up with Tom Gazzola. Suitor pulled a "Sara Orlesky" when Orlesky worked the first 3 games of the 2022 CFL season.
Rod Smith and Duane Forde with Paul LaPolice saw the BC Lions in Toronto on Sunday night. LaPolice learned some new skills since Matthew Scianitti and his East pals were covering other sports. Kate Beirness missed the weekend and Milt Stegall missed Sunday night.
Matt Dunigan was in Edmonton as part of the Elks' 75th anniversary celebration. Farhan Lalji stayed east and hosted the CFL on TSN panel with Henoc Muamba and Jim Barker in the studio early in the week. The panel only had 3 on Sunday: Lalji, Davis Sanchez, and Dunigan.
logo credit: CFL
Twitter captures: @BCLions; @CFL; @LewyWard17
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