The BC Lions went from Ottawa to Victoria (Touchdown Pacific) and then back out to Montréal on Friday night. Could be worse if Halifax finally gets a CFL team. This is the anti-climatic start to a weekend of revenge games. Well, a couple of them on Saturday. The revenge games aren't worthy of the CBS Sports Network as the U.S. outlet carries only this game in the CFL weekend.
The Toronto Argonauts switch opponents and travel to the federal capital for the first of the Saturday tripleheader. This is the first Toronto-Ottawa battle of the season and lining up to be a playoff match. This is also the RedBlacks' first game against an East Division opponent since June 30.
The Banjo Bowl (Saskatchewan in Winnipeg) marks the first over-the-air CFL telecast since the 2007 Grey Cup. CTV runs an exclusive Saturday afternoon package in Canada. There will be a significant overlap for the CFL+ fans in the States versus the first game of the day.
The revenge game in the Battle of Alberta completes the tripleheader in Edmonton.
Hamilton has more time to recover from hosting the Labour Day game and posting its second win over Toronto.
CBS Sports Network
Friday
BC @ Montréal, 7:30p
CTV
Saturday
Saskatchewan @ Winnipeg, 3p
TSN
Friday
BC @ Montréal, 7:30p
Saturday
Toronto @ Ottawa, 1p
Calgary @ Edmonton, 7p
Bye week: Hamilton
VICTORIA! Thank you for being such an amazing host for #TouchdownPacific this past weekend 🧡
— BC LIONS (@BCLions) September 3, 2024
Re-live the entire TDP experience with this 🔥recap 🎥: @westjet | #BCLIONS pic.twitter.com/r5fTpxs7Nl
The BC Lions had a lot riding on Touchdown Pacific. Giving the spotlight to Victoria and Vancouver Island. A neutral site game with a home-field advantage. Oh, there was a 5-game losing streak.
Nathan Rourke had his best game since 2022 with 21-for-30 for 325 yards, 3 passing touchdowns and a rushing major along with an interception.
The Lions got William Stanback involved with 93 rushing yards on 20 carries and 6 receptions for 78 yards.
The Ottawa RedBlacks, who had defeated the Lions in Ottawa, had their undefeated streak snapped at 6 (5-0-1). Dru Brown was 21-for-33 for 206 passing yards and a touchdown.
Touchdown Pacific drew a great crowd of 14,727 at Royal Athletic Park, home of the Victoria HarbourCats of the West Coast League (baseball).
There was a bit of a spark about the abrupt end of the interview with Nathan Rourke with Farhan Lalji at the teams went into halftime. We liked things better when both team interviews happened after the teams came back out in the second half. Rourke will learn to talk more in subsequent interviews. The "job's not done" approach should factor in that the interviews are part of the "job."
2024 CFL Week 13 preview: Touchdown Pacific comes to Victoria, BC
WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?!?
— 3DownNation (@3DownNation) September 2, 2024
Mario Alford muffs the Jamieson Sheahan (@JamSheahan) punt and Nick Hallett (@nhallett21) recovers to retake the lead!#CFL #Bombers #ForTheW
pic.twitter.com/2JgqpdyQlE
The Zach Collaros injury shifted the dynamic of the second half of the Labour Day Classic in Regina (more on this below). Saskatchewan had its way through the second half. The Blue Bombers did get 2 field goals in the second half. Too often, leading teams go scoreless in the second half so this was a switch.
Winnipeg's rouge in the first half did make a difference in that Saskatchewan could have gone for a single extra point when scoring the touchdown late in the game.
Willie Jefferson is a physical presence. Watching Jefferson get taken down on the onside kick was a genuine surprise. Brett Lauther came close to hitting a 60-yard field goal at the end that would have been Labour Day Classic legendary.
Both the Roughriders and BC Lions have had tailspins of late. BC found its way for one week. We will see when Saskatchewan does the same.
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The running joke with a bad team is that as long as you beat your rival, the season isn't so bad. Hamilton has 3 wins on the season and 2 of them are against Toronto. The Tiger-Cats have won the season series over the Argonauts.
Bo Levi Mitchell is now 7-0 on Labour Day, 6 of those with Calgary. Mitchell, who finished with 347 passing yards, hadn't played on Labour Day in 5 years. Chad Kelly had his first loss against the Ticats. Hamilton won 10 of the last 13 Labour Day Classics and snapped a 2-game losing streak.
Mitchell connected on the long ball, something we don't see a lot of these days in the CFL. Tim White is good, catching 2 long passes in the 1st quarter. The Ticats defence held the Argos, forcing then to kick 5 field goals, which were better than touchdowns in a close game.
Thanks to the Hamilton fans who brought out signs and had chants about Kelly over the harassment of a now former Argos coach.
On a personal note, the only Labour Day Classic I attended in person was at old Ivor Wynne Stadium where the Hamilton team sold me a ticket to a seat that didn't exist. The fans let me sit there anyway as long as I wasn't rooting for the Double Blue. The only revenge game I saw in person was this rivalry at Rogers Centre. I remember Timmy Chang throwing a few interceptions against Toronto.
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The Calgary Stampeders suffered their second home loss of the season to the archrivals from up north in Edmonton. Unlike the other 2 rivalry games, the Battle of Alberta was one-sided.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson went 25-for-36 for 486 yards with 2 TD passes to Tevin Jones and another to Eugene Lewis.
The Elks snapped a 2-game losing streak on Labour Day. Edmonton had lost 10 of the last 11 on the holiday.
Peyton Logan had the Stampeders highlight with a punt return for 104 yards for a touchdown. Rene Paredes set a personal record with a 57-yard field goal.
Calgary is 0-5 on the road and headed to Edmonton for the revenge game late on Saturday. The team has a streak of 18 consecutive playoff appearances, 4th-longest in league history. Calgary has lost 3 in a row.
VICTORIA! Thank you for being such an amazing host for #TouchdownPacific this past weekend 🧡
— BC LIONS (@BCLions) September 3, 2024
Re-live the entire TDP experience with this 🔥recap 🎥: @westjet | #BCLIONS pic.twitter.com/r5fTpxs7Nl
More on the CFL Victoria experience.
Zach Collaros is shaken up after a direct hit to the head. Yikes. pic.twitter.com/26TYiZsCZP
— Connor Hrabchak (@ConnorHrabchak1) September 2, 2024
Winnipeg Blue Bombers President Wade Miller and your humble narrator have something in common. Our reaction to a non football hit by Saskatchewan's Miles Brown on Zach Collaros. The pass interference call on this play meant there was no actual punishment for this play. 15 yards is sufficient in most roughing the passer calls. This was beyond terrible.
A penalty box where either the offender sits out for the rest of that quarter and the next quarter. Automatic ejection. Automatic 1-game suspension. A 25-yard penalty chip the other team can use within that quarter, cashing it in to improve field position.
Plays that are not tied into the contact of football deserve a special category.
Brown did receive a fine. The amount of CFL fines are not disclosed.
2024 CFL preseason schedule
Random news and notes:
The Montréal Alouettes clinched a CFL playoffs spot. Exciting yet that seems to be the only certainty for the upcoming playoffs.
Dean Faithfull was the kicker for the Elks instead of Boris Bede. Faithfull missed a 29-yard attempt but otherwise had a good day.
We haven't talked much about the Alouettes kicking situation. José Maltos has filled in well for David Côté. We noticed that Montréal released Canadian kicker Michael Domagala this week. Maybe Edmonton would look in that direction.
By all accounts, Ryquell Armstead has had a successful year on the field as a running back for the Ottawa RedBlacks. The RedBlacks added running back Jamal Morrow to the practice roster while releaseing Armstead. There was the game in Week 8 against Calgary when Armstead was ejected and Ottawa was left without a traditional running back for most of the game.
The criticism of the smaller Saskatchewan crowds earlier in the season had a contrast for the Labour Day Classic, where 33,861 attended, the largest crowd ever at the new Mosaic Stadium. Roughriders fans often travel long distances to Regina and the holiday helped boost the attendance. Thursday night games are more viable in Toronto or Montréal than Regina.
Calgary had 17 days of rest. McLeod Bethel-Thompson complained about too little rest earlier in Edmonton's schedule. The Stampeders felt like a team with rust. Edmonton had a rough stretch at the end of the 2021 season that would have been worse if they had any chance at a CFL playoff spot.
Woah. #CFL #CFLonTSN pic.twitter.com/63l3l3bUxW
— Rider fan (@GreyCupBound) September 3, 2024
We normally don't even blink at the CFL standings in early September. The West Division is very different this season. Edmonton and Winnipeg have 2 games to come. Same for Calgary and Saskatchewan. BC has 2 divisional games left in the whole season. The Roughriders tie is a significant variable. Consider that the top 3 go to the playoffs and 2 of them will go home.
2024 CFL on CTV schedule, all kickoff times ET:
— Justin Dunk (@JDunk12) June 6, 2024
Sept. 7 | SSK at WPG | 3 p.m.
Sept. 14 | OTT at HAM | 3 p.m.
Sept. 21 | MTL at OTT | 3 p.m.
Sept. 28 | OTT at SSK | 3 p.m.
Oct. 12 | EDM at CGY | 3 p.m.
Oct. 19 | OTT at TOR | 3 p.m.
Oct. 26 | WPG at MTL | 3 p.m.
Nov. 2 | Eastern… https://t.co/8U37PsRNg1 pic.twitter.com/3EOIsGmxPW
CTV hasn't carried a CFL game since the end of the 1986 season. The Canadian Football Network (1987-1990) carried games on over-the-air stations. CBC resumed control of the CFL in 1991 and carried its last game in 2007.
CFL commissioner Randy Ambroisie wanted the CFL on CTV for some time, as previous commissioners likely felt the same way.
The setup is similar to what ESPN telecasts on ABC look like as these are TSN productions for CTV. Hoping for some fun graphics or even special blazers for the CTV effort.
The few Americans who have access to a CTV station should be in great shape. Those games should not be blacked out for any reason. As we've noted, none of the CTV games appear on the CBS Sports Network.
We don't know about the streaming options for the CTV games in Canada. Enhanced feeds of the CTV game should be on TSN+.
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
Ottawa @ BC: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Farhan Lalji
Winnipeg @ Saskatchewan: Rod Smith/Paul LaPolice/Brit Dort
Toronto @ Hamilton: Marshall Ferguson/Duane Forde/Matthew Scianitti
Edmonton @ Calgary: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Farhan Lalji
Before the pandemic, the CFL crews were very specific for the 3 major Labour Day weekend games. Touchdown Pacific threw that off. Glen Suitor wasn't in Regina. Dustin Nielson called Touchdown Pacific and the Battle of Alberta. Marshall Ferguson called the Labour Day Classic in Hamilton.
The regular CFL on TSN panel was in place, as in Victoria on Saturday and Hamilton on Monday.
We will be curious as to whether the same PBP and colour crews will stick with the same matchups in the revenge games. This used to be the weekend for Gord Miller and Matt Dunigan, a combo where I would watch them call just about any sport.
TSN had some issues in Victoria with the stuttering transmission. Someone could have said "sorry" for what happened.
logo credit: CFL
Twitter captures: @BCLions; @3DownNation; @BCLions; @ConnorHrabchak1; @GreyCupBound; @JDunk12
photo credit: CFL
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