Canadian Crossing

2019 CFL Week 19 preview

The CFL players get to run off their Canadian Thanksgiving dinners with intra-division battles this week.

Toronto hasn't seen Montréal since the 2019 Touchdown Atlantic adventure in Moncton. This week, they are in Montréal on Friday on the final U.S. TV game of the regular season on ESPNews. Saskatchewan goes all the way west to Vancouver late on Friday.

Ottawa goes to Hamilton in what has been traditionally the best of the East battle late Saturday afternoon. Winnipeg in Calgary in prime time in the East on Saturday could be the best matchup on the schedule.

Edmonton takes a breather this week.

ESPNews

Friday
Toronto @ Montréal, 7p

TSN

Friday
Toronto @ Montréal, 7p
Saskatchewan @ BC, 10p
Saturday
Ottawa @ Hamilton, 4p
Winnipeg @ Calgary, 7p

Bye week: Edmonton

Winnipeg got some revenge on Saturday over Montréal. The defence played havoc for Vernon Adams Jr.'s line of vision. Chris Streveler and Andrew Harris carried the Winnipeg offence on the ground. The snow muted the Winnipeg celebrations.

The win snapped the Blue Bombers 3-game losing streak.

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S.J. Green went over the 10,000 receiving yards mark Friday night at home in Toronto against Ottawa. Most of those yards came with Montréal, some of them with Anthony Calvillo. Green also went past 700 CFL catches.

Will Arndt has an inconsistent debut as the Ottawa starting quarterback.

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Mike Reilly was the last of the starters to stay healthy. Reilly suffered a fractured left wrist early in the game in Edmonton.

The Lions signed Canadian QB Brandon Bridge. Can't believe the number of teams and scenarios that ignored what Bridge could bring to their teams. Perhaps this will be an audition to show what Bridge can do. Danny O'Brien will also be in the BC mix.

No Canadian football on Thanksgiving Monday makes the #CFL turkeys 🦃 https://t.co/wCFyup8gkY (Edit by @TaylorCurrieSK) pic.twitter.com/mcQ7QwoJwt

— Justin Dunk (@JDunk12) October 14, 2019

The CFL and CFLPA needs to fix this. No Thanksgiving games. No word on why they are not there. Turkeys, indeed.

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The CFL insists on overlapping games in doubleheaders, especially on Thursday and Friday nights. If you stuck with the early game in Toronto on Friday, you missed a bad bounce on a punt where Calgary recovered for a touchdown, and then a huge Saskatchewan interception for a Pick 6. The late game started on TSN1 in Canada.

Calgary gave Saskatchewan its second loss in the last 11 games. The Stampeders are tough at home and has the tiebreaker over the Roughriders.

These teams might meet again in the West final, which might be in Calgary as well.

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Hamilton clinches the East with the Montréal loss. The Tiger-Cats get the bye and will host the East final. The Alouettes will host the crossover team. That crossover team is almost certain to be Edmonton. A Saskatchewan win or an Edmonton loss will send the Esks to Montréal. Saskatchewan plays Edmonton home-and-home the last 2 weeks.

Calgary has the tiebreaker over Saskatchewan, which has the tiebreaker over Winnipeg. The Blue Bombers are ½ game behind Calgary and Saskatchewan; the latter has an additional game with the BC Lions. Winnipeg's final 2 games are with Calgary; the Blue Bombers have a 1-0 advantage over Calgary.

This compels Saskatchewan fans to root for Winnipeg down the stretch. That should prove intriguing.

The CFL will have a crossover for a record 4 years in a row. Edmonton, Saskatchewan, and BC have crossed over the last 3 seasons. Edmonton (2016) and Saskatchewan (2017) won their semifinal game. No CFL team has advanced to the Grey Cup as a crossover team.

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ESPN feeds the U.S. audience another useless East game. Better to have games on TV than no games at all. Winnipeg-Calgary would be great on TV but U.S. fans will have to settle for ESPN+.

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Rod Black and Henry Burris stayed awake in Toronto Friday night. Black made his way through the snow to Winnipeg on Saturday working with Duane Forde.

Chris Cuthbert and Glen Suitor lived, ate, and breathed Alberta with stops in Calgary on Friday and Edmonton on Saturday.

Mike Benevides and Davis Sanchez helped out on the CFL on TSN panel as Matt Dunigan had Friday night off and Burris took Saturday off.

Twitter capture: @JDunk12

2019 CFL Week 18 preview

Welcome to Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. For the first time that anyone can remember, the CFL gives football fans, players, and broadcasters a football-free Canadian Thanksgiving. You can tape the games and watch them on Monday, but that won't be the same.

The teams don't have to travel far this weekend. The Friday doubleheader starts with the Battle of eastern Ontario in Toronto on ESPNews. Saskatchewan visits nearby Calgary in the nightcap.

Saturday has the longest trip as Montréal goes west but only as far as Winnipeg. The BC Lions cross the Canadian Rockies into Edmonton in the early evening local start. The Esks need a win to clinch a playoff spot.

Hamilton gets an early start on turkey and pumpkin pie.

ESPNews

Friday
Ottawa @ Toronto, 7p

TSN

Friday
Ottawa @ Toronto, 7p
Saskatchewan @ Calgary, 9:30p
Saturday
Montréal @ Winnipeg, 4p
BC @ Edmonton, 7p

Bye week: Hamilton

Montréal is back in the playoffs and with a home playoff game for the first time since 2014. The Alouettes looked really sad last season when they thought Johnny Manziel was going to be the hero.

A new coach at the very last minute, the second quarterback they tried, and a resurgent defence have brought the playoffs back to La Belle Province.

Calgary scored 17 points in the first half. The Alouettes defence rose to the occasion, even winning the player of the game with 5 turnovers and 2 sacks.

Khari Jones went for a field goal in a 3rd-and-short encounter late in the game. The safer call paid off thanks to the Alouettes defence.

Calgary suffered its second loss after a bye (13-2) since Bo Levi Mitchell became the starting quarterback.

The Montréal win knocked out Toronto and Ottawa from playoff contention.

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Saskatchewan didn't score much but didn't need to do much against Winnipeg. The Roughriders have the season series and the tiebreaker. After starting 1-3, Saskatchewan has won 9 of the last 10. The only loss was to Winnipeg in the Banjo Bowl. Winnipeg has lost every game since the Banjo Bowl.

Chris Streveler had trouble all day trying to get time to throw for the Blue Bombers.

The Roughriders are now in the top spot in the West.

Michael Clemons aka Pinball is the new Toronto Argonauts general manager, Jim Popp will help out ownership through the end of the calendar year. Popp has been a general manager in the CFL since 1995. John Murphy was named vice president of player personnel.

Pinball and the Toronto Argonauts have a long history. Clemons won 3 Grey Cups as a player, had 2 terms as head coach with a 2004 Grey Cup win. He has also been team president, chief executive officer, and vice chair since May 2009.

Popp's contract was going to expire at the end of the season.

Jim Popp had an impressive run in the CFL. A general manager since 1995, Popp's teams have gone to 11 Grey Cups and won 5 of them (Baltimore, Montréal [3], Toronto). Popp has had 4 different stints as Montréal head coach. 

Things did not work out well in Toronto, despite the 2017 Grey Cup win. With a bit of time and distance, Popp will contribute again to the CFL.

Then again, Popp had a 1-year extension lined up for quarterback Zach Collaros, who has been injured for most of the season after a vicious hit by Simoni Lawrence in the first CFL game of the season.

The new Argonauts management dealt Collaros to Winnipeg with a 2020 5th-round draft pick. Toronto gets back a 2020 3rd-round draft pick and a conditional 1st-round pick as early as 2020 if Collaros re-signs with Winnipeg.

Toronto originally acquired Collaros from Saskatchewan for a conditional 4th-round pick

Collaros has reportedly been cleared to play. This might be the last time we see Collaros in the CFL with his injury track record. Winnipeg needed a good backup quarterback with Matt Nichols out for the season. Chris Streveler remains the Blue Bombers starting quarterback.

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Tyrell Sutton is making a great Hamilton offence even better. The running game becomes crucial as the weather turns colder. Dane Evans gets better with a strong running game.

The Tiger-Cats looked inspired by members of the 1999 Hamilton squad, the last Tiger-Cats team to win the Grey Cup.

Logan Kilgore had a solid game for Edmonton, but those numbers didn't translate to points. The Esks are below .500 but are almost certainly going to the playoffs.

Hamilton tied its franchise mark (12 wins) and is now 7-0 at home. Tiger-Cats finish the schedule at Tim Hortons Field with Ottawa and Toronto.

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You might have thought there was no reason to watch the Toronto Argonauts in Vancouver. BC Lions fans and curious onlookers were very intrigued.

Mike Reilly had 5 TD passes. Danny O'Brien had plenty of time in the game.

Giving up 55 points means a bad game. Getting almost shut out means a bad game. The Argos scored with 6 seconds left in the game. As Mike Benevides said on the panel, the Toronto Argonauts have won 7 games in 2 seasons since winning the 2017 Grey Cup (the Argos have only won 6 games). The Pinball Clemons timing is quite good.

The BC Lions hadn't posted a shutout since a 30-0 whitewash versus Toronto on August 23, 1977. The Lions in those days played outdoors at Empire Stadium.

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Will Arndt is the latest of a very long list of quarterbacks to start a CFL game this season. Ottawa had a bye and settled on Arndt to start against Toronto. Arndt has had some mop-up work this season and has been with the team since late in 2017.

Jonathon Jennings will serve as the backup. Dominique Davis is injured and will not dress.

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Hamilton clinched a tie for the top spot in the East over Montréal. Edmonton clinched a tie for a playoff spot over BC.

The West playoff positioning will continue to shuffle. Calgary and Winnipeg still have 2 games with each other. Same goes for Saskatchewan and Edmonton. Calgary and Saskatchewan have their final game against each other tonight.

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Chris Cuthbert hung out with Henry Burris in Hamilton and added some extra kilometres with a trip to Vancouver with Glen Suitor.

Dustin Nielson covered the Calgary game in Montréal with Matt Dunigan. Rod Black and Duane Forde got the gift of covering the game in Regina.

Mike Benvides filled in on the CFL on TSN panel for Burris on Friday and Davis Sanchez on Saturday. Benevides has done well in short spurts. The coach factor hasn't been a part of the panel so his perspective in intriguing.

Burris is learning the analyst role in limited form. He is more vibrant in the booth than in the studio. Burris is improving in the role but not getting regular work will limit that progress.

photo credit: Toronto Argonauts

2019 CFL Week 17 preview

ESPN2 is back with Friday Night Football, starting out as Edmonton stays out east, this time traveling to Hamilton.

The Saturday tripleheader starts with rested Calgary in La Belle Province. The prairie teams battle to determine the tiebreaker winner as Winnipeg travels to Saskatchewan. This is the first divisional game in almost a month in the CFL. The BC Lions remain at home and welcome another East team, the Toronto Argonauts.

Ottawa enjoys a crisp fall weekend.

ESPN2

Friday
Edmonton @ Hamilton, 7p

TSN

Friday
Edmonton @ Hamilton, 7p
Saturday
Calgary @ Montréal, 4p
Winnipeg @ Saskatchewan, 7p
Toronto @ BC, 10p

Bye week: Ottawa

Winnipeg and Hamilton were the last teams to be undefeated at home at 6-0. Fitting that Hamilton would give the Blue Bombers their first loss at home. Saskatchewan is 6-1 at home as well.

The Tiger-Cats kept pace with Winnipeg's opening major, which was the Blue Bombers highlight.

Dane Evans found throwing deep passes to be relatively easy against the Winnipeg defence.

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Ottawa juggled Dominique Davis and Jonathon Jennings at quarterback in the first half. That didn't work out too well for the RedBlacks. Davis got Ottawa back into the game with a FG and a TD after going 58 drives without a major. Davis came out of the game with an injury with Jennings finishing the game.

Logan Kilgore didn't get Edmonton going until the 4th quarter with a pair of TDs, the latter just after the 3-minute mark.

The final play involved Kilgore throwing a pass behind him to his own end zone to give up a safety. Won't see that in the NFL.

The RedBlacks have a week off to decide the quarterback situation.

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James Franklin, who hadn't started since Canada Day, might have been in a showcase for teams to acquire the Toronto quarterback at the CFL trade deadline. Franklin got an inconclusive grade.

Cody Fajardo, who started his CFL career in Toronto, was back in town. Saskatchewan had an easy time in front of a lot of their fans in Toronto. The attendance was all the way up to 12,406, about 3,000 likely rooting for green than double blue.

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Montréal had little chance in Vancouver based on previous experience. The Lions were 17-3 in their last 20 home games against the Alouettes. That said, Montréal seemingly had tied the game at 25 with a Devier Posey 2-point conversion. Posey thought he caught the ball. The replay looked like he caught the ball. The referees initially ruled Posey didn't catch the ball. As we've seen too often, the call stood because the replay wasn't conclusive.

Montréal Coach Khari Jones had an easy call to make: 3rd and 1 from the BC 3-yard line. Kick the field goal and go up by 1. Jones sent in Antonio Pipkin for the short-yardage play. Pipkin fumbled the snap and the ball never reached the first-down marker.

The Als could have gone the easy route and had a lead. Jones did what a lot of us think we would do in that case. A touchdown would have put more pressure on Mike Reilly and the Lions.

The Montréal saving grace is that its second-place status won't suffer much as a result of the loss. Matt Shiltz played better in the second half for the suspended Vernon Adams Jr.

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James Franklin or some other quarterback may be gone by the CFL trade deadline October 9 at 3:59 pm Eastern. As CFL starting quarterbacks keep dropping, having solid backups to backups would seem crucial.

Brandon Bridge was released early in the season by Montréal and has been dormant. While skin colour isn't the issue, being a Canadian quarterback does bring discrimination. Bridge is a run-pass threat; as the weather gets worse, a running quarterback becomes more valuable.

Bridge likely wouldn't find a home in the East with David Watford backing up Dane Evans in Hamilton and Montréal has plenty of quarterbacks. Winnipeg and Edmonton would be ideal destinations for Bridge.

We noted last week that all the stories we saw about Winnipeg quarterback Matt Nichols never mentioned which shoulder got hurt. The picture above confirms that the throwing shoulder was involved. Nichols had shoulder surgery and is out for the rest of the season.

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Saskatchewan clinched the fourth playoff spot to join Winnipeg, Calgary, and Hamilton.

A Montréal win would have put Montréal and Edmonton in the playoffs before the calendar flipped to October. Wins by the Alouettes and Esks will get them playoff spots. Toronto AND Ottawa losses (Montréal) and BC loss (Edmonton) will also settle the playoff picture.

An Edmonton win or Toronto AND Ottawa losses ensures another CFL crossover. That would be the fourth straight year for a crossover.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

The CFL gets an unintentional timing award. Last week's games were mostly in the East or a domed stadium (BC Lions) while Calgary and Regina got snow. Late September snow is fairly common in Western Canada though not as much as they got. 

The game time temperature in Winnipeg was 8° C, which translates into 47° F.

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A lot goes into making a broadcast go smoothly. TSN, and we assume TSN is to blame, will often have silence in the halftime segments. You can hear the music but no audio from the studio. The first half of the game in Vancouver had low volume. The third quarter was completely silent during Montréal's first major.

The American online viewers are paying for ESPN+ above and beyond any cable bills. When you watch the CFL game recap, the volume is just fine. If this is a TSN issue, ESPN needs to speak up.

Back in the saddle with ⁦@GMillerTSN⁩ for the 1st time this season. We start the CFLonTSN triple header in the nations capital w/Edm@Ott 4ET then it’s off to Sask@Tor 7ET & night cap it w/Mtl@BC 10ET. Kickback, BBQ something tasty, grab some cold ones & enjoy! Ready Break pic.twitter.com/1vkbfImBlp

— Matt Dunigan (@MattDuniganTSN) September 28, 2019

Gord Miller and Matt Dunigan together is like the babysitter letting you stay up late and eating lots of popcorn and drinking lots of soft drinks. Miller and Dunigan haven't worked together too much but got a chance to work in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon.

Chris Cuthbert and Glen Suitor were in Winnipeg on Friday. Dustin Nielson matched up with Suitor in Vancouver on Saturday. Nielson has now done 4 of his 8 CFL scheduled appearances for the season. Miller now has 2 appearances, both in Ottawa. Rod Black and Duane Forde did their normal routine in Toronto.

Where was Cuthbert on Saturday? Cuthbert could have been in Montréal on TSN5 calling Ottawa Senators preseason hockey. Bryan Mudryk called the game for TSN2/TSN5. Cuthbert probably had a personal function, a life outside of sports. Good for him. CFL and NHL are great but life is more than sports.

Davis Sanchez has become the go-to filling in for Matt Dunigan when tripleheaders are on tap.

photo credit: CFL
Twitter capture: @MattDuniganTSN

2019 CFL Week 16 preview

The Saturday tripleheader is back. First, Friday Night Football has the teams with the longest Grey Cup droughts in Winnipeg.

That Saturday tripleheader starts in the late afternoon with games based in Ontario. Edmonton goes to the nation's capital in the late afternoon. Saskatchewan will bring its traveling fans and find plenty of room in Toronto. Montréal ensures a bit of late-night fun as the Alouettes are in Vancouver.

Once again, we have no intra-division games.

Calgary misses out of the fun but will use the rest well.

TSN

Friday
Hamilton @ Winnipeg, 8:30p
Saturday
Edmonton @ Ottawa, 4p
Saskatchewan @ Toronto, 7p
Montréal @ BC, 10p

Bye week: Calgary

You know it’s going to be a good game when you got a champ cheering you on 🙌🥎❤️#ToujoursGame #Montréals

Ça ne peut être qu’un bon match quand une championne comme @Bandreescu_ est là pour t’encourager 🙌🥎❤️ pic.twitter.com/O3lZKhN4KC

— Alouettes de Montréal (@MTLAlouettes) September 21, 2019

U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu saw an incredible CFL comeback in Montréal.

There was one of those amazing CFL comebacks on July 27, 2017. Montréal had a solid lead in Winnipeg. Even Rod Black thought the Alouettes were going to win. Montréal was up by 12 points with less than 2 minutes remaining. Andrew Harris scored on literally the last play of the game as the Blue Bombers won 41-40.

I had that deja vu in the opposite direction on Saturday as the Alouettes had a furious comeback in similar fashion for the 38-37 win. The Als scored 2 touchdowns, including a 96-yard TD drive with 6 seconds left on the clock.

Montréal scored 21 points in the fourth quarter. Winnipeg only had a 3rd quarter field goal in the second half. Vernon Adams Jr. finished the game with 488 passing yards and 4 touchdowns.

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Vernon Adams Jr. will sit out the game in Vancouver over a play with Winnipeg's Adam Bighill. The frustration from Adams was unprofessional.

Matthew Shiltz gets the nod over Antonio Pipkin for the Alouettes at quarterback in Vancouver. James Franklin is back to being the starter in Toronto as Saskatchewan comes to town. Dominique Davis and Jonathon Jennings will share time for Ottawa as Edmonton is in the Canadian capital.

Chris Streveler will be the Winnipeg quarterback for the rest of the season. Matt Nichols is undergoing shoulder surgery and will be out for the rest of the season. The intriguing element of the report is that we don't know which shoulder is the injured one for Nichols.

Edmonton moved Trevor Harris to the 6-game injured list, so Logan Kilgore will be starting for awhile.

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Hamilton scored the first 24 points; Edmonton scored the next 24 points. The Tiger-Cats did win the battle of the field goals late in the game with the Lirim Hajrullahu winner off the upright and in for the win.

Logan Kilgore wore #15 on the night Ricky Ray (also #15) was admitted to the Wall of Honour at Commonwealth Stadium. The Esks comeback helped validate Kilgore's performance in place of Trevor Harris.

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Bo Levi Mitchell has never lost to Toronto. The Argos hadn't been home in awhile. The fans knew what was coming.

The Toronto Argonauts are not eager to share attendance figures. We did find out that the last home game drew 9,819 at Toronto. The Hamilton games in Guelph drew a lot more. The Toronto "home" game in Moncton in 2019 didn't draw much more. The "home" game in Fort McMurray, AB in 2015 only drew 4,900.

The Argos will do better in attendance on Saturday since Saskatchewan fans travel well.

The Argos aren't good. BMO Field is a nice setup for the Argos but the fans aren't coming.

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Mike Reilly actually gave way to Danny O'Brien to mop up in a rare BC Lions blowout win. The Lions owned the game in Ottawa as the RedBlacks continue to struggle. Ottawa finished up with Will Arndt at quarterback.

Ottawa did beat Calgary (road) and Saskatchewan (home) to start the season. The RedBlacks last win was August 2 against Montréal.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

This week's Edmonton-Ottawa game may not seem too exciting but is crucial for the crossover. Edmonton has lost 4 in a row but is still 3 games ahead of Ottawa for the crossover with 5 games remaining. The RedBlacks have lost 6 games in a row.

An Esks win puts Edmonton 4 games up with 4 to go, reducing the crossover magic number to 1. The crossover can't happen if the teams are tied.

Hamilton clinched a playoff spot and a home playoff game. Winnipeg and Calgary also clinched playoff spots.

When a controversy over racism erupts in Canada it happens in the most Canadian way possible. pic.twitter.com/zAnca5cGdN

— Jim Jefferies Show (@jefferiesshow) September 25, 2019

We have a long-standing policy of not invoking the full nickname of the Edmonton CFL team. The Jim Jeffries Show on Comedy Central in the United States looked into the issue of the Edmonton nickname.

Jim Jeffries, who is Australian, mentions the more sensitive U.S. nicknames such as the Washington NFL franchise. Jeffries travels to Edmonton as well as northern Canada for the report. There is a lot of well-researched information for a "comedy" show.

The fact that the team URL is edmontonesks.com is a sign that the team knows the nickname has concerns. We have suggested the Edmonton Elks as an alternative.

The Jim Jeffries Show airs in Canada on the CTV Comedy Channel.

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Keith Urban will be the halftime entertainment at the 107th Grey Cup on November 24 in Calgary. While we prefer Canadian entertainers at the Grey Cup halftime show, Urban is a legit country star in a Grey Cup held in southern Alberta. We figure Glen Suitor is very happy with this selection.

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If you watch an Ottawa RedBlacks game in person or on TV, you can't help but notice the large condo building at 1035 Bank Street. One of the condos, not like the others, is up for sale. RedBlacks co-owner Jeff Hunt is putting up his condo (#307) on the market for $2 million.

The condo has a very nice view of the Rideau Canal. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom home has 1,141 square feet of living space and a 1,200-square-foot terrace. There is a hot tub with a privacy screen as well as an outdoor fireplace wall. The outdoor kitchen includes a barbecue, refrigerator, and granite counters as well as an outdoor TV.

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Chris Cuthbert and Duane Forde matched up together in Toronto and Ottawa. Since the week was East-focused and Cuthbert likes doing 2 games in a week, the teams were divided. Dustin Nielson got his 3rd regular season appearance on the CFL on TSN, this time with Glen Suitor in Edmonton. Nielson got to handle the interview with Ricky Ray in the booth.

Rod Black and Matt Dunigan both had fun in Montréal. Cuthbert is clearly an unselfish person, giving Black and Dunigan a great game in a great city. Cuthbert seems to like doing the latest game possible when traveling, sacrificing himself by calling the dog game in Ottawa.

Twitter captures: @MTLAlouettes; @jefferiesshow

2019 CFL Week 15 preview

We have another pure East-West CFL weekend. The Friday doubleheader starts out in Toronto as the Calgary Stampeders come in for a visit. The quick turnaround for the late game has the Tiger-Cats in Edmonton. Logan Kilgore will start in place of Trevor Harris for Edmonton.

The Saturday late afternoon game has the Blue Bombers in Montréal. The prime time game is 200 km west as Ottawa hosts the BC Lions.

Saskatchewan drew the short straw to sit out this week.

TSN

Friday
Calgary @ Toronto, 7p
Hamilton @ Edmonton, 9:30p
Saturday
Winnipeg @ Montréal, 4p
BC @ Ottawa, 7p

Bye week: Saskatchewan

Down by a single point, the visiting East team tries to take the lead on a late field goal. The field goal attempt is blocked. Down by a single point, the home West team tries to take the lead on a late field goal. The field goal is good.

There were parallels with Hamilton trying to grab the lead in Calgary versus Saskatchewan trying to jump ahead of Montréal. In the end, the home West teams proved victorious. The top teams in the East fell short.

The BC Lions win over Ottawa gave the West a sweep for the week.

The Tiger-Cats have never won against Bo Levi Mitchell and haven't won in Calgary since 2004.

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The best play of the year that didn't count was TJ Lee III with the perfect timing of a Pick 6 that still gives the Ottawa receiver nightmares. The play was called back on an offsides call. The Lions were so dominant that the team got an interception on that drive.

The BC Lions got their first road win of the season. The Lions had played 4 of their first 11 outside Vancouver. The previous home win was October 19 vs. Edmonton 42-32.

Mike Reilly looked as on as Jonathon Jennings looked off.

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Montréal has followed an odd pattern of 2 losses, 3 wins, 2 losses, and 3 wins. The loss to Saskatchewan might mean another loss before yet another 3-game winning streak. There were a lot of snide remarks to playing a full 60 minutes. The Alouettes suffered the shortened game loss August 9 17-10. That was Montréal last loss before last week.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Chris Cuthbert and Glen Suitor doubled up in Vancouver and Regina. Rod Black and Duane Forde found themselves a little further west than usual in Calgary.

Davis Sanchez filled in for Milt Stegall on the panel.

Confederation Line expands light-rail service in Ottawa

Visiting Ottawa, the capital of Canada, can be a fun experience. If you stay mostly downtown in your visit, you might not miss the fact that the capital city doesn't have a significant transportation presence beyond buses.

Launched last week, the new Confederation Line brings a west-east light-rail transportation option to downtown Ottawa. The new line runs from Tunney's Pasture (west) to Blair (east) with a connection to the Trillium Line aka the O-Train at the Bayview station.

The Confederation Line travels 12.5 kilometres (7.8 miles). The train even goes underground for 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) under Queen Street downtown.

The north-south Trillium Line runs from Bayview (downtown) to Greensboro, but nowhere near the airport (south of the city). When I first visited Ottawa in 2009, I took the 97 bus to and from the airport. Given that I was in an extreme hurry, there was a frustration that the 97 bus was the only option to get from the airport to downtown.

I did ride the Trillium Line in 2014. The ride was pretty good but the train didn't go too far. I didn't use the airport in that 2014 trip, taking a bus to and from Toronto.

You can take the 97 bus from the airport to the Hurdman stop on the Confederation Line and then take the train into downtown. That is an improvement.

The Confederation Line doesn't go to Kanata (far west) where the NHL Ottawa Senators play. The train will lessen the impact of that trip by reducing the time spent on a bus in rush hour to get to a Sens game. The Senators really need a downtown arena but the Eugene Melnyk saga is its own column.

I rode the bus to and from TD Place to watch the CFL Ottawa RedBlacks in 2014. OC Transpo has a great deal where a game ticket gets you on the bus for free to and from the game.

The Confederation Line is better suited for people who live in Ottawa as opposed to tourists. The line will allow tourists to travel faster and easier to destinations outside downtown.

The project had years of delays; the sinkhole downtown was the most memorable encounter.

Reflections on the Ottawa shooting

Ottawa's Byward Market: more than just a building

Toronto vs. Ottawa on the CFL battle over hot dog condiments

Seeing a CFL game in Ottawa

Ottawa impressions over a 3-day trip

Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver have extensive transportation systems. Vancouver benefited from the Olympic Line built for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Montréal is great if your stop is near the Metro. Bus service in Montréal doesn't run as often as it should. Toronto has a rather good system despite the TTC.

Calgary and Edmonton have great light rail. I rode those systems to football games there and were also good for the hockey arenas (old and new in Edmonton).

Winnipeg doesn't have a light-rail system. I walked a lot in downtown Winnipeg and took a long bus ride to see the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Book review: The Art of Diplomacy

Former U.S. Ambassador to Canada has a new book on The Art of Diplomacy

CanadianCrossing.com travel coverage

Ottawa and Winnipeg are the logical Canadian cities to get a light-rail system. When I was there in 2014, I talked to people who said I should explore more of Ottawa. Those tasks were difficult without a car. Both cities have a lot within their downtown corridors.

Climate change is crucial. The Canadian capital can set a good example to improve transportation and quality of life and reduce the number of cars on the road. Good transportation gets that closer to reality.

The city is talking about expanding the lines, maybe even to Kanata. This will take time. Getting to this point took a lot of money and effort. Ottawa is a capital city that deserves better transportation.

photo credit: OC Transpo

2019 CFL Week 14 preview

Interest in the CFL is heating up, so putting ⅓ of the CFL teams on the sidelines is a curious decision.

ESPN2 is back with the very late Friday night game, even if not a school night. Ottawa goes a long way to Vancouver to battle the BC Lions.

The Saturday doubleheader has East going West. Hamilton is in Calgary for a afternoon contest with Montréal in the early evening in Regina. Hopefully, the game in Regina will last the full 60 minutes.

Edmonton, Toronto, and Winnipeg get to watch their fellow CFL players from a safe distance on TV.

ESPN2

Friday
Ottawa @ BC, 10p

TSN

Friday
Ottawa @ BC, 10p
Saturday
Hamilton @ Calgary, 4p
Montréal @ Saskatchewan, 7p

Bye week: Edmonton, Toronto, Winnipeg

Toronto defeated the BC Lions in Vancouver to end the 2017 regular season. That was the last Argonauts road win until Saturday in Ottawa. Toronto went all of 2018 and more than half of 2019 before posting a road win.

Ottawa looked pretty good in the first half. The RedBlacks didn't intercept too many passes and McLeod Bethel-Thompson hadn't thrown too many recently. Yet Ottawa had 2 interceptions in the first half. The Argos had the halftime lead and increased that lead in the second half.

The 29-point difference in the 46-17 win was the largest margin for the Argos since a 38-6 win over Montréal in 2017.

Vernon Adams Jr. as an individual has 10 rushing TDs. Toronto snapped a 12-game streak of having no rushing TDs as a team. Derel Walker got Toronto's first rushing TD of 2019, a 1-yard run in Ottawa. James Wilder Jr. added a rushing TD later, one of 3 touchdowns for him on the day.

The Argos are only a game behind Ottawa for third place in the East.

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The Banjo Bowl did wonders for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The split over the week with Saskatchewan kept Winnipeg in first place with Andrew Harris returning next week.

Chris Streveler had 186 passing and 70 rushing yards. He threw for 2 majors and ran for 2 more. Johnny Augustine only had 44 yards on the ground but had a 58-yard touchdown reception.

The Blue Bombers now have a 1½ game edge on Calgary and Saskatchewan and are still perfect at home.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Edmonton has a 2½ game lead on Ottawa for the crossover. The Esks other consolation is that the team doesn't have to play Calgary anymore this season. Edmonton is 6-3 against the rest of the league but 0-3 against the Stampeders.

Trevor Harris suffered an upper body injury. Logan Kilgore filled in for Harris. The Esks have a bye so we'll know more next week about whether Kilgore or Harris will start.

Mike Reilly stands alone in taking the vast majority of snaps for a CFL team.

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BC had won 4 straight in Montréal and the last 7 overall versus the Alouettes but this is a different Montréal club. They did just enough to get past the Lions for the team's third straight win. The Lions had 4 scores vs. 3 for the Alouettes but the Montréal scores were all major plays.

Both teams were coming off the bye and played a sluggish first quarter. The play was so bad that Chris Cuthbert made a Packers-Bears joke that Glen Suitor found very funny.

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Chris Cuthbert and Glen Suitor got plenty of travel miles with a stop in Montréal and a quick turnaround the next day to Edmonton.

Rod Black and Matt Dunigan drew the lucky straw and got to call the Banjo Bowl in Winnipeg. Gord Miller made his 2019 CFL debut with Duane Forde in the nation's capital.

For those scoring at home, Dustin Nielson is ahead of Gord Miller 2-1 in appearances.

Cuthbert and Miller will be busy over the next 2 weeks splitting 6 Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators preseason games (4 telecasts for each team and they play each other twice).

2019 CFL Week 13 preview

Welcome to the first post-Labour Day CFL weekend aka revenge games. Well, some of them are revenge games. CFL traditionalists are not happy.

The last 2 games of the Saturday tripleheader are pure revenge games. The Banjo Bowl in Winnipeg is in the middle with the Battle of Alberta in Edmonton in the late slot.

Toronto and Hamilton don't get a revenge game. The Argos are in Ottawa, a team coming off a Labour Day bye. Hamilton gets to rest up.

The Friday Night game has the other teams with the Labour Day bye as the BC Lions are in Montréal.

TSN

Friday
BC @ Montréal, 7:30p
Saturday
Toronto @ Ottawa, 1p
Saskatchewan @ Winnipeg, 4p
Calgary @ Edmonton, 7p

Bye week: Hamilton

The Labour Day weekend intensity was in form in Hamilton with multiple skirmishes. In the most significant skirmish, James Wilder Jr. (Toronto) appeared to start the matter with Simoni Lawrence (Hamilton). In the end, the referees ejected a pair of Tiger-Cats secondary members – Frankie Williams and Tunde Adeleke – along with a net 25 yards in penalties against Hamilton.

The Argonauts built up a 13-point halftime lead similar to the first half against the Montréal Alouettes in Moncton the previous week. However, the Argos only got 3 points off 4 Hamilton turnovers and 12 points off turnovers for the season.

Dane Evans threw 19 straight completions to start the second half. The Tiger-Cats had 0 turnovers in the second half and outscored the Argonauts 27-3 in that time.

Hamilton has now won 6 straight Labour Day contests over Toronto. The Argos now have gone 12 straight games in a row without a rushing TD, a CFL record.

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Winnipeg held its own in Regina for the Labour Day Classic. The Blue Bombers struggled early. Both defences dominated the first half. The teams went silent for most of the second half with 10 total points in the final 3 minutes.

Johnny Augustine had a 55-yard run but otherwise didn't produce much for the Blue Bombers. William Powell had a great last drive for the Roughriders though Saskatchewan took awhile to call his number.

Saskatchewan has now won 6 straight in the regular season and 14 of the last 15 Labour Day Classic games against Winnipeg.

The expectations for Winnipeg were a split against Saskatchewan. A win in the Banjo Bowl would make that happen.

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Bo Levi Mitchell returned for Calgary and made things look pretty easy in the win. Trevor Harris and the Edmonton offence made life easier for the Stampeders by continuing the field goals over touchdowns route.

Reggie Begelton now has 5 touchdowns in the last 2 games. Calgary jumped into 3rd place and now has the tiebreaker with Edmonton. Mitchell and his teammates know the Grey Cup is a "home game" in 2019 so the second-half opponents should be ready.

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In the bye week, Montréal signed receiver Chris Matthews, who was released by Winnipeg.

Bryan Chiu didn't last long as the offensive line coach for the BC Lions. The Lions hired Kelly Bates to replace Chiu. The offensive line in Vancouver has been offensive as in allowing a lot of sacks in failing to protect Mike Reilly. The team might be more upset that Chiu can't suit up and block like he did for Anthony Calvillo in Montréal.

Chiu previously coached with Ottawa and Toronto. Good luck to Bates.

Jonathon Jennings will start for Ottawa at quarterback against Toronto.

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The announcers followed the traditional path for the Labour Day weekend.

Chris Cuthbert and Glen Suitor were in Regina on Sunday and Calgary on Monday. Rod Black and Duane Forde spent the holiday in Hamilton.

This is from a few weeks ago: this Awful Announcing article on the Rod Black drinking game is a fun read. The drinking game centres around things Black often says during CFL telecasts on TSN.

2019 CFL Week 12 preview

We are at a loss for words for how empty the CFL Labour Day weekend is in 2019. The BC Lions are used to being alone on the end of summer holiday long weekend. The Lions are joined by Montréal and Ottawa, teams that had developed a healthy Labour Day rivalry.

The more traditional Prairie matchup is Sunday with the Blue Bombers in Regina without Andrew Harris.

Monday is a bit more traditional with the Battle of southern Ontario back to a daytime 1 pm kickoff in Hamilton. The Battle of Alberta is the last game of the day from Calgary.

The true spirit of the CFL is these games and the revenge games.

TSN

Sunday
Winnipeg @ Saskatchewan, 3p
Monday
Toronto @ Hamilton, 1p
Edmonton @ Calgary, 4:30p

Bye week: BC, Montréal, Ottawa

It wouldn’t be #TouchdownAtlantic without these guys. pic.twitter.com/xOJkK0a2HA

— Atlantic Schooners (@SchoonersATL) August 25, 2019

CFL once again comes to Moncton for 2019 Touchdown Atlantic

Seeing Moncton reminded me so much of my 2013 Touchdown Atlantic trip. Seeing Moncton on TV in the United States was a rather rare phenomenon.

Rod Black did well to talk up Moncton, New Brunswick, the Maritimes, and the Atlantic Schooners. Black and Forde interviewed Anthony LeBlanc and Bruce Bowser of the Atlantic Schooners at the beginning of the 2nd quarter.

The announced crowd was 10,126, far below the crowd of 15,123 in 2013. The high ticket prices were a concern. The Schooners people have said the success of the game will have no impact on the bid to have a permanent team in Halifax.

The CFL game Thursday mentioned a couple of Winnipeg Blue Bombers from New Brunswick: Mike Miller (Riverview) and Jake Thomas (Douglas). Miller also did a promo that aired Sunday. This is a nice cross-promotion to show the interest in football in the Maritimes.

The Moncton crowd got an exciting game eventually. Toronto dominated the 2nd quarter. McLeod Bethel-Thompson fumbled a snap late in the first half that could have made the difference. The Alouettes and Vernon Adams Jr. relied on the long ball to mount a comeback in the 3rd quarter. The game came down to the final play.

Henry Burris brought a perspective to the CFL on TSN panel since he was the Hamilton quarterback in the 2013 Touchdown Atlantic. Montréal is now 1-1 in Moncton, losing 28-26 in 2013 to Hamilton. Toronto is 0-2 in Moncton, losing 24-6 to Edmonton in 2010. Hamilton is 2-0, also winning 55-36 over Calgary in 2011.

IT'S GAME DAY! It's the Battle of Alberta (right @AJCole90?)

This one is for 1st place!

🏟️: @TheBrick Field at Commonwealth Stadium
⚔️: Winnipeg Blue Bombers
⏰: 7:00 PM MT
📺: TSN
📻: 630 CHED
🎟️: https://t.co/9waRWy6fIn

🏈| #OneEmpire pic.twitter.com/5oJUjAJO3P

— Edmonton Eskimos (@EdmontonEsks) August 23, 2019

NFL in Winnipeg with no starters and an 80-yard field

A NFL preseason game in a CFL stadium should be with the wide and long field. No need to move any goal posts. The NFL should also deliberately set up a well-planned preseason game in Canada.

Some people learned that Winnipeg is in Manitoba. Figure that 99.9999% of the CanadianCrossing.com audience knew that but other people didn't know.

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Winnipeg in Edmonton wasn't really the Battle of Alberta but was held up as an exciting game to watch. The Esks kicked 7 field goals without a touchdown in the first matchup in Winnipeg.

The Blue Bombers defence held Edmonton to 6 straight field goals in Edmonton. The Esks finally broke free with a TD with 68 seconds left in the game.

The last 78 seconds featured a single for Winnipeg (more of that in a second), an Edmonton TD, and a field goal for each team. Can't leave a CFL game early.

The single point came on a sack and fumble of Trevor Harris by Willie Jefferson. Jefferson kicked the ball into the end zone but the ball was touched by an Edmonton player to go out of bounds. Chris Cuthbert chalked that up as a safety, which would have given the ball to Winnipeg. The referees said the scoring play resulted in a single point. The difference came in Jefferson kicking the ball. The result also gave Edmonton the ball back and the Esks got a 75-yard TD pass on the next play.

Edmonton came away from the 2-game series with 13 field goals and a TD. Love Sean Whyte but that is some tough defence by Winnipeg. Jefferson also made a spectacular play to bat the onside kick out of bounds.

The Esks were 4-0 at home and won their last 6 games at home. Winnipeg came in with its backup quarterback Chris Streveler and changed that dynamic.

Streveler did have 95 rushing yards on 14 carries and only 7/17 for 89 passing yards. Winnipeg doesn't have the stats but wins games, the same scenario under Matt Nichols.

Streveler outran Andrew Harris who had 13 carries for 89 yards.

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"Milt Stegall on the CFL on TSN panel noted that (Andrew) Harris is getting better with age, rare among running backs." — last week's CFL update

Andrew Harris will be suspended for 2 games after testing positive for metandienone. Harris will miss the home-and-home with Saskatchewan.

I don't have the science knowledge to know how much metandienone has an impact on a running back in his early 30s. Harris released an extensive statement on the matter.

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You didn't have to be in the Eastern or Atlantic time zone to fall asleep during the Hamilton-BC game in Vancouver Saturday night. The Lions didn't score a TD until the final minute of the game. The teams had 6 combined points in the first half.

Watching Mike Reilly continue to get beat up is turning sad for everyone other than the opposing team and its fans. Reilly has been sacked 44 times.

The Tiger-Cats are now 2-6 in their last 8 games in Vancouver. The BC Lions have played 10 games but only 4 at home. The Lions are still winless at home.

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Dominique Davis threw 3 straight interceptions for the RedBlacks that led to 17 points for the Roughriders. Jonathon Jennings came in relief for Ottawa.

The Ottawa offence has struggled this season. Ottawa lost its offensive coordinator about a month before training camp for a 2020 XFL position. Winston October got a promotion within the staff to be receivers coach and offensive coordinator.

The RedBlacks went old school with Joe Paopao, former Ottawa Renegades head coach, to be the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. October is still the receivers coach. We'll see the impact of the move in the coming weeks.

Give credit to the Saskatchewan defence. The Roughriders have now won 5 straight.

Had a great time calling my first @CFLonTSN game in a long time. Thanks to @MattDuniganTSN producer Jeff MacLeod and everyone else on the crew. Wasnt a picasso but felt like a thriller to me! Thanks for the opportunity @TSN_Sports. #BCLions #TiCats pic.twitter.com/MYikhlbfIl

— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) August 25, 2019

Rod Black and Duane Forde were in Moncton for Touchdown Atlantic. I remember that they called the last Touchdown Atlantic in 2013 because I saw them on the field before the game. Chris Cuthbert and Glen Suitor stayed out west in Edmonton and Regina.

Farhan Lalji worked off a bit of rust with Matt Dunigan in Vancouver. Lalji did rather well in the role. He knows the game very well but the play-by-play voice is different than the reporter voice. Lalji is now the 5th person to call a CFL game on TSN this season and that doesn't factor in Gord Miller, who hasn't called a game so far.

Twitter captures: @SchoonersATL; @EdmontonEsks; @FarhanLaljiTSN

NFL in Winnipeg with no starters and an 80-yard field

No starters. An 80-yard field. No kickoffs. The NFL in Winnipeg was a night to remember and forget.

The CFL goal posts are on the goal line as opposed to the NFL goal posts found at the back end of the end zone. The issues with the patch in the south end zone for the CFL goal posts forced the game into an 80-yard field. Oakland had decided not to play its starters before the goal post issue. Green Bay decided to pull its starters after that decision.

The Oakland Raiders scored the only 12 points of the second half; Daniel Carlson won the game with a 33-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining. Oakland edged out the Green Bay Packers 22-21 at IG Field in Winnipeg last night. The Packers scored all their points in the 2nd quarter.

The 80-yard field wasn't the shortest in NFL history. The 1932 NFL playoff game between the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans (later Detroit Lions) had 60 yards in between the goal lines inside Chicago Stadium instead of Wrigley Field.

Hello, Canada! 🤙🇨🇦@AaronRodgers12 pic.twitter.com/RpLYP0C9UX

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) August 21, 2019

Aaron Rodgers was the biggest star potentially to take the field. Rodgers has not played in the preseason. The Green Bay star quarterback did make a dramatic entrance at the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport in a Canadian tuxedo.

Rodgers was introduced to the idea of the Canadian tuxedo via Cabbie aka Cabral Richards on TSN.

apologies to the citizens of Winnipeg, Manitoba... just a kid from Atlanta, Florida playing football in Oakland, Nevada with a low geography IQ @Raiders https://t.co/oh0i2tJbNR

— AJ Cole III (@AJCole90) August 22, 2019

AJ Cole III is hoping for a long NFL career as a punter instead of going back to school to learn to teach geography. Cole bought a shirt, reportedly via Amazon, that said "Winnipeg, Alberta." Alberta has Edmonton and Calgary, not Winnipeg. Manitoba has Winnipeg and Churchill, home of the polar bears.

The shirt maker didn't check to see if it was wrong. The player didn't check to see if it was right. At least Alberta is in Canada.

Jeopardy contestant comes up blank on Canadian cities

Getting an element Canadian and wrong reminded us of the Jeopardy player who told us under pressure that Edmonton was in Ontario; Whistler was in Alberta; and Moose Javians (Saskatchewan) live in Winnipeg.

Loud and proud for the North, @LWillson_82
—#HardKnocks airs Tuesdays at 10ET on @HBO pic.twitter.com/mawFbeVFBC

— Oakland Raiders (@Raiders) August 22, 2019

Luke Willson is a successful Canadian NFL player in his first season in Oakland. Willson grew up in LaSalle, Ontario near Windsor. He missed the first preseason game and only had a single catch for 4 yards last week. Willson didn't have any catches in Winnipeg.

The Upon Further Review podcast hosted on raiders.com interviewed Willson about Canada. Willson said he had never been to Winnipeg. He pointed out that the NFL is big in Canada. Willson noted that he was drafted by the Toronto Argonauts and has not been to a CFL game. To be fair, Willson grew up close to Detroit. He said the CFL draft happened 4 years past secondary school so he was drafted in his junior year at Rice University (Willson was red-shirted).

The Raiders started running back James Butler, who signed earlier this year with the Saskatchewan Roughriders but didn't stick around.

Hard Knocks from HBO is following the Raiders this summer. We don't anticipate too much coverage of Winnipeg.

Oakland, Green Bay to play NFL preseason game in Winnipeg

If the NFL is serious about building a relationship with Canada, the league should look into how much Canadians will invest in the product. We heard a lot of rhetoric from the Buffalo Bills Toronto series about exorbitant ticket prices for preseason and regular season NFL games.

The Oakland-Green Bay game easily sold out the $75 seats in the corners of the upper deck. The 40+ suites easily sold out. The average ticket price for the remaining seats (including parking, taxes, and fees) was reportedly just short of $200. All prices are Canadian dollars. U.S. media converts those numbers to American dollars but Canadians buy those tickets in Canadian dollars.

With about 2 weeks to go, the price of the 5,500-6,000 end zone seats went from $164 to $75 (both prices before taxes and fees).

The 3rd preseason game is considered the best of the preseason. Then again, CFL fans only get 2 preseason games in their league.

The better deal, and one that would have earned everyone more money, is to price the tickets so fans would want to buy them. You can’t make money off concessions and parking unless people show up. You get the nice visual of a large crowd in a beautiful facility.

We know the Blue Bombers are being compensated for providing the host venue. Not clear as to whether the compensation is tied to attendance.

The attendance was announced at 21,992. That number reflected purchases for the 40+ suites. They seemed to steer the fans toward where they would be on TV. The crowd didn't look too bad in the 33,000 seat stadium.

For future travel to the stadium, you can avoid parking costs if you take the #60 bus from downtown. The #36 and #51 buses also connect to the stadium.

Bills Toronto series is done

Wide receiver Mervyn Fernandez, who just got inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame earlier this month, also played for the Raiders. Fernandez played for the BC Lions from 1982-1986 and 1994 and for the Los Angeles Raiders from 1987-1992.

Fernandez traveled throughout Canada leading up to the game to promote the contest. The Oakland Raiders TV team interviewed Fernandez during the game.

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The Boston Red Sox drew more than 16,000 yesterday for the continuation of a suspended game. Admission was $5, free for kids, with $1 hot dogs. The game only lasted 12 minutes.

A different approach would have drawn a joyous crowd. What if the tickets were set up to draw a huge crowd? What if the NFL decided to have some fun and play an exhibition on a CFL sized field. The NFL and CFL played exhibition games with different sized fields from what one of the leagues was used to doing. If the NFL can play on an 80-yard field, why not a 110-yard field for a contrast.

The argument for not using Mosaic Stadium was the quick turnaround between NFL and CFL. The Saskatchewan Roughriders look like geniuses for not hosting the NFL. If the NFL had more imagination, they could have played on a CFL field in Regina.

Let's not put NFL games in Canada with people who don't understand the country and have no imagination. Imagine what the impact would have looked like with a full stadium and the joy of playing on a larger field.

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The halftime show was Winnipeg band Attica Riots. The set didn't make the cut for the NFL Network.

TSN, RDS, and the NFL Network picked up the Oakland Raiders feed via KTVU-2 Oakland and KICU-36 San Jose. The crew made some references to Winnipeg and Canada. Beth Mowins made a joke late in the game about Green Bay being "3rd down and Alberta" referring to Cole's shirt.

photo credit: KTVU/Oakland and KICU/San Jose / Oakland Raiders/NFL
Twitter captures: @packers; @AJCole90; @Raiders