Eskimos win round one in a classic Alberta shootout

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The recap from TSN.ca

The turning point: There were about six different turning points in what could easily end up being the CFL’s game of the year – it so far is just that – but the biggest turning point came on the kickoff after the Stampeders touchdown. Sandro DeAngelis pooched a short kickoff that went all of 43 yards.  Eskimos kick returner Tristan Jackson actually muffed the original fielding of the kick, but with the first wave of Stampeders tacklers changing their focus from tackling Jackson to recovering the loose ball.  The shift in focus actually became a huge break for Jackson as he quickly picked up the ball and and scampered quickly for a 35 yard return to the Calgary 43 yard line.  Three plays later Ray lobbed a 23 yard touchdown pass to Fred Stamps for the Eskimos win.

The game ball goes to: There were so many great offensive performances in this game and we’ll go over those in a moment, but we’ll give the game ball to Ricky Ray who walked away tonight as the winning QB.  28 out of 37 passing for 342 yards and three touchdowns!  He also five times for 52 yards, including a great 27 yard touchdown run where he looked like a carbon copy of Henry Burris.  Speaking of Burris, hard to believe his 30 of 45 passing for an eye popping 479 yards and three touchdowns wasn’t enough for a win.  Stamps wideouts Jeremaine Copeland and Nik Lewis had 182 and 132 yards receiving respectively.   Esks running back Arkee Whitlock had 106 yards on nine rushes.  All great performances, but it was Ray’s that stood out.

Random game thoughts: Henry Burris became the Stampeders all-time passing leader in the second quarter, passing Doug Flutie’s mark of 20,551 yards  …  The Eskimos had 2 turnovers in the game while only getting one fumble return putting their turnover ratio at -12 for the season.  They still don’t have a defensive interception this season  …  The Stampeders lead the league in points off of turnovers with 98.  They had 6 points in tonight’s game  …  Stamps had won four of their last seven visits to Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium before tonight’s game  …  Eskimos running back Jessie Lumsden underwent successful shoulder surgery this past Tuesday and will be out for the rest of the season  …  Both teams will play each other two more times this season three weeks from now for the Labour Day classic and rematch the following Friday.

Final grades
Stamps Offense: A
Stamps Defense: C-
Stamps Special Teams: C+

Eskimos Offense: A
Eskimos Defense: C
Eskimos Special Teams: A

For Stamps and Esks fans, tonight is opening night.

Good Morning Edmonton.

Howdy Calgary.

Welcome to the 2009 CFL season.

As is the case every season, you’ll see that your beloved teams have already played a handful of games already and both sit with identical three win and three loss records.  They both took somewhat different paths to get there, but if there is one thing both Stamps and Esks cans can agree on – and trust me, there are only a handful of those – it’s that nothing else mattered up until tonight.

The rest of the CFL probably doesn’t understand what we have going here in Alberta.  Yeah sure, we’ve kept our eye on the games – we’ve probably attended most of them!  Sure games against Saskatchewan and BC are important and they count in the regular season standings just as much, but games featuring the battle of Alberta count a lot more in our hearts.  A win for Edmonton and they will just pile on to that 119-76-3 edge record wise they have over their brothers to the south.  A win for Calgary and it’s one small step closer to evening the score.

No other CFL city has to deal with here in Alberta.  We deal with each other and live amongst ourselves pretty much every day!  Stampeder fans living in Edmonton… Eskimo fans living in Calgary.  We live no more than three hours away from each other (soon to be much less if this high speed train idea ever happens) so after one of our teams wins that game, it’s almost impossible not to hear about it from the winning side and impossible not to hear ‘you got lucky’ coming back as a retort from the losing side.  They don’t understand that most of us are also Flames and Oiler fans, so our hatred for the rival team in the winter just gets transferred over onto the gridiron.

Sure you could argue Toronto and Montreal could have the same rivalry, but who is really making the six hour commute between the two cities?  Could Toronto and Hamilton have the same rivalry?  Perhaps, but lets be honest once hockey season hits half of those TiCat fans probably turn into Leafs supporters – I mean Harold Ballard at one point did own both teams and unlike the Leafs, won a championship with the TiCats!

Winnipeg / Saskatchewan?!  Pffft…  Child please!  Riders v Blue Bombers has been manufactured and spurred on by some kicker’s comments about a banjo – which I might add is a truly noble and worthy musical instrument and not deserving of the ridicule it has gotten from this rivalry.

No other rivalry matches the battle of Alberta.  Yes I am from Alberta, so I am biased…  Sue me.  But I dare you to find me examples of more intense battles between to cities and two teams!

Yes I have a “Argos Suck” button that a friend got for me six years ago when he went to Toronto to show me just how deep feelings run in that rivalry…  The only thing I can say to that is that if Eskimo and Stampeder fans were allowed to say what they truly think of their rivals there wouldn’t be a button big enough to hold all the words.

One of my favorite moments on the Stamps CFL Traditions DVD I have (a great series by the way if you don’t own it, you should find it!) is Gizmo Williams telling stories about how even old grandmas would be yelling obscenities at him!

It’s been like this for years, nay, decades now.  The CFL season started six weeks ago, the real season for Esks and Stamps fans alike starts tonight!

Enjoy the game football fans!

TiCats just winning in the rain

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The recap from TSN.ca

The Turning Point: Many would point to the 40 yard run by TiCats running back DeAndra’ Cobb that helped set up QB Quinton Porter’s 1 yard dive into the end zone for the game winning points as the turning point, but Cobb’s run which was called a touchdown at first was subject to a booth review and it was shown that he was stopped short by about four feet.  This forced Hamilton to run another play (Porter’s TD dive) and more importantly took another 10 seconds off the game clock.  The Esks offense didn’t get the ball back until there was 42 seconds left when if the Cobb TD had been allowed to stand they would have gotten it with 55 or more seconds on the clock.  Ricky Ray did well to move the ball very quickly down the field and with 9 seconds left did have the ball at the 33 yard line but only had time for one more play.  If it had not been for the mandatory booth review that becomes automatic with three minutes left at the end of each half and the subsequent need to run another play, the Esks may have actually had time for two plays from the 33 yard line and a chance to get the answering TD to tie the game.

The game ball goes to: Hamilton QB Quinton Porter 25 out of 27 passing for 211 yards and 1 touchdown.  He also rushed 3 times for 17 yards, his final rush was the game winning touchdown dive with a minute left in the game.  He took care of the ball and even when his offense stalled a few times in the first quarter he did not get frustrated and start trying to force passes.

Random game thoughts: In six games, the TiCats have only given up 14 points in the 4th quarter.  Those 14 were against the BC Lions in week 2 – a game Hamilton still won  …  TiCats wideout Arland Bruce started being thrown to more in this game, he had 8 catches for 78 yards  …  Fred Stamps for the Eskimos also had a good day receiving with 7 catches for 150 yards  …  Efrem Hill started at wide receiver for the Esks in place of Maurice Mann who was a late scratch for Esks coach Richie Hall.  He had three catches in the game for 60 yards, the first two of those catches of the athletic one foot barley inbounds type  …  Edmonton kicker Noel Prefontane was 4 for 4 kicking field goals  …  Ricky Ray had a decent night going 23 out of 37 pass attempts for 335 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.  Both INTs took place on plays where he was hit while throwing.  …  The Eskimos made four trips into the redzone and only came away with one touchdown and three field goals.

Final grades
Eskimos Offense: B-
Eskimos Defense: C
Eskimos Special Teams: B-

TiCats Offense: B+
TiCats Defense: B+
TiCats Special Teams: B