A Questionable Look At This Week’s Top 10:

CFL Football Hilltops Hockey Riders Saskatoon Blades Top Stories

We’ll it’s Tuesday and after giving thanks on the weekend. Here are a few of my head scratchers from the week that was:

10 Does Chris Getzlaf deserve to be benched? His key drop at the start of the 3rd Quarter on Saturday could have and should have been a game changer. The Green and White are going to need that catch if they want to host a home play-off game, not to mention playing in their own Grey Cup.

9 Why do the Riders seem to run the ball with Kory Sheets on the majority of first down plays? Having the opportunity to stand beside Edmonton Defensive Coordinator Greg Marshall he was calling to his defence seconds prior to snap what the Rider play would be by their formation. This Rider tendency is allowing defences to shut them down on first down and force second and long, to which the Green and White seemed to be in all afternoon on Saturday.

8 If you could be the Saskatchewan Roughriders Offensive Coordinator for a day what would you do? For me I would work on a flea flicker. A play where you hand the ball to Kory Sheets, have him flip it back to Darian Durant for him to throw the ball downfield. It may keep defences a little more honest.

7 Does common sense need to prevail on the football field with the officials? Yes it should just ask the Edmonton Eskimos! On third and goal from the one yard line with under a minute to go in Regina on Saturday, Quarterback Mike Reilly’s entire torso from the knees up was across the goal line. Unfortunately for Reilly and the Eskimos the officials could not see the football to determine whether or not it crossed-the-goal line. Now logically unless he was carrying the ball at his ankles (which he wasn’t) physics should dictate that he was across the line. Unfortunately the officials on the field nor the guys at CFL control in Toronto could see the football.

6 Should Kerry Joseph go into the Roughriders Plaza Of Honour? His body of work in Riderville was short, however, he did bring a championship to Regina. Judging by the number of fans that he personally met with, interacted with, and heard cheers of support from I would have to think it’s a no brainer.

5 Why don’t the BC Lions run the ball with Andrew Harris? Heard a great answer to this one on the weekend; with young Thomas DeMarco at quarterback in place of Travis Lulay the Lions want to set him up to succeed. Through their self-scouting they found that running the ball on first down predominantly is leaving them in second and long situations. Therefore, to give him more of a chance to succeed they prefer using a high percentage passing play in order to make second down more manageable and give him a better shot at success.

4 What is happening to the Toronto Argonauts? Seemingly things were looking up in Toronto after winning four straight road games. However, two straight losses to Hamilton have made things a whole lot more interesting in the CFL’s East Division. The losses haven’t been bad but with the Argos getting healthier they are baffling. The Boatmen need to find a way to get back to executing their game plan instead of perhaps waiting for someone else to do it. (that someone else being their players returning from injury)

3 One more on the CFL, and how did Kent Austin challenge a pass interference call? In yesterday’s Hamilton Tiger Cat game a pass thrown by Toronto was deflected on the way to the intended receiver by a Hamilton half back. Seconds before the deflection a Toronto receiver was tackled by a different Ti-Cat DB. The long and short of it is that Kent was hoping that the command centre was viewing whether or not the ball was tipped they would also determine if a pass interference call was warranted. To be truthful I had no idea that a tipped pass was grounds for a challenge, which I cannot substantiate one way or the other from the CFL rule book. However, if it is not grounds for a challenge Kent Austin and the Ti-Cats should be fined for trying to circumvent the rules and the officials on the field and in Toronto at the command centre should also be fined for allowing the challenge to stand. On the other hand if it as an appropriate challenge Kent should go into law school for finding that loop hole in the rule.

2 How about those Saskatoon Blades?? The Bridge City Bunch are on a five game winning streak. I mentioned earlier that once the team learned out to win that they may turn some heads. That in part may have happened but more realistically Alex Moodie is turning into the dependable starting goaltender that the Blades knew that they had.

1 Can the Saskatoon Hilltops repeat as PFC and Canadian Champions? Yes they can! Will they? It’s going to be tough the offence looked pretty good against a winless Calgary team on the weekend. This week they take on an Edmonton Wildcats team that is very much like they are; great running game, swarming defence, and an inconsistent passing attack at times. If they can get past the Cats the Hilltops will definitely have a great opportunity.

 

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