Players, Coaches and Management Talk
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Forest City Times-Herald - Livingston landed in the CFL after trying out for a number of NFL teams, signing on with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. His stay in the CFL lasted two years before a back injury ended his playing days. In all, Livingston enjoyed a 38-year career in …
For those of you who keep saying the CFL should not go up against that other league that plays on Sunday because they have the inherent "right" to that day.
Again, those of you are wrong.
The numbers are in and TSN has the highest CFL number for the weekend and their highest of the year.
I have done the top 10 with comments.
1.CFL, Sunday Win-Mon TSN @264,000, but the RDS numbers in Quebec average 260,000= MASSIVE 524,000
2.CFL, Sunday BC-Sask TSN @517,000 great # for an equally great game, its highest vewership. Overall over 1 Million watched CFL on Sunday and smoked any and all competition
3.CFL, Friday Ham-Edm TSN @408,000 well above season average of 329,000 and wins Friday night
4.Golf, Saturday Ryder Cup TSN @331,000
5.NFL, Sunday Den-NE TSN @320,000
6.CFL, Saturday Tor-Cal CBC @307,000 dull game probably turned off some below season average 390,000
7.Baseball, Bos-Tor Sunday Sportsnet @263,000 out of contention out of mind
8.Baseball, Bos-Tor Friday Sportsnet @262,000
9.Golf, Sunday Ryder Cup TSN @204,000
10. Baseball, Bos-Tor Saturday Sportsnet @201,000
Stockhouse Canada - Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Buzz & Boomer, Gail Asper, Winnipeg Free Press Publisher Andy Ritchie, Free Press, Global Television and COOL FM personalities and staff, City of Winnipeg Police mounted horse unit, plus more… The CanWest Raise-a-Reader …
There could be more delays in the aggravated sexual assault trial of former Saskatchewan Roughrider Trevis Smith if the defence has its way.
The New Orleans Saints made winning look easy as they celebrated a triumphant return to the Big Easy on Monday.
The leaves are changing, the football chill is in the air. The CFL’s "second half" is well underway, driving home the reality that the season never was and its never coming back.
We lost a summer of weekday treks down Bank St…towards cold beer, good friends, scalding parking lot, and the shelter the Nation built.
The anticipation growing with the incoming crowd, the summer clothed lovelies, and the greeting of familiar faces en route to DD or elsewhere.
Time measured not by the clock, but by the change from daylight to dusk to dark, by the rhythm of the game and the beverages consumed.
And we missed the Game. God we missed the Game. From the introductions to the anthem we could barely hear to the thrill of the kickoff. The drives aborted and successful, passes caught or not, hits missed and made.
And the reasons to celebrate. Interceptions, first downs made or prevented, getting to the point in a close game where every play became The Most Important Play of the Game…watching a sport with more reasons for the crowd to erupt than any other.
All lost.
Even the Hitches innumerable are missed.
It was a summer lacking in features…things to look forward to…reasons to enjoy.
And denied to us still as the second half begins with crisp air, chili that doesn’t suck, sausages grilled and chicken legs crocked…blankets, warm drinks and afternoon sunlight.
Elsewhere these exist.
Here, only in the world of "should be".
And with that, the realization as well that doubtless we’ll be losing all this again next year - anticipation for 2008 almost outweighed by realization that the black hole remains for another season.
I want my *frig* team back.
TSN - The team with the most pressure to perform in their last five games is the Edmonton Eskimos. They total eight regular season points, six behind both the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East. It is not over …
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2006/09/26/qc-molsonstadium.html?ref=rss
and
I for one am happy to see this finally resolved. Obviously the only kink would be a referendum by residence. At least the tree huggers, er, Friends of the Mountain are happy. 
Vancouver Sun - An hour or so after the Als suffered their sixth straight defeat Sunday afternoon at the hands of the mediocre Winnipeg Blue Bombers, I ran into a gentleman outside the Impact game who also had been retailing tickets for the Als earlier in the day. I …
SLAM! Sports - We know the 2006 season has been a confusing one for all you diehard CFL fans. Edmonton is about to miss the playoffs for the first time in 34 years, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are going to play a meaningful home game in late September, and the …
Two of the strongest teams in the conference are struggling, Montreal and Edmonton, and does anyone have any answers.
Sorry, Esks, but it IS a big deal
Willingness to ’stay the course’ further proof that 4-9 franchise is mired in a leadership crisis– and in a state of denial
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| What you’re seeing doesn’t jibe with what you’re hearing from the Eskimos.
What you’re seeing is a team in spectacular, history-making decline. In the past 40 years, only six Canadian Football League teams have won the Grey Cup one year and missed the playoffs the next. The Eskimos are perhaps two losses away from membership in that exclusive and embarrassing club. But what you’re hearing from Chief Executive Officer Hugh Campbell is "no big deal." In fact, he wouldn’t sweat if they struggled like this again next year, which is a disingenuous take coming as it does from somebody who will be retired by then. What you see from the Eskimos in the West Division standings is a laughable 4-9. What you hear from management is "stay the course," which makes you think they are prepared to accept 4-14 and chalk it up to experience. What you’re seeing is a crisis in leadership that permeates the dressing room, the coaches’ room and the executive suite. What you’re hearing from most of those quarters is denial. If the Eskimos had adopted these unseemly attitudes prior to the 2006 season, they wouldn’t own a North American pro sports record for 34 consecutive playoff appearances. They would own a record more like Ottawa’s. That there are cracks in the foundation of even the most solid CFL franchise is inevitable. That we are seeing them one year after they won a Grey Cup is extraordinary. That we are hearing no concrete plan to address them this year, with five games and a mathematical shot at a playoff spot still remaining, is unconscionable. There are no innocent bystanders here. The players have failed the coaches. The coaches have failed management. And management has failed the fans. What you’re seeing, at 21 points per game, is the franchise’s worst offensive output of the 18-game era, which began 20 years ago. What you’re hearing is head coach/offensive co-ordinator Danny Maciocia laughing at critics who condemn his attack for its predictable and conservative nature. |
Media Report: Enough is enough, Matthews has to go
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| MONTREAL — An hour or so after the Als suffered their sixth straight defeat Sunday afternoon at the hands of the mediocre Winnipeg Blue Bombers, I ran into a certain gentleman who had been retailing tickets for the Als earlier in the day. I asked whether was having trouble moving tickets for the Alouettes.
"Are you kidding?" he said. "We couldn’t give them away. I was buying platinum tickets for $10 and selling them for $20. It’s over It’s over for this year." Those are the same platinum seats the Als offer for anything between $140 and $200 apiece. The Als had their 69th straight sellout at Percival Molson on Sunday. If the facility had the extra 5,000 seats the Alouettes want to add, however, it’s doubtful they could have come anywhere near filling it. The problem is not complex. The carefully cultivated, community-friendly image of the Alouettes has been destroyed almost single-handedly by one Don Matthews, irascible coach, self-styled genius, media-hater and baiter. Enough. The Genius has this team in the throes of a six-game losing streak and the moment of truth looms on Oct. 21 with a game at the Olympic Stadium against the Edmonton Eskimos. The 4-9 Esks are awful this year and the Als may need that one to make the playoffs — but for owners Bob and Lisa Wetenhall, the annual Big Owe date is the bottom-line game: they need a big crowd for that one and a home playoff date at the same venue to keep the red ink off the books. If the Als play the Eskimos in front of a crowd of 25,000 or less, we may finally get some sense of the devastating impact Matthews has had on this franchise. Then perhaps the Wetenhalls, who have been far too tolerant with Matthews for far too long, will finally get the message: This coach is killing this franchise. |
This is the HC who’s team has had more wins, dominated the conference and had sellout games. Media can turn on a player, coach in this league faster than someone can change their socks. I realize the Als are struggling, but it’s not like this team never does well, or that they’re a 2 - 11 team. What’s up? Has Matthews PO’d some media over the years? Some coaches have stuck around with losing records for years. Take Paopao for example. But Matthews has produced winning teams. I do agree there needs to be a shakeup though. What exactly, I don’t know, the Als struggles are totally puzzling. It looks to be more a problem with the oline, possibly Calvillo and there needs to be changes, or there will be more of these articles, and some firings very soon if the right changes don’t come fast enough.
Hamilton Spectator - And, oh, wouldn’t Winnipeg Grey Cup organizers like to see Big Blue against the Green Riders on Nov. 19. The Banjo Bowl in a tuxedo. The Bombers, despite being the only one of the three to play the Cats, have the hardest schedule of the trio, and the …
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