I Don't Like Mondays — September 21, 2015
We are two weeks into the NFL season. The New England Patriots are 2-0. The Detroit Lions are 0-2. Some call this competitive balance. But TV folks simply call it continuity.
The half dozen most important moments of this week’s NFL:
- The Patriots crushed division rival Bills in Buffalo. Just because they can.
- The Cowboys have now lost both Tony Romo and Dez Bryant for a long time. Can you say Brandon Weeden?
- Even Weeden looks great to Eagles fans who’ve seen enough of Rams reject Sam Bradford in just two games.
- Aaron Rodgers is God on those days that Tom Brady phones in sick on the job.
- Seattle still hasn’t won since eschewing Marshawn Lynch for a fancy pass in the Super Bowl.
- Johnny Manziel quarterbacked the Browns to a win, and it did not rain frogs or snow ink.
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This was always going to be a transitional year for the CFL. With the longed-for move of the Toronto Argos away from the long shadow of the Blue Jays to a park they can (almost) call their own, it was a question of just getting through 2015. Reviving the southern Ontario market is the mansion on the hill for new commissioner Jeffery Orridge.
But that transitional year may be so ugly that a lot of people reconsider the CFL. First the evaporation of the Saskatchewan Roughriders is going to torpedo the TSN TV ratings, which are typically buoyed by the Riders’ massive role in the culture of Saskatchewan. Quarterback, the glamour position, has seen many of the starters and their backups bite the dust with injury.
But the most glaring wound might have been exposed by an innocuous statement from TSN analyst Milt Stegall during this weekend’s action. After Ottawa beat Saskatchewan, he suggested Redblacks QB Henry Burris might now be in the consideration for Most Outstanding Player.
Really? Burris has led Ottawa to a tidy 7-4 record, but the 40-year-old is just fourth in TD passes with 12 and has seven interceptions plus five fumbles. His QB rating is fine but not in Zack Collaros’ neighborhood. Not exactly Anthony Calvillo eye-popping numbers.
But then, if not Hank, then who is going to be the CFL MOP field this year? With Collaros going down with a knee injury this weekend and last year’s MOP Jon Cornish battling injuries, the MOP favourite is a big question mark. Calgary’s QB Bo Levi Mitchell wins but has been very average; he might get in the voting by default. No other QB has been able to stay upright long enough to matter.
Who else? Calgary’s fleet receiver Eric Rogers is a candidate. B.C. RB Andrew Harris leads the CFL in yards gained rushing but doesn’t inspire wows. Defensive players don’t win there MOP without monster numbers and no one has massive sack or interception numbers.
Sports leagues live by their stars. As the MOP debate shows, the CFL is star challenged at the moment. Getting Toronto right after all these years might come with a high cost.
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Speaking of MVPs and MOPs, how you know you’re playing for a team in New York City? When you arrive with the Mets at the start of August and the tall foreheads in Gotham think you deserve the National League MVP. The player would be Yoenis Cespedes, obtained from Detroit at the trade deadline. And the chances of him getting the MVP are slim and none.
But like hockey players in Toronto, baseball players in NYC are godlike. Which is why it pays to be a sports agnostic.
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Rugby is like a lot of sports with quadrennial showcases: sexy for a month every four years. And what a showcase it was on the weekend for the World Cup of Rugby in Britain. Yes, Canada got smoked in a one-sided loss to the Irish. But the score was not a fair estimation of the gritty effort from the undermanned Canadian. In particular, DTH Van der Merve, who had Canada’s only try, was stellar against the deep and talented winners of the recent Six Nations Cup.
But the match for the ages was Japan’s monumental upset of the twice-champions South Africa. The Cherry Blossoms, ranked 13th, trailed the whole way against the might Springboks, responding each time to keep it close. The Boks were favored by over 40 points but that didn’t prevent Japan from turning down a free kick for a tie in favour of the winning try with seconds left.
The emotion of the players on both sides after a brutal struggle was palpable. The delirious Japanese stood next to the stunned South Africans as everyone struggled to make sense of the Boks first WC loss to a nation other than Australia, England or New Zealand.
Bruce Dowbiggin #notthepublicbroadcaster.com @dowbboy