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Pumped the CFL is back. Feels like summer.

We need another Chris Walby type color guy with crooked fingers wrapped around a mike providing perspective from the 'hogs' point of view. That was entertainment at its finest, especially in cold weather games.

The degree to which I am looking forward to watching CFL football tonight cannot be measured.

I just made one https://gamezone.cfl.ca/fantasy/ - for anyone wanting to sign up

Wrong

"Cam Lawson at DT with Thomas & Schmekel sitting out.

Would have preferred his brother Owen.

if you're a nerd like me you might like the 2025 CFL Guide and Record Book I just found online. It's jam-packed with information, way better than trying to look up historical stats on the CFL website.

my completely unqualified opinion is that football commentary is a team sport. You want complementary energy -- a high-energy goofball (Neilson, Dunigan, Walby) with a more chill straight man (Forde, Smith, Ferguson, Lapo). Without Dunigan in the mix, the energy is imbalanced, and the only Team Goofball member is Neilson. Smith in particular needs someone who brings energy into the booth. I think the guy is the best PBP guy on TSN even though at times he's got the vibe of a funeral director. But you put him in the booth with Dunigan and that's basically the best that CFL TV can do. Gonna miss Matty. I hope his retirement is awesome and completely on his terms.

Baggins? Did I accidently log into Morning Hobbits?

Looking forward to Lapo doing colour. TSN should retire Suits and make Lapo the lead colour guy.

His closing speed is ridiculous...

Dalke too highly overrated...took some liberties with big shots on defenceless guys and TSN figured he was a stud...

Holm was constantly cleaning up after the rest of the D last year -- he made tons of tackles where his man/zone were not targeted.

Luke Wilson has joined TSN as a CFL sideline analyst. I watched his “takes” before on NFL games and he is an absolute moron lol

I had been planning on golfing my weekly men's night tonight and I'm like "**** sakes it's the opening night of the CFL season!" so instead I shall pour a drink and watch Dru destroy the Gappers...

I don't think it really matters in our scheme. They are always in match coverages. Guys are jumping on routes not necessarily covering man and then making plays when the ball goes to them.

He would be a solid safety in todays game. But Parker is no slouch when it comes to speed. He ran down Ryhmes to save 1st place for the Bombers a couple years ago.

Tackles are not a success indicator at db. Even at lber they still aren’t. Dl? Sure. You can have good tackles and bad tackles as a db. If you are having an extremely high volume of tackles as a db it is a sign of a problem. A big chunk of their tackles are runs into the secondary and down field completed passes. In holms case, he has always played in the trail position a lot. He uses his acceleration to get back in on plays and previous put up a ton of pass knock downs. He didn’t do that last year. He was coming over and helping get stops on other targets sure, he was also tackling completions for first downs on his own guys a lot. With the overall secondary as good as it was last year, Kramdi and holms spots got targeted more. Nichols has been the best tackler in our secondary since bas gc injury. A db with more tackles then him is not succeeding more. Doesn’t mean Kramdi and holms have to go. Holm needs to gauge his gap better this year so his close is putting him in place to prevent a completion rather than make a tackle attempt. Kramdi needs to capitalize better on his instincts and play with in his skill set more on pass downs.

I'm confident but I think it's fair to question it. Bryant, Neufeld and Kolankowski are 39, 36 and 33. At some point Father Time always wins. At the other spots you have Wallace and Randolph (maybe Lofton?) who are not rookies anymore but are somewhat unproven. If one or more of the older guys start to show their age, do we have adequate replacements (Eli, Vanterpool, Vibert, Elsbury)? Will the coaching staff be willing to pull the trigger on changes? I'm not worried, I think we'll be ok. But there is some risk there.

You have an opinion like everyone else here & I respect that. However, as a viewer, I disagree, I'll take LaPo over Suits & Forde in a New York minute. LaPo's going to be busy as TSN is now seriously short staffed with the idiotic layoff of Matt Dunigan & the udden death of Milt Stegall's son. As an aside, I'd hope if you were the Program Director of 620 CKRM, the radio station that did the Bomber game on the Rider Radio Network that you'd give both those guys a talking to & a warning for being totally unprepared & unprofessional.... with the many mistakes they made on the air & didn't seem to care.

Bilbo?

Sad to see Marty York is now senile.

Oh well, it's been a nice run.

From 3DN about TSN broadcasts this year.... "The CFL on TSN is taking a renewed approach to its broadcasts for 2025. The network’s panel will travel to all nine stadiums over the course of the upcoming season, sources told 3DownNation, including visits to Regina and Montreal in Week 1. Kate Beirness is returning to host the panel with Henoc Muamba and Davis Sanchez filling the main roles alongside her. Paul LaPolice will also frequently appear on the panel, though he will also perform colour commentary for one game per week. As previously reported, longtime panelist and Hall of Fame quarterback Matt Dunigan is no longer with the network. As for Milt Stegall, who has been with the network since 2009, there is no timeline for his return after the death of his eldest son, Chase. The 20-year-old died unexpectedly at DePaul University on Monday where he was a member of the school’s soccer team. “Our CFL on TSN family is absolutely devastated over Chase’s passing. If you know Milt, you know that his family is everything to him, and we cannot imagine the pain he is going through right now,” said producer Chris Edwards in a statement to 3DownNation. “Milt is our brother and we are going to give him our love and support him in any way we can, and in whatever way he needs.” During a broadcast teeing up the 2025 season on Tuesday, TSN dedicated its coverage this year to Chase’s memory. TSN plans to flesh out the panel by rotating in active players, though it doesn’t appear as though this will happen every week. Players will generally make panel appearances during bye weeks, though there may also be opportunities for in-studio appearances when players are in town to play the Argonauts or Tiger-Cats. Friday Night Football, a longtime network staple, will have a brand new presentation featuring fresh animations, graphics, and music. One source called the scope of the production “bigger.” The play-by-play personnel at the network has remained unchanged for 2025, featuring Rod Smith, Dustin Nielson, Marshall Ferguson, and occasionally Farhan Lalji. Colour commentary will be performed by Glen Suitor, Duane Forde, and LaPolice."

Thank you for your support

QB sneaks shouldn't be allowed in lock of the week. There, I've said it, and it's a hill I'm willing to die on.

#Prayers4Woogie

I think he'd make a better safety than HB...don't need a big hitter there in this system...he also kinda regressed last yr...save for WF where he was lights out. ..he was pretty meh most yr...got targeted alot.. yeah he made a whack of tackles for a HB but that not necessarily a good thing and a lot was after yards...and 1st downs gained...and he is weak in the run game At safety tho..his quick recognition and how he utilizes great angles to the ball...I could see close to double digit picks for him Parker likely our fastest guy on team...and he saved the run of cups for us for sure...he came outta nowhere...I praise Kramdi on that play for his crappy open field tackling knack...killed the clock and if anyone thinks he purposely whiffed for that reason is full of sh!t...players aren't thinking like that in a game...especially a play like that and when it was...where it was...and importance of

is Holm more suited to safety, where he can use his ludicrous range to make plays wherever they're needed? Or is he lacking something that would make him a good safety?

Be a nice thing in theory...but in actuality you gotta go with your best 5...and let them work. Playing musical chairs on the oline especially is just a bad move. I'm actually not too concerned other than at center...it's the weak link and will radiate out...If they feel nobody in house is better...bring a new body in.....I think too last year Neuf was playing at lss than 100 percent all yr and that didnt help...Stan missed those games...so we had a lot of inconsistency...Dobson was good....but also had a few holes in his game and they were kind of a achilles heal...after his initial engagement he was lost...and if they twisted or stunted around or away from him...he got all confused...I think if its Eli or Wallace there we are better....Eli is a machine withtandem and getting into second level on a seek and destroy...but his collegiate coaching and training is the rason for that...and being ranked a top 3 center in the NFL draft if he didnt get hurt Wallace just oozes 1990's mauling nasty guard...just needs to play....as much as people like to think a season on the PR or backup with minimal reps develops a guy...it doesn't..they need to play...Practices and intra-squad stuff in this day and age isnt what it was like before If Randolph starts first game due to Lofton being not ready...He wont be letting go of that spot in my opinion...makes us better there as well injuries aside...going 3 imports on oline is just a crippling blow on our defence side of ball....Let Eli or Wallace run with it and we be aight

Yeah might eventually get there. Tough right now with injuries on D to manage ratio. Maybe can lock in 2 Canadians on D later in the season as it plays out, especially if Wallace doesn't grab the LG spot or there are injuries to Canadians on OL.

Honestly think that's why they're considering going 3 imports on the O-line, maybe not every game but they could pull a rabbit out of their hat whenever they play the Argos or Als, or any other team with a strong pass rush. If they lose the season series to these teams, good chance they lose the GC again.

I actually disagree ,mate. Montana's quality has seriously declined last few years.

age gap...I drank wobbly pops with him hahahaha

I know he did a sit down a few years ago and really opened up about how multiple concussions have really impacted him both mentally and physically and how these behavioural changes concussions have caused have impacted his relationships with his family. I grew a whole new level of respect for him in how vulnerable he was to help others. Or putting it another way: Riders suck. 🙂

For tonight: Go Redblacks!

No way Grifin doesnt make roster... ahh...someone else see's the forest thru the tree's and DB's making a lot of tackles also mean your LB's are not...and a lot of runs are getting thru your interior and free into second level...all of which aren't good....or ideal

Has there been anything proof that Dunigan was laid off? He isn't exactly a young buck anymore. And let's be honest, he often struggled to put sentences together. I could see him just wanting a break and to relax in his well earned retirement.

Honestly I'm most surprised he's still around at all... he was irrelevant 2 decades ago but now?

I feel like he got caught between Ian Logan and Even Holm....

Sask has 9 DL and 4 QB's dressed, 0 backup DB's dressed aside from Dalke who can't do much outside playing center field and Exume who can't even look functional in pre-season vs rookies in his 30s.

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.... I've known some ladies in my time........

Yeah we have gotten younger last 2 yrs...good research eh?

Marty York, Scott Taylor & Jim Bender. If there was a Mt. Rushmore of sportscasting irrelevance, they would be on it.

Man, a Vaj Stamp sounds like a painful tattoo....

Qft. Good week of kick off games too. Brown vs ssk, tor vs mtl, and the wannabebombers vs the vaj stampers.

I disagree, places like McDonalds are so expensive now that the Mom and Pa if done right can offer much superior offerings at a similar price.

If Jake and Schmek want to sit out... like permanently... that would be just fine