SpeedFlex27

There is talk about building a new 30,000 seat stadium for both the Elks & Edmonton's Canadian Soccer League team. It would require government money to get it done. I just shake my head thinking they'd actually tear CWS down. Couldn't they renovate it? Reduce capacity to it's original 40,000? Fix the concourses, washrooms & concessions areas to bring it up to modern standards? Add more private suites. I'm not a civil engineer so I don't know if that is possible. However, it's almost 50 years old. So, maybe it is time to get rid of it. The demolition cost would be a pretty hefty bill all on its own. I think it tells you about the tale of 2 cities if Edmonton built a new stadium for the Elks while in Calgary, the Stampeders are still stuck in that shithole of a facility called McMahon Stadium because the politicians down here just don't give a **** about the CFL.

It'd be a bigger blow if they ceased operations. Every team in the West used to be community owned.

I'd like to see Jim Barker do a mock draft. At least he knows the players & could probably do a very good job but it's TSN so it'll never happen. Instead we have Hodge.

You have no clue. You can stick to your ideology like some feckless zealot while ignoring the facts. The Edmonton Eskimos finished first in a very tough Western Division where a 9-7 Rider team didn't make the playoffs in the West while a 3-13 Montreal team did in the East. The Rough Riders at 5-11 had the the worst record of any team to ever play in the history of the Grey Cup. The Esks should have blown the doors off of Exhibition Stadium in Toronto with Ottawa yet instead got their asses handed to them in the first half. The Rough Riders had a 20-1 halftime lead over the Esks. The Esks charged back scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter & 11 more points in the fourth while the Rough Riders scored only a FG in the second half. It was a Dave Cutler FG with only 3 seconds left that gave Edmonton a 26-23 win. So, do I think the Saskatchewan Roughriders could have beaten them that day had they made it to the GC? Yeah, damned right I do. Marino's no afterthought. Go have another drink.

Oh yeah, I had another hobby before I had to stop coaching football with my arthritis, which I did for 15 years. Won a five of 6 city of Calgary football championships & four provincial titles coaching pee wee (10-12) bantam (13-15) & spring league (15-17). I was a HC for 1 city & provincial win at the pee wee level. I also founded a bantam team in Calgary called the Falcons in 2005. I was given 6 footballs by the league & that was it. I built the team from the ground up, had to buy equipment, find a practice facility & was also the HC. Recruited my coaches, manager, treasurer & started in January 05. We played our first game in August. Out of 8 games we won 4 but misssed the playoffs. Other teams thought we'd be a pushover but we weren't. We could run & throw. Our defense had some players that became All Stars. It was so much fun but a ton of work. I now sit as a Board of Director of the SE Calgary Colts. Love what I'm doing as I can still contribute to our organization in a positive light as well as still be associated with football in some way.

The difference is we don't go online with our comments other than here. There are too many fanbois masquerading as actual football journalists at 3DN. It hurts their credibility. They could easily have better writers giving us better content but obviously don't want to pay for it. So, you have guys like Hodge & Ryan Ballantyne doing pieces for them. You get what you pay for.

The CFL no longer plays full time fullbacks, neck rolls, snot busting blockers, three yards & a cloud of dust who rush for 225 yards along with a 2.3 yard rushing average & you have to take out a slot. Maybe a potential thousand yard receiver. That's why the CFL no longer has full time fullbacks. No more Thunder & Lightning combos anymore.

Ha, ha. I take your word for it since I totally forgot. I have been to MMA events in the city before but I never went to this UFC event. Coming back 6 years later & it's not even a major PPV event tells you the importance of Canadian cities to the UFC. Except for Toronto.

What Upper Deck hockey card is fetching a ton of money, I heard on the news. Connor Bedard?

I know. We're just saying he was drafted as a DL. That he was able to play other positions is a testament to his athletic abilities. But he wasn't a true fullback. Or drafted as one.

UFC did the same thing in Calgary years ago. They changed the card with so many matches from the original advertised that it was a fiasco. Calgary UFC fans were unhappy. They promised to be back but they never have.

Everybody kinda figured it was something like this. This anti doping **** is getting crazy, if you ask me.

Yeah, he never played fullback full time.

Is Tom Wright who was CFL Commissioner two decades ago still heading up UFC Canada?

UFC would still be big on the prairies, wouldn't it? I mean. their PPV's are always a huge success. Quick question, does Mike Tyson have a chance against Luke Paul on July 20th? Should any State or Provincial Boxing Association sanction a fight between a 29 year old & a 58 year old?

Whatever. The Western Conference was very, very strong in 1981. The Esks finished 14-1-1 for first place, The Bombers went 11-5 & finished second. The Lions 10-6 finishing third & the Riders at 9-7 finished fourth in the West. Combined, the West won 50 regular season games that year & the East just 21. In 1981, the Montreal Alouettes finished third in the East & made the playoffs with an abysmal 3-13 record. How freaking embarrassing for the CFL was that? The league's credibility was called into question. The Riders won 6 more games than the Als & were fourth in the West yet didn't qualify for the playoffs because there was no crossover. I remember fans & media crying how things needed to change. However, in typical CFL fashion, I remember the league getting right on it by taking another 16 years before it would allow crossovers in the playoffs beginning in 1997. What happened to the Riders was a travesty. I'm just glad the Bombers never experienced anything close to that back then. Chances are had there been a crossover, the Riders would have been the Eastern representative in the Grey Cup. Who knows, maybe they would have upset the Eskimos as they barely beat the 5-11 Ottawa Rough Riders that year. But sure, it was the Riders quarterbacking. It was just average. They didn't win.

Like I said, 4600 yards & 33 touchdown passes are better than just okay. If they did that with the Bombers you'd be crowing over their performance.

I used to do a lot more physical stuff when I was younger. Until arthritis caught up with me as did surgeries in my right shoulder, both knees & both feet took away just about everything I used to do. Like a lot of fishing in the White Shell, Lake Of The Woods, Quesnel Lake at Caribou Lodge east of Bissett, MB (we just called it Caribou Lake back in the day), along the Winnipeg River at Pointe Du Bois & the Lake Manitoba Narrows. Then I moved to Calgary in 1990 & that was it for fishing for me. I never got into fly fishing. Used to do a lot of curling in Manitoba at the Fort Rouge Curling Club. Curled here in Calgary at the Calgary Curling Club until I physically couldn't do it anymore because of arthrtitis. I haven't thrown a rock since 2009. Golf same. Not for at least 20 years. I loved to golf, fish & curl. I also used to run but that ******* arthritis took running from me too. I do have some CFL collectibles. I'm trying to collect more much to my wife's angst as she keeps telling me I'm too old to do that we must downsize because once she retires in 4 years she wants to sell the house & buy a condo...

Amazing two years ago we had no idea who dalton Schoen on. Just think about that. Such a dynamic receiver.

Do you watch Fire Country? It does nothing fo me...

Ni idea why you'd take offense to what I say but it seems you need a Snickers way more than me. Hufnagel & Barnes had a helluva season in 81. They truly were one of the gretest tandems to ever play. Why all the angst? Like I said, the CFL was so abuzz about their play that they were given a nickname J.J. Barnagel by someone in the media & the name stuck.. Think that would happen if they stunk? It's not always the qbs fault when they lose. The Rider defense wasn't up to par so they gave up a lot of points. With the Bomber tandem, Clements played 75% of the time with Huff coming in for the other 25%. In saskatchewan, Hufnagel played 60% of the time & Joe Barnes about 40%. So you can't even compare the two tandems. In Saskatchewan, both guys played a lot & played well.

Agreed. It isn't a better system. There's no way as many people are watching the BRier like they were ten years ago. If they were, then they wouldn't be playing in venues that are 40% of the size they played in during the 90's-10's. It shows the system is broken. Who wants to see four teams from one province if you don't live in that province??? Wearing different colours than the traditional provincial sweaters as well. It's become a mish mash.

The two headed monster played much better than that lame description.. Both qbs threw for a combined 4,603 yards & 33 touchdowns. But it's the Riders so naturally let's dismiss their play as subpar. The CFL was all abuzz about the way Joe Barnes & John Hufnagel played in 1981. Those guys carried a so so team on their backs all season. They finished 9-7 out of the playoffs as there was no crossover at that time.

Stellar defensive back. Part of Marv Levy's great 70's Montreal defensive teams. First team All American at Georgia Tech. Drafted by the NO Saints in 1975. Signed instead with Charlotte of the WFL in 1975 & played one season for the Hornets. Signed with the Als in 1976 & played for them thru the 1980 season. He then signed with the Ottawa Rough Riders in 81 before retiring. He was a CFLEastern Conference All Star in 1977, 78 & 81 as well as named to the CFL All Canadian team as a DB the same years he was an Eastern All Star. Returned 31 kickoffs during his career & over 300 punt returns. He had 22 interceptions as well during his career. He was a real stud. One of the best players in the CFL during that era.