bluto

The better half and I were staying at the Delta (near Scotiabank & Skydome) in August to make it easier to get to the game (1 train stop) and allow partaking in the festivities without worrying about how much we (I) drink. We come down the elevator and turn left to go to Union and not 20 second later a guy who was coming from the other direction, dressed in black from sneakers to hoodie stops his e-scooter in front of us, removes his headphones and says "Pardon me, I just wanted to ask who your favorite player on defence is?" We were wearing our Argo gear. Looking up to him (he had an extra 4 inches on his scooter) without even thinking I answer back "Pickett. He's everywhere." He says "Aw man, it isn't me?" Not recognizing his face and hating to have to ask I said "I'm sorry man, I don't recognize your face..." He introduces himself politely. It's Stiggers. Hands are shook. I tell him "Well 42, maybe I just didn't say it was you since I'm fairly sure that you'll be off to somewhere down south next year." He laughs and thanks us for the encouragement. Nice guy. We wish him all the best. He scoots off westward at 35kmh, we hop a train to the tailgate. We get there and everyone was telling us how bad we missed out because AJ, who wasn't playing that day, had been by to partake. I tell them about Qwan'tez. Laughs and beers were had. Argos win. I miss football season.

I feel attacked... 🤪

Or the Bills...

Not publicly.

I honestly expected him to be released. Especially after Daniels and Orimolade restructured their contracts, I figured that if KGJ didn't also restructure that he wouldn't be an Argo this season. Tough choices still to be made... Peters, McManis, Pickett, Hendrix, Ouellette... And naming whoever our replacement for Mace at DC is.

Just pointing out: the Argos have Brissett, Nield and Ungerer. We were stacked with Canadian receivers.

We just came through a season where our highest paid receiver was (by and large) not a factor in our 16-2 record. And he had a lingering hip injury. And his salary was comparable to the guy we got for him. Makes sense from our perspective. With Ceresna in, I suppose this means that either or both of Oakman or Hendrix won't be back. I wish KGJ a prosperous reunion with MBT.

Spoken like a true Wombat fan.

EDIT: tried to put the Argo's twitter video announcing our schedule in here (it's funny), it's a play on the general indifference to the CFL from many Torontonians. Thought you like the chuckle, but apparently I can't post imbed a twitter or a video. https://x.com/TorontoArgos/status/1735362695459680599?s=20

Say whatever we will about Bishop's deficiencies as a frontline QB, nobody would ever argue that some of his traits (arm strength, physicality, speed) weren't elite. Cody on the other hand, has a smattering of skills and attributes which (imo) are in the D+ to B- range.

I don't know if that is in evidence.

Some would suggest that Osh was the more risky pick with his Coordinator experience having been in STs.

So who would their ideal candidates have been?

Dinwiddie did it with Arbuckle.

Under the normal run of things, that's true. I think that two consecutive seasons of finishing with seven losses in a row would be more than enough to justify a hard reset and buy some growth time for a new regime. (and I think that O'Day will be counting on that as well)

Pay raise, plus it's sort of a free-hit, isn't it? Like, if they take a year or two to rebuild, nobody will be looking to fire them so long as there's a process in place that gives the Riders a chance to improve year-on-year. Bigger paycheque and lower expectations is a nice combo to offer a candidate.

imo, only in an environment with a healthy rotation of tackles. He's special in spurts.

Hoping for a "I'd like to stay in TO" contract for Oakman as he has demonstrated that he still has a gear he can shift into where he can take over a game... but if not, then I am comfortable with his big-name being available as a decoy so we can re-sign the guy on our D-Line who gets no hype or press whatsoever but was very quietly one of the 10 best D-Linemen in the league.

If you need a bit more therapy and are near the GTA East...

Fair point.

Unpopular take: Trashing Fajardo is a very bad look right now. He came in as a massive underdog. Rallied his team around him in classic "us against the world and F them anyway because they all hate us" fashion. He went 81%, 290 3&1. With everything on the line, he rushed 13 yards on 2nd and a mile. On 3rd and 5 he went for 31 and followed that with a GC winning score for 19 yards on the next play. Bash him all you want, but you can never say that he didn't execute the epic dream of any kid who ever picks up a football to the letter.

I kept asking my TV that all night, "What was he looking for there?"

Outside looking in: 1) Clarify Walters' situation as the man in charge of the next evolution, ASAP. 2) 2 years remaining on 600k/yr is a spicy meatball. Particularly if being back in the GC next year or more particularly the following year when you host is the goal. I think you have to cut bait. We'll see. 3) Ruthlessness. This roster is overdue for some pruning. Seeing a few familiar names go can hurt. Time to be cruel-to-be-kind (in the right measure). 4) Not a disaster, but worth noting that being out-adjusted at HT in the GC is a bad trend. Evolution happens to coaching staffs too. Tough beat, guys. Sucks to play your worst in the most important game of the season. Ask me how I know.

I wouldn't be concerned about your chances in general, as it is unlikely that one team can be so fortunate as to have two teams utterly meltdown to their benefit in back to back Championship games. But more specifically I wouldn't be bothered over the "not a cold weather QB" stuff. At least not for Sunday where it's basically going to be perfect weather.