Funny thing is, that really was Randy’s Italian mother-in-law from Montreal and she really does call Randy after every game to give him her break down of who played well and who’s got to pick it up. I’ve been hearing about her for years and that was my first chance to actually talk to her. I laughed my butt off listening to her take on Jermaine Copeland, Joffrey Reynolds and Ricky Ray in her thick and guaranteed authentic Italian accent. I mean, you just can’t make this stuff up.

I think it would be great to get her back on the show from time to time. Let us know what you think. Is she a regular or should some things between a long snapper and his mother-in-law be kept private?

ps. if you didn’t catch the show, I’m sure that it will soon be up on the website. If not, listen to Kylie Topping’s Saturday show for his best of the week.

Some birthdays are better than others and some birthday presents are too. This year I got something that’s definitely on my all time top list. The “Discovery Flight” from the Springbank Flying Club.

I haven’t gone up yet but I think the jist of it is that they give you a little bit of ground training and then they put you in a plane and let you fly it around Calgary for a little while. If you go back for your pilots license then this is counted as time towards it. I’m still trying to figure out the details like if there’s a licensed sky bar or if there’s going to be air waitresses but no matter what, this will be awesome. Especially for me who grew up as a flight simulator nerd. Yeah, I’m that guy who thinks he can land a real West Jet 737 if anything ever happened to the pilots.

I’ll try to post some pictures / video on my blog if they let me bring my camera. That is of course unless I crash the plane and end up on the third page of Tuesday’s paper in which case, it’s been great to know you, thanks for listening, and don’t forget to visit our sponsor, Nick’s Steakhouse, a Calgary tradition for over 30 years.

In a world where it’s difficult enough to believe in long lasting relationships, I think those of us who consider ourselves traditional romantics may have just taken the hardest hit yet. Yup, the break-up of Burke and Sandro.

I was devastated to learn about their latest public wrestling match fueling rumors of a pending break up (lockers to be separated, no longer room-mates). These rumors were lent even more credibility by the lack of a coach Huff “pepperoni pizza” explanation of the event. This is probably the saddest news since the break-up of Jon and Kate.

Oh well, at least there were no kids involved. I just hope they can work things out for coach Craig Dickenson’s sake.
Now get over it and kick some Rider’s butt.

In fact, how many times have you seen a harmless horse caller slapped onto one of your receivers and you get excited because you get an extra 15 yards on a technicality. Come on, it’s the same as those useless flags they throw when a defensive lineman gets thrown into or is carried by momentum into the legs of a quarterback. You feel like your stealing if it works in your favor but your mad as hell when it goes against you.

Why? Because it’s a stupid rule unless it’s applied correctly. Here is the one time that a guy (and by a “guy” I mean last years CFL reception leader and leader of the Stamps receiving Corps) actually gets hurt and what happens???

Wait for it… okay he’s not moving, it’s got to be coming out soon…no?… maybe it came from the other side of the field, that seems to happen a lot…no?.…here comes the priest to administer last rights, maybe he’s bringing the flag?… no?? That right. Nothing!!!!

Disclaimer: I have no problem with the CFL Officials. I’ve gotten to know a lot of these guys over the years and I truly don’t know where this game would be without these guys who constantly take abuse from the players, coaches, fans, and asshole bloggers with little or nothing in return aside from being a part of this great league. I especially thank those of you who allowed me a consistent 2 ½ steps to the quarterback because I maed you laugh during TV timeouts (my favorite was asking them if it was true that they got paid on a “per flag” commission basis)

In fact, I challenge the league to do what’s necessary to give these guys exactly what they need to make this game better. Get them a sponsor and throw a crest on their jerseys. I don’t care; make them appear in beer commercials or even online gaming ads. Build a culture of success by making the reward lucrative enough that these guys can truly devote their lives to it and at the same time, offer the training and built in accountability to hold their feet to the fire a little bit. Oh yeah. And get rid of guys with personal agendas and grudges. It’s starting to turn my stomach.

Second Disclaimer: I didn’t see that horse collar as a particularly dirty play and don’t think there should be any fines. It’s like a facemask. You’re reaching for anything that you can get a hold of and an automatic sensor says grab when you make contact. But if it end’s someone’s season, throw the flag.

I don’t blame the official on the field tht made the call as it was a tough angle, happened quickly, and 8 times out of 10 the receivers not catching that cleanly. But how do you screw up the call with instant replay.

As long as I’ve ever played in that stadium with Ireland in any kind of control, I’ve never felt like I’ve gotten a fair shake. Remember the Mike Juhasz onside punt for a touchdown to give us the win a few years back? Even back in 2000 while with the Riders I remember the Lui Passaglia QB sneak that was for a loss but signalled a touchdown (his retirement game).

The Stamps didn’t need this call but that’s irrelevant. I understand human error but for some reason I felt like I needed a shower and a hug after the call. Not saying that it’s crooked. It just smells a little funny to me. Tom, I hope you weren’t involved in this one.

Great win for the Stamps. Copeland was awesome. Defence was near perfect. Fun game to watch. Sorry about the knee Rambo and nice gut check Chev.

Accomplished. Henry Burris was on his game particularly in the early goings when it mattered most. He actually outrushed Joffrey which is fun to watch as it clearly frustrated a pretty good Argo’s defence but I hope that doesn’t become habit.

Defensively I was getting a little worried about the lack of penetration up front or as I like to call it, a guy who can just blow $#!* up. I was concerned because that’s not something that you can teach a guy or game plan unless you plan on sending the house on every down which is going to hurt you more than help.

In steps #98 Odell Willis and #77 Tom Johnson who definitely handled that aspect. Johnson was more stout than I expected to see from a guy in his first appearance with the Stamps and Odell Willis is starting to show how he earned all that praise from Chevy and Jeff Pilon coming out of training camp. In fact Chevy is now calling for him to be the next Cameron Wake. I guess time will tell but it’s nice to see potentially the most dominant Stampeder pass-rusher since, well, since me.

Nah just kidding but I had to throw that in there to see if you were actually reading.

Getting back to Chevy, what was that 15 yarder all about. Inspired by last week’s Henderson fight? Chev, I told you before the game to use your head but not like that. In Chevy’s defence he did sprain his knee earlier in the game and probably couldn’t stop after hobbling all that way down the field and it was probably a decision between either falling on the guy or tripping over him which is an instant street-cred killer.

Way to tough it out Chev and hope that you heal up soon. You could see the difference that a good long snapper makes by watching what happened to the Argo’s when they chose to leave veteran Randy Srochinski at home to audition his younger and cheaper replacement. Result – a blocked punt and a very insecure Punter.

Other highlights for me, Browner stopping for a quick pint of Molson. That’s “Molson” because Bud Light won’t pay him $#@!. And I liked Coach Huff’s decision to pull Lazeo for a play early in the game when he started getting into it with Adriano Belli. No sense denying it, Laz is more bull than man on the field sometimes he seems to forget that the whistle means that it’s time to stop pulling arms off of people and go back to the huddle for a rest. That’s what makes him great. Good call Coach Huff not letting it go any further.

Anyway, that’s all I got. It was a fun game to watch. Especially the second half. I hope that you all remembered to go visit our sponsor Nick’s after the game to grab a steak, pint, and kill some time for all the traffic to clear out.

Also, make sure you catch our show this week to hear Chevy’s excuse for his 15 yard late hit penalty. Last week it was the ref’s, the week before it was the media. Who knows, maybe this week he had another $3000 on a surgery for his $50 dog.

Instead, in the third game that the Stampeders wore their uniforms this year they looked sloppy. There were too many turnovers, too many penalties, the defence bled more than it should and Henry seemed off the entire night. This is all true but especially in the first quarter when the Stamps looked to be playing in a lower gear than the Als who clearly came out of the gates with a bang running up a 17 – 0 first quarter lead.

But what did we learn from this?

A lot, really. While the Stamps execution was suspect all night, the pace of play and the intensity, particularly on defence gave us some very real glimpses into what made this team tick last year. Speaking of the defence, you got the sense that the new starters up front have got a real chance to be solid this year. Blackmon in his first start at middle linebacker showed every reason why the organization is excited about having him in the mix when he lit up Cobourne in the backfield and seemed to get the defence back on track as the aggressors setting the pace. The secondary featuring some new personnel showed that they can see what’s happening in front of them, understand it and adjust. For example take young halfback, Davanzo Tate. Victimized early in what I believe was his first pro start, this guy looked as cool as Eddie Davis. No panic. No feeling sorry for himself or giving players around him the stink eye. He just kept getting better as the game went on.

Offensively, who is this Titus Ryan and how do we get him citizenship? I know its just one game but that might be the next jersey I buy my kid. In fact the entire receiving corps looked great. Copeland looks like he’s turned back the clock a few years, Nik Lewis is still the guy you can count on in the clutch and to throw his weight around a little bit, Ralph continues to be radar proof to opposing defences, and our big play guy didn’t even dress.
Joffrey Reynolds looked smooth when he got into the open field although you’ll never see much of him when you’re down 3 scores in the first quarter. It was a shame to lose Sommers but that may give us a chance to see more of Jon Cornish or even Derek Watson depending on what they do with the ratio.

Oh yeah, and our offensive line is chewed up but that shouldn’t be an excuse as most of these have starting experience from last year and year’s previous.

In a nutshell, the dress rehearsal is over and there are no excuses anymore. Especially for Henry Burris who as we all know, as Henry goes, so go the Stamps. Clearly taking a bit of time in week 1 to adjust to throwing with that extra hardware on his finger throwing his centre of gravity off, look for Henry to come back big vs. Winnipeg on Friday.