If there is one thing the Ti-Cats can take away from this past Friday night it is the fact that for the time being they are leading the season series against the defending Grey Cup champions.
A crowd of 24,068 packed into the familiar Bastion on Balsam to witness the first of four contests in the 2011 regular season between our beloved Black and Gold and the Montréal Alouettes. Going into the game, I believed the Ti-Cats had a slim glimmer of hope to pull out the W, especially after the Als' record-breaking quarterback Anthony Calvillo had to leave last week's game against the Riders due to an alleged scratched right eye. However, with Calvillo back in the line-up and starting, I felt the Tabbies' chances of winning their third straight game of the season were next to nil against a usually dominant Montréal offence. But as the game drew on, the Maulers out of McGill were anything but.
Don't get me wrong though. Calvillo did throw for 356 yards in the game, but had only a 51.1% completion percentage (23/45) and only threw for one touchdown. The cause for this odd malady were many attempts the receiving corps of Jamal Richardson and S.J. Green could not find a handle on, but still racked up a combined 243 yards. Otherwise, credit needs to go to the Ti-Cat defence who had the Montréal pass-catchers well covered and were putting pressure on the "Born in East L.A." Calvillo; including being sacked twice by defensive lineman Justin Hickman. What the Als didn't earn by crossing the goal line, kicker Sean Whyte made up for with his boot -- going 4/4 on field goals and adding a couple PATs for when they did make it into the end zone.
On the Ti-Cats side of the ball, last week's hero in Vancouver Chris Williams was relatively silent; making 4 receptions for 54 yards. Running back Avon Cobourne, a free-agent acquisition from Montréal in the off-season, promised a big game against his former team, but fell short of expectations when all he was able to muster was 67 yards on 15 carries. No, for our beloved Striped Warriors, the game ball goes to another former Alouette Dave Stala who hooked up with Kevin Glenn 5 times for 107 yards; including a 58-yard romp into the promised land that pretty much sealed the game for the Black and Gold. #5 and #88 would connect twice for major scores to go with an earlier 4-yard bootleg dash by backup QB Quinton Porter. Kicker Justin Medlock would add 3 field goals and a couple single points to bring the Ti-Cats a 34-26 victory at Ivor Wynne.
While the 'Cats came out with the win, you just know the defending champs will be back for revenge, and they'll get their opportunity when they return to Ivor Wynne on Labour Day for Round 2.
What's On Tap...
With the Black and Gold now winning their third straight game after dropping the first two to open the season, Week 6 has them travelling out west to face another 3-2 club, the Calgary Stampeders. Henry Burris and company narrowly edged out the Riders in Regina Saturday night with a 22-18 victory. If the 'Cats hope to make it four straight wins, Hickman, Jamall Johnson, and the rest of the D will have to find a way to contain the always scrambling Hank and the stellar offensive weapons in Ken-Yon Rambo, Joffrey Reynolds, Larry Taylor, and Nik Lewis. The game is Saturday night from ("I Tell It Like It Is") McMahon Stadium at 9:30pm ET. We'll be commentweeting the game again on @DiefOnCats, so watch the game on TSN and follow along on your computer or smartphone. Hope you have a great week, Tigertown. Oskee wee wee!
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Week 4: Knowlton hero on The Chris Williams Show
Every so often, a football team is blessed to have an outstanding rookie to be on their roster. Sometimes he gets called in for a few plays, racks up a few yards if he's on offence, or makes a couple of tackles if he happens to be on the defensive side of the ball. However, if fate is on his side and the opposing team is off their game, there is an opportunity for said rookie to have a phenomenal break out game. This happened to be the case Friday night for the Ti-Cats' star-in-the-making wide out, Chris Williams against the B.C. Lions in Vancouver.
A crowd of 24,117 entered Empire Field on the Pacific National Exhibition Grounds in hopes the hometown Lions would win their first game of the 2011 season. Some of the people were even enticed when one of the first families of rock and reality TV, Gene Simmons with Shannon Tweed and the rest of the main cast of "Gene Simmons: Family Jewels" made an appearance; with Dr. Love himself doing the ceremonial coin toss. On the TSN broadcast, Simmons and family were in the midst of being interviewed on the sideline when Williams caught a pass from Kevin Glenn and tore down the field; nearly being brought down after the initial reception. The end result was a 71-yard gain that set up the Black & Gold's first touchdown of the game -- a two-yard run by Avon Cobourne.
The second score of the contest came just minutes later when Glenn found Dave Stala from four yards out that was set up by a 50-yard punt return by Marcus Thigpen, followed by another Glenn to Chris Williams connection for 32-yards a couple plays later. Unfortunately, Stala celebrated the major by punting the ball into the stands and that warranted an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty that was applied to the kickoff that would eventually lead to B.C.'s first score of the game. While I admire Stala's enthusiasm, if he really wanted to draw the 15-yard detriment, he should've re-created the famous hackysack celebration in Regina from last season.
Glenn would find #80 twice more to start the 2nd frame en route to the Tabbies' third offensive foray into the end zone; thus giving them a 21-7 lead with 10 minutes to go until half-time. However, while the Lions might have been winless in their previous three games, the Pacific Pouncers have kept their games close. This proved no more evident when the Leos would score the next 14 points; culminating with pressure on Glenn by the Lions' defence that lead to a forced fumble which was recovered by nickelback Korey Banks who rumbled 37-yards for the tying score. Needless to say, the Black and Orange Brigade at Empire were partying like a "Rock Star" after that, but the Ti-Cats looked at themselves and said they "Gotta Be Somebody." The Black & Gold would hold off the Leos' attack for the rest of the half and added a little breathing room when kicker Justin Medlock booted a career-high 55-yard field goal to put the Cats up by 3 heading into the locker room.
By the time the half-time entertainment took the field, Chris Williams had become a tour de force; amassing 162 of his 189 receiving yards in the opening 30, and had scored his 3rd touchdown of the season. Given the way the Leos had taken their game up a notch in the 2nd half earlier this season, I knew this slim lead would be tough to hold onto.
The Ti-Cats would get a little breathing room in the 3rd quarter when Glenn connected with Stala in the end zone for the second time in the game to put our beloved Black & Gold up 31-21. But as predicted, the home side would come back in the final frame, thanks to a one-yard touchdown jaunt by running back Jamal Robertson followed later by a 36-yard field goal by Leos' kicker Paul McCallum to tie it up with 2:35 left on the clock. The Boys on Balsam started to mark down the field on the ensuing drive but continued to baffle their fans when Medlock, who had hoofed one through the uprights from mid-field earlier, shanked what should've been a sure 28-yard attempt right. The ensuing rouge would put our men up by a single point with the threatening Lions getting the ball on their own 35 with 1:13 left. It was this point when I began to get a sinking feeling in my stomach where I was losing confidence in our defence; especially since Leos' wide out Geroy Simon started to heat up in the second half after being practically silent in the opening 30. Fortunately, that was when a savior in black and gold showed up late in the game.
With the Lions facing 3rd and 10 on their own 46 with less than a minute to play, quarterback Travis Lulay faded back in the shotgun in a desperate hope to extend the drive, but as his arm was moving forward, Ti-Cat linebacker Marketh Knowlton got a hand on it and deflected the pass attempt out of bounds for the turnover. The next offensive play, Avon Cobourne galloped his way to the end zone for 46 of his 100 yards on the ground and an insurance touchdown. The Lulay-led black and orange offence would get the ball back and attempt to march down the field for a hopeful major and 2-point convert to send the game into overtime. However, on the last play of the game, Lulay had his swag jacked when he was picked off in the end zone by Bo Smith. Haha ha ha, indeed, as the Ti-Cats would leave Empire with a 39-31 win, and the Lions fall to 0-4.
A close game made even closer by some inexcusable penalties, but the Black and Gold leave the Wet Coast as a .500 club and hopefully one step closer to a return trip in late November while all can't be well in Wally (Buono) World.
What's On Tap..
The Ti-Cats return home and make their second straight appearance on Friday Night Football when the 2-2 club will take on the defending Grey Cup champion Montréal Alouettes. This will be the first of four meetings the Black & Gold will have with the Als season, and as any fan will tell you, a match-up against Anthony Calvillo and company is never an easy win. The game starts at 6:30 pm ET Friday on TSN, and we'll be at Ivor Wynne in our perch in Section 22 tweetcasting under the @DiefOnCats moniker again. Hope to see you at the Bastion on Balsam Friday. Until then, oskee wee wee!
A crowd of 24,117 entered Empire Field on the Pacific National Exhibition Grounds in hopes the hometown Lions would win their first game of the 2011 season. Some of the people were even enticed when one of the first families of rock and reality TV, Gene Simmons with Shannon Tweed and the rest of the main cast of "Gene Simmons: Family Jewels" made an appearance; with Dr. Love himself doing the ceremonial coin toss. On the TSN broadcast, Simmons and family were in the midst of being interviewed on the sideline when Williams caught a pass from Kevin Glenn and tore down the field; nearly being brought down after the initial reception. The end result was a 71-yard gain that set up the Black & Gold's first touchdown of the game -- a two-yard run by Avon Cobourne.
The second score of the contest came just minutes later when Glenn found Dave Stala from four yards out that was set up by a 50-yard punt return by Marcus Thigpen, followed by another Glenn to Chris Williams connection for 32-yards a couple plays later. Unfortunately, Stala celebrated the major by punting the ball into the stands and that warranted an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty that was applied to the kickoff that would eventually lead to B.C.'s first score of the game. While I admire Stala's enthusiasm, if he really wanted to draw the 15-yard detriment, he should've re-created the famous hackysack celebration in Regina from last season.
Glenn would find #80 twice more to start the 2nd frame en route to the Tabbies' third offensive foray into the end zone; thus giving them a 21-7 lead with 10 minutes to go until half-time. However, while the Lions might have been winless in their previous three games, the Pacific Pouncers have kept their games close. This proved no more evident when the Leos would score the next 14 points; culminating with pressure on Glenn by the Lions' defence that lead to a forced fumble which was recovered by nickelback Korey Banks who rumbled 37-yards for the tying score. Needless to say, the Black and Orange Brigade at Empire were partying like a "Rock Star" after that, but the Ti-Cats looked at themselves and said they "Gotta Be Somebody." The Black & Gold would hold off the Leos' attack for the rest of the half and added a little breathing room when kicker Justin Medlock booted a career-high 55-yard field goal to put the Cats up by 3 heading into the locker room.
By the time the half-time entertainment took the field, Chris Williams had become a tour de force; amassing 162 of his 189 receiving yards in the opening 30, and had scored his 3rd touchdown of the season. Given the way the Leos had taken their game up a notch in the 2nd half earlier this season, I knew this slim lead would be tough to hold onto.
The Ti-Cats would get a little breathing room in the 3rd quarter when Glenn connected with Stala in the end zone for the second time in the game to put our beloved Black & Gold up 31-21. But as predicted, the home side would come back in the final frame, thanks to a one-yard touchdown jaunt by running back Jamal Robertson followed later by a 36-yard field goal by Leos' kicker Paul McCallum to tie it up with 2:35 left on the clock. The Boys on Balsam started to mark down the field on the ensuing drive but continued to baffle their fans when Medlock, who had hoofed one through the uprights from mid-field earlier, shanked what should've been a sure 28-yard attempt right. The ensuing rouge would put our men up by a single point with the threatening Lions getting the ball on their own 35 with 1:13 left. It was this point when I began to get a sinking feeling in my stomach where I was losing confidence in our defence; especially since Leos' wide out Geroy Simon started to heat up in the second half after being practically silent in the opening 30. Fortunately, that was when a savior in black and gold showed up late in the game.
With the Lions facing 3rd and 10 on their own 46 with less than a minute to play, quarterback Travis Lulay faded back in the shotgun in a desperate hope to extend the drive, but as his arm was moving forward, Ti-Cat linebacker Marketh Knowlton got a hand on it and deflected the pass attempt out of bounds for the turnover. The next offensive play, Avon Cobourne galloped his way to the end zone for 46 of his 100 yards on the ground and an insurance touchdown. The Lulay-led black and orange offence would get the ball back and attempt to march down the field for a hopeful major and 2-point convert to send the game into overtime. However, on the last play of the game, Lulay had his swag jacked when he was picked off in the end zone by Bo Smith. Haha ha ha, indeed, as the Ti-Cats would leave Empire with a 39-31 win, and the Lions fall to 0-4.
A close game made even closer by some inexcusable penalties, but the Black and Gold leave the Wet Coast as a .500 club and hopefully one step closer to a return trip in late November while all can't be well in Wally (Buono) World.
What's On Tap..
The Ti-Cats return home and make their second straight appearance on Friday Night Football when the 2-2 club will take on the defending Grey Cup champion Montréal Alouettes. This will be the first of four meetings the Black & Gold will have with the Als season, and as any fan will tell you, a match-up against Anthony Calvillo and company is never an easy win. The game starts at 6:30 pm ET Friday on TSN, and we'll be at Ivor Wynne in our perch in Section 22 tweetcasting under the @DiefOnCats moniker again. Hope to see you at the Bastion on Balsam Friday. Until then, oskee wee wee!
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Week 3: Blowing Out A Substandard Rider Squad
This past Saturday, our beloved Black and Gold finally got off the shnide and won their first game of the season; decisively defeating the Riders 33-3 in front of a crowd of 22,245 who passed through the turnstyles at Steeltown's Bastion on Balsam. While those in attendance -- which included the usual splotches of Green and White that seems to appear whenever the 3-time Grey Cup champions take their travelling road show outside of the safe harbour of Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field -- enjoyed what turned out to be optimal weather conditions for a mid-summer Saturday afternoon contest, the action on the field turned out to be a match-up of extreme ineptitude with spotty patches of excellent playmaking.
The game appeared to be a complete abomination when the only scoring in the opening 15 minutes came off the foot of TiCats kicker Justin Medlock, who punched the ball through the uprights three times in the opening frame. One of the field goals was the result after the Tabbies were given a gift of having the ball on the Riders' 6 when Reanud Williams picked off a struggling Darian Durant. Unfortunately, the Kevin Glenn-lead offence weren't able to cross the plane of the goal line. Combine that with the disaster in Commonwealth last week, and I was thinking Glenn's channelling of Nealon Greene was still ongoing. Fortunately, that would begin to change in the next quarter.
In the second fifteen, Glenn and company began to shred a seemingly hollow Rider defence; culminating with #5 finding wideout Chris Williams twice in the quarter. By the time the halftime gun sounded, I was astonished to find our beloved TiCats up 23-0 on the reigning two-time Grey Cup finalists, and thought that Ivor Wynne had slipped into a portal and we had ended up in Bizarro World. I thought surely the Riders would come back in the closing 30 minutes and make it more of a closer contest. The reply I ended up getting was, "Not this time around, and don't call me 'Shirley'."
The defence returned to the fine form I have grown to know and respect over the past two seasons; a squadron I thought during the first two games this year had become lost when former DC Greg Marshall bolted for "The City That Rhymes With Fun" to take the head coaching gig with the Melonheads. However, I was proved wrong when Jamall Johnson almost made Durant the second quarterback he's squashed onto the carpet at Ivor Wynne. The D held the visiting side to just 255 yards of offence; picking off Durant three times, and exposing him to the point where he was yanked in favour of Ryan Dinwiddie to start the fourth quarter. Upon seeing the switch I began to feel like I had taken a short trip in the wayback machine to Winnipeg in the year 2007 when Dinwiddie was Glenn's backup for the Bombers; taking the starting job in the biggest game of the year after Glenn was injured at the hands of the gangland tackling by our despised rivals up the QEW in the Eastern Final that season.
However, with one of the main cogs in the Riders' offence, Andy Fantuz, temporarily moving on to the bright lights of the NFL, and the retirement of stallwart fullback, Chris Szarka, in the off-season, the Green and White's offence are showing signs of emptiness that needs rectifying as quickly as possible. Their defence is no better with a secondary that appears to be non-existant. Throw in the fact that normally money players, wideout Rob Bagg and kicker Luca Congi are on the 9-game IR, and it will be a tough challenge in Riderville to not only make it to BC Place this November for a hopeful third straight kick at the can, but to even consider making it to the post-season. Their only solace currently is the fact the Lions are also 0-3 to start 2011. However, in Week 4, the Riders face their recent Grey Cup nemesis, the Alouettes, for the second time in three weeks. Somehow, I'm hearing the faint beeping of a manure truck backing up on Piffles Taylor Way.
What's On Deck:
This week, the TiCats will make the long transcontinental flight to Vancouver to take on those aforementioned 0-3 Lions in the opening contest of Week 4. The game starts at 10 pm ET on TSN. It's going to be a late one Tigertown, so I hope you all remember to turn off your alarm clocks so you can sleep in Saturday morning after the game. As I've been doing the past couple of weeks, I will be "commen-tweeting" the action, but this time, I will be doing it from a new Twitter account. So to all interested parties that want to follow along during the game, add @DiefOnCats to your Twitter following list. Chances are if Rod Black and Duane Forde are covering the game, I'll be tweeting my disdain for the pairing; although, it'd be more the former than the latter.
Have a great week Tigertown, and I hope to "hear" from you late Friday night. Oskee wee wee!
The game appeared to be a complete abomination when the only scoring in the opening 15 minutes came off the foot of TiCats kicker Justin Medlock, who punched the ball through the uprights three times in the opening frame. One of the field goals was the result after the Tabbies were given a gift of having the ball on the Riders' 6 when Reanud Williams picked off a struggling Darian Durant. Unfortunately, the Kevin Glenn-lead offence weren't able to cross the plane of the goal line. Combine that with the disaster in Commonwealth last week, and I was thinking Glenn's channelling of Nealon Greene was still ongoing. Fortunately, that would begin to change in the next quarter.
In the second fifteen, Glenn and company began to shred a seemingly hollow Rider defence; culminating with #5 finding wideout Chris Williams twice in the quarter. By the time the halftime gun sounded, I was astonished to find our beloved TiCats up 23-0 on the reigning two-time Grey Cup finalists, and thought that Ivor Wynne had slipped into a portal and we had ended up in Bizarro World. I thought surely the Riders would come back in the closing 30 minutes and make it more of a closer contest. The reply I ended up getting was, "Not this time around, and don't call me 'Shirley'."
The defence returned to the fine form I have grown to know and respect over the past two seasons; a squadron I thought during the first two games this year had become lost when former DC Greg Marshall bolted for "The City That Rhymes With Fun" to take the head coaching gig with the Melonheads. However, I was proved wrong when Jamall Johnson almost made Durant the second quarterback he's squashed onto the carpet at Ivor Wynne. The D held the visiting side to just 255 yards of offence; picking off Durant three times, and exposing him to the point where he was yanked in favour of Ryan Dinwiddie to start the fourth quarter. Upon seeing the switch I began to feel like I had taken a short trip in the wayback machine to Winnipeg in the year 2007 when Dinwiddie was Glenn's backup for the Bombers; taking the starting job in the biggest game of the year after Glenn was injured at the hands of the gangland tackling by our despised rivals up the QEW in the Eastern Final that season.
However, with one of the main cogs in the Riders' offence, Andy Fantuz, temporarily moving on to the bright lights of the NFL, and the retirement of stallwart fullback, Chris Szarka, in the off-season, the Green and White's offence are showing signs of emptiness that needs rectifying as quickly as possible. Their defence is no better with a secondary that appears to be non-existant. Throw in the fact that normally money players, wideout Rob Bagg and kicker Luca Congi are on the 9-game IR, and it will be a tough challenge in Riderville to not only make it to BC Place this November for a hopeful third straight kick at the can, but to even consider making it to the post-season. Their only solace currently is the fact the Lions are also 0-3 to start 2011. However, in Week 4, the Riders face their recent Grey Cup nemesis, the Alouettes, for the second time in three weeks. Somehow, I'm hearing the faint beeping of a manure truck backing up on Piffles Taylor Way.
What's On Deck:
This week, the TiCats will make the long transcontinental flight to Vancouver to take on those aforementioned 0-3 Lions in the opening contest of Week 4. The game starts at 10 pm ET on TSN. It's going to be a late one Tigertown, so I hope you all remember to turn off your alarm clocks so you can sleep in Saturday morning after the game. As I've been doing the past couple of weeks, I will be "commen-tweeting" the action, but this time, I will be doing it from a new Twitter account. So to all interested parties that want to follow along during the game, add @DiefOnCats to your Twitter following list. Chances are if Rod Black and Duane Forde are covering the game, I'll be tweeting my disdain for the pairing; although, it'd be more the former than the latter.
Have a great week Tigertown, and I hope to "hear" from you late Friday night. Oskee wee wee!
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