OUT OF THE TUNNEL
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| (Photo courtesy @SSKRoughriders) |
– Montreal knocking off Calgary at home riding a solid running game.
– Jerome Messam getting ejected from that game after a tussle with Chip Cox.
– Travis Lulay’s 436 yards passing off the bench leading B.C. to a 41-26 road victory in Hamilton.
– B.C. winning three straight road games through the East Division.
– Bryan Burnham’s catch.
– Edmonton remaining undefeated with yet another gutsy victory.
But all the talk was from Winnipeg’s 33-25 home victory over Toronto. Not the win itself, but the play that had all the social media abuzz.
CFL fans know the story. Argonaut receiver Llevi Noel received an incredibly questionable illegal block call on Bomber fullback Mike Miller. That negated what would have been a kickoff return touchdown for Toronto.
It would have been the second kickoff return touchdown (Winnipeg’s Ryan Lankford took it to the house on the opening kickoff) of the game and in turn put $1-million into the pocket of Winnipeg’s Karen Kuldys.
First, to Karen: yes, it sucks that you are out a $50,000/year annuity over the next 20 years (it would have been taxed as a part of her annual income). But Karen is going to make out alright. She already won a $25,000 home theatre package and after the fervor of missing out on the big prize, the CFL and their sponsors stepped up in a big way to make sure she is well-compensated.
Now to the bigger question at hand: The officiating and more specifically, the replay process.
This call was incredibly frustrating for a myriad of reasons (especially for the Argos, who had to settle for a field goal in a tight game) and not being able to ask for a video review, from a fan standpoint, is the most frustrating.
Right now, that play is not eligible. And yet a team is able to challenge illegal contact on a receiver 50 yards away from an incomplete pass.
The video replay process is a positive part of the game, but it needs so much more tweaking to make it work better.
Another officiating/rules issue that should be up for review is “Targeting”.
Player safety is still top-of-mind across all levels of football. The CFL has done a decent job protecting their quarterbacks. In other areas, not so much.
Rewind to Week 3 and the third quarter at Mosaic Stadium when Saskatchewan’s Naaman Roosevelt was drilled by Hamilton defensive back Courtney Stephen. The hit was penalized, but unintentional or not, Stephen led with his helmet and that should have meant the end of his night.
The CFL does have a rule in place that prohibits the use of the helmet as a weapon (spearing, headbutt and so on) with a 15-yard penalty and possible accompanying fines. In summary, what is deemed “acceptable” and “unacceptable” in the eyes of the official.
The NCAA has been tinkering with this over the past few seasons albeit with mixed results. A “targeting” penalty can result in being ejected and if it happens in the second half of a game, the offending player would miss the first half of the upcoming game. This is done through an on and off-field (video) review process.
So many articles and blog posts have been written about CFL officiating. It’s low-hanging fruit and easy talk-radio fodder. And let’s face it, as long as there are sports and officials, there will be complaining about officiating.
Comment away on what you think needs to be done to amend many of the officiating issues.
Now to some notes:
– When the CFL schedule came out in late February, if anyone had what would be called a “good” schedule, it would be the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Their only quirk is two games in six days at the end of September.
Ottawa, got the short end of the stick. They were in Edmonton this past Friday, and will host Montreal on Wednesday night. Their three game in eleven day stretch ends next Monday in Toronto. For an already struggling football team, this cannot sit well with REDBLACKS fans.
– The B.C. Lions have set themselves up nicely for a run at the top of the CFL West Division standings. Winning three straight road games in as many weeks through the East is incredible. While some teams in the CFL are looking for their next quarterback to lead them the next few seasons, the Lions have two. Having Travis Lulay backup Jonathan Jennings is a luxury only one other team in the CFL has (Edmonton with Mike Reilly and James Franklin).
– How shocking is the brisk fall of the Hamilton Ti-Cats? They were in back-to-back Grey Cups in 2013 and 2014 and were a questionable illegal block call (that took away a late Brandon Banks punt return touchdown) from winning in 2014. Now they will be hard pressed to win more than four games this season.
– A big congrats to head coach Sheldon Gray and Team Sask for their silver medal at the 2017 Football Canada Cup. The little football engine that could lost in the final to Team Quebec 10-7 on a last-minute touchdown. It’s the second year in a row that Team Sask lost in the final to Quebec.
A Canadian to watch in the NCAA in 2017
Jonathan Kongbo – DE
University of Tennessee
6’6” 264lbs.
Hometown – Surrey, B.C.
Class – RS-Jr.
Kongbo began his college career at Arizona Western College in 2015. He was named first team All-Conference in Arizona Community College Athletic Conference and Western States Football League.
He racked up 55 tackles with 16 tackles for loss, including 11 sacks and with this performance, he was the number one rated JUCO prospect before transferring to Tennessee.
Kongbo saw spot duty last season playing in all 12 Volunteer games, starting one. He is pegged as the starter at defensive end for 2017, replacing NFL first round pick, Derek Barnett.
What to do between games this week:
Read “Playing Through the Whistle: Steel, Football and an American Town” by S.L. Price.
This book focuses on how important football is to the Pennsylvania town of Aliquippa. And how the steel industry, sports and life intermingle with each other.
One of the players mentioned heavily in the book is Calgary Stampeder defensive back and Aliquippa native, Tommie Campbell.
(RodPedersen.com Staff)
