Edmonton Eskimos

Another season is almost underway and both Western match-ups promise to be great ones. Being a Rider fan, I love to argue and bicker about points for and against them. We yet to know whether they will win the game or not, but we CAN take a closer look.

Offense

In my mind, the Eskies clearly have the quarterback advantage. Being one of the best QB's in the league, Ricky Ray is obviously listed as their starter. They have Lefors as backup and Maas at 3rd but I can't see it staying that way because we have all seen what a healthy Maas does in Edmonton. The Riders' QB's aren't quite as strong. Listed as our number one as of now, we have over the hill former Grey Cup MVP Marcus Crandell at them helm, but I would expect Darian Durant to takeover in the near future. Also filling the third spot for an injured Drew Date is Stephen Jyles.

Advantage: Eskimos

When it comes to RBs and WRs, the Roughridersare a little banged up. Although they have many receivers, top dog Matt Dominguez and contributer Mike Washington are both on the disabled list. Also injured, are running backs Henri Childs and Stu Ford. It is safe to say that last years starter Wes Cates will be the main back for the Roughriders on Saturday. On the receiving end, although to key receivers are injured, the Riders still have many great ones. I would expect Andy Fantuz to lead the charge also with DJ Flick, Corey Grant and Michael Palmer starting along side him.

Import running back Damien Anderson is expected to be the back starting for the. Anderson played in 30 games with the Arizona Cardinals and had 45 carries for 142 yards, 9 receptions for 72 yards and 15 kickoff returns for 265 yards. On the receiving end, I would expect a balanced lineup to with Jason Tucker, Brock Ralph, Kamau Peterson and Fred Stamps leading the charge.

Advantage: Roughriders

Although I know they are very important, I do not know much about the O-Lineman on these teams and therefore cannot push very many arguments on them. But I do know that the Riders have experience. I would expect the starters to be veterans Gene Mackowski, Jeremy O'Day, Wayne Smith, Mike Abou-Mechrek and Glenn January. This expirienced and farely stacked line should fair well this season and against the Eskimoes. Speaking of the Eskimoes, their line is also very good with the Comisky brothers and massive Patrick Kobongo leading the charge.

Advantage: Roughriders

So their is my analysis on the offence of these two teams. Part 2, the defense should be up shortly.

Get your season tickets, grab your beers, and hold on to your hats crazy Riders fans because the 2008 CFL Season is about to get interesting.

Already, many have made their picks on the outcome of the coming CFL season as has BR CFL Columnist TJ Zwarych in his 2008 CFL breakdown.

As expected, pre-season action has been lackluster but only to provide coaches and upper management with the views they want of their prospective teams coming into this season.

In Montreal, Alouettes GM Jim Popp announced a coaching change last December bringing in Marc Trestman as head coach.  Trestman's resume is impressive, including many stops in the NFL as offensive/quarterback coach with the Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders, San Fransisco 49ers, and Miami Dolphins from 1985-2004.

The hiring of Trestman is in the hopes that the Alouettes can rise to the top of the East Division after a sudden drop from their perennial first place finishes, which included a 2002 Grey Cup victory.

In Toronto, with the departure of former head coach Michael "Pinball" Clemons, Rich Stubler steps into the role of Argos coach.  Stubler inherits an offensively potent team that just got a little more potent with the arrival of 2007 CFL Player of the Year QB Kerry Joseph from the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Along with QB Michael Bishop, the Argos are poised to be one of the top teams in the East.

After the release of K Troy Westwood, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers seem to have solved their kicker situation after signing K Duncan O'Mahony.  Along with rookies Alexis Serna and Brian Monroe, the Bombers have a healthy group of talented kickers vying for the top job as CFL BR Reporter Chris Allen explains the Bombers kicking situation.

In BC, after the departure of QB Dave Dickenson to Calgary, Wally Buono's Lions are set in the QB position with both Jarius Jackson and Buck Pierce vying for top spot.  With great wide receivers such as Geroy Simon, the Lions are a potent threat in any situation.

After an impressive finish with a Grey Cup victory last season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are feeling the pangs of the salary cap, having lost star QB Kerry Joseph and having to rebuild only a year after winning it all.  Most of their defensive line still remains intact, yet the Riders are predicted to fall in the standings this coming season.  TJ Zwarych has more on the Riders upcoming season.

In Hamilton, there is not much hope from many that the Tigercats will do much more than they have for the last few seasons, even with QB Casey Printers at the helm.  Hopefully, head coach Charlie Taaffe will be able to rebuild the Tigercats back into perennial competitors.

Finally, in Alberta, both the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos are in the middle of the pack.  In Edmonton, head coach Danny Maciocia hopes to repeat with Ricky Ray at the helm of their 2005 Grey Cup championship.  Along with WR Keith Stokes now in the Eskies lineup, the Esks are looking to make some noise in the West.

In Calgary, there are always rumblings that the Stampeders are due for a breakout season.  Without a Grey Cup championship since 2001 (third longest drought besides Hamilton [1999] and Winnipeg [1990]), the Stampeders with QB Henry Burris are looking for answers are more than a few mediocre seasons.  With outstanding wide receivers such as Jermaine Copeland and Ryan Thelwell, the Stamps are poised to take a run at first spot in the West.

For the CFL This Week, I'm Matt Eichel.

Sources:

www.cfl.ca

www.tsn.ca/cfl

I usually like to start my article with big introductions, but I really can't think of how this one could start with one.  Here is how I think the standings in the 2008 regular season and playoffs will go down.

Western Conference:

1st Place: Calgary Stampeders: 13-5

Losses: BCx2, Edmonton, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg

The Combination of Dickenson and Burris works well. It pushes Burris to do better without having to worry about losing many games because he knows he has Dickenson behind him.  Dickenson, being the season veteran, coaches while calming down Burris so he can lead them to first place in the league.

2nd Place: BC Lions: 10-8

Losses: Calgaryx2, Winnepegx2, Edmonton, Torontox2, Saskatchewan

Buck Pierce is going to stay healthy this year and have a fantastic season. Unfortunately Joe Smith will get injured for 7 games and they will fall short of Calgary.

3rd Place: Edmonton Eskimos: 9-9

Losses: Calgaryx3, BCx3, Saskatchewanx2, Toronto

Ricky Ray will have a full season until the last 3 games. He will suffer a broken right hand. Except for this time, Jason Maas will be backing him up. In the last 3 games Maas will go 3-0 to lead them to the playoffs.

Eastern Conference:

1st: Toronto Argonauts: 13-5

Losses: Calgaryx2, Edmonton, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg

The one-two punch of their to fast cannon arm quarterbacks in Joseph and Bishop works phenomenal. They lead them to first place in the east both playing one half every game.

2nd: Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 9-9

Torontox3, Edmontonx2, Calgary, Saskatchewan, Montreal, Hamilton

Kevin Glenn has another great year, not quite as good as the last but great none the less.  Charles Roberts legs start to run out as he starts to have injury problems but they still receive home field advantage.

3rd: Saskatchewan RoughRiders: 8-10

Losses: Calgaryx3, BCx2, Edmontonx2, Toronto, Winnipeg, Hamilton

Marcus Crandell goes 1-3 in his first four games and they switch quarterbacks to Darian Durant. Durant has a very good season and takes the RoughRiders to the playoffs in a cross-over with a 7-7 record.

West Playoffs:

Edmonton beats BC 27-21

Calgary beats Edmonton 19-14

East Playoffs:

Saskatchewan beats Winnipeg 30-24

Toronto beats Saskatchewan 31-17

Grey Cup:

Toronto beats Calgary 22-17

Mike Vanderjagt Grey Cup MVP (5-5)

So there you have it. That is my prediction for the 2008 CFL regular season and playoffs.

I am a huge fan of Darren Gill. Unless you have been reading this blog for a while now or are reading this site from your comfortable home/office in Canada, you have no clue who I am talking about. Gill doesn’t mind.

I first talked to Darren when he offered to be a guest contributor at SportsAgentBlog.com for an entire week. For a list of his posts, click here. Besides his brief stint at writing for this site, Mr. Gill focuses primarily on the CFL (Canadian Football League) and has had a lot of recent success in the CFL Drafts. Last year, Gill Sports Management represented 12 players (over 25 percent of the players drafted in 2007), and the No. 1 (Chris Bauman) and No. 2 (Warren Kean) overall selections. Last year was no fluke, Darren brought his game to the CFL draft once again.

The Canadian Football League held their annual Canadian College Draft on April 30th and for the second year in a row it was Montreal based agency Gill Sports Management (GSM) that turned out to be the big winner, representing a total of 16 players (over 33 percent of all drafted players), which included three first round selections including: Dylan Barker (first overall), Shea Emry (seventh overall), and Samuel Giguere (eighth overall).

This marks the first time since that an agency represents back-to-back first overall selections. Last year GSM represented four first round picks, including the first overall selection Chris Bauman, for a total of 18 drafted players.

Sherbrooke receiver Samuel Giguere made news earlier in the week when he signed a Priority Free Agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts.

In total, GSM had three clients selected in the first, two in the second, five in the third, one in the fourth, three in the fifth, and two in the sixth.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats made CFL history during Wednesday’s draft with their selection of Dylan Barker. This was the first time a defensive back had been selected with the first pick since the Edmonton Eskimos selected Patrick Burke in 1993. Also of note was the fact that Barker’s selection marks back-to-back first overall selections that played in the CIS, both in the province of Saskatchewan as well.

Another GSM client was featured during the draft as former Boston College standout Kevin Challenger was involved in a trade which sent him from Calgary to Edmonton in return for the second overall draft pick.

Gill Sports Management, founded and headed by Montreal-native Darren Gill, currently represents over 50 active CFLers and has been representing players since 2002.

The Gill Sports Management Scorecard

1 (1) Hamilton Dylan Barker - DB - Saskatchewan
1 (7) Montréal Shea Emry - LB - UBC
1 (8) Hamilton Samuel Giguere - REC - Sherbrooke
2 (13) Toronto Mike Bradwell - REC - McMaster
2 (15) Winnipeg Aaron Hargreaves - REC - Simon Fraser
3 (17) Hamilton Michael Giffin - RB/FB - Queen’s
3 (18) BC Justin Shaw - DL - Manitoba
3 (20) BC Jason Arakgi - LB - McMaster
3 (21) Toronto Jean-Nicolas Carriere - LB - McGill
3 (24) Winnipeg Daryl Stephenson - RB - Windsor
4 (26) Edmonton Jonathan Hood - DB - St. Francis Xavier
5 (34) Edmonton Dante Luciani - REC - Wilfrid Laurier
5 (36) Montréal Paul Woldu - DB - Saskatchewan
5 (40) Saskatchewan Jeff Zelinski - DB - Saint Mary’s
6 (46) BC Hubert Buydens - OL - Saskatchewan
6 (47) Winnipeg Pierre-Luc Labbe - LB - Sherbrooke

The Edmonton Eskimos are to the Canadian Football League what the New York Yankees are to the Majors: the evil empire, the team everyone loves to see lose.

Until two years ago, the Eskimos set a professional North American sports record with the most consecutive playoff appearances—that was until the arrival of Danny Maciocia, or Macaronni as he is not so fondly referred to in what used to the City of Champions.

After two dismal seasons in which the Eskimos failed to make the playoffs, despite having the best quarterback in the league and a host of star players, Maciocia fired coaches, cut players, and blamed everyone but himself for the team's troubles.

After inheriting a team built by former Eskimos coach Tom Higgins, Mariocia took a third place finish in the regular season on a role into the playoffs, and thanks to the heroics of Jason Mass, was able to win a Grey Cup during his first year as head coach of the league's most celebrated franchise.

The following two seasons are seemingly far more of an indication of his football coaching talents—not to mention his recent promotion to head of football operations in the city. Where else but in Edmonton could a coach have two brutal consecutive losing seasons and get a promotion?

Player after player has been cut by a coach who refuses to take any responsibility for the team's troubles. The powers that be in the Eskimos head office seem to have their blinders on. Flush with cash and a season ticket holder base that remains loyal to the team, the Eskimos board has chosen once again to ignore the collective outcry from fans all over the city. They are letting a coach with no business heading up a bantam football team—never mind a team like the Green and Gold—run into the ground the winningest team in league history.

I had the chance to sit and share a few drinks with a now-retired defensive back from the Eskimos last fall at a friend's birthday party. Naturally the subject of the coaching staff came up, and his opinion was that most of the players had completely tuned out the head coach, mostly because he had completely failed to earn their respect both on and off the field. By many he was thought of as a complete joke.

It seemed that it wasn't just the fans who didn't believe in the head coach, the players were also questioning how this guy could have landed a head coaching job in the CFL—and is shows in their performance.

An item of note was that he also mentioned how the fastest way to get shipped out of town was to dare to speak out about who he called "the little man"—a reference to the comedy antics of Charlie Chaplin.

With the Eskimos first preseason game scheduled against the Stampeders on June 13, fans are already bracing themselves for another disastrous season and can't wait to see what promotion Macaronni will receive for another job done not so well done.

One thing is for sure—Eskimo fans are experiencing firsthand the emotions that fans around the league have long felt thanks to the arrogance of the team's board of directors who, despite total loss of public confidence, have chosen to go into the 2008 season with the same gong show approach as the last two years.

The Edmonton Eskimos ended their second consecutive disastrous season tonight against the perennial league doormat Hamilton Tigercats. After a North American pro sports record 34 straight years making the playoffs, the Eskimos will watch the CFL playoffs, which start next week, for the second year in a row.

Tonight was also the final game in the mostly up but sometimes down career of kicker Sean Fleming. He finished his career as the punter this evening turning over the place kicking duties to Warren Kean. Kean was the Eskimos first round draft pick this past season and spent the first 17 games on the practice roster. Fleming was also a first round draft pick back in 1992 and he will finish his career with 250 games played including 20 playoff games and 5 Grey Cup games. He finishes his career with as the Eskimos all-time leader in points (2416), field goals (519), converts (680), punts (1138), punt yardage (47,459) and kick-off yardage (65,726). Goodbye Sean and good luck. Your leg and heart will be missed.

Well at the end of the night the Eskimos lose to the leagues worst team 21-19. It was a unexciting game with a few bright spots. Damian Anderson, Kamau Petersen and Warren Kean all had good games and will most definitely be back next year. Kean finished his first game 3/4 in field goals and 1/1 in PAT for 10 points. Both Stephan LeFors and Steven Jyles had adequate games as you would expect from the #2 and #3 quarterbacks. Ricky Ray, who has been injured for the last 5 games, will be back as the starter next year. As far as the rest of the team is concerned, that will be decided.

I will sit back for a week and consider this season. Like tonight's game there were a few positives but a lot of negatives. Look for the report card and my recommendations for next year later this week.