3DownNation Podcast: Rourke blows off interview, Collaros takes headshot, can Elks make playoffs?

welcome welcome welcome to the three down Nation Podcast I'm Justin dunk joined by John Hajj and JC Abbot fellas we got the West covered Jaan is in Manitoba I'm in the beautiful province of Saskatchewan and JC is in the lovely province of British Columbia fellas and and Alberta doesn't count at all we just forget about we do have multiple contributors in Alberta but you're right that is that is the one Western Province we don't have covered today well maybe we'll try to cover it in some form or fashion with our analysis here fellas oh we're we're going to be talking about both of those teams at length to day absolutely so don't you worry albertans we got you covered okay we're not leaving you out today we're discussing miles Brown's Labor Day classic head shot on Zack keris a possible quarterback change in Calgary Lucky Whitehead's controversial tweet the alette signing multiple players to contract extensions and whether or not the Elks can make the playoffs but first Canadian quarterback Nathan roor threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns with one interception in the BC Lions 3812 win over Ottawa during touchdown Pacific though that performance was overshadowed by his decision to blow off a halftime television interview does roor deserve to be criticized for choosing not to talk to TSN or should I say briefly talk to TSN yeah absolutely I mean we have sung Nathan R's Praises on this show repeatedly and I don't think that this one particular moment is emblematic of rook's entire character I don't think that we should eviscerate him as a person or judge his entire you know his entire personality his entire everything based off of this one interaction but it was a bad look and it was inappropriate if you ask me Nathan roor paying a lot Nathan Ro Nathan Nathan roor is the face of the league whether he likes it or not and he is getting paid $200,000 per year to Market this league and part of marketing not 200,000 this year part of marketing your league is doing interviews with the rights holder and there was a lot of feedback on social media about how Time interviews are pointless personally I don't much care for halftime interviews either and I appreciate that Nathan R is focused on the game and that he doesn't like doing interviews at halftime and there is a delicate balance to take people behind the scenes a little bit between you know those requesting interviews obviously rights holders have more say more Sway With teams when it comes to requesting interviews because they are paying good money to cover these games TSN reportedly pays to the tune of $50 million per year to have the the exclusive television rights to the Canadian Football League without which by the way there would be no money to pay Nathan W his $200,000 of marketing money but to me this boils down to you know can Nathan do two halftime interviews a season can he do five can he do nine I don't think he should be asked to do it every week but he needs to be in a position where he can say hey this is a special game it's touchdown Pacific we're playing in my home toown my birth place of Victoria BC I know that I'm going to get the halftime interview I'm going to suck it up and put on my big boy pants and do it today and then maybe in a week or two then I can play the well I just did it card and they can go ask for Alexander Holland or Rick Campbell because those are the types of things that you do in the business when you are trying to book play your interviews but to me this was a bad look from Nathan work this was not excusable I think you're right to an extent hjj because the reality is that Nathan RoR is going to have to adapt to this situation mature a little bit and begin to shoulder that burden whether or not he likes it however I do want to push back on some of the social media backlash here against Nathan roor because a lot of the people criticizing him and there are valid ways to criticize him are criticizing him wrong they're suggesting that this had something to do with ego or or that he was big- timing TSN blowing off farand doing something of that nature and that's simply just not the case here the underlying root cause of this is Nathan roor despises talking about himself and he hates being the center of attention and being the guy that everyone is pointing to as the reason for Success he hates it after games too but he sits there and takes it and tries to deflect he especially hates it during games and he's had those conversations with TSN and the sideline reporters in the past that hey I don't want to do this I don't like it I really don't want to be asked to be on camera in this particular occasion there was a negotiation that happened behind the scenes between him and Rick Campbell to get him to come and do this but once farand launched into his description of what was essentially Nathan's statline Nathan cut him off because he didn't want to talk about himself and he went to the locker room and yes does he need to adapt a little bit to that circumstance and learn to take those questions sure but the other element here that I think is forgotten Nathan Rook has been with this team for three weeks right he came into a situation where there was already an established starting quarterback that had previous relationships with receivers that he did not know personally right he's coming into a brand new situation he's got to establish trust and and chemistry with those guys and if at the first opportunity when he's playing well it becomes all about him that can distract from the team he's trying not to upset the balance he's trying to be the quiet worker and earn everybody's trust to keep that situation stable so there doesn't become a division between the VA guys and The Rook guys and I think there's a concern from his standpoint that if it becomes too much about him that could happen and in this circumstance at halftime he wanted to make it very clear in a viral moment that this is not about him it's about the team and about the job that needs to be finished so I don't blame him for this on that occasion he gets a one-off pass it was a nice moment that everyone looked at online probably generated way more traction for TSN that anything it would have done if he had said anything of substance but in the future he's got to learn to handle it with a little bit of a different tack there are multiple angles here and I feel like they all need to be explored you guys have done a solid job here of trying to get to some of those angles it's understandable from my standpoint for Nathan R perhaps to not want to do these interviews but when you become a franchise quarterback in this league because it's no different from from Zack keris to Cody Fardo to Chad Kelly to Trevor Harris and anybody else that's a quarterback in this league that there is going to be a lot of media requests for you and also there are going to be a lot of questions asked about you and also to give perspective on your team so that is something to me that Nathan RoR needs to get used to and I think even though he's uncomfortable with it that some of these questions are no different than some of the other quarterbacks around the league would get I understand wanting to deflect and you can handle these questions however you so choose so from that standpoint I can get it that he's in the game locked in doesn't want to do a halftime interview but the greatest quarterbacks in this league greatest players in this league have done these interviews so you need to understand that that is part of playing in the Canadian football league and you're playing for your hometown team in the place where you grew up that is a natural storyline for the broadcaster in this example being TSN so I think all of those things need to be understood now there are some things behind the scenes that I'm not necessarily going to go in here that I think might be a factor but on the flip side of this how you alluded to it a lot of people will say well we don't really care for the in-game interviews because they don't give you much well when we get a controversial one that stirs everything up everybody seems to be upset with Nathan RoR or I should say most people are upset with Nathan RoR this is a viral clip that I would argue is to the benefit of the CFL arguably is to the benefit of TSN because it generated so much conversation the first thing I thought of when I saw this happen was Solomon eliman I think it was either halftime or postgame interview with Germaine Franklin in Calgary halftime boom same thing and he's trash talking while having the interview that clip will live in infamy for years to come on highlight shows when they count down best in-game interviews or what have you so from that standpoint it was great we saw it from the traffic Onre donation.com we got a real raw moment from a player that is the most that you can ask for I think of these professional athletes who have become so good largely at spitting out cliches look at Zach Clos he doesn't really let us in very much sometimes he's kind of funny but how you well know this even mik o Shay right he doesn't like these questions but even he understands that he's got to go up there and he's got to be asked them and he can answer them in the way that he wants be it injuries or anything else so I get it from all angles here you know I can understand talking to TSN source that they felt like Nathan R embarrassed TSN embarrassed farand l in this standpoint and perhaps threw a wrench into their halime show because now you're going to have to make up that time somewhere else in your halftime show I get all that but if I look at this from way up on the Sun or the moon or that 10 20 fet view I think it's a net positive for everybody because now people are going to say okay what happens the BC Lions go on the road to Montreal if roor plays well does he talk to TSN how does he deal with it I I get that yeah and yes if you subscribe to the thought that there's no news there there's no such thing as bad news right all attention is good attention then yeah it was a good interview for TSA and I will say I don't like criticizing players who do or say interesting things because yes we've all had to make a column at some point in our lives and make it taste like chicken salad when the quotes in the interview were actually chicken something else I won't say the word overcooked Bland chicken let's just say that but I I was thinking much worse than that but we'll we'll leave that be at the end of the day though what Nathan should have done if he was unwilling to do the interview is just pawn it off on a teammate and if he doesn't want to pawn it off at a teammate then he has to suck it up and do the interview right you can't agree to the interview like this is the difference between work this is the difference between work and su su went after an opponent and then looked to Germaine Franklin and said what's up and then they did the interview Nathan RoR got halfway through the first question and then took his ball and ran home right into the locker room he he he he he threw a complete wrench in a tsn's halftime show production which is is not good when again you're getting paid all this money to market the league and TSN is the rights holder the other thing I'll say is there are certain workplace things right we've talked about on this show this year workplace harassment things like that there are things that no one should put up with in a workplace but doing media at reasonable times when reasonably requested is 1,000% in the perview of a professional athlete's job and there are aspects of everybody's jobs they don't like if you're an orderly at a hospital I'm guessing you don't love changing the bed pants right but you do it why because it's literally your job so this is literally Nathan work's job I get that he doesn't like it again there's parts of everybody's job that if they could change they'd say oh I get rid of my boss or oh I wouldn't have to do this or I wouldn't have to work evenings or oh I wouldn't have to I get it we all have things like that but this is a reasonable expectation for a professional athlete especially one who is again certainly the face of his team right now arguably the face of the league for years to come and again is making boat loads of that sweet sweet Vancouver home-owning money to market the leag this was inappropriate from Nathan R again I'm not going to eviscerate him for life about this this was a blip he's a young guy but I don't think that it's reasonable to write this off as it wasn't a big deal no it was a big deal I really do think it was the thing that makes it a bigger deal is when you consider the audience and I know Joel Gasson is going to be pounding the table right now he hates the in-game interviews right and I'm kind of with him there I think there could potentially be a place for it depending how it's done but ultimately for TSN the reason why they do some of these in-game interviews is because of the audience so in this instance I have the TV rating for Touchdown Pacific it was over 530,000 average viewers when you have that kind of audience you want to try to tell the stories of the biggest stars in the game that line up from a storyline perspective and you can't write it any better than Nathan roor being in Victoria playing well in the first half and having a big lead okay it's not like he played terribly and TSN was asking him difficult Direct questions about playing terrible football it's a much different situation so as much as people hate him I don't necessarily love him but understand like Nathan would have preferred like he's shown that in the past he poorly stand up in front and eat it right he would prefer that question fair but it shouldn't matter the nature of the interview as long as none of the like like yeah I guess there are like crazy over-the-line questions that somebody could reasonably ask I've never seen in my time covering the CFL I've never heard a question from somebody like that but you know if it's a veteran reporter who is trusted to the point that they are being entrusted to do that type of halftime interview shouldn't matter if a player has the best game of his life or the worst game of his life he should do the interview simple as that and if he's not and if you're not willing to do it then pawn it off on a teammate and go to them and say hey I'll buy you a beer after the game do this please I'm unwilling to especially with a big audience watching over 500,000 viewers that's the point I think where you can really resonate with TSN and their production team and from Nathan Mor standpoint he's a mentally strong guy and there comes a point where when you have all this intense focus on you and a lot of that is because you're the quarterback yes part of is because he's Canadian and he's Nathan roor and he's done what he's done but he's still got a lot to prove here but you have to be able to flick that switch that is part of being a professional right you have to go from game mode to doing an interview and literally those interviews are told to be only two questions sometimes the third question is snuck in there and you'll see that at multiple times and the reporter sometimes gets a glare and I'm not talking in Canada specifically but more so the US that third question gets sneaked in there it's not really liked because everybody knows that it's either one or two questions depending on the situation like we have for example guys college football in the United States Kirby Smart George's playing Clemson Kirby Smart did a interview before the game with ESPN I think it was on ESPN did one at halftime did one at postgame okay I know he's the coach and it's different because those players at universities are younger but he understands the responsibility yes so if you as Nathan RoR as much as I have an affinity for Canadian quarterbacks want to play professional football and you get to the point where you are going to be we think in 2025 and 2026 the highest paid player in the league these are the things that you have to get used to and do I think he'll grow and learn from it but it comes as hjge said with a job and I want to hear JC's overall thoughts on touchdown Pacific in a moment but you touched on it it's it's hypocrisy right and I appreciate that some guys don't like the spotlight right they isue the attention they're not a fan of it but you can have your cake and eat it too right you can't say I want to eat 17 cheeseburgers and a and a and a giant pepperoni pizza for dinner every night but I also don't want to gain weight right you you can't do that you can't say oh I want to be the starting quarterback and I want to be a star player and I want to make all this money but oh I don't want any of the attention that comes with that no no no I can't do no that's unfair for anybody to expect me to deal with this attention I'm not not saying that's what Nathan did in this Ricky Ray for example but he dealt with it he dealt guy understood quiet stars have existed and if you can stand in the pocket and take horrific shots from 300 pound Defenders you can certainly ask answer a couple of softball questions at halftime even if you're a little bit shy right the fact like people are interested in you which is the entire reason why you make all this money you have to then follow that up with answering the questions anyways JC you were actually on site at touchdown Pacific and what appeared to be a softball Dugout covering that game I would love to hear your take on the event it was a baseball Dugout uh typically the main tenant of the stadium at Royal Athletic Park is the Victoria haror cats which are a minor league baseball team I'm not sure what league they're in I think it's just a regional one uh but there was no official Press Box or at least not room for members of the media that weren't actually involved don't be an old kudin and whine about this okay hey oh please let me be very clear he hey hey dunk I'm gonna cut you off right there because I I do have an issue with this I I don't have a problem from my perspective hey no seriously I don't have a problem with from my perspective with how I had to cover the game I'm quite content with it okay I I'll take all the shots I want afterwards for how slow I write but I I was perfectly fine to Mill around I had great Vantage points at points I got to go into the stands that's fine I don't have to write on Deadline some people had to write on Deadline immediately after the game whether or not you think that's an efficient way to do business is irrelevant their employers demand them to file right after the game and they did not have a view of the game they did not have working internet and they did not have electrical outlets that is unacceptable okay and those people unfortunately don't have our platform publicly to be able to speak up for themselves so I feel it's my responsibility as their colleague to say these because I do have these platforms for me personally it didn't matter for other people it did it mattered a lot and it made their jobs very difficult and everyone had to work around them to try and help them out because of that situation now from the event as a whole it wasn't just where the Press Box was located where there were some issues right like the stadium there was a almost 15,000 people in there I think realistically it should have fit 13 it was a little bit overpacked and that was okay on the uh south side where we were it wasn't too overcrowded the lines weren't too long but if you got over onto the north side where the temporary stands were erected especially pregame the line to get a lemonade was the entire length of the field for like a little lemonade cart there was not enough beverages to go around there was not enough shade there were some logistical challenges with how the event was put together even getting people into the stadiums it was hourong lines because there was only about four Gates now once people did get in and got in their seats absolutely tremendous event it was an electric atmosphere people were right on top of the action it was small it was intimate the crowd was Rowdy and the reality is is when you're at watching a game at BC Place especially a Lions game it doesn't really matter how many people you shove in there even if you've got 50,000 for the opener or 30,000 for a playoff game often the critique is that crowd's a little quiet it gets a little vacuum in there it ever since they change the roof it doesn't get quite as loud and it doesn't create a good atmosphere this was entirely different with about half of what they get for a playoff game at BC Place it was twice as loud it was noticeable you couldn't hear yourself think at points early in the game when they were cheering everyone was into it so that is a smashing success I think that atmosphere if you want to replicate that in Victoria again or elsewhere at other venues across the country if they take this show on the road touchdown Northern Canada let's do it boys yeah do Fort Mack again Fort Mack again no further north bro they had we we're going up to Yellow uh Yellow knife for dick Circle let's do it hey if we do it again great atmosphere logistically though I think there were some challenges the volunteers were a little bit overwhelmed the security was a little bit overwhelmed and there was not enough of the basic necessities including beverages to go around or at least to get quick access to on a degree on a day when it was 30 degrees outside good JC you told me where to shove it I appreciate it I I do think with one-off things right there are always challenges first times there's always challenges I was at the first game at when it was then called IG field and it was a complete another Gong show lots of people didn't get into the building until halfway into the second quarter and after a year or two right of people changing their game day habits and maybe how they get there and you know the team learning and the game day staff learning where to keep things flowing it it eventually got very smooth and now attending a game at at Princess Auto stadium is great BL bummer talking ratio breaker how were your first articles that you wrote ever yeah probably not that good probably not that good I'd be the same mode too by the way how'd your first start at guco I'm actually asking about you see you're getting a chance un to to actually prompted talk about your football career at the Collegiate level if I remember right the mighty qual Griffins went on the road and beat the York lions at their stadium with Ricky Foley on the team so it went pretty well getting to play against would be a great first start it is that's the only time anyone's bragged about being roor before or York before he had Ricky Foley bro you know how scary that was in film to watch that guy fast forward rewind rewind slow motion this animal is a guy I have to run Zone read against in my first career start either of you guys want to do that hey there are times there are times in York's history where if you stuck just Ricky Foley on the field it would have been equivalent to their entire defense I'll say real quick the first time I pulled the ball on a Zone read where I thought in my head that I had Ricky Foley I felt like I can't even say it in the podcast but I was gonna bleep down my leg like I was did I make the right decision thank God I did and got to the outside and I was running as fast I freaking can and that was scary stuff Zach Claris was knocked from the 59th Labor Day classic game in Regina when miles Brown struck the quarterback's jaw with his shoulder pad and appeared to make helmet to helmet contact Brown was flagged for roughing the passer on the play what does brown deserve as punishment for the hit and does the CFL need to do more to protect its quarterbacks yeah I saw Wade Miller's comments after the game criticizing the league criticizing Randy and brosie for not protecting quarterbacks to me I think he's overreacting I don't think that there is a problem right now in terms of protect protecting quarterbacks and yes I understand that a number of starting quarterbacks have been hurt but that hasn't been on a legal play or things that you can do anything really to prevent on this instance it was a legal play but it was penalized and I'm sure it's going to be fined as well and frankly it should be fined do I think miles Brown was going in there trying to take Zack claros out longterm and seriously injure him no I don't think that's the case do I think he went in with some intent to get a little late cheap shot in on an opposing quarterback yes I think that was exactly what was going through his mind and he caught him a little bit higher than he was perhaps anticipating and Kos went down of course he's got a history of head injuries and he was held out for precautionary reasons to me hand out a Max fine it's not as serious as the headbutt from last year that Pete Robertson got a one game suspension for it's a monetary punishment and nothing more the league handled it well on the field with the penalty I don't think he had to eject a guy for that play if you're Wade Miller though this is multiple years in a row where your quarterback has taken a cheap shot during the labor day classic so I think that's where his anger let's say comes from and it's understandable especially when you have a player like Zack Lis who yeah we know about his head shot but this guy's a two-time MLP and two-time gray Cup winner who has led the premier franchise in the CFL for the last four seasons and potentially counting because it looks like they're on their way to at least competing for first place in the west division again after a terrible 0 and4 start so I can understand where Miller is coming from there this hit did not need to be delivered okay let's get to the heart of the matter miles Brown what are you doing the quarterback is in an ultra vulnerable position and you decide to go in there with your shoulder and partially your helmet and hit this guy in the jaw and helmet area as even just another fellow player that should never be delivered okay let's just call it what it is and I would argue that this potentially warrants at least a one game suspension because of the vulnerable position that Zack keris was in and there are some people out there saying that once that's an anomaly twice is a trend because miles Brown ended up hitting Drew Brown low in Ottawa during that game that was a tie now I think that was a little bit of a different situation but when it starts to become a people have this opinion of you and again as pro athletes you control the narrative miles Brown in this instance the hit on ceris you control the narrative it never should have been delivered period full stop end of sentence yeah it was a bad hit and I agree with JC that it was flagged appropriately on the field look if if you want the CFL to to take the next step and Ratchet it up like does roughing the passer become an immediate ejection if so we're going to have times right where there's a very borderline at best call where there's a little you know there's an incidental hand that you know a player gets whipped around and all of a sudden there's a little bit of head contact if you slow it down to you know like you know Ultra Ultra slow-mo and it's like well if you squint hard enough yeah it kind of is okay I guess the player's getting ejected now and then we're going to have another uproar from the CFL Community going well why are we throwing out these poor defensive players for just you know what H you know it's basically just like an un unfortunate circumstance now that's not what this is but I'm saying moving forward I I don't know what the CFL is supposed to do here I appreciate W Miller's frustration Zack colaris also took a nasty hit after the play in the 2022 Labor Day classer from Garrett Marino he handed off the ball to Brady Olivera kind of went around up field clearly didn't have the ball in his hands G Marino years in a row was a dis anyway yeah goes in and mops Zack Claris and I've heard so many fans in Saskatchewan still complaining about the Shea Patterson hit that Adam big hill delivered the first time these two teams met in July which Corey mace and Shay Patterson himself went on the record saying we don't have a problem with this headit so I can appreciate from the bobber side why they are upset about this hit I'm just not sure as a league what you can do to stop these types of things I think yes levying a one game suspension might have an impact but it clearly didn't have an impact when they suspended Pete Robertson last year for the headbutt why because miles Brown still hit Zach colaris in the head so I I think what Wade Miller really wants is like a rewind button like like that remote control for the movie Click where you can just go and you rewind it and take the hit away he can't do that Wade Miller has a lot of power in the CFL he does not have a magic or a mode I don't think he wants the hit to be taken away I think he wants some stronger punishment perhaps HJ that's what you're talking about we've seen it in the NCAA with their targeting rule that there is a possibility and yeah sometimes it's going to be close where you can get kicked out of the game so if you're a Defender and let's say miles Brown in this instance and you're thinking about whether or not to deliver this over the-line shot to Zack Claris and you have the idea in your head maybe not in that split moment but going into the game that you could be kicked out of the game for one of those shots I think Defenders would treat that a little bit differently at the absolute least yeah I still don't think that this hit would have qualified for an ejection under targeting rules either though like and I appre completely illegal hit completely unnecessary hit I I agree with you wholeheartedly there dunk but I think it's on that borderline area of not quite egregious enough that it would have merited that type of ejection for like helmet to helmet crown of the helmet into a defenseless player type of ejection to me what this looked like was like when you're when you're a little kid and you're fighting with your sibling and you give them a little love tap you think it's just going to be a little love tap and then all of a sudden they start crying and you go oh I didn't mean to do it it was too hard that's to me what this I don't think exactly just crying about it no no but I'm using a metaphor here obviously like it was a hit that was intended to send some sort of message but it went too far and when you talk about the three hits in the three back-to-back Labor Day Classics to me this was the least egregious of the three by far in terms age with that both the force of the context and how egregious it was so I really don't think a suspension is mer here and I certainly didn't think an ejection was mer the other thing thing I want to add here is Wade Miller seemed to talk about how the the league as a whole has a really big problem with these quarterback hits and I disagree with that Veron Adams Jr missed time this year because he got rolled up on on his knee that's just an unfortunate circumstance um Trey Ford missed time due to a rib injury caused by him landing on the football that's kind of just an unavoidable accident Trevor Harris hurt his knee because again he got rolled up on that is going to happen in professional football um non cont injury Cody Fardo pulled a hamy right the only head injury that we've seen to any quarterback other than Zak colars was to Taylor Powell like this is not a I'm not suggesting by the way that that shouldn't be addressed what I'm saying is when I look at the league as a whole I'm not saying like yeah wow every other week There's a big illegal hit on a quarterback caus them to miss no this is just a rash of injuries to Zack clars in the Labor Day classic that is it to be um should that still be fixed absolutely the riders need to be less dirty quite frankly in that rivalry game when it comes to zacharis but I don't see a big league wide issue here a Big League wide panic I don't oh before we go I I just want to say I had blast in Regina this was my first Labor Day in Regina and I want to tell a very quick story because I met so many Fantastic people in Regina I got to meet Matt the Beloved CFL fan who sent nachos to League's head office in 2021 he gave us the full blowby blow of that story the other story I want to share I was walking around who whoa you're burying the lead there Matt was also the one that ped and JC's weedies and those two went back and forth on Twitter J you need to reach out to this guy and make sure that he thinks you don't hate him because that's what he thinks he took a picture with JN and I we're very cordial yep seems like he seems like a super guy with him he is well you know I would encourage him to uh just be uh a little less combative on Twitter if he wants a picture with me that's all I'll say to be fair the first thing I said to him was are you calm can we have a nice conversation and he laugh let's continue no he's also an accountant I'm I'm pretty sick of doing my own taxes so I'm thinking maybe I'll ask math to do my taxes for me next year um but a story I want to share really quickly I was at uh Wayne's World which is the huge bomber party that happens just down the road from Mosaic Stadium I was at Party in the Park I was in all bouncing all these places every single person I met bomber fan Ryder fan and everyone in between was super nice um I was in the Harvard Lounge at one point watching the excellent CKRM pregame show that you were hosting dunk with West Kates and uh about an hour in I decided I needed to use the washroom so I left to the left side yeah I'm telling the story I I walk to the left side of the Harvard lounge and there's two big like there's they're not doed washrooms they're just like open you know large large doors you just walk in uh like like doorways I should say and the first one has a big sign for ladies room so I'm just I'm on my phone I'm looking down I walk into the second one and I walk in and I get up to look for the Ural and there's like a bunch of women standing around and I'm like oh my God and I I panic and I I bolt out of there because I I I thought was a women's room and a men's room but it was just actually like a like a surprisingly huge women's room that had an entrance and an exit I don't know why they felt the need to make an entrance and an exit like it wasn't that big but it was a bigger room than I thought anyway I think only one woman saw me she's a young woman and I saw her laugh at my expense which is fine because I'm sure I looked really stupid and then I I quickly used the other washroom that I wouldn't get arrested for using um anyways embarrassing moment but I'm like it's okay no one noticed it'll be fine as I'm leaving the washroom and heading back into the lounge I see the young woman who who saw me in the bathroom and she's sitting at a table with I presume as her family and a man who I presume was her dad looks at me and he goes hey John hodj how's the women's washroom and I was like no of all the times to be recognized so anyways I I I shook his hand I met his entire family they were super nice people they listen the show so I just wanted to say a shout out to them I'm sorry I very briefly walked to the women's Rost room I didn't know and uh the signage was a little bit confusing at least for me maybe I'm just stupid I don't know but the signage I thought needed a little bit of work John you're not the only one to make that mistake I will come clean I forget which week it was I think it was probably the first game we did from the Harvard Lounge this season there was nobody in the building thankfully like the fans hadn't be let in yet but I made the same mistake in the same bathroom actually use of facilities came out and this lady was just walking in and she looks at me and goes am I in the men's bathroom and I look around and I go there's no urals in here I just use a women's bathroom but thank goodness only one lady saw this and we got to figure it out together and I didn't look like a complete idiot because there was only one person there but as you said Hajj for me too was my first Labor Day classic in Regina I've been to argo's TI cats in Hamilton I've been to Elk stamp leers in Calgary but for the first time to be here for game day and have a sort of a part in it with pregame postgame show it really is a unique experience and I think it was just heightened for Labor Day but it's a provincial Gathering Place Mosaic Stadium I think that's really underrated that it's either 50% or more of the people that come to ryer games are from outside of Regina and this year there was noticeably blue tinge to the crowd H we were talking about this in the Press Box with some longtime Regina media members and even talking to some Blue Bombers fans after the game they felt like it was the most amount of Blue Bombers fans that have ever come to a Labor Day classic and oh by the way that led to the biggest crowd ever at new Mosaic Stadium which was over 33,000 people I don't have the exact number in front of me and some people were like well haven't they sold this out before it's like yeah they've sold it out but what they did actually to fit more people in which I don't see this as a bad thing was increase some of The Standing Room availability so a very unique experience to go to this game it is usually the highest rated television game during the regular season though it was down year-over-year for the 2024 version it still got up over 800 and I believe it was 69,000 average television viewers on TSN and the vibe and the feel around the the place is just Immaculate there was a lot of respect between the fans except for a couple of Cs we'll call them that got into a fight we'll talk about it later but all in all just a wonderful Canadian football atmosphere to be a part of it was great uh I would love to go back next year it was a fantastic atmosphere a fantastic game and honestly even if you're not a bomber fan even if you're not a rider fan I would encourage any person even if you don't like football I would encourage anybody to go to this game because this game is about more than the Prairies it's about more than football it is just an electric atmosphere it it it's like going to Auburn Alabama right you don't have to care about college football it's just an amazing spectacle and so if you have the opportunity to go you should go it uh it was outstanding and and Regina I know JC has repeatedly said horrible and disgusting things about the city of Regina on this podcast but I also think Regina is actually very nice to the summer my my wife's good friend from University lives in vagina telling you guys this she took us around the the legislature area we had a beautiful dinner uh by the the lake there uh joh why didn't you come run with me around the ledge um I was busy that's that's why um very busy it's like when you tried to get me to do hot yoga the last time I was in vgin for me hot yoga any any yoga is hot yoga because that's how much I sweat but no I I didn't I didn't do a run around the lake I I might have I might have done a sit by the lake while you ran but I I didn't do a run around the lake uh I ate chicken and waffles by the lake and it was delicious um so yeah I I I like Regina in the summertime and and I think Winnipeg is the same if you come to Winnipeg in March yeah it's gross uh but come back in the summertime and Winnipeg is pretty beautiful Regina kind of got the same thing going on I give all respect I will respectfully provide no comment on either City and enjoy the beautiful West Coast lifestyle like Mama told you if you ain't got nothing nice to say JC keep your mouth shut throw away the key Jake Mayer had arguably the worst game of his career for the Stampers on laborg throwing four interceptions and being replaced in the late stages of the game by second-year passer Logan bonger Dave Dickinson who called his team's performance quote embarrassing wasn't sure postgame if he'd make a quarterback change ahead of next week dunk should he this is a difficult question because I want to say yes and I think there's some upside there with Logan boner but Jake Mar seems to have this ability to bounce back when he doesn't play very well not all the time but he can have some big games and I think that kind of goes under the radar when we talk about the narrative surrounding him and his play and not living up to the billing that he had when he was this upand cominging quarterback behind Biv VI Mitchell and then overtaking him for this starting role I would argue though that for this stamp peters's team it would be worth it to see what Logan Barner can do on the field but also how he can help the energy of this football team there's something kind of lack in here and I can't quite put my finger on it but with the group and I'm not saying it has to do with Jake maror as a leader but they just lack that Des for playing football at times I don't know exactly what it is but you expect better from a Dave Dickinson coach team and with John huffle still involved so I think there is some Credence there or you can understand why there might be a thought to put Logan boner in because he seems to you have a different energy about him and there's a lot of people that speak highly of him in Calgary I was taken back by Dave Dickinson's comments post game and shout out to our contributor Ryan Balentine for being there on the site and helping ask some of the tough questions that were asked of Dave Dickinson this is a quote from Dave quote to me our players look too comfortable if you're not doing the job we've got to go to the next guy in the social media era you don't hear or or see quotes like that a whole heck of a lot right nobody wants to have that that Viral quot quote that makes their team look bad or or whatever so first off credit to Dickinson for not mincing words but your words have to mean something right if you say that and you just change the backup Long Snapper then why would your players listen to you ever again you're clearly full of it like if you're saying that guys look too comfortable and that changes need to be made you have to make changes or else you're just talking for the sake of talking right that that that's not that's not productive so if I was Dave Dickinson I would be making multiple changes in the starting lineup I think I would start Jake mayor but I would do so with a short leash I think that Logan boner has the potential to be a great C quaron right give him the Reps and a full opportunity to see what he can do as the starter that is fair the the other caveat though is that the stamps run a short week and they're barely going to practice as it is so there's not a lot of reps to go around regardless this week I agree that if this was a traditional full week then you just give Logan all three practices and you say here you go kid sink or swim because he was on the pr all of last year he's not new to the CFL and I also think Logan Bonner has the potential by the way to be a terrible CFL quarterback you never know what you got until the guy gets in the game right he was a good player at Utah State he he's a little under siiz but but he could certainly run Better Than Jake Mayer mind you I think every CFL quarterback can probably run Better Than Jake Mayer um the only thing thing I want to push back on is I've seen lots of people going oh well it's just such a shame that Matthew schil is hurt otherwise the stamp Peters could go to him and with all due respect to Matthew Schultz who I think is a solid backup in this league this is a 31y old man who was thrown for 19 touchdowns in 18 picks like this is the criticism that I gave the Stampeders for this signing in the off season if you're looking for somebody to really push Jake Mayer like like really push Jake Mayer and someone who has the potential to be a true star in this league Matthew Schulz is not your guy like 19 touchdowns to 18 picks in 45 career games 31 years old like Matthew Schultz barring a miracle I feel like has topped out right we're not hitting the next layer of Matthew Schultz he started the East semi-final for the Hamilton Tiger Cats last year granted it was against an excellent Montreal defense but he was terrible in that game he was awful he got replaced by bully V Mitchell in the last six minutes and had the ti cats made a quarterback change sooner they might have actually had a chance to win that game with Matthew Schultz they did not which is why I think that even if Matthew Schultz was healthy Logan Bonner should still be the next guy up for the for the Calgary stamp Peters the stamp Peters bought a lottery ticket a couple years ago when they brought in Logan boner and they developed him by the way it's not that long ago that Dave Dickinson was heralded as the guy who could develop CFL quarterbacks whether it was you know Nick Arbuckle coming out of that team or or whoever else it's time to see if he still got it because right now now Jake mayor don't got it here's the reality when it comes to the Calgary Stampers Jake Mayer is probably good enough to be a starting quarterback in the CFL he's shown that he's inconsistent he has some good games he has a lot of mad games he has some really bad games but he's not a top half quarterback in the CFL and he's not a top three quarterback in the CFL and if you want to be contending for great cups and winning consistently like the great Stampers teams of your that's who you need you don't need a quarterback who you can win with occasionally you need a quarterback who you can win because of and Jake Mayer is not that guy right now you could Coast you could have him there you might even make the playoffs but you are not a gray cup Contender as your team is currently constructed and with its current quarterback if you stick in Logan boner could he be much worse absolutely absolutely I think there's a 5050 shot that he's worse than Jake Mayer but there's also a 50% chance that he's an upgrade and he could become that next guy that can take you over the top and get you into the top half and make you a contender again that's a bet that I'm willing to take every time they made that bet a little too slowly when they moved from bivi Mitchell to Jake Mayer I think it was ultimately a smart decision at the time we've seen enough from Jake now we know what he is he's not a top tier guy you need to go and find one whether that's in the off season going and trying to sign somebody like a Davis Alexander and thinking he could possibly be that guy or give your in-house guy a shot in bonger and see what takes that's what you need to do to take the next step as an organization the Edmonton Elks are 4- one in their last five games with the only loss coming on the road against the reigning great Cup champion Montreal alet with the Elks favored to beat the stamps again this week and sweep the Labor Day home and home for the first time potentially in 20 years is this a legitimate Contender Edmonton that is I can't believe I just said that to win the gray Cup by the way credit to AR contributor Andrew Hoskins for that 20 years factoid I did not know that that it had been 20 years granted the Stampeders were an excellent football team for most of those 20 years which helps explain it but to me the answer is yes like a thousand per yes like full credit to G Roy Simon jerus Jackson Jason Shivers Steven cell's this group that has rallied here in what we'll call the Post Chris Jones era in football if you have the better offensive line and the better defensive line you often win and that's beside the quarterback spot now we've talked about McLoud bethl Thompson versus trade for to death so I don't I don't want to go down that road what I will say about them is they're both playing well right now and when you got two good quarterbacks that's also a better sign I think the Elks have two quarterbacks better than any of Calgary's quarterbacks right now which is probably why they're GNA sweep this season series but that unit of Martez iy David Fuko you got Brett boo Shane Richards and Mark Cordy on the offensive line has been excellent Shane Richards former first overall pick did nothing in Four Seasons with Toronto the are going have to try to trade him away last year couldn't find any buyers Elks pick him up off the scrap he wasn't even a day one starter he has been excellent for them at Right Guard I want to give full credit to him and defensively this is one of very few teams in the CFL right now who can get pressure with four Sean Oakman since he was cut by the Toronto Argonauts has been a hugely impactful player for them and I also like their edges like like you've got uh Taylor you've got brown guys have really stepped up this year and I think Noah Curtis is one of the cfl's most underrated players certainly most underrated Canadians he has been a hugely impactful guy in the middle of that line so we could talk about the receiving core which is good you could talk about the running back Group which is good the secondary I think is probably just okay but when you've got guys like Niles Morgan and Nick Anderson running around like kind of oversized linebackers for the CFL game but can get from sideline to sideline I'm liking everything that I'm seeing about this team offensively and defensively right now I think the Chris Jones stink has aired out of the building long enough and I'm not saying that to be a Chris Jones hater he's obviously done good things with Hamilton's defense and a short tenure at that team which is great for him great for steelt toown but I think the atmosphere in Edmonton had been toxic under Chris Jones from the people I've talked to in that building that air is fresh now they've got guys who are playing really well who again they in many cases picked up off the scrap PE and that I think could power this team certainly to a playoff spot they're four and eight it's not a good record but the remaining six games I'm going to Rattle this off I went around by the way this week looking at the the strength of schedule for all the teams left in the west division edmonson's is one of the weaker or or one of the the weakest strengths of schedule which is a good sign for them they've got Calgary this week then they have a home and home with win Peg tough but I could easily see them split those two games they have to host Saskatchewan hosting Saskatchewan a lot easier than going to catron they go into Calgary if you win in Calgary on Labor Day surely you can win in week 19 and then they host Toronto in the final week of the season and who knows the Argonauts might not even have anything to play for at that point so I could see realistically this being like a nine and N team coming the end of the year that would be 5- one down the stretch and if you go N9 and N with the way the West is structured right now I think you're certainly getting into the playoffs dare I say you could host a playoff game what a turnaround that would be I'm loving what I'm seeing from the Elks right now and I want to give full credit to the people in that building making it happen because I see it on social media the last few days well maybe Chris Jones deserves more credit than he got for building no maybe the people who are doing the work and winning the games deserve the credit did Chris Jones make some good moves of course did during his tenure at Edmonton no one has said that Chris Jones is a complete utter buffoon anybody who said that would be wrong but the people in this building have turned it around and they deserve credit for doing so and on that note hjj I think a lot of us myself included need to take a Maya culpa here because when this move was made and Chris Jones was fired and jerus Jackson took over a before the move everyone was saying there's nobody competent on that coaching staff to take over as a legitimate interim head coach and think so didn't we think that jerus Jackson could provide a new energy no I we said I'm saying General in the media there was a lot of comments online that there was nobody competent on that staff to be the interim this was the argument for not firing Chris Jones earlier and then when jeras took over I'll take the blame here I definitely said there was no way he was going to stick around in year two that he was just a placeholder well what he's done so far has been wildly impressive and if he continues on this same trajectory like Hodge has suggested and you've got essentially what a nine and two finish to the season by an interim head coach not only do I think that demands that somebody has to stick around for another season but do you put that person into Coach of the Year consideration right that is if he does that record again six games away that's a long time to go if he can pull that off and get the Elks into playoff contention and finish N9 and N that would be an incredible coaching feat so full credit to jarus Jackson and it's not just his head coaching either what he's done with that offense and waking it up has been tremendous getting the running game going it wasn't as big a factor this week but in the past few weeks that has been Sensational the addition of Kevin Jones into the receiving Corp taking him off the practice squad and what he's done with that team so far and with the two quarterbacks playing well I'm sure dunk will want to touch on the debate between okay who starts next week between a healthy Trey forg and McLoud bethl Thompson throwing for almost 500 yards this week but they got two really good options two guys playing at a high level and an offense that is firing on all cylinders jerus Jackson has done a hell of a job far better than I would have expected and I take full responsibility my comments were off base he's done fantastic who goes to him let the record show that the Elks first win of the Season came with who is a starting quarterback Trey forward okay I'm not saying they should start him this week because McLoud bethl Thompson has found it that it factor that he had when he helped the Toronto Argonauts won win I should say excuse me a great Cup in 2022 so I think it's a great decision to have I'll leave that to the professionals what I want to touch on here you guys are going to be surprised by this is a defensive line because yes Haj and I get these guys confused when you said his name earlier no Curtis or Canadian has played really well but Noah Taylor's stats don't necessarily show it he is an absolute animal with a super high motor that has been hustling all over the field and then Elliot Brown as well has five sacks those two guys I feel like have helped change the complexion of this defense they've become legitimate pass rushers definitely in the case of brown and I feel like really helped turn this defense over do you want to give some credit to Chris Jones for finding some of these talents Kai gray you could put in there as well and helping get this roster together yes but ultimately as a head football coach and that was part of his other job description in Edmonton he failed because there was not an atmosphere there that was cohesive to winning just look at his win- loss record perhaps if he was just the general manager then he would deserve more credit and he maybe wouldn't have got fired but I also think that G Roy Simon has made some subtle tweaks to the roster and with Chris Jones gone it's like everybody can breathe again there in Edmonton can be themselves they're not under this intense pressure cooker that is Chris Jones and to be honest a lot of the stuff that he preaches is BS I'll just say it flat out okay because of the person that he tells us he is but what he actually is behind the scenes doesn't line up with it okay I think from the small town not town but time I've been in and around the Elks and that was mainly when they were in Regina jerius Jackson is who he professes to be not a super energetic guy but he's not fake either and he doesn't put a ton of intense pressure on these guys and he lets them play through some mistakes and I think G Roy Simon very much the same way a personable affable former superstar in the CFL who doesn't necessarily look down at any of these players because they can't play to his level it's a very intriguing roster and it's one that I think can make a run to win a gray cup though seems like the ultimate stretch and I don't want anybody out here talking about 2011 BC Lions okay because every team is made different this Elks team has got the Mojo though and I'm down to watch to see what they do down the stretch I don't think that jerius Jackson will be Coach of the Year even if the team makes the playoffs at 99 because I think that's Jason Moss's award to win or lose at this point but I certainly think that jerus Jackson could be the candidate out of the West Division and what a story that would be us sports played its first full schedule this past weekend it's Canada West hit the field after sitting out the previous week of the 12 games on the Slate which one stood out the most to you has to be the mighty galf Griffins going two the play of the week the play of the week fellas go look it up Marshall McCrae number one in your program but also number one in your heart hurling a University of Toronto Defender like it's nothing to get into the end zone My Man mark as a head coach has the Griffins flying high yes there's a major test coming up against the Wilford laor Golden Hawks and pet kryon favorite we'll call him Taylor elgersma on the road at their home stadium so golf's gonna have to go there but those Griffins look mighty impressive fellas go look that play up for real though Marshall McCrae hurdling that dude unbelievable just for the record dunk on this podcast today has hyped up wins over York and Toronto as the two gu games he talked about that's wild when you put it that way I'm not surprised to know I us usually before we do I'll take people behind the curtain a little bit when we're picking things like this not all the time because sometimes we want it to be spontaneous but there are times where I will reach out and be like who are you picking I just want to make sure we're not picking the same guy or same same game I didn't do that here because I knew dunk was going to take the GU Griffins game super hard on the Griffins you guys know that we all knew you were taking wealth yeah did you see that play by Marshall McCrae my game is the Ottawa ggs defeating new yor C it up 274 and the reason I chose this game is what not because toing me for talking about beating New York lines in my first start you ask me that question by the way now you're talking about Ottawa beating York well and it's because the York lions though they did lose this game by 23 points it was not particularly close this is a team that lost its Eight Games by a combined margin last season of 518 points and if you're sitting there going how is it possible to go 0 and8 by a and losing by a net negative of 518 points that's like 65 points a game and I'm saying yeah they lost their games last year all eight of them by an average of 65 points a game and that's only because against some of the top teams in the oua you know it was like 52 nothing at halftime and then they put in all the third stringers and things were a lot more evenly matched down the stretch but under new head coach Dexter Jane there is a culture change happening at York I don't expect this team to make the playoffs obviously I I don't even know if they'll win a game this year what I do want to recognize and give credit for is that this team when it would have been easy for the leadership of that school to go holy smokes our football program is like the most pathetic and futile thing known to man right now they could have just backed it up and done a Simon Frasier and not only did they not do that but they made what appears to be an exciting higher in Dexter janky who is changing the culture there he's having the player earned their logos earn their stripes it would be amazing literally on their helmets literally that is what he's doing they don't have stripes they don't have logos he's telling the players they have to earn those and um again I don't know if they'll do it this year but for the first time since I've been in or around us Sports football which is you know going on a decade now I think that there might be a future for York getting old bro yeah I'm I'm younger than you so suck it up I think that York I think that York is a team worth watching so I want to recognize that give credit yeah they lost by 23 points at home and no Ottawa isn't a Powerhouse but last year this would have been a 65 nothing game and this year it was a heck of a lot closer than that boy oh boy guys with all due respect to York and their potential turnaround and to the University of Toronto I can't believe we're picking games where those two teams lost by multiple touchdowns come on guys like there were exciting games in orts this week with amazing results like go out to the a US Bishops beat s effects that's their first loss in five years that's an incredible result in the regular season the in the regular season the Gaggers are firing on all cylinders right there with OA hosang in the backfield at running back and then go out to the other side of the country how about that statement win by the University of Alberta over UBC the vany cup Runner is up last year 42 to 28 that's a huge huge result for that Golden Bears team great performance in the running game by three different backs putting up three touchdowns 2 120 yards that is a real GameChanger in terms of how these teams out west are going to be ranked going forward I'm sure UBC is going to fall down the standings considerably Elberta might move up into the top three or four as a result of that game these are legitimate contests with Big Time implications for the standings and for the playoffs down the road not so much two games you guys have mentioned JC what's your Alma moer bro UBC and they got their butts kicked that's what I'm talking about you just wanted to talk about your Alma Mo that's all hey I I was talking about you accusing other people of talking about their alma mater is the best example I could think of of the pot calling the kettle black my goodness no one ever talks about my alma mater which has produced a CFL player despite not even having a football program Jordan Reeves Jordan Reeves Brandon University Legend though I it took me a while to like Jordan Reeves because growing up in Winnipeg playing p football yeah that's right dunk I'm going to talk about my old play want to hear it he would we would go to play the the cresenwood Grizzlies which I actually found out don't exist anymore which is unfortunate if you want to play football in crescentwood now they send you to a couple different places I know that apparently tackle football Winnipeg is the highest registration it's ever had before which is very exciting but the creswood Grizzlies have fallen off but we would go to play the crescentwood Grizzlies and Jordan Reeves would run for like oh my God like like 700 yards and eight touchdowns cuz nobody could tackle him and I would get in the car feeling all sad for myself because we'd gotten kicked once again and my dad would be over the moon why because he was a huge wiip Peg Blue Bombers fan in the 80s when Willard Reeves was out here winning mops and great cups and Willard would be at the game wanted to talk and he'd have his his great Cup Rings on and my dad be like oh I got to spend all this time with Will Reeves it was amazing and I'm sitting there be like I'm glad you had fun I'm glad one of them was said fun dad anyway I why wasn't he watching you well there wasn't much to watch I'll be perfectly honest when when you're when you're losing 75 nothing I mean we were the York Lions of of peewee football at least a couple a couple Seasons we had good teams but for the most part and and also it helped that Jordan and I were one year apart so that we would only overlap once every two years so in the off years we could maybe get the Grizzlies when he was playing it was a oneman show one kid show I guess I I digress it's now time for haj's Heritage moment on this day in 2014 Paul Williams passed away at the age of 67 the defensive back played eight seasons with Winnipeg and Saskatchewan and Remains the only player in CFL history to have scored a touchdown in sever different ways that's as a rush a reception interception return fumble recovery punt return kickoff return and missed field goal return dunk do you think that this is a record that could ever be broken they usually say in a hate cliches all records are made to be broken but seven different ways is ultra unique and I'm going to say at this point that that's a long shot that is broken yeah you have to get somebody who was donon Carter but actually good at both sides of the ball ouch Dron Carter catching he was good catch St both sides of the ball at points just not consist simultaneously yeah yeah anyway it's time maybe maybe Travis Hunter Flames out in the NFL comes up crazy he smoking again hey stranger things have happened stranger things have no I guess Johnny Manzel was up here uh for a good time not a long time actually let go to the three minute drill JC you are supposed to keep it quick okay don't let the clock run out I'm on the clock I'm ready mreal alloet has signed receiver Tyler sne and offensive tackle Nick calender to contract extensions which of those two was more important to get done and what left tackles don't grow on trees so it's Nick Hender he's been very good on that offensive line the BC Lions signed star cating pass rusher matchu Betts only one day after he cleared waivers from the NFL and he recorded a sack during touchdown Pacific how big of an addition is he absolutely huge the Lions went from having no reliable pass rush on the dline to having a very reliable pass rush it made that defense look night and day different Shawn lemon's indefinite suspension was upheld by an independent arbitrator dunk does that mean we've seen the last of lemon in the CFL I spoke with commissioner Randy ambrosie during the labor day classic and based on talking to some other people around the CFL I guess get the sense that he really wants to enforce similar to what's happened in the NFL where guys who bet on games were out of the league for at least a year so with that in mind I do think that down the line there is a possibility that lemon could play again in the CFL the League's overhead field camera better known as the spider cam or it's probably tsn's camera actually got stuck on Labor Day in Calgary Hodge what do you think of the stoppage I thought it was hilarious and I thought that the quote from head official Andre PR was an instant altim I'm not going to do the accent out of respect for the Fred canadi Community but the quote was the game has stopped the spider cam doesn't move anymore which was hilarious and awesome I loved it Canada's men's and women's teams were held off the podium at the flag football World Championships is that a surprise it's not they entered the week 9th and 12th in the world respectively they finished fifth and seventh there's a lot of work that has to be done in the four years to qualify for the Olympics and hopefully the addition of some CFL and NFL players will help push those teams towards qualification eventually the Minnesota Vikings have signed Canadian American QB Brett riit will we ever see him in the CFL I doubt it he seems like one of those career backup types we got a up close look at him on Hard Knock when he was with the Chicago Bears before he signed with the Vikings and he's made almost $4 million USD and this season will likely cross over that so I highly doubt he ever plays it down in Canada the Edmonton Elks benched kicker bores Bey for the Labor Day classic then Dean faithful missed a 29 yard field goal in his season debut which of those two should be the guy kicking the football for Edmonton moving forward I we sung edmon's Praises earlier on the show this is the one aspect of their game that frankly stinks I'm going to secret option C get me a guy who can just make field goals every other team has one they all do Lucky Whitehead offered to buy a beer for one of the Blue Bombers fans who was caught on video fighting in the crowd during the late stages of the Labor Day classic what did you think of Whitehead's tweet I thought it was an absolutely despicable tweet by Whitehead a terrible decision for him to put out there on social media and I think he will be rightly fined by the Canadian football league for violating their social media policy and their code of conduct you cannot be encouraging fans to fight in the stands and reward them with beer that is the biggest no no the Calgary Stampers paid tribute to jangy gdo prior to the Labor Day game at McMahon Stadium was that a nice gesture it definitely was there were a number of stamp Peters who who showed up wearing his jersey to the game they had a 13 second moment of silence very well done by CC with how they honored the late goodro the aletes have already clinched their spot in the CFL playoffs do you think Montreal will repeat as great cup champ I think it's early to say that I give them credit obviously for the Fantastic season they've had but remember last year it was like well Toronto's just going to sleepwalk to the gray cup and they didn't even make it right so you got to win with when it matters most and that's in the East finals so they they should be the favorites right now full credit but it's too early to say they're going to repeat they're they're going to be in contention that's all we know last one the red blacks have released starting running back requell Armstead on Tuesday what was or was that a surprise from a statistical standpoint yeah sure but you can't take that many dumb unforced penalties for your decision making on the field and getting into it with people after the whistle and still keep your job whatever was going on between Rew Well's ears that's what cost him his employment with the a red black and I think the team frankly should have pulled the plug a little bit sooner we thank you as always for listening to the three donation podcast for Justin dunk and JC Abbott I'm John hodj enjoy this week's games we'll see you next week