3DownNation Podcast: Brown's low hit, CFL playoff races, Kelly and Bonner's picks

Intro welcome to the three down Nation Podcast I'm John Hodge joined by JC Abbott Jus a dunk is off today JC we have been getting inundated with comments texts tweets everything about the sword that is implanted into your head in the backdrop of your podcast before we get to the rundown today because you got a ton of CFL to talk about a little bit of us Sports a little bit of NFL perhaps we need to know what is going on with the sword that is embedded in your skull because our YouTube viewers desperately want to know um it's a this is gonna sound really nergy Hodge this is is a replica longclaw from Game of Thrones Jon Snow's sword I got as a gift a number of years ago and I don't have a lot of good places in my house to record this so I'm like jammed in a corner and that happens to be where I also hang longclaw so it is behind me as a backdrop here and and longclaw is the name of this particular sword or is it the name of like that variety of Sword no it's it's it's the uh the name of this particular sword it's a Valyrian steel sword okay I I get down with Harry Potter I don't know Game of Thrones uh Lord of the Rings a little bit just the movies I don't like the Lord of the Rings books uh though I've tried to read them many many many times um so big game of thr have you read the books The Game of Thrones books I did not read the books but I was a big fan of the show when it was on uh and have some memorabilia I have many many nerdy uh interests particularly in the realm of of Television so okay that was one of my obsessions at the time and uh most of the time I just obsess over football but when football's not on you got to find something else to watch right this is true and I will I say that the the sword there I think is a great excuse CU that way when you make picks that are bad and don't make any sense you could say well it's not my fault I've got a sword that's wedged into the back of my skull long Claw is that what it's called I have long claw long claw yeah in in my cranial nerve right now uh without further Ado let's get right into it today we're discussing Chad Kelly and Logan Bonner throwing a combined nine interceptions this past week possible Renovations coming to Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton whether or not the Hamilton tiger cats can still make the playoffs yet another late season Saskatchewan Rough Riders collapse the retirement of Aaron Grimes and two teams making a push to host the 2026 great cup but first for the second straight week Saskatchewan Ru Riders defensive tackle miles Brown delivered a controversial Miles Brown's hit on Chris Streveler hit on wiip Blue Bombers quarterback on a winig Blue Bombers quarterback in the Labor Day classic Brown hit the head of quarterback Zack Kos which drew a penalty and subsequently a fine this past weekend in the banjo Bowl he hit Chris strer low while the Dual threat passer was delivering a surprise pass on second and two which drew a penalty for roughing the passer strer was unable to return to the game and was hobbling on crutches post game Hodge was this a dirty hit from Brown I don't think it's a dirty hit I think it's an unfortunate hit hit and I think that the notoriety of Miles brown right from The Drew Brown hit from earlier this year the Zach colaris hit last week and now the Str hit is going to unfairly paint him in the minds of some fans as a dirty player I went around the bombers Locker Room Post game I think I asked eight different players about this Hit Radio Oliva Zack colaris Zacks didn't comment on the hit Brady did Brady said it wasn't dir Nick demsky didn't see the hit but said Saskatchewan's not a dirty team I talked to Patrick newfeld who's gone up against miles Brown a ton of times over the last three years he said miles is not a dirty player uh so I don't think this was a dirty hit I did also by the way talked to Kendall Randolph I believe I was the only member of the media who did the rookie out of the University of Alabama I believe was the offensive lineman on the Block and I asked him hey what was your take were did you push him into to Chris TR were you hugging him and trying to pull him back from Chris trer and he basically said I I have to watch the film to be sure so it was kind of a non-answer from Kendall Randolph but at the end of the day the context is important right this was a second and two play Miles Brown along with all of Saskatchewan's defensive front was expecting a short yardage play that is not what happened Chris Trev had a surprise drop back to pass Kenny Lawler was the only receiver charging downfield strev ended up lobbing the ball up so I I do think it was a penalty like when you watch the play the hit was to the knee mik o sha did also confirm that in his opinion it was to the knee I got inundated with tweets from Ryder fans showing that the hit might have started a fraction of an inch above the knee and fair enough it might have struck some portion of Chris trel's thigh but the width of a shoulder pad especially for someone the size of Miles BR is going to be I I would guess in and around 10 in wide so if you strike 2 in above the knee that means that the bottom you know 8 to 10 in or whatever it is the exact width of the shoulder pad is going to be hitting the knee I do believe was a hit to the knee the injury was to Chris tr's knee um adding insult to injury this was the first game this year that Chris tr's fiance was in attendance and I was in the tunnel post game outside the locker room and he was on crutches she came found him they embraced and he just put his head on her shoulder and they stood there like that for it must have been close to 30 seconds he was clearly devastated he was obviously incensed on the field but postgame we don't have an official update on the injury I would imagine it's season ending but that is speculation on my part based on seeing the injury live and then seeing Chris str's response afterwards this is also a player who played the West semi-final with a broken foot back in 2019 so I don't think you ever rule Chris trer but um I I don't think it's a dirty hit and I don't think it's a dirty play from Miles brown but last week was a dirty play and I do think that there is a lesson for defensive players in this league which is that if you do something dirty one time you will maybe no longer get the benefit of the doubt from fans from officials from members of the media whether that's fair or unfair it's just life so I I don't think this was a dirty hit I do think it was a penalty but I can also see why fans are upset with Miles Brown yeah I think the only people that have been less lucky Than Miles Brown have been the quarterbacks he's hurt this season because I don't think either of the low hits that he's been guilty of against Drew Brown a few weeks ago against trer here are really his fault right his job is to fire off the line there get low on the first one against aawa he gets tripped up very clearly tries to avoid rolling into the knee on that one on this occasion it's a short yardage play right as a defensive tackle your job is just bury your head and go forward if you're not going to get blocked up like it's hard to stop the momentum of a 300 PB man when he's trying to Lunge forward like that you it's obviously a penalty right that's happens irregardless of intent or context but I don't think it's an example of somebody trying to take out somebody else's knees which a lot of fans suggested on social media obviously the week before was a lapse in judgment by Brown penalized accordingly in my estimation by the CFL and he's going to get a reputation because you know once is a oneoff you know two is it a coincidence three it becomes a bit of a trend and that's what people are suggesting here with Miles Brown they're not going to ever give him the benefit of the doubt but I think this was a situation of him getting unlucky and the players he's going up against getting unlucky I wonder hjj if strer is out long term where you see the bombers going with that quarterback position I mean that's a great question uh Eric barrier who was with the team in training camp is a free agent following his release from The saskat Ref riders that being said he was awful right in the preseason as much as he was a very highly sought after uh college player right tremendous tremendous collegiate career at Eastern Washington a school that has produced a number of very talented CFL quarterbacks however I think if you're the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Terry Wilson I think is the guy you're looking at as your future I don't think you're looking for uh a guy who you know you you're necessarily wanting to come in and run the offense like Chris trer did start a game this year it's it's clear that the bombers greatly shortened their playbook for that one they also did the same thing in the Labor Day classic when he played the second half in place of an injured Zack clars uh I think Taylor Cornelius is an option for this team I have a not out to Taylor's agent I've yet to hear back I also wonder if Mason fine could be an option though obviously Mason fine from a build and roll perspective would not fill the same uh kind of maybe formula or pattern that the kind of template that the bombers are looking for Taylor Cornelius a guy who's you know 63 64 a solid 230 235 is right in that bow the guy who can run the short yardage who can take those hits that is a player who I would look to potentially as someone who could replace Chris treler but again I have yet to hear back so I don't even know if Taylor Cornelius is looking to continue playing professional football or if he's willing to come back to the CFL after what I would imagine was a pretty negative experience with the Edmonton Elks he hasn't done any media since he was cut this offseason so we don't really know where he's at from from that side of it but the other thing I want to touch on JC is you know again fairly or unfairly miles Brown is going to be called a dirty player again I I I well I will say that is unfair but I did think that the Riders and this maybe gets into a little bit of their struggles as of late right they're winless and seven with a tie' 06 and one they should have won that game in Ottawa they probably should have won a couple of these other games they've lost jir Thurman what are you doing right he tackles Brady Olivera out of bounds in the banjo Bowl they're they're well over the sideline and for seemingly no reason jir Thurman shoves him to the ground and takes a p a penalty for objectionable conduct habakuk baldonado nailed that name by the way defensive end is in for an injur Malik Carney and he rips Bray ol ver to the ground while he's out running a passing route and gets flagged for a necess or for legal contact on a receiver and then after the game right tackle Eric Lofton of Winnipeg tweeted that baldonado spat on him that's obviously just an allegation that's not confirmed but I don't think that if you're the Riders right and you want to avoid this label of a we're a dirty team and again to a man in Winnipeg's locker room from the people I talked to none of them said they were dirty but but these are chippy things that are costing you penalty yards in a game where you are playing in hostile territory right the Bano bow is probably the loudest game of the season in the CFL and that's probably including gray cup which is traditionally played of course in front of a mostly neutral audience you can't give up these yards and I I wonder if part of maybe the extracurricular activity we'll call it from the Riders stems from the fact that it's been so long since they won and tempers there are starting to boil over yeah and this was a trend when they were losing the last two years as well right finishing the season with seven straight losses in both 2022 and 2023 penalties were a major issue they were one of the least disciplined teams in the CFL and that was supposed to change under Cory Ma's leadership it looked like it had when they were flying high through that early stretch of the season but now everything that could possibly go wrong for the Scatman Rough Rider seems to be going wrong again right it's that self-fulfilling prophecy where they've they've got these opportunities to win these games but the mistakes just pile up right they should not be in the situation that they're in now the good thing if you're a Riders fan and I think a lot of people who are wearing green and white in the the province of Saskatchewan aren't seeing a lot of good things these days but if you just want to calm yourself and and think about this season as a whole most of the West Division has gone through a stretch like this right the Winger Pig Blue Bombers were left for dead early in the season so were the Edmonton Elks both of those teams are surging now the BC Lions just came off a five game losing streak where it looked like they were headed to the basement you're in that version of your slump right now and based on the way those other three teams have turned around and are playing now there's nothing stopping you from doing the same thing to end this season but it's got to happen now right because the playoff race is getting tight something has to trigger in these coming weeks for the Saskatchewan Ru roggers if they want to make the postseason and not miss it for the third straight year I think the Riders I mean the Saskatchewan's winless streak they're on a buy right now I don't think teams ever want to go into a buy off a loss much less off a losing streak so that's going to be tough but the advantage is when they come back they're playing the Calgary Stampeders a team that is completely and utterly fallen and cannot get up they need a Life Alert at this point to call an ambulance because nobody is coming to help them or save them and they are completely unable to help or save themselves so I can tell you right now spoiler alert I picking the Calgary or picking against the Calgary St Peters next week I think the Riders will end this streak and one thing I want to say to JC is maybe we owe Craig Dickinson a bit of an apology right this team lost the Labor Day classic in 2022 and then lost the rest of the season right they started that year three and one uh pardon me they started the season four and one lost their last seven games missed the playoffs 2023 they win the Labor Day classic and then lose out from there they started that year three and one lost their last seven well 2024 and I remember saying this on this very show close to the beginning of the year I think Cory mace is going to be a very good CFL head coach I thought he was a great hire I still think he's a great hire I think he will win a great Cup in saskatch that being said do you remember back to the narrative at the start of this year where people were saying wow it's amazing how Corey mace has changed the culture here and I remember going have am I taking crazy pills and how does like a three and one start constitute a culture change a 4-one start a five inone start and to to be fully fair to Saskatchewan they had to overcome losing their starting quarterback for six games which obviously is tough for any team that being said Shay Patterson got two wins in a tie while he was at the helm they've now had Trevor Harris back for a month and they've lost to all four of those games now all four were close and they had some tough games in there right they had to play Montreal they had Toronto in there and they had Winnipeg twice that's not an easy schedule but that's four losses in a row with your starting quarterback who you know at the end of the day has played well right he he he's had one stinker in the four that he's played other than that he's been very good I thought he was excellent in the Labor Day classic and Trevor Harris two picks aside was still very soft in the banjo bow especially getting the ball out as quickly as he did behind what is a very banged up offensive line uh but at the end of the day this team is in the exact same boat it was the last few years the only difference is because the losing started earlier they still have some time right to get this fixed and if Corey mace has changed the culture in Saskatchewan right if he is the genius head coach that he was reported to be after the first month of the Season then presumably he will be able to help Usher in a winning streak here and help his team get to the playoffs which again they're in good position to make the playoffs still if the season ended today they'd be the third seed in the west division but you mentioned how good BC and Winnipeg are playing how good is Edmonton playing right now right Edmonton has been Sensational the Riders are going to be in a dog fight to win a playoff spot and I'm curious to see if they can do it because right now it's been the taale of two halves right the first half of their season was incredible the second half so far has been bad there's that last third that's yet to come I want to see what they do Chad Kelly and Logan boner threw a combined nine interceptions this past Chad Kelly and Logan Bonner's interceptions week as their respective teams got blown out in key divisional games which of the two performances was worse well I'm sure we're going to talk a lot about Jack Kelly in the segment but to me the clear and obvious answer was Logan boner and I respect that was his first career CFL start and that some of the interceptions were him trying to make things happen in a game that was Out Of Reach but I didn't see really anything to from my perspective in that game that shows that he's going to be the guy going forward can he change that in the next couple weeks if he gets another starter two potentially I think there's some armed Talent there he's got some zip on his throws but the Calgary Stampers make a bold change this week benching Jake Mayer Who you know we criticize regularly on this podcast but at the end of the day is at the very least a competent CFL passer right Rong of the mill you can win games with him and Logan boner came in and threw five interceptions in his debut with some bad ones and frankly I I don't think was giving this team the spark that you'd expect from a new quarterback or from a Young quarterback he's not particularly mobile he's not there was just not a lot there in my estimation so I was disappointed in that I'll be interested to see what Calgary does going forward if Matthew schilz is healthy and he gets on the field if they go back to Mayor if they run with Boner I think this is a Lost season for the stamps at this point I think they're long uh playoff streak is going to end at the end of 2024 the question now is what do they do at the most important position going forward and how are they going to use these last few weeks to figure it out if you look at these two performances in a vacuum it's obvious that objectively the worst one was Logan boner right and that's not unexpected he is a first-time starter and by the way though the result results were not there first of all I think Jake Mayer loses this game anyway secondly I commend the Calgary Stampeders for doing something bold right they could have trotted Jake Mayer out there and lost by you know probably one or two scores instead they decided to roll with the Wild Card which was Logan boner you throw them in the Deep End right every quarterback every professional player I think but certainly quarterback at some point needs to have the training wheels taken off the water wings taken off you have to take off the bubble wrap and you have to throw them in the deep end of the pool you got to push them into the road you got to do whatever and just see how they respond because some guys look unbelievable right it's like holy smokes this guy has never looked this good in practice and now when the bullets are flying for real he somehow got better like like you could never have predicted that and some guys it's the exact opposite right they look unbelievably good in practice and then the game starts and there's nothing there right and they are just unbelievably uh uh struggling and so I I think that it's important to get to that moment Logan Bonner's been with this team since the start of 2023 I think that's a reasonable timeline to to expect a guy to make their first career start and I think there's still some good stuff in Calgary like that offensive Line's okay though it's a little banged up the receiving core I think is pretty good they they've got something of a run game and Edmonton is not the toughest place to play though they did have a solid crowd we'll talk about a little bit later on in the show it wasn't a good performance that being said I think if you look at the context of the start and the context of the game I'd almost argue Chad Kelly's was worse yes he threw for almost 500 yards yes he had three touchdown passes he also drop back to pass 56 times like I hope the ice bath was ready for Chad Kelly post game because 56 dropbacks in a game is unbelievable the reason I say it's worse is because because this team is going to the playoffs unlike the Calgary stamp Peters but they were looking to host a playoff game and had they won this game they'd be right there with Ottawa seven wins one point back because the red blacks have a tie on the season instead they are now Five Points back heading into the final third of the season and these two teams only play twice which means that the point differential is massively important not only did Chad Kelly not put his team in a position to win this game but he was the reason they got blown out right you can't throw two pick six in the first quarter and and not take a large share of the blame for getting blown out and the fact that you got smoked in a normal circumstance doesn't matter right because at the end of the day the point differential doesn't matter this against an a divisional opponent where you are in a dog fight for them to host a playoff game and you only play them two times the point differential does matter so again objectively the worst performance was Logan boner but when you look at the context the expectations the the the factors surrounding the game I would almost be tempted to say it was Chad Kelly you can't like like he was sailing that football for the first half giving red the red blacks all kinds of chances and they took full advantage credit by the way to Damon Webb two pick sixes in a game pretty exceptional yeah only the eighth time in CFL history that a player has accomplished that particular feat I agree with you HJ that in the context of the loss and what it means that Kelly's is more impactful but I think Ben grant our wonderful contributor out of Toronto did an excellent job in his article this week s breaking down those interceptions and pointing out that Well Chad Kelly may have struggled a little bit with the wet football he got unlucky on some of those and I think we all know I'm not a a Chad Kelly apologist uh not somebody who's you know going to be cheering loudly for him going forward but I do think he was a little bit unfairly criticized for some of this some bad luck some balls sailed on Drew Brown too it's just Toronto couldn't capitalize on those or he got lucky and they fell to the turf unfortunately for Kelly his balls ended up in the hands of guys like Damon wed who made his team pay for it early and when things got Out Of Reach in that game they couldn't crawl crawl or claw their way back into it I was little bit fascinated after the game with some of the comments by a red blacks strong side linebacker and Darius picket who we all know was with the Argos last year because he compared this Kelly Performance I believe somewhat unfairly to the east final last year when Kelly again threw four interceptions also had a fumble and got stopped in short yardage in that game I think that was the comparison that a lot of people were making online I don't think that's fair because in that East final there was nothing going right Chad Kelly was dead in the water once things started going wrong I thought he put up a respectable second half right a lot of garbage time yards sure but the Argos became competitive down the stretch even if it wasn't enough for them to get over the top and Stage a large comeback but Adarius Pickett's criticism of Chad Kelly and Ryan Dinwiddie Pickett's comments about Kelly and also about his head coach or his former head coach Ryan deny were certainly interesting what did you make of those hush well I mean first of all credit to Clare Hannah for doing this interview is's an exclusive with TSN postgame uh and credit to adarius picket for not being afraid to to speak his mind right he seemed upset that the Toronto Argonauts didn't reach out to him personally last offseason when he was a free agent I spoke to uh Mr pcket at the CFL Awards availability last year where he was ad donning a custommade Toronto adarius picket jacket that he had had made and for a guy who started his career with the Montreal Letts I don't think felt fully appreciated in Montreal and then suddenly really hit his stride with a Toronto Argonaut earning the East division's most outstanding defensive player award nomination I think he found himself at a a situation where he's like great I've got the perfect situation for me this team loves me back this is where I can really make a legacy and build a career and according to picket he never wants the entire offseason heard from from head coach Ryan dwy now In fairness to the Argo to at least some extent his defensive coordinator from last year Cory mace is now the head coach at Saskatchewan but one would think that when you have an award level player right a truly dominant I would call the Darius picket a top five defensive player in the CFL I you'd certainly think that at the very least even if you're not confident you're going to be able to retain him in free agency you make the call and according to picket that didn't happen now we haven't heard Ryan dwit side of the story we haven't heard from pinball or John Murphy or any of the people in the Personnel department for a Darius picket or for for Toronto regarding a Darius picket but yeah it's not a good look and credit to to adarius again for speaking his mind I will also say Chad k now through his handful of starts with the toron Toronto argonut three starts he's got four touchdown passes six picks I don't think that's what anybody expected from Chad Kelly he looked good in game one right if you ever expected him to look bad you'd expect okay well game one he's knocking off the rust we'll see what he what he does he was very good I thought in that that first game against the skatch when he was not great against Hamilton last week he was terrible I thought through at least the first half of that game against Ottawa credit to him for for making adjustments in the second half but again the damage was done it uh it simply wasn't uh wasn't what it needed to be social media was set Ablaze last week Commonwealth Stadium renovations following news that commonwell Stadium could be getting some extensive Renovations Hodge do you think we'll get to we'll see the 56,000 seat venue get some upgrades anytime soon no no not at all and look I'm gonna get on a bit of a soapbox here and I'm sorry for that but one of my least favorite things about social media is the way that a post can Garner all kinds of attention despite the fact that it's really devoid of any context um I spoke to the city of Edmonton once the images the spec images the mockups of a renovated Commonwealth Stadium started going around online and by the way these images are very impressive like the concourses look right the glass replacing the the large metal sheeting that's covering a lot of the exterior is great the washrooms look great and I mean yes obviously commonweal Stadium could use an upgrade that's all great however when I spoke to the city of Edmonson late last week they informed me that these images were posted to their website in January so this was presented almost or at least it was implied in the post posting these these photos on social media that oh this is a new thing that's just happened and everyone should know about it well it's not a new thing this is 9 months and to me that matters a lot because if the city is really confident that this is going to happen they call a press conference and show these off what I was informed by this individual who I spoke with through the city of Edmonton the spokesperson is they said an investment of $250 million in capital upgrades and improvements is what is needed to have this done and right now the amount of finances that they have secured for this project is literally zero doar they're open to going the private route good luck getting money from private people to fix a 50-year old building or they're open to talking to all three levels of government which is the route I would imagine they'll need to take if in fact they want to get this done and maybe the promise of of hosting a gray cup in the future could help this happen but but who knows uh I'm not saying this is never going to happen and I I think it's a great idea because the city of Edmonton I asked them point blank is there any discussion whatsoever about the construction of a new stadium which is something that Rick lisher the team's current president has talked about it's something that Larry Thompson talked about a little bit that's the new owner of the team and they said flatly no like there is no conversation no consideration towards a new stadium at this time uh so again I I like this idea but at right now this is very much an idea this is a concept it doesn't appear that there is any traction whatsoever that this could become a reality H which leads me to believe that if it does in fact happen this is probably a like 10year timeline for the city of Edmonson uh please do not be under the impression that this again was brand new and please don't be under the impression that you're going to be able to go to a game at Commonwealth Stadium in like 2026 and have this building look like this if it ever gets done it's going take a tremendous amount of capital and none of that has been secured zero dollars JC zero dollar full kuros to you Hajj because it would have been very easy when these images and this story started circulating on social media to just do up a simple post and uh say this is something that's happening you did you're due diligence you dig your Deep dive and you're digging you talk to the right people I think you bring vital context to this conversation because the reality is if nine months in you have zero dollars of funding on a $250 million project it's probably not happening right as much as I'd love to see Commonwealth Stadium get spruced up this seems like a bit of a long shot and Larry Thompson has talked about the need for renovations or a new stadium and has suggested maybe he'll put his own Capital into that project if needed but he doesn't have just $250 million lying around right he's a very wealthy man he's not footing the cost for all of that there needs to be Government funding for that type of project and right now it's hard to believe that there's going to be a lot of appetite for that particularly if this has been sitting on the shelf since January it's unfortunate right that this is the situation we find ourselves in and I'm sure it's disappointing for fans in Edmonton who would like this Stadium to get spruced up but we need to be realistic about these types of projects and unless you've got somebody who's willing to do it themselves then it's a political issue right and you've got to drive the conversation for funding uh at the voger level and and make sure that your elected representatives whether that's municipal or provincial or federal know that this is something that you care about um and if it's not then you got to deal with the poor bathrooms and the and the old seating that's just the reality you can't have it both ways well the seating is only a little over 10 years old and I will give full credit to those in charge and it is a city-owned facility so it's not the Elks necessarily doing these things but you know in 2018 the luxury suites were renovated uh they got a new video ribbon board in 2016 new Turf in 2015 mind you in today's world 10 years is probably the length you want so that's probably due for another redo relatively soon the new Jumbotron was put in place in 2014 and the new seats were put in when they renovated the locker rooms in 2013 so they have continued to throw layers and layers of lipstick on the Pig that is Commonwealth Stadium if they do all of these upgrades I dare say Commonwealth Stadium will no longer be a pig it could be a very nice venue I know some people don't like the track that distances the field from the seats and I know some people have criticized the very kind of low angled slope of the seats which kind of you know remove fans from the action maybe more so than you'd optimally want but that being said the fact that again the city reiterated that there is absolutely no conversation about a new building to me means that they have no plans to replace Commonwealth I think their solution to the problem that is the size of Commonwealth is what Rick lisher has done which is you tarp off the upper bowl of the stadium same thing he did when he was the president of BC right focus on selling out the lower bowl and then for special games like gray cup obviously playoff games if the Evon Elks ever host one again or you know Labor Day classic rematch which by the way I just want to say this really quickly the Labor Day rematch is such a lame name for the game between Edmonton and Calgary they need to brand that thing shout out to Jerry MOSI who came up with the name banjo yes it was derived from a quote from try Westwood but there was a very smart individual in the bombers organization that capitalized on that and branded it I think the Edmonton Elks need to do the exact same thing in Calgary the name Labor Day rematch is boring and it's lifeless make it its own thing call it the Alberta bowl and create an obnoxious trophy the the the in the shape of the province of Alberta or do something something I don't care what call it something I've got an idea hod we P them against each other it's the stadium bowl and whoever wins gets the provincial funding to renovate their ancient venu that's actually not a bad idea I though it's a little unfair because Commonwealth is deserving of upgrades whereas bigman stadium is deserving of nothing nothing deserving of dynamite that's what is deserving of dynamite and a new building which hopefully the Calgary Stampeders get at some point I genuinely hope that um but do do something with it make it interesting make it a brand make it a hashtag Labor Day rematch is just lame there's no life there so I hope that we get that and hopefully we get some upgrades to Commonwealth Stadium especially with a gray cup potentially coming there in the next few years which again we'll talk about a little bit later on in the show JC we neglected to talk about Hamilton's impressive win over the Can Hamilton make the playoffs? Toronto Argonauts in the Labor Day classic in last last week's episode which led to a number of complaints from fans in steelt toown which admittedly were probably warranted we should have got to the ti ads last week after the Argonauts lost to the red blacks this past week can the ti cats make the playoffs this season well I just want to say off the top I for one am shocked that Hamilton fans are complaining about something that is I'm stunned my jaw is on the Flor like them I know right they're usually so friendly no no it's all a good fun we love the passionate fans in steelt toown but Hamilton's not making the playoffs this year I'm sorry is it statistically possible still absolutely was I impressed with how they play against The Argonaut yes I was I thought boli Mitchell was tremendous in that game some of those throws were absolutely jaw-dropping but they're not making the playoffs they are clearly the fourth team in the East div even with the Argos floundering the last two weeks and frankly I would take everybody in the west over them as much as I don't believe in the Calgary Stampeders I still think that they have more pieces than the Hamilton Tiger Cats I think the statistical probability that they can claw into that third playoff spot in the East Division and not get superseded by a crossover in the process is almost impossible it's infantes the chances that they'll make the postseason steelt town you need to start looking towards 2025 and where this team can get in the future because you need to add a little bit more Talent here I think this podcast is its most compelling when we disagree and can debate topics however I am not going to take the Hamilton tiger cat make the playoffs angle cuz I don't think that they're going to make the playoffs I don't think that the chances are 0% but I think the chances are not much higher than 0 per. now they got a break right with the Argonauts laying an egg against the Ottawa red blacks as we've discussed Toronto now six and six before this past week they actually had a game in hand on Toronto they're now even at 12 games a piece Hamilton at three and N Toronto at six and six that means and the ti cats by the way by virtue of their two wins over Toronto have the season series so they just have to be three games better than Toronto for the rest of the year in order to make the playoffs right and get that third spot in the East Division and there's also a game between these two game uh uh pardon me between these two teams scheduled for September 20th so they will do battle one more time that is obviously a great opportunity for the Tai cats they already have the season series but to get within those three games the issue is Toronto is at BC this week they probably lose that game I don't know we'll see um they've got Hamilton then they have Montreal they go to Winnipeg they host Ottawa they go to Edmonson that's a tough schedule but if they win let's even just four of those games if they go four- two there's no way for Hamilton to make the playoffs if they go three and three Hamilton has to go six and0 right if they go even two and four again tough schedule if you if you go two and four that means Hamilton has to go 5- one Hamilton's schedule they've got Ottawa they have to go to Toronto they have to go to BC tough they host Winnipeg well they they beat Winnipeg at home the last two years they host Calgary okay that's a good match up then they go to Ottawa and you figure okay ottawa's tough but maybe by week 21 Ottawa has nothing to play for they've clinched second place presumably so the ti cat schedule's easier maybe that gives you some hope again there's a head head matchup still that might give you some hope but the Argonauts have such a lead at this point the ti cats have dug themselves a massive hole credit to them for winning on Labor Day I'm sure Ty cats fans were thrilled with that in a way that's almost like a minig great cup for that team beating the Toronto Argonauts in the Labor Day classic especially in such a tough year for the tabies but barring a I wouldn't say a miracle but barring a we'll call it remarkable effort I don't think that the Hamilton tiger cat going make the playoffs but this is the CFL crazier things have happened the BC Lions have now won two Who will win the West Division: B.C. or Winnipeg? straight games over the top two teams in the CFL with Nathan roor at the helm as Vernon Adams junr is fast returning to 100% healthy meanwhile the winig Blue Bombers have won five in a row after knocking off the riders in back-to-back games with both teams now seven and six which one do you see as the favorite to win the West Division I think that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers run has been very impressive here and I think that the grit the veteran prowess that this team has had for the last many years has been on full display with that being said there's only one answer to this question and that's the BC Lions when you look at the remaining schedule for these two teams they both got five games they've got identical seven- six records and Winnipeg does have the advantage of owning the season series which is why they're currently in first BC's and second despite having matching records this is the remaining schedule for both teams BC is at home four of their five games they host Toronto they host Hamilton they host Calgary they travel to Saskatchewan and then they host Montreal Montreal is a tough team but they're probably going to have their their playoff spot wrapped up by the end of the year hosting Toronto that's a tough road trip for them hosting Hamilton that's a tough road trip for them right that's a long way to travel from Southern Ontario all the way to Vancouver hosting Calgary I don't know if you've watched the Calgary stamp Peters game lately that should be a very winnable game going to Saskatchewan is tough but going to Saskatchewan late in the year is probably the best time to go because that team could very well potentially by week 19 be out of playoff contention I'm not saying they will be but it's a possibility they might have nothing to play for and if it's a cold day and there's nothing to play for in Saskatchewan that stadium is going to be half empty so the BC Line schedule here I would say is light Winnipeg only two more home games we all know that Princess Auto stadium is a very tough place to play they only have two more games at home they have to go to Edmonton after this upcoming Buy Edmonton on paper with their record of five and eight is bad but guess what the Edmonton Elks are playing really good football right now Edmonton then travels to Winnipeg so they've got a home and home with a very tough Elks team they have to go to Hamilton Hamilton as we've discussed not a top team but steel toown never an easy place to play they host Toronto a team that might still be fighting for their playoff lives and then they go to Montreal to finish the season and again that game is probably not as scary because by week 21 the aletes likely don't have anything to play for though that remains to be seen only two home games BC has four BC has easier opponents to me the BC Lions with two quarterbacks right who are who are starting level Nathan R starting to turn the corner Veron Adams Jr was the front runner for MLP when he got hurt that to me inspires a lot more confident than zacharis who though he played a very good game in the banjo bowl is still not at the level we've seen in the past and now there's no change of pace with Chris trer like likely being out for the season like strength of schedule quarterback whatever you want to look at every Advantage right now is pointing towards the BC Lions well there is one advantage the one to pick blue bers have and that is they've got the tie break right they're in first place now for the reason because they have the season series against the BC Lions but when you lay out the schedule as you have hjge it's pretty easy to see where the Lions could pick up that additional Victory to put themselves over the top and steal for first place away from Winter Peg I think they have to be the favorites and you talk about the quarterback situations you want hear a wild statistic through this season how many 300 yard passing games does Zach keros Have I think it's zero it's actually two so okay yeah you're not giving him quite enough credit but it's two that's the worst of all starting quarterbacks in the CFL uh do you know how many Nathan roor has through four games three also two Chad Kelly who has played three games has three already and he is above Zack Karo so that passing attack still has not figured out brgy Olivera of course still gets it done on the J on the ground as an effective checkdown option he runs that offense but there's something off with kalos's game this year he leads the CFL in interceptions as well at this point in the season I don't trust that Winnipeg offense to get it done I think their defense is spectacular but at some point they are going to stumble again unless they can figure out how to throw the football effectively down the field and early on in the year you were saying okay it's young receivers they're missing the guys who you know generate their offense and dton Shan and keny Lawler and yes shon's still gone but Lawler's back right we expected the passing attack to take this huge leap forward with Lawler available and karos to get comfortable again and it just hasn't happened meanwhile in BC it looks like roor has turned the corner yes he had three interceptions last week two of those were deflected I thought it was even better than how he played the week before he was in control moving the football effectively got Alexander Hollands involved which is huge because he's been terrible as of late he looked really really good in that game and William stanach is right up there right now with how brg Olivera is playing right they are two Powerhouse backs in the west so you can't even say right now that the wing AIG Blue Bombers are a more physical team like you've been able to say in the past because William stanach has proven he will run through your damn face right so these lions are a better version of themselves right now do they still have the flaws that put them on that five-game losing streak absolutely but when you put Matthew bats on the defense and you get Ro firing on all cylinders and standback getting a healthy healthy dose of carries this can be a very dangerous team that covers up for a lot of the lack of depth in the back end yeah Kenny laer had his best game of the year in the banjo Bowl six catches 64 yards and a touchdown but those are still not like Kenny laer numbers you know what I mean like when you talk to people in the league they talk about Kenny laer like he is a one of one right he is the guy who can separate most consistently who can beat men coverage most consistently who has the widest catch radius like they speak about candy Lawler glowingly that's no disrespect to any other receiver in the CFL but they consider him in a tier by himself and then the next tier of guys like Alexander Holland or whoever you want to throw in there that's not been very evident through these first five games I do think that Kenny Lawler can can find that next gear but you're right J J this passing game has not been what it's been for the last while for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and with the weather turning I I do think that the Run game will will be their strength but yeah you you can't look at this situation and say that Winnipeg is the front runner to win the West even with the advantage that they've got in the season series I think Winnipeg deserves a lot of credit for digging themselves out of a giant hole to start the year right this team was once two and six but I think first place right now it's not possible but I think first place is probably not going to be where they finish I think they're going to finish second I think BC is going to finish first barring uh surprising we'll call it final six weeks of the Season here JC we just wrapped up a great week U Sports talk of us Sports Action featuring some key rivalry games in Alberta Saskatchewan and Quebec which of these stand or which of these games stand out the most to you well there's some great results here but only one game when I saw the score line flash across my phone screen made my jaw drop and that was the Alberta rivalry matchup that you referred to off the top there hodj the Calgary dinos defeating the number five ranked Alberta Golden Bears 36 to 22 and if you haven't followed us Sports football for a while you may saying well what's the big deal aren't the Calgary dinos a Powerhouse they have not been not for the last five or six years they have been the definitive basement team in the Canada West the team that everybody else has been walking over and they come out in this game against a very very good alberga Golden Bears team a team that just knocked off the UBC Thunderbirds last week who went to the Vani Cup in 2023 and they get three first half pick sixes they absolutely take it to them right off the start with those defensive plays you never see that in a football game and it causes a massive upset K West is always good for some chaos Hodge but this one was surprising even for that conference yeah I almost wonder if Saturday there's no way to possibly ify this statistic but I almost wonder if you look at just Saturday September 7th as a date if that was the date on which in history the most pick sixes were thrown in Canadian football because you had multiple at the CFL level you had multiple at the US Sports level and yes JC that was a shocking result I want to talk about another shocking result which I know you're not bringing up because you're soft on your Alma moer oh which was the University true but this loss was worse 33-10 the Manitoba bison went into UBC one in Vancouver for the first time in 11 years the Thunderbirds opened a 10 nothing lead early and then the Bison ped on outscoring them 33 ZIP down the stretch Jackson to chinsky who could be a bit of a dark horse for the head kryon Trophy this year 286 yards through the air 61 on the ground accounted for three total touchdowns Braden stubs slung the rock for 105 yards in a score I know that UBC a team that went to The vanet Cup this year or this past year was expected to have a little bit of a decline in 2024 I don't think anybody expected them to open the year 0 and2 uh which is wild and kudos to the Manitoba bis and Regina Rams two teams that I don't think anybody were picking to win the Canada West this year the only two two and0 teams the other game I want to highlight JC is the Montreal Caravans at Laval rou aor this is one of the best rivalries in football I've Had The Good Fortune of attending this very game last year I've also been at the Labor Day classic in Regina I've been at the banjo bow in Winnipeg this game in Laval it's a little bit of a smaller scale but it's it's it's very close to being on par with those games and the atmosphere is better than most CFL games if you ever get the chance to go to Quebec City for this game it's worth booking an entire trip like if you're going to do Quebec City once in your life book your trip so that it overlaps when the Caravans come to town it happens once a year it's well worth the trip the RoR got out to a 15 nothing lead as Arno de jardan hit Olivier koul for two touchdown passes by the way Olivier KL has to be one of the best names in the history of Collegiate football anywhere in the world the caraban came fighting back took a 20 to20 lead in the fourth quarter following a touchdown from Lucas dembele from 61 yards out however Felipe forteza who's not Laval's usual kicker he's actually a linebacker came on with 18 seconds left and hit what I believe is an RSQ record 53 yard field goal there were two uh 2,934 this game a record attendance for the rou aor I know they went into standing standing room only I don't know if the fire inspector was around hopefully they weren't because I don't think this was legal but I would love to see how many more people they could pour in for this one this is a place you have to be if you're in Quebec City and again if you're traveling in Quebec City check out this game at some point if you're passionate about Canadian football which obviously you are if you're listening to this podcast you have to you have to get to this game at some point bucket list egum for me hod and I was so jealous that you got to take part in it last year it's something I have to do at some point and I would also Al say the same by the way I wrote this in my post gamer from the banjo bable I would say the same thing about Labor Day and Regina I would say the same thing about banable and Winnipeg it doesn't matter where you're from it doesn't matter which team you cheer for if you're a bomber fan a rider fan or if you cheer for any other team just go enjoy the atmosphere enjoy the Pomp and Circumstance if you've never been to Regina if you've never been to Winnipeg I'm a lifelong winnipegger well I'm a lifelong man at Tobin lived in Winnipeg most of my life was born here I appreciate that Winnipeg is not the most beautiful city in Canada but in the summertime it is a nice place to be we got baseball we got lots of other stuff and the same thing I think is true of virina this year's Labor Day was the first time I've been to Regina late summer and I actually thought the Regina was quite nice to visit so if you're from outside of of the the prairies book a trip at some point late Summer come to a Labor Day closet come to a banjo Bowl it's a great time doesn't matter about who you're cheering for just the atmosphere incredible it's Hodge's Heritage Moment now time for haj's heritage moment on this day in 2007 Sean swish kicked his first game-winning field goal in the NFL making a 39 yard attempt to lead Washington in a win over the Miami Dolphins the Wallaceburg Ontario native spent 11 seasons in the NFL primarily with Washington and the Pittsburgh Steelers finishing his career 211 of 251 on field goals that's a percentage of 84.1 with a long of 53 yards JC is a is it a shame that we never got to see swis him play in the CFL I always want the best Canadian players to spend some time in the CFL but I don't think Sean Swiss is crying over this one I think he can mop up any tears he may have with the millions of dollars he received from his extensive NFL career it's great to see Canadians have success at that level and swiss him was part of a wave of of kickers that Gaga done in that era before this current wave of skill position players really took over at that time guys like him guys like Mitch berer they were AR Canadian Representatives South of the Border I'm going to info dump on the 2004 CFL draft for a moment so swis him was a pick in 2004 this was back when the CFL allowed red shirt Juniors to be drafted in the draft so in other words guys who could still go back and play uh a year or two more of college potentially down south he was a third round pick to the Ottawa Renegades obviously never played for them four picks later the Winnipeg Blue Bombers take John Ryan at the University of Virgina a guy who played in the NFL forever and then five picks after that in round four the Ottawa Renegades take out of the University of California Long Snapper LP Laker who went ahead and played for the Dallas Cowboys L sir oh fair I'm not not French I'm not good at that um so the point is in the span of literally nine picks you had like three 10year nflers taken and all special team and all special teams guys which is wild also not long after that out of the University of Saskatchewan receiver Chad rmle was taken who ended up having an excellent career like a 20year career almost as a Long Snapper who also had a cup of coffee with the Chicago Bears in 2014 uh so if you count him right as even a short-term NFL guy that's three pardon me three longtime NFL special teams guys for guys who at least had a cup of coffee as special teamers in the NFL going in this one this draft happened 20 years ago and when you look at it it's pretty clear why the Ottawa Renegades were what they were when you look at some of these picks they took Obby khon second overall that's a good pick they took David Azie receiver out of the University of Ottawa with a third overall pick that did not work out and in the second round they took Christian liel cot a offensive lineman out of New Hampshire he doesn't even have a Wikipedia page so I don't know what came of him but it was not a good career um a he only spent one year with the Renegades he spent most of his career in Toronto or Saskatchewan so when you draft like that I'm not surprised this franchise did not work out it's now time for for the thre Three-minute drill minute drill new Edmonton Elks owner Larry Thompson was making the rounds during this past week's game on a cart when he suddenly drove into the Calgary stamp Peter's bench how do you explain that well we're still getting to know Mr Thompson since he purchased the Elks and you know he's he's not exactly a riveting public speaker so it's hard to tell if this was comedy or cility here but I certainly love it do you think hjge do you think Dave Dickinson when he saw that fire truck coming down the sideline did he think about stepping in front of it because I'm not sure if you can fire coaches if they're on the IR is it like veteran players maybe I I'll say this I thought this was the best old person in the CFL moment since the fight between Joe cap and Angela M in in 2011 so this is a new 13 high 13year high for Larry Thompson well done Darion Durant said on 620 CKRM that he retired back in 2018 partly because an unnamed coach in Winnipeg didn't respect the fact that he just welcomed his first child do you believe that I mean I'm not going to sit here and call Daren Durant a liar I know that Winnipeg has repeatedly given players games off in some cases multiple games off after the birth of a child or the death of a family member so I I know that Mike OA in that building and I'm not saying mik OA was the coach Darion Durant spoke to too um but I know that they do have a family atmosphere in Winnipeg but obviously Darren Darien Durant didn't agree the BC Lions put left tackle Jerell Brockton on their six-game injured list this past week how big of a loss is he it's a significant loss now I don't believe he's going to be out for the whole six games I think he'll be back sooner than that but Brockton is their best offensive lineman and David Neville who replaced him in this game is not good just period full stop not good they got some other options that are getting healthy and and Chris sluger uh that they can plug in there if needed but Brockton needs to come back for this team to be at their best the Montreal Alouettes released Canadian kicker Michael dagala from their practice roster is there a team in the CFL that should sign him the Edmonton Els should sign Michael dagala I don't think that you know credit Boris Bey he had a nice bounceback game in the Labor Day rematch which as stated earlier should be called something else uh but I think when you look at the postseason you're G to need a little bit more security if nothing else doag Gala should be able to push for a speedy and Dean faithful the Calgary Stampeders and imiton elks have reportedly placed bids to host the 2026 Rak cup which city would you rather go to for the cfl's championship game it's Edmonton without question we've already talked on this podcast about the differences between Commonwealth which could use a spruce up and McMahon which could use Dynamite but just from my own personal perspective I've been in that McMahon Stadium Press Box I don't know how they manage gray cups there and I don't want to find out because that is some tight stinky old confines and I don't want to be jammed up against you for the whole game in their Hodge the Edmonton Elks had 32,1 144 fans on hand for their win over the Calgary Stampers in their Labor Day classic rematch does that mean their attendance W are finally behind them no but it's a great step in the right direction and part of the reason I say that is because last year this team had a reported attendance of 32,000 for this game and I know that Andrew Hoskins Who was there on the scene for three down Nation said that wow this is the most people I've seen here in years that could very well be the case because it was pretty clear from evon's financial report last year that they were papering the house with free tickets but they also don't have the O the upper bowl open right now so it's possible that there was 32,000 fans last year and they were just a lot more spread out and it didn't feel like as exciting of an atmosphere so a step in the right direction 100% a fixed problem no it's going to take longer for Emington to get back to solid crowds all the time which by the way I think they will do right I think they will they're on the right path they'll get there they're not there yet the Ottawa red blacks have placed Return Man Devonte deadmond on the six game injured list how big of a loss is he he's a significant loss obviously he's one of the best return men in the CFL but there's a trickle down effect here because when deadin not on the field for some reason the red blacks get Brandon Dandridge in their return kicks and sometimes even ad Darius pick it and those two guys impactful defensive starters right they shouldn't be doing that as a returner and there's a risk that they could get hurt the less they're on the field in that situation the better I hope the redls can find potentially another solution I know that Jamal Morrow did a little bit of a kickoff returning in this game but he got banged up doing it which is just more evidence why you shouldn't have your best defensive players returning your kicks veteran defensive back Aaron Grimes retired from the CFL as a player this past week and was named an assistant coach in Edmonton is that a good fit for him it is Aaron Grimes by all accounts by all reports is a great Community guy he's a great communicator he's intelligent and he was a very good player in this league for a long time seems like a perfect fit to join that coaching staff longtime CFL quarterback kri Joseph is mentoring number one over NFL draft pick Caleb Williams as the QB coach of the Chicago Bears do you think Joseph will positively impact the rookie season yeah he's a guy with a wealth of experience at the professional level both in the CFL but also I think interestingly in the NFL as a safety and a defensive player he can provide some of that perspective to Williams should be no good of course the Bears won their season opener on Sunday Williams not great in his only threw for 93 yards but no turnovers so maybe there's something there the aletes have placed star receiver Austin Mack on the six game injured list how big of a loss is that it is but at the end of the day if I'm the auto pardon me if I'm the aloette I just want Austin Mack for the playoffs right this is a team yes the Ottawa red blacks are on their tail but they also play the red blacks two more times and they have the first game already in the bank by uh thanks to a early season spanking of the Ottawa red blacks so if I'm Montreal I'm looking at my schedule going I got Calgary this week and then I have Ottawa two of my next three games obviously you beat Calgary if you win one of those two against Ottawa you get the season series and you've probably clinched the East Division if not mathematically for all intents and purposes you've clinched I only want Austin Mack for the postseason I can very easily tread water without him because let's remember this team was N9 and one before they C Austin ma onto the field they should be fine with him off of it for a little while on that note we thank you as always for listening to the three down Nation Podcast please join us later this week for our picks and next week for our next episode when Justin dunk will be back for JC Abbot I'm John Hodge we'll see you next time