The Montreal Alouettes can take over first place with a win tonight versus the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Both teams ended last week with huge question marks regarding their starting QBs. And as of this blog going viral, only Anthony Calvillo will be ready to play tonight. Buck Pierce re-aggravated his sore ribs and will be watching tonight’s game from the sidelines.
Both teams have been successful despite a myriad of injuries. Etienne Boulay & Shea Emry are still feeling the effects of their concussions while Winnipeg’s running game took a major blow with the season-ending ACL injuries to Fred Reid and his back-up Carl Volny. The Winnipeg D is still tremendous, but the Bombers will need to put points on the board.
The last time these two teams met, the Bombers escaped Montreal with a 25-23 win that was highlighted by some big Winnipeg plays and some terrible Montreal miscues. No doubt the game film from that loss to Winnipeg was broken down frame-by-frame by Montreal’s coaching staff to prevent those same mistakes from happening again. The Alouettes will need yet another big game from Brandon Whitaker and Jamel Richardson cannot have those “dropsies” that plagued him in that first match-up.
This game is certainly winnable, but Montreal has had problems finishing what they started. And they are walking into a very hostile environment at Canad Inns Stadium. The fans in that barn have bought into this Bombers team 100% and will not be intimidated at the prospect of facing these Alouettes. It will get loud unless the Alouettes can get ahead quickly and with a lot of scores like they did versus Edmonton and keep the ‘Peggers voices ready for the upcoming Jets season.
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A bit of disappointing news this week as the Alouettes quietly dispatched Tim Maypray. Last year, Maypray exploded on the scene with some great kick returns, including 3 for touchdowns.
He gave Marc Trestman the confidence to let Larry Taylor walk last year and now he faces that same fate himself. Football is a tough business and the injuries Tim suffered have set him back a fair bit. Now the returns will be handled by Perry Floyd & Diamond Ferri, who have been able to get the offence some decent field position in recent weeks.
When he’s 100%, there’s none better than Maypray. Hopefully he can get well and return to that winning form of 2010.
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The petition to CFL Commisioner Mark Cohon & the Alouettes’ front office has been circulated in hopes of convincing the league to have the Alouettes participate in the 2012 Touchdown Atlantic game. Now comes word that said game may not even happen due to the league focusing more on the 100th Grey Cup (which happens in Toronto in November, by the way).
I sincerely hope that the league reconsiders that thought as it’s clear that the interest is there for TD ATlantic and even a one year break could set back the league’s hopes of expanding to that region of the country. I have a very hard time believing that the league will allow anyone to forget about the 100th Grey Cup if that truly is their concern.
For more information on how to help convince the CFL otherwise, go to GoAlsGo.com or follow them on Twitter: @GoAlsGodotcom
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As usual, I’ll be live-tweeting throughout tonight’s game. Enjoy the game wherever you watch it, it will be a another great chapter in this 2011 CFL season.
The ALSternative 