Argos at Als

In the next month or so, the Argos and Als will play 2 games against each other.- 2012-09-23 in MTl and 2012-10-14 in Tor- If a Team wins both games, it will definitely take a good option on first place in the East. I hope that the Als will win,particularly this coming sunday.

If Brandon Whitaker is out for more than 1 game, I wonder if the Als will "recall" Garrett Wolfe; Noel Devine-on 9 game injury list- is another option.

I hope that the Als will bring in a few WRs; there is not too much depth; as I wrote on a few occasions, I hope that a WR from another team practice roster will be signed; I would sign elther Doug Pierce-Winnipeg- or Chandler Williams-Toronto. Williams is also a KR. Given that Brian Bratton could be out for a long period and that Brandon London is not 100%, Jim Popp has to sign a WR.

Richard

worst comes to worst if we lose we’ll be tied for first but lose the tiebreaker. With a win in toronto though we’d still have a slim chance at first. I’d rather win this game at home because 5 days later we’re back in hamilton and it looks like the ticats are ready to sharpen their claws down the stretch.

Rodney Stewart, a rookie RB/KR from Colorado on Als negotiating list, could also be "invited" by the Als; he is 5-6 and 175. Had a tryout with the Bengals of the NFL and waived at the end of june 2012.

Devine and Wolfe better options, since they know the system.

Richard

C'est avec la perte de Bratton qu'on réalisera à quel point il est important dans l'attaque des Alouettes.

Bratton est un canif suisse pour Calvillo. Il constitue plusieurs outils dans un seul joueur. Il peut courir, jouer sur les tracés courts, intermédiaires et longs, il peut servir de cible pour une passe piège, pour une passe en levier (ma propre traduction du "hitch"). Il court ses tracés avec intelligence et se sert bien de sa vitesse pour crééer des séparations tardives de ses couvreurs.

D'une certaine façon, Bratton sera plus difficile à remplacer que Richardson ou London, en ce que nous n'avons pas d'alternative pour lui. Bowling peut avoir son utilité, mais il n'est pas aussi versatile que Bratton. Ainsi, on peut faire certains des jeux que Bratton faisait avec Lavoie, certains avec Bowling, mais on n'a pas vraiment d'alternative pour d'autres de ses jeux. Guy pourrait-il réussir à faire le travail pour les jeux plus longs demandant plus de vitesse? Peut-être, mais probablement pas avec la finesse de Bratton.

Bratton aurait été un atout contre la grosse défensive de Toronto.

Ceci amène l'autre point. Éric Deslauriers doit sortir de sa coquille et saisir ces occasions qui s'offrent à lui pour montrer qu'il a sa place au sein de l'alignement. Deslauriers a le don de nous faire perdre espoir en lui et de nous le redonner immédiatement à l'aide d'attrapés-clés. Il doit maintenant montrer qu'il peut se démarquer de façon régulière et garder le ballon dans ses mains sur les passes contestées.

Pour ce qui est de Whitaker, si Anderson est en santé, on peut s'attendre à ce qu'il prenne la relève. Il n'avait pas été vilain lorsqu'il l'a fait plus tôt cette saison.

Il y a aussi la blessure à Perrett qui peut avoir son impact. Bomben sera sans doute plus à l'aise dans son remplacement que la semaine dernière, mais c'est certain que les Agarnottes vont chercher à exploiter ce filon.

Just like against BC aug. 31 we will have to make the best of a bad situation. It will be tough but I think we’ll pull through again.

Als are already selling their playoff tickets so I guess they’re confident too. :slight_smile:

Michael Ola,joueur non-canadien, a remplacé Perrett; il a très bien joué.

Je suis d'accord que Bratton pourrait être plus difficile à remplacer qu'un London.

Brandon Whitaker est très important pour les Alouettes; j'ose espérer que son absence sera de courte durée et,surtout, que Jim Popp lui offrira un contrat à long terme; les Alouettes ne peuvent se permettre de laisser filer ce jeune joueur talentueux. Il sera agent libre en février 2013 et pourrait être tenté par la LNF.

Richard

I would be very surprised to see Whitaker in the NFL. He would have a greater chance of landing elsewhere in the CFL than the NFL. Popp is not one who spends big money on a RB.

While I don't have the exact information, I do think that Noel Devine was transferred to 9 game injury list around august 22,2012; he is due to come off on October 27,2012.

Should the Als decide to transfer him from 9 game injury list to active roster before next sunday's game,the impact on $ SMS will be minimal.-From $10,800 to $12,000. The Als will most probably choose this option,provided Brandon Whitaker is out for more than 1 game.

Richard

It depends what you mean by big $ money. Avon Cobourne was paid roughly $120,000, his last years with the Als. Brandon Whitaker is worth as much. I say he will receive a huge increase and Jamel Richardson will have to accept much less than what he is presently earning.-believed to be in the $150,000-.

Richard

I don't know that it's fair to lowball J-Rich after one subpar season. From 2008 through 2011, he's been dynamite for us. That's four seasons of elite productivity, including clutch performances in Grey Cup games.

time will tell… for now they have other issues to worry about such as whether Whitaker will be out for more than 1 game, whether Bratton is out long term and if so, what do they do for additional support for their receiving corps. And last but not least, ST. (although this seems to be “stay the course” )

I’ve hoped that out team would draft a NI wide receiver for years but, Popp never even used a 6th choice for this. I still strongly believe they have a real need for one. When I review, over the years, the players who were available for the Als, I believe they foolishly missed some great NI receivers. For example, in 2010 they might have drafted Cory Watson as their first choice. Watson has excelled as a receiver with WPeg. Instead Popp picked K Matt . Other options Popp has had are Shawn Gore, Akim Foster, or Ianuzzi, all with BC, and Simon Charbonneau with Hamilton. However, the biggest fish Popp let get away was Chad Owens (admittedly an import) who is presently the MVP as a KR and receiver with the Argos. Were Owens with our team I would believe the team would be the lead choice for the Grey Cup. I do hope Popp will scout the CIS this season. With the top pick, he could draft the best! I remember promising not to go over this topic again but, looking at Richard’s memo I could not resist.

I agree. While both he and SJ have made me use language that would make a sailor blush this season, we all know their potential. However, if they keep on doing this “dropsy” thing (God forbid!), then management will have to do what they have to do for the betterment of the team. With AC at the helm, all I can ever remember various commentators saying, in awe and amazement, is -“so many weapons, so many weapons”… And Jim Popp always seemed to come up with first-rate receivers to make the Als the team they are.

So, c’mon J Rich and SJ, we’re coming down to crunch time - time both of you to do what we all know you can!

As for the upcoming game, I think I'll keep a low profile on this one while waiting with bated breath for the results of the MRIs on Whitaker and Bratton. I hate to see knee injuries; they are tricky things. Once you sustain a serious injury to the knee it takes a long time to heal and players are notoriously chomping at the bit to get back (prematurely) into the game. Sadly, this has more often than not led to further injury.

So, I sincerely hope it's a case of bad bruising, or something that will not require surgery or a long convalescence.

Well it IS nice to see some activity again on this forum. Looks like I can take a break like Hfx.

After thinking about it, I am going to give the offense a mulligan for the second half of the SSK game. They've done so well this year despite a revolving door of injuries; it's not fair to expect them to overcome all that every game, for 60 minutes. Apart from Green (knock on wood!), every other key part of our offense (Richardson, Whitaker, London, Bratton, now Perrett) has been injured at one time or another. It's hard to remain productive on offense when you're always a man or two short and someone's playing out of position as a result. Like, seriously, it would be nice to have our full complement of starters on offense for ONE game! :x :x

I hope London is ready against Toronto. He was having a great season until his injury. He can be a good deep threat for us and give Green and Jamel space underneath to grind out those YAC yards.

Maybe next year. Whitaker’s done for this year.

Huge loss,particularly Brandon.

Some moves will have to be made/new players added.

Richard

:cry:

indeed. Maybe they can land one of the Esks 3 RB’s to help Anderson