for week nine click here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=97927
I'm Rob Banks and you're not ... likely reading this, but I'm writing it anyway, dammit!
The Alouettes broke their West Coast Curse when they knocked off the Lions on Thursday. They also ruined a ton of VGCC tickets in the process. Then they fired their coach. Montreal out-gameplanned and out-executed BC by running the ball down their proverbial throats for nearly 37 minutes and more than 250 yards. The 23-13 final score may have been far from a blowout but that win was about as textbook as it gets, football fans. Were the birds really that good or were the Lions that bad? A little bit of both one would think.
Hamilton put some serious boots to an opponent for the third straight week by going into Commonwealth and whoopin' the Eskimos 49-20. The Cats are a freight train in all three phases and as Mugatu would put it, 'they're so hot right now.'
On to last week's results. As mentioned, the Thursday night game messed up nearly everyone off the bat but the rest of the slate was pretty much gravy. The VGCC World went with BC by 82% and lost before sweeping the last three games of Hamilton by 70%, Calgary by 84% and Toronto by 74% and is now 19-16 with that push from back in week 5. The collective record was 150-93 for a season cumulative of 1252-1089 which clips along at .535%
LeBird took over top spot with a solid 3-1, missing Montreal like almost everyone else, which lifted him to 23-13. Meanwhile the birthday boy Swahgade2 had a bit of a setback, dropping to third with a 2-2 effort. Also a shout out is due to papazoola, Chronicguy, CatsFaninOttawa, RichardVeilleux, Eskylo and gaslight. All six notched a perfect week. For papazoola and gaslight in particular, it counted as their third 4-0 of the campaign, and remember that perfect weeks are now the first tiebreak, football fans.
The Banks Statement went with the flow, choosing the popular slate that went 3-1 missing out on Montreal and in the process gained one step on the ladder to 20th at 21-15. The column ticket also improved to 5-4 in the CloseCall, when the Stamps hung on in Regina, and to 6-3 in the the BIG TILT, when the Tabbies steamrolled Edmonton. However, The Statement is still a limp one-for-nine in predicting the Mismatch.
Montreal is the next victim on Hamilton's list. The Alouette defense is too good to get blown out (in fact have not surrendered more than 26 points to anyone all year, football fans), but the exact same thing was said about the Esks last week. A coaching change in la belle province could bring a surge of renewed energy - or chaos - making the score rather difficult to project even if the outcome should not be. Expect a good effort from les Oiseaux but not a win. Hamilton takes it 27-17.
Toronto visits Alberta to play the Eskimos for the second time this year but this one is an actual official road game. Look for a bounce back performance from the Double-Es, but the biggest improvement will be at QB. Nichols is out and Franklin is in. The kid's got game and it will show in the BIG TILT of the Week as Edmonton wins 30-23.
Calgary at Winnipeg makes for the Mismatch of the Week. Calgary's receivers versus Winnipeg's secondary is a matchup that cannot be ignored, football fans. Marve and the Bomber offense will not be able to keep up and the Horsies will gallop to a 35-16 win.
It has been mentioned in this column on more than one occasion that Saskatchewan should not be chosen until they can prove that they are able to close out a win. However, something is different this week. As of a couple of days ago, the CrimsonOpals had been written in with ink, underlined and circled in asterisks, but strictly speaking, this is one of those 100% gut picks. Saskabush is far from perfect, but they are starting to make plays. This is no disrespect to Ottawa in the slightest as they are certainly more than capable of victory in this one (especially at home), and the confidence behind the selection is a house of cards at best, but go with the Roughriders in the CloseCall of the Week 30-29 on either a McCallum field goal, or a Milo miss.
Next week is Labour Day and the fulcrum of the season. Bank on it!