loading...
Canwest News Service
Morgan's missing something
Something's missing from Omarr Morgan's resume. The Saskatchewan Roughriders' veteran cornerback has been named a West Division all-star four times and a CFL all-star three times during his 10-year career.
But as nice as individual accolades are, Morgan comes up short in one area: he still doesn't have a Grey Cup title to his name.
"I've been an all-star and everything else, but I just want to win," said Morgan, 32. "You always want to be a champion. Whether you've been one five times or one time or no times, you should want to be the best every time you go out there and play. That's what I try to do."
Morgan's next opportunity to do that is Sunday, when the Roughriders play host to the Calgary Stampeders in the West Division final. The winner of that game advances to the Grey Cup, Nov. 29 in Calgary.
Morgan, who joined the Roughriders in 2000, signed as a free agent with the Edmonton Eskimos prior to the 2007 season – when the Roughriders won the Grey Cup.
Dales-DeAngelis is the past
A year ago, they posed together on the cover of Horsepower magazine sipping from the same milkshake.
Punter Burke Dales and kicker Sandro DeAngelis aren't quite back to that point yet after their well-publicized late July fight during a Calgary Stampeders practice, but they're back to working together on the practice field, kicking balls to each other ahead of Sunday's West Division final against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
"Absolutely," said DeAngelis. "We're professionals, we go about our job the best way we can, and try to help the team as best we can. Everything's fine. It's water under the bridge."
The practice scrap on July 29 came out of nowhere, and seemed to be the result of some back-and-forth insults that struck a nerve. Neither player will get into specifics about the incident, and simply want to move on.
"It's just one of those things you do as buddies, you forgive and forget," said Dales.
Cornish in stitches
Calgary Stampeders running back Jon Cornish will play in Sunday's West Division final, albeit with a stitched up big toe.
Cornish accidentally stepped on a garbage bag in his kitchen and cut his toe on the lid of a can.
"It was dark when I walked into the kitchen, and I walked past the garbage bag and my foot accidentally kicked it and hit a can lid," Cornish said. "I turned on the lights, and there was blood everywhere. It sliced right into the toe."
Cornish had the toe stitched up the next morning and received a tetanus shot.
Tone down the trash talk
Calgary Stampeders coach John Hufnagel has told his players to tone down the trash talk ahead of Sunday's West Division final against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
"I told them I enjoyed their one day (of trash-talking)," Hufnagel said. "But enough is enough. Keep it in football now. I didn't want to see it escalating; their players had a little fun with ours, and ours had a little fun with theirs. But sometimes it can cross the line and I just didn't want to see that happen. I don't want to take anything away from what I believe will be a great day of football. I think the players on that field have a lot of respect for each other and both teams are ready to play good football."
Money for Edmonton
The federal government handed over $150,000 in funding to the Edmonton 2010 Grey Cup committee on Friday.
The money – funding from the marquee tourism events program – will be used over a two-year period to help market the Canadian Football League championship game.
"The financial support will greatly assist us with the promotion of the 2010 Grey Cup game and festival. We will be able to showcase Edmonton and, indeed Alberta, as a world-class tourist destination," said Edmonton Eskimos president and CEO, and 2010 Grey Cup co-chairman Rick LeLacheur.
Lloyd re-signs
Linebacker Maurice Lloyd has signed a one-year contract extension with the Edmonton Eskimos.
Lloyd, who signed with Edmonton as a free agent in February, ended the regular season with 55 defensive tackles, four special teams tackles, four sacks, three tackles for loss and one forced fumble.
"Maurice Lloyd is an outstanding football player. Moving forward for 2010 we are trying to put together the best possible football team to carry us through to the Grey Cup and he is a huge part of that equation," said Eskimos GM and director of football operations Danny Maciocia
Nicolson to replace Quinn
Adam Nicolson is expected to make his first start Sunday at wide receiver when the Saskatchewan Roughriders face the Calgary Stampeders in the West Division final.
"I've been waiting around all year and I felt that I was ready to play," Nicolson, who is in his second season with the Riders, said after Friday's practice at Mosaic Stadium. "I knew that it was a matter of time and I just had to keep working away. The coaches have been telling me that and I feel pretty confident."
Nicolson has the opportunity because import rookie Johnny Quinn tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee during the Riders' 30-14 victory over the Stampeders on Nov. 7. Quinn, who had started four straight games, had 13 receptions for 218 yards and touchdown while playing the wide-side receiver.
"It's going to be a lot of fun and intense," said Nicolson, a 25-year-old native of North Bay, Ont., who missed five games this season with a knee injury. "I'm definitely going to be mentally prepared to play."
Name game
The owners of the Ottawa franchise that is expected to join the CFL in 2013 or 2014 are trying to decide whether to call their new team the Rough Riders, or make a fresh start.
If they opt for the old name, they'll likely ask the league to challenge Indianapolis businessman Horn Chen, the owner of the Ottawa franchise when it folded in 1996, for the rights to the name.
It's not entirely clear who does own the name.
When the Riders died, Chen claimed that, as the last owner of the team, the name belonged to him.
During several unsuccessful attempts to revive a CFL team in Ottawa in the late 1990s, Chen reportedly asked for between $50,000 and $100,000 for the name. When the CFL returned to Ottawa for four seasons starting in 2002, the team was named the Renegades.
Practice makes perfect?
B.C. Lions coach Wally Buono was widely acknowledged as the best there is in Canada in getting the most out of every minute of football practice. However, Marc Trestman, the second-year head coach of the Montreal Alouettes, might have taken daily training to a whole new level in the contemporary CFL.
Friday's Alouettes workout at Olympic Stadium was choreographed with almost military precision, with players moving through drills in double-quick time as if cadets on a parade ground. No one does a better job of preparing his team for game speed, and the Alouettes' franchise-best record of 15-3 is prove of that.
"He doesn't want you to think, he just wants you to go," says 13-year veteran centre Bryan Chiu, who has been coached by Dave Ritchie, Charlie Taaffe, Rod Rust, Don Matthews, Jim Popp and now Trestman. "(His practices) all looks so hectic and crazy. It takes some getting used to. But when you play a game, it all slows down for us. It's such a productive way to practise."
Catchin' cousins
To hear his second cousin tell it, Geroy Simon's regional notoriety is eclipsed only by the famous flood (1889) that put their hometown of Johnstown, Pa., on the map. At least in Simon's case, it was for all the right reasons.
"I've been watching Geroy since I was six years old," says Alouettes wide receiver Andrew Hawkins, who is 11 years younger than his second cousin. "The first time I saw him play on television at Maryland, it blew my mind. He taught me so much through high school, college and even out here. He's helped encourage me tremendously."
Hawkins was not activated for the Alouettes previous two games against the B. C. Lions, but he is expected to play Sunday in the East Division final as a fifth receiver and alternate returner. Hawkins, 23, was a rare two-way college player at Toledo (cornerback and wide receiver).
"He's a very athletic and explosive player," Alouettes coach Marc Trestman said of Hawkins.
Value of Duval
When it's crunch time, no CFL kicker strikes the ball with quite the same regularity as Montreal's Damon Duval, who was named to the all-league team as both a kicker and punter.
Duval set a CFL single-season scoring record of 242 points in 2009 after converting seven-of-seven field goals Nov. 7, in the final game of the regular season against Toronto. His field goal percentage of 87.3 was also the league's best.
On Sunday at Olympic Stadium, he'll be kicking indoors for only the second time this season when the Alouettes host the B.C. Lions in the East Division final.
Duval's other indoor game was Sept. 4 at BC Place. In that game, Duval missed a 36-yard attempt that went for a single.
"I don't think it's an advantage for (the Lions') Paul McCallum because he kicks indoors all the time," Duval said. "Any time you go indoors, it's the best elements you can have for a kicker. And it's not my first rodeo playing in an indoor facility. It allows your pure skills to come out."
Mallett to play
Despite nagging foot problems and a shoulder injury suffered in last week's East Division semifinal, B.C. Lions rookie running back Martell Mallett will play in East final Sunday against the Montreal Alouettes.
"The big thing is that in his mind, he has come to grips with the fact that he's going to play, and that's what we wanted to hear," said Lions head coach and general manager Wally Buono, who rested Mallett a good deal all week. "We're not going to beat him up, at this point, that wouldn't be smart. Most of the stuff we're doing he's done before, so giving him rest has been very good for him. He's fine."
Mallett's availability is good news for the Leos, who don't want to be one- dimensional against the Alouettes' defence. And they also have Ian Smart in reserve. "That's the luxury of having the guys we have," Buono said. "We have confidence in them, they understand their role, and if it's expanded they can handle it."
