The CFL Will Return To Ottawa

Steve Thompson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:01:52 -0500

The CFL can breathe easier today about its expansion plans to Ottawa because the city council finally approved the Lansdowne Live Project by a vote of 15-9 on Nov. 17.

The $250 million project will call for Frank Clair Stadium to be refurbished at a cost of $120 million. It will seat 25,000 and can be expanded to 50,000 when occasion warrants.

There was some talk that the deal would fall through and the four Ottawa businessmen who were behind the project would be stuck with a granted franchise at a $7 million fee with no stadium to play in, but now plans can go forward to get Ottawa back in the CFL.

Most of the opposition centred around handing over public land to private investors and the debt problem. Only $150 million is being put up by the four businessmen.

But the fact there is going to be an Ottawa team in the league again is a relief for the CFL. Not having a team in Ottawa, Canada's fourth largest city was like the NFL not having a team in Detroit, Houston, Philadelphia, or San Francisco.

What is confusing is when the new team will be up and running. The official Lansdowne Live website mentions that the new team won't be starting until the project is completed in 2013, a wait of four years.

Does the CFL want to wait that long?

Most fans of the CFL and probably the CFL powers-that-be would like to see a team playing before that. The official CFL website has a page with a brief two-paragraph bulletin about next year's regular season game in Moncton, but nothing about the Ottawa situation.

Again, this episode exposes the sad state of the CFL's status. The four owners were granted a provisional franchise back in March, 2008. It's taken this long for the vote to come to the council, amidst the opposition noted above.

When the outcry over lost NFL teams like Houston, and Cleveland is compared to what is going on in Ottawa, the response is very feeble.

This is what happens when past owners do not field a competitive team for over a quarter of a century.

The other good news is that the owners are not the Gliebermans, who are distrusted by Ottawa's football fans. The big question now is will the new owners be better.

The heat will be on to get this team competitive as quickly as possible. The damage of a quarter century of bad football has to be repaired. The CFL would be well-advised to make the expansion draft as generous as possible, and a competent general manager with CFL experience is a must.

So the CFL will return to Ottawa. The question now is when.

(Note: To get more information, check out the Lansdowne Live website)

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Why the CFL's Final Four Are There

Steve Thompson — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:20:30 -0500

It's no secret why the CFL East-West match-ups are B.C.-Montreal, Calgary-Saskatchewan. It can be summed up in one word: quarterbacking.

As I mentioned in a previous article, the CFL is facing a quarterbacking crisis and the reason the final four teams are still standing is that they have the four best CFL quarterbacks.

Since his return to the Lions, Casey Printers has become his old self under Wally Buono. He'll be the Lions' starting quarterback for the next few years and either Buck Pierce or Jarius Jackson will be drafted by Ottawa next year.

Anthony Calvillo has been the best, most consistent quarterback all year. He's the main reason Montreal went 15-3 and was head and shoulders above everyone else.

In the west, Henry Burris has not had the peak year he had last year, but he still gave Calgary respectable quarterbacking most games. Injuries to key receivers did not help him.

In Saskatchewan, Darian Durant has been the best new quarterback to enter the CFL. He has been the only one of a group including Michael Bishop, Steven Jyles, and Marcus Crandell, to make the Roughrider offense work. I still think he has been mishandled by the current Saskatchewan coaching staff and wish to see what he could do if Kent Austin was still coaching the Roughriders.

Just as the final four can be explained, the fates of the four teams eliminated from the playoffs are defined the same way.

Toronto had consistently bad quarterbacking all year. It didn't matter if it was Kerry Joseph, Cody Pickett or whoever else they dug up.

The streaky Bishop who emerged from a large failed group in Winnipeg was exactly that, streaky. When he was good, the Bombers won. When he and his failed quarterback competitors were bad, they were actually worse than Toronto.

Hamilton has a better version of Bishop, Kevin Glenn. If Bishop is streaky, Glenn can be described as hot and cold and that's the main reason he has never won the Grey Cup.

On Sunday, he threw for over 300 yards, he did not have an interception or fumble, and he brought the Tiger Cats back to tie under pressure. But the most telling statistic was the number of two-and-outs, Hamilton had in between.

Glenn actually should not have been Hamilton's starting quarterback. Hamilton really wanted Quinton Porter to show the promise he hinted at in 2008. But Porter has failed to immediately grasp the offense like Darian Durant did in Saskatchewan.

In Edmonton, Ricky Ray had a season he would like to forget. He did not reach the heights of previous years. He would look good in some games, particularly against Saskatchewan and the final game against B.C. The rest of the time he was mediocre.

Part of the problem was his receivers. He only looked like his old self when throwing to Fred Stamps. He has to find some chemistry with new receivers next year.

So it's down to the final four. In the west, Burris should be better than Durant, but Saskatchewan has had Calgary's number all year and they have home field advantage, so Saskatchewan will move on.

In the east, what looked like a mismatch should now be an entertaining game with the return of Printers to form. Add the fact the Wally Buono is a coach who finds ways to win, and that Montreal somehow has choked so many times this decade despite having the best team through the regular season, there should be reason for concern in Montreal.

B.C. was also one of the teams to beat Montreal this year- and that was without Printers. Protecting him from the Montreal pass rush so that he doesn't get injured has got to be the key to the game.

Nevertheless though an upset is possible, I'm calling for Montreal to advance in a game that goes down to the wire. I don't think there has been a Montreal-Saskatchewan Grey Cup final so that will be a first too.

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Bleacher Report - CFL

The CFL Will Return To Ottawa

Why the CFL's Final Four Are There