Extra! Extra! Storylines break out all over! The Western homesteads smile upon their teams, while the Eastern visitors trash their hotel rooms and leave town victorious. But questions remain: is Montreal still a formidable foe, or is Hamilton still the league doormat? Can Toronto survive a sixth straight season of quarterback controversies? Is Saskatchewan really that strong after losing so many key figures? If we knew the answers, we'd be playing this for money.
| MTL @ HAM | BC @ CGY | TOR @ WPG | EDM @ SSK |
| Result | Montreal by 23 | Calgary by 10 | Toronto by 7 | Saskatchewan by 21 |
| Margin of Error | 16 to 30 | 7 to 13 | 5 to 9 | 15 to 27 |
We're back in a big way in '08 with a new laptop, new spreadsheet software, and a record-breaking eighteen new players. So PLEASE double-check your picks to make sure I got 'em right. I especially urge you to double-check apoch's picks, since nailing two spreads in the first week is just unfair.
| SpoFite | MTL @ HAM | S | BC @ CGY | S | TOR @ WPG | S | EDM @ SSK | S | Points | Total Points |
| apoch | Montreal | | Calgary | 10 | Toronto | | Saskatchewan | 21 | 8 | 8 |
| HATER 187 | Montreal | | Calgary | 11 | Toronto | 6 | | | 5 | 5 |
| Jeff | Montreal | | Calgary | 7 | Toronto | | Saskatchewan | | 5 | 5 |
| tommytrump | Montreal | | Calgary | | Toronto | | Saskatchewan | | 4 | 4 |
| BoKnows | Montreal | 21 | Calgary | 7 | | | | | 4 | 4 |
| Ying Yang Mafia | Montreal | 16 | | | | | Saskatchewan | 18 | 4 | 4 |
| NoMich | | | Calgary | | Toronto | 9 | Saskatchewan | | 4 | 4 |
| Folkways | | | | | Toronto | 7 | | | 3 | 3 |
| MrFrisby | | | Calgary | | | | Saskatchewan | 15 | 3 | 3 |
| THX1138 | Montreal | | | 10 | Toronto | | | | 3 | 3 |
| Anaconda | Montreal | | | | Toronto | | Saskatchewan | | 3 | 3 |
| Reever | | | | | Toronto | 6 | Saskatchewan | | 3 | 3 |
| jlogan80 | Montreal | | | | | 7 | | | 2 | 2 |
| chicobangs | | | | | Toronto | | Saskatchewan | | 2 | 2 |
| DrJohnEvans | | | | | Toronto | | Saskatchewan | | 2 | 2 |
| The_Black_Hand | | | | 10 | | | Saskatchewan | | 2 | 2 |
| owlhouse | Montreal | | | | | | | | 1 | 1 |
| Monica Poland | | | | | | | Saskatchewan | | 1 | 1 |
| Spitztengle | | | Calgary | | | | | | 1 | 1 |
The second week of the season features some more traditional rivalries than the openers. Although in an eight-team league, doesn't every matchup have just a little rivalry behind it?
WEEK 2 Hamilton @ Toronto (Thursday, July 3) Coming off a four-turnover performance against a Grey-Cupcalibre offense, the Argos' defence must be salivating at the thought an underwhelming Hamilton squad. But Ti-Cats QB Casey Printers must be itching to show he's still the same guy he was in B.C. for so long.
Calgary @ Edmonton (Thursday, July 3) Is it too early to start talking about Danny Macocia's job security? With a very tough Calgary team in town, probably not. It's not often that your home opener is considered a must-win game, but it sure would help.
Winnipeg @ Montreal (Friday, July 4) Montreal looks good heading into their home opener, with rejuvenated QB Anthony Calvillo enjoying the offseason coaching changes. But Winnipeg should be a tougher test than Hamilton.
Saskatchewan @ B.C. (Friday, July 4) It's early, but this could be a defining game of the season. B.C. has long been the consensus number one in the west, but Saskatchewan has started making noises. Winning this game would do a lot to bump up the world's opinion of the 'Riders. But will the traditionally stalwart Lions really open the season 0-2? Good luck!
I can only do worse from here on out. Toronto by 10 Calgary by 5 Montreal by 9 British Columbia by 7
Toronto by 21 Calgary by 10 Winnipeg by 10 Saskatchewan by 3 Thanks Dr. J!
Argos by 8 Edmonton by 14 Montreal by 17 BC by 5
Geez apoch what a difference a year makes. Toronto by 20 Calgary by 16 Winnipeg by 8 Saskatchewan by 12
Toronto by 23 Edmonton by 6 Montreal by 12 Saskatchewan by 5
Theres nothing where he used to lie Toronto by 18 My inspiration has run dry Calgary by 5 Thats whats going on, Montreal by 11 nothings right, I'm torn. B.C. by 1
Ignorance may be bliss but it also puts you in the running for the Costanza! No where to go but up from here. Toronto by 13 Calgary by 9 Montreal by 3 B.C. by 4 Thanks for doing this Dr. J (I joined this year because last year you guys made this so much fun)
OK, the uniform thing got me this far. So I'll ditch it. This time I will use the "Ask the guy who doesn't know anything about sports to pick based on which team sounds better" method. Tiger Cats by 3 Stampeders by 10 Alouettes (interesting choice given the criteria) by 7 Rough Riders by 3 Vive le Mediocre!
Rough Riders by 3 I think you mean the Roughriders. The Rough Riders haven't been active in the C.F.L. since 1996, but I sure hope Ottawa wins this week. I was a big fan, from Russ and Soupy to Tom, Tony, Condredge, Wonderful, and in later years, Damon Allen and Rohan Marley.
I think you mean the Roughriders. Nope. That's what I meant, chief. That would be why I wrote it that way. I figured, given my system of picking these games that my ignorance was obvious. I'm a big fan of Rohan Marley, too. His father's music was an inspiration to me.
Toronto by 23 Calgary by 17 Montreal by 7 Saskatchewan by 14
Toronto by 17 Calgary by Winnie by 6 BC by 10
I've just spent the last week or so travelling along the Mekong. Toronto by 19. Although the kind of music being played in restaurants, buses and ferries leaves a lot to be desired. Edmonton by 12. I figure there are probably around 2 billion people in this part of the world. Montreal by 11. So now you know who buys all those Celine Dion records. BC by 9.
So, apoch, all those special moments we shared in last place last year obviously meant nothing to you. The Cellar Party just isn't the same without you. You've changed, man. Tory by 17 Calgon by 10 Monty by 6 B.C. by 15
I posted my picks on the Week #1 page before I realized they were in the wrong place. So here they are - Week #2... Toronto by 7 Calgary by 13 Montreal by 8 Saskatchewan by 9
Toronto by 3 Calgary by 7 Montreal by 11 BC by 7
Here we go... Toronto by 4 Calgary by 8 Winnipeg by 5 BC by 6
I saw TBH's picks and thought "Holy crap, is it Thursday night already?" Toronto by 22 Calgary by 4 Montreal by 1 B.C. by 8
JPR = Jeff from Week 1, i.e. currently tied for second place. Just so nobody's confused.
Anaconda's picks are also in the week one thread.
Ack, the more I mull these picks over, the tougher they get ... Two words: D and Fence. Tabbies just don't have the fire power. Argos win by 12. The Double E really need to show that they can finish in the red zone. They marched the ball fairly well last week, but just didn't finish (and the D fell apart late too). I expect this one to be a shootout, but I'll pick with my head, not my heart this week ... Stamps by 3. Bombers will hit stride this week. Als will settle back to earth. Calvillo is a stud, but Bombers will simply outscore. Winnie by 6. Lions need to redeem themselves. Riders get off easy if they lose. Pressure's on the home team, and Buono will have 'em ready. Leos win by 8.
So there was me, one of only a handful of Argos fans left at the dome, urging Richie Williams down the field for the field goal I'd need to get my nice-guy point. The drive stalled on the twelve-yard line with ten seconds left... ... and they took a knee.
