The regular-season is over and it's time to take a look back at the moments that stood out as the good, the bad and the ugly.
The good: The Argos' seven-game winning streak to claim first place in the East after it looked at one point this season that they'd be lucky just to make the playoffs; B.C.'s Geroy Simon predicting before his team's final game he would finish off the season as the Canadian Football League's leader in receiving yards and making good on it; the whole turnaround of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, both on and off the field, improving their game and their character; B.C. receiver Josh Boden making it as a pro and turning around his troubled life; Calgary running back Rob Cote, a kid eligible for junior football making it as a pro and scoring a touchdown at McMahon Stadium, near where he grew up; B.C. quarterback Jarious Jackson rising to the challenge from third-string quarterback to first string and proving he has a future; B.C. receiver Paris Jackson getting a chance to start on a regular basis and proving himself in each game as a legitimate threat; Toronto receiver Obed Cetoute giving the Argos a glimpse of greatness for the future; running back Terry Caulley, one of the few bright spots for Hamilton. Ditto quarterback Richie Williams, middle linebacker Zeke Moreno and punter/kicker Nick Setta; B.C. setting a franchise record with 14 wins; Anthony Calvillo leaving the Als for the rest of the year to be with his wife, who was diagnosed with cancer, and his family. This guy is class through and through; the Toronto Argonauts' all-time team as voted by fans and the media and the whole presentation, especially including season-ticket holders representing some players; Winnipeg's Milt Stegall setting the record for career touchdowns by a CFL player; running back Jesse Lumsden's performances until he got hurt; the CFL schedule that had East Division taking separate bye weeks; the decision by the Hamilton management to provide visiting teams with fans to create some air flow in the locker rooms, which are oppressively hot in the summer; Montreal's Jarrett Payton: he knows the media want to talk about his father and he's obliging; the great hits and catches, too numerous to mention; Hamilton putting the boots to Winnipeg at Ivor Wynne Stadium after the Blue Bombers beat them bad the week before in Winnipeg; the support of Ticats' fans throughout the season toward their team; Chris Schultz' erudite and often analytical, insightful and honest commentaries, not to mention his grandiose vocabulary that indicate this guy knows his stuff; the plan by an Ottawa group to bring professional football back to the nation's capital and reshape the land around Lansdowne Park; David Asper's continued plans to create an improved stadium for the Blue Bombers; the solid coverage of the Als by Herb Zurkowsky of the Montreal Gazette; columns by Winnipeg's Doug Brown and B.C.'s Jason Clermont - these guys write their own material and it's rather interesting; commentator Matt Dunigan working part of a pre-season game as an official to get a better insight into it; the e-mails for the Ask The Expert feature and the witty retorts by the editor; the Calgary Stampeders' letter explaining their feelings about the hit on Henry Burris (unfortunately it cost the organization $10,000 for making remarks, albeit constructive, about the officials); Argo receiver Andre Talbot. He had a breakout year this season, so I'm now calling him Andre 2007.
The bad: The numerous questionable calls by the officials, notably the holding call on the field goal by Eskimos kicker Sean Fleming in a game against Saskatchewan. It ultimately cost the Eskimos a win and ruined a storybook finish for Fleming in his final career game at Commonwealth Stadium; Hamilton's special teams, in particular the returners who repeatedly ran the ball out of the end zone and cost the team poor field position instead of surrendering a single point; quarterback Casey Printers' performance as a Tiger-Cat; the Ticats' season; the Argos' offence (except for the last game of the season); Montreal's inability to score near the goal line; the schedule that forced the Calgary Stampeders to play two games in five days on the road twice during the season; quarterback Henry Burris' inconsistency. He could be Hank, but he could also be Shank; the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' special teams; the cold water in the visitor's locker room at Ivor Wynne Stadium (just ask Winnipeg's Doug Brown); the Montreal Alouettes' pass blocking; the electrical storm that knocked out the power during the Edmonton-Saskatchewan game and the failure of the host broadcaster to properly explain what happened and why only a select portion of the country were able to see the game once it resumed; some of the trades by Hamilton general manager Marcel Desjardins; the collapse of the Blue Bombers down the stretch; the rules that determine a complete or incomplete pass; Saskatchewan's injury woes; Jim Corrigal's reaction upon being named one of the Argos' all-time defensive ends. He didn't smile, just scouled; some of my selections (okay, a lot of them); the decision by the Calgary Stampeders to limit touchdown celebrations. How can you deny Jeremaine Copeland et al from their routines?
The ugly: Copeland wearing a ski mask under his helmet while playing the final game of the season - inside a climate-controlled building. Yeah, his team will be playing next week in Saskatchewan, but it looked ugly at B.C. Place; some of those B.C. moustaches; Eskimo linebacker A.J. Gass throwing a helmet, challenging the suspension levied against him by the Commissioner's office and having the ruling overturned by an arbitrator, who happened to be an Eskimos' season-ticket holder. The optics all around on this were terrible; Argo defensive tackle Adriano Belli punching an opponent in the package; Gass claiming he had his gonads groped by an Eskimo player; the attack by B.C.'s Sherko Haji-Rasouli on Saskatchewan's Scott Schultz; Mike Abou-Mechrek's crotch-chop toward the crowd in Hamilton (if you're into wrestling, as I am, it's funny, but it's not professional for the image of an athlete); the post-game reaction of Hamilton head coach Charlie Taaffe toward Winnipeg counterpart Doug Berry after the Blue Bombers attempted a field goal on the last play of a game, which was well in hand from the Winnipeg standpoint; B.C.'s controversial offensive lineman Rob Murphy deliberately leg-whipping a Winnipeg player; the reaction of Argo fans toward Frank D'Angelo after his halftime performance (they weren't wooing him, they were booing him). Okay, maybe this belongs in the bad section, too.
