The Peerless One gives some predictions for what will happen in the Canadian Football League in 2011
With 2010 about to expire, Perry's Peerless Predictions weighs in on some Canadian Football League thoughts going into 2011, while also peeking back into the year that was.
The Peerless One had a humbling 2010 because the weekly task of forecasting games turned out to be a far greater challenge than he imagined. To reiterate, it is one thing to pick games straight up, it is quite another to do it against the spread.
Going forward in 2011, Peerless is planning to spend a week at Randall The Handle's Fantasy Handicapping School, where for a nominal fee of only $1,200, students will learn the fine art of prognosticating for fun and profit.
It's kind of like getting to lace up the skates or swing the bat with some retired professional athletes of yesteryear. The only difference is, Randall is still the King of the Handicappers and he isn't ready for the rocking chair.
"Too much action, Peerless," he told me.
So with that in mind, Perry's Peerless Predictions will aim to be better next year at picking games and all things connected with the CFL.
A word of caution: All predictions for 2011 are subject to change, unless they are right.
Item 1: The Hamilton stadium issue
This has become a tiresome soap opera.
The City of Hamilton, under new mayor Bob Bratina, whom Peerless has known for some 15 years, has until Feb. 1 to resolve the issue of whether or not it wants a stadium that is also acceptable to Hamilton Tiger-Cats' owner Bob Young.
If the two sides fail to come to an agreement, the Host Committee of the 2015 Pan American Games set to take place in and around Southern Ontario will look for an alternate site for a15,000-seat soccer stadium and take the federal and provincial governments' money that has been set aside for the stadium. That means Hamilton will still have the Tiger-Cats, but only until their new home in Burlington, Ont., is built in some two years' time.
Prediction: Hamilton City Council, jolted by the recent news that there is a developer in Burlington with land and capital willing to build a stadium for football use, will vote again on the motion by Bratina to consider a site that some would say should have been considered all along. Burlington city council, which is already concerned about the plan to build a stadium in their fine city and the cost it will have on taxpayers, is the key to this.
Now whether attendance picks up at creaky Ivor Wynne Stadium, where the Tiger-Cats have played since 1950, is another story. Young hasn't been able to convince Hamiltonians that the Tiger-Cats are an important staple of the city and deserve a new home in which he can actually try to make some money or, at the very least, cut his annual losses.
Item 2: CFL players signing with NFL teams
With the prospect of a lockout/strike in the NFL in 2011, there won't be gobs of money offered to free agents or CFL players in the option year of their contracts, allowing them to sign with NFL teams.
While some players may sign with NFL teams, there won't be any huge signing bonuses. In fact, players may be fortunate to get anything at all.
So if a CFL player chooses to sign with an NFL team, he runs the risk of not collecting any salary if there is a strike. And because of the so-called Ricky Williams rule, a player under contract to an NFL team can't play for a CFL team.
So, don't expect Chad Owens to leave the Argos.
Prediction: Few players will sign with NFL teams, and if they do the signing bonus money will be marginal. So if Chad Owens' agent is hoping to get his client a signing bonus of $100,000, uh no.
Item 3: Eric Tillman blows up the Edmonton Eskimos
This one is a sure thing. Either by trades and releases, combined with some key players taking pay cuts, Tillman will retool the Eskimos.
Prediction: Tillman will concentrate on Canadian talent, and nearing the Canadian draft in May he'll try to swing a blockbuster deal.
This and that
Montreal's Anthony Calvillo breaks Damon Allen's professional football record of 72,381 yards -- needing 4,220 to tie it -- and retires after the season ... Teammate Ben Cahoon announces his retirement soon ... Allen is a surefire pick to be selected for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility ... The Lions place second in the West. They've got some playmakers at running back, quarterback and special teams ... B.C. middle linebacker Solomon Elimimian, the rookie of the year in 2010, is voted the top defensive player in his sophomore season. The Eliminator has all the makings of becoming the next great CFL middle linebacker, following in the cleats of many before him who lack NFL size but fit perfectly for the CFL ... The Calgary Stampeders learn from their mistakes in 2010 and win the Cup in 2011 ... Hamilton receiver Chris Bauman, who finally emerged as a legitimate talent, uses free agency, and following a bidding war between Winnipeg and Edmonton he chooses the Blue Bombers. The Brandon, Man., product, who was selected first overall in 2007, is a star on the rise ... And speaking of Hamilton, quarterback coach Khari Jones will be officially named offensive co-ordinator -- as Peerless predicted in December -- and Saskatchewan personnel director Joe Womack will be signed as assistant to general manager Bob O'Billovich ... Casey Printers' name comes up whenever a team has quarterback problems and needs help ... The teams that play in the Grey Cup will have ample locker room space and quality hotel rooms that include a weight room, sauna, whirlpool and a view of the water.
