As Buffalo Bills interim coach Perry Fewell gets his commandments in order, the search for the next poor bastard head man is on, and one of the names being tossed about is that of Montreal Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman. Yep, the Bills are looking at the CFL for potentially picking their next head coach.
Trestman, 53 - who has served on past NFL coaching staffs for the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oakland Raiders, Arizona Cardinals, Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins - led Montreal to the Grey Cup final in his rookie CFL season a year ago. –Globe and Mail.
Trestman also lead the Als to a CFL-best 15-3 record this season; they’ll play in their conference final on Sunday. But even if Trestman was considering the job, there’s no guarantee that Montreal would let him go. Montreal GM Jim Popp told The Canadian Press, “[B]ottom line, he’s under contract to our team.” Oh well, there’s always af2.
Time for your feel-good story of the week from the Great White North, this one involving two serendipitous teammates for the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos…and a shovel. Wait, what does “serendipitous” mean again?
The incident occurred after a practice altercation between six-foot-four 285-pound [Xzavie] Jackson and six-foot-four, 298-pound centre Aaron Fiacconi. No one intervened in the tussle. Jackson, who got the worst of it, flung off his practice jersey and headed off the field — returning with a shovel from behind some nearby dumpsters.
Jackson’s shouts alerted head coach Richie Hall and general manager Danny Maciocia, who stopped him from entering the field at Clarke Park and talked him back down to reality before he was escorted to the dressing room by a team doctor.
“It happens. You guys saw it, that’s all,” defensive tackle Dario Romero told reporters. via.
It happens. That’s just part of the Canadian game, chasing each other around with shovels. It’s how we bond, eh. Americans took the shovel out of the game years ago. And now I’m torn on whether to go with the “universal health care” joke or the “calling a spade a spade” joke. I’ll just leave it with…hey, is that a half-eaten bag of trail mix?
Merci, Dave and Dmytrowich. I love that I’m getting CFL tips over email now.
Adam Jones is not moving out of the country. Thought to be spending at least part of his fall in the Canadian Football League, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are reporting that such a deal has fallen through.
The CFL team announced Wednesday it has ended its pursuit of the controversial ex-NFL cornerback, one day after multiple reports said Jones would play for the team.
“It is unfortunate that this situation became public; however, our position has remained consistent,” Blue Bombers coach Mike Kelly said in a statement. “We will pursue athletes that we believe will contribute to our organization on and off the field.via.
This seems like one of those ploys where a guy acts like he’s going to play someplace in hopes that someone else will swoop in with a better offer at the 11th hour and makes all his blues go away. But that didn’t happen here, and even though Pacman seemingly had a job playing football, he turned it down. Doesn’t make sense to me, because now the West Virginia product has nothing left but a whole lotta time to kill.
Adam Jones is moving out of the country. No, he hasn’t been deported. He’s reached an agreement to play for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL.
Jones agreed in principle to a one-year deal with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers late Monday night and is expected to join the team as early as Wednesday.
“It’ll be a good experience for me to get back in game shape and compete and play football, which I like to do,” Jones told SI.com. “I’m real happy for the opportunity that’s been given to me. Of course it’s disappointing to me to not be playing in the NFL. But things happen and you have to adjust.” via, via.
Everyone in the NFL seems to be sick of Pacman’s crap, and it’s understandable. A player prone to suspension is no different than a player prone to injury, and neither is worth the money if he can’t stay on the field. So now Jones will probably get suspended while hurting himself and cap off a notably dubious career. Wow, “cap off” is the best way I can phrase that? Let’s see if I can do better. Oh, damn, I already hit “Publish.” Oh, well.
Our love affair with the gridiron game in the Great White North rolls on: The Wes Welker of the CFL, Montreal’s Ben Cahoon, pulled in a big catch for the Alouettes on Saturday when he caught a ball for a first down between himself and the defender. It doesn’t even matter that the announcers are speaking French, which I speak fluently. The one guy said, “Wow, that’s a gritty play” and the other guy said, “He sure has deceptive speed.” It’s okay to be racist when you’re Canadian. Read the rest of this entry »
This is not Elton John circa 1988. Actually, this guy is Eric Tillman; he’s the general manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and he’s being charged with the sexual assault of a 16-year-old. The encounter allegedly occurred in Regina, which the way they pronounce it, rhymes with “vagina,” and really, where else would you sexually assault a girl? You know, besides her butt.
Police spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich said an assault is believed to have taken place on Aug. 6 and was reported to police three days later. Tillman, 51, was arrested on Jan. 27 after he went to police. He was released and is to appear in court Feb. 24.
“I can only say that the alleged incident occurred in Regina and really now that there’s a charge before the courts, it’s inappropriate to discuss it further,” Popowich said.
The Roughriders have been living up to their moniker of late. In 2006, Roughriders linebacker Trevis Smith allegedly infected two women with HIV. After serving jail time, he’s going to be deported… to America! Tillman, meanwhile, has been placed on administrative leave. Good news for him, because I bet at least one high school in Canada is getting a snow day.
[TSN.ca -- thanks to Jeremy, who exclusively plows ladies who meet the state-required age of consent]
