Chick and Dressler
The Hamilton Tiger Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers changed the faces of their respective franchises this week with the signings of John Chick and Weston Dressler. The Tiger Cats had one of the league’s best defences last season and Chick makes their defence ridiculously potent should they resign Ted Laurent. Good luck stopping that D-line when you have to double team two of them! In Winnipeg, Drew Willy has a legitimate #1 target for the first time in his career. If they can protect him with some key line acquisitions, we may be heading into the year of the Willy-peg Blue Bombers.
CFL Needs Some More Candy
Read a great article this week about John Candy’s recruitment of Joe Montana in 1991 to play for the Argos and it made me tremendously sad. Not just because John Candy died far too soon but because the CFL has never found a way to replace his influence. A recognizable name who believed in this league and wasn’t shy in expressing it did wonders for this league and with the continuing rise of NFL influence, its exactly what the CFL needs right now. Canadian Football needs an Ambassador to not only attract top tier American talent but also to reinvigorate the interest of Canadian youth in the CFL. There will never be another John Candy but the CFL needs to find the next best thing.
#BellLetsTalk
This years edition of Bell’s mental health awareness campaign was another fantastic success but what I found most notably was the presence of some big CFL names in the conversation. Shea Emry speaking out on the mental health dangers of traditional masculinity a tremendous step forward for a cause that long overdue its attention and Jon Cornish’s admission on Twitter of how anxiety attacks kept him off the field prior to retirement was eye opening. As attention continues to build on head injuries in football, the CFL must continue to support these types of mental health initiatives. It should be equally as important to protect players’ minds as it is to protect their brains.
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