Football: CFL
Week 13 Predictions
By GREG HARRIS, MOP Squad Sports CFL Editor
Sep 21, 2007 - 4:00:22 PM

Last Week: 3-1
Season to Date: 29-15 (.659)

Week 12 was another successful week for yours truly, due in large part to the Calgary Stampeders' lop-sided victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, which I had correctly predicted.  Week 13 has the Stamps facing a much weaker opponent as they head into Hamilton to take on the Ticats.  Yes, the Tabbies will have Jesse Lumsden back, and Casey Printers will have another week of practice under his belt.  But that won't make much difference--Stampeders in a rout.

Saturday nite features an interesting matchup as the Riders, losers of two straight, play host to the B.C. Lions.  BC is coming off a big 40-7 win over the Toronto Argonauts, handing Argo QB Michael Bishop his first loss of the season.  But the week before that, they only put up 14 points in losing to Montreal on the road.  As I mentioned in my last column, playing in the Pacific Time Zone gives the Lions a huge home-field advantage, especially against Eastern Division teams.  But on the road, they're definitely beatable, and even more so with Jarious Jackson behind centre.  I'm taking Saskatchewan in this one, despite their recent struggles, although I don't see this pick as a sure thing, as there's a chance that Buck Pierce will make his return for BC.

Mind you, there aren't too many sure things this week, beyond the Hamilton-Calgary matchup.  The Sunday doubleheader on TSN features two games that aren't real easy to pick a winner in.  Starting things off is the rematch of last week's Edmonton-Montreal meeting, where the Eskies won by 19 at Commonwealth Stadium.  But considering that this one's at Percival Molson, and that Edmonton has only one road win on the season thus far, I'm gonna take the Als, in spite of last week's result.

And then there's the Winnipeg Blue Bombers against the Toronto Argonauts at  Rogers Centre.  As a Toronto-based CFL fan, I'd consider going to the game if it didn't start at the same time as the Cincinnati-Seatle matchup in the NFL.  Watching the Seahawks beats watching a quality CFL game any day of the week for me.  And with the Seattle game being broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet, it'll be interesting to see if TSN can win the ratings battle for the 4-7 pm timeslot.  That said, TSN will take it if the Jays game at 1 o'clock on Sportsnet goes 12 innings, like it did last week, but don't get me started on that...

Anyways, I think that Toronto-Winnipeg is an intriguing matchup.  The Argos looked unstoppable since the return of Bishop to the lineup--until they ran into the BC Lions last week.  And with Winnipeg being the team to beat in the Eastern Division, this game will serve as a measuring stick as to how good the Bishop-led Argos really are.  I think we'll definitely see a much better performance from Toronto than we did last week, but Winnipeg's the safer pick, and I expect them to pull this one out.


CFL Editor Greg Harris vows to storm the Sportsnet studios if the Jays-Yankees game on Sunday isn't over by 4 o'clock.  He says he would've headed into Hamilton for the game against Calgary tonite, but watching the Ticats get slaughtered with 20,000 people isn't nearly as fun when you're the only one laughing.


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