Okay, it was against the Ottawa Redblacks. A team as bland and ineffective as its moniker. A team so bad it has already been eliminated from contention for the 2027 CFL playoffs, when eight of nine teams will make the playoffs thanks to bull-in-a-china-shop commissioner Stewart Johnston.
(Yes, we jest — but only slightly.)
Still, watching Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander take apart the Ottawa secondary Friday was viewing a master at work. Alexander was in control, start to finish. It was his game and the outcome was never in question.
Not so long ago, Alexander was another face in the crowd. A player who was never seen, unless you attend Alouettes practices as regularly as my mentor, Zeke Herbowsky. No one noticed that Alexander was here in 2022 and ’23, because backups to the backup come and go.
In 2024, we began to take notice, but that was Cody Fajardo’s year. Then the Alouettes did the unthinkable: they cut Fajardo loose and turned the reins over to a young man with a headband who at times seemed more like a cheerleader than a quarterback.
Frankly, I thought the Als were unhinged. Then Alexander went to work. Had he not injured a hamstring, he might have made clear what we know by now: Alexander is the best quarterback in the CFL.
That’s right. Not Nathan Roarke, healthy or injured. Not former Alouette Vernon Adams Jr., who is pretty good. Alexander.
No wonder the legendary former quarterback and offensive co-ordinator from his observation post. Alexander was 22-for-30 for 420 yards and three touchdowns against Ottawa, and you had the sense he could easily have thrown for 100 more yards and a couple more touchdowns if the Alouettes needed it.
Alouettes’ Davis Alexander looks downfield against the Redblacks in Ottawa on July 31.
Richard A. Whittaker / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Alexander missed a couple of easy throws early on (one to a wide-open Tyson Philpot) but he isn’t the type to brood over a bad pass. Next play, he will be looking downfield and the receivers he has to work with can be devastating. Against Ottawa, Philpot caught nine passes for 184 yards, while Tyler Snead had eight for 174 yards and a touchdown.
Comparables? Well, he’s like Doug Flutie, but taller. Like Brett Favre, but less wild and unpredictable.
It’s a pity more people aren’t seeing Alexander live and in person because Percival Molson has If only the Quebec government had a few bucks to refurbish a stadium that is actually in use, y’know?
Olympic athletes? What Olympic athletes? If you get all your sports news from Sportsnet and TSN, you probably don’t know that Canada won 62 medals, including 19 gold, at the just-concluded Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
In fact, you probably didn’t know there was such a thing as the Commonwealth Games. It was all available on CBC and CBC Gem, but fans locked into the Sportsnet/TSN combo were treated to a couple of “sports” networks whose disdain for our Olympic athletes is without limits except for the fortnight every four years when they get to strut their stuff. TSN and Sportsnet don’t give a damn, and it shows.
Why does it matter to you in August, when we’ve all checked out from everything? Because coverage sparks interest, interest brings sponsorships, sponsorships mean funding and there is a very direct connection between funding and Olympic medals.
Instead, Sportsnet’s website early Monday morning was giving us a dozen different angles on the trade that sent pitcher Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers (neither team based in Canada the last we checked) and one wee story on a couple of Canadian athletes winning gold medals in judo at the Commonwealth Games.
It’s a gross abdication of responsibility to cover sports in this country and the useless CRTC sits on the sidelines and lets it happen.
Editor’s Picks
Oh, how the corrupt are falling: Okay, FIFA boss Gianni Infantino isn’t out quite yet and he might somehow survive, but his tenure is shaky at best. He’s facing a mass revolt from within FIFA, with UEFA and CONCACAF having forced him to scrap a plan to sell the World Cup profits to a group surrounding Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, the original Mr. Fingers in Every Pie.
Gosh, that deal couldn’t have its roots in Infantino’s decision to rescind a red card issued to American striker Folarin Balogun during the World Cup, could it? Trump makes a call to Infantino, the red card is rescinded and a couple of weeks later, there is Joshua Kushner in the middle of a deal to buy the World Cup. Must be coincidence, right? Right.
Heroes: Josh Liendo, Ethan Katzberg, Camryn Rogers, Kylie Masse, Sarah Mitton, Charlotte Simoneau, Kyle Reyes, Evelyn Beaton, Laurence Biron, Julien Frascadore, Félix Dolci, Ellie Black, &&&& last but not least, the great Maude Charron.
Zeros: Gianni Infantino, FIFA, Major League Baseball without a salary cap, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Kawhi Leonard, Tony Romo, Baker Mayfield, Bryson DeChambeau, Bud Selig Jr., Claude Brochu &&&& last but not least, David Samson and Jeffrey Loria.
Now and forever.