Another week in the CFL brought more officiating controversy, especially where the Alouettes are concerned.
It’s beginning to sound like a broken record.
The Als easily won their fifth consecutive game last Friday, 34-13 in Ottawa. And yet the margin of victory could have been even greater except for some questionable decisions by the refs.
Montreal scored touchdowns on its first three drives and would have on the fourth possession except for a questionable holding call against centre Cyrille Hogan-Saindon.
But the worst was yet to come.
In the second quarter, Ottawa tailback Daniel Adeboboye fumbled before the play was stopped. Tyrice Beverette forced the turnover that was recovered by Lorenzo Burns.
Following a video review by the league’s command centre, it was determined the play had ended — despite the lack of a whistle.
Only in the CFL could an official’s decision be this blatantly wrong.
And forget for a moment in the first quarter Najee Murray was called for roughing the passer despite barely touching Jake Maier. The 15-yard penalty was upgraded to 25 yards following another command centre decision.
There definitely appears to be a trend of bias against the Alouettes. And not for the first time.
Edmonton Eskimos’ head coach Jason Maas (right) has a discussion with an official in Edmonton on June 21, 2019. When he was at Edmonton, tirades weren’t uncommon during games, Maas was known for destroying headsets, water coolers and screaming at assistant coaches. “In the past … when those calls went against you, you would blow a gasket,” the Alouettes head coach now admits. Ian Kucerak / Postmedia News
“I’ll just say this — it’s a very difficult job to do,” head coach Jason Maas said this week. “When calls get made, everyone has an opinion about what they should be. Someone has to make the judgment on every single one of those calls. The guy on the field has to call it how he saw it.
“At the end of the day, whether you agree or not, you have to move on to the next play. That was my message to the team this week. I know everyone’s getting caught up … about calls. You can’t worry about it. They (calls) probably even out. It’s a difficult job to get perfectly right. We can’t let it affect us.”
The Gazette was unsuccessful in its attempt to get a comment from the league. And we will say it doesn’t only affect Montreal. Thursday night at Toronto, the officials missed an obvious Argonauts fumble that was recovered by Calgary.
Despite all the efforts the CFL has put into officiating, and despite video review by the command centre, nothing seems to improve.
But that’s only one part of this story. Maas’s evolution as a coach must be recognized. When he was at Edmonton, tirades weren’t uncommon during games, Maas was known for destroying headsets, water coolers and screaming at assistant coaches. While he remains emotional, Maas has learned to control his temper and should be commended.
“In the past … when those calls went against you, you would blow a gasket,” he admitted. “You’d get so emotional a player next to you might blow a gasket and not be into the next play. I understood that was a big issue. If you preach to your players the need to move onto the next play, you have to do it yourself. I’ve tried very hard to get better at that.
“If you want a mentally tough team, when things don’t go your way, how do you deal with it? As one of the leaders, I want to deal with every situation the right way. Sometimes I think more clearly when I’m pissed off, but not everybody does.”
I, for one, quite enjoy the fiery, PO’d Maas. It makes for better quotes.
Editor’s Picks
Alexander the Great: After throwing for 420 yards — only once this season has he failed to surpass 300 — Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander is on pace for 6,273 passing yards. That would break the franchise record (6,041) established by offensive co-ordinator and play-caller , who set the mark in 2004.
It also would probably mean Alexander will be named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player during Grey Cup week in November. Heading into this week’s games, Alexander is the league’s leading QB with 2,788 yards. He has 14 touchdowns, while being intercepted only once.
But what’s more amazing watching Alexander at practice is his ability to pass 50 or 55 yards on a rope; he believes his limit is 65 yards.
Alexander stands at only 6 feet, so his hands are of normal size — other than his thumbs, which are overly long. Instead, he believes his ability to throw comes from his days as a baseball pitcher. He threw until age 14, when he suffered an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament — a critical band of tissue on the inner side of the elbow that connects the upper arm bone to the forearm. It has become famously known in Major League Baseball for tears that require Tommy John surgery.
“I believe a lot of the arm strength comes from pitching,” Alexander said. “I’d throw 95 pitches when I was 13 and was only 5-foot-1. Then I’d go to football practice and throw 100 balls. It was two different mechanics and I almost ruined my elbow.”
It was then he decided to quit baseball and concentrate on football, although Alexander didn’t have a quarterback coach until college. And for the record, Alexander swears he could throw a knuckleball. There also might have been some chin music in his repertoire.
News you need: tied a CFL record against Ottawa by reaching 1,000 yards in only eight games. He joins Toronto’s Terry Greer (1983) and the Als’ Hal Patterson (1956).
Philpot caught nine passes for 184 yards against the Redblacks. Heading into this week’s games, he’s the league leader with 64 receptions for 1,023 yards. He also has four touchdowns. Philpot is a leading candidate to be named the CFL’s most outstanding Canadian.
A different appreciation of Molson Stadium: Not all the comments we received about were negative.
“I love it,” wrote Neil Gold. “The location’s great. The access is easy. The steep walks are part of the experience. The seats are close to the field. The sight lines are superb. The ambience is incomparable and most fans love it. The games are great experiences — even when the team loses.”
Short yardage: The Alouettes will be missing four defensive starters — Murray, Wesley Sutton, Mustafa Johnson and Geoffrey Cantin-Arku — when they meet Edmonton at home Saturday afternoon (3 p.m., CTV, TSN1, RDS, TSN Radio-690, 99.5 FM). Montreal’s only defeat this season came June 20 at Edmonton in overtime. Many will remember another questionable OT call went against the Als that would have ended the game. It likely didn’t help that Montreal was unable to tackle Elks tailback Justin Rankin. He gained 179 yards on 18 carries, scoring twice, while adding five catches for 51 yards. … Things are falling apart in Ottawa. The Redblacks are 0-7. Following their loss to Montreal, defensive co-ordinator Will Fields was fired and former Alouettes receiver Eugene Lewis was released. Ottawa’s next three games, beginning Friday night at Saskatchewan, are on the road. What could possibly go wrong? … After playing seven consecutive games on the road, thanks to the World Cup, the Argonauts played their first home game against Calgary. Only 16,160 fans were in attendance at BMO Field. It was the Argos’ first home game in 306 days. … Stamps QB Vernon Adams Jr. was intercepted for the first time this season in that game following 299 consecutive pass attempts.