A-Rad and I both went 2-1 last week, but that's not overly important.  What is important is that if I am ever declared legally insane, people will point to this post as the time when it first became visible.   

Rusty's Picks

Montreal at Saskatchewan

It’s finally happened. When we first saw Blitz (the Als inflatable mascot) a few years ago, our initial reaction was that it would one day hypnotize a large segment of the population. We had just always assumed that it would be for something evil, and would affect more than just his hometown football team. Never have trusted those inflatable mascots.

Anyway, his main routine involves walking upright for a few steps, then inexplicably bouncing on his head in place for awhile before continuing to walk upright as if nothing has happened. The Als, as we all know, won a bunch of games in a row, then bounced on their heads for six weeks, and have now started winning again as though nothing happened. It doesn't take a genius to see the connection, does it?

Let’s hope that Roy Shivers and his endless supply of toothpicks make a return trip to Regina this week to pop this inflatable bastard.

Pick: Montreal

Toronto at Edmonton

With John Avery and Ricky Williams in the backfield it’s safe to say that the Argos have the biggest two headed monster in football… with the obvious exception of Fred Smoot.

Pick: Toronto

Winnipeg at Hamilton

Wow, it’s only been a week, but it feels like forever since the Ti-Cats last played.

Anyway, Charles Roberts played a practical joke on the media and Bombers fans by announcing on ourbombers.com that he would be retiring at the end of the year. We want to give you our guarantee that when the time comes and Cheddar announces here that he’ll be hangin’ them up and going back to the refrigerator, that it will be 100% serious. The king of the curds would never play with our emotions like that.

Pick: Hamilton

BC at Calgary

Lost in all of the hullabaloo of the Stamps’ Nik Lewis and Jermaine Copeland’s rampant homophobia was the pandering of Geroy Simon to the sports fans of Toronto. That’s right. Geroy went on Off the Record wearing a Blue Jays hat. And it worked. We now love Geroy Simon. No, Nik and Jermaine, not in that way.

Pick: Calgary

A-Rad's picks

Montreal at Saskatchewan 

According to Jim Popp, who rather amusing appears to enjoy referring to himself in the third person ("Jim Popp is going to be Jim Popp"), the key for the Als from this point out is to "get stationary." You'd have to say, there's no team in the league better positioned to "get stationary" than the one with Anthony Calvillo as its quarterback.

Pick: Saskatchewan 

Toronto at Edmonton 

Among my favourite aspects of the Maciocia era, which I fear may be short-lived, are the weirdly self-aggrandizing quotes that pop up between games. This week, for instance, you've got Troy Davis winning player of the week, which would normally prompt a coach to say he's happy for his player and move on. But not Danny, whose response was that "These are like consolation prizes to someone like myself." So in one fell swoop, he manages to (a) imply that he won the award, not Davis, and (b) imply that for people who are not like him - presumably every other coach in the league - personal achievements are far more important than wins.

Maciocia!

Pick: Toronto 

Winnipeg at Hamilton

The bad news? I can't understand why any Hamiltonian in his right mind would want to go to this game. The good news? Plenty of tickets available for the Richie Williams fanclub to come in from, um, wherever exactly the Richie Williams fan club is based these days, and celebrate their hero's meteoric rise up the depth chart.

Pick: Winnipeg 

BC at Calgary 

According to the immortal Marty York, Lions offensive coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine will soon be leaving B.C. to take the Als' head coaching job (no word on whether he'll take his team of snotty rich kids with him). But if anyone reading Marty's reliably brilliant, entirely original and entirely credible weekly column didn't get to that item, it's quite understandable. That's what Marty gets for an opening paragraph that quotes an anonymous CFL GM telling him that "we want our old balls back" - a line I wouldn't have expected from anyone in the CFL this side of Rod Black.

Pick: BC 

Bonus pick: 

All of the Argos have somehow been injured in practice, leaving Pinball to play the Eskimos by himself. In an attempt to build their home field advantage, the dastardly Eskimos convert Commonwealth Stadium to its Heritage Classic form, forcing the game to be played on ice. How does Pinball do?*

Rusty's Pick: Pinball 108, Eskimos 7  (Ice?  Ice, doesn't faze Pinball.  Don't you remember the 96 Grey Cup? Pinball moves quickly enough to melt the ice by the end of the first quarter, and gives up a field goal and rouge while changing back into
cleats.  Unfortunately, his recent fashion contract forbids him from wearing a toque on top of his helmet.  Damn you, Harry Rosen.)

A-Rad's pick: Pinball 212, Eskimos 0 (Pinball on turf? Fast. Pinball on skates? So fast he's literally only a blur to the Eskimos - who can't even see him, let alone stop him. After the game, an awed Danny Maciocia is about to ask Pinball if he'd ever considered playing hockey...then remembers that's a topic he should probably stay away from.)