Rusty's Picks:

Toronto at Edmonton

So the Argos went out and signed Troy Davis this week. Yeah, I'm not quite sure why they did this either, although it's obviously nice to have him on board. At this stage the team now has the 2005 rushing leaders from Toronto (Avery), Montreal (Edwards) and Hamilton (Davis). Somewhere, Josh Ranek is getting very excited. 

Pick: Toronto

Montreal at Saskatchewan

We'll probably have to do a full post on this at some point, but earlier this week Eric Tillman was quoted as saying "Wally's response reminds me of Paris Hilton, who cannot believe that regulations actually apply to her. Well, Wally, they do. Paris found out and so will you." So if Buono is Paris Hilton and his supposed friend is out complaining about him in public, does that make Tillman Nicole Richie?

Pick: Saskatchewan

Hamilton at Winnipeg

It appears as though Little Hawk may once again be in danger of having his kicking duties snatched away from him (although in fairness on at least one of his misses this past week he had a horrible hold). Ed Tait is reporting that in addition to contemplating moving Rob Pikula back to kick and looking at various Americans, the team is also speaking with Mike Vanderjadgt and Mitch Berger.

Meanwhile, at a No Frills supermarket somewhere in Southern Ontario, Dan Giancola is waiting patiently by the phone.  There is no justice in this world.

Pick: Winnipeg

Calgary at BC

There seems to be an awful lot of concern in Calgary about the two week injury to Henry Burris and former real estate agent Akili Smith's rise to the #1 job. In any case, even if he fails to close the deal against the Lions, I'm sure he can recommend a number of good mortgage brokers. 

Pick: BC

A-Rad's Picks:

Toronto at Edmonton

To understand just how strongly Edmontonians feel about Danny Maciocia, you really have to read this article from The Gateway, the University of Alberta's student newspaper.

The article's premise is that a bunch of its writers were asked to put together "an entirely subjective list of the best coaches — any sport, any time. Most of the contributors stick to the plan, albeit with some curious choices. (Jacques Demers? Mike Nolan?!) But one writer, Ben Carter, can't help himself. Rather than writing about coaches he likes, he uses his entire space to explain how Maciocia is the exact opposite of the good coach he was supposed to name. And for massive bonus points, he wraps it up with a final paragraph that managed to compare Maciocia to the immortal Jeff Reinbold.

I know, I know...it's the University of Alberta's student newspaper. But it's still pretty awesome.

Maciocia! 

Pick: Toronto

Montreal at Saskatchewan

Now that the 'Riders are in full late-season implosion mode, complete with their general manager having a very impressive (though disappointingly toothpick-free) public freakout, a question: When some offensive lineman inevitably goes out and gets in a bar brawl, will we be hearing about the thuggish, irresponsible football culture Tillman-Austin have brought to Regina?

Too political? Sorry. To be honest, I'm trying to dance around the fact that I'm not sure I can honestly say I find Eric Tillman less attractive than Nicole Richie. 

Pick: Montreal

Hamilton at Winnipeg

You know you're in trouble when it's 10:30 on a Friday night, and the text message you send to your friend reads "Richie Williams is awesome." Especially if you're not from Hamilton. But you know what? I don't care. I'm taking out a membership in the Richie Williams Fan Club, assuming they can somehow fit one more in there.

Pick: Winnipeg

Calgary at BC

Much unrest in Calgary this week, understandably, about the injury to Henry Burris courtesy an ostensibly late hit by the Ticats' Zeke Moreno. I hate to see Calgarians down, even with their oil money and their big houses and their awesome galloping touchdown horse. So on behalf of Zeke, who apparently enjoys writing poetry in his spare time, allow me to offer some consolation in the form of a haiku:

Diving to the ground
Zeke and Destroy does just that
Hank smiles no longer

There, now don't you feel better? And really, is it possible to stay mad at a guy named "Zeke" anyway?

Pick: BC

Bonus:

All of the Argos have been injured in practice, leaving Pinball to play the Eskimos by himself. To level the odds the Eskimos import Zeke Moreno for the game to elbow-drop Pinball every time he's tackled. How does Pinball do?*

Boatmenblog pick: Pinball 3,613, Eskimos 0. (What a stupid plan. For starters, how many times is Pinball tackled? Two? Three, tops? And with Pinball's superhuman strength, Zeke's just going to bounce right off him anyway.)

* = Everything we need to know about football analysis, we learned from early '90s SNL sketches.