We were all set to join the Casey Printers sweepstakes by making him an offer to join us as a third writer, but then he went and signed with Hamilton. Um, Jason Maas? Looking for a new job? We're pretty sure you'll see more action with us than with the Als... 

Rusty's Picks:

Calgary at Edmonton:

I realize that this is like shooting fish in a barrel, but maybe Danny Macocia should have spent more time last week prepping the new defensive players and less time worrying about Sandro DeAngelis' field goal celebrations. Quite frankly I'm surprised that the Esks didn't try to pay the CBC to show Nick Nolte's masterful performance in 48 Hrs instead of the second half.

Pick: Calgary

Hamilton at Toronto:

At this point, I'm begining to think that even the Ticats themselves are starting to doubt that it's Hammer Time.

Pick: Toronto

BC at Montreal:

In what I'm guessing isn't a coincidence, all three of the Alouette players who maintain blogs on the team website commented on the time change as being a detriment to the team. For example, Etienne Boulay wrote "The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. local time, but for our bodies, it's really 10:30 p.m. since Montreal is three hours ahead of Vancouver... But regardless of any of the built-in reasons or excuses to lose, we're ready to play. We've found our rhythm over the last few games and we're feeling the best we've felt all year."

Excuses for this week:

"Mesmerized by the movie Spice World"

"Being hassled by the Montreal police"

"Distracted by Jim Popp's Hummer"

(note: the last one only works if you are Jack Todd). 

Pick: BC

Saskatchewan at Winnipeg:

Kudos to the Bombers for trying to turn the Banjo Bowl into a mini Grey Cup with a weekend filled with events and activites. I was admitedly a little surprised by one of the events, though. Generally when I think football and Winnipeg, I don't immediately think "beach volleyball." (And yes, for the record I do immediately think of Jeff Reinebold). 

Pick: Winnipeg

A-Rad's Picks:

Calgary at Edmonton:

Sandro DeAngelis defended his slip-and-slide celebration after kicking the winning field goal against the Esks earlier in the season - the one that got Danny Maciocia's knickers in a knot - by invoking his heritage. Or, in his words, "I'm a crazy little Italian guy with a lot of passion."

For the record, if you're going to be a crazy little Italian guy with a lot of passion, there are worse ways to show it than celebrating a game-winning field goal. Like, say, running out on the field to celebrate your Grey Cup win without realizing that tge game isn't actually over yet.

Maciocia!

Pick: Calgary

Hamilton at Toronto:

Hey, it's a Kansas City Chiefs reunion! You've got your Pinball Clemons...your Casey Printers...your Mark Boerigter. If that bastard Bjorn Nittmo turns up to break our hearts with another last-minute 60-yard field goal, I'm not sure I'll be able to handle it. (Yes, I'm aware there are maybe a dozen people who remember the first time Nittmo did that - roughly the size of the crowd for the game in question between the Argos and the Shreveport Pirates. But that doesn't heal the emotional scar, and it never will.)

Pick: Toronto

BC at Montreal:

If you haven't seen the Jason Maas ad encouraging you not to play on train tracks...wow. Just, wow.

I mean, I thought the Pinball spot for the same cause was pretty much the peak of TV advertising, since it has a cheerful Pinball suddenly getting serious as he warns you not to get hit by a train, at one point covering his head with his hands in horror at the prospect. But the Maas one...I really can't do it justice, except to say that it involves rare footage of him hitting a Ticat receiver in the end zone, followed by him explaining that you have to see everything around you as a quarterback just like you have to see everything around you around a train track, followed by the image of Maas - apparently a cardboard cutout - getting hit from both sides by trains, and wobbling around the screen.

It's just awesome. But trouble is, with Mass now in Montreal, I'm worried it may go off the air - and really, I doubt this particular charity has the budget to reshoot it. So a special prize to anyone who can find an online clip of it, for posterity. (The special prize is likely a pass to the exclusive Boatmenblog Grey Cup party, which basically means if you turn up at my condo I might give you a beer.)

Pick: BC

Saskatchewan at Winnipeg:

To be honest, I'm kind of exhausted after writing that Montreal/BC "preview." So let me just say that if there's a more annoying or overplayed story this year than the genius of Kent Austin, I haven't seen it. The only saving grace is that we're about one more feel-good Austin story away from Roy Shivers returning to Regina with a box of toothpicks and a mind to use them.

Pick: Winnipeg

Bonus:

All of the Argos have been injured in practice, leaving Pinball to play the Ticats by himself. Since the Ticats have absolutely no chance, each of their players is replaced with Pinball's greatest nemesis: a train. How does Pinball do?*

Boatmenblog pick: Pinball 2,012, Trains 0. (Suckers. There's a reason why, unlike Jason Maas, Pinball doesn't get hit by trains in his commercial...they just can't catch him. Pinball is so deft at avoiding them, he has an even easier time than he would against the Ticats. Also, the trains really aren't very good at holding onto the ball.)**

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

**= It's midseason, it's the second straight game against the Ticats and we're out of D'Angelo jokes. What do you want from us?