June 27, 2015: Edmonton vs. Toronto Argonauts

[1argoholic]

I know doubleblue but I just had to respond to argonautxx11's comments about oil,plastic etc.

Anyhow I was thrilled with the play of Harris who looked like a seasoned vet. I like Collaros as well but Harris seems to have a better attitude or personality. Some of Collaros's interviews have me believing that we have the right guy after all.

I never thought Barker, Milanovich and the rest of the coaches could have pulled all these new faces together so fast. These guys all deserve a ton of credit. We just have to make it clear to Harris to stay safe and not take any crazy chances running the ball and getting hammered and injured. We don't need anymore qb's going down this year.

I guess Durrant and Lefevor are done for the year and I'll be surprised if Reilly isn't as well. Nice the little respect Glenn gets despite having the most wins of any CFL qb since 2010.

[jerrym]

I wasn't expecting much from the defence, especially at the beginning of the season, with all the new faces and Creehan, considering his record in Hamilton. However, Creehan has done a great job getting this defence to jell quickly.

[ArgoRavi]

I wasn't expecting much from the defence, especially at the beginning of the season, with all the new faces and Creehan, considering his record in Hamilton. However, Creehan has done a great job getting this defence to jell quickly.

It is amazing how good a coach will look when you give him the proper amount of talent to work with. Perhaps lack of talent or not having the right guys for his system was the biggest problem that Creehan had in his previous stops. I was, admittedly, a little concerned when he was appointed as defensive coordinator but as the weeks of training camp and preseason progressed and I heard what many of the players were saying about him and his system, I was feeling much better. Yesterday's game makes me feel even better although I realize it is only the first game.

[Argo57]

It is amazing how good a coach will look when you give him the proper amount of talent to work with. Perhaps lack of talent or not having the right guys for his system was the biggest problem that Creehan had in his previous stops. I was, admittedly, a little concerned when he was appointed as defensive coordinator but as the weeks of training camp and preseason progressed and I heard what many of the players were saying about him and his system, I was feeling much better. Yesterday's game makes me feel even better although I realize it is only the first game.

Like the aggressive play of this D already, seems less passive than the last 2 years or so.
Major talent upgrade is evident in regards to the D-Line and secondary, add that to our linebacking group and they are fun to watch.
Love seeing Isaac back to his 2012 form, he even looked good in coverage yesterday as well, now the big question for the Argonauts will be consistently performing at a high level throughout the season!

[ArgoRavi]

Here is the awarding of the game balls from yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqEk...ature=youtu.be

[jerrym]

I want first to salute Barker and Milanovich for not bailing on the Argos in the most difficult circumstances imaginable over an extended period of time. Second (and I do mean second because without the first there is no second), the great job that they have done, as seen in this game, in view of these adverse conditions, including having little money to spend on new players.

[jerrym]

Speaking on Milanovich, here are his comments on the game in video form:

http://www.cfl.ca/article/harris-on-...d-career-start

[1argoholic]

Thanks Ravi as the video was great. They seem like a team already. Man Harris looks like a linebacker and stala looks like a kid they plucked off a playground. He's one skinny dude. How has he survived for 13 seasons. Great move by Barker and Milanovich by bringing in two guys who fit right away. GREAT VIDEO!!!

[ArgoRavi]

Speaking on Milanovich, here are his comments on the game in video form:

http://www.cfl.ca/article/harris-on-...d-career-start

I liked how Milanovich asked Zicarelli how many sacks the Argos allowed and Frank says, "Not many". Also, Curtis Rush asked whether Milanovich thought he had outcoached Chris Jones which didn't seem like a question that Milanovich liked. I would say that he did outcoach Jones though.

[gilthethrill]

Thanks to the acquisition of Brandon Whittaker, I can now wear my #3 jersey I had done up a week prior to Cory Boyds release. Not enough has been said about young Euclid Cummings or BIG Tracey Robertson on the D line. I fully expected a conservative passing game, but Harris did well on both deep and intermediate routes, finding many targets like Ray would. Jermaine Gabriel....wow! I also feel that Fort McMurray hurt its chances to become an expansion cutting the CFL....

[paulwoods13]

Thanks Ravi as the video was great. They seem like a team already. Man Harris looks like a linebacker and stala looks like a kid they plucked off a playground. He's one skinny dude. How has he survived for 13 seasons. Great move by Barker and Milanovich by bringing in two guys who fit right away. GREAT VIDEO!!!

Yeah, that video was awesome. Great post, Ravi. This team seems like it is truly a team. It's only one week but we could be in for something really special this season.

[1argoholic]

Have to admit I'm starting to think the same way Paul.

[Gill The Thrill]

Most of the tickets are $100. That doesn't help.

That's ridiculous for that stadium where 10k seats were portable.

This league better watch their pricing points for all tickets. An argument can easily be made that tickets should be nowhere near a $100 based on what the leagues teams' pays its' players.

Is this league really in a position to outprice casual walk-up fans like the other leagues can because of corporate support, season ticket base, or TV revenue?

The idea of playing at Fort McMurray was a strange one, and a bit of an embarrassment imo. Looking at all those empty seats in week one season opener was disheartening. It might as well have been an Argo home game because it sadly had the ambience of a game at Skydome. At least we could say that's a 50k stadium with horrible sightlines, so even 20k looks empty there.

On the bright side, happy with the win. It was refreshing to see Argo players tackling on defence during their first attempt. No turnstiles look to be on the Argo defense this year and that's great.

[ArgoZ]

[QUOTE=1argoholic;63105]Thanks Ravi as the video was great. They seem like a team already. Man Harris looks like a linebacker and stala looks like a kid they plucked off a playground. He's one skinny dude. How has he survived for 13 seasons. Great move by Barker and Milanovich by bringing in two guys who fit right away. GREAT VIDEO!!![/QUOTE

[Argo57]

I liked how Milanovich asked Zicarelli how many sacks the Argos allowed and Frank says, "Not many". Also, Curtis Rush asked whether Milanovich thought he had outcoached Chris Jones which didn't seem like a question that Milanovich liked. I would say that he did outcoach Jones though.

It was an idiotic question, Milanovich wouldn't go near that one with a ten foot pole.

[argolio]

Still no official word on the extent of Reilly's injury, but I don't think it looks good at all. These things happen. Wish our coach would have pulled him after the first injury earlier in the game, but he can be a stubborn guy (both coach Jones and Reilly).

In retrospect, putting Reilly back out there in game one fitted with a knee brace wasn't a very good idea. But easy for me to say that now.

Here is the awarding of the game balls from yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqEk...ature=youtu.be

Awesome! I guess Milanovich yelling and losing his voice early and often during camp has paid the first dividend.

[jerrym]

By completing 24/27 passes for a 88.9% rate, Harris made the top ten all-time (8th) for CFL completion rate in a single game, thereby giving another indication of how well he played (and his receivers). Guess who leads?

Highest Pass Completion Percentage, one game (minimum 20 attempts)

• 95.0 - Ricky Ray (2013) (19/20)
• 92.0 - Ricky Ray (2008) (23/25)
• 90.9 - Casey Printers (2004) (20/22)
• 90.5 - Tom Wilkinson (1974) (19/21)
• 90.5 - Danny McManus (1999) (19/21)
• 90.0 - Jason Maas (2004) (27/30)
• 90.0 - Henry Burris (2012) (27/30)
• 87.5 - Jason Maas (1990) (2004) (28/32)
• 87.5 - Henry Burris (2012) (28/32)
• 87.5 - Ricky Ray (2003) (21/24)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...idual)#Passing

[doubleblue]

It was so hot at the game that a lot of people retreated to watch from shady areas or under the concourse. That didn't help the look of fullness.

Band had a fantastic time. 24 of us on hand. We gotta do this again.

Glad you could make the trip Argonotes. I don't think I missed any of the telecast, but didn't see anything showing some Argo fans or the Band. Seeing it was an Argo home game you would think someone would tip off TSN camera crew to show the Band or the T-Bone express guys. It was like the crowd was an embarrassment to TSN and they kept any crowd shots to a minimum.

[1argoholic]

I agree as I didn't see any Argonaut fans. All in all we won but this whole Fort Mac thing was a joke.

[bluto]

- it was indeed impressive how "together" the team looked and the players, coaches and managers all deserve credit for that... but... at this point we ought to remember that we looked more "together" than a team who was also playing its first game of the season. we may be well ahead of the curve, but then we may only be well ahead of it by comparison to one particular team.

- Whittaker is going to be key. our offence is set up for X-Factor players like Owens, Durie, Kackert, Inman, Chiles etc... to take a harmless looking, high percentage play and use it to break the game open. last season with our injury woes, we rarely had all of our X-Factor guys playing together. now we have an extra one. if they can stay healthy and get lots of touches, our offence is going to be in top gear and in the far left lane (not the H.O.V one...)

- if you shove a 300 pound Tackle towards your QB's legs, you really oughtn't be surprised when your QB's legs fold under the Tackle in a way that Nature hadn't intended them to.

- is it weird that i was watching a game where the Argos were stuck into the battle and the kicker went down and my reaction was "dammit, we're screwed"? i hadn't realized how highly i esteem Mr.Waters before that moment. get well soon Swayze.

- we will lead the league in fumbles this season by a wide margin.

- Bruce Campbell is a monster. Hail to the King baby. (if you get the reference, i like you.)

- i don't know what does and what does not constitute a PI or offensive PI call anymore. i don't even try to guess. it seems so random that i just accept the call and take another sip.

- Harris seemed to go through all of his reads... so that says a few things: i) he is a smart QB, ii) our wideouts weren't open much in his view and we need to address this(or maybe it will just get better after a game or two of bedding-in the new guys), iii) the O-Line provided plenty of time to see the play

that's it for just now