Quick Slants: Random thoughts before CFL week plus the obligatory Duron Carter post

Quick Slants: Random thoughts before CFL week plus the obligatory Duron Carter post

Published: Monday, Mar 19th 2018, 4:03am

by Greg McCulloch (@GregOnSports)

Quick Slants looks at some of the weekly stories in the CFL and beyond.

It’s CFL Week and Piffles will be there starting Wednesday to experience it all for you. But as we get prepared to make the trip to Winnipeg (Booooo), let’s look at some of the burning questions going on in the league.

For the CFL, Cummings isn’t going away…

You know at some point this week, Euclid Cummings situation will come up with Commissioner Randy Ambrosie. The charges were laid when Cummings was a Bomber and the organization supposedly let the league know when they were contacted by the Vancouver authorities, and nothing happened.

Ambrosie stated last week, he was proud of how swift the CFL acted, and then I came to the conclusion that he and I might have different definitions of swift.

And if you want to see the personification of those different definitions of Swift look for the video of Safimod vs Simoni Lawrence in the 40-yard dash coming this week.

I understand that it is the commissioner’s job to put a positive spin on things, but he probably would have been better to say the league fumbled the situation during in the transition between him and former Commissioner Jeffrey Orridge.

Not even point a finger just a “Hey, we screwed up and he shouldn’t have played last season..”  would have gone a long way.

In the end they did the right thing, however “swift” isn’t an accurate description.

Experience? Who needs experience?

What do me, Mike Sherman and Josh Freeman have in common? We all have the same amount of CFL experience.

Despite his decorated record down south Mike Sherman is still not that familiar with the CFL game. In fact, he was coaching high school last for the past 3 seasons and hasn’t coached pro in 5. While he is a name people know, safe to say Kavis Reed wasn’t in stiff competition for his services.

Sherman is trying to surround him with coaches that he can do the heavy lifting while he just manages, but it will still be an uphill battle considering the projected starter is Josh Freeman.

Freeman who was a first-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009 was expected to be a star in the NFL. Freeman’s potential fizzled fast and after 5 lacklustre seasons in Tampa, he was outside looking in and playing his last meaningful pro game for the Colts in 2015 splitting reps with former Ottawa Redblack Ryan Lindley.

Don’t get me wrong his arm should be fresh as he has only played 5 NFL games since 2012, going 78 for 175, 910 yards, 3 TDs and 5 Interceptions.

Honestly, I am looking forward to talking with him at CFL week and see what he thinks a 30-year-old Josh Freeman is looking to get from the CFL.

Is he going to be like Trent Richardson trying to get back to the NFL?

Is he going to be Vince Young not liking the way his career ended and just wants to play on his own terms?

Only time will tell.

If a Duron Carter fell in a forest and no one was around to hear it would it still make the online blogs?

It is no secret we love Duron Carter here at Piffles. He has made a home here in Saskatchewan and has endeared himself to the fans, despite some of his questionable choices.

No matter what he does, he is entertaining. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that he means clicks on CFL websites.

He noticed it too as he was tweeting that he should be getting paid by a certain website.

Love him or hate him, Duron is great for the CFL.

Where is CFL Week going to be next year?

We haven’t even started this year’s CFL week and there are people trying to figure out where it will be next year.

After the first 2 being in the West, it only makes sense to send it to the East, with Hamilton being the most obvious choice because of their fan base and the fact they aren’t going to see a Grey Cup in the foreseeable future.

However, I have a crazier plan, lets go further east. Let’s send it to the Maritimes.

If you truly want to stoke the fires for a 10^th team, a coast to coast league, bring a marquee event to the area.  It would be a PR dream and something that would put the CFL on the map on the coast.

And more importantly, those east coasters know how to throw a party.

Be sure to check back to the site this week as Alex, Steve, and I will be all over CFL Week bringing you the best coverage from a Rider Fan Perspective.