In the back of my mind, I have been giving certain teams and certain issues passes on key questions all season long.  When I’ve been tempted to fret over something, I’ve told myself, like a lot of fans do, “Hey, it’s not even Labour Day, and nothing gets serious until Labour Day.”

Well, I peeked at my desk calendar this week, and guess what. . . It IS Labour Day, and many of the burning questions I had in preseason are still on fire.

You can chalk it up to competitive balance, or injuries, or the Salary Management System, or to alien abduction if you’d like, but we are entering the mid-point of the 2011 season and there’s still a ton of head scratching going on.

Here’s the top ten questions on my burner.

1)    Can the Calgary Stampeders find their stride offensively?

It hasn’t exactly been feast or famine for Henry Burris and the Stamps, but they spent the first month and a half of the season eking out low-scoring games.  The last two games, though, the Stamps have opened things up a bit. Can they keep it going down the back nine of the season now? As we’ve said for years, the talent’s there to do it, but where’s the consistency?

2)    Can the East Division field three solid playoff teams?

Perception is the East can’t do it, but Winnipeg is playing like world beaters. And despite a spate of crushing injuries on both sides of the ball, the Montreal ALouettes are still chugging along at an elite clip.  The real question now is whether Hamilton can play up to its potential to make things really competitinve in the division come playoff time. I guess we’ll see in November.

3)    Can the Montreal Alouettes survive an 18-game season?

Three seasons of being in the Grey Cup have finally started to catch up to the Als in terms of veteran durability. So far in the first half of this season, the Als have lost playing time from Anthony Calvillo and Kerry Watkins on offence, and from Gerald Brown, Etienne Boulay, Mark Estelle, and Jermaine McElveen on defence. Montreal’s depth under GM Jim Popp has been legendary, but if the injuries keep piling up, that’ll be tested down the stretch for sure.

4)    Do the Argos have a QB on the roster who can wake up their offence?

Cleo Lemon has played better this season than he did last year en route to a playoff appearance, but he’s in real danger of losing his job to a lack of consistent production. Dalton Bell has been unimpressive in limited opportunities, too. Steven Jyles is finally eligible to come off the nine-game injury list for week 11. Is he the answer to the Argos’ offensive woes?

5)    Do the B.C. Lions have enough time left to make up for another poor start?

Given the fact that they’re hosting this year’s Grey Cup in their own building, pressure has mounted considerably on the Lions to wake up after a 1-6 start. They’ve responded in recent weeks with a couple of solid performances, but can they piece together another massive, late-season run to get into good enough form to play in their own championship game? B.C. has the young talent to pull it off, but chasing down a hot Calgary team is a formidable task.

6)    Are the Edmonton Eskimos a better team than the one that missed the playoffs last season?

A month ago, the Eskimos were undefeated and riding high as the turnaround darlings of the CFL. Brutal losses to the Bombers, Als, and Lions have turned all that momentum inside out. To shake off the losing culture that had inundated the Esks in recent seasons, GM Eric Tillman made wholesale changes this past off-season. Those changes looked brilliant four weeks ago. How will they look four weeks from now?

7)    Will the Saskatchewan Roughriders turn things around after going “Old School” with their coaching change?

Greg Marshall choked on a short leash in Riderville, and took offensive coordinator Doug Berry with him on his way out of town. Now, Ken Miller has returned to the Riders’ sideline as head coach. Miller’s brought his offence from 2008 with him. Will that blast from the past mean familiar success for Gang Green?

8)    Can the Hamilton Ticats stay above .500?

Despite playing quality ball in all facets of the game, the Ticats have had a really difficult time stacking wins with any consistency the last few seasons. This year has been no exception. It’s been good win, tough loss all year. A win this weekend against the Als might just break that pattern. It might also give the Ticats the inside track at a home playoff game.

9)    Are the Winnipeg Blue Bombers one injury away from losing their swagger?

Winnipeg is hands down the story of the year.  The Bombers’ D has been phenomenal up to this point.  The Bombers receiving corps is getting deeper and more productive each week, even without Fred Reid piling up yardage. Let’s say, just for the sake of fantasy, though, that Buck Pierce goes down. . .

10)  Have the rule changes for 2011 made the game better?

For all the warm reception over the CFL’s rule changes this off-season, there have been precious few opportunities for the officials to review cases of post-whistle changes in possession. The same could be said for flags thrown over low blocks on downfield passes, punts out of bounds between the 20s, or illegal participation by players out of bounds while covering kicks. Either the league informed the heck out of teams to the point of eradicating these issues altogether, or these changes were little more than window-dressing to begin with. I’m reserving judgment until December myself, since it would only take one perfect flag to swing my opinion.

QUICK HITS

With NFL cuts starting to loom and the nine-game salary threshold about to be crossed, you have to wonder if there are any veteran players about to catch the axe to clear space on rosters and room under the SMS around the league.  Three days ago, I would have led with Marquay McDaniels’s name in this space, but the Ticats beat me to the punch. 

Both Andy Fantuz and John Chick caught the NFL-axe this weekend, so you have to wonder what ramifications the availability of those players might have on the Riders’ roster.

Other big CFL names hitting the market after NFL trim downs are Andrew Hawkins, Rashad Jeanty, Chris Wilson, and Mark Restelli.

Before any of these players show up on a CFL roster, though, they’ll have to weigh NFL PR offers.

WEEK 10 PREDICTIONS DOOMED TO GO WRONG

Is it just me, or do the Labour Day Classic match-ups have the feel of pose-down death matches?  We’ve got Winnipeg heading into Riderville to keep their grip on the league’s top seed, Montreal and Hamilton shooting it out just to keep in the race for their divisional lead, Edmonton and Calgary duking for the early advantage in the West playoff race, and Toronto and B.C. scrapping with their whole seasons on the line.

It should be a wild, must-see weekend, and picks are definitely hard with so much at stake for each team.  My gut tells me to go with B.C., Saskatchewan, Montreal, and Calgary, though, so I’m going to listen.

UP NEXT

Check back to see how Labour Day treats me, and we’ll see if any of my questions get answered over the weekend.

Until then, take care.  And please be sure to stretch it out before Monday’s double-header.  You don’t want to pull up lame heading into the second half of the season.