I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. For me, there’s no better game to watch than a lopsided affair, even when my team’s on the bad end of the demolition.

Watching close games, it’s hard for me to keep my emotions in check.  I get too caught up in the rhythms and tensions of the games to be completely objective.  Simply put, I have an emotional investment in every close game, and that’s where the pain comes in.

Blowouts make sure emotions are out of the equation for me, and it’s much easier to recognize the handful of plays that swing a game into a rout.  Sometimes those plays come from sublime individual efforts, sometimes from poor ones.  Sometimes a flag is thrown that tilts the game; sometimes that flag stays in the pocket to the same effect.

Every blowout has its own reasons why the points pile up on one side of the scoreboard and not the other.  Week 14 gave us three perfect examples. Two that stayed that way, and one that turned on a dime to go down to the wire.

Looking at how similar the scores were at halftime in those three games this past weekend—15-3, 25-3, and 17-6—it would be easy to think all three tilts went down the same way, with the winning teams simply running over weaker opposition from the get-go.

Nothing could be farther from the truth in two out of three of these games.

In Montreal’s case, Anthony Calvillo and the Als’ offence moved the ball clinically and efficiently against the Bombers’ D in the first half, building a lead off ball control and time of possession provided by stingy defence.

The Als were able to limit Alex Brink’s success through three quarters of the game by regrouping after big-play connections by Brink or damaging penalties downfield before the Bombers could put points on the board.

Once the Bombers blocked a Sean Whyte punt for a quick major to end the third frame, though, the dam broke and Winnipeg scored three times in rapid succession to turn the game into a real gut-twister in the final minutes.

Fans and pundits alike call games like Friday’s between the Als and Bombers “Only in the CFL” moments. And the game certainly proved the notion that no lead is safe in the wide-open Canadian game.

The Toronto Argonauts’ loss, however, didn’t fall anywhere near that category.

Toronto wound up on the raw end of the score primarily due to poor execution, turnovers, and penalties at the most inopportune times short-circuiting their ability to score majors and to keep Hamilton from scoring.

The Argos moved the ball up and down the field between the 20-yard lines well enough, but just couldn’t punch the ball over the goal-line on any of its drives, settling for four Jay Prefontaine field goals while the Ticats’ offence was piling up majors and running away with the game.

Now, Calgary 40, Saskatchewan 3…Let’s just say the scoreboard tells that story pretty well.

FT55’S PRIMETIME PERFORMERS

1)    Anwar Stewart (for real!)

2)    Anthony Calvillo

3)    Andrew Harris

4)    Anthony Reddick

5)    John Cornish

6)    Charleston Hughes

7)    Terry Grant

8)    Kevin Glenn

9)    Adarius Bowman

10)  Alex Brink

WEEK 15 PREDICTIONS DOOMED TO GO WRONG

Knowing how difficult it is to judge teams desperate for wins, I’ll take a 4-0 record like last week’s any day. 

This week the desperation factor climbs even higher as teams are starting to press for playoff positioning, so I’m picking Hamilton, B.C., Montreal, and Edmonton with my fingers crossed.

UP NEXT

Check back next week to get my takes on all of week 15’s action.  With a little over a month to go in the season, I’ll also weigh in on the MOP races in each division and a few of the other player awards as we head down the stretch.

Until then, take care. And try not to lead with your head unless you’re headed toward a meal.