Ejiro Kuale jawed with Saskatchewan fans last year; might he jaw with Toronto ones this year?It wouldn't be CFL free agency without some unexpected moves, and Monday's news that former Argonauts' linebacker/defensive end Ejiro Kuale is heading to Montreal would appear to qualify there. Kuale was a key contributor for Toronto during the Argonauts' 2012 run to the Grey Cup, and his offseason release seemed a likely prelude to his landing an NFL job. Now Kuale's decided to stay north of the border, but with a different team. He may be a key contributor for the Alouettes, but how this situation played out may add to the growing calls for the CFL to bring back contracts that include NFL option windows; releasing players so they can test NFL waters is far from ideal, and the Kuale deal may boost league-wide awareness of the problems with the current contract setup.

Sunday's a day full of celebrities and red carpets for those interested in the Academy Awards (a category that apparently now includes Nate Silver), and the CFL's Montreal Alouettes are getting in on the action. The team's put together an excellent video of "The Alouettes Celebrity Look-Alike Awards," comparing their players to Hollywood actors and musicians. It even comes complete with Oscar-esque statues and audience applause!

There are some great comparisons in there. Defensive end John Bowman does look a bit like The Rock, who was briefly a CFL player himself back when he was still known as Dwayne Johnson (and also played on the defensive line); The Rock's making more money in Hollywood these days, but Bowman's by far the better football player, as Johnson was cut by the Calgary Stampeders just two months after starting his north-of-the-border career. Kicker Sean Whyte definitely has an Edward Norton resemblance going on, and defensive assistant/football operations assistant Jean-Marc Edme could pull off a very convincing Cee-Lo Green impersonation if he was a little bigger. The funniest one in here may be the least accurate, though. Linebacker Bear Woods' resemblance to Shakira may not go beyond his hairstyle, but it's still good for plenty of laughs.

Daniel Younis (Toronto Police photo)While few facts have emerged thus far, Canadian university football has been rocked by a case of alleged sexual abuse.

Daniel (Dan) Younis, recruiting coordinator and running backs coach for the York Lions in the Ontario University Athletics football conference, is in serious trouble. Younis was arrested and charged Thursday in connection with a child-luring investigation.

From Timothy Appleby:

Toronto police say the charges stem from a series of cellphone and Internet chats over the past three months, during which the alleged victim sent images of himself to Mr. Younis.

... York University released a statement Friday saying it has been advised of the situation and is “extremely disturbed about this very serious allegation.” (The Globe & Mail)

Dan Ferrone (69) celebrates winning the 1991 East Final with teammates and Argonauts' co-owner John Candy (right).

The six newest inductees to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame were announced Thursday, and all of them (except famed St. Francis Xavier coach Don Loney, who's being inducted posthumously as a builder) took part in a media conference call Thursday evening. There were plenty of notable comments from each about their careers and what Canadian football meant to them. Here's a look at some of the highlights of that call.

Dan Ferrone, who had a great CFL career as an offensive lineman (mostly with Toronto, but he also spent a year with Calgary) said he's still pumped up about this honour. "It's so exciting; I'm part of history," he said. "It's the Hall of Fame for all of Canada."

Ferrone said there are tons of memories from his decade-plus of CFL service (he played from 1981-1992), but some of the most notable came from the legendary 1991 Argonauts. Owned by Wayne Gretzky, John Candy and Bruce McNall, that team made a massive impact on the CFL both on and off the field. "It was an extraordinary time," Ferrone said. "I got to shower and dress amongst movie stars.

Famed Hamilton receiver Earl Winfield (1) is one of this year's Hall Of Fame inductees.The 2013 class of inductees into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame was announced Thursday, and it includes plenty of notable names. Players Dan Ferrone, Brian Fryer, Miles Gorrell and Earl Winfield are being inducted this year as well as builders Jake Ireland and Don Loney (Loney is being honoured posthumously). Here's some information on each of this year's Hall of Fame class.

Earl Winfield: Winfield might be the name here who's most recognizable to the casual CFL fan, as he was a lights-out star at wide receiver for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 1987-1997. He came to Hamilton following a great college career with the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, where he recorded a then-school-record 107 receptions in four seasons. Over his 11 CFL seasons, Winfield made 573 catches for 10,119 yards and 75 touchdowns. One of his most notable games came Sept. 5, 1988 in a Labour Day Classic game against Toronto, where he scored touchdowns three different ways (a 101-yard punt return TD, a 100-yard kick return TD and a pass reception TD), a feat unprecedented in CFL history. Here's video of that:

Brian Fryer: Another excellent receiver, Fryer is being honoured chiefly for his remarkable CIS career. He was a three-time Canada West all-star with the University of Alberta and was the first Canadian university receiver to have a 1000-yard receiving season, especially notable considering that he only became a full-time receiver in the third season university career. He put up plenty of impressive receiving stats across a variety of categories, finishing second in Canada West history in receptions, receiving yards, receiving yards in a season and receptions in a season, and he set the receiving yards in a game record with 227. He also scored five all-purpose touchdowns in a single 1973 game in the university ranks. He was only the second Canadian drafted by the NFL out of a Canadian university, and after a stint with the Washington Redskins, went on to find CFL success with the Edmonton Eskimos as part of the dynasty that won five straight Grey Cups from 1978-1982.

Will the Grey Cup be handed out in Vancouver again in 2014?

If the B.C. government has its way, the Grey Cup game will return to the province for the second time in four years in November 2014. Ace Vancouver business reporter Bob Mackin has an impressive story at Business In Vancouver confirming that the PavCo (the Crown corporation that oversees B.C. Place) service plan for 2013 released on Tuesday includes a $2.7 million contribution from the province "to assist in securing an event in 2014," which also is referred to as "contribution for Grey Cup" in the 2012-13 fiscal forecast. Of course, just because a provincial government puts something in a budget doesn't mean it will happen, but what's notable is that the CFL has acknowledged B.C. is trying to host the game again in 2014. Here's what CFL director of communications Jamie Dykstra told Mackin:

Dan Hawkins will be hoping to find more success than most coaches new to the CFL.

The Montreal Alouettes confirmed Tuesday that they've hired former Boise State and Colorado coach Dan Hawkins as their new head coach. As discussed last week when the news first came out (the delay between the news and the official announcement was probably to line up the massive coaching staff also announced Tuesday), the Hawkins hire is a highly unconventional one; while he's found notable coaching success over the years (particularly at Boise State), his Colorado tenure did not go well, and he's been working as an ESPN analyst since then. It's his lack of CFL experience that stands out the most, though, and it puts him in a very exclusive recent club. By my count, there have been only been three CFL head coaches with no previous coaching experience in the league since 2000 (possibly four depending on how you count one candidate). Here they are:

Dan Hawkins and his coaching staff needed a massive table at Tuesday's presser.It's not often you need a wide-angle lens at a press conference announcing a new head coach, but that was the case with the Montreal Alouettes' conference Tuesday officially announcing the appointment of former Boise State and Colorado coach Dan Hawkins. The Hawkins news was convincingly reported last Thursday, so the delay in officially announcing it seemed curious, but that became clearer with the massive table the Alouettes rolled out Tuesday; they weren't just announcing the Hawkins hire, but also the hires of a complete staff of coaches. Only two members of the staff (defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe and defensive assistant/football operations assistant Jean-Marc Edmé) were officially there before Hawkins, and Thorpe was only hired earlier this offseason. It's a full makeover in Montreal, and that massive table (which resembles a certain famous painting: Hawkins will be hoping that analogy doesn't continue) includes an interesting mix of assistants with CFL, NCAA and NFL backgrounds. Here are five of the most notable: