Five things to love about the first half, and three to watch for going forward

Through 11 weeks of the CFL season, there have been plenty of memorable moments and star performances. The league sent out a release Wednesday noting that three players (Chad Owens, Chris Williams and J.C. Sherritt) are on pace through 10 games to obliterate a host of season-long marks held by some of the CFL's biggest legends. That's one notable storyline, but there's certainly been no shortage of highlights, dramatic twists, unbelievable endings and close games either. That probably has something to do with the league's average attendance being up 1,000 fans per game and its television ratings being up four per cent overall and 38 per cent amongst males 18-34. It's been an exciting CFL campaign so far, but there's still lots of room for further twists in the remaining weeks. Here are five of the best things from the first half, and three more to watch for in the final eight weeks of the regular season.

—The dramatic returns: It's been a season to remember for returners, and that starts with Williams and Owens. Williams has already broken Gizmo Williams' season-long record for return touchdowns, and he'd have shattered it by now if it wasn't for him channelling Leon Lett again in July. Meanwhile, Owens has turned into a dominant receiver as well as a returner, and is merely on pace for 4,405 combined yards, which would be 565 more than the league record set by another legendary Argonaut, Michael "Pinball" Clemons, way back in 1997. He also could be the only CFL player to lead the league in return yards and receiving yards in the same season, as he's well atop the return yardage leaderboard and is only 13 receiving yards behind Montreal's S.J. Green.

While the two Southern Ontario stars have dominated the headlines and kicked off a fierce debate about who you'd rather have, the return game's resurgence isn't just about them, though. Larry Taylor has been shining again in Calgary, putting up a 441-combined-yard game that was the second-highest in league history, while Deon Washington and Tim Brown have turned in strong showings in Winnipeg and B.C. respectively, and other teams' returners have had their moments too. That's convinced some CFL squads to make dramatic changes to how they approach special teams, even motivating them to try less long field goals for fear of big returns. Perhaps that's appropriate, as one of the best returns of this year has to be Saskatchewan's Tristan Jackson's 129-yard game-changing touchdown against B.C. off a missed field goal in Week Three:

Other special teams zaniness: Yes, the returns have been spectacular, but there's also been plenty of other craziness going on with special-teams units this year. From the Eskimos' bad snap that turned into an unexpected passing touchdown to Winnipeg's odd punting decisions to Tyrone Brackenridge's punt-block touchdown for Saskatchewan, the headlines haven't all been about the return game. One of the best moments of the year was Montreal turning a fake field goal into a successful onside kick:

—Thunderous hits: The CFL's always been known for hard-hitting action, and players have delivered on that time and time again this year. Interestingly, that's come from some unexpected sources; while linebackers like Sherritt and B.C.'s Adam Bighill have been prominently involved as you'd expect, plenty of defensive backs have gotten in on the action too. Notable examples include the Argos' Evan McCollough drilling B.C.'s Shawn Gore and Montreal's Jerald Brown whacking Calgary's Nik Lewis. It's also remarkable that some of the bigger hits have come on blocks, including Lewis taking out the Tiger-Cats' Greg Peach. One particularly memorable one? Alouettes' DB Kyries Hebert (making his second appearance on this list, as he also caught the fake field goal above!) destroying Hamilton receiver Onrea Jones on a block following a Brown interception:

—Great catches: It wouldn't be the CFL without a wide range of incredible catches, and really, the biggest challenge this year is picking a few to spotlight out of so many. Grabs like Ernest Jackson's diving catch against Montreal, Taj Smith's Immaculate Reception, Chad Owens' game-saving catch and Geroy Simon's record-setting reception have provided some of the most memorable moments of the year. Still, one particularly stands out for what happened after the catch: Nik Lewis hauling in a short pass, then hurdling two Saskatchewan defenders for a first down:

—Crazy finishes: There's been plenty of parity in the league this year, and while much of that's been on the macro scale, there have been numerous close games and wild endings. An incredible 68 per cent of the CFL games this year have been decided in the last three minutes, up from 40 per cent in 2009, and eight teams have already pulled off fourth-quarter comebacks, one more than took place in all of 2011. What's most remarkable is just how ridiculous some of the endings have been, though, from Edmonton missing last-second field goals in two straight weeks to Nik Lewis' overtime touchdown against Saskatchewan on a short pass Kevin Glenn threw across his body to Toronto's crazy comeback against the Stamps and the Riders' late field-goal drive to win the Banjo Bowl following the Bombers' punt. The craziest of all might have been Edmonton's missed field goal at the end of the Labour Day game, though, as it necessitated a ridiculous drive (including Matt Carter catching a ball after it bounced off two Stampeders), stirred a debate about kicking versus punting, and Larry Taylor had to scramble out of the end zone to avoid conceding a game-tying single:

It's been a terrific CFL season thus far thanks to all the aforementioned moments and more, but there's still lots of football to play. Here are three things to watch for as the regular season wraps up:

—Can the basement-dwellers step it up? 2-8 Winnipeg and 3-7 Hamilton have been pretty disastrous so far, and that's put lots of pressure on their personnel and coaching staffs. However, don't automatically assume games involving one of these teams will be blowouts; both have been involved in close, exciting finishes this year, including Winnipeg's 25-24 Banjo Bowl loss to Saskatchewan and Hamilton's 35-34 win over the Riders. If these teams can execute more consistently, they can certainly play spoiler and they might even be able to make a playoff push with help elsewhere.

—How will the record chases go? Williams already has locked up one record, but he could set another one for punt returns, while Owens and Sherritt look to be in good shape to at least challenge the record books. They're not the only players approaching notable milestones, though; Jon Cornish could become the first Canadian running back to lead the league in rushing since Orville Lee in 1994, and he could even threaten Norm Kwong's Canadian rushing record of 1,437 yards, while Cornish and B.C.'s Andrew Harris are both in the hunt to lead the league in yards from scrimmage (something no Canadian's done since Terry Evanshen in 1966). B.C. quarterback Travis Lulay's streak of 21 straight games with a touchdown pass is tied for the second-longest such mark in history, and one of the men he's tied with, 40-year-old Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo, still has a few passing records to break. These record hunts will be well worth watching as the season unfolds.

What's going to happen in the playoff races? At first, the East Division picture looks relatively clear, with Montreal and Toronto at the top and Winnipeg and Hamilton at the bottom. There's still lots of intrigue there, though; the 6-4 Alouettes and Argonauts could fight it out for first, but the 3-7 Tiger-Cats are only three games back, and both Montreal and Toronto have looked capable of protracted slumps this year. Another element to keep an eye on is the chance of a crossover; at the moment, the fourth-place West team would head over to the East, but Saskatchewan and Edmonton are only 5-5, so Hamilton would only need to make up two games on whoever finishes last out west to prevent a crossover. That might not be the Riders or Eskimos, though; Calgary's only a single game ahead at 6-4, and even league-leading B.C.'s only two games clear. With eight games left, the playoff picture's as murky as ever, and that should add extra layers of interest to the remaining games.