Secondhand Eight: Stamps look to bring down Als

Welcome to another edition of Secondhand Eight, your Friday rundown of the most interesting stories about each CFL team. Remember to submit tips to me via Twitter or e-mail!

The featured game this week is tonight's showdown between two 9-3 teams, the Calgary Stampeders and the Montreal Alouettes (9 p.m. Eastern on TSN in Canada, NFL Network in the U.S.). It should be a great one, as these teams usually put on a show against each other (although the Oct. 12, 2009 game pictured above was pretty lopsided). This week, Calgary is looking to bounce back from last week's loss to B.C. and Montreal is hoping to improve on their narrow win over Winnipeg . This game provides an excellent reason to start this week's Secondhand Eight in Cowtown.

Calgary: The Stampeders will be looking to put aside various controversies this week, including the poor decisions quarterback Henry Burris made both on and off the field. Allen Cameron of The Calgary Herald has a good piece on how Burris is planning to bounce back. Cameron also an excellent feature on Stamps' receiver Romby Bryant and the tough path he faced to make it to the CFL (Bryant's father went to jail when he was 10 and remains behind bars today), and a nice piece on how various Calgary defenders approach quarterback sacks. In on-the-field news, the Stampeders may be running low on offensive line depth, as they moved Dan Comiskey onto the nine-game injured list with a concussion.

B.C.: Mike Beamish of The Vancouver Sun has a pair of good reads on Lions' kicker Paul McCallum and linebacker Solomon Elimimian. On the field, the big story heading into the Lions' home game against Winnipeg Saturday night (10 p.m. Eastern, TSN) is their decision to bench Casey Printers and start Travis Lulay; Lowell Ullrich of The Province and Guts McTavish of 24 Hours have more on that move.

Edmonton: John Korobanik of The Edmonton Journal takes a look at the impact of Elliott Richardson and Greg Peach on the Eskimos' defence. Richardson was named defensive and Canadian player of the week after shining in the Touchdown Atlantic game. Korobanik also has an interesting piece on defensive end Joe Sykes. Sykes may see time sooner rather than later, as Gerry Moddejonge of The Edmonton Sun reports that the Esks' defensive line may have suffered another loss this week after Canadian defensive tackle Dee Sterling hurt his knee in practice. After beating the Argonauts last week, the Eskimos get to face the other Southern Ontario team this week; they host the Tiger-Cats Sunday (4:30 p.m. Eastern, TSN).

Saskatchewan: Fantuz Flakes (the cereal, not the shampoo) are back, and they're spreading to other provinces. On the gridiron front, Ian Hamilton has an interesting piece on league interception leader James Patrick and his transition from high school and college quarterback to CFL safety. In advance of the Riders' clash with the Argos Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. Eastern, TSN), Hamilton also looks back at the hit then-Riders punter Jamie Boreham laid on then-Lions returner Ryan Grice-Mullen last year. Grice-Mullen's now with Saskatchewan and Boreham's now with Toronto; they'll face each other Saturday on the one-year anniversary of that hit.

Winnipeg: Yes, there's more going on in Winnipeg than just a controversial fundraising campaign by the Free Press (Peter James has a good piece looking at that, and even one Free Press columnists is a bit perplexed by it). Kirk Penton of The Winnipeg Sun looks at the statistical case that the Bombers may be better than their 3-9 record. Rob Pettapiece's updated RPI doesn't agree, putting the Bombers dead last after their home loss to Montreal, but his SRS calculations still have them as the fifth-best team in the league. See this post for explanations of those stats. On the gridiron, Steven Jyles has recovered from the flu and will lead Winnipeg into action Saturday night in B.C. (10 p.m. Eastern, TSN).

Hamilton: On the ever-present stadium debate front, The Hamilton Spectator reports that the federal government wants the Tiger-Cats to throw in more money. Erin Brockovich is also in town to protest against a gas-fired plant in Oakville. No word yet on if she'll join Frank Gehry on the list of celebrities to weigh in on the stadium debate. On the field, the Tiger-Cats made a smart move, locking up star slotback Dave Stala for two more seasons. As Mark Masters reports, Jason Jimenez isn't going to change his style despite his recent fine. Stala, Jimenez and the Tiger-Cats face Edmonton Sunday afternoon (4:30 p.m. Eastern, TSN).

Toronto: There's one real question around the Argonauts: with Dalton Bell replacing Cleo Lemon under centre, are the "Bell tolls" headlines referencing the original John Donne quote, the great Ernest Hemingway book, the Bee Gees' song, or the Metallica classic? On a serious front, it's going to be interesting to see how Bell does this week, as he's never really received much of a chance to start in the CFL. He plans to call Cowboys' assistant coach Wes Phillips this week, which is interesting: Wes is the son of Dallas head coach Wade Phillips, and he worked with Bell at West Texas A&M. The Argos have more concerns than just Bell, though; they're getting Cory Boyd back from injury, but may lose Adriano Belli to noted author Liz Frank (actually, an injury known as a Lisfranc fracture). They host Saskatchewan Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. Eastern, TSN).

Montreal: Ben Cahoon got his 1,000th catch last week, but is now closing in on Terry Vaughn's all-time CFL record of 1,007 catches. More significantly for the Alouettes' on-field prospects, receiver Kerry Watkins may be done for the season. That may lead to an increased role for Cahoon and their other receivers, like last week's hero Brian Bratton. After a week of craziness around Cahoon's 1,000th catch, the calls that went their way last week against Winnipeg, and even rumours that head coach Marc Trestman might head south, the Alouettes should be glad to get back on the field. They face Calgary tonight (9 p.m. Eastern, TSN/NFLN) in what has the potential to be one of the games of the year.

Thanks for reading 55-Yard Line! Remember to send me tips via Twitter or e-mail at andrew_bucholtz at yahoo.com!