First & Goal

Curses! Dangerous Dorsey back to give Argos huge return threat

Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 16, 2009

Five storylines that jumped out while observing the past week of Canadian Football League action:

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Five storylines that jumped out while observing the past week of Canadian Football League action:

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/09/2009 (5862 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Five storylines that jumped out while observing the past week of Canadian Football League action:

1 THE epithets may vary as will the degree of anger, but you can bet a whole lot of CFL special teams co-ordinators spit out a string of curses a couple of football fields long Tuesday. And why? Dominique Dorsey, the league’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player, returned to work with the Toronto Argonauts after a tryout with the Washington Redskins. And in the process he’ll make the Argos considerably more dangerous in the final eight weeks of the regular season.

Somewhere, as well, former Bomber coach Doug Berry is slamming his forehead on a wall for cutting the most explosive return man during ’07 training camp.

CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Jeremaine Copeland is making a case for Most Outstanding Player. — CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES Jeremaine Copeland is making a case for Most Outstanding Player.

2 QUARTERBACKS usually get all of the love when the CFL hands out its collection of year-end hardware and rightly so. It’s a passing league that is often dominated by the men who line up behind centre.

But a case could be made right now for a receiver as the CFL Most Outstanding Player — Calgary’s Jeremaine Copeland. It was Copeland who, along with another MOP candidate Henry Burris — teamed up for the winning score with 22 seconds left in last week’s dramatic 35-34 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos.

Copeland is second in the CFL with 48 catches for 759 yards and 11 TDs.

For the record, a receiver has been named MOP just eight times since 1953: Montreal’s ‘Prince’ Hal Patterson (1956), Edmonton’s George McGowan (1973), Tony Gabriel of the Ottawa Rough Riders (1978), B.C.’s Meryvn Fernandez (1985), Winnipeg’s James Murphy (1986), David Williams of the Lions (1988), the Bombers’ Milt Stegall (2002) and B.C.’s Geroy Simon (2006).

3 OUCH and ouch again…

Regina Leader-Post columnist Rob Vanstone wrote Monday that the Roughriders had ‘vivisected’

the Bombers 55-10 in the Banjo Bowl, bringing this response from a reader, which Vanstone passed along in another column: "Far be it from me to criticize anything that anyone else writes, but I did feel that it was important to comment upon a word choice.

‘Vivisecting’ refers to the performance of surgical procedures upon a living organism. Although I watched the game on TV, and therefore hadn’t the sense of immediacy of watching it live, I personally detected no signs of ‘life’ within the Winnipeg Blue Bombers."

Also, in Sunday’s win over the Bombers receiver/return man Jason Armstead threw for a TD to Andy Fantuz on a trick play, becoming the first non-QB in three years to accomplish the feat. The last non-QB to throw for a score for the Riders? Armstead in a throw-back to then-Rider Kerry Joseph in 2006. But when Vanstone was asked for the answer to that very same question by Leader-Post football writer Murray McCormick his reply was, wait for it… ‘Michael Bishop.’

4 NEVER met the man, never even interviewed him, but we can’t help but cheer for Hamilton Tiger-Cat receiver Dave Stala. In fact, if the league dished out a comeback-player-of-theyear award — and they should — he’d be the front-runner.

Stala, who pulled in 83 passes for 1,037 yards and five TDs with Montreal in 2005, all but disappeared off the football map over the last two seasons.

Plagued by foot injuries, the Hamilton product appeared in just two games in 2007 and 2008 before being reborn this season with his hometown Ticats.

Stala has 33 catches for 319 yards and two TDs this season. Those aren’t all-star numbers, but he deserves a ton of praise just for getting back on the field. Stala will also be holding a kids’ football camp next month in an effort to give back to his community.

"It’s a great feeling to come back here and play — I thought about doing it the last few years. I’m getting a lot of recognition just walking down the street," Stala told The Hamilton Spectator.

"I’m very happy. I’m on the field making a contribution and at home with my friends and family. It couldn’t have worked out better."

5 AND, finally, from the be-carefulwhat- you-wish-for department…

After the Lions fell apart in the closing moments of Sunday’s 28-24 loss to Montreal defensive back Korey Banks was asked about a critical 56-yard catch by Alouette receiver Kerry Watkins that set up the game-winning TD.

"Go ask the coaches who was at fault on that one," Banks said afterward, pleading innocence.

Well, Lowell Ullrich of The Province in Vancouver did the very next day after head coach Wally Buono had a chance to study the film. And the culprit on that play? Banks.

"(Banks) is a free guy over the top.

Go cover (Watkins). That’s his guy," Buono said. "Why would you make that kind of mistake when it’s second-andnine?"

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca