Week 8: The bigger they are the harder they fall

I like to use a lot of cliches when I discuss sports. I think the cliche of the 08 CFL season ought to be: the bigger they are the harder they fall. Case in point: Winnipeg coming off of a Grey Cup loss was expected to lead the East; Toronto gaining Kerry Joseph looked like the dark horse and pre-season Grey Cup favourites; and both BC and Calgary both looked better on paper than the Riders or the Eskimos. However, the bigger they were hyped in the pre-season the harder time they've had when push comes to shove (save for maybe Hamilton to still looks as bad this year as they did last).

And the hard falling continued all last week throughout the CFL. Toronto and Winnipeg both lost crucial games to division rivals by wide margins, while Saskatchewan's undefeated record ended early in their game against the Stampeders - despite a late rally. The bigger they were, the harder they fell.

Here's a breakdown of last week's games and how everyone faired:

Game 1: Hamilton 45-21 over Toronto (Points: Steve, Myself)
Game 2: Calgary 30-25 over Saskatchewan (Points: Jamie, KDS)
Game 3: Montreal 39-11 over Winnipeg (Points: Myself)
Game 4: BC 40-34 over Edmonton (Points: Everyone!)

Week 8 is a bye for the West so there are only two games consisting entirely of Eastern teams.

Game 1: Hamilton at Winnipeg, Thursday 8pm ET. Richie Williams played extremely well with this Hamilton team against a so-so Argo defense. Considering that he didn't have Jessie Lumsden really proves that this guy has what it takes to be a bonifide starter in the CFL. Casey who? The only name to talk about in Hamilton is Richie Williams. Speaking of people that must be mentioned when you're talking about the Blue Bombers: Alexis Serna and Doug Berry must be playing a very late (and long) April Fool's Day joke on the Blue faithful. Hardy-har-har... it's very funny that Westwood was let go because he wasn't the "best" kicker for the team and then Serna comes along and totally sucks a thousand times more than Troy ever did in a third of a season... real rich! Now... where's the kicking game? Oh wait. This isn't a joke. This nightmare named Alexis is for real. If the Dinwiddie Experiment was a failure, then the Serna Experiment ought to be called Winnipeg's Chernobyl. With the Bombers being unable to score in the red and Serna being unable to score at all this one isn't hard to call. Hamilton wins.

Game 2: Montreal at Toronto, Friday 7:30pm ET. It won't be hard to imagine the score of this game. While Toronto has shown some promise at times in certain games, they don't play a full 60 minutes of football and that is where their opponents take advantage and roll them over. That being said, Montreal has been played with the same 50 minute football game strategy. But while being bad at finishing the game might be a distraction, and definitely a hindrence to most teams, with the Alouettes outscoring their opponents 70-7 in first quarters, the Als usually don't need to be fighting to the bitter end of most games. While T.O is at home, I don't think there will be much of an advantage there. Yet, I do see Kerry playing well since first place is not unattainable and the East hasn't shown a clear leader as of yet. My heart wants to see Joseph do wel but I just don't know if it will happen. Montreal wins.

TSN Power Rankings for Week 8 are:

1. Saskatchewan (Last Week: 1)
2. Montreal (Last Week: 3)
3. Calgary (Last Week: 5)
4. B.C. (Last Week: 2)
5. Edmonton (Last Week: 4)
6. Toronto (Last Week: 6)
7. Hamilton (Last Week: 8)
8. Winnipeg (Last Week: 7)

Chris Schultz likes Hamilton and Montreal.

There may be a trivia challenge for another chance to swap one of your picks this week so keep your head up for a late post on Wednesday night.

Good luck. God Speed.