Watching my 73rd CFL football game of the year, I must say I saw things I have never seen. Fred Manchester United Jersey . The Eastern Semi-Final was not a well-played football game, a point I know may seem obvious. And if the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are to move on to the Grey Cup, they must improve or it will be Toronto playing in Canadas football championship for the second year in a row . Again, no kidding, Chris! But in a league that can be criticized and complimented within one paragraph if not one sentence, the 2013 East Semi-Final sure had an original charm all its own. First was the weather. I think I saw everything; the wind was blowing from the North or was it the East, or maybe the West but definitely not the South, I think. There was rain, even some frozen rain and I definitely saw snow at one point. In the second half, the sun came out; thats right, the sun and it looked like it was warming up. But then it started raining a little more and I saw a rainbow over the Alumni Stadium. I have never seen a rainbow over a football field before so I squinted my eyes and yes, there it was. The weather affected the game but the players adjusted and Hamilton adjusted just a little more than Montreal. The only two touchdowns scored by the Ticats were on their last two possessions, one in regulation time and one in overtime. At moments, the Ticats offence looked dreadful but the second to last drive of 97 yards was a work of football art; maybe not the art that the majority of football fans would appreciate but a demonstration of patience in play-calling and execution. Every play of the drive, Montreal came after Burris and every play Burris found the open area and open man and took the team in for a touchdown that, at the time, looked like the game winner. There is aggressive play-calling and execution and then there is patient play-calling and execution. With 5:18 to go to 1:04 to go. it was a lesson in football patience in the extreme as it seemed that every pass was between seven and five yards. I have never seen two different quarterbacks used so frequently with such positive result. In overtime, the first play was Burris, then the next two were Dan Lefevour and then back to Burris for one more and Lefevour for two to win the game. Never seen it before but look forward to seeing it again. For Montreal, the 2013 season can be described in two, perhaps contradictory words: adversity and optimism. From former head coach Dan Hawkins to quarterback Anthony Calvillo to wide receiver Jamel Richardson to offensive guard Scott Flory to running back Brendan Whitaker, the Alouettes were in adjustment mode all year long on offence. But Jim Popp took over for Hawkins, Troy Smith looked pretty good in replacing Calvillo, Duron Carter played effectively for Jamel Richarson, Brian Bomben replaced Scott Flory and Tyrell Sutton looked like Whitaker. Watch out for Montreal next year, they learned a lot and found out a lot that will be beneficial for 2014. In the Western Semi-Final, lets be honest, the Riders almost blew it. BC showed up and played well. Travis Lulay was magnificent and in giving credit where earned, the Lions blockers and pass protectors had their best game of the year. The game changed toward the end of the third quarter because at half-time, BC was winning 17-16 and scored on their first possession of the second half to make it 24-16. The game was theirs to win. Then a critical 2-and-out forced by the Rider defence and a couple of crushing hits turned it into Saskatchewans game to win. The dream lives on. Darian Durant was magnificent, completing 19 of 23 passes or 83 per cent with two touchdowns and no interceptions as well as six runs for 97 yards. On those runs, Durant made a 2nd and 10 into a first down twice and a second and 7 into a first down once. In football, a game of maybe 150 plays can come down to two or three and I thought the three runs by Durant were the game-changing and game-winning plays. For BC, the season was awkward. They had poor red zone defence but great middle field defence. There were blocking issues at times for Andrew Harris and Stefan Logan and six games without Travis Lulay, who was exceptional on Sunday. But the word persists; awkward. So now its Hamilton at Toronto and Saskatchewan at Calgary. And the visiting fans will travel. I doubt I will see a rainbow in the Rogers Centre but Ill be looking for one at McMahon Stadium. Ander Herrera Manchester United Jersey . City has reached new heights under manager Manuel Pellegrini as they transition from big spending/immediate impact to perennial contender. Yaya Toures seeming discontent Tuesday may complicate that, as does the little issue of Financial Fair Play. Andreas Pereira Manchester United Jersey . His absence against the Celtics comes a day after he scored 43 points in the Heats 100-96 win at Cleveland.PHOENIX -- A three-game winning streak isnt much, but it sure feels good to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Josh Collmenter threw six scoreless innings, Aaron Hill drove in three runs with a homer and double and the Diamondbacks held on to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 on Friday night. Collmenter (1-2), in his third start since replacing Randall Delgado in the rotation, allowed four hits and struck out five. Its the first time a Diamondbacks pitcher has gone six scoreless innings this season. "Just to get a few wins in a row, just to kind of get our feet back under us and have something to build off us is big as well," Collmenter said. A.J. Pollocks solo homer in the eighth provided what proved to be the deciding run for the Diamondbacks, who won at Chase Field for only the second time in 11 games this season. After what Hill called a "brutal" month, the Diamondbacks are showing some signs of life. Hill in particular, his bat coming alive in Chicago where he was 4-for-5 with the game-winning triple in the ninth in a 7-5 win over the Cubs on Wednesday. "Now I think a little bit of the pressures off," Hill said. "We know that were a good team and we can play well and win games like this." The Phillies scored a run on two-out singles by Ben Revere and Jimmy Rollins off Addison Reed in the ninth. Reed intentionally walked Chase Utley, then struck out John Mayberry Jr. for his sixth save -- three in the last three days. Collmenter has an unorthodox overhand delivery with a fastball that topped out at a mere 88 mph. But his location was superb, and he mixed in several curve balls, something hes added to his repertoire. "He was hitting both sides of the plate and stuck to his game plan," the Phillies Ryan Howard said. "He hit spots. That was key. We had a couple of good swings on him but just couldnt find any real estate." Roberto Hernandez (1-1) gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings, walking three and fanning five to take the loss. Trailing 4-0, Philadelphia made it a one-run game in the seventh. CCarlos Ruizs single off Delgado loaded the bases, then Cody Asche walked to bring in a run. Ashley Young Jersey. . Pinch-hitter Tony Gwynn Jr. hit a sharp grounder that looked to be an inning-ending double play. But the usually sure-handed Pennington muffed it and two runs scored to cut the lead to 4-3. Asche was called out trying to get back to second after Penningtons error, but the Phillies challenged and the call was overturned. Revere hit into a fielders choice and, with runners at first and third, Rollins flew out to left to end the inning. Arizona broke a scoreless tie in the fourth when Hill slammed a 1-0 pitch into the seats in left-centre. The Diamondbacks added two in the fifth. Paul Goldschmidts opposite-field single to right brought Gerardo Parra home. Hernandez walked Montero, then Hill hit an RBI ground-rule double to almost the same spot as his homer in left-centre and the Diamondbacks led 4-0. With Arizonas defence in a shift to the right, Howard singled to left off left-hander Oliver Perez with one out in the eighth. With Mayberry pinch running, Brad Ziegler came on and Byrd hit one sharply to left field, where Tony Campana was able to keep the ball from getting past him, saving a run in what Arizona manager Kirk Gibson called "the play of the game." Philadelphia manager Ryne Sandberg said Mayberry should have taken third on the play. "To me that is a first and third play," Sandberg said. "It might have been a double by Byrd." The Phillies, who just won three of four against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, are 4-4 on their western trip. Notes: Arizona LF Mark Trumbo said before the game that he was told his left foot stress fracture will sideline him for six weeks. ... The Phillies send Cliff Lee (3-2, 3.09 ERA) to the mound Saturday night, while Arizona goes with struggling Bronson Arroyo (1-2, 9.50). ... Byrd made a diving catch of Monteros line drive in RF in the second. ... In the eighth, Perez was told by the umpires to remove his undershirt because of a rip in the sleeve and one sleeve was longer than the other. ' ' '
Watching my 73rd CFL football game of the year, I must say I saw things I have never seen. Fred Manchester United Jersey . The Eastern Semi-Final was not a well-played football game, a point I know may seem obvious. And if the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are to move on to the Grey Cup, they must improve or it will be Toronto playing in Canadas football championship for the second year in a row . Again, no kidding, Chris! But in a league that can be criticized and complimented within one paragraph if not one sentence, the 2013 East Semi-Final sure had an original charm all its own. First was the weather. I think I saw everything; the wind was blowing from the North or was it the East, or maybe the West but definitely not the South, I think. There was rain, even some frozen rain and I definitely saw snow at one point. In the second half, the sun came out; thats right, the sun and it looked like it was warming up. But then it started raining a little more and I saw a rainbow over the Alumni Stadium. I have never seen a rainbow over a football field before so I squinted my eyes and yes, there it was. The weather affected the game but the players adjusted and Hamilton adjusted just a little more than Montreal. The only two touchdowns scored by the Ticats were on their last two possessions, one in regulation time and one in overtime. At moments, the Ticats offence looked dreadful but the second to last drive of 97 yards was a work of football art; maybe not the art that the majority of football fans would appreciate but a demonstration of patience in play-calling and execution. Every play of the drive, Montreal came after Burris and every play Burris found the open area and open man and took the team in for a touchdown that, at the time, looked like the game winner. There is aggressive play-calling and execution and then there is patient play-calling and execution. With 5:18 to go to 1:04 to go. it was a lesson in football patience in the extreme as it seemed that every pass was between seven and five yards. I have never seen two different quarterbacks used so frequently with such positive result. In overtime, the first play was Burris, then the next two were Dan Lefevour and then back to Burris for one more and Lefevour for two to win the game. Never seen it before but look forward to seeing it again. For Montreal, the 2013 season can be described in two, perhaps contradictory words: adversity and optimism. From former head coach Dan Hawkins to quarterback Anthony Calvillo to wide receiver Jamel Richardson to offensive guard Scott Flory to running back Brendan Whitaker, the Alouettes were in adjustment mode all year long on offence. But Jim Popp took over for Hawkins, Troy Smith looked pretty good in replacing Calvillo, Duron Carter played effectively for Jamel Richarson, Brian Bomben replaced Scott Flory and Tyrell Sutton looked like Whitaker. Watch out for Montreal next year, they learned a lot and found out a lot that will be beneficial for 2014. In the Western Semi-Final, lets be honest, the Riders almost blew it. BC showed up and played well. Travis Lulay was magnificent and in giving credit where earned, the Lions blockers and pass protectors had their best game of the year. The game changed toward the end of the third quarter because at half-time, BC was winning 17-16 and scored on their first possession of the second half to make it 24-16. The game was theirs to win. Then a critical 2-and-out forced by the Rider defence and a couple of crushing hits turned it into Saskatchewans game to win. The dream lives on. Darian Durant was magnificent, completing 19 of 23 passes or 83 per cent with two touchdowns and no interceptions as well as six runs for 97 yards. On those runs, Durant made a 2nd and 10 into a first down twice and a second and 7 into a first down once. In football, a game of maybe 150 plays can come down to two or three and I thought the three runs by Durant were the game-changing and game-winning plays. For BC, the season was awkward. They had poor red zone defence but great middle field defence. There were blocking issues at times for Andrew Harris and Stefan Logan and six games without Travis Lulay, who was exceptional on Sunday. But the word persists; awkward. So now its Hamilton at Toronto and Saskatchewan at Calgary. And the visiting fans will travel. I doubt I will see a rainbow in the Rogers Centre but Ill be looking for one at McMahon Stadium. Ander Herrera Manchester United Jersey . City has reached new heights under manager Manuel Pellegrini as they transition from big spending/immediate impact to perennial contender. Yaya Toures seeming discontent Tuesday may complicate that, as does the little issue of Financial Fair Play. Andreas Pereira Manchester United Jersey . His absence against the Celtics comes a day after he scored 43 points in the Heats 100-96 win at Cleveland.PHOENIX -- A three-game winning streak isnt much, but it sure feels good to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Josh Collmenter threw six scoreless innings, Aaron Hill drove in three runs with a homer and double and the Diamondbacks held on to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 on Friday night. Collmenter (1-2), in his third start since replacing Randall Delgado in the rotation, allowed four hits and struck out five. Its the first time a Diamondbacks pitcher has gone six scoreless innings this season. "Just to get a few wins in a row, just to kind of get our feet back under us and have something to build off us is big as well," Collmenter said. A.J. Pollocks solo homer in the eighth provided what proved to be the deciding run for the Diamondbacks, who won at Chase Field for only the second time in 11 games this season. After what Hill called a "brutal" month, the Diamondbacks are showing some signs of life. Hill in particular, his bat coming alive in Chicago where he was 4-for-5 with the game-winning triple in the ninth in a 7-5 win over the Cubs on Wednesday. "Now I think a little bit of the pressures off," Hill said. "We know that were a good team and we can play well and win games like this." The Phillies scored a run on two-out singles by Ben Revere and Jimmy Rollins off Addison Reed in the ninth. Reed intentionally walked Chase Utley, then struck out John Mayberry Jr. for his sixth save -- three in the last three days. Collmenter has an unorthodox overhand delivery with a fastball that topped out at a mere 88 mph. But his location was superb, and he mixed in several curve balls, something hes added to his repertoire. "He was hitting both sides of the plate and stuck to his game plan," the Phillies Ryan Howard said. "He hit spots. That was key. We had a couple of good swings on him but just couldnt find any real estate." Roberto Hernandez (1-1) gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings, walking three and fanning five to take the loss. Trailing 4-0, Philadelphia made it a one-run game in the seventh. CCarlos Ruizs single off Delgado loaded the bases, then Cody Asche walked to bring in a run. Ashley Young Jersey. . Pinch-hitter Tony Gwynn Jr. hit a sharp grounder that looked to be an inning-ending double play. But the usually sure-handed Pennington muffed it and two runs scored to cut the lead to 4-3. Asche was called out trying to get back to second after Penningtons error, but the Phillies challenged and the call was overturned. Revere hit into a fielders choice and, with runners at first and third, Rollins flew out to left to end the inning. Arizona broke a scoreless tie in the fourth when Hill slammed a 1-0 pitch into the seats in left-centre. The Diamondbacks added two in the fifth. Paul Goldschmidts opposite-field single to right brought Gerardo Parra home. Hernandez walked Montero, then Hill hit an RBI ground-rule double to almost the same spot as his homer in left-centre and the Diamondbacks led 4-0. With Arizonas defence in a shift to the right, Howard singled to left off left-hander Oliver Perez with one out in the eighth. With Mayberry pinch running, Brad Ziegler came on and Byrd hit one sharply to left field, where Tony Campana was able to keep the ball from getting past him, saving a run in what Arizona manager Kirk Gibson called "the play of the game." Philadelphia manager Ryne Sandberg said Mayberry should have taken third on the play. "To me that is a first and third play," Sandberg said. "It might have been a double by Byrd." The Phillies, who just won three of four against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, are 4-4 on their western trip. Notes: Arizona LF Mark Trumbo said before the game that he was told his left foot stress fracture will sideline him for six weeks. ... The Phillies send Cliff Lee (3-2, 3.09 ERA) to the mound Saturday night, while Arizona goes with struggling Bronson Arroyo (1-2, 9.50). ... Byrd made a diving catch of Monteros line drive in RF in the second. ... In the eighth, Perez was told by the umpires to remove his undershirt because of a rip in the sleeve and one sleeve was longer than the other. ' ' '