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Tuesday’s O-Line: Still talking about Ed Hervey’s presser

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You have to wonder now, seven days after Ed Hervey’s hastily called, much-discussed press conference, if the Edmonton Eskimos’ general manager thought we’d be here when he first stepped in front of that mic.

Was the point of his presser to ratchet up the heat on his team, one that was already feeling like toasty ants under a swelling magnifying glass coming out of its Labour Day loss to Calgary? Was the verbal flogging of Simeon Rottier supposed to be the defining moment of the offensive line’s season? The hogs’ win-one-for-the-Gipper moment?

Maybe it was just weeks of bottled up frustration in a genuinely competitive and frustrated man that was pried open by incessant media requests.

I can’t imagine, though, that when Hervey got in front of that mic that he thought his words would have taken things to where they are now.

In case you missed it, Hervey’s criticism of Rottier is in violation of the CFL’s collective bargaining agreement. Now, the CFLPA is in Steven Seagal mode, out for justice, looking for Hervey or the Eskimos to face some sort of…wait for it…consequences on behalf of Rottier, who by all indications remains in limbo on the Eskimos’ roster. UPDATE, 11:07 a.m. – The Eskimos have issued a release that says Rottier will play in Saturday’s game against Winnipeg.

The press conference veering into a bureaucratic, busted-on-a-technicality side road was hard to predict, but if you’ve been around this team in the last couple of years, if you’ve seen how things have gone for them in these settings, it’s not that surprising.

Remember last year when the Eskimos’ offence would malfunction at random? A play would be called and somewhere between the snap, the blocking, between everyone running their routes and the quarterback carrying out the intended action, the ball would get thrown to nowhere?

These moments — Hervey’s press conference; Kavis Reed’s consequences rant, CEO and president Len Rhodes’ no specific reason press conference when Eric Tillman was fired — feel like the off-the-field equivalent. Well intentioned, somehow mis-executed, straying off into places they shouldn’t and then an empty, head-scratching result.

Hervey’s situation should blow over eventually. I wondered last week what kind of effect singling out Rottier might have on the Eskimos signing free agents, or how the staff-wide call-out might impact landing coaches. As unappealing as it seems in the moment, in speaking with one prominent CFL agent this week, he said he looked at this as an isolated incident and that he didn’t think it would have any lingering impact on future signings for the Eskimos.

Still, there’s this mess, yet another one around the organization to be cleaned up. Hervey’s comments and their fallout only make for the latest sideshow for the Eskimos, who seem to find a way to continually house a new act. If anything, Hervey, Reed and Rhodes are all in this together now, to a man, circus top to bottom with their own puzzling public moments.

At this point you just wonder what the next act is.

Week-end winners 

Game of the week: Toronto at Montreal – After putting together an awful game last week, the Argos and Als seemed to be on the same ugly track through the first half. Then, with the Als up 15, Zach Collaros and the Argos put together an amazing 23-point third quarter and took control of the game. Tanner Marsh led the Als back into it in the fourth and the teams traded leads down the stretch. The game came down to Marsh throwing an interception on third down to ensure that the Argos got the win.

Offence: Henry Burris, Hamilton – The Tiger-Cats knocked off the Lions with a strong performance from Burris, who goes out every week to try and make you forget that he’s 38-years old.  He made 25 of 35 passes for 375 yards and four touchdowns, with two interceptions. What I liked most about his game was how he spread the ball around. Andy Fantuz, Greg Ellingson and C.J. Gable were all over 100 yards and Gable took nine handoffs for 49 yards (more on him below). The rule should be when you play that well, you keep that retro Flying Wildcats jersey on until you lose.

Defence: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ D — This is not the 1-8 team that I would have picked to end its seven-game losing streak this week. Whereas the Esks were in tough against a very good Calgary team, the Bombers had the league-best Riders in town and rode a fantastic defensive effort to a spirit-lifting win on Sunday. Marty Markett intercepted Darian Durant, the Muamba brothers, Henoc and Cauchy had a big game, combining for nine tackles and the defence as a whole had eight quarterback sacks. Now they get to bring all of that positive energy to Commonwealth on Saturday at 2-8, one ring higher up than the Eskimos in the Toilet Bowl.

Special teams: Will Ford, Winnipeg – Scored his first touchdown of the season on a 98-yard kickoff return that set a defiant Bombers’ tone in their biggest win of the season.

Mandatory highlight reel: C.J. Gable, Hamilton – Did you see what he did against the Lions on Saturday? It’s in this video, along with just about every other flashy play the Tiger-Cats’ running back has made this year. There’s some must-see stuff in here.

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Cuthbert SG 2

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SK SG

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