Week 18 in the CFL was made up of two blow-outs and two extremely close games. The week started with a huge upset. The Saskatchewan Roughriders pounded the first place Calgary Stampeders 30-7 in Calgary. The Riders started out shaky but after making the QB switch from Kevin Glenn to Brandon Bridge, Saskatchewan was sparked by a punt return TD in the second quarter and sealed the deal with a field interception return for a TD. The win clinched a playoff spot for the Riders and put Calgary’s fate for 1st place into the hands of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Bombers were in tough against the Toronto Argonauts with Ricky Ray throwing for 423 yards and one touchdown. The Bombers fought back and took the lead 28-20 in the 4th quarter. Toronto responded with a field goal and quick touchdown but failed to make the two-point convert leaving the score at 29-28 with two minutes left. Winnipeg had time to march the field but missed the game winning field goal with no time left on the clock. Toronto’s win put them into first place in the East and the Winnipeg loss gave Calgary a spot in the West Semi-Final. The late game on Saturday was a thriller as the Edmonton Eskimos were up 12-0 after the first quarter but the BC Lions tied it going into halftime at 12-12. By the 4th quarter, the Eskimos needed a comeback from a 29-14 deficit and that’s exactly what they did, completing the comeback with a 10-yard TD pass in overtime to take the win 35-29. The final game of the week on Sunday had no playoff implications and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats hammered the Montreal Alouettes 43-16. After a 2-2 week, my picks are 46-24-1 on the season. My picks for week 19 are Hamilton, Saskatchewan, Calgary, and Winnipeg.
The MLB playoffs are down to the World Series. The New York Yankees fell to the Houston Astros 4-0 in game seven of the American League Championship series. The Astros move on to play the LA Dodgers in the World Series. The Dodgers have only lost once in these playoffs and beat the Chicago Cubs in five games in the NLCS. The Stats look good for LA as they have better numbers than the Astros in every category in the 2017 playoffs. The first two games of the World Series will take place Tuesday and Wednesday in LA and games three, four, (and five if necessary) will be in Houston, finishing up with games six and seven in LA if they are needed.
