Win, lose or tie. Those are the only columns in the Canadian Football League’s (CFL) standings. No points off for ugly wins; no points given for moral victories.
What you want to avoid is a costly victory, which still pays two points, but hurts you down the line.
It looked like it was going to be a laugher early Friday night, with the Calgary Stampeders putting up points on their first and second drives.
That second score was set up by a 48-yard Roy Finch punt return. Then Alex Singleton picked off Jonathon Jennings – and just like that, more points.
Small problem. The points were coming in threes instead of sevens.
Marken Michel dropped two catches that would have been easy touchdowns. A holding penalty put the brakes on the drive set up by the Singleton pick.
What could and should have been a 21-0 lead, ended up a 9-0 lead and the BC Lions still had a pulse in a game that should have been, for all intents and purposes, over.
Thanks to one late drive by the offence and one last stand by the defence, embarrassment was averted and the Stamps escaped with an ugly win and the two points that go along with it.
But was it a costly win? Maybe.
Charleston Hughes watched the second half from the sidelines. Jerome Messam was felled by a shot to the knee as he tried to carry the team on his back. Bo Levi Mitchell admitted he was playing with pain, as shot after shot showed him favouring his throwing shoulder on the sidelines.
At the post-game rundown on Saturday, Dave Dickenson downplayed the Hughes and Messam injuries, saying he expected both to practice this week. Mitchell? We’ll see.
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