Saturday, November 21, 2009

Football: Mitchell Bowl; TSN's Climie says Queen's 'might get exposed'

One cannot presume to speak for all Queen's fans, but personally, the attitude since prior to before the semifinal matchups were even set was that it would be hugely disappointing if they didn't win the Yates Cup and more let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may if they had the honour of hosting Laval in the Mitchell Bowl.

That makes TSN analyst Jock Climie's comments in The Globe & Mail's game preview fall under the heading of "we know, Mr. Climie, we know":
"I'm really worried that Queen's is going to be exposed in a major way ... The good news is that Queen's has good enough of an offence that they shouldn't get embarrassed. But when you look at what Western's offence did to them last week, you've got to believe that Laval's capable of at least doing that, if not a whole lot more."
What's to be exposed? Those who watched the Yates Cup saw that the Big Yellow Guys pass first and runs maybe later and that its defence gave up 627 yards.

It is kind of a Three True Outcomes scenario. Laval could end up winning by a score that resembles the blood pressure reading of a very unhealthy person. That's always a possibility with a 12.5-point favourite. Queen's could show well for two, three quarters before Laval's physical superiority rears it head. Maybe, just maybe, a month of Sundays will hit the calendar, elephants will fly, trees will dance and Queen's will win. That's my feeling.

As noted Thursday, it's just a privilege, as a Queen's fan, to see the Golden Gaels get a crack at Laval this late in the calender (Richardson Stadium has never seen a game this last in the season). One would hope most Queen's fans have reconciled that Laval is Laval. They're the best what has ever been, and you know everything has to fall just so. It's like buying a lottery ticket.
posted by sager at 6:11 AM
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9 comments:

  1. The pressure at the beginning of the game definitely on Queen's to "not embarrass ourselves". As the game wears on and if it is still a one touchdown game by halftime(not likely I might add), momentum shifts to Queen's.

    Thus Queen's has to play an ultra low error first half with perhaps some turnovers going their way to upset the cadence of Laval attack.

    Logic to many of us says Laval romps. Emotion and cheering for the underdog makes us hope for a close game. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Sheahan has talked recently to several OUA coaches including Marshall, who he just defeated last week. It is in the best interest of the OUA to slay the "ugly dragon" of Laval sometime soon.
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  2. Daniel Da Silva - GazetteNov 21, 2009 12:29 PM
    I dont know if Marshall would have given Sheahan anything, being that he is pretty good friends with Constantin.

    That being said, Laval has ALWAYS been weak away from home. I think they have a 1-3 record in bowl games away from PEPS. If they are going to lose, it will be in this game.

    Queens, like Western, has a good enough offence to put a few points up on Laval. Probably more than any team in Quebec could have. The difference is Queens has a good enough defence to stop Laval. I can't see Laval putting up 39+ points on Queen's D. And Shomari and Osie will be key to get to Groulx.

    And so far it is working, with Queens up by 13.
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  3. Seconds after the 33-30 game. As I said in my post at 8:10am this morning and earlier post this week about the pressure for Laval to perform well enough to get to Vanier, Queen's had a shot.

    This is a big win for the OUA as well. Although Queen's will be gunning for Calgary, the sweetest part is sacking Groulx 6 times, scoring 33 points and having Laval get toasted to a Jimmy Allin special(was at the opener where he took 2 punts and a kickoff to the house).

    Never thought I would say this(as Western shill with 2 kids at Queen's though) but thank you Queen's.

    BTW congrats to Laval on a game that had most of us biting our nails. Thanx cisblog for covering the game as it was almost impossible to pick up an internet video version several thousand miles away in US by sunny poolside.

    Hopefully will make the journey to PEPS next week for the Vanier.
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  4. I believe Queen's sacked Groulx 8 times. The difference in this game was the trenches. I wanna give a shout out to my boys on the Queen's O-line, Queen's won this game in the trenches, dominating Laval on both sides of the ball. As for Laval, they are a tremendous team, but it seems to me a lot of their success is based on the lore they bring with them. Having talked to some of the Queen's boys, their attitude was that Laval had to come and take it in their house and they were not denied. Those who championed Levesque and overlooked Laval's inconsistency on the O-line were proven wrong. And to top it off, as I commented earlier in the week, I believe the Queen's running game was very key in the win today. One of the best played football games I've seen, and full marks to both teams for it. Finally, props to Daniel Da Silva for commenting on the Queen's D-line, too bad you hadn't posted that before the game started, it would have been an amazing prediction.
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  5. Even though I already knew the final score, it was GREAT watching Calgary dismantle those over rated Huskies, right in their crib.
    A 24 point win over SMU....sweet.
    All season long, I had to put up with that "St. Mary's guy" and his posts.
    "The OUA is so weak"
    "Queen's and Western don't deserve their rankings"
    "St. Mary's would crush any OUA team"
    Yeah, well nuts to you, pal!
    It was Queen's who slew the dragon, but when SMU finally
    played someone other than those three pussies in their shitty little conference, they came a cropper, just as I had hoped.
    SUX2BU SMU!
    The fact that it was a Blake Nill coached team that did it makes it all the better!
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  6. The turf, the turf, the turf.

    As amazing as Queens' front seven have been the turf is what effectively took Western's and Laval's big play ground games off the table. Turf has to be considered a condition like weather but there is no doubt that grass fields in Canadian football play a large part in nullifying speedy and quick-cutting athletes that play most of their matches on field turf.

    Look at Guelph's performances against Western this year. The first game in Guelph's Alumni Stadium, a grass field, made the Gryphons look like a top ten team. The rematch on Western's field turf revealed the true nature of the two teams. The transition to natural grass is far more difficult an adjustment than the transition to field turf. If Queens' trip through the CIS playoff this year doesn't illustrate this fact that then nothing will.

    Turf, turf, turf.
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  7. @Superfun, Sheahan acknowledged what you said after the game. He said it had a big impact on Laval's attack.

    Mark Kerr
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  8. student of the gameNov 22, 2009 07:23 PM
    Queen's is on a roll, and in 6 days they will roll over the Dinos, just the way they rolled over SMU in the '92 Vanier Cup.
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  9. I have only gone to Queen's games for the last 4 years, and against elite teams the Queen's receivers run well after getting the ball in part due to the turf. Western games since the mid 1970's

    In a game in 2006 against Western that got Queen's into the playoffs and in the season that started this present group(with additions and subtractions from new recruits and graduation respectively) I saw Western pull out their hair chasing receivers.
    This was on a mucky field and just after a freak October snow storm the day before.

    Two major factors helped win the game against Laval besides the obvious O and D lines. Firstly, Queen's played a near flawless first half to keep the game close. The prevent defense they played in the fourth quarter nearly killed Queen's and needs to be corrected.

    Secondly, Laval laid their first big egg of the season and this was necessary after the quick 2 TD's in the third quarter by Queen's. Constantin made a big tactical error by going for a 40 plus FG(Marshall would not have kicked from there unless the game on the line in dying seconds) knowing Jimmy Allin was there for the return.
    Dropped passes by Laval in key situations(read end zone) killed Laval and I bet if you played the game ten more times you would not see the same dropped passes by Laval.

    Queen's will need to adjust to the fast turf at PEPs. I"m hoping to go to Vanier(to more root for OUA and also Queen's) but will try to obtain tickets before I dpart the GTA
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