| iSmack: Talking Trash Before A Clash |
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In a perfect world, the CFL would inject a little attitude into their publicity by thieving from Apple's line of highly popular PC vs. Mac commercials. Just imagine something like this : "Hi, I'm a BC Lion" "And I'm an Edmonton Eskimo!" "You ain't no Eskimo, you so skinny, I'd need a microscope just to find you and sack your ass." Trash talking is as under-rated an art as you'll find out there today. So what if it's frowned upon as crass, rude and generally un-sportsmanlike, in the end, it's still a craft that is honed by men over time and like political commentary, quality satire and professional wrestling, it appeals to the base element in every last one of us. You may be familiar with some of the masters of the craft, men like Chad Johnson, Joey Porter and Terrell Owens, all names that should be familiar to NFL fans. The Edmonton Eskimos have decided that they want to carry the crown for smack talk in the CFL and their first victims will be the B.C. Lions. The two teams will go head to head on Friday night in Vancouver with the winner getting bragging rights in a battle of words and wills that goes back as far as the days of Roy DeWalt and Joe Paopao. Both teams have a hell of a lot to prove with the Lions coming off a far from decisive win against Toronto on Thursday night while the Eskimos are just looking to do something better after a tie of all things with Winnipeg. The Eskimos are hungrier than they've been in ages after the abysmal failure that was their opener against Winnipeg. When you put as many points and yard on the board as they did against Winnipeg and still come out with a tie, you know they'll be looking for blood on the Lions' jerseys. The Eski lips have been flapping too as talking of dirty play from both sets of line men have all but assured both teams that there'll be some food for thought pinned to the bulletin board in the locker room this week. The Lions on the other hand, look pretty sedate so far this season, not a good look for a defending Grey Cup Champion. With only a 60% passing percentage on the books for their first game, Dave Dickinson and the offensive line are going to need to step up their game in a big way otherwise, it's going to look like the loss of Jacques Chapdelain was even more painful then we know it was. In terms of smack talk, the Lions have just spouted their share this week in the war of words between teams but the edge still has to go to the Eskimos. It's hurts to say it but they're just too nice! Even with the loss of guys like Mookie Mitchell and Ed Hervey, the Eskimos still have more attitude to burn. One can only hope that newbies like Josh Boden, Derek Wake and Rick Foley can step up and deliver the swagger that this team is going to need to get through an entire twenty game season. I'm torn, as a Lions follower, I'd like that the lads will suck it up and deliver on the promise of a heavyweight game with big hits, lots of action and the kind of football that got them to the Grey Cup last year. but without the forward momentum and attitude to get them through entire game, I'm going to withhold judgment and hope for a win, perhaps, 33-31. But the lads are going to have to step it up and step it up and step it up big, otherwise the Eskimos will have their first win of the year at the expense of the Leos.                |