The Rouge White & Blue CFL podcast (Os Davis and Joe Pritchard)

As that professional football league south of the border kicks off this week, the Canadian Football League heads into the homestretch, with 70% of the 2023 season in the books – just in time for the return of co-host Os Davis back into the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast booth.

Meanwhile, co-host Joe Pritchard comes to us live from Winnipeg, where his beloved Blue Bombers scorched the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the fourth consecutive year in the Banjo Bowl game. Joe’s ventures to Winnipeg are already a set tradition for the game; could a Bombers blowout become the new tradition?

Joe and Os take stock of the 2023 season to the seven-tenths point, wonder how hot the Edmonton Els (no, really) can get with Tre Ford at the helm, consider the sparse playoff scenarios, and probably futilely attempt to pick and predict next week’s games.

The Rouge White & Blue Podcast: Always attempting to avoid the trap game…

 

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast is back – co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis return from the post-Grey Cup fallout for another season of talking Canadian Football League on the RWB – and just in time for the opening of the free agency period!

Joining Joe and Os on the RWB for this episode is Brandon C. Williams, the go-to guy for CFL fantasy football on the league’s official website CFL.ca. And after just two days of free agency, the three have much to discuss beginning with the headlining acquisition of Bo Levi Mitchell by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats – not to mention all the other striking moves made by the Ticats, much to the dismay of Os (and really any Alouettes, Argonauts and RedBlacks fan).

The RWB also get impressed and intrigued with the Edmonton Elks and Saskatchewan Roughriders’ prospects for 2023; get Brandon’s opinion on potential fantasy breakouts; and a scattering of Way-Too-Early Outrageous Predictions™…

The Rouge White & Blue Podcast: Huddled ’round the CFL hot stove (not June yet…)

On this episode of the Rouge White & Blue podcast, things begin with a diversion into CFL past, specifically co-host Joe Prtichard’s current task in recreating the 1982 and ’86 CFL seasons for the Plaay.com tabletop format. Fellow tabletop enthusiast, sports history junkie and RWB co-host geeks out with Joe on the intricacies of sports board gaming before snapping back to the realities of the 2021 CFL season…

…namely, the same old/same old focus of ’21, those evermore unstoppable-seeming Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Also: Is the CFL experiencing a crisis of offensive line talent?

Finally, because the RWB can’t go to the well of masochism that is playing CFL Pick ‘Em often enough, Joe and Os attempt to choose winners in the five(!) week 10 games…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Just shut up and pick the Bombers…

Once again, Joe Pritchard reached into the bag of Canadian Football Podcast Network hosts, and this week brought Travis Currah of the 2 and Out Podcast. Travis and Joe recap week 8 and set up week 9. 

Earlier than usual does the Rouge White & Blue podcast get to delve into CFL playoff scenarios, and this week co-host Joe Pritchard presents us with such scenarios. Well, scenario (singular), really…

Beyond this, Joe and RWB co-host Os Davis have much to discuss with regard to CFL week 10, the upcoming week 11 and what went down in Edmonton Elks land in-between. The RWB talks the statement(s) delivered by the Toronto Argonauts, the old-school domination of the Elks by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the degenerating Saskatchewan Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the resurgent Calgary Stampeders, the suddenly tragic Montreal Alouettes and the incredibly shortsighted, ham-handed firing of Edmonton radio analyst Eddie Steele .

All this and Joe’s forecast for the three week 11 games, which are guaranteed to be predictions or your money back…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: We just trying to win a game here!

RWB CFL podcast #263: Chris Jones out, end of an era

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast began when head coach Chris Jones was on the way to winning his first (and, as it turns out, likely his only) Grey Cup. Thiw week, the key CFL-centric story is the firing from the Edmonton Elks of Coach Jones.

Yet, RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis somehow manage to discuss other topics involving week 6 of the 2024 CFL season with all its interesting developments – just don’t talk to Os the Alouette fan about Cody Fajardo.

Following the recap, how about some takes on week 7’s games? Some of the point spreads are wacky (Toronto Argonauts just 3-point favorites at the Hamilton Tiger-Cats? Calgary Stampeders 4½-point underdogs at home against BC Lions?) and essentially disagree on everything except the Winnipeg Blue Bombers...

Rouge White & Blue: We’re on to next week.

RWB CFL podcast #260: What’s up with all the scoring? So maybe three weeks of a single CFL season is too small a sample size for relevant discussion, by the Rouge White & Blue Podcast is a bit taken aback with the 1990s-style scoring exhibited by most teams early on. And so in this episode, RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis marvel at some barnburners to wonder why offenses are so far ahead of defenses early on in the 2024 season. Meanwhile, the RWB goggles at the continued domination of the league by the Montreal Alouettes, wonders about the 0-3 Winnipeg Blue Bombers, rubbernecks another disaster from the Edmonton Elks, and celebrates Joe’s 4-0 week in the CFL Pick ‘Em game. And then it’s onto week 4 in the CFL and the RWB co-hosts set a new precedent in finidn no common ground in picking the next slate of four games. Ready for some more scoreboard spinning…? The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: It’s OK, we dig the 90s… The Rouge, White and Blue is now part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

If you’re still having trouble believing the 2021 CFL season is almost over, you’re not alone. Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-hosts Joe Pritchard and OS Davis might still be considered in denial, because they’re still talking fantasy football and playing CFL Pick ‘Em in week 15.

Os also looks to Joe to justify the swaggering overconfidence on display in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers section of CFL Twitterand. How dare they suggest the Montreal Alouettes win in week 14 was meaningless – second-stringers or no! How dare they dismiss every East team as a threat to a repeat Grey Cup championship! (Come to think of it, maybe they have a point…)

And then it’s onto the playoffs.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Is it next June yet…?

After the110th Grey Cup, after co-host Joe Pritchard’s return from Cup-hosting Hamilton, after US Thanksgiving Weekend, the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast has finally reassembled the team of two to wrap the 2023 CFL season, take a tiny peek ahead to 2024, and, oh yes, discuss the actual Grey Cup game itself.

Said Grey Cup of course resulted in a stunning victory by RWB co-host Os Davis’s favored Montreal Alouettes over Joe’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers – but Os manages to keep the trashtalk to an absolute minimum as the RWB just generally marvelous over the solid football action that was the 110th Grey Cup championship.

And what CFL fan this time of year could resist idly speculating about next year? (After all, it’s what we’ll be doing for a good six months, anyway.) Joe cautions Os about fretting over the semi-offiical “potential CFL free agents list,” and explains with a single word the motivation behind the investigation into the Edmonton Elks’ club management structure.

Join the RWB as we take one final look back at the 2023 season – at least as far as Joe and the Bomber backers are concerned…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Touchdown, Tyson Philpot!

 

For Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard, this part of the season is a bad news/good news situation. The bad news is that the 2021 season is almost over – and with four fewer weeks of games and no preseason, CFL 2021 literally feels like it has just begun. The good news is that it’s playoff time and the games are on Sunday, really the proper day for professional football.

After crawling his way past the .500 mark and coming off a 4-1 week, Joe feels particularly qualified to pick the first round of CFL playoff games, namely Montreal Alouettes at Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Calgary Stampeders at Saskatchewan Roughriders. Os chips in a probably unpopular take on the West game that he’s likely to lose money betting on as well.

Finally, considering that one RWB co-host has a twitter handle named for the original USFL, Joe and Os are briefly diverted by a little speculation on the upcoming USFL 2.0 on FOX launch.

Happy Thanksgiving holidays, USA CFL fans!

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Who can prevent a Bombers-Argos Grey Cup…?

We’re about one-quarter of the way through the 2024 CFL season and even though two teams remain undefeated and one is still winless, some annual signs of the season progressing are staring to show. This week, the Rouge White and Blue CFL Podcast co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard take stock of week 5 to weight in on topics such as:

• What to make of the backstepping Toronto Argonauts losing to the Saskatchewan Roughriders?
• How competitive can the Calgary Stampeders get before season’s end?
• Is any team in the league besides the Montreal Alouettes really complete?
• Can anyone give the BC Lions a game right now?

And more, including a look at the week 6 pointspreads and CFL Pick ‘Em possibilities. A few intriguing lines for the bettors this week – like Toronto +7 at Montreal and Calgary +4½ at Winnipage – require some analysis.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: First string, second string – we love ’em all!

The Rouge, White and Blue is now part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

 

Full disclosure: Much of this episode of the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast is devoted to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers but, hey, somebody stop 'em and will change the subject.

RWB co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard talk the (potentially first) win over the Montreal Alouettes, specifically whether William Stanback should've gotten the call on the last meaningful play of the game for the Als; the possibility of Adam Bighill for 2021 MOP; and which of the East contenders Joe wants his Bombers to play in the Grey Cup.

We've also got picks and predictions for week 14 games, including (spoiler!) Os's insistence on laying money on the Montreal money line...

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: They don't call it "Lose-ipeg"...

That’s right: The 2024 CFL playoffs are upon us, and the Rouge White & Blue is forecasting the round 1 games, and wrapping the CFL regular season. Who do RWB co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard like to meet their favored Montreal Alouettes and Winnipeg Blue Bombers (respectively)? Tune in to this episode to find out…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Postseason blues and ecstasy all in one…

The Rouge, White and Blue is part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

The 2024 CFL season experienced week to week has felt somewhat odd: Stuff like the crashes-and-burns of the BC Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders, the defending West champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers digging themselves out of a hole to rise to first place, essentially every team except the Calgary Stampeders forced to give #2 and/or #3 QBs quality minutes…

This week, the , Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast considers the standings from the perspective of the preseason and things aren’t that far off from what RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis dreamed up at the beginning of the season.

And so overlays the theme of this week’s show, which again brings you a wrap of last week’s games, picks and predictions for the upcoming week (including Joe’s annual pilgrimage to the Banjo Bowl), plus the usual assortment of commentary and tangents.

The Rouge White and Blue CFL Podcast: As weird as they wanna be…

The Rouge, White and Blue is part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

A short slate of games in week 15 of the 2024 CFL season proved unkind for the great majority of Pick ‘Em players and football bettors – not to mention the BC Lions and Calgary Stampeders. On this episode of the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast, we’re again taking stock of standings and playoff picture, mostly through the angst of the fans.

Without angst is RWB co-host Joe Pritchard, whose Winnipeg Blue Bombers mercifully got a bye and in so doing increased or maintained their lead over all others in the West division. But what of the Lions, now on a 2-6 run and again seemingly reverting to a zipless offense? And what of Montreal Alouettes fandom and RWB co-host Os Davis, who cheer on the defending champions suddenly saddled with a mediocre offense.

And as per usual, along with a wrap of week 15 games, we look ahead to week 16; for what it’s worth, we’ve got picks and predictions on the upcoming games.

The Rouge White and Blue CFL Podcast: Heading down the homefront with anticipation and (sometimes) trepidation…

The Rouge, White and Blue is part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host Joe Pritchard returns from Montreal feeling energized by his time in that great city – not to mention having enjoyed an emphatic victory by his Winnipeg Blue bombers over the Alouettes.

But hey, this is the CFL in 2023 and certainly no fan can fail to be amazed at the dominating Toronto Argonauts, whom RWB co-host Os Davis is penciling in as Grey Cup favourites already – and not even completely irrationally speaking, either.

As is the standard, the RWB talks last week’s games and looks ahead to the four games of week 5; not the easiest to wager on or pick in CFL Pick ‘Em, but there may be some good choices available for the winning.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Argonauts assemble! (or something like that)

You want your CFL-flavored rants? Rouge White & Blue CFL podcast co-host Os Davis’s got your rants right here. Naturally, he’s got bones to pick with Trevor Harris and his Montreal Alouettes in general, another bad boy Saskatchewan Roughriders player, irrational Riders fans on Twitter and the excruciating inevitably of those Riders crossing over.

Luckily, RWB co-host Joe Pritchard keeps to his wits more solidly and is able to offer some more clearheaded analysis about week 13 in the Canadian Football League, and Os manages to get it together enough for picks and predictions for next week’s games…

The Rouge White & Blue podcast: Ranting about the games is half the fun…

Since the 2019 season ended, CFL fans have been concerned with the state of the league financially – but should we have been more worried about the actual quality of play?

Rouge White & Blue Podcast co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis welcome onto the show Mike Graham of the Hamilton Ticats-centric podcast Pod Skee Wee Wee to discuss the current state of the CFL as to why this seeming downturn in quality is happening and possible answers/solutions to the situation.

The RWB goes on to discuss last week’s games and take another Sisyphean crack at picking next week’s triad of games.

The Rouge White & Blue Podcast: Loving 3-down football through it all…

Well, that went by quickly – suppose that happens when you shave four regular-season and all preseason games off the CFL schedule.

Rouge White & Blue CFL co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard take a look back at a very satisfying Grey Cup (particularly for Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans like Joe) and, incredibly enough, already look forward to the 2022 season with a new schedule peppered with oddities that naturally elicits discussion of the Atlantic Schooners and free agency to speculate about…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Ready or not, here comes 2022…

Lots of scoring, lots of QBs, one big upset: That sums up week 6 of the Canadian Football League’s 2023 season in a nutshell. The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis expound upon all the intrigue and developments of the week gone by, digging deep by way of a few rabbitholes into questions like:

• Aside from the Toronto Argonauts, were BC Lions the big winner of week 6?
• How amazing was that Ottawa Redblacks win and does it mean that No Lead Is Safe has finally recovered from Covid?
• Might the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have been better off if the Saskatchewan Roughriders had pulled off the win in Calgary?
• And speaking of those Calgary Stampeders, where has the passing game been?

We’ve also got picks and predictions for next week’s games for CFL Pick ‘Em contest and betting alike, including that insane 15½-point spread on Edmonton Elks at Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The Rouge White & Blue Podcast: Keep this brand of football coming, CFL!

 

The CFL might have been slightly short on number of games in week 15, but three games gave us plenty to discuss on the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast.

So RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis mull over items like the Edmonton Elks’ late fourth-quarter win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and the Riders’ rapidly slipping grip – formerly a stranglehold – on a playoff spot via crossover.

Like just how seriously we should take the Hamilton Tiger-Cats after they ran up the score on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Like why the Calgary Stampeders keep taking these heartbreak losses. And like how good things might get if/when Vernon Adams really gets rolling with the BC Lions.

Plus, Joe’s got playoff scenarios mostly involving West teams but including , Os has some adventures in gambling, and both the RWBs’ve got picks for next week’s games.

The Rouge White & Blue podcast: Always keeping the ratio correct…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast retains both co-hosts, i.e. Joe Pritchard and Os Davis, yet still manage to host a guest as well – and not just any guest but already-legendary CFL-themed video maestro Coach Phil.

Phil joins the RWB for a few biographical notes, but mostly to talk the 2023 CFL season, speculate on the 2023 CFL postseason, plus break down the games of week past and attempt to pick ‘em for the next in the RWB style.

 But hey, have we mentioned Coach Phil is our guest? He brings plenty of what’s made him a name in CFL-centric social media: Optimism for Tre Ford and his Elks, contagious enthusiasm for this year’s final weeks of games, his concern for the fate of his Saskatchewan Roughriders and one most excellent rant about the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and their … uh … you’ll just have to hear it for yourselves.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Wondering how good this 2023 Grey Cup’ll be…

 

Os Davis continues to be on the injured list, so Joe Pritchard brought in Robert Dalton from the Rouge Radio show on the Canadian Football Podcast Network to do the usual weekly roundup. We get to Ottawa's questionable decision making a little later than expected, but we do get there. Meanwhile, two of the league's titans have an off week, and is Saskatchewan's receiving corps underrated? 

Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host Os Davis avoids labeling contemporary players, teams and seasons with the increasingly thrown-around sobriquet of “Greatest Of All-Time,” but after their 45-0 demolition of BC Lions last weekend, the 2021 Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ possible historical significance is impossible for even curmudgeons like Os to ignore.

And so Os with RWB co-host Joe Pritchard discuss the similarities and differences between the ’21 Bombers and a handful of some great teams of the CFL’s past 40 years.

But wait, as they say, there’s more! We’ve got a wrap of week 12 games, a theory that CFL teams may as well just forget about ever playing for a field goal when inside the opponent’s 10-yard-line, playoff scenarios and who to choose and/or pick in week 13 of CFL Pick ‘Em…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Slightly hysterical – I mean, *historical* – about the Blue Bombers…

Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host Os Davis is miserable about CFL fantasy football, betting on the CFL and the general state of the CFL East – but mostly he’s just hating the Saskatchewan Roughriders this week after the rescheduled game killed his wagers on the Argos and his DFS team but good.

Os tries to keep his sanity as, along with RWB co-host Joe Pritchard, they break down an exciting week 7 in the Canadian Football League and look ahead to some dandy matchups in week 8. Os also takes a deep-dive into the Toronto Argonauts’ schedule and comes to the realization that not only are the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Ottawa Redblacks in serious trouble already, but that a West crossover is just about inevitable.

All this and Joe makes the Canadian wannabes jealous with tales of his luxurious two-game trip he’s taking up north next week.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: We’ll forgive the Riders. Some day. Eveentually…

The Rouge White & Blue podcast has a good one for Canadian football fans this week (especially for those also into the NBA) as co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard welcome former Winnipeg Blue Bombers all-star wide receiver, current TSN analyst/commentator and CFL Twitter A-lister Milt Stegall.

Milt discusses a wide range of topics even before going down a classic wormhole in discussing the fates of the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks with Os. Mr. Steagall’s brings great takes (some hot) on:

• the true sports love of his life;
• his possibly unassailable Pop Warner record for TDs;
• his brief run in the NFL and his long run in the CFL, including his participation in the “greatest football play of all-time”;
• making the transition to the other side of the microphone with TSN;
• assessing his former quarterback Khari Jones as head coach of the Montreal Alouettes;
• the possibility of an East team crossing over to the West for the 2022 playoffs;
• the recent rule change regarding hashmarks and the potential effect on CFL offenses;
• CFL fandom in the USA; and of course,
• #PaperPlates.

Joe and Os also weigh in with a few comments on those recently-released rule changes for the 2022 CFL season. Talk to you next week!

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Keeping the faith from here in the ’States...

To no one’s great surprise, the Rouge White & Blue Podcast loves CFL football – but after a particularly intriguing week which saw the unquestionable return of “No Lead Is Safe” gameplay (hopefully permanently), even co-host Joe Pritchard after a stunning loss by his Winnipeg Blue Bombers has to dig on the Canadian league.

Along with the raves come the rants – well, one rant at least. Specifically, co-host Os Davis venting about his Montreal Alouettes’ pitiable play on the offensive line which cost the Als another win and handed the East division’s top seed to the mighty Toronto Argonauts.

The RWB also runs down all the week 15 games and attempts to forecast week 16 in this seemingly increasingly unpredictable league (we thought this was supposed to get *easier* as the season grinds down), but mercifully no betting angles from the ever-colder Os – but hey, it’s not about the money; it’s about the fun, right? Right?!?!!?

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: We love *this* game.

 

 

Andrew Bucholtz from Awful Announcing and The Comeback is Os Davis's fill in this week, and beyond the usual reviews and previews, the conversation drifted towards quarterback development at all levels of football, of course, with an emphasis on how it affects the Canadian game. 

…we are the champions /

We are the champions /

No time for losers /

Cuz we are the champions…

OK, so the Grey Cup trophy is still a few weeks away from being awarded – but Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host Os Davis was in fact crowned the champion of the 2024 Canadian Football Podcast Network Fantasy League and so the song.

And in all seriousness do Os and RWB co-host Joe Pritchard look back at the week 20 games in the CFL, look ahead to the final week of the regular season – or at least the games that matter in the bigger picture.

Just one more week and we’re into the playoffs, folks. (Already??!?!)

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: We are the champions … of the Canadian Podcast Fantasy Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeague…

The Rouge, White and Blue is part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers again won decisively last weekend, and Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host Joe Pritchard is freely willing to admit their insufferable awesomeness as long as the Ws keep coming.

Together with RWB co-host Os Davis, Joe offers insight into last week’s games involving the Bombers and those other seven teams who played – though the RWB collectively must admit some confusion about the Toronto Argonauts and somewhat divided takes on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Finally, the RWB takes a shot at picking the week 7 CFL slate, with some reference to point spreads and over/unders…

The Rouge White & Blue Podcast: Covering the CFL throughout the Bomber’s new Golden Age…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast welcomes back co-host Joe Pritchard from his trip to good ol’ Regina for the 109th Grey Cup last week. While Joe’s beloved Winnipeg Blue Bombers took a loss to the once-again charmed Toronto Argonauts, he’s more than ready to talk about quite the compelling Grey Cup.

So compelling it was in fact, that RWB co-host Os Davis doesn’t wonder if CFL fans are a bit spoiled with the quality of their championship games since the Ottawa Redblacks started crashing the Canadian football title party. Os also has a bit of a bone to pick with TSN, CFL.ca and others who can’t wait to tear down the Bombers with cries of “It ain’t a dynasty!”

Finally, the RWB chats briefly about the Bo Levi Mitchell signing and the immediate future of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats…

the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Yeah we’re saying it – Is it June yet…?”

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast is back for another week of Canadian Football League chat and prognostication – peppered with a lot of ranting by co-host Os Davis about the bad-luck Ottawa Redblacks, the dumb-luck Montreal Alouettes and the %^&*%&^^%^ Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Joe Pritchard actually does get in a few good words edgewise, particularly on the fantastic Winnipeg Blue Bombers-Calgary Stampeders game. The RWB also considers (again) the sorry state of the East, the viability of the Toronto Argonauts as a legitimate championship contender, and Os’s doubling back on preseason predictions of an East crossover for the playoffs to now forecast a West crossover making the Grey Cup.

Finally, no Adventures in Gambling™ this week, but the RWB’s liking a couple of underdogs in week 7 which just might prove profitable. Then again…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Always bet responsibly (i.e. don’t listen to us)

The 2024 Canadian Football League season has begun! Well, sort of … as of this recording of the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast, one preseason game has been held – but that’s more than enough for RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis to speculate about the upcoming season, specifically within the framework of the league’s “Futures” competition.

Joe and Os take their shots at guessing the outcomes of ten futures – really player propositions and team props – including:

• Which team will win the East?
• Which team will win the West?
• Who will lead the reg. season in interceptions?
• Will a quarterback throw for 5,000 or more passing yards during the regular season?
• Who will lead the league ein receiving TDs during the regular season?
• Which team will have the most QB sacks during the regular season?
• Over/under: Will Brady Oliveira rush for 1,299.5 yards during the regular season?
• Which team will finish with the best regular season record?
• How many kick/punt return TDs will be scored in total during the regular season?
• And, of course, which team will win the Grey Cup?

Yes, the RWB does realize the futility, but it’s all in good fun until the games begin for real…

The Rouge, White and Blue is now part of the Shotgun Sports Network! Watch this episode -- and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube -- or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

 

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast is saddened that the games in week 21 of the 2022 season are absolutely irrelevant to the postseason picture, but not so much that RWB co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard can’t put together a solid podcast episode.

After talking the week 20 games, which showed most playoff teams (except possibly the Montreal Alouettes) in good form heading into the postseason, Joe and Os break down the regular season in terms of the Pythagorean Expected (PE) Wins statistic, a neat little statistic that holistically examines each team in a given season and determines how much better/worse they performed against an objective measure of expectation.

The RWB also takes a look at a post on the league’s official website CFL.ca, which applies their in-house simulation engine/algorithm to probabilities for this year’s Grey Cup. Os talks some good value bets in Grey Cup proposition betting, if you’re into that kind of thing.

The Rouge White & Blue podcast: There are no meaningless games, are there…?

Happy New Year -- or rather, Happy New CFL Season! With preseason games about to start in the Canadian Football League, the Rouge White & Blue returns for another year of podcasting our favorite gridiron game.

Co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis talk a whole lot of offseason football, from Chad Kelly's suspension to the reshuffling of the coaching deck in Saskatchewan to the un(?)-retirement of Shawn Lemon, and all points in0between.

The RWB's kicking off the 2024 season, so join us!

The Rouge, White and Blue is now part of the Shotgun Sports Network! Watch this episode -- and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube -- or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

Risin' up, back on the stream / Did our time, did our podcast…

After week 17 sent Hamilton’s CFL fans on one serious rollercoaster ride, the Rouge, White & Blue podcast takes a look at the happinngs of last week with the viewpoint of the Tiger-Cats’ fans – the eye of the Ticat, if you will…

Through Winnipeg’s blue-bombing of the juuuuuuuuuuuust about eliminated Edmonton Elks, though the Ticats’ own “upset” win over the floundering BC Lions, thorough the Ottawa Redblacks disappointing in snapping the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ losing streak, though to the Toronot Argonauts beating up on the East-clinching Montreal Alouettes goes the RWB, with brief analysis of each game in hopes of that ever-elusive East playoff crossover.

Beyond this altered state, RWB co-hosts Joe Prtichard and Os Davis have picks and predictions for week 18, plus playoff scenarios and lots of schedule-gazing. Meanwhile…

the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night / And he's watching us all with the eye of the Ticat…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Recorded in memory of Clubber Lang

The Rouge, White and Blue is part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

Os Davis has been abandoned by his Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host Joe Pritchard this week, as that lucky bastard is currently north of the border in preparation to attend games in Montreal and Ottawa. So, subbing in for Joe is longtime CFL devotee Greg James of the From The 55 Yard Line podcast.

Greg and Os certainly squeeze quite a bit out of the CFL’s week 8 games while also attempting to keep the podcast on the rails – of course, that’s not what a podcast is for, likesay kicking around questions like

“Must we unequivocally accept Anthony Calvillo as the GOAT CFL QB?” and

“What is the best method for watching CFL games from another continent?” and

“What, if anything, can get Saskatchewan Roughriders fans back to filling those seats in Mosaic?”

All this plus picks and predictions for CFL week 9 on the RWB.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Awaiting the triumphant return of Mighty Joe Pritchard

The Rouge White & Blue Podcast hopes all those who didn’t sufficiently enjoy the CFL regular season in 2021 were tuned in to last week’s playoffs, scintillating as both games were.

For co-host Os Davis: the Montreal Alouettes-Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Calgary Stampeders-Saskatchewan Roughriders games boiled down to a single question each: “Does momentum actually exist?” and “Can a loss in football be blamed on one individual (particularly in a you-had-one-job scenario)?”, respectively. Naturally, RWB co-host Joe Pritchard deftly supplies answers.

Then, as they say, it’s on to next week and the CFL conference championships: the publicly-perceived coin toss pitting the Ticats against the Toronto Argonauts and the potential blowout of Saskatchewan at those ridiculously good Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Are we destined for the chalk matchup of Argos-Bombers? Could we get the Angleo Mosca Memorial Bowl with the Ticats enacting revenge? And do the Riders have any chance?

All this plus a brief look at the CFL’s year-end award nominees (mostly so Os can declare once again that Adam Bighill was robbed of the MOP) and Joe’s fantasy football progress in the DFS-format CFL podcaster league.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: R.I.P. 2021 Alouettes, Stampeders…

CFL fans waited so long for resumption of play after Covid-19 settled in worldwide, and now the “new” season of Canadian football is halfway over. And so this week on the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast, co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard take stock of whether the CFL playoff picture is essentially already set.

We’ve also got other questions to consider like, What to make of these Ottawa Redblacks? Are the Edmonton Elks done? Could the Calgary Stampeders actually cross over to the East bracket for the playoffs? And can Joe avoid discussing the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after a week in which they didn’t play?

These questions answered (mostly) plus a look at week 9 games plus week 10’s wacky Wednesday night game on this episode of the RWB.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Don’t talk to us about playoffs…

The Rouge White & Blue Podcast began during the 2015 CFL season and last week marked production of episode #200. RWB co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard were too geeked up at the prospect of kicking off CFL Opening Day to mark the milestone and so we do so this week.

For #201, RWB looks back at some of the biggest stories in the CFL over the past six (plus one cancelled) seasons on-field and off-. We also briefly consider some of the more interesting recent team histories, among them the Calgary Stampeders’ (relatively) new tradition of excellence, the rise of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the fall of the Edmonton Eskimos/Elks and those rollercoaster Riders.

But hey, the RWB doesn’t live in the past! Joe and Os also consider the implications of week 1 results, make picks for week 2 and indulge in trashtalk in advance of their matchup in the Canadian Football Podcast Network fantasy league…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Hot takes on football in the Great White North since 2015.

By the time you listen to this episode of the Rouge, White & Blue CFL Podcast, show co-host Joe Pritchard may already be in Montreal in advance of his Winnipeg Blue Bombers taking on the Alouettes in that great Canadian city.

(About the best Joe’s RWB co-host Os Davis can do is keep on winning at CFL betting – luckily he doesn’t believe in jinxes…)

But before the literal bon voyage, Os and Joe have thoughts on week 3 of the 2023 CFL season, a week in which Os’s scenario resulting in three winless and three undefeated teams came to fruition as the BC Lions exploded and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats imploded.

The RWB also has suggestions for avoiding the pitfalls of a three-game schedule in CFL fantasy football and Os has a real opportunity for those interested in taking a flier on that Monday night game this week.

All this plus Joe’s Three Easy Steps to Ending Your Career, and lots of rabbitholes coming up Simpsons!

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Comment dit-on en français…?

This has got to be some sort of record: On this episode of the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis are joined by Greg St. James, co-host of the Gridiron Japan podcast. Could this be the first-ever podcast recorded from three countries – none of which are Canada, and all three on different continents, no less – across 15 time zones.

This epic collaboration spans a global breadth of topics: At front and center are epitaphs to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Calgary Stampeders and kudos to the victorious Montral Alouettes and BC Lions led by Superman Vernon Davis. The RWB chases this with a preview of the conference final games in Winnipeg and Toronto, while Os considers the betting options. (The Als are really 11-point underdogs? Really?!?!?)

Finally, Greg expounds upon other topics such as the mania of Japanese baseball, the XFL and the X-League, Japan’s own professional league (since 1971 – no joke). It’s epic stuff!

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Spanning the wide world of, uh, Canadian football…

(alternative title: Argos win on missed FG; Football fandom freaks out)

After week 12, Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-hosts could talk about how all four games came down to a touchdown or less, about another fantastic showing by the East, about how the top three teams by win-loss record are now in the East, about how the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are suddenly in second place thanks to the freefalls of the Saskatchewan Rough Riders and BC Lions…

And RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis do discuss such topics in breaking down and (slightly) hot-taking week 12 in CFL football – but it’s that rouge giving the Toronto Argonauts the literal last-second victory over the Riders that once again captured the collective imagination, indignation and, from south of the US-Canada border, confusion and derision. So RWB talks rouge (spoiler: Nooooooooooo! Never eliminate the rouge! Though some improvement could be made.)

The rouge, the games, the picks and predictions for Labour Day Weekend – all in this episode!

The Rouge White and Blue CFL Podcast: Rouge rouge rouge, yeah / It’s gonna get ya…

The Rouge, White and Blue is part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

Happy New Year from the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast! With a couple months to go before the CFL 2022 season kicks off, the RWB emerges from hibernation to talk Canadian football in what promises (cautiously optimistically) to be a full season.

RWB co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard invite on Josh Smith of Pod Skee Wee Wee to get RWB 2022 started off with some crazy-fearless way-too-early predictions for the season – Josh has quite the doozy about the East while Os tries to save CFL Pick ’Em players some aggravation in advance.

The RWB also talks the chances for a Winnipeg Blue Bombers threepeat; reasons for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to be looking over their collective shoulder; how much we should believe in the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Elks; the amazing self-destructiveness of Vernon Adams Jr.; and how to get some background on draftees before the upcoming CFL Draft.

All this plus what is promised to be the final word on four-down football for the CFL.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: A return to normalcy, for what that’s worth…

Well, all right then – that was bizarre. The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast takes on the wild, weird and wacky week 5 of the 2023 season, and we’re going long to do so.

RWB co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard are amazed and illuminated by the happenings, commenting on the Rouge Bowl contested between the Edmonton Elks and Saskatchewan Roughriders (and just accountable should Chris Jones and T.J. Sims be vis-à-vis that final minute mental lapse?), the problem with the Calgary Stampeders (dude, it’s your quarterback), those snakebitten Ottawa Redblacks and the problem with the Montreal Alouettes – other than the special teams, that is.

Os also has a simple stat that all football leagues should track, and Joe’s got a superlative for his beloved Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

And this plus previews, picks and betting tips for the games of week 6 which, though likely to be interesting, have a challenge in topping this past one.

The RWB CFL Podcast: The “W” is for “weird”…

 

The 2022 Canadian Football League season proceeds apace – and apparently way too apace for the increasingly sad teams of the CFL East. Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host Joe Pritchard tries to sympathize with East team fans – including co-host Os Davis, Montreal Alouettes supporter – but doesn’t execute brilliantly, exhuming memories of the Montreal Concordes and delusions of the Atlantic Schooners in so doing.

The RWB takes a lot at all facets of the week 4 games, considering the slick-looking BC Lions, the surprising turns of fate by the Edmonton Elks and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the trainwreck of the Alouettes’ second half at the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and Adventures in Gambling on Winnipeg Blue Bombers -2½ at Toronto Argonauts.

All this plus news of Joe’s first CFL DFS loss in quite some time.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Saying go west; life is peaceful there…

Damn right the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast is ready for some (Canadian) football!

To this end, RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis have on Will Gertler of the Argo Fancast and Andrew Hoskins of the Turf District podcast to talk all aspects of the 2022 Canadian Football League season.

And when we say (write?) “all aspects,” we mean *all* aspects. Sure, Will and Andrew have analysis and predictions for their own favored teams (wait ’til you hear Hoskins’s forecast for the ’22 Elks), but the RWB also deep-dives into…

• Joe’s trip north and Andrew’s trip west for opening week – both attending games for the first time since pandemic conditions set in;
• why the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are to be feared in the East yet again;
• why the possibility of an East team crossover for the playoffs is so tantalizing in ’22;
• predictions (likely as futile as ever) for week 1 in CFL Pick ’Em;
• a sliver of fear and loathing for defending champion Joe Pritchard and the rest of these guys’ week 1 matchups in the CFL Podcast Network fantasy football league; and
• what’s up with the antipathy to Saskatchewan Roughriders fans?

Enjoy opening week!

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: We love Riders fans; no, really…

RWB CFL podcast #258: After week 1, (almost) everything is awesome

It happens every time to The Rouge, White & Blue CFL podcast as well as to fans, bettors and pundits: The realization that, during the propounding of preseason predictions, we all knew next to nothing about many teams – or at least far less than we’d let on… So how are RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis feeling about one week’s worth of priceless information and CFL viewing? Listen in for their not-quite-so-hot takes from the rustiness of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to the audacity of the small-balling Calgary Stampeders, from the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ recurring battles with awful penalties to the Edmonton Elks’ struggles against the fourth quarter…

Naturally, the RWB talks CFL Pick ‘Em in week 2 (hey, Joe might’ve gone 4-0 were it not for loyalty) and fantasy football (and hey, Os pulled off quite the showing, ranking #31 overall on a monster week).

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: So glad proper football is back!

The Rouge, White and Blue is now part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

Well, it certainly *felt* like the Saskatchewan Roughriders eliminated three teams from the 2024 CFL playoffs with a 28-24 win that should haven’t been that close, though the Hamilton Tiger-Cats still kinda sorta technically mathematically could still sneak in to the postseason. And so, given the results of week 18, the Rouge, White & Blue CFL Podcast has one eye on the playoffs and another on the playoffs.

Specifically speaking, RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis discuss, alongside the actual results of week 18’s games, how radical the changes coming to the Calgary Stampeders might be, are the Riders a serious Grey Cup threat and can the Winnipeg Blue Bombers be stopped?

All this plus picks and predictions for next week’s games and maybe a tiny bit of trashtalking from the world of fantasy…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Is it October already?

The Rouge, White and Blue is part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

You read that right: the Rouge, White & Blue Podcast affirms that the CFL right now is absolutely nuts, bananas and any more idiomatic expressions with food you want to use.

Seriously, RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis can only gawk in confusion at some of these teams, barely sputtering a “WTF” when asking stuff like: How did this BC Lions offense get shut out? How highly should we esteem the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, low-watt and banged-up offense notwithstanding? Do the Edmonton Elks still have time to compete? What can Ryan Dinwiddie do with his Toronto Argonauts and one desperate QB situation? And finally, ,what is up with the insane home/away split the Calgary Stampeders are sporting?

These questions (attempted to be) answered, plus picks and predictions for week 10 games.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Almost as crazy and baffling as the league itself…

The Rouge, White and Blue is now part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

It’s that bittersweet time of year for the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: The CFL playoffs have begun, signaling another season’s end is near – but on the other hand, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are no longer playing.

So RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis are onto the playoffs! Specifically, round 1 of the 2022 CFL playoffs pitting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats against he Montreal Alouettes on the East side and the Calgary Stampeders at BC Lions in the West. With no more playoff scenarios to be had, the RWB instead gives you the scenarios in which each team can win its respective game. Picks and predictions, too!

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Playoffs?!?!?

Remember way back in early July, when the Saskatchewan Roughriders got off to a quick start and start near the top of the CFL West standings at 4-1? The Rouge, White & Blue Podcast sure does – nevertheless, RWB co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard were, like, most of CFL fandom, to find out that Riders head coach Craig Dickenson had during the bye week benched Cody Fajardo, who subsequently more or less declared the end of his time in Regina.

The RWB talks the Fajardo/Riders story, with emphasis on the Riders’ short-term franchise morass, as well as a swell 1980s CFL board game before taking week 18 games – and how Os came upon a religious-like revelation regarding the 2022 Montreal Alouettes. We’ve also got picks and predictions for week 19, including just how many week 20 games will be relevant at all.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Just keep rolling those dice and everything will be fine.

New CFL season, new TV/streaming arrangement – and in the short term, this deal may not exactly be ideal for the US and international audiences.

On this episode of the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast, co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis welcome back Andrew Bucholtz of Awful Announcing and The Comeback for insight into accessing the CFL in 2023. In short, Americans and Canadian expats are looking at a no-frills reality of live streams only.

Beyond the business, the RWB chats up Andrew about CFL 2023 and his interest in this year’s edition of the Toronto Argonauts, the expectations for Bo Levi Mitchell with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and like topics along with a couple of not-so Early Outrageous Predictions™.

And what worthy podcast doesn’t fall prey to a conversational wormhole or two? Andrew talks some about his hobby of board gaming, his hosting of the San Diego Historic Gaming Con, and gives some good recommendations on tabletop sports and sports-themed board games.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Life is but a stream…

After week 16 of CFL play, Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard have questions – questions mostly of the “What’s up with all the” variety. As in…

• What’s up with all the high-octane RB play and short-yardage passing in the Canadian league right now?
• What’s up with Chad Kelly – not to mention Chad Kelly’s teammates on the Toronto Argonauts?
• What’s up with all the hype on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (and even the possibility of the illusory East croosover) when they’ve now run up five wins, three against the Argos?
• What’s up with BC Lions? (It may have been their bye week, but so many questions)
• What’s up with all the awesome defense being played by the Winnpeg Blue Bombers and Montreal Alouettes?

Answers (or at least futile attempts at such) on this week’s edition of the RWB, plus picks and predictions for week 17…

The Rouge White and Blue CFL Podcast: And what’s up with that whole Atlantic Schooners thing, anyway…?

The Rouge, White and Blue is part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host Joe Pritchard is back – for good, this time – just in time to address the cliffhanging, door-slamming, corner-turning and straight-up eventful week 11 in Canadian football. RWB co-host Os Davis has got seemingly endless questions and debate points, all beginning with “Is it over…?” such as…

• Is it over for Paul LaPolice as Ottawa Redblacks head coach?
• Are the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ playoff hopes over, as at least one Regina sportswriter guesses?
• Is it over for Bo Levi Mitchell, Cody Fajardo, Caleb Evans, Dane Evans, and CFL quarterbacks named Evans in general?
• Are Montreal Alouettes fans over their fears of Trevor Harris? and
• Is Joe over his love of Canadian fantasy football?

All this plus picks and predictions for CFL week 12 on the RWB.

The Rouge White & Blue podcast: Loving the second half of CFL season…

Well, that was an interesting week 3 in the Canadian Football League, and Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard weigh in on the games played and the games coming up, kicking around questions such as:

• How good could the Montreal Alouettes’ offense be once all the RBs and WRs are back?
• Why did the Calgary Stampeders and/or Chris Jones conspire to screw literally everybody that bet the Stamps minus the points?
• What can come of this Hamilton Tiger-Cats season and is there a bigger-picture element to their poor fortunes early on? And
• How good are these BC Lions and should the roll be slowed just a wee bit on Nathan Rourke…?

All this plus a bit of advice from Joe, defending champion of the Canadian Football Podcast Network CFL daily fantasy league and currently undefeated in 2022, and Pick ’Em picks from Os, who’s 10-2 thus far. (See how both just got totally jinxed there…?)

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: We’re al winners here…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast has a good one for you this week, as co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis welcome as guest four-time Grey Cup-winning quarterback for Edmonton and Toronto, Ricky Ray.

Ricky runs through his whole career in the CFL as well as a couple cups of coffee in the NFL game, through NFL Draft Day to stints with two storied CFL franchises to retirement after a punishing in-game injury in 2018. Lots of great insights into the football player's life in general and specifically certain intricacies of a West Coast-style offense -- it's great stuff!

the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: We're making a career of it...

The Rouge, White & Blue CFL Podcast is proverbially ready for some football – CFL football, that is! Show co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis are back to regular business like making (quite possibly futile) predictions to play in the CFL Pick ‘Em contest. And as a respectable CFL fantasy football player, Joe gives a few hints for playing this year’s edition of the game and its new tweaks. rea

The RWB also considers the breaking news of The League’s partnership with Pro Football Focus and delve into the first of PFF’s publicly posted analyses of CFL starting quarterbacks and its top players.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Kickoff can’t come soon enough…

Welcome to the 2023 CFL playoffs! Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis again experience the paradoxical simultaneous feeling that this Canadian football season started eons again, yet is ending far too quickly.

The beginning of the end of said 2023 CFL season kicks off on Saturday with the semifinal round of the playoffs, with the no.2-seeded home teams each favourites: the Montreal Alouettes are giving 3 points versus the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, while the Calgary Stampeders get (a possibly too meager) 6½ points at BC Lions.

RWB makes the case for each of the four teams, what will be required for an upset in either game and, for what it’s worth, suggestions on betting the two games. Chalk or ‘dogs? The RWB’s got answers. OK, educated guesses, anyway.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Playoffs?!?!??!

It all seems like business as usual on the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast for a while. Co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis discuss the week that was in Canadian football: Os enthuses about his Montreal Alouettes, both pity the Ottawa Redblacks fanbase and the sad fate of head coach Paul LaPolice, admire the razor-sharp Calgary Stampeders and wonder where BC can go from here.

Then, as Joe recounts playoff scenarios, Os has a revelation that the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats could both miss the CFL playoffs in 2022, which threatens to derail the entire enterprise with Os happily babbling “So you’re saying there’s a chance” for several hours straight.

Luckily Joe manages to coax Os back to reality in time to play CFL Pick ‘Em for week 17 and plan for ways to lose money betting CFL games. All in all, it’s a lot of fun – though maybe not so much if you’re not a Ticats fan…

The Rouge White & Blue podcast: Oddball Americans loving the Canadian game

We’re totally jinxing the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast here but whoa, do co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis have some bragging rights after week 2…To wit, Joe maxed out in fantasy football while Os went 4-0 in the CFL Pick ‘Em contest and gave out at least one profitable bet last week (after missing Calgary Stampeders +9 by a single point).

But hey, the RWB isn’t here to talk about the past – not much anyway, because there are week 3 games to prognosticate! After admiring a nice performance by Bo Levi Mitchell and the Montreal Alouettes offense while lamenting the good luck blessing the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the dumb luck befalling the Edmonton Elks’, the RWB take a confident shot at predicting the week ahead.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Come for the tangents, stary for the awesome predictions.

The Rouge, White and Blue is now part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

 

As much as Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host/Montreal Alouettes fan Os Davis wants to admit it, there was a full slate of four Canadian Football League games last week, with and RWB co-host Joe Pritchard compelled to breakdown week 2 and make some predictions for week 3 in the CFL.

Two weeks have passed in the CFL and, while the answers regarding the fates of the league’s nine teams remain mostly unanswered, at least the key questions are coming a bit more into focus. Questions the RWB kicks around, like…

• Do the Saskatchewan Roughriders lack a killer instinct?
• What hope, if any, is there for the Ottawa Redblacks offense (one TD vs seven FGS in two games) and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defense (one QB sack, one turnover generated in two games)?
• Should Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans worry about their team’s inability to gear up on offense?
• Are Vernon Adams Jr. and Nick Arbuckle destined to be no. 2 quarterbacks in the CFL?
• Are the premature dreams of an East team crossing over in 2022 already dead?

All this and the proverbial much more on this edition of the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast!

Once again, Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-hosts talk an anomalous sweep in the Canadian Football League – Just three weeks after an exceptionally rare 4-0 showing by the four East division teams, week 11 saw the visitors sweep the homedogs. RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis can’t decide which is more amazing: The visitors sweeping or Os going 4-0 in CFL Pick ‘Em.

Or maybe it’s the way the West has become the East, not to mention how suddenly the 3rd-place Winnipeg Blue Bombers and 5th-place Edmonton Elks look more like playoff contenders than the BC Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Adding intrigue to the league outside the lines were moves like the Hamilton Tiger-Cats hiring of Chris Jones (!) to the position of defensive coordinator; public appearances by brand new Edmonton *Elks* owner Larry Thompson and the concomitant will-he-won’t-he speculation surrounding the brand; and the imminent return of Chad Kelly for the Toronto Argonauts.

Otherwise, week 11 of the 2024 season was one of quarterback comebacks: Some quite good, some not so good, some quite amazing but not enough to overcome their own special teams…

Plus predictions for CFL Pick ‘Em (Did we mention Os went 4-0 last week? That means you’ll be fading this week, most likely…) and certainly something else.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Sweeping it up weekly.

The Rouge, White and Blue is part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

“Ladies, ladies, I don’t mean to brag, but … I am the greatest.” –Sydney Deane, White Men Can’t Jump

That’s right: For once both hosts of the Rouge, White & Blue CFL Podcast have reason to brag about their prognosticating skills. Joe Pritchard and Os Davis rank #1 and #3, respectively, in the Canadian Football Podcast Network fantasy football league (very tough league) after week 2 point-a-paloozas for both.

But the RWB promises the bragging is kept to a minimum with week 2 games to analyze – and it must be said the feelings of déjà vu are rife, what with last year’s slumping quartet – the Ottawa Redblacks, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Edmonton Elks and Hamilton Tiger-Cats – all taking emphatic Ls.

Then there’s week 3 to consider, a four-game slate which could leave the league in the bizarre situation of simultaneously fielding three undefeated teams and three winless teams. Os and Joe are a combined 7-1 in CFL Pick ‘Em and so quite possibly worth listening to for the nonce…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Is early fantasy football dominance sustainable…?

The time is upon us: The divisional finals games are in the books and this week plays the 110th Grey Cup between those dynastic Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Toronto Argonauts, champs of two years back.

Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast previews the championship game, of course, but only after co-host Joe Prtichard consoles Os Davis about his Montreal Alouettes’ elimination, while Joe gets to lord it over the Saskatchewan Roughriders one more time in 2024.

And before Joe heads north of the border for Grey Cup Week, the RWB breaks down the Bombers-Argos matchup with special regard to pointspread and over/under. (Note to listeners: As the podcast was recorded, the ‘spread was listed at Bombers -7; one day later, that line is already up to Bombers -10 at most sportsbooks…)

So this is it. How about one more episode (or two) of the RWB…?

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: A happy Grey Cup to all, and to all a good ‘Cup!

At the top of this week’s Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast, the discussion naturally begins with a wrap of week 7 games – while meandering through some grousing about what was seemingly a poor fantasy week for everyone. (Jake Maier the top QB? A touchdown from rookie FB Clint Ratkovich? Dude.)

Light on fantasy football points the slate of games may have been, but some fascinating points of discussion emerged for co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis to kick around. Questions like: Are the Calgary Stampeders (and Maier) this good? Are the Saskatchewan Roughriders this bad? Why are the Edmonton Elks like this? (Joe swears it’s not McLeod Bethel-Thompson…)

The RWB goes on to offer CFL Pick ‘Em picks and predictions on another interesting quartet of games next week: Saskatchewan at the likely Cody Fajardo-less Montreal Alouettes; the underdog (?) Stamps at the Ottawa RedBlacks; those frustrating Winnipeg Blue Bombers at the Toronto Argonauts; and (hoo boy) the one-win Hamilton Tiger-Cats coming to Edmonton.

The RWB CFL Podcast: Always decided by a touchdown or less…

The Rouge, White and Blue is now part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

Week 1 of the 2023 CFL season is in the proverbial books and so Rouge, White & Blue CFL Podcast co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard partake in that classic exercise of football fandoms everywhere, namely overreacting to the opening week results.

And damned if they don’t actually have reason to gushily overreact: Not only did Os and Joe’s favoured Montreal Alouettes and Winnipeg Blue Bombers each notch a W, not only did they go a combined 7-1 in the CFL Pick ‘Em Contest, but both cruised to victory in week 1 of the new-look, new-play official CFL fantasy football game. But the RWB promises the glory-daysing is kept to a minimum.

Instead, the RWB’s got those overreactions to week 1, some lessons learned for the fantasy players and naturally pick ‘em picks and fantasy football tips, which for a week at least may be taken seriously.

Finally, as the CFL takes part in various observances of Pride Month, Os wonders about one aspect of this sort of outreach, i.e. What’s up with the dissonance between North American sports leagues’ outward message and its internal unwritten-rules mentality a good half-century behind greater society…? But the RWB promises no partisan politics or rhetoric included.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: For every action, a passionate overreaction…

Despite the season winding to a close with most playoff spots settled, the Rouge White & Blue Podcast remains fascinated. RWB co-hosts were knocked out this week by the dominance of the historically (in both sense of the word) mind-blowing Toronto Argonauts, the edge-of-seat thrills in week 18’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs. BC Lions game and the surprisingly slick play of both the Montreal Alouettes and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Week 18 may have solidified the CFL playoff picture even further, but the RWB still has lots of enthusiasm and lots of reasons to watch the 2023 season’s three remaining weeks of play – which is not to say we’re not looking forward to what should be some dandy playoff games. The RWB analyzes week 18, looks to the future of a hapless Canadian franchise or two, and picks the week 19 games with an eye on the still-evolving playoff picture.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Talking playoffs?!?!?!

 

 

 

When is a blowout not a blowout? Trick question: A blowout is always a blowout, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.

On this episode of the Rouge White & Blue CFL podcast talks about the four emphatic wins of CFL week 14 as co-host Os Davis is relieved former Montreal starting QBs Vernon Adams Jr. and Antonio Pipkin didn’t make his Alouettes look bad while co-host Joe Pritchard enjoyed his beloved Winnipeg Blue Bombers taking yet another one from the increasingly discombobulated-looking Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The RWB also marvels at the incredible trolling of fantasy football players by the Calgary Stampders, who first gave Tommy Stevens 10 carries including four touchdowns in quite possibly the GOAT fantasy vulture performance, then finished with a garbage-time KaDeem Carey TD which flipped many a matchup -- including Os’s.

Then Joe brings us playoff scenarios – playoff scenario, really – and Os crunches the numbers (and schedule) to paint an ugly picture of a CFL with just two teams over .500 at season’s end. We’ve also got picks and predictions for CFL week 14; in short, a couple of these games could get ugly again.

The Rouge White & Blue podcast: What a blowout!

 

The Rouge White & Blue Podcast is at the point when we’re shocked that so much of the 2022 CFL season is over; what have we been doing all season…?

On this week’s episode of the RWB, co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis naturally run down all of last week’s CFL action including all the shenanigans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders-Hamilton Tiger-Cats game, the dominance of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers over the eliminated Edmonton Elks, question good defense by the Toronto Argonauts versus a timid BC Lions offense, and google over the Montreal Alouettes D’s disappearing act against the Ottawa Redblacs.

The RWB naturally also forecasts next week’s games with an eye to closing out the season with three races for playoff positioning – Calgary vs BC, Toronto vs Montreal, Hamilton vs Ottawa vs Saskatchewan – making things verrrrry interesting indeed.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Dude, it was just, like, June, man…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast wishes our northerly neighbors a happy Thanksgiving as RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis simultaneously envy the Canadians for making their Thanksgiving Day weekend a four-day deal through to Monday.

After touching on Paul LaPolice’s dismissal from the Ottawa Redblacks – and Joe reckons he won’t see a head coaching position again in the CFL – and briefly on candidates for the Most Outstanding Player and other fan-voting CFL awards, Joe and Os dive in the week that was in Canadian football: Os is even happier with his Montreal Alouettes, whom he claims are the hottest team in the league; Winnipeg Blue Bombers diehard Joe Pritchard fears not the impressive-looking Calgary Stampeders and interesting BC Lions; and both lament the too-little-too-late coming together of the Edmonton Elks.

Then the RWB takes a look ahead to week 18 CFL games, figuring maybe the ’spread is too high on Edmonton-Winnipeg and that it’s straight-up incorrect on Saskatchewan Roughriders-Hamilton Tiger-cats…

The Rouge White & Blue podcast: Holding out for the RWB Bowl in the Grey Cup…

 

The CFL took us back to the high-flying 1990s/2000s of CFL football this week and returned to the mantra “No Lead Is Safe” this week. The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast’s co-host Os Davis and substitute co-host Greg James take on the week that was by way of a lot of questions, such as…

• Will the Winnipeg Blue Bombers ever break out the all-blue W uniforms again after getting their near-legendary winning streak snapped by the Montreal Alouettes? (And is the Bombers’ loss the *real* reason Joe sat out this week…?)
• Have the Toronto Argonauts entered a graveyard spiral – and are they really as bad as Greg thinks?
• Could the Edmonton Elks have won, were it not for exorbitant penalties?
• Speaking of penalties, what was up with all the “pyramiding” calls and, tangentially, can we as a fan society admit that makeup calls exist?
• Does it really matter what order the Bombers, Calgary Stampeders and BC Lions finish in? The two West playoff games determine everything, right?

All this plus picks and predictions for CFL week 11 on the RWB.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Well, we think the Bombers’ all-blues look superdope…

Trey Colbeck from Canadian Football Countdown joined Joe Pritchard this week, and the two Bombers fans recapped last week, previewed the upcoming week, and discussed various other CFL topics, including how passion is a double-edged sword in the Prairies. 

Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis welcome back frequently returning guest Josh Smith of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats centered Pod Skee Wee Wee to tak about, well, what else but Hamilton Tiger-Cats football…

It may not be June yet, but the RWB and Josh alike are getting ready for some Canadian football. Josh first takes a look back to assess the damage – perform an autopsy, really – on the, let’s say, subpar and disappointing 2022 version of his beloved Ticats. And looking forward to the 2023 CFL season, Josh takes on the question of what Hamilton can expect from new old QB Bo Levi Mitchell.

The RWB also bookends the upcoming season for the Ticats, with some discussion of the upcoming 2023 CFL Draft and just how great Grey Cup Week should be in Hamilton this November.

And you bet there’s more  Way-Too-Early Outrageous Predictions™, too…

The Rouge White & Blue Podcast: covering the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and those other eight teams.

No, no, Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast Joe Pritchard wasn’t hiding out due to his Winnipeg Blue Bombers fandom in the aftermath of said Bombers’ loss to the Toronto Argonauts in the 11th Grey Cup championship game – we swear.

In fact, Joe is even up for recapping a disappointing (for him) Grey Cup and discussing an enlivening (for just about everyone, reportedly) Grey Cup week in Vancouver with RWB co-host Os Davis in a, let’s say, thorough fashion.

And just like the CFL itself, pretty much immediately after the Grey Cup talk does the RWB dive into the earliest of early moves in the 2025 season including the lightning-qucik acquisition of Vernon Admas Jr. by the Calgary Stampeders and the front-office and/or head coach hiring machinations of the Edmonton Elks, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and BC Lions.

So who wants to keep talking CFL football? We do!

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: It’s becoming a 12-month-per-year sport!

Have CFL fans just been through the least enjoyable week in CFL history? Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host Joe Pritchard contends so in this episode.

Joe’s specifically talking about the hit on QB Jeremiah Masoli  by DL Garrett Marino of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the (let’s face it) pretty freakin’ weak four-game suspension given Marino, the league’s ham-handed handling of the subsequent criticism and yet another blow to what seemingly long ago was a promising-looking 2022 Ottawa Redblacks season.

But there’s even more to be bummed out about regarding week 5 of this CFL season. Up-and-coming Canadian quarterback Tre Ford was also knocked out of his game along with any traces of optimism in Edmonton Elks land, the Montreal Alouettes predictably cleaned house among the coaching staff, the gap between East and West grew to historical disproportions, and even an easy Calgary-Edmonton pick turned into a Gambling (Mis)Adventure for RWB co-host Os Davis.

Ah, well. We have fun nevertheless.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Things can only get better in week 6…

 

Traditional Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host Os Davis has been traveling the ‘States and jumping the pond, but he’s not completely out of touch. To prove it, he pops in for an extra episode of the RWB joining co-host Joe Pritchard to catch up on August in the Canadian Football League.

So the RWB talks stuff like how virtually every team aside from the Toronto Argonauts has had a chance of QB in the past month; what in Buono’s name is up with the massive separation between the dominance of the big three and the questionable competence of the bottom five plus the mysterious Montreal Alouettes; and just how much of the Saskatchewn Roughriders are a juggernaut waiting to jugger – or naut.

And even in Europe can a CFL fan suffer the torments of CFL football and enjoy the benefits of properly betting games – so Os weighs in on his week 11 picks in response to Joe ‘n’ Dalts’s of episode 238. And yes, for the record: this episode was indeed recorded before the Edmonton-Hamilton game.

The RWB Podcast: The best Canadian football podcast from two countries that are not Canada.

As the dust settles on a historic East division sweep in week 8, the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast remarks on this year’s crop of backup quarterbacks; marvels at the Montreal Alouettes’ defense and the Ottawa Redblacks in general; and remains baffled by the unbettable Calgary Stampeders.

RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis answer questions like: Are the Toronto Argonauts really a third-place team? Are the Saskatchewan Roughriders essentially a .500 team? Why do these Winnipeg Blue Bombers continually succumb to mistakes this season? How seriously should we take these Hamilton Tiger-Cats?

And, most scintillatingly, could we finally get an East team crossing over…? Hamilton at Saskatchewan in the West semi-finals, anyone…?

All this musing plus picks and predictions for week 9’s games.

The Rouge White & Blue Podcast: Covering the ever-fascinating CFL.

The Rouge, White and Blue is part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

 

With one more week to play in the 2023 CFL season, the week 20 results in and shakeups already gone down in Roughriders land, the Rouge White & Blue Podcast assesses some final trends going into the playoffs.

For example, the suddenly much clearer path for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to come out of the West, the reasons why BC Lions are ripe for an upset at the hands of the Calgary Stampeders in round one, the Toronto Argonauts on the verge of football history and whether there’s hope for the future of the Ottawa Redblacks.

And as piqued as RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis are for the playoffs, damned if they’re not gonna miss this Canadian football thing in a few weeks…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: On Canadian football past, present and future

And then, as they say, there were two: More precisely, nearly here is Grey Cup 107 which features a rematch of the still-defending champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. So, what else could this episode of the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast be about?

Actually … the RWB has a bit more, including a few verbal notes on the conference championship games of last week among which hope is offered Toronto Argonauts in the face of season-ending debacle on multiple fronts. Plus, coverage of that other championship game happening this weekend: co-host Joe Pritchard’s bid for the title of the DFS CFL podcasters’ league. (Represent, Joe!)

In all seriousness, though, all focus is on the Grey Cup, a rematch two years (plus!) in the making. The RWB talks key players, X-factors, winning conditions and playing conditions – and as ever, there are game predictions based on the thought-provoking lines of Bombers -2½ and an over of 43½.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: wishing you a Happy Grey Cup Weekend!

The 2021 CFL season gets ever knottier, but the Rouge White & Blue Podcast has even more on the agenda than playoff scenarios – though the RWB’s got those, too.

RWB co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard touch on any number of topics this week, including the resignation of the incomparable Rod Black from TSN and thus CFL game broadcasts, and the continued building up of Joe’s den at home, which is slowly resembling an informal Winnipeg Blue Bombers Hall of Fame.

Also on tap is a wrap of week 11, followed by forecasts for week 12 and a few playoff scenarios, including one in which five teams end up at 7-7 – well possible with five weeks to go in the season. O, and Joe’s totally stoked on Winnipeg’s acquisition of Sergio Castillo, too…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Did know you that Rod Black’s son plays in the Milwaukee Brewers minor league system…?

 

On Sunday will be played the 109th Grey Cup game, so what else would this episode of the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast be about? Well…

With RWB co-host Joe Pritchard actually in Regina, site of the Grey Cup as well as concomitant week-long festivities for fans and podcasting types, co-host Os Davis welcomes on our friend of show now based in Japan, international football podcaster Greg James.

Greg and Os put a moratorium on the Montreal Alouettes’ and BC Lions’ seasons and make our picks/prediction for the Grey Cup, including Greg’s solid reason for rooting on the Toronto Argonauts in this one (hint: it’s got to do with The Rock). The RWB does like the chances of a Winnipeg Blue Bombers threepeat, though…

As sports history buffs/geeks, Greg and Os talk some 1950 Grey Cup, a.k.a. The Med Bowl, a.k.a. the last time the Bombers and Argos played for the trophy. And as CFL fans, there’s no stopping some speculation on the immediate short- and medium-term future of the league…

Enjoy the Grey Cup! (And take the Bombers minus the points…)

The Rouge, White & Blue CFL Podcast:  talking Grey Cups past, present and future

For the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast, this Grey Cup feels like the culmination of years’ worth of our tit-for-tat chatting. This edition of what we’re calling the RWB Cup pits co-host Joe Pritchard’s dominating Winnipeg Blue Bombers in their fourth consecutive championship game against Os Davis’s plucky Montreal Alouettes for all the marbles.

Like most of CFL fandom, Os is still a bit gobsmacked by the Alouettes’ upset victory over the mighty Toronto Argonauts and he’s trying to find a way to financially justify backing the awesome defense of the Alouettes as 7½-point underdogs in the big game.  Meanwhile, Joe’s feeling some shoe-on-other-foot sentiment, as he harkened back to 2019 back when the Bombers were the unheralded team in the ‘Cup looking for the big upset.

Between the two, the RWB recaps the divisional finals, sum up the seasons of the vanquished Argos and BC Lions, and make picks ‘n’ predictions for the 2023 Grey Cup.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Looking to the brilliant finish for a fascinating 2023 season…

Joe Pritchard is still without Os Davis, but the Turf District offered up Superfan Mike and 3 Down Nation's Andrew Hoskins, and the timing couldn't have been better after Edmonton's first win. We cover that plus our normal reviews and previews, with a lot of laughs in between. 

The CFL Draft always brings optimism and excitement to Canadian football fans, and in 2022 we got some moving and shaking to make things especially intriguing. Joining co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis on the Rouge, White & Blue CFL Podcast to talk about what went down (we think) on draft day is Tim Capper of the Alouettes Flight Deck podcast.

Truth be told, given our loyalties and the general headline-grabbing, much of the focus is on how the Montreal Alouettes, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and especially the revolving door of the Edmonton Elks roster getting started by Chris Jones, the man who never met a roster add he didn’t like. The RWB is talking the no. 1 overall pick Tyrell Richards, the Ford Brothers and others.

Plus, a couple of outrageously early predictions for the 2022 CFL season are coaxed out of Tim and he provides travel tips for Montreal to Joe, who’s counting the days until he can see some live football north of the border again…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Welcoming Tyrell Richards and all draftees to the league…

Once again, you're stuck with Joe Pritchard running the show (don't worry, with Sunday games being off the schedule going forward, it'll be easier to get Os Davis back in the game), and Josh Smith joined him to discuss the Labour Day weekend games, this week's rematch games, and Joe's travel plans for this weekend and beyond. 

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast certainly hopes those football fans who love high-scoring wild rides were tuned into the Canadian game in week 19 because the points mostly came in bunches and no lead was safe.

With the 2023 CFL playoffs just about concretized into shape, RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis consider if maybe the season isn’t a tad too long (heresy, we know) but nevertheless find some intrigue remaining in the season. As we all await some potentially dandy matchups in those playoffs, the RWB wonders about what’s happening with those Saskatchewan Roughriders and their baffling 6-game losing streak, in what historical context we should be viewing the Toronto Argonauts and whether the Montreal Alouettes can give the Argos a game in the postseason.

RWB then goes on to pick ‘n’ predict the week 20 games and try to provide the waning of attention a few reasons to tune into a lighter slate of games – aside from rubbernecking the Regina trainwreck, that is…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Drawing a historical season to a close…

 

 

OK, so the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast ins’t *quite* covering 1,001 news items, hot (or lukewarm) takes and predictions but hoo boy, is this league generating some serious fodder for chatter at the halfway point of the season.

First and foremost is the round of quarterback roulette in which most CFL teams are currently embroiled; more intrigue was added with the news that Nathan Rourke was released by the Atlanta Falcons and immediately re-signed by the BC Lions. Can Rourke’s reentry stop BC’s skid and reaffirm the Lions’ top-dog status in the West?

Also on the horizon is the expected return of Chard Kelly to the Toronto Argonauts, a morally dubious situation for team and league. Even more morally questionable is the rumour that new Edmonton Elks ownership will be reverting the team name utterly against the grain of the wider culture.

Some football actually happened up there in the Great White North, too, begging lots of questions going into the season’s second half, including:

• Trevor Harris or no, how far can the Saskatchewan Roughriders go with little-to-no running game?
• Similarly: Nathan Rourke or no, how far can BC go letting passing offenses move the ball at will?
• How long with the Calgary Stampeders, 4-0 at home and 0-5 on the road, maintain such an insane split?
• Are the Stamps and Toronto Argonauts better or worse than their win-loss records?
• What will become of Bo Levi Mitchell?
• Finally, could the 3-6 Winnipeg Blue Bombers actually crawl back into West contention?

All this plus picks and predictions for CFL Pick ‘Em, talk of this week’s (very scintillating) point spreads, and a few words on the importance of Kate Bierness.

The Rouge White & Bllue CFL Podcast: Ready for those second-half adjustments.

The Rouge, White and Blue is now part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

Os Davis is on assignment, but Josh Smith from 3 Down Nation stepped in to assist Joe Pritchard in breaking down Week 7, preview Week 8, and along the way, enjoyed the usual podcast diversions, deep dives, and failed once again to provide the answers to all of life's burning questions, except where the CFL is concerned, of course. 

As the man south of the border once said, “Playoffs?!?!?!” For CFL postseason, the postseason hasn’t yet arrived, but with few highly relevant games remaining and the matchups just about set for those playoffs, what else can be discussed on the Rouge, White & Blue CFL Podcast?

Co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard briefly touch on the week 19 games which included a lackluster performance from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Montreal Alouettes offenses plus an abysmal all-around showing by BC Lions. And Os even avoids bragging too much about his upset victory over Joe in the CFL Podcast Network fantasy football league.

And of course, despite the mostly irrelevant short slate of week 20 games, Joe and Os have a go at picking and predicting the highly unpredictable.

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: We’re trying to win a game here!

The Rouge, White and Blue is part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

 

Happy Opening Week to Canadian Football League enthusiasts! The Rouge, White & Blue gets our game on in the episode to (admittedly futilely) forecast the upcoming season.

First off, RWB co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard go long(-term) in picking division standing as well as win-loss records for each of the teams. Unlike previous seasons, there is much dissension between the two, who can really only agree  on a vision for two of the CFL’s nine teams.

Not only that, everyone’s favourite Sisyphean task during the regular season, i.e. making weekly selections in the league’s official “CFL Pick ‘Em” contest, has returned. Joe and Os get in their picks for week 1 and again mostly disagree on winners and losers. RWB’s got a passing look at the point spreads for opening week, particularly that insulting touchdown-plus’s worth of points the (*defending champion*) Montreal Alouettes are getting in Winnipeg, and the inexplicable positioning of the Saskatchewan Roughriders as an underdog at Edmonton.

CFL kickoff: It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

The Rouge, White and Blue is now part of the Shotgun Sports Network! Watch this episode -- and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube -- or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

Usual Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host Joe Pritchard is up in Hamilton this week to enjoy the Grey Cup week festivities, our man across the Pacific, Greg St. James of Gridiron Japan subs in as co-host.

Greg joins Os Davis to discuss once again what else but the 110th Grey Cup in which the surprising Montreal Alouettes look to keep the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from winning a third ’Cup in four seasons. Really, though, Greg is aboard to convince Os that (a) his Als have a fighting chance in this game, and (b) that his betting on the game (Monteal now +8, over/under 47 points) isn’t completely bananas.

And with two sports history junkies podcasting, the RWB puts the 2023 season in perspective and some time is spent on spring football and all that stuff about a CFL/XFL merger. (Ancient times now, it seems…)

Enjoy this last bit of speculation from the RWB and have a great Grey Cup!

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: It’s time.

Like the better part of the CFL-focused world, the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast got a bit tunnel-visioned this past week about the possibility of a player strike and the implications for the short-, medium- and long-term of the league.

So RWB host Joe Pritchard brought on John Hodge of the 3 Down Nation to talk about just that as well as other issues at the forefront of this offseason and, inevitably, predictions for the highly-anticipated upcoming season. (We promise the talk of a Winnipeg threepeat is kept to a relatively absolute minimum.)

The Rouge White & Blue Podcast: Dodging a bullet with Canadian Football fans…

Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host Joe Pritchard returns this week, after having crossed the final two off his list of CFL cities in which to watch a game.

And so he regales co-host Os Davis and the RWB with tales of Montreal, where he caught live the Winnipeg Blue Bombers-Montreal Alouettes game in good old Molson Memorial, as well as Ottawa, home to last week’s Calgary Stampeders-Ottawa Redblacks tilt in spiffy new(ish) TD Place.

Beyond the Canada trip, Joe and Os dig into some minor-unto-major mysteries of the 2022 CFL season as we hit the halfway point such as that of Bo Levi Mitchell’s sloppy showing against the Redblacks, the Alouettes’ missing running game, the imploding Saskatchewan Roughriders and their troubles with fans.

All this, plus picks and predictions for week 10 and a bit on the awesome majesty (not) of running up one of the season’s one-week high scores in fantasy football, only to be matched up with bye…

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: We’re all Canadian wannabes here…

For Rouge White and Blue CFL Podcast co-host Os Davis it was just one of those weeks – namely, a total washout in CFL fantasy football and a clean 0-4 showing in the league’s Pick ‘Em contest. Yeesh.

Nevertheless, Os, together with RWB co-host Joe Pritchard, attempt to make sense of last week’s results – though truth be told, Joe doesn’t really need to after his own 4-0 Pick ‘Em run. What can be said about a slte of four games with three going down to the game’s final pay. And just how many bounces separate, say the 3-0 Saskatchewan Roughriders from the 0-4 Winnipeg Blue Bombers…?

We’ll also take a look at next week’s matches and some interesting-looking pointspreads, including the Toronto Argonauts giving just 3½ (at recording time; two hours later, up to 4½) points at the aforementioned Roughriders with little used QB Sean Patterson starting at QB for the injured Trevor Harris, not to mention BC Lions giving just 5 to the hapless Hamilton Tiger-Cats….

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Safe lead or no, we’re here for the football!

The Rouge, White and Blue is now part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

All right, CFL fans – You know what time of year it is, you know the drill. Rouge White & Blue CFL podcast co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis talk the two semifinalslayoff games and next weekend’s two divisional finals games. (Spoilers: When reviewing and previewing, the same feeling pervades, i.e. damn, both the Toronto Argonauts and Saskatchewan Roughriders are straight-up scary.)

Also, some hot and not-so-hot takes on recent front office moves involving three first three eliminated in Calgary, Edmonton and Hamilton. Plus, a brief addressing of the literal elephant in the American room from Os.

Now who’s ready for the championship round?

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: We love this game (PS #USFLforever)

The Rouge, White and Blue is part of the Shotgun Sports Network. Watch this episode – and those of other Shotgun shows on YouTube – or listen from wherever you get your podcasts!

The Rouge White & Blue Podcast sees the end of the 2021 CFL season in sight (sadly) as week 13 goes into the books as a relatively unenlightening slate of games if taken individually but drastically clearing up the playoff picture.

No, RWB co-hosts Joe Pritchard and Os Davis can’t stop talking about the glory of Plaay tabletop gaming, but they manage to keep it to a minimum in assessing the postseason chances of teams like the Calgary Stampeders (looking good) and the Montreal Alouettes (of which the same cannot be said).

The RWB then takes a look ahead to week 14, with Joe offering up a very salient tip for would-be CFL bettors about seemingly disrespectful point spreads….

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Bombers -10½? Dude.

“Things are becoming clearer,” says Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast co-host Joe Pritchard, though co-host Os Davis isn’t so sure after a week 12 slate that surprised him – of course, that could be because he’s truly bloody awful at CFL Pick ‘em, CFL daily fantasy football and betting on CFL football…

In episode 212, the RWB reviews the week 12 games, with an accent on former Montreal Alouettes starting quarterbacks, and takes a look at next week’s games, staying remarkably on the rails the entire time. And Joe even feeds Os’s filthy gambling habit with some more admittedly good ideas for the Labour Day games…

The Rouge White & Blue podcast: Maybe clear, maybe not…

The Rouge White & Blue Podcast finds itself, along with the rest of CFL fandom, in a very strange bit of the season indeed.

In general, co-hosts Os Davis and Joe Pritchard look back on a week 17 in which the Montreal Alouettes and Hamilton Tiger-Cats clinched playoff spots while the Ottawa Redblacks and Calgary Stampeders juuuuuuuust about got eliminated after losses – thereby leaving us all with five of six spots taken (and the Saskatchewan Roughriders barely able to avoid snagging the last available slot.

So where does this leave the league and its fans for four more weeks of football? The RWB takes a look forward at what to look forward to in those remaining games while wondering what we should take from week 17, particularly a somewhat lackluster win for Joe’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers over essentially the Toronto Argonauts second string.

What’s left to the 2023 season? The RWB’ll tell ya!

The Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast: Wishing everyone a happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!

 

Just two more games – the division championship games – remain to be played before the Grey Cup is awarded, and the Rouge White & Blue CFL Podcast is certainly excited.

But before talk of predictions and Grey Cup game outcome, please allow RWB co-host Os Davis to do something he’s not been able to since RWB began: Take a fan’s verbal victory lap after a Montreal Alouettes playoff win.

Os and co-host Joe Pritchard eventually move on to other matters such as trying not to second-guess certain aspects of the Calgary Stampeders game against BC Lions in round 1 of the playoffs.

The RWB also makes the case for an Argonauts, Alouettes, Lions and Blue Bombers victory this weekend – we’re kinda liking the possibilities of an RWB Bowl of Winnipeg vs Montreal in the 109th Grey Cup…

The Rouge, White & Blue CFL Podcast:  Making the case for wearing shorts in November