Heading into the 2010 CFL season, fans wondered if this was the year the torch would be passed from Henry Burris to Darian Durant.

After all, last season Durant and the Saskatchewan Roughriders didn’t lose a game to the Calgary Stampeders and Durant matched up well against Burris in head-to-head meetings. It was a common opinion that Durant’s stock was rising, while Burris’ stock was on the decline.

This season, however, Burris has shown he is not quite ready to be surpassed by Durant just yet.

After Durant started off strong this season and Burris started off slow, Burris has rebounded nicely and is now outplaying Durant. Calgary’s recent success and Saskatchewan’s recent struggles certainly reflect this.

The change in each team’s fortunes started in Week 4, when the 3-0-0 Riders travelled to Calgary to take on the 2-1-0 Stampeders.

At this point, Durant had gone 62/ 101, for 941 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception on the season, while Burris had gone 71/111, for 788 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions. Durant was not only outplaying Burris, but he was a leading candidate early in the season for the most outstanding player award.

Burris and the Stampeders are outplaying the Riders right now.

As a team, the Riders had already beaten the powerhouse Montreal Alouettes and had earned victories over two West Division foes: the Edmonton Eskimos and the British Columbia Lions. Calgary, on the other hand, had earned their two victories over East Division opponents. In fact, they had not played a West opponent until this point of the season. Because of this reason, many fans felt the Stampeders’ record was deceivingly-high and they would get a wakeup call the hands of the Green and White.

There was a wakeup call in the game, but it was delivered to Saskatchewan instead. Tied at seven going into the second half, Calgary exploded for 33 second half points and stunned the Riders 40-20. Durant threw one touchdown and three interceptions, while Burris tossed four touchdowns and two interceptions.

This was really a turning point in the season so far for both teams. Suddenly, Calgary is red-hot. The team is currently riding a five-game winning streak and sit first place in the West comfortably at 7-1-0. Saskatchewan is stone cold, dropping two of its last four games. Last week, both facing 1-6-0 teams, Calgary easily took care of B.C. while Saskatchewan lost in the dying minutes against the Eskimos.

The rise and fall of each team has had a lot to due with the play of the quarterbacks. Stats-wise, Durant was outperforming earlier in the season. Now, not so much. Burris’ numbers on the season are: 183/281, for 2,226 yards, 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Durant’s numbers on the season are: 177/301, for 2,474 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Besides yards and interceptions, Burris is leading Durant in almost all categories. He has more completions, a better completion percentage, more touchdown passes and a better quarterback rating.

Has Burris been perfect? Not exactly. Though his team is on a five-game winning streak, there have been some close calls. But, he is doing what Durant is having trouble doing currently, winning.

The fact that Burris is leading in the league in touchdown passes and has cut down somewhat on the interceptions just show how much he has improved since his early-season struggles. Since Week 4, he is averaging close to 300 passing yards a game. More importantly, he and the Stampeders are doing what they failed to do early in the season, attack opposing defences deep. Some of these deep throws have led to interceptions, but in the process Calgary has become far more explosive on offence. With Ken-Yon Rambo back and Nik Lewis and Romby Bryant playing well, Burris has tons of hot targets to throw the ball to.

Burris has also been using his feet more effectively to buy his receivers time, something Durant was doing well earlier in the season.

Durant has averaged a decent amount of passing yards a game in the last four weeks, but his interception total has skyrocketed. Not all of these interceptions have been his fault, but the fact is it is an area that continues to be a concern for Durant. For all of the beautiful touchdowns he will throw on the run, he is starting to throw just as many interceptions in general. His team has suffered as a result. In their stunning loss to Edmonton last week, Durant deserved most of the blame.

With Saskatchewan playing relatively week foes recently, they haven’t exactly looked impressive. Once again, this has something to do with Durant. Against teams with winning records, Montreal and Calgary, Durant has thrown for over 400 yards a game. Against teams with non-winning records, Edmonton, B.C., Hamilton, he is throwing for less than 250 passing yards a game.

Now, it is too early to right off Durant just yet, but the fact that Burris is outplaying him at all is surprising. Heading into the season, with all of Calgary’s losses and Saskatchewan’s gains, to see Calgary playing so well and Saskatchewan playing so poorly is something no one would have expected.

Saskatchewan is not out the race for first in the West yet. Calgary still has to travel to Saskatchewan twice this season and play the Montreal Alouettes twice. However, if the Riders hope to get match-up against the Stampeders, Durant will need to improve. With similar defences and special teams units, Durant and the offence will need to outshine Calgary’s offence to win in the future.

Durant may be an up-and-coming star, but for now Burris looks content to hold onto his elite quarterback status.

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Casey Printers? Jarious Jackson? Travis Lulay?

Who will the British Columbia Lions start at quarterback in their game against Calgary after their bye week? That decision will be up to head coach/general manager Wally Buono, who is in the unenviable position of trying to fix something that is clearly broken.

You could blame a number of things for BC’s poor start – the drop-off in the run game, the poor run defence, the shaky offensive line, or the struggles of Paris Jackson – but it is pretty clear that the inconsistent play of the quarterbacks has been a major factor in the Lions shocking 1-6-0 start.

"Printers has not played like his 2004-self just yet"

First their is Printers, who was basically named ‘the saviour’ after returning to the Lions last season. This was the man who, in 2004, threw for 35 touchdowns, over 5,000 yards and rushed for 469 yards and nine touchdowns en route to being named the most outstanding player. Though he lost all three of the regular season games he played in 2009, a 34-27 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East semifinal, during which Printers threw for 360 yards and one touchdown, gave fans hope for 2010. Though Montreal devoured BC 56-18 in the East final, fans hoped that Printers could captain the ship in 2010.

Printers, who hasn’t played since Week 3 but could return after the bye week, didn’t exactly dazzle when he was the starter. In the 25-10 victory over Edmonton in Week 1, it was the running game and the defence that secured victory for the Lions. Printers was 20/34 for 218 yards. Nothing spectacular. Before he was injured in BC’s 37-18 loss to Saskatchewan in Week 2, Printers was putting a decent game together statistically, but wasn’t generating many points against the Saskatchewan Roughriders defence. Finally, in the ugly 16-12 loss to Montreal at home in Week 3, Printers completed only 50 percent of his passes and threw two interceptions.

While he may have improved his attitude a bit, Printers has not played like his 2004-self just yet. His running abilities – which have been dazzling in the past – have not been utilized this season. He has been OK in the passing game, but is not dominating like he once did.

So far this season, Printers has gone 50/88 for 591 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Then there is Jarious Jackson, a quarterback who has struggled with inconsistency and, more recently, injuries. The fact that he has never had a quarterback rating over 90 shows that he isn’t a top level quarterback. Throughout his career, Jackson has been battling with quarterbacks like Dave Dickenson, Buck Pierce, Printers and Lulay for playing time.

"The major concern with Jackson has always been his accuracy"

After battling through an injury this season, Jackson saw his first bit of playing time in Week 6, when the Calgary Stampeders defeated BC 27-22. Coming on for an ineffective Lulay, Jackson went 8/17 for 99 yards and one interception. He seemed very interested in testing his arm strength, as he threw deep ball after deep ball, many of these falling harmlessly to the turf. Then, in his first start of the season the next week against Saskatchewan, Jackson did not test the defence deep and threw two interceptions in a 37-13 loss.

The major concern with Jackson has always been his accuracy, especially in the short/mid-range game. While he does throw a decent deep ball, he seems to rely on long throws far too often. Against Saskatchewan, he tried not to rely on the deep game and was highly ineffective. For a quarterback to be successful in this league, he needs to be well-rounded.

So far this season, Jackson has gone 26/48 for 293 yards and three interceptions.

Finally, there is Lulay. Though his career has just begun, the pivot has been compared to former greats Jeff Garcia and Dave Dickenson. In his first start in the CFL last season against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Lulay went 13/24 for 177 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, leading the Lions to a 24-21 victory. BC had enough confidence in him to get rid of Pierce this season.

Lulay got a chance to start this season much sooner than he likely expected. Following the injury to Printers, and with Jackson injured, Lulay got a couple of starts. In his first start this season against the Toronto Argonauts, Lulay went 26/40 for 330 yards and two interceptions. Unfortunately, one of those interceptions was returned for a touchdown and cost the Lions the game. The next week, Lulay threw for under 150 yards and two interceptions as BC fell 28-25 to the Eskimos. Before he was pulled in Week 6, Lulay threw for only 159 yards and one interception.

Does Lulay have potential? Sure, but for now that’s all it is. The fact is Lulay is throwing too many interceptions, not enough touchdowns, and has failed to lead the Lions to a victory during his time under centre. Perhaps Lulay needs to mature further before being a starter.

"Does Lulay have potential? Sure, but for now that’s all it is"

So far this season, Lulay has gone 66/109 with 820 yards, one touchdown and five interceptions.

If you look at the total numbers for all three quarterbacks, it is 142/245 for 1,704 yards, three touchdowns and 10 interceptions. I think those numbers pretty much sum up the quarterback situation in BC.

So, who gets the start for the Lions? While none of those options look appealing, Printers will likely get the nod. He was the starter going into the season and Lulay and Jackson have looked brutal in relief. Still, one has to wonder when the Lions will pursue other options at the quarterback position. Kerry Joseph, perhaps?

Of course, the quarterbacks can’t solely be blamed for Lions struggles. The running game, which was so effective in Week 1, has cooled down, the offensive line has allowed 20 sacks and has hung the quarterback out to dry in basically every game, Jackson is on pace for only 732 receiving yards after two consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns and the defence is giving up 139 rushing yards a game.

Still, the quarterback is responsible for helping his team win games. It hasn’t been happening for BC. Buono, who has suffered through quarterback problems for most of his tenure in BC, has got to be scratching his head wondering how to fix the problem under centre.

At 1-6-0, there isn’t a whole lot of time to figure it out.

Hamelin’s work can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

During the off-season, fans of the CFL could only sit back and watch as their league was ravaged by the NFL.

The NFL signed players from the CFL in a frenzied pace. There were some signings that didn’t garner much attention, but some big names were take from the CFL like defensive end John Chick (2009 most outstanding defensive player), returner Larry Taylor (2009 most outstanding special teams player) and running back Martel Mallett (2009 most outstanding rookie).

Naturally, this activity worried some fans. For some, it meant watching their team’s star player or players leave. Others worried that this kind of behaviour would become a trend.

However, it is funny to note that after six weeks of play in the CFL, these big name departures to the NFL have had virtually not affect on their respective CFL clubs.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders were arguably hit the hardest by the NFL in the off-season. The team lost defensive ends Chick and Stevie Baggs as well as starting middle linebacker Renauld Williams.

The Riders were sad to lose Chick to the NFL, but Hawkins and Mullinder have more sacks each than he did at this time last season.

Fans of the Green and White wondered how the Riders could replace the 23 combined sacks of Chick and Baggs. The answer has been ex-NFLer Brent Hawkins and Luc Mullinder.

So far, Hawkins has three sacks and Mullinder has three. Fans may think this is a far cry from the performance of Chick and Baggs, but through six weeks in 2009, Baggs had four sacks and Chick only had two. As a team, the Riders are on pace for 45 sacks. They only had 39 in 2009.

As for Williams, free agent pickup Barrin Simpson has filled in nicely. Through six weeks, Simpson has 30 tackles and is on pace for 90 tackles. Williams had 59 in 2009. When it comes to stopping the run, the Simpson-led defence is allowing 105 yards a game, but this is actually an improvement from 2009 when 124 rushing yards were allowed a game.

The British Columbia Lions were also hit hard by the NFL, losing starting defensive end Ricky Foley and Mallett.

Even without their sack-master Foley, BC is on pace to exceed their sack total of 45 last season by about six sacks.

To replace Mallett, the Lions turned to free agency and brought in Jamal Robertson, who spent 2009 with the Toronto Argonauts.

BC hasn’t experienced a drop off in the running game with Robertson in, who has rushed for 388 yards and five touchdowns so far with a 7.1-yard average. He is on pace for 1,164 yards and about 15 touchdowns. Mallett finished last season with 1,240 yards and six touchdowns. Keep in mind, Robertson is on pace to get 49 less carries this season than Mallett did last season.

The Montreal Alouettes were not affected much by the NFL, but losing Taylor was a concern.

Taylor had been one of the most dazzling returners last season. He had a 20.8-yard kick return average, two punt return touchdowns and a missed field goal return touchdown.

The Alouettes have found their man to replace Taylor in Tim Maypray. Maypray is averaging 22.4 yards on kick returns and already has two missed field goal return touchdowns.

For the Calgary Stampeders, the loss of offensive lineman Dimitri Tsoumpas appeared to be pretty serious.

With two missed field goal return touchdowns, Maypray has replaced Taylor nicely in the return game for Montreal.

Yet without Tsoumpas, who recently returned to Calgary, the offensive line has allowed only 12 sacks (tied with Saskatchewan for the lowest in the league) and have helped the Stampeders average 141 rushing yards a game.

The only other team who had a major loss in the off-season was the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who lost defensive back Jonathan Hefney. Hefney, who was the East Divison most outstanding rookie last season, had 66 tackles and four interceptions in 2009.

This move has not had a very negative affect on Winnipeg’s secondary. After recording 31 interceptions and allowing 271 passing yards a game in 2009, Winnipeg is on pace for 12 interceptions in 2010 and they are currently allowing 278 passing yards a game. The interception total may be low, but the secondary is not doing worse against the pass and that is the important thing.

While some teams in the CFL that lost star players to the NFL are struggling this season, like BC at 1-5-0 and Winnipeg at 2-4-0, it is not due to these losses. Would BC be winning games with Foley? Would Winnipeg be winning games with Hefney? Not likely.

Most teams have not been affected at all by their star players leaving to the NFL. Montreal and Calgary are 5-1-0 and Saskatchewan is 4-2-0.

So, why have teams adapted to their star players leaving for the NFL so well? There is not a clear answer, but it does speak highly of the level of talent available in the CFL and general managers ability to adapt.

So, if a star player on your favourite team bolts to the NFL in the future, just take a deep breath and relax. As we have seen this season, it is not the end of the world.

Canadian’s hobbies, at least according to a Molson Canadian commercial, include drinking beer, playing hockey and escaping to the great outdoors.

It is time to add CFL fantasy football to the list.

Since the launch of Fantas-Eh Football (http://fantaseh.ca/), a new CFL fantasy football site, crowds have been flocking to the site.

“Currently, there are a few thousand people registered on the site,” says Matt Brown of Regina, who was behind the creation of the site along with fellow Reginans Aaron Brown, Dan Brown, Aaron Cook and Lee Garinger. “The reaction from the public has been great. We have received many emails from customers thanking us for creating the site. People are having a lot of fun playing Fantas-Eh.”

Fantas-Eh Football follows a similar format to other fantasy football sites with some exceptions. Teams consist of one quarterback (one starter), two running backs (one starter), four wide receivers/slotbacks (three starters), four defensive linemen (two starters), three linebackers (two starters) and four defensive backs (two starters).

Drafting individual defensive players is obviously different from most sites where owners draft group defences. Fantas-Eh Football owners also have the option to draft team quarterbacks as well. Also, due to the unique import rule in the CFL, owners must start one Canadian per week (though that is only the default setting).

Due to some suggestions, Brown says more features may be added to the site next year.

“One of our next priorities after site functionality is to upgrade the site based on our observations and customer suggestions,” he notes. “Many improvements have already been made this year including the online draft and individual player stats during games.”

Brown adds “Our team is constantly working to improve and will release an even better site in 2011. Some upgrades that you may see in 2011 are increased roster limits, additional stat settings, including forced fumbles, fumbles, pass knock downs, special teams etc., a search mechanism in the free agent list and the option to sort the free agent list by point totals.”

Owners can easily set their starting lineup by dragging players onto the screen.

Before the idea for the site came around, the creators of Fantas-Eh Football were simply fans of the CFL who longed for a CFL fantasy football site. After some of their own attempts to run a league on paper “failed miserably” last year, they decided to try and create a site that would not only allow everyone easy access to CFL fantasy football, but look professional.

Mission accomplished.

On the main page, once an owner logs into their league, they can view the standings, talk some smack, customize their team or make a trade. The team management page gives an owner complete control over their team, whether they want to enter trade negotiations or sign a free agent. On the starting lineup page, owners can set their lineup by easily dragging the applicable player to the applicable spot on the screen. Finally, on the game day match-up page, owners can take a look at how their teams is doing in their game and view other scores from around their fantasy league.

On the front page of the entire site, there is all the information potential players need and the site has even added a fantasy column title “Prophet’s Picks” to keep fans informed on the latest fantasy news.

Fantas-Eh Football is not only easy to use, but it is visually appealing.

“Without a high quality site it is unlikely that CFL fantasy football would be taken seriously,” Brown explains. “Clearly, many of our customers are experienced fantasy players and would accept nothing other than a quality site. We have received many compliments on our site design and features. Clearly, our site has become a legitimate entity in the fantasy sports world.

“I still remember seeing components of the site for the first time and I was amazed. I think many of our customers felt the same way when they logged onto Fantas-Eh for the first time! We are very proud of what we have created and feel that Canadians are deserving of a quality fantasy site.”

Cook, a computer programmer, designed the site.

“To put it simply – without Aaron Cook, there would be no Fantas-Eh football,” says Brown. “He is an incredibly intelligent and talented programmer. Aaron has spent countless hours creating the Fantas-Eh site and providing tech support to our customers. One of the best things about Aaron is that he is very good at writing code, yet he still has the ability to build a site that demonstrates creativity and looks incredible. Because there are no other programmers in our group, Aaron has had a massive work load and has handled it very well.”

On the team management page, owners can sign or release players or offer a trade to another team.

One of the major questions facing the creators of the site when they undertook such a large project was: How will they record live stats? The creators of the site made a commitment to watch each game and collect “quickly and accurately”.

“Our stat collection process involves watching all games and then reviewing published statistics to check for discrepancies,” Brown explains. “There have been times when we see something other than what appears in the published statistics, but it is fairly uncommon. Any mistakes we make are generally fixed before the weekly turnover.

“Up until this point, the worst thing about collecting stats was giving up our season tickets for the Saskatchewan home opener against Montreal. Missing one of the most exiting games of all time was a true test of our commitment – and believe me, it was tough!”

If you’d like to give Fantas-Eh Football a try, but would like to give it a test drive before shelling out the $79.99 ($59.99 if you buy during the free trial) for a league, you’re in luck.

“Our free trial is still in effect,” says Brown. “We decided to extend the free trial because we wanted people to have the opportunity to test the product before purchasing it.  We feel very confident in our product and have received numerous emails from customers who look forward to purchasing a league.”

Through the first three weeks of the 2010 CFL season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were playing nearly flawless football. Saskatchewan’s 3-0 start could largely be attributed to their offence – led by quarterback Darian Durant, a stellar receiving core and a resurgent Wes Cates on the ground – and their blitz-happy defence.

Yet every team, no matter how good, has their weaknesses that can be exploited by opposing teams.

On Saturday the Calgary Stampeders, much like professional scientists, used a near-perfect formula to best the Green and White 40-20, ending the team’s three-game winning streak. In doing so, Calgary jumped into a tie with the Saskatchewan for first in the West Division at 3-1-0.

While some wouldn’t call it a “shocking” upset, the fashion in which Calgary emerged victorious was jaw-dropping. So, what did Calgary do right to pull off the upset?

Put pressure on Darian Durant: Durant is a mobile quarterback. He won’t necessarily take off and scramble a lot during a game – though he is the second-leading rushing quarterback in the league with 162 yards on 17 carries – but Durant does use his mobility in the passing game. If Durant is feeling the pressure he will often escape the pursuing defenders, buying more time for his receivers, before throwing a completion. In Week 1, when the Riders were taking on the Montreal Alouettes, Durant avoided the pressure and threw a beautiful 87-yard touchdown pass to Rob Bagg. So, what is the best way to counterbalance this? Lots of pressure. By bringing the heat on Durant, team’s can force him to stay in the pocket or force a rushed throw and a possible interception. The Stampeders brought a lot of pressure all game long, tallying two sacks. One of these sacks led to a safety and the constant pressure caused Durant to throw three picks. Durant had only thrown one interception in the first three weeks. By pressuring Durant relentlessly, Calgary did not allow him to have time to dictate the game. The defence certainly made Durant look ordinary.

Attacked the defence deep: Saskatchewan hasn’t been the easiest team to run the ball against this season, but they have allowed over 320 passing yards a game. Simply put, teams can have success against the Green and White if they throw the ball. Besides cornerback Omar Morgan and half back Lance Frazier, the Riders field a pretty inexperienced defensive secondary. James Patrick has only been playing safety for two years, cornerback Donovan Alexander has only started for one year and Chris Mackenzie is in his first year as a starter at the half back position. This inexperience has shown early in the season, as Calvillo torched the defence for four touchdowns in Week 1 and Edmonton’s receiver Fred Stamps had over 200 yards in Week 3. Ironically, Calgary had not had many deep passes heading into this game. They had proven to be cautious when it came to attacking defences deep. They weren’t cautious in this game, as Burris challenged Saskatchewan’s defence deep. This didn’t always work – Burris threw two deep interceptions to Patrick – but he also connected with Romby Bryant on a 67-yard touchdown bomb. By throwing these deep passes, Calgary opened up the short game.

Used a well-rounded attack: Saskatchewan has proved this season that one player doesn’t have to carry the team himself. Calgary adopted this mentality, getting numerous players involved in the game. On the ground, Calgary utilized more than just one running back. Joffrey Reynolds had 15 carries, 93 yards and one touchdown while Jon Cornish also chipped in with 77 yards on five carries. This duel-running attack helped Calgary pick up some key first downs without over working Reynolds and opened up the passing games. In the passing game, Burris spread the ball to numerous receivers. Bryant led the way with seven catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Nik Lewis, whose conditioning has been questioned this season, chipped in with five catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. P.K. Sam had a solid game with 46 yards and a touchdown. Even speedster Deon Murphy chipped in with two catches for 25 yards. Calgary was able to move the ball consistently against Saskatchewan because they used multiple targets. In the process, they mirrored what the Riders do so well.

Won the field position battle: With such a talented offence, it is important to make the Riders start their drives as deep as possible. As good as their offence is, it is hard for any team to score when they are starting their drives so deep. Punter Burke Dales helped the Stampeders win the field position battle on this day. He averaged 48.3 yards a punt in the game, pinning the Riders near the goal line a couple of times. The field position battle was very lopsided in the first half, a big reason why the Riders only scored seven points. Murphy also helped out in the return game, averaging 31.5 yards a return. Calgary had ideal conditions to execute their offence, while the Green and White were just fighting to get the ball out of their end.

Didn’t get comfortable: Calgary held a 19-10 lead heading in the fourth quarter. Time to relax? Hardly. Every team knows the Riders are the “comeback kids”, having already won two games from behind this season. You can never be comfortable with a lead against them. Just ask Montreal, who saw a 33-12 lead evaporate in a hurry in Week 1. Instead of being complacent, Calgary worked hard to put the game away. Early in the fourth, Cornish broke of a 50-yard run and Bryant finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown catch. The defence then forced another Durant interception and Reynolds ran the ball into the end zone three plays later, giving the Stampeders a commanding 33-10 lead. The Stampeders even added another touchdown in the fourth quarter to secure the victory. With so many late surges by the Riders in the past, it was surprising to see the team fail to mount any sort of comeback. Credit has to go to Calgary.

While it may have just been one bad game for the Riders, the Stampeders followed a perfect formula to beat the Riders. Will the rest of the league take note? Will the Riders find the road harder going forward? Will Saskatchewan emerge from the loss even better? Only time will tell, but for now the Stampeders will celebrate a huge victory.

The year was 2005.

Quarterback Henry Burris had just finished his seventh season of professional football. He spent the first two years primarily as a backup quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders, served as the starter for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2000, had a brief stint in the NFL and NFL Europe, then returned to Saskatchewan in 2003.

In 2004, Burris led the Riders to the West Final against the British Columbia Lions. Unfortunately, then-Saskatchewan place kicker Paul McCallum missed an 18-year field goal in overtime and the Green and White went on to lose the game.

That off-season, Burris had a decision to make. He could re-sign with Saskatchewan or pursue another option. Burris shocked the Green and White faithful by signing with the Stampeders. Why Burris decided to leave Saskatchewan is obviously debatable.

Whether or not you are a fan of Burris, though if you live in Saskatchewan you almost certainly hate him, it is clear that his move to Calgary was the best thing that could happen for Calgary, Saskatchewan and the Canadian Football League.

The Stampeders certainly benefited from the move. In the era known as “Before Burris”, Calgary was in a rut. They had missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, winning only 15 games in total. Furthermore, the team needed a stellar quarterback. They had tried to find a quarterback, but players like Ben Sankey, David Corley and, who could forget, Kevin Feterik failed to deliver.

Burris brought a spark to Calgary. He immediately helped the team improve, as they posted a record of 11-7-0 in 2005 and made the playoffs. In fact, since Burris made his decision to come to Calgary, the Stampeders have not missed the playoffs. Burris has led the team to a combined record of 51-37-2.

But, a real star quarterback needs to win a Grey Cup for his team.

After struggling in the playoffs during his first three years with Calgary, Burris finally won the big game in 2008. The team posted 13 wins during the regular season and then beat the British Columbia Lions and Montreal Alouettes in the playoffs.

Statistically, Burris has enjoyed success in Calgary. In his six seasons with the Stampeders, Burris has gone 1,646/2,722 for 23,734 yards, 146 touchdowns and 80 interceptions. Would he have had this same success in Saskatchewan? We’ll never know.

On the same note, Saskatchewan has had its share of success since Burris left. The move did not affect the team’s playoff chances, as the Green and White have not missed the playoffs since Burris left and have posted a record of 52-37-1.

"Whether or not you are a fan of Burris .... it is clear that his move to Calgary was the best thing that could happen for Calgary, Saskatchewan and the Canadian Football League"

But, the big positive for the Riders was the emergence of quarterbacks Kerry Joseph and Darian Durant. Joseph came over from the Ottawa Renegades in 2006 in the dispersal draft. After an average 2006 campaign, Joseph had a breakout year in 2007. He was named the most outstanding player in the league and led the Riders to their first Grey Cup victory since 1989.

Durant began to emerge after Joseph was traded to the Toronto Argonauts in 2008. He had his ups-and-downs in 2008, but showed signs of greatness last season. He was named the West Division most outstanding player and almost led Saskatchewan to a Grey Cup victory. He continues to excel this season.

Would the Riders have won a Grey Cup, or found a star quarterback if Burris had not left? Once again, we will never know, but it is clear that both Calgary and Saskatchewan have done well since the big move.

The fans, both Calgary’s and Saskatchewan’s have also benefited from Burris moving to Calgary.

Since Burris left for Calgary, the Calgary-Saskatchewan rivalry has been kicked up another notch. While the two western opponents always had somewhat of a rivalry, this move really kicked things up a notch.

Burris was immediately despised by almost all Rider fans following his decision. When he returned to Saskatchewan to play against the Riders, fans packed the stadium to boo him. Chants of “Hennnnnnnnnry” continue to explode across Mosaic Stadium every time he returns. Before this move, there wasn’t as much enthusiasm among Rider fans when it came to watching a game against Calgary.

Naturally, with so much hate towards their starting quarterback, Calgary fans began to equally hate the Riders. The fact that more and more fans of the Green and White have packed into McMahon Stadium for every road game hasn’t helped either.

One thing both fans can agree on is that the rivalry has been exciting and a lot of fun. Calgary and Saskatchewan have had some exciting regular season battles and have met three times in the playoffs since 2005. The Riders won all three games.

Finally, the CFL has also benefited from the move. While I don’t have the exact numbers, Saskatchewan-Calgary games have always drawn a lot of hype and large TV audiences. Adding another classic rivalry has helped the CFL increase its fan base.

This week there will be another instalment of this new rivalry, as the Riders travel to Calgary to battle the Stampeders on Saturday. A lot is on the line even though it is only Week 4. At 3-0-0, Saskatchewan will look to prove they are indeed the top dogs in the West. Right behind them at 2-1-0, Calgary will look to prove they will be competing for the top spot in the West.

Who could have known that one small move would kick-start such a big rivalry. While Burris remains with the Stampeders, the rivalry between the two teams will continue to be heated. When he leaves the team, the rivalry will still remain but won’t be the same.

Burris has created one hell of a rivalry.

Three Downs With Jonathan Hamelin appears each week on CFL Daily Dose. Hamelin is an aspiring journalist, who has a freelance contract with the Regina Leader-Post and is a veteran online CFL columnist. His work can be followed on Twitter and Facebook.

Teams in the CFL have become a little more conservative when it comes to attempting field goals.

The reason? More and more missed field goals are being brought back all the way for a touchdown. Through two weeks of the young CFL season, there have already been three missed field goals returned for touchdowns. There were only two during the entire 2009 season.

Of course, in the CFL missing a field goal has always been a dangerous thing. After all, with mostly bigger players in to block, the returner doesn’t have to beat many people to go all the way to the end zone. This year it seems to be happening at a frenzied rate.

To make matters worse for the teams who have been scored against on a missed field goal return, a couple of these returns have swung or almost swung the game in their opponent’s favour.

In Week 1, during the spectacular Montreal-Saskatchewan opening game, Alouettes’ returner Tim Maypray ran a missed field goal 125 yards for a touchdown. The touchdown gave Montreal a 33-12 lead and should have been enough to secure them the win. In the Toronto Argonauts’ 36-34 stunning victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Week 2, it was a 117-yard missed field goal return for a touchdown by Chad Owens that gave the Argonauts the lead for good. Marcus Thigpen’s 118-yard missed field goal return for a touchdown in Week 1 against Winnipeg at least gave the Hamilton Tiger-Cats a chance to get back in the game.

Because of this new trend, it has put more pressure on both coaches and kickers.

Coaches have become more cautious when it comes to kicking field goals. They will sometimes pass on field goals from the 45-50 yard range that they may not have passed on before. Instead, these coaches decide to punt the ball away and pin their opponent deep. Their reasoning is simple. Instead of risking a long kick, which if missed could easily be returned for a touchdown, why not pin their opponent in deep, which could possibly result in a safety?

What happens when a kicker misses a field goal? Well, this season in the CFL it has usually meant a touchdown for the other team.

Kickers have more pressure on them then ever. They know that not only will their team not get three points if they miss their field goal, but it could possibly go back the other way for a touchdown.

In general, the play of the special teams in the CFL has been, well, special. That is unless you are talking about the cover team.

In 2009, there were only seven return touchdowns. Heading into Week 3, there are already six (one kickoff return, two punt returns and three missed field goal returns).

One of the big reasons for this is because talented kick returners have emerged in the CFL.

Thigpen has been the big story of the season so far. After failing to make the roster in Riderville, Thigpen joined the Tiger-Cats. Since then, he has the return triple-crown. Thigpen has a kickoff, punt and missed field goal return touchdown. He has been one of the stories of the season so far, making the Riders look slightly foolish for letting him go.

Owen has also been a big story for Toronto. Coming over at the beginning of the season in a trade from Montreal, Owens already has a punt and missed field goal return touchdown.

There are, of course, some people that aren’t thrilled about the emergence of the return game in the CFL, special team’s coaches. More pressure has now been placed on these men to work hard and prevent these return touchdowns from happening against them.

But, there is likely nothing giving the coaches more grief than missed field goal returns for touchdowns.

When kickers attempt a field goal in the CFL these days, there is more than just three points on the line.

Three Downs With Jonathan Hamelin appears Monday on CFL Daily Dose. Hamelin is an aspiring journalist who has a freelance contract with the Regina Leader-Post and is a veteran online CFL columnist. His work can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.