Wednesday, July 30, 2008

CIS Corner: Bagg gets his knee dirty...

The latest out of the Paris of the Prairies is that Rob Bagg, the former Queen's receiver, will be the holder for the Saskatchewan Roughridgers.

Getting on special teams is one way to be guaranteed a spot on the dress roster. It also means more TV time for Bagg when the 'Riders — they're 5-0, in case you can't hear the crowing all the way from Regina — play Calgary on Friday.

(If they were playing Edmonton — can we get a Maciocia! — the kick holder would get a lot of camera time.)

This is important. During Saskatchewan's Week 4 win over Montréal, it seemed like whenever a shot of 'Riders coach Ken Miller appeared on the screen, a youngish-looking player wearing No. 6 would just happen to be in camera range.

Former Western star Andy Fantuz, who unfortunately for the 'Riders and for us CIS aficionados, broke his left tibula on Sunday vs. the Argos, had been doing the holding. It's a shame, since Fantuz is right on the cusp of completing the classic Canadian tradition from wide receiver in university to a move-the-sticks slotback in the pros who's dangerous after the catch. He looked ready to give B.C.'s Jason Clermont a run for his money as the best Canadian slotback in the West.

The 'Riders receiving corps is like a M*A*S*H unit these days — they had a quarterback lining up at wideout in practice the other day — so Bagg will get some reps on offence, too.

As Bucholtz notes in the comments, fellow Kingstonian and Gaels alum Matt Kirk could be in line for more playing time with the B.C. Lions this week. Their starting D-tackle, Tyrone Williams, is nicked up.

1 comment:

Andrew Bucholtz said...

Bagg's got a shot at catching some passes as well: according to the Regina Leader-Post's Darrell Davis, he's been activated as a backup receiver, and the Riders are missing 3-4 different receivers (depending on if Corey Grant plays or not). According to a different Davis piece in the National Post, Michael Palmer's supposed to step in for Fantuz, but the receiver shortage could see Bagg catching some passes.

Oh, and notes on another Queen's product: Lowell Ullrich of the Vancouver Province reports that defensive tackle Tyrone Williams' knee injury has been bothering him, which could increase Matt Kirk's role. Kirk's been dressing for each game, but hasn't cracked the lineup yet.