by ldh2013 » Thu Jun 23, 2016 8:47 am
Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork. .com) - Champions of the East Division and the reigning Grey Cup title holders, the Toronto Argonauts finish off the regular season on Friday night as they host the Montreal Alouettes at Rogers Centre. Watch the game on TSN starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. Last year, the Argos were an unlikely champion who finished just 9-9 during the regular season, winning only three of their final eight regular season bouts, but that just goes to show how anything is possible once the postseason begins. This time around Toronto enters the final week of the regular season with back-to-back victories and wins in six of the last eight contests in order to take over the division. Against Winnipeg last Thursday night, Ricky Ray was unstoppable as he converted 39-of-45 passes for a career-high 505 yards and three touchdowns as the Argos crushed the Blue Bombers in a 36-21 decision. At one point Ray, who had missed several games due to injury before making his return, connected on a team-record 21 straight passes, while his 39 connections also set a new club standard as well. For his efforts, Ray was named the CFL Offensive Player of the Week, the third time he has captured the honor this season and the fourth time in his Toronto career. Because the Argos were able to lock up the division title, head coach Scott Milanovich made the early decision to keep Ray out of the final regular season game which means the signal caller, who wont return to the field until Nov. 17 at Rogers Centre, will break the CFLs single-season mark for completion percentage (.777), formerly held by Dave Dickenson at 73.98 percent. Also coming back strong for Toronto was Chad Owens who set game highs with 11 receptions and 105 yards. The all-everything performer also accounted for 82 yards on five kickoff returns and brought back five punts for an additional 39 yards as well. Even though he missed time due to injury, Owens is still the leader in the league as far as receptions are concerned with 94, leading to 979 yards, but it is somewhat puzzling to find that he has scored only twice on all of those catches. Owens again leads the league in combined yards as well with 2,298, 155 yards ahead of Calgarys Jon Cornish. Romby Bryant, playing in just his second game for Toronto, reeled in eight passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns, proving he too can be a valued threat down the field for Ray and the Argos offense. As for the Alouettes, last week they battled the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for the second time in a span of just six days and went from blowing up Hamilton on Oct. 20 by a score of 36-5 at home, to falling by a field goal, 27-24, on the road. In that latest meeting, played in front of barely 13,000 at Guelphs Alumni Stadium, former Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith made his second start for the Als and threw for 340 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but that still wasnt enough to get Montreal over the hump. Smith converted 23-of-39 passes and was picked off twice in the setback. Duron Carter and S.J. Green helped Smith along the way as they both caught six balls for more than 100 yards and a TD, while running back Tyrell Sutton led the charge on the ground with his game-high 101 yards on 16 carries. Defensively, the Als limited Hamilton to just 323 yards of offense and Geoff Tisdale made the Cats pay in the first quarter as he picked off a Henry Burris pass and returned it 64 yards for a score. Even with all the changes at quarterback this season for the Alouettes, the one constant on offense has been the play of Green who is currently second in the league in receiving yards with 1,183, and has turned his 83 catches into a league-best 13 majors. In terms of the all-time series between these two squads, Montreal owns a 109-85-3 advantage in regular-season matchups dating back to 1946. However, Toronto won the most recent battle in early September by a score of 37-30 on the road, and has now taken two of the last three encounters. . -- The Chicago Bears have agreed to terms with safety Brock Vereen and QB David Fales on four-year contracts. . Rangers manager Ron Washington decided to give his closer one more day of rest after a long week, and Matt Harrison had already done most of the heavy lifting to put Texas in position for another victory. .J. -- This Super Bowl has just about everything a fan, a player, a coach -- and certainly a league -- could ask for. Former Pro Bowl defender Marcellus Wiley added his name to a lawsuit accusing NFL teams of illegally dispensing powerful narcotics and other drugs to keep players on the field without regard for their long-term health. "The first thing people ask is, knowing what happened, would you do it again?" said Wiley, currently an ESPN analyst. "No. No I wouldnt." The lawsuit was originally filed May 20 in U.S. District Court in northern California and amended Wednesday to add 250 more players, bringing the total to 750 plaintiffs. Wiley, who played in Buffalo, San Diego, Dallas and Jacksonville from 1997-2006, is the ninth player identified by name, joining former Chicago Bears Jim McMahon, Richard Dent and Keith Van Horne, Jeremy Newberry and others. The lawsuit, which is seeking class certification, covers the years 1968-2008. It contends team physicians and trainers across the NFL routinely -- and often illegally -- provided powerful narcotics and other controlled substances on game days to mask the pain. Among them were the painkillers Percodan, Percocet and Vicodin, anti-inflammatories such as Toradol, and sleep aids such as Ambien. Lead attorney Steven Silverman said some teams filled out prescriptions in players names without their knowledge or consent. He said those drugs were then "handed out like candy at Halloween" and often combined in "cocktails." NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league had no comment. The former players have reported a range of debilitating effects, from chronic muscle and bone ailments to permanent nerve and organ damage to addiction. The players contend those health problems came from drug use but many of the conditions arent tied to the use of painkillers. Six of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including McMahon and Van Horne, were also parties to the concussion-related class-action lawsuit filed against the NFL less than a year ago. The NFL agreed to pay $765 million to settle that case -- without acknowledging it concealed the risks of concussions from former players. A federal judge has yet to approve the settlement, expressing concern the amount is too small. Wiley, 39, was not part of the concussion lawsuit, but decided to join former players in this one afteer suffering partial renal failure in April, despite no history of kidney problems. . Wiley said he took "multiple injections" of painkillers over the course of a season to cope with an injury that then-San Diego team physician Dr. David Chao diagnosed as severe groin sprain. After the season, an independent doctor diagnosed a torn abdominal wall that required surgery. "You cant walk into a doctors office and say, "Give me this, give me that, just to get through the day. Somebody would shut the place down," Wiley said in a telephone interview. "But thats what was going on in the NFL. Its easy to get mesmerized. I wont deny that; theres this play through-the-pain, fall-on-the-sword culture, and somebody in line ready to step up and take your place... "And the next question when people hear about this stuff is wheres the personal responsibility? Well, Im not a medical doctor" he added, "but I did take the word of a medical doctor who took an oath to get me through not just one game, or one season, but a lifetime. Meanwhile, hes getting paid by how many bodies he gets out on the field." Chao stepped down as San Diegos team physician last June, after the NFL Players Association called for him to be replaced and filed a complaint. An independent panel cleared Chao. In April, as part of a stipulated settlement, Chao was placed on probation by the Medical Board of California. His license was also revoked, but that action was stayed while he remains on probation. He was accused of committing gross negligence, repeated negligent acts and acts of dishonesty or corruption. Chao was also found liable of malpractice in 2012 in a case involving a regular patient, not a Chargers player, with a judgment of nearly $5.2 million. Records also show he has been publicly reprimanded by the board and pleaded guilty to driving under the influence. The lawsuits main burden is proving cause and effect -- that use of painkillers in the past caused the chronic problems the players face now. The players also would have to show that they are suffering those problems at a greater rate than other people their age, and that its not due to other risk factors such as obesity, smoking and family history. ' ' '
