"REDBLACKS sign American DL Antonio Simmons"

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS announced, Thursday, that the team has signed American defensive lineman Antonio Simmons. 

Simmons, 25, is a product of Georgia Tech, who most recently appeared with the Montreal Alouettes, suiting up in three games during the 2022 campaign. In 2021, he saw action with the Edmonton Elks, after being traded by the Als in his original stint with the team.

All told, the Jacksonville, Florida native has appeared in 30 CFL games, posting 63 tackles, six sacks, and a forced fumble.

There is a general sloppiness that has found its way into this organization in recent years which I find infuriating.

This was OSEG's announcement on Twitter.

What the hell does Terrance Smith have to do with this?  Clearly they used the wrong image. 

Sigh...mistakes happen, fine...Let's get to the actual announcement:

The Ottawa REDBLACKS announced, Thursday, that the team... 

What, you're announcing it tomorrow?  You can't even get the day of the week right? 

I should compile a list of all the incorrect releases issued by this team in recent months. They've announced defensive players as being on the offensive side of the ball, they've listed the wrong school for at least one guy and they once listed a defensive back's dimensions for a linebacker, making them off by about four inches and 50 pounds.

I suppose it doesn't matter much, the roster is rarely up to date regardless and would often include players that were supposedly 0 years old and 5'1" in height. Not even Lewis Ward is that short.

It's baffling. You can't win a game to save your life yet you continuously make these silly mistakes.

I know these don't affect on-field performance, obviously, but there is a complete lack of attention to detail that seems to run from one end of this organization to the other. When you're struggling to maintain interest and support, you might want to make every effort to appear competent in as many facets as possible.

July 9th, 2022: Cumberland Panthers (OSFL U18) 30 @ Sault Sabercats 07

The 3-seed Cumberland Panthers won their first OSFL U18 playoff game this past weekend in dominating fashion, handing the visiting (7-seed) Brampton Bulldogs a 44-00 setback.

Hopefully we get some coverage of that but two weekends ago, the Panthers closed out the regular season with a road game in Sault-Ste-Marie. I've located an article about that game written by Brad Coccimiglio for sootoday.com and share an excerpt of it below. 

Cumberland jumped out to an early lead as Jerry Momo ran the ball 77 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. Jayden Bonhomme kicked the extra point to make it 7-0 Panthers early.

The Panthers made it 14-0 as Zai Vaillancourt caught a pass from quarterback Wolfgang Schad for a 45-yard touchdown. Bonhomme kicked the convert on the play.

The Sabercats got on the board in the second quarter as Konner Ritchie ran the ball in from two yards out. The major, combined with the subsequent convert by Daniel Bumbaco made it 14-7.

The locals had an opportunity to tie the game in the third quarter when Lucas Malcolm recovered a fumbled punt deep in Cumberland territory. The Sabercats would get the ball down to the Panthers one, but couldn’t convert on the opportunity

Cumberland then added to the lead in the third quarter when Momo ran the ball 108 yards for a touchdown. With the convert by Bonhomme, the Panthers led 21-7.

After the Cumberland lead got extended to 23-7 with a safety, the Panthers made it 30-7 in the fourth quarter when Bonhomme caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Schad in the fourth quarter.

...

Momo led the Panthers with 198 yards rushing on five carries in addition to a 10-yard catch.

Vaillancourt finished the day with 53 yards receiving on a pair of catches.

OSFL varsity action between the Sault Sabercats and Cumberland Panthers at Superior Heights on July 9, 2022.Brad Coccimiglio/SooToday

1994, Oct 15th: "Gee-Gees survive great scare from Ravens but just barely"

Not every meeting between the University of Ottawa and Carleton is a Panda game, but many of the non-Panda contests are noteworthy regardless. In reviewing results for either team, I often find that the non-Panda contest is the more entertaining of the two match-ups. 

Such was the case in 1994. Have yourself a read. The first image is of Chris Evraire getting past Scott Hogarth and the second is of Harry Von Hofwegen sacking quarterback Steve Clarke.  

"REDBLACKS acquire QB Nick Arbuckle from Elks"

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS have traded their fourth-round selection in the 2023 CFL Draft to the Edmonton Elks, in exchange for quarterback Nick Arbuckle, the team announced today. 

“We’re pleased to be able to add Nick to our locker room at this point of the season,” said REDBLACKS General Manager Shawn Burke. “He’s an experienced player in our league and we look forward to having him on our side as a member of the RNation family.”

Arbuckle, 28, is a veteran of four CFL seasons, having signed with the Calgary Stampeders in 2017, and winning a Grey Cup with the team the following season. He briefly joined the REDBLACKS in 2020 via trade, but with the season lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arbuckle moved on to the Toronto Argonauts, and was traded to the Elks in 2021.

All told, the Oxnard, California native has appeared in 48 CFL games, completing 361 passes for 4,297 yards, and 19 touchdowns. 

HEIGHT: 6-1 | WEIGHT: 213 lbs | BIRTHDAY: 1993-10-04

HOMETOWN: Oxnard, CA | SCHOOL: Georgia State

"REDBLACKS acquire linebacker Nelson from Hamilton"

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS completed a trade, today, acquiring American linebacker Patrick Nelson from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, in exchange for a player from the team's negotiation list. 

Nelson, 24, arrived in Hamilton by way of Southern Methodist University, where he recorded 146 tackles, 23.5 for a loss, 14 sacks, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles through 22 games. Prior to that, the Chicago, IL native appearing in 20 games with the University of Illinois, notching 140 tackles, five for a loss, 0.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. 

HEIGHT: 6-0 | WEIGHT: 215 lbs | BIRTHDAY: 1996-10-23

HOMETOWN: Chicago, IL | SCHOOL: SMU

If You Watched The 1991 Canadian Cup, Thank Damon Allen!

Damon Allen wasn't always the most popular guy in Ottawa. The 1991 season, in which he was an Eastern all-star, was his third and final one but he would leave a parting gift for amateur football fans shortly following the conclusion of the CFL regular season (the article is from November 8th of that year).

Unfortunately things did not go well for the Sooners in that game but regardless this was was a pretty classy move by a guy who fielded an awful lot of criticism while he was here.

Damon Allen has some favourite charities so I decided to make a token donation to one of them based on his actions from 31 years ago. Let's think of it as a good deed still paying off long-term. ☺