TC 2010: East Recap Day #1

June 06, 2010
CFL.ca Staff

SHERBROOKE, Que. — Montreal Alouettes’ centre Bryan Chiu officially announced his retirement from professional football today, dropping a bombshell on Montreal Alouettes’ training camp. Chiu played his entire 13 year career with the Montreal Alouettes.

“Today, we celebrate a fantastic career and we thank Bryan for his courage, commitment, toughness and leadership throughout the years,” said Alouettes Vice President and General Manager, Jim Popp.

The Alouettes continue training camp on Monday in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

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Jonathan Rubinoff
Argonauts.ca

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — After three days of rookie practice, the Argos took to the field for the first time with all players strapping on the pads to take part in the first of two-a-days. The Boatmen took to the rain-soaked field and the pace was rabid, to say the least. There was no shortage in energy from this squad.

The Argos coaching staff was boisterous all day long, making sure that everyone on the field knew that football season was officially in the air and there would be nobody taking a play off.

“First day of camp was beautiful. The tempo was like I haven’t seen before [to open camp]”, said veteran RB Jeff Johnson. “The rookies set the pace and they’ve been flying for the last couple of days. I was watching a couple of days ago and it got me excited, and now being back out here it feels great. It was a little bit wet but it re-created that atmosphere and made you feel like a kid again”.

Newly acquired WR Carl Berman stood out, hauling in a few nice receptions, one in tight coverage over the middle and two over top of the secondary.

Speaking of the Argos secondary, those in attendance would have recognized everybody in it but would not have recognized where they were playing.

Veteran Jordan Younger has vacated his usual spot – manning the corner – and moved up to play the SAM linebacker position while Willie Pile has dropped back from the outside linebacker spot to defensive back, primarily taking reps at strong safety.

Pile was originally brought into Argos camp in 2007 as a safety. He later converted to linebacker and says that the transition is not as difficult as one would think, especially with defensive backs coach and former teammate, Orlondo Steinauer in his corner.

“At safety, you’ve got to make your own action”, Pile explained. “I learned that from watching the best. I watched Steinauer do it for a long time and the main thing I’m trying to gain from him is his eyes as well as his understanding of offences. I think I can understand offence the way he does and grasp the defence that is already in place”.

One of the more interesting drills came on special teams with the coaches working with some of the new non-import players on developing an understanding of the no-yards policy in the CFL; a penalty that frequently appears in practice as well as early on in the regular season.

NOTES: P Jamie Boreham has been added to the retired list but is expected to be re-activated in the future…Veteran DB Dwaine Carpenter did not make practice this morning as he had minor issues with his passport. He will report for his first practice on Monday.

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Bert Faibish
Ticats.ca

HAMILTON, Ont. — On the 18-game road trip to Edmonton, training camp is the first pit stop.

While it may seem long and redundant to the casual observer, the beginnings of a championship team are forged in the heat and fierce competition that is training camp.

Sunday morning marked the first time that the veteran players joined the rookies on the field, and from the first whistle it was clear that only one thing is on the minds of players this year.

“My mentality, and hopefully it’s the same as everyone on this team, is championship mode,” said wide receiver Arland Bruce III.

“I’m over here to win a Grey Cup and today that started for us as a team.”

November 28th may seem very far away, but the process of transforming the Ticats from a playoff team to a CFL champion begins in June.

“Everybody on this team is focused on the same goal,” said veteran linebacker Otis Floyd.

“The amazing thing that I’ve seen is that a lot of the veteran guys even showed up to camp early and in great shape,” he said.

Camp is not only for working on systems and coverages, but for taking a group of individuals and turning them into a cohesive unit with one goal.

“The first day of camp is usually the hardest but it’s great to come out and hang out with some of your best friends,” said offensive lineman, Marwan Hage.

“We have a very tight team here,” he said.

The old adage that ‘winning is contagious’ is true.

The team’s self image is now that of a winner, and it is reflected in the heavy competition that was apparent even on the first day of camp.

“For our first day I thought it was very positive, we have a very talented team,” said Hage.

“I’m sure every other team is saying the same thing but moving forward in the season, the next step is to build off the good day we just had,” he said.

In November when games are played for keeps nobody may remember the first day of camp as anything special but in June when every team in the league is 0-0, success is measured not in wins and losses but in bruises, high-fives and sweat.

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BlueBombers.com Staff

WINNIPEG — Winnipeg Blue Bomber fever was alive both on and off the field as the 2010 edition of the Bombers took to the field for their first training camp practice this morning. Over one thousand fans took in the back-to-back workouts to cheer on their team as they prepare for the 2010 CFL season.

The first practice got underway shortly before 8:30 a.m.this morning with the positional coaches taking their troops through individual workouts. Receivers Coach Chris Wiesehan wins the “most animated coach award” as he directed the receivers through a series of drills in which he got directly involved trying to strip the ball and swat at the players’ arms while enforcing ball control.

Special Teams was a big focus on day one with the concentration being on punt coverage and field goal formations.

There were many players who stood out during the drills. Defensive back Brandon Stewart was a constant force during one-on-one’s – breaking up one deep pass – and then demonstrated his playmaking abilities again during the team drill when he broke up two more passes. Stewart is vying for a spot in the secondary that lost both Jonathan Hefney and Lenny Walls in the offseason.

Terrence Edwards was complimented by Head Coach Paul LaPolice on a few occasions for his tremendous route running and Adarius Bowman showed off his deep threat abilities hauling in a pass along the sidelines that drew big applause from those in attendance. Both Fred Reid and Yvenson Bernard were able to bust through blocking for some big gains and quarterback Alex Brink hooked up with receiver Chris Davis on a couple nice throws, but the biggest play of the day came from defensive back Jason Tate. With Brink commanding the offence down the field, the Illinois State product leapt up and picked off a pass that he returned all the way for a touchdown. Tate also managed to pick off a Steven Jyles pass in the second session.

Training Camp continues all week as the Bombers prepare for their first preseason game against the Montreal Alouettes on June 13th. The team will practice back-to-back tomorrow morning beginning at 8:30a.m. All practices are open to the public.

STARS OF THE DAY:
DB Brandon Stewart
WR Terrence Edwards
WR Adarius Bowman
LB Courtney Smith
DB LaVar Glover

QUOTE OF THE DAY: After stopping a receiver from gaining more than two yards during one-on-one’s, defensive back LaVar Glover shouted out, “That was only two yards, baby!” To which receiver Adarius Bowman replied, “Whatever man, we’ll take it! Second and eight, baby!”