The Horsetail Tackle

Note from a friend who went with three buddies to last week's Seahawks-Rams game in Seattle: "We had fabulous seats, five rows up at the 40 behind the Rams bench. Of course, we could have pooled the tickets price and bought a car."

Back in the CFL, another nine hours of eye-glazing, mind-numbing Saturday action. Most memorable moment came when a running back was pulled down by his crimson hair. What is known as a horse collar tackle is illegal, but not what one commentator correctly dubbed a "horsetail tackle." The rule is that if a player's hair is long enough to come down over his jersey, it is considered part of his uniform.

All football fans, in their home stadiums, now take it upon themselves to make a lot of noise, intended to throw the visiting team off its game. Some of the fans rise and wave their arms, conducting the cacophony. And while there is an element of craziness among all devoted followers, Saskatchewan Roughriders fans must take the prize for goofiest costumes, ever since inventing the watermelon helmet and watermelon brassiere.

A bad day on the road for the Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts. They would have had long, gloomy flights home, especially the Argos, who fell to the kind of score Vancouver's Notre Dame high school used to inflict: 55-8. One viewer tweeted that the Argos have proven themselves "masters of dark humor."

And finally, Winnipeg Blue Bombers may have lost their number one position in the west, but Coach Mike O'Shea has shown himself to be a serious contender in the Ernest Hemingway Lookalike Contest.

--Slap Maxwell.