I have great hopes for Jonathan Crompton, quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes. I hope he comes through and becomes a dominate player in every aspect of his position. Really, I am not sure if there is a Plan B. Troy Smith was plan A and Alex Brink was plan B so I guess in reality Crompton is plan C. Now he does have moments of brilliance but the team needs more of them. Over the first three quarters on Friday night only 68 yards and seven out of 10 possessions were two and out. Come on, Crompton, in many ways you are in the right place at the right time to make it happen. After the two losses to Calgary, it was important for Edmonton to get back to winning. I thought Mike Reilly played his best football in the fourth quarter and Adarius Bowman is having his best year in his CFL career. But the two guys that are on their way to making the transition from noticed once in a while to noticed all the time are Kendial Lawrence and Tyler Thomas. Both are running backs and both are 59 and 195lbs. When John White went down with injury, Lawrence recognized the opportunity and performed. It is so true in pro football that staying healthy is so critical to success. Not only when you are healthy you are active and contributing to winning but you also keep the guy behind you a€?an unknowna€? talent. The more the guy behind you is unknown the better because everyone now knows about Lawrence. As for Thomas, he is a part-time running back and a very good kickoff returner. Thomas is going to take a kick and return it for a touchdown before this season is over. Too much confidence, too much explosive speed, and too much ability to break tackles not to capitalize on at some point this season. The Eskimos have an interesting game this week in Hamilton because due to the absence of Darian Durant in Saskatchewan it is Edmonton that has a great shot at finishing second in the West when all is said and done in early November. In Calgary I dont know the bigger story. How well the Argos played in the first half of their 40-33 loss or the fact they gave up a 29-point lead to lose in the second half. Or maybe it is Calgary and their ability to come back and win. I guarantee you the celebration in the locker room after the game and winning the way they did was like a playoff game victory or winning a division at the end of the season. To be able to maintain concentration, faith and effort down by so many points says a lot about not just ability, but resolve and character too. It is true that people rise or fall during adversity and when you rise, it says a lot about what is inside you as a player because what is inside is eventually expressed on the outside for all to see. That was a great game to watch and an even better one to be a part of. With Toronto, they can play winning football, they just dont know it and therefore must prove it for four quarters. In BC Place the Lions moved two points ahead of Winnipeg and have played one less game. The Bombers are on a slide; losing five in a row is tough to deal with but losing Drew Willy is tougher. This is their bye week so the ability to regroup and re-evaluate is an asset in the moment. Still no doubt this is a make or break scenario coming up for Winnipeg. Out of their six remaining games, four are in the West so they control their playoff destiny, but do they have a quarterback presently on the roster to get them there? Finally, I was really impressed by Hamilton. Yes, they played the Roughriders at the right time with Durant out and Tino Sunseri in. Orlondo Steinauer had a good defensive game plan for a quarterback starting his first game and his plan changed the game. Still it was the best I have seen the Ticats play in a long time and Zach Collaros gave every indication all is going to be ok. Taylor Reed, number 44 out of SMU, looked really good at middle linebacker. First year player and maybe the Ticats have found a long term player at that critical position. With the Riders, the two weeks left in September will be a challenge. Good news is offensive coordinator George Cortez will teach Sunseri all he needs to know. Bad news is there is no guarantee that what is taught will be seen next week at home against Ottawa, or the week after in Edmonton. Amazing how all can chang in one week to the next. Ecco Shoes Online Canada . I kept my eyes focused up on the camera during each approach. I just tried to stay focused on my form, as I didnt know what the ball reaction was. I was quite emotional at the end. I did not actually see any of the shots in the game until I got home and watched the video. Cheap Ecco Shoes . In mens doubles, Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock reached the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Croatian Mate Pavic and Andre Sa of Brazil. http://www.wholesaleeccocanada.com/. -- Caris LeVert had 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double, and No. Ecco Shoes Clearance Sale . - Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin has cleared league-mandated concussion protocol and has returned to practice as a full participant. Ecco Shoes Online Outlet .com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Columbus Blue Jackets took advantage of the Minnesota Wild, who were coming off an emotional game a day earlier. The Blue Jackets got goals from Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and R.J. Umberger and Curtis McElhinney posted his first shutout since 2011 in a 4-0 victory on Friday night. "We talked about them playing last night and there was definitely an emphasis to jump all over them," Umberger said, referring to the Wilds 4-3 home win over Chicago. "We were moving pretty good." The Blue Jackets had not played since Tuesday, filling the time with two hard, full practices in which they were able to work on several problem areas. Minnesotas Zach Parise knew his team didnt have its heart in the game. "We were just flat and not crisp," he said. "We were pretty brutal through the neutral zone and couldnt get anything generated." Wild coach Mike Yeo didnt want to use his clubs first home win over the Blackhawks since 2008 as an excuse, but still thought that was the root of his clubs problems. "We played right into that (being tired), too, turning pucks over," he said. "We were on our heels, slow reacting, slow getting to places. We were not pressing the way we needed to be." It was the Blue Jackets second win in a row, the first time theyve won back-to-back games since Oct. 25. They did it in their first game without last years Vezina Trophy winner as the NHLs top goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky, who will miss the next month or so with a strained groin. McElhinney made 20 saves in his first shutout since Feb. 5, 2011, while with the Anaheim Ducks. "Its a good feeling for me to step in here again and have another shutout game, another win," he said, referring to the Blue Jackets consecutive shutouts. "Hopefully, its the start of something good and we can keep it going." Foligno and Umberger each also had assists and Ryan Johansen added two assists to stretch his points streak to four games. The Blue Jackets have been struggling with injuries. In addition to Bobrovsky, top offensive threat Marian Gaborik (sprained knee) is out for another two weeks and top off-season free-agent signing Nathan Horton (shoulder surgery) has yet to play in a Columbus sweater aand likely wont be ready for at least another month.dddddddddddd McElhinneys third NHL shutout came in his 78th game. After a scoreless first period, the Blue Jackets took over. At the 1:17 mark of the second, Atkinson took a pass from Dubinsky and wristed a shot from the top of the right circle that Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom didnt appear to see. He barely moved as the puck beat him high and near his right shoulder. "Some games its tougher to swallow the puck when you dont see it," he said. The Blue Jackets went on their first power play when Matt Cooke went off for hooking. Columbus soon took advantage on the man advantage. Johansen passed to Umberger for a shot from a hard angle that handcuffed Backstrom, with Johansen then following the puck to get a whack at it on the rebound. Before the puck could be cleared, Foligno found the net on his second attempt from the right doorstep at the 5:40 mark. "We were able to maintain our energy and continue to push," Foligno said. "You saw great efforts from everybody tonight -- and Curtis McElhinney shut the door." The Wild had a prime chance to get back in the game when they had 1:13 of a 5-on-3 advantage midway through the second period. But McElhinney smothered a hard slap shot from the left point by Jason Pominville and then later appeared to stop a high shot by Zach Parise off his mask. "The big thing was that 5 on 3," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "That was a critical point of the game. Curtis made probably three great saves for us and our (penalty) killers did a great job." Columbus was still controlling the play early in the third when, on a 3-on-3 rush, Jenner wristed a shot from the top of the left circle that eluded Backstrom high on his glove side. The goal, at the 4:38 mark, was the rookies third of the season. Umberger closed the scoring at the 9:05 mark when, while trailing the play, he benefited from a nifty feed from Foligno. Foligno had only one defender to beat but instead whipped a blind pass to Umberger who had virtually an empty net. Notes: The Blue Jackets improved to 35-0 under Richards when leading after two periods. ... It was the Wilds third loss in a row on the road. ... Minnesota has been shut out in two of its past three games. ' ' '