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the look ahead

LABORIOUS SCHEDULING

You wanted it; you got it. Labour Day with David Braley.

Instead of the traditional Southern Ontario football fare – the Toronto Argonauts at the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on the September long weekend – Toronto will be hosting its oh-so-non-traditional foe, the B.C. Lions. Both teams are owned by Senator Braley and are a wallowing 2-6.

The CFL lost its Toronto-Hamilton match-up due to scheduling woes, most of them created by a lack of dates at the Rogers Centre. The Argonauts opened the season with three consecutive road games and have played just three times at home thus far. They've won only once and, according to CFL totals, are averaging 20,291 fans. That's a slight drop from a year ago, yet telling.

Earlier this month, the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Toronto drew 20,482. Last year, the Riders drew 23,873. That's not good, which is why some in the CFL are keenly aware of what's transpiring and how Toronto has to win seven of its last 10 games just to equal last year's 9-9 record.

Now that's a tough agenda.

HEAVE YO

Dylan Armstrong's strong arm could deliver Canada's first medal in a throwing event at the International Association of Athletics Federations world championships. On Friday in Daegu, South Korea, the Kamloops native is expected to compete in the final of the men's shot put. Armstrong is currently the top-ranked shot putter in the world, having unleashed a season's-best 22.21-metre toss at this year's Canadian championships. He did that when he wasn't fully primed training-wise. He's anxious now to see how he does against his top rivals. Whatever happens, the 30-year-old Armstrong remains Canada's best bet to win a track and field medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

THE VIOLATION BOWL

Rarely, if ever, has an National Collegiate Athletic Association football season opened with a game that could determine the eventual national champion. That's what No. 3-ranked Oregon v. No. 4-ranked Louisiana State offers Saturday, along with a few questions. What will the NCAA discover when it probes Oregon's relationship with Houston-based recruiter Willie Lyles? Will LSU miss junior receiver Russell Shephard, suspended because of a matter involving – wait for it – Willie Lyles? Will LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson and three other Tiger players be charged for their alleged actions in an off-campus bar fight? Word has it the winner of the Oregon-LSU clash, played at Jerry Jones Jumbo Palace in Arlington, Tex., gets $1-million in bail bonds plus one recruit from Willie Lyles. Isn't U.S. college football grand?

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