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Klemu's Game of the Year - CFL Bowl 2006
As usual, Klemu is 100% in his game calling. Sorry about the call last week, Durham. You'll be back strong next year, no doubt. I just had a sneaky suspicion about that Detroit team. Durham had the better team on the field, but this is the CFL, baby. The best team doesn't always win. Now, it comes down to the Championship match between Honolulu and Detroit.
[b09003cd]Honolulu (15-3) vs. Detroit (14-4)[/b09003cd]
Last year, these two teams faced off in the CFL Bowl and Honolulu was the team that took home the championship trophy, beating the Vampires by a score of 19-14. This year, the lucky horseshoe seems to be firmly wedged in the collective buttocks of the city of Detroit. The Vampires left Durham amidst a near riot as screaming Bulldog fans chased them to the airport. The controversy was over the 92-yard punt return by Detroit's Ernie Sutton in which he appeared to step out of bounds. The officials did not call it and upon further review, there wasn't enough evidence captured by the television crew to overturn the ruling of a touchdown on the field. Honolulu did not have such problems with the Tucson Toros, dispatching them 24-10.
The two teams have not played yet this season, but if they had, it would probably look very similar to the game that you are about to see. Two great teams are taking the field this afternoon to wage yet another epic battle in the war that is the CFL. Neither team is hurting too badly from injury, so you'll two teams playing with pretty much their starting squads. The only possible concern is Honolulu's WR Leroy O'Neal who will be questionable for the game. Hell, this is the CFL Bowl, you can pretty much count him amongst the starters.
Throughout the season both teams have taken advantage of turnovers to put their opponents away. Today the true strength of their opportunistic defenses will be put to the test. When putting these two teams against each other head to head, you can see that Honolulu's offense and defense are both very good. Detroit's defense is awesome and their offense is mediocre. Although they have proven that their line knows how to block, they haven't proven that they can establish a good running game. As we all know, there are two things that you need to be able to do to win the Championship: Run the football and Stop the Run. Detroit can stop the run, but their running game needs a little bit of help. Thomas Wadsworth is going to have to shake of his lingering ankle injury and play like he means it. Freddy Mathias is pretty comfortable in the pocket right now and you should expect him to be against Honolulu, too. Freddy will be looking to Brian Manos when they get to the red zone to put up some big points on the board.
Honolulu will need to protect Ronnie Tu. There is no doubt that Ronnie Tu is one of the game's most prestigious quarterbacks and his offensive line better treat him as though we were just that. Detroit will try all game to put pressure on Tu and impair his judgement in any way possible. Defensively, look for Honolulu to keep Manos tied up with their outstanding safeties, Murgia and Dover.
Klemu's Kall: Vegas says Detroit by 1. What would a game of the week report be without Klemu's upset of the week? I say that Honolulu takes the game by 2 points. This will be another game for the ages. Both teams deserve to be here (despite Durham's protests) and the game will be phenomenal. Let's go down to our own Norm DePlume who is out with the tailgaters and their grills. He's ready to ask them . . . some burning questions.
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Klemu Hakkinen
-Starting RW for the Semi-Pro Mooseport Mousse Hockey Club
-Beat Writer for the CFL
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