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Note: the following article may disappoint readers who believe columnist Paul Friesen will only write about Blue Bomber head coach Mike Kelly. In fact, Kelly's name will not appear again in this article.
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So in the aftermath of that Inspector Clouseau episode in Hamilton this week, I can't help but wonder: are the Tiger-Cats even worth spying on?
Because let's face it, there are no secrets worth knowing about the Ticats squads that went 3-15, 3-15 and 4-14 the last three years.
Unless you pull a George Costanza: make notes about what Hamilton does, and do the opposite.
There are signs, though, this season's Tabbies might actually have some claws, that had scout Ron Trentini (aka Clouseau) not been outed, he may have provided some useful tidbits from his not-so-undercover operation in Steeltown.
After all, this is a team that won in Vancouver last weekend, something no Eastern time zone team had done in 14 games, covering five years.
"They look pretty good," Bomber linebacker Ike Charlton said. "I've been watching them on film. They've got better personnel, and they've got guys that are flying around."
They've also got some serious Blue Bomber connections, most notably Greg Marshall at defensive co-ordinator, Mike Gibson as the boss on offence, Kevin Glenn as the backup quarterback and Khari Jones as quarterbacks coach, not to mention starting O-linemen Alex Gauthier and Dan Goodspeed.
But they're still the Ticats, which means, even at 1-1, they're still vulnerable to self-doubt if a team jumps on them early.
Which brings us to the Bombers, also 1-1.
If this team can come off the Derick Armstrong affair and throttle the defending champion Calgary Stampeders last weekend, what should we expect on the heels of Spygate?
Apparently, this group isn't easily distracted. Give the coaching staff credit for that.
It's also feeling pretty good about itself, in the wake of last Friday's surprisingly easy disposal of the Stamps.
"I see people more upbeat," quarterback Stefan LeFors said. "Who knows, if we'd have lost that game things might be more down."
LeFors, more than anyone, is the man on the hot seat this week.
His performance in the first two games has been average, at best, and he'll be the first to admit it -- which is one of the things to like about the guy.
"It's not that guys aren't getting open," he said, asked about his throwing. "It's just a little bit off -- a little bit too high, a little bit out in front, a little bit behind. I'm not making it easier for those guys."
Not sure I heard Glenn take that much responsibility in five seasons as a starter.
LeFors, by comparison, is green. But it's not like he's a 23-year-old fresh out of college.
At 28, he's been around the Canadian game for three years now, which is one more than Quinton Porter, who'll start for Hamilton tomorrow.
Yet, it's Porter who's completing 70% of his passes, LeFors less than half.
As good a leader as LeFors has been, he'll soon have to start making some plays.
Unless the Bombers plan on being a CFL anomaly, taking on the persona of a grind-it-out, defence-first outfit that favours the running game.
"It could be," LeFors said. "I haven't had a receiver come to me and say, 'I need more balls, I need more catches, I gotta reach my 100 yards.' That's good. They all realize their roles on this team.
"We do things differently than every other team in the CFL. We're not going to be in the shotgun. We're not going to be in five wides all the time. We're going to run the ball."
LeFors' role, in that case, would simply be to manage the game, play smart and not screw things up.
In other words, look at the tactics employed by the Bombers' Inspector Clouseau in Hamilton -- and do the opposite.
Contact Paul at paul.friesen@sunmedia.ca or 632-2788.