MONTREAL -- Alouettes 52, Renegades 21 Why? Another lopsided loss, this one by 31 points being the seventh time they could not get closer than two touchdowns to their opponents this season.
And another injury, this one a recurring toe problem that has likely put another starter out for the season before Game 18.
How is it that the black cloud could manage to follow the Renegades indoors?
Why couldn't they be more competitive in a 52-21 loss to the Montreal Alouettes at Olympic Stadium?
Why does a team that has competent men in charge and talent enough to win more than they do fail so miserably so often?
Officially, the Renegades will now not even equal their 7-11 record of a year ago, meaning they will take a step backward in a CFL campaign that has seen them bowled over by injuries.
Why is this happening? Why does it always happen to Ottawa football teams? Do we have to go back to 1992 for the reason? The year the Gliebermans fired a very competent GM, Dan Rambo, on the eve of the season that followed a promising 9-9 finish?
Maybe that's it. Like the Boston Red Sox, maybe the Renegades are dealing with ghosts.
They have to find a way to shake The Curse of the Rambino.
HIGH AND INSIDE: Day in and day out, the Renegades' best player in 2004 has probably been receiver Yo Murphy. The veteran turned in an outstanding performance yesterday, catching eight passes for 184 yards, including an 85-yard TD. Murphy surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season, his best as a pro, and now has 57 catches for 1,055 yards. "It's cool," said the 33-year-old Murphy, who is considering retirement. "I'm glad I got it, 1,000 yards is 1,000 yards. But I just wish it would have been under different circumstances, by making a big catch to help us win. It's just such a bad note. Not just this game, all of it." .... The Renegades scored something of a hat trick to make it look like they could get back in the game early in the third quarter. On consecutive plays, Kyries Hebert intercepted a pass in the end zone, Brad Banks hit Murphy with a TD bomb and a Demitris Scouras on-side kick wound up in the hands of Dave Donaldson. But two plays later, the roof fell in. Demetris Bendross put the ball on the ground while injuring his knee after a catch, and before you knew it, Ben Cahoon was completing his own hat trick with his third TD of the game ... After dropping a pass on the first series and going offside on the second, Sean Bennett had a pretty decent game for Ottawa. The former New York Giant had a TD and four catches for 74 yards, and he showed some serious determination picking up yardage on a fourth quarter play near the sidelines. "I'm satisfied in my own play, but for the team not winning, I feel I didn't do enough," said Bennett, who is trying to land a job for next season. "I'd like to come back here. I like Ottawa, the players, the coaches. We just have to start winning. Hopefully, I'll be back and a piece of the puzzle." ... The Renegades offence wasn't a very good defence either, as Kelly Malveaux was able to swerve through the middle of the field on a 64-yard interception for a touchdown without really ever being touched.
ON THE CARPET: Kelly Wiltshire extended his consecutive-games streak to 143 (plus nine post-season games) even if he didn't play. Wiltshire, who has an injured knee, was in uniform (everything but a helmet) and stood on the sidelines, offering encouragement and support. Rookie Syniker Taylor lined up at his spot ... After making a catch in practice earlier in the week, "Everybody Loves" Raymonn Adams ran over to a group of reporters and exclaimed: "Concentration. That's concentration. Put that in the newspaper." Yesterday, "Everybody Loves" could have used a little of that concentration to hold onto a punted ball rather than fumble it at the Ottawa 23. The turnover led to the first points of the day, a 15-yard field goal that would have been more if not for a stand by the Ottawa defence ... "Everybody Loves" helped make amends by returning seven kicks for 181 yards.
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM...: Renegades coach Joe Paopao held a towel to his bloody nose as he stood in the dressing room following the game. You should have seen his counterpart, Don Matthews. Oh, Matthews was fine. You should just see the guy ...CFL officials are screwing Ottawa even when the Renegades aren't playing. A blown call on the last play of Friday's Calgary-B.C. game cost the Stamps their fifth win of the season. Now, it's mathematically impossible for the Renegades to finish last in the CFL and cash in on the Jesse Lumsden Sweepstakes ... Pinball Clemons will be the next CFL coach to become a Canadian citizen, sometime in 2005. Paopao still has plans to do the same ... It was a blast from the past to have Lisa Dalla Riva check us out of Montreal's Sheraton hotel yesterday. Sure enough, she is the daughter of former Als great Peter Dalla Riva.
CHIP SHOTS: Anthony Calvillo would have had time to make a tuna sandwich before threading the needle on his second-quarter, 44-yard touchdown hookup with Cahoon ... The Renegades defence also looked caught off guard on a draw play that resulted in a 23-yard Kwame Cavil touchdown a few minutes later. Of course, it was the first rushing TD in Cavil's three-year career ... The Renegades' Greg Bearman probably would have had two blocked punts had he let his fingernails grow for a couple of weeks. He was that close. "I blame it on my parents," joked Bearman. "If only I was taller."
