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Jim Popp would like the CFL to tweak its annual draft. Charles Woodson Authentic Jersey . The
Montreal Alouettes general manager said Wednesday that CFL teams should only be
selecting NCAA underclassmen who declare theyre leaving school and favours the
league adding more rounds to its draft to get more Canadian-born players into
training camps. “I love the way we handle the CIS but I dont think (NCAA) kids
should be in our draft until they declare theyre coming out,” Popp said during a
conference call. “I dont think we should be drafting juniors because we dont
know whats going to happen. “They can get hurt, they can get signed by NFL teams
and were all put in the position where do we take maybe the best guy or do we
draft somebody whos not as good and see what happens in a couple of years? “Some
teams take chances and go with those guys but at the end of the day were not
getting a full tilt of guys in training camp and were not developing people were
on a waiting list, were waiting to see if someone is going to come to us at
another time because they may be some of the better players.” Currently,
Canadian players in the NCAA become eligible for the CFL draft in their fourth
year. Trouble is, many are redshirted—they participate in the academic year
but not the football season—and after being drafted in Canada return to
school for their senior year then become eligible for the NFL draft, delaying
their return to Canada. That creates plenty of uncertainty for CFL teams, who
must decide whether to skip drafting the player altogether or gamble by taking a
flyer with a draft pick unsure when—or even if—hell arrive. Popp would
like the CFL to follow the NFLs lead regarding underclassmen: Only those
declaring theyre leaving school early are draft-eligible to create more
certainty for CFL GMs. “Then we all know that theyll be coming and those guys,
more than likely, will come to our (evaluation) camp, our CFL combine as part of
that because they know theyre leaving school,” Popp said. If the prospect opted
to return to school for his senior year hed become eligible for both the NFL and
Canadian college draft the following year. With the NFL draft usually taking
place first, a CFL GM would have much more clarity about a prospects standing
south of the border leading up to the draft in Canada. And Popp, who has been
Montreals GM since the franchise relocated from Baltimore in 1996, said
increasing the current six-round draft would ensure more Canadian-born players
at CFL camps. “I think we need to add rounds to guarantee were going to get more
CIS guys into training camp and develop them,” Popp said. Earlier on Wednesday,
Popp said on Twitter that just 22 of the 45 players selected in last weeks CFL
draft participated in the leagues evaluation camp in March. Popp added he wasnt
knocking either the league or the camp itself, rather just stating an
interesting fact. “That is because we have juniors in the draft and then players
that are invited that do not show up to e-camp or guys who dont get invited who
are a part of that crew that end up getting drafted because people do their
homework,” he said. “Some of the guys that end up at our evaluation camp are
curiosity factors, meaning theres not a lot of film of them, theyre in isolated
places that its hard to get film or see them in person and people want to see
them in person then decide theyre not the guy they want to draft. “Its just an
interesting fact that I threw out there.” Another interesting development was
Popp adding yet another Canadian university quarterback. Popp signed Acadias
Kyle Graves on Wednesday, a day after coming to terms with McMasters Kyle
Quinlan. That boosts the number of Canadian quarterbacks on CFL rosters to
three. Brad Sinopoli, a native of Peterborough, Ont., who won the 2010 Hec
Crighton Trophy winner at the University of Ottawa, is entering his second
season with the Calgary Stampeders. Graves, a native of Barrie, Ont.,
participated in the CFLs evaluation camp but was bypassed in last weeks draft.
The six-foot-three, 220-pound Graves was named an Atlantic University Sport
all-star last season at quarterback and punter after leading the league in
passing yards (1,856), completions (121), passing TDs (17) and punting
(36.7-yard average). Quinlan, 23, of South Woodslee, Ont., also attended the
evaluation camp after leading McMaster to its first-ever Vanier Cup title last
year. The six-foot-three, 215-pound Quinlan threw for 482 yards and two TDs
while also running for a team-high 106 yards in the Marauders wild 41-38 double
overtime Vanier Cup victory over Laval. Graves and Quinlan are longshots to
crack Montreals roster as veterans Calvillo and Adrian McPherson occupy the top
two spots. That leaves Graves and Quinlan to battle fourth-year pro Ricky Santos
and sophomore Josh Neiswander, both imports, for the No. 3 position although
both Canadians can return to school this fall. Popp said attending the Alouettes
camp will give Quinlan and Graves a great opportunity to learn from Calvillo,
offensive co-ordinator Marcus Brady (a former CFL quarterback) and Montreal head
coach Marc Trestman, a quarterback guru who has also spent time coaching in the
NCAA and NFL. “Theyre winners and great athletes and deserve the opportunity,”
Popp said. “How many reps theyll get in camp is a whole other story, well find
that out. “But from an education process and spending some quality time with
them before or after practice to take a good look at them, we will do everything
we can to help in the developmental process.” Trestman helped prepare former
Florida star Tim Tebow for the 2010 NFL draft but admits knowing little about
the Canadian university game. However, Trestman said the formula for quarterback
success on both sides of the border remains pretty much the same and the
Canadian rookies will learn plenty just watching Calvillo, a 19-year CFL veteran
and pro footballs career passing leader. “Theyre going to learn how difficult it
is,” Trestman said. “Theres nothing like it, its the most dynamic and complex
position to play and I think theyll get a real sense of it just by keeping their
eyes open and staying focused on Anthony. “Their days will be filled with
information that will allow them to get a better idea of what theyre getting
themselves into, which is a very, very difficult and challenging environment. At
the end of the day its the quarterback position and quarterbacks arent born,
they have to be developed, they have to be trained.” Aaron Rodgers White Jersey . —Cole De Vries
likes to face the Kansas City Royals. Aaron Rodgers official Jersey . Louis Blues
re-signed forward Scott Nichol to a one-year, $650K contract on Thursday,
bringing the 12-year veteran back for another season with the Central Division
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. On Saturday, he put on a show for them and the rest of the crowd by pitching a
complete game to get his first win in his second major league start. J.D
Martinez and Jordan Schafer hit consecutive homers in Houstons four-run fifth
inning to back up Keuchels performance and help the Astros to an 8-1 win over
the Cleveland Indians. Nick Perry Youth Jersey . A video in which he
appeared to make fun of a trainer with Parkinsons disease didnt earn the former
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NFL Jersey . LOUIS —Matt Holliday took batting practice before
Game 3 of the NL playoffs, but was not in the St.OTTAWA—Canada put on a
dominant performance Saturday to open the North American Caribbean Rugby
Association Sevens Championships. Both the mens and womens sides were a perfect
3-0 after Day 1 of the two-day competition that determines who qualifies for the
Sevens World Cup in Moscow next June. The men opened the event at the Twin Elm
Rugby Park with a 41-0 win over Bermuda, then routed the Bahamas 33-5 before
finishing their day with a 43-0 win over Mexico. The women didnt concede a
single point, winning 62-0 over Mexico, 50-0 over the Cayman Islands and 45-0
over Jamaica, which were previously undefeated. Brian Hunter, manager of the
mens side, said the lopsided games allowed him to give more playing time to his
bench players. “Weve got some young guys that we want to get into the mix and
everyone has played solid so were happy so far,” said Hunter. “Theres definitely
work to be done though. We started getting away from our game plan in the second
game, but its been addressed and will be corrected.” Hunter says anything less
than an appearance in the mens final Sunday will be a huge disappointment. Not
only will that allow them to qualify for the World Cup, but help them build
towards Rio in 2016 when sevens will make its Olympic debut. “Every tournament
we get in allows us more development time building towards 2016 in Rio,” Hunter
said. “It gives these guys a chance to showcase themselves to the coaches.” So
while the men corrected minor glitches along the way, the women suffered a loss
in personnel as Karen Paquin is done for the weekend following an eye injury.
“The rest of the way will be a little bit more difficult now with only 11
(players), but that will give an opportunity for some other girls to play a
little more,” womens coach John Tait said. “We knew coming in thhat we were
favourites so the goal has always been to execute and I think weve done that. Bart Starr Jersey. Winning is priority one
but were also using this as a chance to assess some of our younger players.” The
women have one round robin game left and that will be against Trinidad and
Tobago on Sunday morning. The playoff rounds for both the men and women follow
that, but for the women the next game is the most important one. “We dont look
too far ahead. If you do you miss the things that are going on right now,”
Canadian captain Jen Kish said. “We treat each match as if it were a
championship match because these teams rarely get to play Canada and we know
that theyre treating it that way as well. We want to respect the opposition as
much as we can because Canada in not an arrogant team. Were just going to keep
focusing on us and get the outcome we want because theres no other option.” The
women will need to wait for some other round robin games Sunday to see who they
will play in the semifinals. Canada leads the way at 3-0 followed by Jamaica
(2-1), Trinidad & Tobago (1-2), Mexico and the Cayman Islands which are both
0-2. On the mens side, the USA (2-0) won Pool A and will face the Bahamas (1-2)
in the first quarter-final Sunday morning. That game will be followed by the
second quarter-final featuring Mexico (2-1) against Guyana (2-1). Canada topped
Pool B and will play the third quarter-final against Barbados, which lost its
final round-robin game 17-0 to Trinidad & Tobago. Had Barbados won that game
they would have finished atop Pool C and taken on Jamaica in the fourth
quarter-final. Instead, Trinidad & Tobago jumped from third to first in the
pool and they will now face Jamaica. St. Vincent & The Grenadines, along
with Bermuda and the Cayman Islands were all winless Saturday. ’ ’ ’