Die Macht » Fragapane won the gold with 14.541, while Austral

Its not fair to ask Troy Smith to become the next Anthony Calvillo. Its barely fair to ask a Ricky Ray or Travis Lulay - veteran pivots with Grey Cups and Most Outstanding Player awards to their name - to assume the role of face of the league and greatest active player. So its really not fair for a quarterback with four career starts in the CFL under his belt - albeit promising ones - to be put under that spotlight. But, as the de facto replacement for Calvillo in Montreal, fairly or not that could be the measuring stick for Smith. A more realistic expectation, and one Smith has a shot at living up to, is a solid quarterback that gives the team a chance to win week in and week out. After relieving Josh Neiswander (no longer with the team) midway through a late season game, Smith never looked back in guiding the Alouettes into the playoffs and briefly flirting with second place in the division and a home playoff date. His numbers in his short stint as starter were encouraging. While his completion percentage was just a shade over 50 percent, he threw nine touchdowns to just five interceptions and averaged nearly 300 passing yards per contest. And while his stat line from Montreals lone playoff game (14-26, 142 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) was far from impressive, the poise and leadership he displayed - factoring in nerves, inexperience, and all the rhetoric attached to a rookie making his first postseason appearance - was heartening for Alouettes fans. But that composure really isnt all that surprising for a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback with tangible NFL experience. Following a strong four-year career at Ohio State, two years as a starter, Smith was awarded the 2007 Heisman Trophy and then embarked on a four-year NFL career, finishing with 1,734 passing yards and 11 combined touchdowns. If youre apt to use the term pedigree to predict future success, a quarterback like Smith would surely fit the bill. And now for the best news of all in relations to Smiths chances of succeeding as a CFL quarterback: Montreals stacked receiving corps. Injuries to Jamel Richardson, proven long ago to be a bona fide stud receiver, opened the door for S.J. Green to elevate his status from very good to great last season; while Duron Carter demonstrated hes very much Pro Football Hall of Famer Chris Carters son in his CFL debut season. Health permitting, Smith will be throwing to receivers with a combined eight 1,000 yard receiving seasons, and four double-digit touchdowns seasons. And Carter almost added to that total in just 12 games last year (enjoy him while you can; the 23-year-old will be making plays in the NFL next season). With those three thoroughbreds in tow, former NFL star and notorious headline stealer Chad Johnson should be battling for fourth on the import receiving depth chart at best. Its of course hard to predict how Smith will do this season and in future years, other than to say hell be hard-pressed to make Als fans forget Calvillo anytime soon. There have been several quarterbacks of the future the past number of seasons in the CFL, few of them (less than nine!) have panned out. But Smith has everything youd seem to want to at least take your shot with him. And thats likely what the Alouettes will do. Notes Calvillo Retires 2013 marked the end of an era as Anthony Calvillo, perhaps the greatest CFL quarterback of all time, retired after 20 seasons. The majority of Calvillos career was spent in Montreal, as were the majority of his 79,816 career passing yards (a professional record) and his 455 career touchdown passes (a CFL record). Calvillo also won three Grey Cups and three Most Outstanding Player awards with the Alouettes. Expansion Draft The Alouettes lost three young players to the Ottawa Redblacks in Decembers expansion draft, none more valuable than versatile FB Patrick Lavoie, who was making a name for himself in the two years he spent with Montreal. The Als also lost DT Moton Hopkins and LB Jordan Verdone. Free Agency Montreal was once again quiet on the free agent market, deciding against bidding on any of the top names available. Free agency will be known more for when the team lost some talent, highlighted by LB Shea Emrys departure to Toronto, but GM Jim Popp did make sure to lock up some important pieces, highlighted by the re-signing of LT Josh Bourke. Return man Larry Taylor was also traded for during this period. Higgins Hired Up until Tom Higgins was hired to coach the team, it was unknown if Montreal would hire a coach or just let Popp continue on in the interim role. The Higgins hiring was strange also because GM Popp appeared to not be a part of the interviewing process for Higgins. Quatre-Vingt Cinq Despite an already solid receiving corps, the Alouettes added some more sizzle by signing former NFLer/headline-maker Chad Johnson to a contract in April. The transaction may be as much a publicity stunt as it is a solid football move but Johnson showed up to Montreal in good shape, in high spirits, and looking like he still has some football left to play. Offensive Line Losses Montreal lost two mainstays of their offensive line in the off-season when Andrew Woodruff and Scott Flory announced their retirements. CFL Draft The team helped to replenish their offensive line in the first round of the draft by selecting David Foucault from Montreal. The rest of the draft saw Montreal select Queens DB Andrew Lue 10th overall, Guelph DL Jeffrey Finley 22nd overall, York DL James Tuck 31st overall, Manitoba WR Andrew Smith 35th overall, Manitoba K/P Nick Boyd 43rd overall, Sherbrooke FB Jean-Christophe Beaulieu 49th overall, and Calgary WR Mackenzie Sarro 58th overall. 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The 57-year-old Tietjens has coached New Zealand to nine IRB World Sevens titles and to four Commonwealth Games gold medals as its only coach in the professional era. New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew said the re-signing was made with a focus on 2016 when sevens will be in the Olympics. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic .J. -- Tom Coughlin doesnt have many options at halfback for the winless New York Giants. GLASGOW -- The Commonwealth Games didnt begin as planned for Ellie Black and the rest of Canadas gymnastics team. For her, Fridays gold-medal performance in the beam event was validation. "Yes, I wanted to come out and stay on the beam and try to do it the best I could. So to stay on the beam, and then with that support at the end, it was just great," Black said. A day after she fell off the balance beam in the individual all-around competition, the 18-year-old from Halifax rebounded by capturing gold on the event Friday. She then added a bronze in the floor event. Scott Morgan of North Vancouver, B.C., won the mens vault for his fourth medal of the Games. Kevin Lytwyn of Stoney Creek, Ont., won his third medal of the games, taking bronze in mens horizontal bar. Canadas artistic gymnasts finished with nine medals -- three of each colour -- to finish behind only England. Still, they had hoped for better. Patricia Bezzoubenko had dominated the rhythmic gymnastics a week earlier, claiming five of the six gold medals and leading Canada to victory in the team event, to set the stage for the artistic gymnasts. "Definitely seeing the rhythmic girls do amazing before we started, that definitely boosted us and go us really excited to come out here," Black said. But the women finished fourth in the team event, and Black was fourth in the individual all-around. "It would have been nice to do better at the beginning," Black said. "The team had a bit of a rough go, and in the individual all-around I had a rough go. I had to build up and work towards the event finals and show what I could do." Black, who won silver Thursday on the vault to send her home with a medal of each colour, thorooughly crushed her competition on the beam on Friday.dddddddddddd The five-foot-one gymnast, whos the two-time defending Canadian all-around champion and led Canada to fifth place in the team event at the London Olympics, was the last of eight competitors to go, scoring 14.900 points for the victory in front of a noisy crowd at the SSE Hydro. Mary Anne Monckton of Australia finished a full point back, winning the silver with 13.666, while Georgina Hockenhull of Wales was third with 13.466. Black scored 13.666 on the floor, but had points deducted for stepping out of bounds. Claudia Fragapane won the gold with 14.541, while Australias Lauren Mitchell was second with 13.833. Morgan won the mens vault with a score of 14.733 points for his fourth medal -- two gold, a silver, and a bronze in the team event -- of the Games. Kristian Thomas of England won the silver with 14.499. Singapores Wah Toon Hoe was the bronze medallist with 14.195. Lytwyn of Stoney Creek, Ont., scored 14.866 for third on the horizontal bar. Nile Wilson scored 14.966 to lead England to a 1-2 finish with teammate Thomas taking the silver. Lytwyn had finished second to Morgan in the rings event on Thursday and was part of the team that won bronze. Canadian coach David Kikuchi said gymnastics hadnt set medal goals for the Games, it was more about getting experience before the world championships in October. "This was a really young team besides Ellie and this was the first time any of them had ever been in any Games atmosphere so it was an important experience that way," Kikuchi said. "Also leading toward the world championships, its the main focus of the year, so this was a good competition to test out our team." ' ' '