The B.C. Lions didn’t know if quarterback Michael Reilly would be available to start their Week 2 clash with the Calgary Stampeders until 20 minutes before kickoff.

It’s a good thing for B.C. that he was able to go on Thursday night.

For the second week in a row, the quarterback listed at the top of the Lions’ depth chart watched from the bench when the B.C. offence took the field for the first time.

This time, he didn’t leave the sidelines.

Reilly threw for 342 yards in a 15-9 win over the Calgary Stampeders, including 231 passing yards in the first half alone.

The veteran pivot, who played the second half of last week's season opener, overcame the elbow injury on his throwing arm to do just enough to lead the Lions to an important early season win against a division rival.

Here is the Morning Coffee for Friday August 13, 2021.

 

Reilly Sparks Lions Win Over Stamps

While the announcement that Reilly would start caught many off guard, there was a large contingent of fans that seemed more surprised by the fact that the Lions managed just 15 points in a game in which their quarterback threw for 342 yards.

Who would have guessed at kickoff that BC’s lone touchdown would be a rushing score from Reilly?

Fortunately for the Lions, Reilly’s TD and a pair of field goals from Takeru Yamasaki was enough to clinch an important win over a division rival on the road.

The performance of the opposing quarterback was a large part of that equation.

Bo Levi Mitchell threw four interceptions and was held to 290 yards on 21-of-38 passing in the loss.   

Mitchell, who was 15-3 in his career coming off a loss, fell to 0-2 for the first time in his career.

The Stampeders are now 0-9-1 against the spread in their last 10 games dating back to the 2019 season.

That’s remarkable.

With the Lions cashing at +245 on the money line, CFL underdogs improved to 4-1 straight up and 5-0 against the spread this season.

The under, which was bet all the way down from 49.5 to 46.5 on Thursday, cleared by a 22.5-point margin.

CFL unders are also 4-1 through the first five games.

Those early season trends are worth keeping in mind when you see the numbers for tonight’s game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

You can watch that game on TSN, with the CFL on TSN Pre-Game scheduled to start at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT.

 

MLB Field of Dreams Game

Tim Anderson hit a two-run walk-off home run as the Chicago White Sox beat the New York Yankees 9-8 in the MLB Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa.

There were plenty of contrasting opinions on the quality of the film floating around on social media throughout the day.

Everybody was on the same page when it came to how good the actual game was, especially those of us that were on the over.

The White Sox and Yankees combined for eight home runs, including multiple go-ahead homers in the ninth inning.

The long ball accounted for 16 of the 17 runs scored in the game.

For everybody that bet the over 9.5, it was that much cooler to see those balls launched over the fence into the cornfields.

It would be great if Major League Baseball made the game an annual tradition.

Considering last night’s success, it would be a missed opportunity if they don’t.

Also of note from Thursday night, MLB favourites finally cooled off a bit.

After going 12-2 on Wednesday night to improve to 61-19 over a six-day stretch, MLB favourites went 8-6 on Thursday night.

Regression was bound to happen eventually.

That was certainly an impressive stretch.

 

Patriots, Steelers Win Exhibition Games

The CFL wasn’t the only football we could bet on Thursday night.

The New England Patriots (-2) looked like they would push before a touchdown with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter propelled them to a 22-13 win and cover against the Washington Football Team.  

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers (+1) fell behind 13-0 in the second quarter, only to outscore the Philadelphia Eagles 24-3 the rest of the way in a 24-16 win.

Week 1 of the NFL pre-season continues with three games on the schedule tonight, including the Buffalo Bills visiting the Detroit Lions.

 

Single Game Sports Betting In Canada

Sports gamblers in Canada celebrated in June when Bill C-218, an amendment to the Criminal Code of Canada to legalize single-event sports betting, was passed in the Senate.

We had been waiting for an update on when it will actually be offered across the country ever since.

On Thursday, we got an answer.

Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada David Lametti announced that Bill C-218 will officially come into force on Aug. 27.

Start the countdown clock.

It’s now up to the provinces to determine how and when they want to offer single-event sports betting options.

With the NCAA football season set to kick off on Aug. 28 and the NFL season less than two weeks later, let’s all hope the wait isn’t too much longer.