When the CFL season kicked off, the Toronto Argonauts were favoured by oddsmakers to win the Grey Cup championship.

Two months later, as they concluded the first half of their season last night, they weren’t even favoured to beat the league’s perennial dregs in Hamilton.

Well, they defied the odds. The Argos did just enough to defeat the Tiger-Cats — Toronto’s first victory in three games this season with its geographic rivals – and probably saved their coach’s job in the process.

As reported first in this space last week, Rich Stubler probably would have been fired as the Argos’ coach had the Ticats been able to pull off the trifecta against Toronto.

But, despite a sloppy performance that included a botched field goal, missed tackles and the hot-dogging of a receiver (Arland Bruce) who insisted on placing his face in a Spider-Man mask after scoring a touchdown, the Argos did just enough to emerge triumphant.

And, with a 4-5 record, they’re somehow in position to challenge the first-place Montreal Alouettes for Eastern Division supremacy in the second half.

Mind you, if the CFL’s second half turns out to be as weird as the first half was, well, who knows?

I was thoroughly perplexed with the first half. I mean, you learn to expect the unexpected in the

CFL if you’ve covered the league for nearly 30 years, but this first half was just too much.

You were psychic if you knew:

• The Edmonton Eskimos would register one more victory in their first nine games this season than they did all last season, when they finished out of the playoffs with a 5-12-1 record. This team was so inept in 2007 that head coach Danny Maciocia could have written a book on how to single-handedly destroy a CFL franchise. Maciocia, though, somehow evaded the firing line and his team has responded with an impressive rebound.  In fact, after trouncing the Stampeders in Calgary yesterday, the Esks look very much like the team to beat in the CFL.

And Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray was the league’s top player in the first half.

• The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Eastern Division representatives in the Grey Cup last season, would be the league’s worst team, with only two victories.

• The B.C. Lions would be in the Western Division cellar, and star running back Joe Smith would be in their doghouse. In fact, sources said late last night that the Lions have traded Smith to Winnipeg for running back Charles Roberts.

• Montreal would be atop the East with a head coach, Marc Trestman, who had no CFL experience whatsoever.

Yep, it’s been weird. Fasten your seatbelts for the second half.

Marty York is Metro’s national sports columnist as well as an
instructor at the College of Sports Media in Toronto.

He
can be heard each Wednesday night on Vancouver radio station CKNW with
Sportstalk host Dan Russell.

Contact Marty at marty.york@metronews.ca