Its sink or swim time in Calgary for the quarterbacks but it looks like the Stampeders have some aquanauts. Jerry Rice Super Bowl Jersey . With Kevin Glenn now in BC by way of Ottawa, the Stampeders young and promising quarterbacks have lost their safety net, and that may be a good thing. While Glenn was the always steady veteran presence, and advanced the team as far as the Grey Cup as recently as 2012, there have been, and remain, reservations if he could ever win the big one. If one of either Drew Tate or Bo Levi Mitchell can make good on the considerable promise theyve shown early in their careers, they could do wonders leading an already talented roster. Tate began last year in the starters role but after injury struck the team turned to Glenn. Neither he nor Mitchell – who impressed in limited action when both Tate and Glenn were injured – could regain the role from a healthy Glenn late in the season. This isnt to say that Glenn wasnt an effective quarterback for the Stampeders, or that he didnt get the job done, but for a talented team seemingly on the edge of Grey Cup glory, a better option could emerge. Tates edge in experience, and more importantly experience in the system, may give him the first snap in training camp. The 29-year-old has 381 career pass attempts (a weekend for predecessor Henry Burris) in five seasons with the team. In that relatively small sample size however, the Iowa product has put up very encouraging numbers. The main knock on him at this point is his seemingly inability to stay healthy. In the past two seasons, both of which Tate entered atop the Stampeders QB depth chart, he has missed more games than hes played. It was an arm injury last year after suffering through shoulder woes the year previous. Mitchells future is even harder to prognosticate, but the small sample size hes produced has looked even more promising than Tates work. Through injuries, Mitchell gained 135 passing attempts last season, finishing with 1,156 yards, 10 touchdowns to just three interceptions, and a near 70 per cent completion rate. Five years Tates junior, Mitchell is one of the truly promising young players in the league and what he lacks in experience and veteran know-how, he makes up for with potential in spades. Potential as in, hes a potential 15-year starter and future star. Whoever leads Calgarys offence out of the huddle on Week 1 wont have to go it alone, with former Most Outstanding Player Jon Cornish taking on a considerable load from his running back position. Cornish led the league in touchdowns and rushing yards last season and for the second straight year broke the record for most ground yards by a Canadian, making his case as one of the best homegrown talents in league history. Defences crowding the box to contain Cornish is music to a young quarterbacks ears. There could be some growing pains with Tate or Mitchell, but unlike in previous years when the coaching staff may have felt compelled to go to Glenn at the first sign of trouble, this year they may allow them to work through their struggles and come out the other end a better player, perhaps around playoff time. Notes Dave Dickenson Re-signs With four coaching openings this off-season, Stampeders offensive coordinator Dave Dickenson was sure to be a hot candidate. John Hufnagels protégé politely declined all inquiries however and signed an extension with the Stamps that included the added title of assistant head coach. Dickenson is a good bet to take over for Hufnagel as head coach one day. Adrian McPherson It looked for a while like the Stampeders two horse race for the starting quarterback role was going to be a three horse race. Calgary signed Adrian McPherson, the talented, long-term quarterback of the future behind Anthony Calvillo in Montreal before playing last year in the Arena Football League. McPherson suffered a serious injury in the Arena League last season however, and after his recovery wasnt where Calgary was hoping for, the QB retired. The door however, is not fully closed and the situation may bear watching later in the year. Expansion Draft It appeared a foregone conclusion that the Stampeders would lose Kevin Glenn in the first round of the expansion draft, clearly the headline pick for Ottawa. The team also lost starting offensive guard JMichael Deane and proven Canadian safety Eric Fraser. Dimitri Tsoumpas Retires The Stampeders knew theyd be without Dimitri Tsoumpas for much of the 2013 season when he suffered a concussion last year; they were saddened to hear the concussion would lead to Tsoumpas retirement. Calgary will have its hands full replacing the three-time CFL All-Star who accepted a strength and conditioning assistant role with the team upon his retirement. Free Agency Calgary did very little venturing into the open market, doing little outside of nabbing a backup to Jon Cornish at running back in Jock Sanders. The team did keep a number of their pending free agents however, including DL Demonte Bolden and Randy Chevrier, receiver Maurice Price, and LB Juwan Simpson. CFL Draft The Stampeders traded veteran offensive lineman John Gott to the Redblacks to move up to first overall in the draft, nabbing offensive lineman Pierre Lavertu. Lavertu, who can play both centre and guard, will be needed to help fill in for two interior lineman now in Ottawa in Gott and Deane. Calgarys other selections included Concordia DL Quinn Smith, also in the first round; Concordia LB Max Caron in the second round; McGill OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardiff, Laval DB Adam Thibault, and Western OL Joe Circelli in the third round, Duvernay-Tardiff likely not to be available north of the border for at least a couple years; Queens DL Derek Wiggan in the fourth round; McMaster K Tyler Crapigna in the fifth round; and Western WR Brian Marshall in the seventh round. Raheem Mostert Super Bowl Jersey .Y. -- AJ Allmendingers journey is almost complete. Dwight Clark Super Bowl Jersey . Edwin Encarnacion carried the torch for two days at Fenway Park this week; Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista have had their moments; lately Anthony Gose has contributed.(SportsNetwork.com) - The New Orleans Pelicans will take their four-game winning streak into a home contest against the Denver Nuggets Wednesday at Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans have won four in a row at home and three of the victories during this run came in the Big Easy. Wednesdays game will be the third of a six- game homestand with visits from the Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks and Oklahoma City on the docket. New Orleans streak reached four with a 99-74 drubbing of the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday. Anthony Davis had 32 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Pelicans. It was the 12th time this season Davis, an All-Star starter in the Western Conference, scored at least 30. Hes a stud, said Sixers coach Brett Brown. Hes one of those rare cornerstones you can build all around. Hes just one of the elite players in the league. Ryan Anderson added 19 points and Eric Gordon scored 13 for the Pelicans, who have won four in a row for the first time since a five-game winning streak from March 21-28 of last year. Our defense was decent tonight able to hold a team in the 70s, Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. The Nuggets have been awful of late, losing seven in a row aand three straight on the road. Solomon Thomas Super Bowl Jersey. Theyll finish out this road trip on Thursday night against the Memphis Grizzlies. On Monday, Denver fell to the Los Angeles Clippers, 102-98, at the Staples Center. Ty Lawson tallied 19 points and 11 assists, while Wilson Chandler provided 18 points and 10 boards for Denver. Arron Afflalo also finished with 18 and Kenneth Faried managed 14. Jusuf Nurkic pulled down 10 rebounds in defeat. After Afflalo tied the game with a jumper with 2:16 left, Matt Barnes gave the Clippers the lead with 1:24 remaining following a short jumper. Jamal Crawford was fouled from beyond the arc on LAs next trip up the floor and sunk all three shots with 49 ticks on the clock for a five-point cushion. Chandler converted a floater and two Darrell Arthur free throws with 6.7 seconds to go clawed Denver within 99-98. Crawford split a pair of foul shots at the other end, but rebounded his own miss on the second attempt. He then sunk two bonus shots to seal the outcome. The Nuggets defeated the Pelicans by 20 in Denver on Nov. 21 and have won two in a row in this series. New Orleans has taken four straight as the home team versus Denver. ' ' '