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As far as quarterbacking talent goes, I have a bit of experience there being the father of a D2 qb at SFU before the purge 5 years ago where the university deep sixed football as a sport. I firmly believe that there are some kids born to play the position. You either have it or you don't. The kids that don't struggle. Some work hard & make the rise to the top. But it's not easy when someone doesn't have a strong arm. Offenses have to be adjusted. shorter routes, more timing routes, not pressing the ball downfield. Then some guy shows up who can throw the ball 50 yards with ease & the kid who worked hard with a so so or average arm is benched. My son at age 10 could throw a football 35 yards with no effort. Anything he picked that was throwable he did. He was a pitcher & outfielder in baseball. At 12, he could drill the ball across the plate with accuracy & strike out his opponents. He was one of those kids who magically was born with a super strong arm who figured out how to use it.. Throwing just came naturally. He could out skip me throwing stones on water when he was a kid & I was in my early 40's.. Then the intangibles took over for Tyler as he went up thru the ranks playing football at all levels here & in the US. As he got older & physically stronger, he became a leader. His teammates believed in him when he was on the field. Knowing my son the way I do just seeing the transformation from this happy go lucky guy away from football to this guy on the field who hated losing was amazing. Tyler wasn't a huge rah rah guy on the sidelines but when he spoke, his teammates listened. His leadership was his play on the field. His career with the Winnipeg Rifles hit a dead end. He was sharing starting qb duties with another player & both hated it. Tyler had a stronger arm but the other qb also had intangibles that made him successful. Tyler went in to talk to his head coach at the end of his second season in Winnipeg. The coach indicated that changes would be coming at the qb position next season. As in, they'd pick one guy & stick with him. Tyler being from calgary got the vibes that the eother qb being a Winnipegger & having been coached by some of the guys on the Rifles staff would be favoured over him. So, he informed the HC he wasn;t coming back & he said, "fine. Good luck to you." So, his instincts were correct. Tyler spoke to his qb coach & mentor in Portland, Oregon, Greg Barton who was a former qb with the Argos. Greg made a phone call to a JUCO in California called The College Of The Siskiyous. The HC called Tyler & invited him down to see the campus. He went down & agreed to play for them. He redshirted his first year but started in his second season & he led the Eagles to a California JUCO Championship in 2012. From there, he was recruited by Texas A & M but they stopped talking to him suddenly, Just ghosted him. The University of Akron told him he was their guy & wanted him to play in the MAC Conference but... the entire coaching staff was fired. The University of California at Pennylvania, then called Cal Penn & now Penwest also recruited him. He went down for a visit & loved it. At the time, it was the top D2 school in the US with a number of players in the past who went on to play in both the CFL & NFL. The coaches wanted him & they offered him an athletic scholarship. He accepted but the coach had to clear one thing first before he came down. The $40,000 International fee we'd have to pay. The HC said he spoke to the Chancellor of cal Pen who had agreed to waive the fee. However, when he went to verify that happened, the Chancellor changed his mind & said we'd have to pay. We didn't have a spare $40,000 US lying around so that all fell through.That was so disappointing. What might have been... The only program left that recruited Tyler was Simon Fraser. They knew they were way down the list so they never thought they had any chance of playing at SFU So, they brought in a transfer from Arizona State & NDSU. When I called HC Dave Johnson, he nearly fell off his chair exclaiming, "I never thought we'd get him!!" However, they already offered a full ride scholarship to the transfer qb & could only offer a half scholarship which Tyler accepted it. However, SFU sweetened the deal & by the time he graduated he only had to pay 25%. I think they even helped him out with dorm fees as well. He & the kid from Arizona shared qb duties & they battled it out every week for 2 years. A torn hamstring while training in the off season really set Tyler back. He played with the injury his senior year & it really set him back. His senior year was hard dealing with that injury & not being able to run anymore or evading the rush. When he'd go in, he'd get sacked so his playing time was drastically reduced. After he graduated from SFU, he knew his playing days were over. Tyler went into coaching which is what he still does in Seattle today. That's my son's story. His strong arm & athleticism carried him to places where other kids wouldn't have been able to go. You either got it or you don't.

And that they make zero changes to the lineup. Frustrating.

They only lost 6-3, it makes perfect sense that practice was optional.

🕒 1500 📺 TSN3 Last Ten: 8-2-0 @ 4-3-3 Season Series: COL leads 1-0 Stats: 44-11-9 @ 26-28-10 Streaks: W1 @ L2 Avalanche projected lineup Nazem Kadri -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Martin Necas Joel Kiviranta -- Brock Nelson -- Valeri Nichushkin Parker Kelly -- Jack Drury -- Nicolas Roy Gavin Brindley -- Zakhar Bardakov Devon Toews -- Cale Makar Josh Manson -- Brent Burns Brett Kulak -- Sam Malinski Nick Blankenburg Scott Wedgewood Mackenzie Blackwood Scratched: Ross Colton Injured: Gabriel Landeskog (lower body), Artturi Lehkonen (upper body), Logan O’Connor (hip surgery) Jets projected lineup Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Alex Iafallo Cole Perfetti -- Adam Lowry -- Gabriel Vilardi Gustav Nyquist -- Jonathan Toews -- Isak Rosén Cole Koepke -- Morgan Barron -- Brad Lambert Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo Dylan Samberg -- Elias Salomonsson Haydn Fleury -- Jacob Bryson Connor Hellebuyck Eric Comrie Scratched: Ville Heinola Injured: Nino Niederreiter (knee), Neal Pionk (undisclosed), Colin Miller (knee), Vladislav Namestnikov (lower body) Status report The Avalanche dressed 11 forwards and seven defenseman in a 5-1 win at the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. … Blackwood is expected to start after Wedgewood made 28 saves Thursday. … The Jets, who held an optional practice Friday, are expected to dress the same lineup they used in a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday.

To that mock I say

Obligatory for Hodge opinions: https://imgur.com/NahG5jB

This could go in either thread but we'll put er here.... Hodge's *ahem * always wildly accurate Mock Draft.....

You should make a song about this and end each verse with ‘those were the days’. :)

It wasnt like the polo location was isolated. Plenty of outdoor concerts happened there. Was a bonus for me that I lived so close. I could see the stadium from my 2nd storey, walked to games and got to listen to concerts for free

From what I read, Alford had a terrible season last year and it was a surprise that he ended up getting that big contract. Hopefully he turns it around this year.

Insert ‘don’t know what to think of this’ emoticon. :)

3DownNationCFL M.O.P. Nathan Rourke to play in adult rec flag footba...The 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles are over two years away, but B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke is taking an unconventional step to prepare himself.

The province will survey Manitobans about whether to end twice-annual time changes, after B.C. decided to move to year-round daylight time.

Football highlights are usually needlessly cruel https://imgur.com/a/jefferson-long-td-vs-atl-EEKhxb8 Alford is not the guy you want on JJ 1:1, he obviously thought he was releasing him to a safety, realized there was no one behind him so he hauled back and instincts took over and he want to the corner instead of the middle of the field

Bit of a head scratcher though...

Very interesting. My first impression is I hope the stadium doesn't get choked out by retail & residential development so close to PAS. It's obvious that you can kiss any outdoor concwrts goodbye as the new residents next door will kick up a fuss if promoters want to bring an act to Winnipeg. They're doing the same in Ottawa & the residential development is so close to the stadium it's a stone's throw away. That & the fact they're building a 6,000 seat arena in one of the end zone means the RedBNlackd stadium will have a hard time if they ever want to increse seating capacity. Here in calgary, the U of C owns all the land that Mcmahon Stadium is on & also want to do something similar. I've seen renderings of the development around it. Pleanty of condo towers & shopping. No room for parking when attending Stamps games. Buildings literally just feet away from the stadium. Little or no money to renovate McMahon Stadium. It looks awful for football fans. You can tell the low priority the Stampeders have with the politicians, university & developers. https://engage.calgary.ca/foothills-mcmahon

an injury thread wasn't even made for this season...it's too late to make one

They are building a new neighborhood where 20000 will be living, with 300000 sf of commercial retail space and lots of green space. They have completed the sewer, water and hydro infrastructure as well as some of road ways. Actual construction is supposed begin this spring (or may have started already). People will begin to move in next year. Southwood CircleSouthwood Circle - Winnipeg Most Sustainable Infill Devel...Discover Southwood Circle, a 112-acre mixed-use infill community on the University of Manitoba campus, with waterfront parkland and phase one lots available.

As I live in Calgary & not Winnipeg, I'm not up to date on any development around the stadium. I know that the gof course has set empty for 13 years & is being overrum by overgrowth. The last Bomber game I attended was the Banjo Bowl in 2024 & the area around the stadium hadn't changed. So, pardon me if I am a little bit behind on things. Can you post any details on what's being developed & going in around the stadium?

sometimes I wonder if these entertainment type shows even still serve a purpose anymore https://deadline.com/2026/03/nbcuniversal-leaving-syndication-steve-wilkos-karamo-access-hollywood-end-1236752795/

Finally got ’em. https://www.chrisd.ca/2026/03/13/winnipeg-teen-stolen-car-thief-police-investigation/

There are restaurants, coffee shops, pubs being being build at the old Southwood golf course. They are part of what is probably the largest current development in the city.

Low pay, and aiming at that will get you there. The thing is, most rookies are on pretty low contracts once they pay taxes and convert, not to mention living expenses being up here. After all that, even if you come in at 100k, what are you sending home? 25-30 maybe? For anyone with a family, it isn't a living wage being a rookie QB up here. Id say they have good talent. Skill levels, I mean, you always end up picking a tool kit that balances one of arm strength, and accuracy/touch. That's really all throwing sports. And part of the struggle in developing QBs. No different than MLB teams developing pitchers. The throwing talent is completely separate from throwing athleticism, and extraordinarily nuanced. You usually hope to end up with a guy who throws just hard enough and has the ability to put the ball where it needs to go, or a guy with a cannon and athleticism who is as much playing spray and pray in the pass game. Intangibles can be tough to quantify, beyond what you'd expect as well. Because basically all the QBs coming up are at best 2-year starters, it is very hard to tell what is a product of an intangible and what is a fluke or other factors. Back in the day, when every QB going pro was a 3-4 year starter, and a 3-4 year HS starter, you could get a much better evaluation of the guy. Yeah, I mean, teams and players don't want to wait. But at the same time, you only learn so much on the bench. I think young prospects need more seasoning in the first year and a half or so, then after that point. You really have to stress test them. Practice isn't a source of that at all anymore. So we see young guys who have sat for a year or two, know the system, understand most of the nuances of the game, but haven't been battle-hardened enough to be able to make use of those assets. If I were running a team, this is what I would do. Break down the QB prospects into 2 lists. Long list guys, and short list. Long list guys are ones that you've scouted extensively and are ready to keep around for 2 years, almost no matter what. Like how we waited out dru browns early struggles. The short list is guys who have the raw tools you like and may or may not be available. These range from flyers to guys you would watch for a few months to a season to get a better read on while they are on the team. Bring in 4-5 max of these guys. Assuming you have no real QB2, but a starter. You do install with your starter and give heavy, heavy rep time to the prospects. You likely would be lucky to have more than 1 long list guy at a time. So 3-4 short list guys, and as you see critical red flags, you replace them with other short list guys. Mainly, a lack of mental toughness, mental ability to read/progress/improvise, or a lack of the balance of touch/accuracy/release/strength required. You break camp with 3 on the ar, but any time you get one, you should take a vet for QB2. So you end up sitting with 2-3 developmental guys. Any long list guy, or a short list overachiever, goes on the 6-game out of camp. You test the mettle of the remaining kids, cycling them through pr, scout team, heavy drill use, and short yardage stuff on the ar. As they break, you replace them. At 6 games, if any are left standing, you switch them for the first group and sit them on the ir for 6, giving the first group a chance. So you sit a max of 2 QBs on the IR, with a starter/backup, and 2 guys going from pr to ir fighting for a spot. Repeat that grinder until you have 2-3 guys who are at least ready to be between qb2/3. Guys, you can't expect to easily replace them with free agents. Then, you run the blender again with them. You do this and hope to go into the next camp able to move on from QB2 or not being crippled if you lose qb 1. To run this blender, you need to be airlifting and cycling DBs and WRs as well. You can't really practice with QBs facing a real rush, but you can run a ton of Skelly. And you force them to run it on double time to create that friction to struggle against. You call snap, get the QB the ball, and he has to rely on post-snap read and reaction. Shorter than 5-second routes till whistle and next QB up. You'd also need more offensive coaches than D to facilitate running this. You'd each scout to dedicate more time to QBs than the rest, or maybe 1-2 almost full-time on QBs. You probably need to have 2 years to get to the point you want to be at. But most teams' QB plan amounts to either, Hope you hit the lotto, Hope your guy doesn't get hurt/diminish/retire/leave in FA, or Hope someone else can develop a guy who goes to FA that you can poach. Which is how you end up with 40 year old qbs with injury records longer than all the pages Stephen King has written. We are on the cusp of losing BLM, Zach, and Harris in this league. MBT and Masoli are basically done in all but paperwork. Vaj and Fajardo are 33-34 with a ton of wear. The pest hasn't played well outside of or been healthy-ish since 23. As bad as the coming rule changes are, the biggest crisis that the league faces is QBing. If that ship isn't righted with a new group of younger talent, the rest of the stuff will just be the straw that breaks the camels back.