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With a couple months to spare until camp, here's where I come to my concerns about the D. And it's all relative to how the offense looks like the best in the league. As it stands, I'd guess the starters to be: Rose-Nichols-Alexander-Houston-Lawrence, Darby at DIME. Parker's got to be in the mix somewhere. Wilson-Bighill Jeffcoat-Walker-Thomas-Jefferson Nichols is a MODP candidate and Alexander is rock solid. Winston Rose had some rough games and got moved off the boundary side (before returning after Demerio Houston's injury). Three corners for two spots means, presumably, Houston moves back inside, so that's a change. And there's got to be some reason that Hamilton gave up on Lawrence (I liked him here...he was dominant in jump ball situations in the two games vs. BC). Coverage was already a concern for them last year. They had Bighill drop much more often than the year before, and overall blitzed much less often. With the loss of Taylor they're less experienced back there. And they lost Ford to the NFL. Up front: The amount of pressure they created from the interior was off dramatically from 2021 (when it was Stove). For now they have only Ricky Walker on the roster, and seemingly no cap to give anyone much more than the minimum. In losing Sayles they lose a guy who allowed them to carry 6 DL on the roster (twice officially, but essentially a few more when DeJaun Cooper was the 7th). Sayles ability to rush from the edge allowed them to rotate out Jefferson/Jeffcoat for a few plays. Will the Americans they bring in have that ability? Or will the Bombers be forced to use another roster spot? Jefferson and Jeffcoat are elite, but currently there's no depth behind them. Jeffcoat has played exactly 12 regular season games each of the last four seasons. This year's equivalent of Cedric Wilcots/L.B. Mack will probably get valuable reps. Plus, everyone is a year older. Bighill may be the only one we're really watching for that effect this season (35 in October). But Jefferson and Jeffcoat are both 32. All in, they were one of the great all-time Ds in 2021. They weren't as good last year. And this year they've lost talent, IMO. That's where my concern comes from.

yup...I sure he will bring in bodies...we had a weak and depleted secondary ..for yrs...constant turnover...yrs where we had 10 diff guys starting....since that circus time we have found Alford..Nichols, BA, Houston, Mike Jones, now Parker and have also seen value and how to best use guys like Taylor, Darby, Maston and now Lawrence...where other teams seen no use/value in them and mis-used their skills....i'm not to concerned on March 1ST....Nope

Just having Alexander and Wilson for a full year.....will be an instant internal upgrade on D

Not a single person has said anything remotely close to this. Go have a coffee

It’s a bad take provided the Bombers find at least one new impact starter on D. There are a couple things in there I don’t really agree with (I’m pretty comfortable with the secondary as it sits) but for us to be going into 2023 with a worse DL than 2022 is scary. We can talk about being two years removed from an all-time historic D all we want, that’s irrelevant to 2023. Our studs on the DL are older and need complementary pieces that can rotate to keep them fresh. We saw that last year and another year of aging isn’t going to help. Our interior DL as it sits today is probably the worst in the entire CFL. Nobody is scared of Jake Thomas and Ricky Walker. The all-time historic D that we had in 2021 was propped up by incredible pressure from the DL and right now, we’re missing the pieces that allow us to do that. We’re not one piece away on the DL unless that piece is all-star calibre from week 1. We’re two pieces, maybe even three, from being able to have anything resembling a “great” DL in 2023. Is our front office good enough to find those pieces? Probably. Do we need them to? I’d say almost definitely.

Chevy is waiting for Saturday to make his move.

And Darby.

I'm assuming the Jets will do their yearly trade for a guy who 7 seasons ago had a 50 point season but since then has bounced from team to team barely keeping a job in the NHL?

but....we dont know who they plan to bring in to camp...maybe they have a guy...or 2 who "verbally" committed if nothing pans out by TC for them...You do recall that Stove was added...what the week before camp....I'm almost thinking days before actually as thats what he was doing...unheralded and hardly mentioned...but it panned out well....so hard to judge until we see complete camp roster And hey....after we see how all we have developed after another camp...maybe we swing a trade...crazier things have happened...some team may sustain an injury and need a body...and we may have one worth dealing Don't underestimate Hansen's presence back this yr either, he is a more than adequate rotation piece to give our guys in game rest, and has lined up inside and out I not worried about the secondary in the least, its a good mix of young guys, and vets, none of whom is overly old, and not worried about Rose either. Lawrence was a right steal last year and after a full camp will be one of the top corners in the league this yr. I wanna see tho a new stud heat seeking missile DI Linebacker, and back to the main issue...we need at the very least, and stud DT who moves bodies and takes up a lot of attention...we have that...we be top 1...2 defense in league again, as based on the offence..they are gonna get a lot of time to rest on sidelines and not get bagged out

If the stats im reading are correct the Bombers defence placed as follows : 1st - points allowed (370) 2nd- rush yards (1607) 2nd - passing yard 4330 sure we can spin this in several ways, this or that, but the reality is we are near the top of the league in 3 major categories. I would like to see our takeaways and sacks but couldn't find that immediately Not coming back. He's going to have a good career up there

it's Homer buying all the pumpkin stock and going "I have a feeling they're going to peak right around December...."

Sounds like a potential replacement for Sayles, who can move around. "NFL.com rated South Carolina’s Aaron Sterling as one of the top undrafted players coming from the 2022 draft class. Despite being 6’2 250, Sterling played multiple positions in college all over the defensive format at DT, LB, and DE. That type of versatility could be an asset for D.C.". https://xflnewshub.com/xfl-news/xfl-2023-a-deep-dive-into-the-d-c-defenders-defense-and-supplemental-draft-options/

Bombers just signed this guy:

Thursday March 9th 830... m. Pulver is playing at times changed nightclub, wpg.... tribute to jeff beck, along with tim butler, mike swickis, marco castillo, barry g. player and ego spank. all, very good players, going to be brilliant. if you are a rock/fusion guitar fan, do not miss this.

Probably the worst contract given out on FA. A lot of credit to his agent to get a rotational player paid like a star.

With regard to Sayles......Walters definitely said he wasn't going to give Sayles his ask and let him walk...I was not impressed with Sayles and didn't believe he should get a raise of any kind so I can agree with Walters call on this one....To say we haven't got a replacement this early in the game is a little pessimistic ....how do we know what is coming down the road....I believe in this club finding talent....it's been proven time and time again.......have a little faith

More interesting stuff from Tait on Dalton Schoen (don't see that anyone has referred to this before). "Schoen outlined how his various NFL workouts unfolded; he usually arrived in the city the day before and then was up early for physical testing and meetings with personnel and coaching staffs. He took three weeks off after the Blue Bombers loss in the Grey Cup to get his body right again for the process and then was all-in for a circuitous journey over the next month and a half from one NFL stop to another. And here’s where it can get really frustrating: Schoen’s on-field evaluation would sometimes see him just run routes against air – no defenders – for about 10-15 minutes. Yet without the chance to run in a training camp environment against defensive backs, he had zero chance to showcase his skills, his ‘Street Dawg’ approach and maybe quash the suggestion his success in the CFL was predominantly because of the pre-snap motion – the ‘Waggle’ – that doesn’t exist in the NFL. “You’re asking the same question my agent and plenty of people in my inner circle have been asking,” said Schoen. “It’s something we did struggle with – where do they put their weight in terms of the evaluation process? Is it what you were able to see me do on the field in a 10–15-minute workout after I flew to be there? Or do you look at the body of work I put together in the CFL over an 18-game regular season and two playoff games? Those are questions I’m not sure I got a great answer to in terms of how they evaluate people and what they were really looking for.”" https://www.cfl.ca/2023/02/27/schoen-excited-build-off-successful-rookie-campaign-in-23/

I hope you subscribe to her Substack. Her writing is so fantastic. https://melissamartin.substack.com/ She just wrote a new piece about Kyiv and AI. Before that, she hadn't posted anything for a while.

The same feds who have added billions to social transfers.

0 was on game day roster all year

I'm sure Hansen will play prominent rotation role...he was very effective and key in that role in the previous cup runs I'm not concerned in the least with Lawrence..was injured in Ham a bit..then with the odd use of what they had he was much like Darby ..a guy more than good enough..yet not used properly

🥳 🎉

My brother in law travelled with his regular team from Assiniboine Memorial to Green Bay Wisconsin in July for a summer bonspiel back in the 80's. I think threy might have won the thing but I can't remember. My bro in law was a helluva curler. He could make all the shots. He curled with his buddies. They curled together for years. He could have left them & played on a better team & challenge for the provincial crown but he wasn't like that. He loved curling with his team. They were all high school friends & very close.

And hopefully 18 games outta Jeffcoat, and as much s Rose was maligned here....healthy right out of the gate with a full camp for Lawrence....we gonna be just fine on defense....we were basically playing banged up all yr, and missing key pieces...and basically still had leagues best unit

Big movement expected by Chevy shortly......bowel that is ...it'll be craptacular

I wasn't the biggest Sayles fan either. He was solid, a decent DT and a decent DE. But wasn't great at either position. He filled a role here that shouldn't be too hard to replace.

Chevy likes this comment.

Once again... is Walters not bringing any bodies at all to camp? Doesn't his track record give him way more then then the benefit of doubt that he can find real talent? I don't understand why we need to be chicken littles and also pretend that this team hasn't found numerous high quality gems over the last many recent years? So instead of saying this team is going to suck and Walters sucks for not over paying on free agents... maybe we can talk about how Walters has the ability to find amazing talent year in and year out? It's like people forgot that Dalton Schoen was a complete unknown last year and look how that turned out?

We are definitely an older defense so injuries are a concern, but we did have some bad injury luck last year and still led the league in points against. We managed that with important guys suffering season ending injuries and/or playing hurt for much of the year. Our linebacking corps was generally a mess for most of the year with the season ending injury to Wilson, the so-so play of Clements(and then he got hurt for a good chunk of the year), and Bighill playing hurt and dropping back more to make up for loss of Alexander. With Wilson + Bighill healthy and Darby back i expect much better play from our ‘backers. The d-line for sure suffered from the Stove effect. That guy is a beast and diference maker making everyone around him better. Sayles had his moments but was overpaid in free agency for what he brings IMO. He did leave a hole however. I like Ricky Walker so we’ll see what he can do in the competition with other DT’s Walters will surely bring to camp. He did find Stove so we’ll see what he can find. The d-line will for sure be a question mark going into training camp. The two Jeffs are still elite ends but are into their 30’s so keeping them fresh and healthy should be a priority. Walters didnt add anyone during free agency so itll be interesting to see what unfolds. Maybe Kongbo comes back?? The secondary i have high hopes for, especially with Alexander healthy to start the season. Nichols is elite and Houston was excellent before his injury. I liked what i saw from Lawrence in his brief time here, and Parker looked good for a rookie. Rose needs to find his game and have a better year. If he can get back to even 75% of his 2019 self we’ll be looking good. My glass is generally half empty and obviously injuries can derail any season, but with some better luck i think our D will be just fine. And even if they take a step back who cares!?!? Were gonna be putting up 50 a game with our insane Tecmo Bowl like offense!!

Aged like milk seems to be the phrase of choice. Or in this case, aged like a Russian special military operation.

Well... this thread aged like fine wine... A year ago:

Neufeld: Tough to see Couture go. They're very close, on and off the field. Roommates on the road. Happy to see him be closer to family and friends, but tough to lose him. Says Kolankowski and Eli are both VERY good and will have quite a battle in camp to determine who gets to start. Walters: Understands why fans are upset about the kicking, and there will be lots of competition in camp, which Liegghio is ready for and welcomes. They will have plenty of legs in camp, trying out for all 3 kicking jobs. Thinks the global draft may be of some help here. Lawler: It's going to be scary for other teams D to try and match up with Bombers O. Too many weapons. Too much depth. DT/Aumell Wrap Up Comments: Think the defense is not good and that they're going to give up a lot of points, but that the offense will be able to score their way out of problems. Think that other than Alexander and Nichols, the secondary is a huge question mark. Also kicking a major weakness. (Noeller wildly disagrees with much of these sentiments, of course)

The first of 3 MBB questions noted, although thankfully the “erection” reference replaced by “excitement” (on that note, way too much “hard on” meme-ing going on when discussing player signings. We’re all happy with the off-season, but there are other ways to express it than like being a bunch of 14 year olds in math class getting random woodies and announcing it to the teacher. That’s just weird). Anyway, Zach was looking forward to playing with this group but noted that you forgot to mention Agudosi, Grant, and O’Leary-Orange as well. Kenny Lawler agreed that this was going to be a “light ‘em up” year, called for Zach to throw 50 TDs. Also admitted the Elks signing last year was all about the money, but no regrets and was happy to re-set the bar for receiver salaries league-wide. Basically said no, he doesn’t budget per group, because it is unclear how the market will price itself each year. Only focussing on this year right now because they are in the Grey Cup window, so not thinking about how expensive a Schoen re-signing will be in the future. Admits in past years when the club was re-building he would take a longer term approach. Also says (when asked by DT if receiver is now the 2nd most important position in the CFL) besides the QB, the left tackle and rush ends are the key pieces since it is a throwing league and you need to protect your QB and get after the opposing QB, but acknowledges the importance of receivers and sees why prices are going up for them. Also said when making money decisions on who to re-sign or not, looks at the depth on hand that can step up and replace the more expensive existing veteran players (cited Tui and Kolankowski as examples as to why Couture was not re-signed). Says the cap was spent on keeping the core, when in other years with less depth or talent they would spend more in free agency to bring in new guys. There were other things I might have missed, skimmed through it on the CJOB audio vault.

You're forgetting about Obby. The guy should be in charge of the department of government grants. Received the most Covid funding grants from the PCs while unsure which party he would join. Soon after receiving the grant he joins the PCs and his business is no more. Wondering if they are trying to add to the resume of some of these candidates to give them more credibility for the next election. I know Obby and Klein were tight in the byelections and I wouldn't be surprised to see Teitsma and Morley-Lecomte pushed too. I'm sure they'll all be front and centre giving away tax dollars making a ton of announcements over the next few months with Stefanson in preparation for the next election.

I got my cheque from the pcs today so my $ worries are over. What inflation, amirite?

I remember that exhibition game Meleschuk played against Vera Pezer the 1972 Canadian Women's champ. She dominated women's curling at that time like Duguid had done for the men. She challenged Meleschuk to a Battle Of The Sexes match. The media jumped all over it. And CBC set it up on their saturday afternoon show called CBC's Wonderful World of Curling". I read that Meleschuk wanted no part of this game but gave in because of the pressure to play. So, in November 1973, they played the game on the CBC network.. If any of you remember Meleschuk's delivery it was a high backswing out of the hack & then a flat foot slide down the ice while holding the broom in his left arm at shoulder level. Nobody knew how pissed off Meleschuk was & how he had spent awhile in the lounge at the St james Civic Centre drinking his anger away to go play. I think he felt trapped by the hype & was forced to play aganst his will. There was nothing for him to gain by playing this game. He was the reigning Men's world champion. Orest was half cut by game time. So, his first shot, with a cigarette in his mouth, he came flying out of the hack & nearly fell over. Only his natural strength kept him upright. I remember Don Wittman calling the game exclaiming, "Ohhhh, the ship's a little unsteady!" I think Pezer beat him that day but in typical Meleschuk style he just shrugged it off as in "Who cares?"

It's all a blur, but still remains one of the most fun weekends I ever had. Was so proud of my town for putting that on. It's funny because they thought they'd need to attract higher level curlers looking for practice time from the city to fill out the 48 spots, but it was almost all "locals". We were all scared that the ATM at the Credit Union was going to run out of money, but we needed those icy drinks to keep us cool.

Definitely wouldn't be playing 7 Nation Army.....ha ha ha ha. Yes, that Rorketon Summer Spiel was something else. My buddy Kyle Forsyth was dating a girl from that area, so we curled in it...... a mutual friend of ours, Kevin somethingorother..... ( we just called him "Chewy" 'cause he was a very hairy dude) curled with us, I think, and I can't remember who else. It was just absolutely bonkers. 40 above outside and couldn't keep the ice going inside...what a time. That woulda been somewhere around 2003/04, if I remember right...

I curled in the Stonewall Bonspiel back in my early 20's. The bonspiel was the first weekend in April. They didn't have an ice plant. Anyway, the temp shot up from minus 2 to plus 15 during the game & like you said the ice turned to slush & water. Ifa team got a rock somehow in the house they'd get a point as it was impossible to remove. We had corn brooms back then & I was playing second. My friend playing lead & I were getting sprayed with water & were soaked on our legs. It was ******* awful. We were eliminated in the playoffs. No idea how they finished that bonspiel. I never swept so hard in my life. Myarms were dead & sore for 2 days after.

that team is gonna be a hot mess this yr....and it's just not the typical hating cause it's the Riders....its just looking at it as a whole...top to bottom....and you cant honestly say they are in a good position, or going to be a top 3 team in the west....they will be hard pressed to hold off the Elks

You're probably a little too young to have had the chance to curl in Fork River. Two sheeter, natural ice and snow blowing through the walls. The bonspiel in Rorketon was the first time I ever experienced +40 C without humidex. They made 10K a day in the beer tent in a town of under 200 people, but it wasn't enough to replace the ice plant that they killed in the heat. We won 2nd in the 2nd. That's where I learned to curl. You weren't the guys playing Seven Nation Army 24 hours a day, by chance?

I did an overnighter in Didsbury (called a "Red Eye Bonspiel") with Dave and a couple other friends about 15 years or so ago.....that was a lot of fun, but very difficult. I don't do well on a lack of sleep. When I was up at Dauphin, a couple places used to do "Summer Bonspiels" at the end of August and it was insane. You could barely keep the ice frozen. It was just puddling everywhere, so you have to whip it as hard as you can just to get it to the other end. And the FOG in the lobby....it's 30 above outside and they're trying to keep it cold on the ice....well Christ. What a mess, and everyone just so drunk....... I think that was Rorketon, MB that we did an August bonspiel. So many good times...

We used to have all night bonspiels in the city. We'd be curling at 4 am on a Saturday morning only to do it again the next night. And the clubs would let us drink as back then the junior age was 21. It was changed to 18 in either 1977 or 78. Those were about as fun as you could have although going out on a sheet of curling ice after 3 hours of pounding back rum & cokes wasn't he smartest thing. In 1975, we got to the semi finals of the main event (Free Press trophy) of the old School boy Bonspiel just to get hammered by Dale Duguid's team. We gave up a 5 & then a 3 ender in 5 ends. They were just too good. What a great team that was. Arrogant as hell but you couldn't deny their talent.

This quote is actually amazing accurate... the masses in the rectangle are foolishly optimistic about their sad sack team... while the "10 or 15 people" AKA 8 other fan bases, can see the team is a mess

I faintly remember spieling at the Thistle. So many of our curling rinks are very, very old but so beautiful in their own way. But, I guess that would have been the old location. I don't think I ever curled at this location - the Valour.

Do we have any defensive stalwarts we could trade to retirement to acquire Ray Neufeld?

Another “final” tour. This makes the 10th rendition of “final” for them. Just wait a couple of years, they’ll be back again.

If Aumel's take was that the D is bad, I disagree. What @DTonOBwrote is pretty spot on. As others such as @Mikeand @JuranBoldenRulesand @SpeedFlex27have written, secondary looks good but we need work at defensive tackle. We need at least a DI who can rotate in at DE with the Jeffs. We need a national to rotate in on the DL or at Linebacker. We could use a linebacker who can play wil and mike as a di.

He is going waive Ganger so he can sign him again.