Old Bomber Fan

I would suggest that the game plan was for Dressler and Harris to be the go to guys this game. I think Dressler was targeted at least 15 times whereas Denmark 3. I stand to be corrected on the exact number. What that says to me in my humble opinion is Denmark was a secondary or third receiver in this scheme. LaPo has done this in the past. If you recall the last time Dressler returned to service he was targeted the most yet again even with Adams in the receiving corps. Interesting that Denmark is tied for the lead for TDs on the team. I just get this feeling that Denmark and in this instance Givens were not the main focus of this game plan. It is somewhat sad because LaPo seems to loose sight of the fact that when all receivers are involved in the game the attack is much more balanced and effective. If you look at the past two games, the offense has struggled and in both it has been either Adams until he was hurt and then no one, or in this one Dressler. I have a great deal of difficulty believing that the other receivers are covered or not putting out. Maybe if they are not putting out as has been suggested it is because they are not involved in the game in a meaningful way. Yes I understand they have other duties to perform away from the ball but for an entire game??? I guess we will see what happens next game. Givens showed he could play, in my mind Denmark has shown he can play and Feilo G...., sorry can't spell his name, can catch as well. So why not use them???

Wasn’t suggesting dressier was washed up glad he was playing simply there were others on the field and it was all dressier no wonder the “secondary” players don’t or cannot step up

someone earlier said it is time for our secondary players to step up and I agree with that statement as long as they are given the chance to step up. Givens was thrown 3-4 balls tonight and did the best he could (I don't have the stats to verify but I believe it was around 3-4 balls) Denmark was thrown to 3 times, he caught 2. Perhaps it might be better said that when someone is returning from injury LaPo doesn't target that person what 15 times? Dressler was thrown to on 3 consecutive plays. I find that hard to believe he was the only one in the open. It is a LaPo tradition or tendency to do this whenever someone returns. I think the secondary players can and will step up if given the chance but at least give them the chance.

Well I think I rest my case on my point ref LaPo and playing to Dressler and Harris and for the most part forgetting about the others. I think I recall Denmark being targeted 3 times making two catches one for little if any gain. Givens late in the game got a few and one Canadian, sorry can't spell his name had a few also but the bulk of interest was Dressler and Harris. I certainly don't mind going to them but I think in order for the defense not to key on them you have to spread the ball around and that didn't seem to be the game plan. Medlock missed the last field goal, something he was a given about 3 games ago and I don't really think that lost the game. However if you consider 2 missed field goals and this team and OC dependent on him so much well then I think that is what sunk the ship along with Fogg not doing well all night. Just my thoughts

I started reading this thread about receivers and LaPo's tendency not to throw deep. That is something he has always done and has been written about in several previous threads. Interesting though is the fact that many here are looking for additional good receivers. While I agree we could certainly use some quality receivers , especially to replace Lankford, I noticed that Denmark's name has not been mentioned. I for one believe he is the one receiver that Nichols can rely on game in game out but is seldom thrown to. Last game I think he was thrown to on 3 occasions 2 of those were either behind him or in the ground. The one catchable ball he caught as he has always done. My point is while we need to replace Adams and there is some discussion about the 2 Canadians, Denmark remains probably the most reliable receiver we have yet he gets little or no respect and seldom sees the ball. With Dressler and Denmark in the receiving corps, Givens coming in with his credentials and one of the Canadians, not to mention Harris then I think we should be alright as long as LaPo designs plays to take advantage of ALL the receivers not just a returning Dressler which has been his perchance with players returning from injury. We will see. And not being a Sask fan, keep looking over the shoulder. While we have secured a playoff spot I would be very leery of them as they are building steam and confidence. I think you will see Edmonton cross over and we will be playing Sask. Wherever that game is played we had better come out of the gates roaring because if we don't we might be mightily disappointed. Just saying for future. .

guy who has been and will continue to be a bomber fan since 1953!!! Half of you I would suggest weren't even born then or a twinkle in your mom's eyes! I guess there is a new definition to a true fan, don't criticize, don't question, just shut up go with the flow and live the dream. Sorry haven't been that person all my life and never will. Still a Bomber fan much to your chagrin.

I guess in order to be a "true Bomber fan" on this forum one needs to have season tickets to the game. Not sure that is valid. Yes I lived 4km from IGF however when almost all of the games were played I was a 1 1/2 hour drive away. Couple that with having to take a shuttle from St Norbert and the product and management that was presented to the fans, why would I waste 3 hours of travel not to mention another 20 mins each way to and from the game even when it was a blow out, which was often, and not be able to leave at a respectful hour in order to get back to the lake! Did the money play a part, partially but it wasn't the driving force that led me to give up my season tickets. And for what is worth, you are right I will always be THAT

nah I'm not afraid of breaking a hip....never was off the bandwagon just much more objective than you are. In this instance pleasantly surprised at the outcome to date. Hopefully it will continue. And why is it that you have to continually throw insults every time someone disagrees with you or doesn't do things the way you think they should. Just wondering....makes me think of the spoiled kids in school who would take their ball home with them when they couldn't be the star. Too bad

congrats to the Big Blue, they truly put on a show in terrible conditions last night. To me what they showed was a determination that frankly I haven't seen in some time although with that said they seem to be a determine bunch this year. I thought the defense played well however I will caution that by saying Ottawa's QB was not stellar by any means....many missed receivers, poor passing etc but notwithstanding they did hold them to 266 yards, their best effort to date. I liked the special team coverages and the offense save for one sequence where we put in our run QB to get a first down and then tried a hurry up offense with him on the field and throwing a long pass. My question was why have him try that in light of the weather and the cold....he has to warm up in those conditions and it showed. Other than that I thought they did a good job. So here we are in second place and doing well. I will retract some statements from earlier in the season where I questioned MOS and LaPo.... I still do on occasion but not as much as before. This team has a legitimate chance to host a play off game however to advance they will need to shore up the defense. If they do this who know what will happen. I will simply say it is nice to watch entertaining football once again but keep asking myself why is it I am on pins and needles with 8 mins to go in the 4th quarter when we have such a lead as last night? Congrats again.

I am one who doesn't particularly like LaPo as an OC. With that said however I have seen an evolution of sorts this year. Particularly last game we did throw the ball downfield more than all year which suggests to me that he is trying to stretch the field so his 3 - 4 yard passes have a little more room for success. So I am not terribly unhappy with him to date. On another note he was the OC here after Rick Worman developed an offense that I believe was #1 in the league. I believe it was the first year of Charlie Roberts. Worman was fired the following year because Roberts didn't want to play in his system hence LaPo got his first crack at OC in Winnipeg. His offense, which was actually Worman's was awesome however in the next two years dropped off considerably and he was fired. He came back as HC some years later and has been suggested here had some issues with QBs but was not the OC...that was another person's responsibility. However he still called the shots and was tentative and as also been stated tried to win while trying not to lose. He to this day still shows some of those tendencies and when they get up by a TD or 2 they are on full display instead of putting the foot on the throat of the opposition. Is our offense good enough to win this year...I think they are close.....is our defense....no where close and that has been the case for the past 3 years or more and can be attributed to Hall's scheming.

Hopefully the Bombers don't take their next 3 opponents as lightly as what seems to be the case here. Ottawa has their game back....yes they lost their starting QB but the guy who replaced him was as starter for Calgary I believe before they decided to go with Mitchel. Their D is not as bad as ours so that suggests it could be much closer than what everyone is saying. As for Edmonton well that will be tough. They are beatable but again our D will be the issue. As for Hamilton, well that might be the one that is more of a given than any other. BUT they too have won 2 in a row. Confidence is a big thing is sports so let's not take anything for granted. The offense is playing well, the best I've seen them play on a consistent basis for years....the special teams are playing well....but the defense well if there is a silver lining one could say out of the 476 yards against last game, some 167 of them were on two plays. That is the scary part as well as they had 3 big plays I can think of off the top of my head and that continues to be a big concern. So let's give them a chance to regroup and refocus and see what happens. Hopefully as some have said here three would be nice but take two and run.

So what you are saying is let him lie in the middle of the play and have players trample over him? Not sure that is protecting the player and I'm sure the CFLPA would have something to say about that. In fact maybe they are the ones who should be spearheading an initiative to stop this stuff. In any event it does have to stop I agree how and by whom, well that is another story at this point.

I couldn't agree more with your comments. I simply said in this game we were done after the first quarter. It is hard enough to come back from a 1 score deficit... it is another to come back from a 3 score deficit. I am fully aware of the quality of their players and how they are being prepared for a game scheme wise and emotionally. As I have said before we tend on this site to look at the Bombers as invincible and the only team in the league that makes improvements in the off season whereas all teams are striving for the same thing. Only difference in my humble opinion is other teams seem to be able to climb the mountain much quicker than we do. There have been many rationalizations as to why this is but in my opinion, again humble and to some ignorant, our head office and coaching staff don't seem to recognize quality players when they are presented with them. They are getting better but I think I only have to refer to Denmark to make that point. Thank goodness they brought him back. As for Langford and Adams well I'll take a pass on them both and would rather have had Carter or Muamba or Woods to name a few instead of who we have now. But I will give them credit whomever we talk about...they all play for 60 mins....only problem is they don't seem prepared to play to start the game and that has been going on for over a year now. So who is to blame for bad starts????? anyone's guess I guess...only know when I was coaching I tried to make sure everyone was focused on one objective prior to the whistle....performance and your responsibilities the rest will look after itself

Actually say what you want but it was not ILLEGAL...morally and ethically wrong yes but not illegal. So he used a "loophole" and exploited it. Again like it or not he was trying to find an edge and he obviously found one which we could not counter in any way. But really did it play a real outcome in the game....I think not. We were done after the first quarter. We garnered a lot of yards and managed to get back to what I TD down but in reality and hopefully this can be accepted by the fans on this site, the game was lost....oh yeah I get it ain't over til the fat lady signs but come on, really? Hopefully we will learn for this Saturday...Hopefully the CFL will learn and institute some harsher penalties like has been mentioned already....say out for 6 plays if injured on the field or perhaps a flag for diving similar to the NHL that can be applied once it is determined that the player was in fact faking. Hopefully Jones will learn that it is a detriment to the CFL for that kind of tactic. Bottom line though is we got beat....in the first quarter and in fact we only won 1 quarter the third where we scored 3 points to their 0 so I think it is sour grapes to focus in on this as the reason we lost. Hopefully we will be prepared to play 60 mins of football in all three phases of the game from start to finish and let's hope the coaches will develop a game plan that suggests they know what they are doing and know how to prepare their team to play.

I agree the refs have to be concerned with injuries no question and how are they to know if it is fake or otherwise. There is no rationalization just a simple observation. Do I think it is right, absolutely not but until there is a methodology to prevent it and keep players safe, then it will continue. Sad but true.

Unfortunately the "fake" injuries is within the rules as they are now. The fact that an opposition coach, regardless of who it is, decides to use this to slow down our offense and turn that to his advantage is called coaching, sorry. It may not look good, it may put a smudge on the CFL but it is allowed, at least as of now. Did it have any consequence to the outcome of the game, I highly doubt it. We lost that game in the first quarter and were not going to recover. We were outcoached, out prepared, and outplayed from the get go. The offensive and defensive schemes were terrible no other way to say it. Even to the selection of who played and didn't, we were beat from the get go. Keep in mind we have 2 on the injured list they have 17!! and still dominated. I commented awhile back and everyone accused me of being a wagon jumper etc. All I was saying and continue to say is Sask beat two western division teams handily, we scraped by one of them and lost to the other. They are not far behind us, if at all, and are playing dominating football. We continue to scrape by eastern division teams whom we all know are much weaker than the western division. So now we will see what kind of coaching and team we have in the second half, most of which is against the west I believe. We might do well at the Banjo Bowl, I'm sure hoping we will but time will tell.

I said that wrong and got roasted for it. I DON"T go to build beer snakes and get drunk, I go to watch and study the game. My bad. As for the negativity, my belief it is honest observation sorry I don't wear rose coloured glasses.

I don't believe I said I like the likes of Reibolt, Burke or the rest that were quoted. I do believe I said I endured their tenures as I have endured MOS's tenure. So let's be clear on that. As for band wagon jumping or whatever you want to call it, because someone choses not to go to football games to be unentertained for many years.... yet still continues to cheer for the team while pointing out what he/she believes to be issues with the product on the field or in head office....does that make them non fans??? I think not. If someone was to simply turn their back on the team and not cheer or give a d... what happens to it, well then I guess you could call them band wagon jumping. Sorry there is a difference. I'm one of those people who used to go to the ball game to be entertained and cheer for my team, I was not entertained for many years and after a period of time enough is enough. Because I have a summer residents and spend 3 hours each game day to sit through a debacle it was not worth my time and effort to support in that manner. Also I am one of those who go there to get drunk and make beer snakes and be oblivious to the game itself. I'm not say any one who comments negatively to my posts are these individuals simply that those spectacles are not what I call football fans even though they may have season tickets or have purchased tickets to a game. So the overall experience was one I decided to avoid BUT it doesn't take away my desire for the team to succeed. I guess the question I would ask is: are those who do not live close by or cannot attend a game for whatever reason still fans or are they less fans or even band wagon jumpers.

Goalie; guess you don't know what jumping off the band wagon truly is so that is about as far as I'll go in responding to you. Shallow, and non respective of others opinions....sad

I said last week that before I would say this team is a good team they would have to play against the top tier teams in the league and should they play well and beat them then I would say yes they are playing well and deserve the praise they were given. Well they played well again this week and against a 7-0 Eskimos. Yes the Edmonton have several injuries but nonetheless we controlled the clock and ran over them it seemed at will. Congratulations to them and the coaches. My only concern is Carmichael and will if ever will MOS agree he is not that good of a ball player. He was burnt yet again this time for 2 touchdowns and seems to be trying to catch the ball rather than first attempting to bat it down. Let's see what happens in the next few weeks. We had over 500 yards of offense which says to me that LaPolice has finally come out of his shell and is calling some longer passes and mixing up the calls well....good for him. Hall needs to do better with the defense. We gave up over 470 yards of offense and while there were what 3 big plays it nonetheless has to be reduced. Congrats Bombers you are doing well.

not sure of the meaning of the post regarding shorts so will dismiss this one. As for the other querry, well simply put yes we were on a par with BC last year and played them hard this year...ok I get it but remember they are in a tie for 3rd with us and are a far stretch from Calgary or Edmonton, so I will stand by my point that when we start beating the top tier in the league then I will consider them a top tier team....simple. As for Edmonton having a hard time with Hamilton, I will agree they did but did you forget the injury list that is Edmonton's? I will venture to say ours is a lot less than theirs and while all teams should have replacements capable of stepping up, they seem to have that whereas we are more challenged. Hey I'm a fan as you are but I guess I might be just a little more objective than others. We are not killing the league in offense and certainly not defense but hey they are playing well in all three phases right now against lower tier teams. Let's just wait and see until after the weekend and then I think we will all have a better idea of what kind of team this is. We know right now for sure, they don't quit and good on them for that.

A well deserved victory for Winnipeg. Still am a little unsettled on the offensive play calling, we seem content to settle for field goals when we get inside their 30. Think there has to be a more distinct effort to salt away the games early. Other than that I thought it was an all round good game. BUT and I don't want to rain on the parade, BUT it was Hamilton and they are not a good team right now. I believe our true test will be when we play Edmonton. The Sask games should be victories if they continue on the same path but that means we beat the teams below us and we have to beat the teams above us to be successful. In any event if we continue at this rate, beat the teams below us that is, we will cross over to the east and get a bye I believe. Easy way to the Grey Cup. The team is rounding into forum and if that continues I will gladly take back my words that I have posted here before. Again cautious only because the wins are against low standing teams BUT nonetheless wins.

My only comment for this game is do not take Hamilton lightly......should they.....well we will come home with a loss. We only beat Ottawa by a last second field goal....they played tough with Edmonton and I'm sure they are a very frustrated group. Taking them lightly would not be a good issue.

Let me be the first to congratulate the Big Blue on their win in Ottawa. Like so many others it was nip and tuck til the final whistle and I guess that is what MOS is preaching. It would be nice to be able to sew up a victory prior to the last play but hey as many have said a win is a win. What I did like about this game and I believe noted several times is it was the most complete game to date. I especially appreciated seeing the offense do something that they don't do often....throw downfield. While the completion rate wasn't that good ( I don't have a stat just an observation) it nonetheless kept the defense honest and did open up some stuff underneath. I also appreciated seeing the 2 back system. Why waste a valuable asset on the bench when he is much more valuable on the field and I don't think Harris minds in the least. Still not totally sold on the secondary and very unsure of Carmichael at all. Let's see what happens this weekend against the worst team in the league standing wise. Ottawa was the second worst in records so we have beaten all eastern teams we have played, just one more to go. Should we win then we will have beaten every team below us in the standings and lost to everyone who is above us. I'm thinking that will have to change if we want to progress beyond the first switchover playoff game as if it doesn't we won't get any further. I'm still not convinced we will end up better than 11-7 but for the time being they have won more than they have lost and that can't be bad. Good on them.

Was not going to respond to the comments then thought again. Yes there have been terrible coaches over the past what 15 years at least. However non of those continued the rosy picture and arrogance that MOS has displayed even with a losing record. Many of those poor coaches were not given as much rope as he has been given and for what???? That might be a good question. I stuck it out through thick and thin in the hopes that things might turn around but unfortunately things are not getting better even though our "talent" has apparently improved according to MOS and Miller. So what is the bottom line. No I have played, coached and watched enthusiastically most sports and I continue to watch most with the hope the result is a win however I believe I know when to call a spade a spade and unfortunately to those who disagree, I guess you haven't reached that level yet. It is fine to disagree with one's opinion and certainly fine to voice your own but it is another to question the character of the opposite opinioned person. Sorry you disagree but sometimes the truth is hard to swallow. I said at the beginning of the year that they would be lucky to be 11-7, same as last year but many of you said they improved so much without considering the other teams improving as well. I'm not a Sask fan but watch out they are a game back of us. Let's see who is right at the end of the season