Old Bomber Fan

I missed the coach's show but from the remarks I am reading it was the same old same old. That is the problem with this team. While I believe a coach has to have his players back he also has to be brutally honest about their performance as well. Not only the players but the coaches as well. To date I don't see that at all. And I'm beginning to see a resort clubhouse type of mannerism from everyone; no one appears remotely p.... o... about the past two games; no one is holding anyone accountable for the multiple mistakes that are made; see very little emotion on the sidelines which all add up to we will play the game as the coaches tell us and if we lose se la vie! We get paid and will go at it again next wee,. It is about time someone, anyone lit a fire under the butts of these guys. Motivate them, kick them in the you know where if need be, bench them for poor execution or play, make them accountable! I have a distinct feeling that in BC for example, that Buono, who if you watch him on the sidelines, doesn't normally get upset with a missed assignment or whatever but look closer and you can see his assistants with a great deal of emotion and talking to players when they come off, hence a team that was projected to be near the bottom is all of a sudden 2-0 and leading the west. Call it coincidence or call it good coaching and accountability. OShea will never hold his players accountable as he believes their peers will do that job - wrong! If the staff don't do it the players won't either because each and every one of them are looking after themselves. Gone are the days or Ritchie or Murphy or Grant or Riley. This is the day to coddle the players and play personnel manager rather than taskmaster and leader. God help us when we wake up and our record is now 0-6. That by the way is only 4 weeks away.

And while he is running is oblivious to the time clock ticking down to negate a field goal and 3 point opportunity!

I do agree however I still believe he probably played the best games of his career at this time.

I believe that Glenn was let go because the famous Mike Kelly came to town and declared that the 3rd string QB from Edmonton the past year was anointed as his starting QB. I stand to be corrected but I believe that is how that went down. As for the threads title, I agree I ran out of patience last year. Get rid of the country club atmosphere and put someone who will hold them accountable for their actions in place. MOS is a players coach but he doesn't know how to hold people responsible for their play.

sorry hit the wrong button. Yes we have brought in 4 allstars from other teams in order to boost the offensive production. One was and one would assume still is a shut down guard. The others are proven offensive threats providing they get the ball. To date that hasn't happened. Many point the finger at Willy, very few point the finger at LaPo. How about a lot of both and a poor HC. Willy hasn't been able to be anywhere close to a productive QB and as has been stated here previously the offense on the field starts with him. Secondly a poorly designed offense often leaves the QB open to the desires of the defense. No alternatives in the case of blitzes etc. And finally a HC who doesn't obviously understand the offensive side of the ball nor does he understand momentum and confidence building other than not throwing a player under the bus. Now this is not considering poor time management by all three, poor execution by the QB, poor play calling by the OC. Will the players lose confidence in not only the QB but also the scheme-most definitely. Personally I think Willy is not a good QB. I could go back three years since his arrival and only the first 6 games of his first year was he anywhere as advertised or better yet a "good" QB in this league. Yes he has had a flash now and then but the norm is terrible. As has been stated before he compiles his stats in garbage time. When the pressure is on to lead his team he disappears and if you watch the players walk off the field you can see the disenchantment in their body language and facial expressions. What bothers me is MOS. He shows no emotion say at the end of the first half last game where the cameras caught him swearing at someone. His team in fact have taken his nonchalant manner and show little or no emotion hence a "what the heck I messed up there but that's okay" attitude. Now I'm sure they don't really feel that way but it sure looks like it. Further to MOS he is stubborn and will not sit a non effective QB to not only give him a different perspective but also perhaps to give the offense a much needed boost. I told those who watched the game with me that regardless of Willy's performance, he will remain in the game till the end. How sad a mere fan can read a professional coach so easy. And finally on MOS he doesn't understand how to build momentum for his team. They hire the most accurate kicker in CFL history and he fails to give him not one but two opportunities to put points on the board. Oh and yes Will took part in that second take away due to his lack of clock awareness. That does not build confidence or momentum and the other coach and team just smile. Football is a violent game, an emotional game, and one that has to be played that way. When you come up short instead of simply walking of the field you should be stomping off the field really p..... that you didn't get it done and will make damn sure next time we will! I frankly don't see that in the Bombers. I will say I feel sorry for LaPo as I'm sure he came here thinking with all the talent I have at my disposal, all my "new" offensive schemes should be a slam dunk. Little did he realize that he didn't have a QB who could throw for more than 5 yards. Little did he realize that his QB doesn't have any game sense or presence. These last two performances simply confirm not renewing my season tickets was the best saving I ever made. I will still cheer but will be less invested in a country club loser atmosphere that has become the Bombers.

There has as been a lot of comments regarding Willy and the offensive line. I kinder back to someone who correctly pointed out that we have brought in 4 ALLSTARS

topic title are we capable of change? I somehow think that given his area of expertise MOS will change out defensive players as per his attitude toward defense and his example of play. On offense, no. He is stubborn in this regard and it might well be the opposite from above as he doesn't know the offense, and won't change unless directed to in a very forceful manner from his coordinator and I doubt anyone will suggest that during a game. Just my opinion.

wbbfan I understand your comment regarding garbage time and point well taken. I guess what I am saying and believe I said it earlier is simply that the other QBs we have seem to be able to get rid of the ball before being sacked regardless of whether they are playing behind our #1 OL or not and if they were not playing behind the #1 unit but say the number 2 and against the oppositions #2 they are still getting rid of it much quicker. I realize that playing against another team's #2 or 3 players is not a fair judgement however with that said they also play with our #2 or 3 players so that does equal out somewhat I believe.

I'm sorry but I don't understand your post. If you are referring to the 4th quarter when the game was pretty much out of reach even though this is the CFL Willy had one good play; I think it was a 63 yard TD and a 2 point conversion. Take those yards along with the others he accumulated with the short dinky passes I think he had close to 80 yards in that quarter. Compare that to when the game was really on the line and you can see I think what is meant by garbage time. As for the pre season I don't know. I only know that in preseason he couldn't do diddly whereas the other QBs could move the team somewhat respectfully. I don't believe there is a comparison at all when you compare preseason to regular season unless you want to compare productivity of the Bombers offense and if so then you could certainly compare the two in that both were terribly ineffective. That's all sorry.

Unfortunately MOS will not sit Willy during any game unless hurt. He fails to see the benefits of sitting him for a few series so he can get a different perspective of the opposition's defense. Until he is willing to take a QB out for poor performance for either the reason above or simply to change the pace in the hopes it will jump start the offense we will see the same game in game out and frankly that is regardless of what the OL does. It just seems strange to me that many will argue that it isn't Willy that is the problem but the OL. I heard our OL coach explain the issues with sacks so if you take that it isn't just the OL but everyone on offense. With that said it is strange yet and still that the back up QBs can get rid of the ball on target on time whereas Willy cannot seem to do that. Go figure!?

I have watched Willy for 2 seasons now and what I'm seeing is not good. He came into the starting position and was quick with his decisions, precise with his throws, mixed his throw between bullets (as much as he can) and touch passes. Since that time and up to Friday night, he has become hesitant, his throws never or seldom seem to catch the receiver in full flight but standing still instead or overthrowing them by 5 yards or more most of the time, and he has no touch with the football. He has become unsure of what to do, who to throw it to and his reads are terrible. Now with that said the offense he has been given was to have been imaginative and dynamic (those are not my words but MOS and LaPo) but in fact was nowhere close to that. Now with that said I'm sure we are going to hear the naysayers say it was only the first game and with a new offense etc etc. Well we spent an entire mini camp with only the offense on the field. We have had two exhibition games in which in my opinion our offense went downhill, and an entire training camp, not unlike the other teams in the CFL who have had the EXACT same amount of time to "gel" and what do we get? We get a second rate offense not unlike that which we have seen in the past number of years. There really is no excuse in saying we have a new OC or we have a new offensive game plan; many of the other teams have the same with several with new OCs as well. Did they flounder? Perhaps but nothing like what we saw on Friday. I have stated earlier in another thread that I would be satisfied if our offense got 300+ yards in this game and it was entertaining and close regardless of whether we win or lose. Well they did get 303 in total yards however the other two aspects were sorely missing. And when one looks at the 4th quarter stats and deducts them from the totals, it was yet again another pitiful performance no matter what way you want to look at it. Now many will start to find reasons (I'll say excuses) as to why the offense didn't play well. They will say we lost Dressler in the 1st quarter; yes we did but we didn't utilize Smith at all for the remainder of the game - why? They will say Willy didn't have much time to make decisions before he throws; really- he had much more time than Glenn only difference is Glenn can make a decision a lot faster that Willy. Notice Glenn wasn't dancing in the pocket whereas Willy was doing the polka on most down. They will say the receivers didn't run the correct routes - perhaps on occasion that might have been the case but if the receiver did run the wrong route what is wrong with checking down to the other receivers or the running back out of the backfield if in fact he did that rather than being stuck in the blocking scheme. And then there will some who will say the line didn't do a good job. Fair statement maybe they didn't but I would offer that they gave Willy as much time as Glenn had and the results speak for themselves. Finally I couldn't help but notice that when Montreal was on offense, other than those reverses and running plays, Glenn threw the ball for 8-10 yards or more most of the time. Willy threw it for 3-5 yards in plays designed to take the receiver to a place on the field where there were few teammates to block for him. In fact on two plays I believe in the first quarter they ran the wide receiver screen on two consecutive plays. The first went well as there were 3 other receivers their to block and for the most part did their jobs. However on the second, there were only 2 receivers and they didn't block well against 4 defenders. What does all this say: well in my humble opinion it says LaPo hasn't learned a lot about offense in his what 2+ years on TV; it says we have a QB who has lost HIS confidence; it says our QB cannot complete, at least on a consistent basis, any passes 15 yards or longer; and last but not least, little has changed from last year or subsequent years. Unless something drastic changes the defense will be blamed for inflated opposition numbers even though they will spend 2/3 or the game on the field; the team will continue to lack excitement, and the loyal season ticket holders will continue to become disillusioned and eventually give up their seats in the stadium which will mean there will be less revenue and less revenue leads to you know what! So here's hoping that I am totally wrong in my observations. I hope they will turn this around. I hope that the fan base will return and this franchise will return to the proud dynamic one is once was. There are efforts in my opinion that are being made to return it to that status however the product on the field, be it the players or the coaches are hindering any major movement forward. As I said here's hoping! Sorry for the long rant.

I have always been treated great by those in the Bomber store I will say. The people in the ticket office have been good as well no complaints. I am just curious about season ticket sales. They have been declining since relocating and producing a bad product on the field and then last years "offer" for the Grey Cup turned off a lot of people I know personally. So was just wondering how they were doing.

I am curious to know how the season ticket sales have been going to date. I know of several season ticket holders who did not renew their seats for this season not only because of the lack of improvement of the product on the field but also because of the location of the stadium so am wondering if the decline in season ticket holders is continuing or has there been an improvement. Does anyone know of the trend?

Great selection most deserving, congratulations to them all!

I doubt that Winnipeg will win 50% of their games. I'll go with 7 or 8 wins and will end up in a race with BC and Sask for 3rd. Oh and now it appears that Harris may not start on Friday so the season starts off with blip already

Actually Romby Bryant started his career with the Bombers before being unceremoniously dumbed to Calgary by the infamous Mike Kelly. He was our star at the time and went on to play well with Calgary before heading to Toronto. I understand the Argo thing but he was actually an original Bomber. I will say though that I too am a little tired of MOS bringing in retreads from the Argos.

I don't think that the people are looking for the negative all the time. In fact I think that for the most part people are being analytical in most instances. Let's face it if there are positives to speak to I'm sure you will see it however if there are negatives, then should you not see them as well? I think often as Bomber fans and die hards as well there is a tendency to look through rose coloured glasses and not see the whole picture. One must admit as has already been mentioned that this team and organization has not exactly thrilled its fan over the past several years so it is natural that there is some doubt in peoples minds. And don't forget they have a right to voice their opinions as well as those who voice the negative as it is called. The comments have been made so let's see who is on the right tract and who isn't. In the big picture I think we are all fans, some just aren't afraid to voice their concerns while other will only expound on the good.

I agree, personally I haven't been a fan of LaPo since he was here to replace Worman. I think he rode the coat tails of his offense. Further comments from Nichol regarding having seen this offense in other places makes me think that is merely taking other people's ideas and implementing them in his offense. We will see however whatever the outcome there SHOULD be no excuses for ineptitude this time around. They used the mini camp for the offense only, they have had a full training camp to demonstrate they absorbed it (which they haven't displayed even though they had a reduced play book) and now have an additional what 12 days to "get ready" for the first real game. As has been mentioned time will tell and we will see. Still hoping though it is the Blue and Gold

Not sure if this is the string to make this comment however if not hopefully someone can redirect it. I just wanted to say that over the weekend I watched the remaining televised CFL games as well as highlights from the other games. I will say here that I have concerns about our offense. We constantly here comments like "we are using vanilla offenses" "we are not concerned because people are getting used to the new offense" etc etc. Seem to me watching most of the other teams, their offenses are way ahead of ours. Further their coaches' responses to a lack of productions etc are quite pointed and have stated their displeasure or pleasure of the play in general. What we seem to get is everything is great and we will be ready. I guess we will see on the 24th vanilla or explosive, excuses or accolades, and result or no result. I would be interested in knowing the expectations of others IE what do you think would be an acceptable performance either score (offensive score that is) or simply moving the ball with authority and stats. For me personally I would like to see consistent moving of the ball, minimal 2 and outs. If we have over 300 yards of total offense in the game with limited sacks and 2 and outs I think I would consider that an acceptable start. Any opinions?

With reference to the comment that we want to be like Montreal, no I don't want us to be like Montreal but I do want a HC that recognizes that his starter is not performing or doing well and that perhaps a series or two on the bench for a different perspective might help. Taking a player out doesn't mean taking him out for the entire game. I recall that Bud Grant did this, Wally Buono did this, Chris Jones did this, even Hufnagel did it so there has to be some merit in it. If the QB isn't moving the team give him a break and the opposition a different look. It is surprising what an effect it has not only to your own players but the opposition. I have watched too many games with Oshea as HC where we were being blown out and he continued to stick with Willy. Why not take him out and give him a break while at the same time giving the backups some playing time. Equate it to pulling a goalie when he isn't play well. It isn't shameful it can be beneficial to everyone. Do you think he doesn't pull some other position that isn't playing well? If you do perhaps we should watch the game more closely. Let's just see what year 3 presents us. Hopefully our 'rookie' head coach has now learned about head coaching and we will see the results.

Just listening to the coach's show on cjob. Hearing the same thing as I heard all last year, nothing!. On the note of this tread can someone please explain to me why we defend poor performance from Willy stating it is only pre season, he hasn't played since last fall etc etc yet those other QBs that we play against are in the same boar aren't they? How come they can perform aka Glenn, Burris. Yes they have been in the league longer however they too have not played since last year. I wish we would simply call it like it is - he did not perform well for whatever excuse, not reason, you want to insert. He has to get it together quickly. I have stated what I believe to be his shortcomings back to last year so unless he can correct those, we will be in trouble because Mike Stubborn will not take him out.

if the play calling is done properly then Willy should have enough time to either throw deep or medium routes OR dump off an outlet or screen to Harris. Didn't see a screen called all night or for that matter during either game. Again I realize it is vanilla time however it is strange that both Montreal and Ottawa were in the same boat, actually this was Ottawa's first game, and yet they could move the ball at will. I think we have to take the rose coloured glasses off and look at what we saw, ineptitude, a lack of execution and poor play calling and a not very good defense. In the first game our subs outplayed Montreal's hence the victory. Today not so much we were basically even after they took Burris out of the game. Willy doesn't appear to read defenses well and as a result holds onto the ball far too long. Is this a result of poor play design or poor route running or simply poor recognition. How is it that Nichol move the ball much better than Willy in this game and the other two could do better than either Willy or Nichol on Friday. Finally it was apparent that when Willy was throwing the ball it seemed that the receivers were all standing still to receive the ball. Does this mean he cannot throw a timing pass aka Cavillo or Ray? In most sports the best pass is to the "open area or open ice"; a timing pass. I haven't seen one with the Bombers forever. I take that back Tom Clements could do it to perfection. A lost art? Who know. All I know is this offense, if what Nichol said in the post game comment is true (they were using 60-70% of the new offense and that it wasn't a new offense merely some plays taken from other teams that seemed to work for them), then we are in big trouble. I always thought you developed your offense around the talents of your players, something like putting a round peg in a round hole not trying to put a square peg in a round hole. Oh well I hope I am wrong but the first 5 games will tell the tale.

I realize this is only exhibition however the number ones on both sides of the ball are getting beat badly!!!! No imagination on offense, no consistency and apparently no stopping Ottawa's offense. If it wasn't for the Redblacks penalties this would be worse that it is! And this was supposed to be a turn around year!! Yup let's watch and see. LaPo hasn't learned a thing during his TV time. Glad I didn't renew my season tickets.

I have been reading Doug's columns since he was hired by the Free Press. Many will consider his columns negative, I don't. I consider them to be realistic. Yes some are of the obvious some are insightful. Bottom line is what he has said in this particular piece is quite correct. It is much easier to teach defense than it is to teach offense. That being said if follows that with an influx of new players the defense will gel much quicker than the offense. I too do not like the negative but at the same time do not like the rose coloured glasses positive approach. A much more palatable approach would be one that is more realistic than fiction. To suggest the Bombers are going to be barn burners this year???? Well that just doesn't make sense. Yes they have upgraded their personnel, they have changed coaching staff; however that being said does one think the other teams above us have not done the same? Therefore one can only assume, based on press reports from the Bombers themselves, that we have improved measurably more than those ahead of us. That remains to be seen. Optimistic, yes as always however reality says don't jump the gun. If one was to review the past say three years, it becomes painfully obvious that this team has not improved but regressed. Why is that? Is it because we have not recruited better players? Perhaps. Is it because our starting QB has been injured? Perhaps. Is it because of poor coaching? Perhaps. So if we assume that all three are collective reasons why we have done so poorly, one could expect an improvement this year, correct? Well only partially because we now have better personnel (we assume and have been told) , better coaches (we assume and have been told), and we have yet to find out if our starting QB will remain upright the entire season. What that does is leave the subject of gelling as a team in all three phases of the game. Should that fourth part of the puzzle come to fruition, then we can say we SHOULD improve. BUT that still has not accounted for the upgrades of those above us. Getting back to the topic, this only says that Doug Brown is stating the obvious and provides some insight into the workings of a successful football team. He is neither negative or positive, merely state the obvious at times and raising questions at other times. We will see who is right, remember to come back to this topic at years end to see if in fact what he has said has any merit. For me, Doug being an ex professional football player, and expounding on what he knows from experience, I'm inclined to go with him on this one.

To give credit where credit is due: they have improved the transportation debacle from day one to the current, they have a variety of food concessions that do offer a variety of food. However with that said you still cannot get out of the stadium at half time say if you take the shuttles. There has to be some sort of mechanism to permit this. With that said it is still difficult to get to and from the game and when you are 4kms away and have to drive 9kms to get the shuttle, well that is a mistake. Surely they can still improve on that one. As far as the food is concerned, I too used to enjoy going to the old stadium and have my smokey prior to the game. Now you can't enjoy a smokey at the game unless you eat it outside the stadium and you certainly can't take it in. That too is a mistake. Another point that annoyed me although I do understand that Miller is trying to address the younger crowd is the point to provide a "drinking" section for those who want to spend excessive amounts of money of money to buy excessively expensive beer and play "beer snake". I used to go to the game to watch a football game, not a bunch of drunks playing with plastic cups. And finally the product on the field is less than encouraging. Sorry to be the negative person however you asked for comments and these are mine.