Old Bomber Fan

If you read then I would suggest you read again....I am not blaming Streveler for anything. What I said was I'm not sure he has the arm strength to throw the ball downfield. When he attempts it he is normally under throwing the receiver....review the games for proof. I like the guy and hope he can throw the long ball....he just hasn't shown it yet. On another note when someone posts something you oppose, which is their right to post and your right to oppose, perhaps it would be civil to respond in a less than demeaning manner? It only downgrades your character. Oh and by the way I do wear glasses and they are clean so I can see, but thanks for the tip.

I believe it has been said for over 3 years now that Hall's defense is outdated in the CFL. MOS said after last year that he was going to be more involved in the defense....is he and if he is what has changed? In my opinion nothing much. In two games against worthy opponents, we have been torched for over 480 yards in each. The other game, against Montreal, well I can't really count that one but will give credit that we stopped them to a respectable number. Point being made is we have been told we have a better group of DBs who have been brought in and those who remain have a year of experience under their belts. The results are the same; open receivers, too soft coverages, broken coverages, poor tackling, little pressure and the list goes on. Is it the talent or the system the talent is playing in? Seems to me if we have better talent and are still getting burned, it must be the system. So if it is the system why hasn't MOS changed it as he said he would? If it is the system why hasn't Hall recognized that after 3 years and corrected it.
On another note, while the game was not great in the first half, we were nonetheless in the game. Hamilton made adjustments and I can only suggest we didn't because they clobbered us in the third quarter! This again is a very similar scenario from last year, no adjustments at half time and other teams making them that resulted then and now to disaster in the third quarter.
Is it player ability, is it player mentality or is it coaching? I'll leave that answer up to you for judgement.
On the offense, LaPo does not, will not or cannot stretch the field. His mentality is to throw short or at best medium routes and hope for YAC yards. This has not changed since he was here first as an OC many moons ago. He, as many have stated, overthinks things and that results to a stifling offense which is easily defended....see third and fourth quarter results. Most great coaches utilize the strengths of their individual players and minimize their weaknesses. I look at Adams and Bowman, two receivers who do not like going over the middle or crossing routes but are more adept at deep patterns. What are they being asked to do....run crossing patterns. They are not going to catch or for that matter make any great effort to catch a somewhat catchable ball....they do not want to get clocked! So utilizing the strengths of your players rates a failing grade for LaPo yet again. 
Then there is our rookie QB. While I like him and like him a lot, and after only 3 games, I think he has a fundamental flaw unless of course it is LaPo doing his thing again. I don't think he can throw a long ball. I don't think his mechanics will permit him to throw a 30 or 40 yard ball. Interestingly every time he has thrown long with success it has been the receiver either coming back to the ball or the defender falling down. What ever happened to throwing to a spot? Ever notice that our receivers are seldom in full stride catching a ball but rather are stationary? Just my observation.
So I guess we now know where we stand with our rookie QB and new players. We frankly are no further ahead that where we were last year, not that the final standing from last year were anything to sneeze about. Expectations and the rhetoric was we were going to be so much better with the new talent etc and here we stand, 1-2 with a defense that continues to allow tons of yards and points and an offense that when needed fails to execute for whatever reason.
Now I know there will be those who say it is only game 3 and you are right......but beware in the two games where we played quality teams we were beaten badly. And as someone else has said we won't win anything with a Hall defense. Hope I am wrong but it sure looks similar to last year.

I believe it has been said for over 3 years now that Hall's defense is outdated in the CFL. MOS said after last year that he was going to be more involved in the defense....is he and if he is what has changed? In my opinion nothing much. In two games against worthy opponents, we have been torched for over 480 yards in each. The other game, against Montreal, well I can't really count that one but will give credit that we stopped them to a respectable number. Point being made is we have been told we have a better group of DBs who have been brought in and those who remain have a year of experience under their belts. The results are the same; open receivers, too soft coverages, broken coverages, poor tackling, little pressure and the list goes on. Is it the talent or the system the talent is playing in? Seems to me if we have better talent and are still getting burned, it must be the system. So if it is the system why hasn't MOS changed it as he said he would? If it is the system why hasn't Hall recognized that after 3 years and corrected it.
On another note, while the game was not great in the first half, we were nonetheless in the game. Hamilton made adjustments and I can only suggest we didn't because they clobbered us in the third quarter! This again is a very similar scenario from last year, no adjustments at half time and other teams making them that resulted then and now to disaster in the third quarter.
Is it player ability, is it player mentality or is it coaching? I'll leave that answer up to you for judgement.
On the offense, LaPo does not, will not or cannot stretch the field. His mentality is to throw short or at best medium routes and hope for YAC yards. This has not changed since he was here first as an OC many moons ago. He, as many have stated, overthinks things and that results to a stifling offense which is easily defended....see third and fourth quarter results. Most great coaches utilize the strengths of their individual players and minimize their weaknesses. I look at Adams and Bowman, two receivers who do not like going over the middle or crossing routes but are more adept at deep patterns. What are they being asked to do....run crossing patterns. They are not going to catch or for that matter make any great effort to catch a somewhat catchable ball....they do not want to get clocked! So utilizing the strengths of your players rates a failing grade for LaPo yet again. 
Then there is our rookie QB. While I like him and like him a lot, and after only 3 games, I think he has a fundamental flaw unless of course it is LaPo doing his thing again. I don't think he can throw a long ball. I don't think his mechanics will permit him to throw a 30 or 40 yard ball. Interestingly every time he has thrown long with success it has been the receiver either coming back to the ball or the defender falling down. What ever happened to throwing to a spot? Ever notice that our receivers are seldom in full stride catching a ball but rather are stationary? Just my observation.
So I guess we now know where we stand with our rookie QB and new players. We frankly are no further ahead that where we were last year, not that the final standing from last year were anything to sneeze about. Expectations and the rhetoric was we were going to be so much better with the new talent etc and here we stand, 1-2 with a defense that continues to allow tons of yards and points and an offense that when needed fails to execute for whatever reason.
Now I know there will be those who say it is only game 3 and you are right......but beware in the two games where we played quality teams we were beaten badly. And as someone else has said we won't win anything with a Hall defense. Hope I am wrong but it sure looks similar to last year.

I sure hope I am wrong but don’t believe he is the stud MLB that some believe he is. While he was just starting his career he was at the time anything but a run stopper. When he did make a tackle he jumped around like it was a miracle....says to me a showboat and more about him than the team. His or perhaps his agent has done. Othing to suggest that has changed. I just want a middle linebacker similar to Moe or Randy....make a tackle or a stop or an interception as if that is what you are paid to do....no big hoopla just doing the job. Don’t have this feeling with him but hope that if we do sign him he will prove me wrong....just saying

I sure hope I am wrong but don’t believe he is the stud MLB that some believe he is. While he was just starting his career he was at the time anything but a run stopper. When he did make a tackle he jumped around like it was a miracle....says to me a showboat and more about him than the team. His or perhaps his agent has done. Othing to suggest that has changed. I just want a middle linebacker similar to Moe or Randy....make a tackle or a stop or an interception as if that is what you are paid to do....no big hoopla just doing the job. Don’t have this feeling with him but hope that if we do sign him he will prove me wrong....just saying

First it isn't really a stupid comment....they have rebuilt is a short period of time, as has Edmonton with Mass and Ottawa in three years been to the cup twice, as has Hamilton after a dismal start finished strong, as has Toronto first in the east this year. While the eastern teams standings and records are below the Bombers it nonetheless shows you that teams can rebuild and must rebuild quickly in this league. Then again there are those who will continue to run into the dam hoping to bust it open and only get a sore head doing it. 
People on this forum have given MOS and the DC and the OC grace for the past 3 years saying they are getting better just look at their record. Are they really??? Record has improved, some good players are here, but the blunders in coaching remain. A defense that ranks near the bottom or at the bottom in most catagories except turnovers, and offense that for some reason abandons what is going well for them only to start a string of 2 and outs putting added pressure on the already beleaguered defense, and a HC that too often relies on gadget plays to make yards and hopefully a win. I personally believe you can go to the well only so often before it comes up dry...in this case he got away with what I would call a stupid gamble on our what 21 yard line and then tried a fake punt later on only to have that backfire and take the wind out of the sails of the entire team. It was very noticeable. The last second TD and 2 point convert, well what was that anyway......an attempt to make the score look better or what???? There remains significant issues with this team. While they have banded together well, let's see how well when free agency gets underway...how many will stay for another year if they feel they will be successful to win the grey cup...or will they bail for the money or a better chance at a cup. If they believe they have a great shot at the cup here in Winnipeg, then let them speak with their commitment.
The team needs better back ups, better techniques, better coaching period. LaPo and I will give him credit made progress this year but continues this trend to abandon what is working for something else. He did scheme to throw the ball long as the season went on good for him. Still lots of room for improvement. Hall has to go period! MOS has got to grow up and make better game time decisions and stop being so stubbornly loyal to players who are not performing, plain and simple. And for Walters he has to reevaluate his personnel, there are major upgrades to backup players required.
We will see next year but if I hear "oh we upgraded better than every other team this off season" without changing personnel a great deal, I will say what I said at the beginning of this year....look around other teams don't stand still as you might think....they too are looking to upgrade so ours had better be good. This year it wasn't!

So here we go 3 man rush and Calgary makes hay; no more Harris and lots of 2 and outs. Come on Hall and LaPo

So here we go 3 man rush and Calgary makes hay; no more Harris and lots of 2 and outs. Come on Hall and LaPo

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

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.

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 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. 

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. 

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

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

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

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.

Well sorry for going against the flow on this one....I think he hit it on the head. I have never liked MOS's attitude from the get go. He is far too stubborn to be a head coach responsible for making decisions that will help the team win be it either during the game and game decisions or manpower decisions. The points that were made were spot on regarding his unwillingness to sit Willy, sit other starters who were underperforming etc. It was only when he was told to give Nichols a shot after a terrible 1-4 start and then by luck inserted a few rookies due to injury namely Loffler and Fogg that the team started to move. I believe there was also a move to insert Bond on the OL line but I may be wrong with that one. Point is he cannot make a manpower decision effectively and his game decisions are terrible.
He is one of the reasons I did not keep my season tickets after many years.....it was obvious what the outcome was going to be and I didn't want to spend 1 1/2 hours driving into the city to watch what I KNEW was going to be another loss and not a close one at that.....then if by luck it was a close one to be lost with a bone head decision by the head coach, only to have to wait over 1/2 hour to leave and face another 1 1/2 hour drive back home. And to top it all off I couldn't leave early because the shuttle bus didn't leave until it was full near the end of the game. I won't mention IGF which is another story of its own. Suffice to say, Mr MOS was a huge reason why I stopped going. Do I follow them on TV, yes I do but I have the privilege to turn it off when I chose. Do I wish them well, certainly do and will always but reality is they will never win a Grey Cup or get to it with MOS as head coach......so the article is bang on....at least in my opinion

Well sorry for going against the flow on this one....I think he hit it on the head. I have never liked MOS's attitude from the get go. He is far too stubborn to be a head coach responsible for making decisions that will help the team win be it either during the game and game decisions or manpower decisions. The points that were made were spot on regarding his unwillingness to sit Willy, sit other starters who were underperforming etc. It was only when he was told to give Nichols a shot after a terrible 1-4 start and then by luck inserted a few rookies due to injury namely Loffler and Fogg that the team started to move. I believe there was also a move to insert Bond on the OL line but I may be wrong with that one. Point is he cannot make a manpower decision effectively and his game decisions are terrible.
He is one of the reasons I did not keep my season tickets after many years.....it was obvious what the outcome was going to be and I didn't want to spend 1 1/2 hours driving into the city to watch what I KNEW was going to be another loss and not a close one at that.....then if by luck it was a close one to be lost with a bone head decision by the head coach, only to have to wait over 1/2 hour to leave and face another 1 1/2 hour drive back home. And to top it all off I couldn't leave early because the shuttle bus didn't leave until it was full near the end of the game. I won't mention IGF which is another story of its own. Suffice to say, Mr MOS was a huge reason why I stopped going. Do I follow them on TV, yes I do but I have the privilege to turn it off when I chose. Do I wish them well, certainly do and will always but reality is they will never win a Grey Cup or get to it with MOS as head coach......so the article is bang on....at least in my opinion

Well sorry for going against the flow on this one....I think he hit it on the head. I have never liked MOS's attitude from the get go. He is far too stubborn to be a head coach responsible for making decisions that will help the team win be it either during the game and game decisions or manpower decisions. The points that were made were spot on regarding his unwillingness to sit Willy, sit other starters who were underperforming etc. It was only when he was told to give Nichols a shot after a terrible 1-4 start and then by luck inserted a few rookies due to injury namely Loffler and Fogg that the team started to move. I believe there was also a move to insert Bond on the OL line but I may be wrong with that one. Point is he cannot make a manpower decision effectively and his game decisions are terrible.
He is one of the reasons I did not keep my season tickets after many years.....it was obvious what the outcome was going to be and I didn't want to spend 1 1/2 hours driving into the city to watch what I KNEW was going to be another loss and not a close one at that.....then if by luck it was a close one to be lost with a bone head decision by the head coach, only to have to wait over 1/2 hour to leave and face another 1 1/2 hour drive back home. And to top it all off I couldn't leave early because the shuttle bus didn't leave until it was full near the end of the game. I won't mention IGF which is another story of its own. Suffice to say, Mr MOS was a huge reason why I stopped going. Do I follow them on TV, yes I do but I have the privilege to turn it off when I chose. Do I wish them well, certainly do and will always but reality is they will never win a Grey Cup or get to it with MOS as head coach......so the article is bang on....at least in my opinion

Well sorry for going against the flow on this one....I think he hit it on the head. I have never liked MOS's attitude from the get go. He is far too stubborn to be a head coach responsible for making decisions that will help the team win be it either during the game and game decisions or manpower decisions. The points that were made were spot on regarding his unwillingness to sit Willy, sit other starters who were underperforming etc. It was only when he was told to give Nichols a shot after a terrible 1-4 start and then by luck inserted a few rookies due to injury namely Loffler and Fogg that the team started to move. I believe there was also a move to insert Bond on the OL line but I may be wrong with that one. Point is he cannot make a manpower decision effectively and his game decisions are terrible.
He is one of the reasons I did not keep my season tickets after many years.....it was obvious what the outcome was going to be and I didn't want to spend 1 1/2 hours driving into the city to watch what I KNEW was going to be another loss and not a close one at that.....then if by luck it was a close one to be lost with a bone head decision by the head coach, only to have to wait over 1/2 hour to leave and face another 1 1/2 hour drive back home. And to top it all off I couldn't leave early because the shuttle bus didn't leave until it was full near the end of the game. I won't mention IGF which is another story of its own. Suffice to say, Mr MOS was a huge reason why I stopped going. Do I follow them on TV, yes I do but I have the privilege to turn it off when I chose. Do I wish them well, certainly do and will always but reality is they will never win a Grey Cup or get to it with MOS as head coach......so the article is bang on....at least in my opinion

I will refresh everyone's memory about LaPolice; he came here as OC when Worman was fired because Charles Roberts, a second year player rebelled against Worman and it was either him or Worman to leave. The offense was good that year and LaPolice took over that offense and did little to change it. When he tried the subsequent year after his hiring the offense went down the tubes. He did win a Grey Cup with Saskatchewan however.
For those of you who suggest we just lost to a top tier team, you are correct. Regardless of score. We had to go into overtime to win our first game against Saskatchewan because of stupid coaching decisions in the 4th quarter; we lost to Calgary plain and simple; we nearly lost to Toronto in the 4th quarter and only Heath's INT prevented that from happening as Toronto was doing exactly what BC did except they didn't quite make it. In BC again up by 2 TDs and look what happened; we were fighting for our lives because we couldn't move the ball and we couldn't stop them from moving the ball. It seems pretty clear to me....we don't play football in the 4th quarter....our coaches are afraid to lose.....not try to win. It is a mentality that will quickly if not already slip into the players minds.
I will say I was pleased with the penalty count for us....not sure how many but they were nonfactors for a change which was great. Lots of work to do mostly by the coaches and GM