Eternal optimist

Other fun facts, last time the Bomber won a Grey Cup: 1. Pluto was still considered a planet. 2. Nunavut wasn't yet a territory. 3. The US president was George Bush (the first one).

Here is a quick look at the Stamps regular season records since 2007 (the last time they posted a losing season): 2007: 7-10-1 2008: 13-5-0 (won Grey Cup) 2009: 10-7-1 2010: 13-5-0 2011: 11-7-0 2012: 12-6-0 2013: 14-4-0 2014: 15-3-0 (won Grey Cup) 2015: 14-4-0 2016: 15-2-1 From 2007 through 2016, they've posted a 0.689 winning percentage. Although not complete dominance, posting 9 consecutive 10+ winning seasons is pretty impressive, even in the CFL. The last time the Stamps missed the playoffs was in 2004 (4-14-0). I'd argue they are already a dynasty since year after year they manage to remain competitive and in the top half of the league, regardless of the pieces of the team they lose through free agency or retirement.

With all the stadium talk here, I'm still bitter about how stupid the Bombers looked at the start of the 2012 season when we pleaded with the CFL to schedule 4 road games at the start of the year to "give us more time to build our stadium"... only to have to concede and eventually use Canad Inns for the rest of the season. Then in 2013, we looked even stupider with the parking fiasco, I remember the first home game, the stadium was sold out and only about half the people made it to opening kickoff because of traffic... On top of that, they encouraged fans to bike to the stadium, and within the first few weeks of the season, a Bomber fan cycling to the game had already been killed. It looks like they've managed to get things under control now, to an extent, they've been more organized as a whole, and they've used things like the after-game DJ parties and before-game tailgate parties to help reduce traffic congestion around kickoff. I think the fans will return once the Bombers have a few good seasons, people have to remember that before the 2016 season, the Bombers went 3-15, 7-11 and 5-13.

No way would I make this "trade" - not even in Fantasyland.

I fully expect Calgary to win the Grey Cup this year, but man I hope they fall flat on their faces because of this guy.

For those that are curious, if it is a Stampeders/Redblacks Grey Cup, the current largest margin of victory record was set in 1923 when Queen's University won 54-0 over the Regina Roughriders.

I know there's been talks on here of the Bombers needing a reliable, tall wide receiver Nichols could rely on as a deep threat. Just adding fuel to the fire here, but since he was released... how would people feel about Duron Carter? I know he was released for locker room etiquette, so it'd be hard to imagine O'Shea coaching him.. but Carter certainly has talent. Based on what happened this year I feel Carter might be a bit humbled after being released by the Als. He might also have something to prove, and could be signed at a reduced rate because of the stigma around him.

That's actually exactly what my sister (who has Jets season tickets) does, she just raffles them off to friends/family for anyone who wants a specific game (for example, if someone living in Winnipeg that grey up in Edmonton wants to see an Oilers/Jets game), then keeps a few for herself. I agree it'd be crazy to try to go to all 41 home games between October and April, that's almost like have a part-time job and would be a big time commitment.

As someone from the "millennial" generation I can testify to the fact that in terms of financial aptitude, my generation is a bunch of idiots. The majority of people in my age bracket don't bat an eyelash at the thought of putting Jets, Bombers or any other "fun" expense on a low interest loan, credit card or whatever other financial instrument they have access to. "Buy now pay later" isn't an advertising gimmick, it's a way of life for some people. As mentioned by others, the Jets are still selling out. I remember when they came back talks of how you had to commit for 3 years of season tickets, I've also heard 5 years, does anyone know how that works? If it is 5 years, one would expect some Jets fans to possibly convert to the Bombers after the 2016-2017 Jets season - since that would be 5 years since the original 2011 signup. I also think at the end of the day, there is only so much disposable income for people, and obviously as of late people have chosen the Jets over the Bombers. Based on the past few years, I can't blame them, but hopefully a few more +.500 seasons and the Bombers will see their attendance bounce back. Final note regarding interest rates - I can't wait until they actually rise again, reward the savers for once!

By definition, a courageous or "ballsy" call has to have some level of risk associated with it, so it's expected some of those calls won't work out. I actually thought his overall ability to manage games improved this year over the prior. As a whole though, we have to have better time management there were definitely a couple of times this year where it should've burnt us, but we managed to get away with it. You can only play with fire like that for so long though.

touche

Maybe he meant we need to recruit Bovine Mitchell to play kine backer...he certainly slings enough cowpies with his arrogant attitude...

What's a kine backer? Is this why there was so much blown coverage this year???

1. Big tall, physical receiver. Someone that we can throw a deep ball to on occasion. Adams showed glimmers of excellence - but couldn't stay healthy. I think the PI rule makes this an even more important acquisition. I'd be okay with trying to bringing in some fresh meat - maybe a hidden gem like Chris Matthews from a few years ago. 2. A better kick returner - personally I don't think McDuffie has done enough and I could see the Blue cutting him loose for someone new next year. Especially if the newbie comes at a lower price. If Fogg ends up being the odd man out on D, I'd be interested to see him return kickoffs. 3. Defense - I think we have the right core of guys, if we can replicate our turnover production next year, I have no problem with giving up the massive yardage per game. That said, conventional wisdom would dictate you can't do that consistently without getting burnt... time will tell I guess.

Exhibit A: Bombers attempts to lure Henry Burris and Zach Collaros heading into the 2014 season.

First of all, welcome aboard! I think the dip in attendance at games was pretty much league-wide this year. Calgary also had a great year and even they couldn't sell out home games. Of particular concern though is the Bombers have a shiny, new stadium* to pay for and their attendance has been decreasing the past few years. Personally, I think the Jets 2.0 was a wake-up call for the Bombers. Without the Jets, the biggest sports competition for the Bombers was the Goldeyes. The Jets return in 2011, coupled with the Bombers regression shortly after a 2011 cinderella-run to the Grey Cup, has caused the Blue & Gold to lose lots of their market share. On top of that, there was the stadium fiasco, the 2013 season, and the two following season were unmemorable at best. That said, they had a great year this year, and if they can continue building off this momentum, their attendance should hopefully improve. *Stadium may not actually be shiny, new, or in any way structurally sound.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed with the outcome of the Western semi, that said there are definitely some bright spots from this year to building on. 1. Beat the Riders at home for the first time in forever. 2. O-line - Flat out won games for us and were able to protect Nichols and help grind the clock with Harris to put games away late. 3. Free agent signings in the off-season that actually panned out (Harris, Medlock and Dressler - personally I think the jury's still out on Smith). 4. The Drew Willy trade - the 1st rounder will be hugely helpful. Also, glad to see Glenn back as a bomber. Interesting side note for all the Glenn-haters - Glenn didn't throw any interceptions as a Bomber this year (He also only had 4 pass attempts). 5. Medlock breaking the single-season record for most field goals. 6. I know O'Shea will be critiqued for some of his calls, but I've got to say I can't remember the last time the Bombers had a special teams unit that was advantageous overall against opposing teams. Between the good kick coverage, Medlock's fantastic year, and some interesting trick plays, opposing teams are thinking twice on 3rd down. If there's one area we could improve on, I would argue it's our return game... 7. The thing I find most impressive about the best record in 13 years is that the Blue and Gold managed to achieve it whilst competing this year in the hyper-competitive western division. Consider that of our 7 losses, only 1 of them came against what ended up being a non-playoff team (Montreal - Week 1) and 3 of them were against Calgary. 8. Playoffs - say what you will about that game but this year was definitely a step forward in that we made it to the post-season. As always it's another "maybe next year" feeling, which kind of sucks, but at the same time, it's nice to have something to look forward to.

Isn't that always his intention? Great hit in my opinion, for such a tall guy you'd think Arceneux would be better at keeping his head up.

C'mon guys it's obviously going to be the announcement of the new expansion Raskatchewan Soughriders. Their colours will be white and green.

Can we use our first overall pick on a new coach? Seriously, worst call of the year... also fun fact, the longest FG in history was 62 yards but it was outdoors, presumably with the wind at the back of the kicker. In fact, the 4 longest field goals in CFL history were all kicked outdoors, in Saskatchewan (Taylor Field)

Also if anyone else is curious, the worst team to get to the Grey Cup was the 1981 Ottawa Rough Riders, which were 5-11.

I blocked out that Stamps game - thanks for the vietnam-style flashback. ... Also I'm an idiot.

Who comes out of the East is a bit of an oddity this year, if it's Hamilton or Ottawa, there will be a team with a losing record in the Grey cup (not sure if that's ever happened before). If it's Edmonton, they'll be the first cross-over team to make it to the Grey Cup...

We should take a look at Baihetiyaer Tuerxun. I just want to hear Bob Irving try to pronounce some of the names on that list. Also hilarious that Shanghai's fullback is referred to as "The Tank"

Cautiously optimistic.