Eternal optimist

I know Lochard looked pretty good in limited action against the Riders, but is anyone else worried our run game will disappear if Harris doesn't start?

No way.  Glad they went to the media. The guy deserves to be publicly shamed at Portage & Main.

OK, but there is a perception that a back-to-back series is different, in that with little prep time the team that wins just sticks with what worked the week before, and the team that lost will make all the adjustments. Furthermore, the "familiarity breeds contempt" attitude gives the loser that extra chip on their shoulder, and that loss is the freshest thing in their mind, so sweeping a back-to-back is often believed to be trickier than winning a season series. And I wasn't trying to find a way to make the team sound bad, had just heard that stat and thought it interesting. 
And based on pure statistical probability, over a 2 game back-to back series, there are 4 possible outcomes (if you assume no ties in either game, which never occurred for any teams in back-to-backs between 2004-16), which could be win-win, win-loss, loss-win, or loss-loss, so there is a statistical 1 in 4 chance of sweeping any back-to-back series between 2 dead even teams, eliminating all other variables. So over 26 series, statistics would suggest that the Bombers should have swept 6 or 7 of them over that time, been swept the same number of times, and split 13 of those series. So it does suggest some level of futility (kind of like a 26 year Grey Cup drought in an 8 or 9 team league, where odds are you would average 3 wins over that time frame).
But your comment piqued my interest in that statistic, and if it was a fair representation of futility or not, so I decided to test your "gerrymandering" theory by looking at all the other teams in the CFL over that exact same time period to see if the Bombers look bad falsely or if that stat is indicative of something, compared to all of the other teams. Here's what I discovered:
Between the time the Bombers last won a back-to-back series in 2004 against Saskatchewan (post-Labour day and Banjo Bowl weekends) and Labour Day this year, here is what each team has done. Records will appear like a won-loss-tied record, and indicate the number of series they swept, the number of series where the opponent swept them, and the number of series split. 
BC - 17 total back-to-back series, record of 10-0-7 (included in that record are 2 series where they played a team, had a BYE, then played the same team again - they went 1-0-1 in those scenarios). Their most recent successful series sweep was in 2015 against Saskatchewan
Calgary - 25 total series, 10-0-15 (including 1-0-1 in a "BYE" scenario), most recent sweep was 2016 against Saskatchewan (in the only back-to-back set of games this season prior to the traditional Labour day back-to-back weekends)
Edmonton - 27 total series, 3-11-13, no "BYE" scenarios, most recent sweep was 2015 against Ottawa
Saskatchewan - 25 total series, 9-3-13, no "BYE" scenarios, most recent sweep was 2014 against Winnipeg
Winnipeg - 26 total series, 0-12-14, no "BYE" scenarios
Hamilton - 23 total series, 6-8-9 (including 0-1-0 in a "BYE" scenario), most recent sweep was 2015 against Toronto
Toronto - 23 total series, 8-6-9 (including 0-1-0 in a "BYE" scenario), most recent sweep was 2015 against Ottawa
Ottawa RedBlacks - 3 total series, 2-1-0, no "BYE" scenarios, most recent sweep was 2015 against Hamilton (FYI the old Renegades were 0-1-1 in 2005, the only year they qualified for this comparison before they suspended operations the next year -  they played no back-to-backs in 2004)
Montreal - 19 total series, 2-4-13 (including 1-1-0 in a "BYE" scenario, most recent sweep was 2007 against Toronto (Note: they haven't played a back-to-back series since 2013, but even so they would be on a 6 year drought of their own even factoring that in) 
Interpret those numbers as you wish as to the real or falsely perceived futility of the team. That's just the raw data. 
 

Fun fact: Only two CFL teams have ever hosted a cross-over playoff game and lost. Kevin Glenn was the quarterback for both of those teams (Winnipeg in 2008 and Hamilton in 2009). This is also the only CFL record he holds.
 
 
 
 
Nichols starts.

Congratulations Riders on another losing season! Here's hoping you can continue the trend in 2017.

Fun fact: Only two CFL teams have ever hosted a cross-over playoff game and lost. Kevin Glenn was the quarterback for both of those teams (Winnipeg in 2008 and Hamilton in 2009). This is also the only CFL record he holds.
 
 
 
 
Nichols starts.

Does this mean the pick-6 Glenn threw to Moe Leggett in our win over Montreal a few weeks ago is now a touchdown pass?

Does this mean the pick-6 Glenn threw to Moe Leggett in our win over Montreal a few weeks ago is now a touchdown pass?

Does this mean the pick-6 Glenn threw to Moe Leggett in our win over Montreal a few weeks ago is now a touchdown pass?

Does this mean the pick-6 Glenn threw to Moe Leggett in our win over Montreal a few weeks ago is now a touchdown pass?

People's heads will explode if Glenn does well.   Or for that matter, if he does not do well...
Should be interesting...
 

Does this mean the pick-6 Glenn threw to Moe Leggett in our win over Montreal a few weeks ago is now a touchdown pass?

Congratulations Riders on another losing season! Here's hoping you can continue the trend in 2017.

HH goes to the fans... that place was bedlam yesterday.

HH goes to the fans... that place was bedlam yesterday.

Well fans, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers entered today's game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders trying to do something they hadn't done in a long time. You see, in 26 prior tries when faced with a back-to-back series, the Bombers had failed to come away with a sweep. In fact, you would have to go back to 2004 against these very Roughriders to witness a Winnipeg win against the same team in consecutive games. And the Bombers were also trying to win their 6th straight contest, something we haven't seen in these parts since 2001, a span of 15 years. So a lot of negative history to battle. 
And of course the Green and White would have something to say about it, on the heels of last week's loss where they felt they deserved a better fate, and struggling through a dismal 1-9 season to date. And what we witnessed today was a physical, nasty, chippy, some might say dirty slugfest, with many players at both benches ending upon the injured list before it was all said and done. But for our purposes, it means that we got to see more back-ups come in and make plays, and means that there were more candidates for our Happy Honker Award.
Now I've often said that the Happy Honker Award goes not to the player who had the best game, and not necessarily the player who made the game-deciding play per se, but someone who did that something extra special in the game. And we saw a ton of special plays out there today. We had Bruce Johnson, who had a very tough week last week, make a couple of big tackles on Kendall Lawrence sweep runs that could have turned into big plays had he not been there. And we had Johnny Adams make a big stop on Ron Bragg at the one yard line on the first series of the game that kept the 'Riders from getting a touchdown, and they ultimately settled for only 3 points there. And Terrence Frederick had 2 huge plays, the first a shoestring tackle on 'Rider receiver Terry Holley, not to be confused with singer Buddy Holly, to keep the 'Riders from a first down, and of course and even bigger tackle on a third down gamble late in the 4th quarter off of a failed fake field goal that was the last big chance for Saskatchewan. And there was Tony Burnett, not to be mistaken for singer Tony Bennett, flying all over the field today. And Matt Nicholls with what would have been a game-saving tackle on a Jennifer Lawrence return, had a penalty not made the play pointless anyway.
No, all of that was good, but this game was all about momentum. The 'Riders scored first and the Bomber offence struggled for much of the first half, before a long drive gave them the lead which they would hold until late in the third quarter. And when Kevin Fogg returned a punt for 76 yards to put the Bombers up 17-3 I figured we had our Happy Honker winner, especially since I promised I would give it to him once he got a return that counted, having had 2 prior runs negated with penalties. Well if we didn't see another orange flag on the field to wipe out his third punt return TD of the season, which must be some kind of record, maybe Matt, er, Gord Cook can look that one up for us. So he would have to wait for his glory. And with that called back touchdown we saw a big change in momentum, as the 'Riders would respond with a touchdown of their own to tie the game and make the Bomber collars a bit tighter. But needing to wrest back momentum from the 'Riders, and facing a 4th quarter drive where Saskatchewan appeared poised to take the lead with the ball deep in Bomber territory, the defence came up big once again, and wouldn't you know, it was Kevin Fogg, undeterred by his earlier lost score, who made the big play. With the ball at the Bomber 20, and a pass to receiver Buddy Holly being completed, Fogg came in a ripped the ball from his hands, forcing a turnover deep in Winnipeg territory to stop the scoring threat. And after a big catch by Ravioli-Gambino on the next play, the Bombers were on their way to the game-deciding touchdown. So for not quitting when so many would have thrown their hands up in frustration, for changing the momentum at the key time in the game, and for causing the big turnover that this team has thrived on for so many games now with the 'Riders on the verge of taking the lead, a turnover that turned into Bomber points in the end, Kevin Fogg gets today's Happy Honker Award.

I would just like to take this opportunity to personally congratulate the Saskatchewan Roughriders on 2016 officially being a losing season for them. For you Rider fans that aren't very numerically inclined, that means you've already lost more than 50% of the games you'll play in this season...regardless of your game day attendance, Chris Jones rants, or being "Canada's team".

I would just like to take this opportunity to personally congratulate the Saskatchewan Roughriders on 2016 officially being a losing season for them. For you Rider fans that aren't very numerically inclined, that means you've already lost more than 50% of the games you'll play in this season...regardless of your game day attendance, Chris Jones rants, or being "Canada's team".

Trade him back to the Riders.

This thread is entertaining, to say the least..

You moved to Calgary and became a Stamps fan. That's the end of it, right there. I can never forgive someone for taking on another team as their team...you don't get to have 2. If you're not with us 100%, you're against us. You're a Stamps fan....period.

Maybe this isn't the place to bring this up, but does anyone else feel that the whole east/west division should be abolished? I mean, there's only 9 teams in the league... why not just have the top 6 make the playoffs? It seems this cross-over thing is an issue every year, I know the counter-argument would be that it makes games against your own division more important... but doesn't it also make non-divisional games less important?

For anyone else keeping track, Goosen also basically threw Harris into the endzone for one of his TDs against Toronto. Seems to be good at making heads-up plays.

My personal favorite was when they got penalized for too many men... that stuff never gets old.