M.Silverback

I would. Maybe he takes a bit less to be on a back-to-back champion, excellent culture team. Where else is he going to go?

We really should have a back up QB with CFL experience. Really risky going with with just ZC.

My concern with Maston is he's coming off of a torn achilles tendon (if I remember correctly). No guarantees he's the same player. Hope he is.

Overall I'm good with how we did in free agency. Re-signed most of our key players. Kicker and back up QB still an issue.

Props to Buck Pierce as well. First season as OC. Really utilized all of the talent on offense, and made great adjustments at halftime in the Grey Cup.

Where is Jefferson? Haven’t seen him most of the half

Really hope this isn’t the “Jeremiah Masoli game”. Worried. Always thought he was more dangerous than Evans. Go Blue!!!!

Bottom line is Kyle Walters is a smart GM. He's playing chess, while most are playing checkers. If Mourtada turns it around, great. But, he's not sitting on his hands doing nothing while he waits for that slim possibility. I guarantee there are plans afoot (get it?) for another kicker or two to come to Winnipeg if Mourtada continues to struggle. Kyle and Wade are not going to flush an almost certain Grey Cup victory this season because of bad kicking. O'Shea is doing O'Shea - publicly loyal to players. That's his thing. But Kyle makes personnel decisions. Remember Drew Willy?

Former Bombers kicker Justin Palardy is a bit salty, but he's not wrong. Plus, he says he knows some available Canadian kickers. Like Brian Hope from Saint Mary's USports. Bring Hope in, try him out. Can't hurt.

Right. Which is a long way of saying, he's not a CFL caliber kicker. Pro kicking is pretty black and white - can you hit 75 - 80% of field goals in actual games? If not, time to find someone else. Bad kicking will cost us a game. Hopefully not the Western final.

https://3downnation.com/2021/10/12/why-the-blue-bombers-sticking-with-embattled-kicker-ali-mourtada/ Is this code for "we can't find any other better available options at present"?

Dan Bailey, Kai Forbath ... - worth Kyle Walters asking about them. They've made their NFL money. Maybe they'd come up for less than half a CFL season and a Grey Cup ring? Or after we beat Edmonton this week, make a deal to save Sean Whyte from the Elks implosion. I'm going to be freaking out if we go into the Western Final with Mourtada or Leggio as our kicker.

Exactly! I wouldn't start my negotiations offering a first round pick, but if that's what it takes to get a quality kicker, sign me up. There is no team that can beat the Bombers when they are playing their best. But like Booch says, let's say because of the weather, luck, we need one field goal to win the west final. As it stands now, we lose. We blow probably the best chance I've seen for a Bomber team to win another Grey Cup because of a kicker. Plus, it's pick 8 or 9 in the first round of the CFL draft. At best it's a starting guard a couple of seasons down the road. Versus winning a Grey Cup?! Honestly, if Walters does nothing to address the kicker, it's a huge mistake with a team this good.

I've never seen a player like Streveler. On paper, statistically, if you didn't know the Bombers, didn't do much. But as a Bomber fan, his on field impact, what he brought to the team, how badly he wanted to win - absolutely legendary, and such a key part of the Grey Cup season. I've said it before, one of the best football players (not QB) I've ever seen. Every player, coach, fan would love to have him on their team.

You're both right. They currently do nothing to promote the Argos, and could do a lot because they're MLSE. And, I think it's too late. The Argos are so far down the pecking order, I can't see promotion as a way to get fans to watch them at BMO. Too bad. It's a nice venue. I think the only option is some type of relocation in GTA, Southern Ontario, and then promote the sh&t out of the team in that area.

Yeah, I'm really doubtful that Toronto fans would get behind the XFL. NFL, they might. I was surprised when I lived there how popular the Bills were, and how many would travel down to Bills games. Plus, NFL is big time. Toronto supports big time sports. Toronto FC - MLS - just on the edge of big time, so they are now getting support. Either way, how long can you keep a team at BMO Stadium drawing 6000 fans a game? And where does it stop? 1000 fans a game? I went to a McGill game a few weeks ago - 3500 fans. I think the CFL has to consider a relocation. At least somewhere else in the GTA.

Exactly! I stream every sport I watch now - Jets, Bombers, Vikings, USports football. Some are from providers like TSN, but, I don't have cable. So I'd buy the streaming package from anywhere. And your Hansen "bunch of Germans" comment - so true, and made me laugh out loud. Well done! You might be Randy Ambrosie though.

Yeah, GTA suburb might work - Brampton, Mississauga, Oshawa. I was thinking further out - Guelph, Kitchener, London - where youth, high school, Usport football is popular. TSN thing - You're right, at this point maybe they don't really care if there's a team in Toronto or not given where their viewers come from. Plus, we're in a new era. Might be other options if the CFL broadcast rights went to market now. Streaming services like DAZN or others; maybe Sportsnet; maybe some combination of local and national broadcast partners? Seems like the big sports - NFL, NBA - are not worried at all when broadcast rights are up, not just because they're so popular, but because they know there's so many options now sniffing around - Apple TV; Facebook; Amazon ... - have all talked about acquiring the broadcast rights to a major sport.

Great points. Maybe Toronto should relocate. Problem is does TSN still care about the CFL as much with no team in Toronto? They should, their primary viewership are not from the GTA. But, I'd be worried they'd pull the plug, and I don't know who would step in. Perhaps if they relocated to somewhere else in Southern Ontario - London, Kitchener, Guelph, Windsor ...? Not saying they'd get Bombers or Riders numbers, but could you get 15,000 out per game at a reasonable ticket price? Probably. And still have TSN interested - Hamilton vs _______ rivalry? No easy solutions. I lived in Toronto for years, and no one I knew talked about the Argos. Including football fans. The Bills were more popular.

I was at the Alouettes/Lions game in Montreal a couple of weeks ago. He looked like the Reilly of old. Great throws, moved around in the pocket. Carved up the Als. Bombers D is much better, but it won't be easy. Best two QB's in the CFL right now going head-to-head.

Anyways, apologies to all for high jacking this Bombers-Elks thread. Won't happen again. Go Bombers!

With which part? Pro/retired pros not threatening civilians? Really? So Malice at The Palace stuff is okay?

Nope. Didn't see that one. Just saw one from Rush saying what I put before. Maybe it was in response to this. Who knows. Showed up in my feed, though I don't follow him. Anyways, didn't know Rush was such a beloved Winnipeg sports alumni. And not going to debate or defend who is at protests. My point - still sticking to it - pro athletes, and retired pro athletes, should never threaten to beat up civilians. Period. Even provoked. Especially if you're planning a post retirement media career. You don't think pro athletes get provoked all the time!? Try playing any kind of pro sport in Philadelphia as a visiting team.

That is impressive, truly. Former pro athlete threatening to beat up people - not at all impressive. Look, you might be him, or friends with him. Don't know. And I'm fully vaxxed, not attending any rallies, so I'm not defending that camp. As an adult, life long Bombers fan, never want to see an alumni of any pro sport threatening to beat up citizens. Bad move. And he did on Twitter.

Also something about "how would they feel getting beat up by a guy looking like this" and a photo of him with a man-bun. It's there somewhere in the Twitter verse. If he's planning to have some kind of media career, not a great position to take. Wasn't impressed as a Bombers fan from an alumni.