M.Silverback

Why can't it be both?

A strong opinion from a great ape.

Shhhh...don't give him ideas

I got O'Shea and Da Bombers 72 - zip tonight. Da Bombers!

I got O'Shea and Da Bombers 72 - zip tonight. Da Bombers!

Culture and coach attracting players - That is very important, and a big part of building a consistent winner. A definite O'Shea strength. 
Hall and Lapo - that might indicate an O'Shea weakness. Failure to hire top coordinators and/or reluctance to replace them. 
Every coach has strengths and weaknesses. I like O'Shea and he's done well. My rants on this have been just to point out that just being competitive, to me, is not going to be good enough at some point. Not sure what point, but, winning the Grey Cup is the goal. At some point, find me someone who can. 

so maybe he will throw us all a curve and try to outsmart everyone and come out of the gate with the dogs unleashed and go high octane..hahhahaa...dare to dream

Boy I would like to have what you're smoking or ingesting etc. I see it Stamps 28-27 over the Bombers. Matty "Thin Ice" has the chance to pull off a win but yet again can not deliver.

I won't fault Walters,  he's brought in A+ Free Agents , drafted well and has recruited some really good imports.   I definitely would lock him up.
O'Shea is frustrating because of his poker face and outsiders having zero reads on what he really thinks/feels about the way his players really are playing.   On the other hand we have heard numerous positive reviews about the culture and the respect the players have for him.   I'd consider him untouchable as well.  
Coordinators this is where it's a bit dicey.   We definitely could use a fresh set of eyes on the defense.   I'd have no problems if they moved into a different direction as we have so much talent on our d that on talent alone we will get by.  
On offense I'm not completely on the blame LaPo bandwagon like a few others.  I'd like to see this offense being ran by someone decent like Harris or even Reilly.  If we move on I also don't think it's the end of the world because unless you get a wacko like Kelly,  anyone should be able to do decently with all the talent that we have. 

Agree. I'm not saying they deserve to be fired. The only thing I slightly disagree with is "a lot more time". Bill Belichik and Gregg Popovich have earned a lot more time, because of championships. Same with Hufnagel. O'Shea and Walters, have earned "more time". They are on the right path, and have built a contender. I'm just not ready to appoint them as GM and HC for life. And I do think at some point championships matter. 

I agree with you both. Plus, I like what Walters and O'Shea have done. And, I like consistency in a franchise's coaching and management. But, I also think in a 9 team league it's fair as a ticket buying fan base to expect a championship more than once every 29 years. I get that there are so many factors that go into winning the Grey Cup, with luck being part of it. But, using Calgary as the standard - 3 Grey Cup wins since 2008. That buys management and coaches a lot more leeway. Again, I'm not calling for anyone's jobs. But, at some point competitiveness and getting into the playoffs has to amount to more. And, I guarantee there are coaches out there looking at this team who think they could get us there. 

I agree with you both. Plus, I like what Walters and O'Shea have done. And, I like consistency in a franchise's coaching and management. But, I also think in a 9 team league it's fair as a ticket buying fan base to expect a championship more than once every 29 years. I get that there are so many factors that go into winning the Grey Cup, with luck being part of it. But, using Calgary as the standard - 3 Grey Cup wins since 2008. That buys management and coaches a lot more leeway. Again, I'm not calling for anyone's jobs. But, at some point competitiveness and getting into the playoffs has to amount to more. And, I guarantee there are coaches out there looking at this team who think they could get us there. 

I agree with you both. Plus, I like what Walters and O'Shea have done. And, I like consistency in a franchise's coaching and management. But, I also think in a 9 team league it's fair as a ticket buying fan base to expect a championship more than once every 29 years. I get that there are so many factors that go into winning the Grey Cup, with luck being part of it. But, using Calgary as the standard - 3 Grey Cup wins since 2008. That buys management and coaches a lot more leeway. Again, I'm not calling for anyone's jobs. But, at some point competitiveness and getting into the playoffs has to amount to more. And, I guarantee there are coaches out there looking at this team who think they could get us there. 

I think Joe Mack said this in 2011...

You are assuming that this is binary choice: either O'Shea and status quo or back to the dark ages. There are probably several choices in between or even better than the current regime. Khari seems to have turned the Als' season around and the Riders are arguably little worse for Chris Jones' departure. 

I doubt Lapo is calling those check-downs. That's Nichols unable to get through his reads and then ditching on the play.

Nichols looked like he didn't have a chance out there tonight. He looked panicked on almost every throw and threw it away even more than usual. This looked like early 2016 Willy before he lost the job to Nichols. Constant checkdowns and throwaways. Harris put the team on his back and Nichols couldn't make a play against the worst secondary in the league.

Duke would be an awesome addition for any CFL team. I have a feeling though that he may stick around the NFL this year, even if it's on a practice roster. Zylstra I think is on his last chance in the NFL. He's talented enough, I just think that if he can't crack the roster this year and actually play (he only had one reception last season, and played special teams), I think the Vikings will move on from him and keep one of the players they drafted low in his place.
Related to that, I highly recommend listening to Adam Bighill on the 3downnation podcast talking about CFL players trying to make NFL teams. In short, it's an uphill battle for so many reasons that don't necessarily have to do with talent.
 
 
 

Zylstra is on the bubble in Minnesota. Hope for his sake he makes the roster, but, he's high on my Bomber wish list, even with our improved receiver depth. 

Agree. The big thing to consider is the next Nichols contract. Riding out 2020 with his $400K deal is still pretty good from a pure dollars perspective. But, there's no way I'd be willing to pay Mike Reilly or BLM money for him the year after. So, might be best to move on from him regardless of the outcome this year, and pass the torch to Streveler or some other lower priced option with potential.  

This is gonna be a tough choice for the Bombers. Nichols has shown that he can win, albeit inconsistently.  Streveler has shown that he has the tools but lacks the experience and under O'Shea and LaPolice, he may not get it in Winnipeg. We cannot expect Streveler to bide his time endlessly waiting for his opportunity, so the most likely scenario is that the Bombers will trade one or the other, and I am personally leaning towards keeping Streveler.

I reluctantly agree. You can't blame losing on one person but it would be hard to go forward with Nichols if he doesn't play well in the playoffs and we lose. 

The other side of the coin regarding Nichols/Streveler... is what if we don't win the Cup...That will put a whole new look on the quarterbacking situation in this town...Coming up empty year after year running Nichols as your no1 ain't gonna wash...I'm a positive thinker and I think we have the team to win it all this year....but there will be a lot of assessment at years end if we don't....In that case I say we definitely keep Streve...... Nichols....wellll the jury will be out