Sard

We aren't in a rebuild anymore.
Last year at 11-7 was end of rebuild as we brought back pretty much all starters but maybe 6 and some of the new starters were already here
 

Yep the Riders are only a quarterback, kicker, head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, a couple halfbacks, a running back, and a couple linebackers away from having a competitive team.  So close though. Leading the almost-wins column in the standings for sure.

A road victory in a tough environment is a good start - but some things to clean up......think we all know, what those are....
But playing a team that was starting their 2nd game, while the Blue were still in X-game mode.......was a huge disadvantage.   (although the not so surprising slow start went on too long)
If Nichols had started sharper.....we would of blown them away.  
We will see if the glitches have been worked out - and they had better be..... against a much better team (Stamps)
Riders have some good players.....but that roster overall...looks pretty patchwork and depth is a question......along with coaching.
 

I'm too young to remember Zaleski, but Burke definitely is tops on this list in my opinion. We were better off not even showing up some nights. Berry has no business on this list for the reasons already mentioned. To be honest, as much of a lunatic that he was I don't think Kelly should be on this list either. Had we won the last game of the season against Hamilton we would have made the playoffs. 

Is it that hard to believe though?  Much different job. I am sure Mike O'Shea would be the first to say it too. Speaking of which, so glad we had the patience to stick it out with MOS's learning curve for three years. Finally paying dividends IMO.

We have had some terrible leadership here in the last 20 years. Burke, Daley, and Reinbold were all terrible. Kelly, and Berry were mediocre. Richie was good, and the jury is still out on O'Sheas legacy although I feel good about him as our head coach. 

Someone pointed out on twitter (I don't remember who but please speak up if it was someone from this site)... Jones lost to Durant in week 1, Dressler in Week 2... and now they face John Chick in week 3... possible the 3 most beloved players from their recent 8 year stretch of success....

Wish I could be there for this. He was quite the character....and Coach
 
 

There was also that asshat Rider that tried to horsecollar Dressler 10 yards into the endzone. 

In regards to ticket prices. I had season tix at the old stadium and got them for a little over $100 for the north end zone. I could barely afford rent, but I felt like I had to get them at that price point. Got a lot of entertainment for that and definitely made me more of a fan. I haven't gone to a game since, but a lot of that is because I teach in Northern MB for most of the year. Also echo the comment that getting kids interested at a young age is very important. I do a lot of football with the kids there. They have barely any knowledge or experience with football before and end up very interested in it. Usually I show them some highlight clips toward the end of the year. Would really have been nice to bring some to a preseason game and get them to see the atmosphere in the stadium.

What I don't like is the agency fees ... they seem too high and too easy for too little work ... hurts the walk up business for sure .... only escape is buy season tickets ... pure greed and lack of competition
Toronto continues to suffer from P**** envy .... they are trendy, extreme trend followers and want to pretend they could be as good as a classy American city: the blue jays suffer from this band wagon effect ... Toronto could develop its own niche of fans but they have to develop that crowd with lower priced tickets that makes them attractive compared to other competitive venues ... many real fans wouldn't go to Rogers centre because everything was too expensive, refreshments, parking, driving time ... it was more fun to just visit the local beer store, order a pizza and watch the game on TV .... and your wallet wasn't $200 lighter the next day
If you can get decent seats for $35-60 each all in, things could change ... when your fan base gets above 20K then slowly start to raise prices on the best seats but keep the cheap seats around for developing fans
I wonder how pricing for soccer compares to football tickets at BMO

that face mask needs to be sent into the league. Another rider who needs a fine.
 

Bye this week - Hamilton 
I can't wait to lay a beating on the Bombers under the lights July 1st. Place is going to be insane. - (poster- Riderfans - The usual suspect)
Herb Zurkowsky    -   It's believed #AlsMTL cornerback Jonathon Mincy suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter. Injury to @7Bowman not considered serious.
Mason Nesbitt   -   Just talked to @CowboyAthletics and @GopherFootball product Drew Wolitarsky. He's excited to join CFL Winnipeg Blue Bombers in about a week.
Randy Turner   -   Fun Fact: Construction crew that built Mosaic Stadium was 2nd largest workforce in Regina last yr. Only Riders practice roster was larger.
Rick Armstrong   - The sideline seats at BMO are $225/$250 a ticket. Sidelines midfield $85-$150. Far too expensive when trying to attract fans. #CFL
?‍? Seems like the Bombers forgot to pretend the 1st quarter is the second Q, so they could actually begin to play on time..
?‍? The Bombers thumb their noses at the Riders by overcoming bad tackling, missed open receivers, allowing 4 sacks and no help from the C’mon Centre.  - But we beat Saskatchewan, so all is forgiven…
?‍?Say what you will, but after all is said and done, we played 3/4 and beat a team that played 4
?‍? Yes, I agree the 4th quarter offence should have been able to control TOP much better than it did
?‍? Heh, heh, heh..Weston Dressler, in the new Mozaic stadium, personally rubbing it in..
CFL - Opening of New Mosaic fails to have fairy tale ending. @Wpg_BlueBombers spoil @sskroughriders
?‍?that's all I need to see ^^
QUOTES   -   3downnation
“Luckily, we made one more play at the end than they did,” said Blue Bombers slotback Weston Dressler.
“It’s a roller-coaster ride, but at the same time I don’t feel like we did our job as an offence,” Nichols said. “We’re up 14 and we need to go down the field and at least kick another field goal and go up 17. We didn’t get that job done.”
“We could have come into halftime feeling sorry for ourselves and not responded,” Nichols said. “We did come out and we did respond and put up points and it seemed like they were coming in bunches. I think that just speaks to the kind of team that we have.”
“We can play good defence some of the time, but we need to learn how to play good defence all the time,” Jones said.
"I make two better decisions in that game, & we win that game." 
Ed Tait    -   “We gave the last punch,” said Bombers receiver Darvin Adams. “It’s always good to win. We’ve got a lot of things to clean up, but it’s so much better to be doing it after a win.
Jeff Hamilton     -   Mike O'Shea on W. Dressler: "He’s still fast, if anyone was questioning that. He still gets behind coverage. You need him on the team.”
-"Great players make great f**king plays," one #Bomber player said re: Jamaal "shoestring" Westerman, who caught the foot of Marshall in OT.
Sam Hurl    -   Love the guys we got in our locker room! Big win! #bluebombers
Chris Jones   -   We can't say we should be 2-0. We played two good teams who deserved to beat us and we let them make enough plays to beat us.
Andrew Harris   -   “For. The. W.”
Maurice Leggett   -   "No more talking about last year. Time to be better starting this week."
?‍?Somebody's going to lose a road game at Mozaic Stadium..we’re ok this time..
CFL Headlines   -   ESPN2 misses end of CFL game with technical difficulties, no on-air acknowledgement awfulannouncing.com/espn/espn2-mis… via @AndrewBucholtz
- $277K 50/50 win unclaimed in Sask. goo.gl/FZwKU9 #MosaicStadium #Riders
Weston Dressler has now played three games against his old club and his totals are gaudy – 20 receptions for 336 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed once for 22 yards -Tait
17:17 – Minutes played before the Bombers registered their first first down of the game, on an eight-yard completion to Weston Dressler. Winnipeg had zero first downs in the first quarter; Saskatchewan had five. Ed Tait
Edmonton remain undefeated – but lose another key player. (John White)
Jeff Hamilton   -   #Bombers R L'Damian Washington, whose family struggled after losing both of their parents, dedicated Saturday's touchdown to his 3 brothers.
?‍?My tackle of the game goes to Kyle Knox on Morris
?‍?My strange play of the game - Sask. throwing 2 defenders out to cover 3 Bomber receivers…Easy TD Dressler
 .....           GREAT EFFORTS............... 
 
Luca Congi   -   I can't stand when people say the kicker lost the game. it's a team game. How about the fact that you left Dressler wide open for 2 TD
Winnipeg Blue Bombers   -   "At the end of the day it’s just football. We knew there would be obstacles to overcome and we did it.”
?‍?MAJOR D-BAG ALERT - On TJ Heath’s interception, Duron Carter chases Heath, but doesn't catch him, so instead he grabs Hurls face mask and spins him around., confirming his official status as the league’s Major D-Bag, and it ain't even close.
At the 1:22 mark of this clip  http://ow.ly/c53O30dfbpA
?‍?Darrin Adams, on the 1st Dressler TD shows restraint by NOT attempting a block on Rider #45 Kacy Rodgers II
?‍?Notice that nice play by Miller on forcing that fumble by Morris.
Blue Bomber Talk   -   Chris Jones lost to Darian Durant in week one & Weston Dressler in week two. He plays John Chick next week. #Riders #CFL
3downnation   -The Stamps are using an international at centre (Ucambre Williams) while Canadians Spencer Wilson (left) and Dan Federkeil (right) are manning the tackle spots. 
-Rene Paredes has a problem with converts.
-the home opener attendance wasn’t great. A crowd of 24,613 might be great in other cities but it’s disappointing in Calgary.
CFL Headlines   - New three-year partnership between Parc olympique and the Alouettes #AlsMTL #CFL  goo.gl/XgFvPM
?‍?Yech - Winnipeg’s first-down production in the first quarter averaged just 1.8 yards Ed Tait
?‍?The good-
The Bombers got possession of the ball with 2:37 left in the first half, and over the next 13 minutes and 32 seconds into the third quarter, out-scored the Riders 31-3. During that span, the club ran 18 plays that resulted in 273 yards and three touchdowns, as Nichols went 10 for 13 for 234 yards and hit Dressler twice and Washington once for TDs.
?‍?The bad
After a Medlock field goal restored a two-touchdown lead at 37-23, the Bombers were outscored 14-zip in the final nine minutes of regulation while having three consecutive punts on their possessions before ending with a kneel-down prior to overtime. Ed Tait
CFL Headlines   - Chris Jones is in over his head goo.gl/fb/mRoMB5 via @GregUrbanoski (Rider Writer)
Herb Zurkowsky   -   It should come as no surprise #AlsMTL CB Jonathon Mincy isn't at practice. Suffered concussion. Two corners are Phillips and Unamba.
Drew Edwards   -   #Ticats have placed REC @TToliver80 on the six-game injured list. #CFL
Calgary   -   The Stamps have added defensive lineman Aston Whiteside to the practice roster
 
Week 3 Bye - Edmonton 
BC @ Montreal
Calgary @ Winnipeg
Toronto @ Ottawa
Hamilton @ Saskatchewan - can you say biggest game of the week?
   

Man, some Bomber fans here.... They could win $25 million on Lotto Max. Then turn around & ***** they never won when it was $50 million & feel ripped off. Just enjoy the freaking win...

Except our kicker outplayed theirs.  It is a team sport.

That's pretty much an example of outplaying them.  

Starting to think it's like wrestling with a pig in mud... at some point you have to realize that the pig is enjoying it...

Starting to think it's like wrestling with a pig in mud... at some point you have to realize that the pig is enjoying it...

Whatever they did last year got them very close to beating the Stamps, so a bit more of that should do it.

Top 3 QBs in the league BLM, Reilly, Nichols

I am more than happy with Nichols and feel Bombers had no choice but to give him that $400k contract to retain him after the way he stepped in and started winning games for us last year. I feel the coaches and his team-mates have a lot of confidence in Matt Nichols. He put too much zip on the ball early yesterday so JFG couldn't squeeze a high throw with velocity and Dressler couldn't run under another sure TD pass. When he got that out of the way and settled down - he was money. Personally very glad we have Matt Nichols as our starting QB and agree he is very under-rated.

My personal favourite stat from the Bomber game?
Weston Dressler - 1 rushing, 22 yards.     6 receptions for 124 yards      2 Touchdowns
ALL in the brand new facility where he was deemed not good enough to play..

I was just about to post this and ask if there's a chance of a fine.  I think they should be fined. A)it's a marketing tactic to sell clothes and you would think that they would be required to wear it and b ) it's a slap in the face to the history of the organizations and to the country 

Interesting observation going on over at RF - Jones and Trestman didn't wear those Adidas shirts with the legend on the back and the 150 like every other coach did. Anyone think it should be a fine like the Mic'd up issue last year?  With Adidas putting their name on the shirts,  they are likely hoping to sell those shirts and this was meant for promotional purpose.  Not good to piss off a corporate sponsor imo