MC

Times are changing, but not in the way that some talking heads would have you believe. The number of people who will turn on the TV at noon on Sunday and watch the NFL game are fewer than in past years. The number of people who watch that game have not necessarily decreased. Some will watch parts of it on the Red Zone channel, others will watch it later on PVR, and others will stream parts of it.

This is an interesting belief, and one that gained traction last fall because the President likes saying it. Not that anything has to be true in order for the public to believe it. Youth enrollment has declined in most areas of north America, but participation does not equal interest. If it did, then the most popular sport in North America would be soccer with no other sport being close. I wonder what received higher ratings last year between soccer and the MMA? Not too many parents are signing their toddlers up to climb into the octagon (not sure that daycare is that rough). The TV ratings for the NFL did drop slightly last year but attention over other electronic media did not. Also, ratings for college football continue to improve. The first two nights of the NFL draft will dominate the ratings regardless of what the NBA, MLB or NHL do. ESPN had the most traffic on the day NFL free agency opened since the super bowl. There is a huge appetite for football in the United States. There will always be investors looking to take a piece.

When the club leaks a message to the public with a negotiation it can mean a number of things. We don't know what this actually means. The guaranteed money is likely where they are far apart. The club have too much guaranteed money in contract can absolutely tank a season.

There is a prevalent belief of this in Saskatchewan that is hard to understand. They believe that every Canadian citizen love the Riders, and fans of every other team in CFL really have the Riders as their second favorite team. Their media must cater to this delusion, because you hear it often in the green province.

I would expect that the Bombers have made a business decision on how much the position is worth and worked out a budget range. They need to stick to it. That is what any of the well-managed teams in any sport will do. The minute they start making decisions based on their heart or, especially the will of their fans, they will be doomed. That in a nutshell has been the downfall of this club over the last three decades.

My perspective on these types of developments is that we are just lucky so far. I have known enough professional athletes to know that no team has the market cornered on players with personal faults and demons. It could just as easily be players on our team. Careful about laughing too hard or throwing too many stones.

You make it sound like he is a human being with values and integrity. Maybe even someone who wants to consider the long term interests of his family. It is almost like are forgetting that the most important thing to him should be the instant fulfillment of someone on a message board who will complain in two year that he has lost a step and should be tossed aside for the new shiny penny.

Wilder is a very good player. He has the whole package for a running back. I understand why the argo fans are giddy. The guy has enormous talent and could the league MVP for next few years. I also understand why some are saying that everyone should cool their jets until we see what happens over the next couple of years. I tend to agree. I don't understand why some are saying that he hasn't proven anything until he has played in "shitty weather". The weather he didn't play in last year was the hot and sunny weather. He did pretty well throughout all of November. I guess you are saying that I should have told those shivering around me in the stands in Ottawa that they should all just wait until they got to watch a game in "shitty weather".

The Bombers should go into camp with their expected lineup well under the cap. Cutting for salary at the end of camp just means that you wasted the development and evaluation time in the preseason on guys you are now cutting. And you need to be under the cap early in the year so you can spend on contingencies throughout the season - you are going to need it. You better be expecting to find younger, more athletic and cheaper guys in camp every year and developing them to take roles when you dump the veterans or let them go to free agency next year.

I don't understand this thinking at all. Does your employer pay you less because you got paid money by someone else three months ago? So, if I can find a landscaper who got paid $20K for a small job two weeks ago, then I know he will do my whole yard for $200 now. Hey if he got overpaid enough, he might even landscape my whole yard and pay me $200!

I don't think fans have any appreciation for what NI starters (or even potential starters) make in the CFL. They are paid more (sometimes a lot more) than American stars at the same position. So far, Muamba is winning at the business of football. Good for him. As long as you don't get injured, then you can maximize your earnings by getting large signing bonuses and refusing to renegotiate.

I am not in favour at all. There are already situations where the DB takes a smart penalty to interfere because otherwise he will allow a sure TD. This will mean that DB's will be coached to change their approach when the ball is 20 yards or more downfield. Instead of playing the ball, they will be coached to play the man first. There will be a lot more physical play further downfield, especially when you have smaller DB's against taller receivers - the so-called 50-50 balls. I do not want to see more penalties. This will lead to more penalties, because the smart play will be to take more penalties.

I don't get people criticizing the way that Henoc has conducted himself since he left the Bombers. He went down to the NFL and had some success, making some money along the way. When that looked to have run its course, he has worked hard to maximize his earnings and look after his future and that of his family. He has not been willing to give anyone a hometown discount or "take one for the team" and renegotiate his contract. Instead, he realizes that he has a lot more value this year than he will next year. Therefore, he is not afraid to take his chances with free agency. In other words, he has done exactly what teams do. Teams have no trouble cutting a player the minute they determine that he no longer is worth the salary they are paying him with no regard to the years that the player outplayed the value of the contract he was under at the time. When he plays, I have never heard anyone ever hint that he was anything but a hard working, hard hitting player who will sacrifice his body for the team. In other words, a good team player who treats business as business.

His second cousin may have eaten poutine on the same day that he drank a full two-six of 40 creek. Immediately made him eligible to join the Royal Canadian Legion and therefore, all his relatives eligible for the CFL draft. Pretty sure that is how several of the "Canadian" starters in this league got their status.

Hopefully he has grown up since then. He is talented and could have a solid career in the CFL for years.

The real question is who wins the offseason recruiting. Free agents generally create headlines and then disappoint on the field. Not always true, but it happens more often than not. The team that won free agency last year was Toronto and they looked like a dumpster fire at this time last year. Then they signed their coach and GM, picked up players from all over the map and won a championship. I like some of the signings now, but I really hope their are some game changers who emerge in Training Camp and over the first half of the season from the offseason recruiting efforts.

So how exactly did he spell Ray? Wrai maybe Rae Maybe he has a spellchecker now . Anyway, he has some good football related skills. Apparently, no team should hire him as an editor of their press releases though.

I agree that he makes career decisions based on money, like ... all of us.

Proving they have cap space?

The rule change the CFL should make is that if a player's helmet comes off during the course of legal contact (i.e. another player does not rip it off), that player is ejected from that game and immediately suspended from the next. The biggest threat to football at all levels is CTE. The best protection from concussions is the helmet - when it is worn correctly. Most players are wearing helmets so they can take them off easily and you see helmets flying off players in every game. The only way to fix it is to penalize the player and the team.

I watch a lot of NCAA football and they make their share of mistakes. Overall though, they have a far easier job than either pro league because the players are so much slower and have poorer technique.

This statement is likely true, though he probably accounted for the draftees and some budgeted amounts for key fee agents. It isn't unusual. That is why there will be veteran cuts before and during training camp. Has no bearing on whether they will go after free agents.

So, our problems are Nichols left calf and Flanders left leg. Is it possible that we don't have two left feet? I can help with that as I definitely have those.

I think he meant covfefe. Nichols is covfefe, which is great news for us all!!

That would be great news. I know it is supposed to be soon. If so, then all the chicken little's on the board should be doing the Lamaze breathing thing and calm down.