SpeedFlex27

He played for the Toronto Rifles of the Intercontinental Football league where Cahill coached him & Don Jonas. Wilkie played for the Argos from 1968 thru the 69 season. Jonas played for the Argos in 1970 before being shipped off to the Bombers. Wilkie played for the Lions in 1970 but started only one game before being released & signed by the Eskimos. Interestingly enough, a football writer in the US did a story on Jonas in the early 70's when he was still playing & called him The best quarterback not playing in the NFL". Here is Wilkie handing the ball off to Dave Raimey after the big trade. In today's game you'd never see a starting qb play with a gut like that. No matter how good he was. Nutrition along with year round conditioning & strength programs put an end to that.

I had forgotten about this game & in reality it was my all time favourite. Here are some of my thoughts about it. August, 1969. Winnipeg Stadium. The Saskatchewan Roughriders vs the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Bombers had just traded superstar running back Dave Raimey to the Argos the week before. The Bombers had hoped that 1968's highly touted rookie qb John Schneider would begin to show potential to become the team's long term starter replacing Ken Ploen who had retired after the 1967 season. However, Schneider struggled mightily in 1968 behind a porous OL. The reality was that other than Raimey & flanker Ken Nielsen there was little or no talent to speak of surrounding him to get the ball to. In those days, Neither individual teams or the CFL kept track of the number of sacks teams gave up. Had they done so, the Bombers would have led the league by a wide margin in that category. Schneider's stats in 1968 showed that he threw almost 3 1/2 times as many picks (28) than TD passes (8) & his completion percentage was well under half at 44.8%. The fans had turned on Schneider & his confidence was shot. NFL veteran Don Weiss was the backup to Schneider. Rick Cassata the third string qb (another rookie) got very little playing time in 1969 throwing one pass. Casatta was eventually cut only to be picked up by the Ottawa Rough Riders where he led them to a Grey Cup victory in 1973 (That figures). The Bombers started the 1969 season on July 29th with a disastrous home opening 33-0 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos. A game where Schneider went 3 of 10 for 13 yards. Schneider played so badly that he was pulled at halftime & the veteran Weiss went in to mop up but hardly fared any better. The next day he was cut & the John Schneider era sadly came to a merciful end. The Bombers returned the favour by beating the Esks 14-13 in Edmonton a week later on August 4th under the guidance of Don Weiss at qb. The Bombers then lost the following week in Toronto on August 14th. But before the game, superstar running back Dave Raimey, who had grown tired of playing for a losing team publicly blasted the Bomber organization in the local Winnipeg media outlets claiming the team wasn't committed to doing what it took to build a winner. As well as saying Joe Zaleski & his staff were lousy coaches. Raimey demanded a trade to a winning team. However, in his book, "Goodbye Leo" , Argos Head Coach Leo Cahill claimed that when the Bombers played the Argos at CNE Stadium on August 14th, the Bombers ran a running play with Raimey going out of bounds at the Argos bench. The 2 had a quick conversation that went something like this: Raimey: "I wanna play here, Coach." Cahill: "We're working on a trade to get you here." Raimey: "What? Really?" Cahill: "Yeah. In the works." Then Raimey excitedly ran back to the huddle knowing his days as a Bomber were numbered. A day or two later, the trade was consumated. Going west to the Bombers was Argos veteran qb Wally Gabler (who was now the backup to Tom Wilkinson) with Raimey going east to Toronto. The Bombers were desperate to find a qb who could start & win. They felt that they had their man in Wally Gabler. It was a trade not only made out of desperation but also out of necessity as Raimey had embarrassed the Blue Bombers & especially GM Earl Lunsford with his comments to the media. That was something Lunsford would not tolerate with his Oklahoma temper & Raimey knew the consequences of his actions were coming.. On August 27, 1969 after less than a week of practice, Gabler started for the team & directed the 1-3 Blue Bombers to a huge 16-14 win over the first place 4-0 Saskatchewan Roughriders. The win drew some much needed life into a team that would struggle the rest of the 1969 season by finishing dead last in the CFL at 3-12-1. However, for that one game, Wally Gabler was magical in defeating the first place Riders. I remember how big a deal that victory was that night & how for the week following Gabler owned this town. That & the fact that was my very first Blue Bomber game I had ever attended. I was 14 years old & man was I hooked. After the game my friend & I ran onto the grass field at Winnipeg Stadium trying to tackle one another... hooting, hollering & screaming along with hundreds of other kids while the players were going back to their locker rooms. What. A. Great. Memory!

Really just a half as Matt Nicholls didn't know who he was until late August. Imagine what his numbers could have been if Matty had been throwing to him earlier. Hopefully they move him inside to slot so he'll be even busier next season.

Lots of speculation this may Be Singleton's last games as a Stamp as he wants to try the NFL> Why not? He's only 25.

Jarome Iginla was telling us how we needed to vote yes. The guy lives in Kelowna. He doesn't live or pay taxes here. Like STFU Iggy.

Eddie The Eagle can go...

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=1965+cfl+western+final+in+calgary&&view=detail&mid=5173612D561F2216D2CC5173612D561F2216D2CC&&FORM=VRDGAR

From 1959...

Our cover teams have to be a lot better than they were last Sunday.

Thank God.

that was my fave as well. The Flame was there. He used to light up his stupid helmet everytime they scored. By the mid point of the first quarter he knew it was over. Never lit it once. Hee hee. Thing is, back then we felt sorry for Rider fans. Today we hate them.

Too bad. Would have been a good match.

Skunk is playing so well in the sandbox here with others, isn't he?

Nia Jax getting heat with her punch to the face of Becky Lynch last night breaking her nose & giving her a concussion. She can't wrestle Rhonda Rousey this Sunday. There goes the buildup that was getting a lot of interest because of what she did. First reports said it was an accidental elbow. Now reports are saying it was a deliberate punch. Some want her sent down to developmental for more training.

I think he'll quit before his term is over.

Not good no matter what. Our esteemed Commissioner should get off his ass, quit worrying about Halifax for the time being & get a new CBA done before the AAFL ravages all 9 team rosters.

What's our situation?

Not enough quality Canadians to start. Maybe even 5.

I was reading that he is severely depressed. And angry. Making the West Wing a Hell Hole to work in. He's finally realized that he's in deep sh.. with the Democrats & the Mueller Investigation. He's withdrawing into himself. Pretty sad, eh? LOL.

To the posters here who went to the game.... what are your impressions of the New Mosaic? How does it compare to IGF? Please look at it unbiased & give me an honest opinion.

What, do you think we went to the moon or something?

I was one of the 13,280 at that game vs Hamilton. Attendance was so bad someone came up with the idea to sell tee shirts saying just that on the front. My wife & I both bought one each. Demand was so great they sold over 30,000. So, if everyone who had bought a shirt had shown up the game would have been a sell out. Yes, it was in 1988.

What name & number?

As a long time Bomber fan, that game has always been painful. Like stepping on a nail. This win helped expunge that loss... a little bit.