SpeedFlex27

I fully expect that Ehlers will suffer a playoff ending second round injury before Game 1 when a full bottle of hair shampoo slips out of his hands while in the shower & breaks his big toe.

I was surprised to read that the Bombers have set an all time high for season tickets at over 23000 & counting. I find that low. I'd have thought 25-27000 might have been their previous all time high. Just tells you the razor thin margins that CFL teams operate under. If we drop just 4000 season tickets, we're back to just breaking even or losing money. One or two bad seasons & the gravy train is over.

I was reading that the Riders had lost close to 10,000 season ticket holders since Covid 19. They're back up to around 15,000 now. The Riders aren't cash kings anymore. They lost $1.1 million in 2024. Lots of fans did not like being told they needed a vaccination passport to go to the games at Mosaic Stadium in 2021 & haven't returned. A large percentage of their fanbase are rural & Conservative based & not allowing fans in to see Rider home games if they were unvaccinated caused a lot of negative feelings. I suspect that the same thing happened in Calgary with vax passports as attendance collapsed for the Stamps in 2021 & it's never really come back to anywhere close to what it was in 2019. Then again, Stamps owner Murray Edwards does nothing to bring the fans back anyway. Edmonton is much more complex. Name & brand change occured in 2020 that a lot of the fanbase hated & still do, Constant losing seasons, Four years without a win at home. Terrible mgmt & coaching decisions starting with Brock Sutherland as GM in 2019 & Head Coach Jaimie Elizondo. Continuing with Chris Jones as Chief Cook & Bottlewasher. Factor in vax passports pissing Elks fans off & it was & still is a recipe for disaster.

The CFL hasn't the money to sponsor a flag football league for kids. Let alone a development league for first & second year Canadian CFL players. How would the league get the money for something like this? The start up costs even for something as simple as this would still be very, very high. Then the salaries for players, coaches, training staff. medical staff, travel costs, hotels, lodgings. It just would be too expensive. The Bombers made 7 million so they're fine. They could afford it but probably aren't interested in throwing away a million or more on this. Owner Amar Doman already overspends big time to get fannies into BC Place with celebrity concerts. Especially that first regular season home game. I can't see Doman wanting any part of this. The Stamps & Elks lost tens of millions between them. The Stamps owner won't even spring for an enclosed practice field or decent workout facilities for his players. The Stamps never had hot food last year for the players. Edwards is a cheap bastard. He won't finance anything out of his pocket. He'd never get on board where the Stamps have to spend a signiciant amount on developing players. Can't comment on the Elks with new ownership. I'd think that the new guy has other things more important to think about. Riders are losing money or might be slightly breaking even. They've lost 10,000 season ticket holders since Covid. I'd think they'd not be interested. I can't see MLSE want to be a part of this. Funding a Canadian developmental league to benefit the Argos doesn't fit their brand. The Als are running on a fine line to profitability. One badly attended game of less than 18,000 might break that profitability. Can't see them wanting to get involved. Hamilton has the money. Ottawa maybe. They both could probably do it along with Winnipeg. But again, I just can't see any team wanting to go forward. However, collectively as a league, I don't believe the BOG's would approve it. There is no will to do this.

Working with that nutbar Roy Shivers & making everything he did as a GM about race.

Three guys I thought would be CFL assistants & then head coaches that never happened. Tom Clements. I think he'd have made a very fine qb coach, then OC & HC. The other who I always thought would come back was Danny Barrett. They found their niche in the NFL & college football. Finally, will Hank Burris ever leave the NFL & come back to the CFL?

Lakusiak wasn't a linebacker that 1970 season. He was a DB along with Corners Doug Strong & Paul Brule & Safety Ed Ulmer. At the other DB position, they had an assortment of players that year in & out like Dana Stevenson, Bob LaRose, Ward Smith & Tom Deacon. Even the late season addition of Rick Shaw to do the kicking & receiving as Spavital finally had enough of Lakusiak, he was a former all star DB with the Stamps. Shaw played a little bit in the secondary as well. The Bombers had more raw talent than we remember. The OL already had Bill Frank, Larry Slagle, Bob Lueck, Chuck Liebrock & Chuck Harrison. They had All Star Paul Desjardins at Center from 1965-70 but traded him to the Argos for Bob Swift before the 1971 season. He was doing a medical internship & could not play in Winnipeg anymore. hence the Center swap with the Argos. With Swift anchoring that OL, they would go on to become the best in the CFL over the next decade & more & block for qbs Wally Gabler, Don Jonas & Dieter Brock. On Defense in 1970, they had Mickey Doyle, Joe Critchlow, Rob McLaren, Doug Strong, Paul Brule, Gene Lakusiak. They'd bring in Grady Cavness to replace Ulmer in 1971. DB Tom Oberg solidified the one secondary spot where it was a merry go round of defensive backs the year previous in 1970. They were also strengthened in 1972 when former All Canadian linebacker Phil Minnick rejoined the Bombers after a 2 year absence due to a serious knee injury. In a great off season in 1971, they replaced FB Bob Houmard with Ed Williams. HB Mack Herron replaced Amos van Pelt. QB Don Jonas replaced Wally Gabler & Benji Dial as well as Lakusiak as Kicker. They brought in Paul Markle in to replace Lou Andrus at TE. The new Flanker was Jim Thorpe & SE Bob LaRose. They both replaced the wideouts they had in 1970. ROTY Split End John Senst was traded to the Stampeders prior to 1971. Defensively, they strengthened their DL with the additions of Jim Duke & Jim Sullivan, a long time NFL player. Lunsford drafted wisely & brought in two blue chippers in Bob Kraemer from the U of M who settled in at Wingback as well as Pter Ribbins who could play a number of positions on offense or defense very well. In 1972, he led the Bombers with 9 interceptions. They went from 2-14 & the joke of the CFL in 1970 to 7-8-1. We were the highest scoring team in the CFL in 1971 & 72. We finished third in the West & made the playoffs for the first time since 1966. Don Jonas won the Schenley Award as the CFL's MOP after the 1971 season. But they had a core of young & talented players that hadn't yet matured or jelled in 1970. Yes, they lacked the maturity & talent in 1970. However, these players grew up fast in 1971 & 72. However, I believe that 1970 team wasn't as bad as we thought. Even at 2-14. There's at least half a dozen players who stayed with the Bombers from 1970 to experience the success. However short it was. Just my take.

The whole reason for having specialists is so the player playing regular positions don't have the added pressure of having to punt a ball & flip the field. Or having to kick a 45 yard field goal on the last play of the game to win. Meanwhile the kicker who is a DB just tackled the receiver. He's out of breath & he hurt his plant foot making the tackle but goes out anyway to try to make it. Any oldtimers out there who remember Gene Lakusiak kicking field goals in 1970? He went something like 5 of 30 attempts. All Star DB for the Bombers but a total disaster as a kicker. They traded their kicker to Montreal for some unknown reason prior to the start of the season. They had no one else. No one knows why Lunsford did what he did & why? Maybe the kicker Pierre Guindon didn't salute the guy or something. Like I said, Lakusiak was horrible.

It's on Peacock.

They had holograms ten years ago as the technology was just being developed. Paul McCartney performed a Beatles song with John Lennon. They also had Tupac onstage rapping his songs. Would you pay to see that? Would you buy tickets to see a hologram of Elvis perform his songs? Both my sons, especially my oldest were heavily into rap when they were teenagers. I used to hear all of the rappers from his bedroom on his stereo. I actually could rap some of Tupac's music myself much to my son's embarassment, ha, ha...

That's not a major streaming service. I kinda would like to know that. Thanks.

In a few years, most of the rock acts from the 60's & 70's will be gone. Then the Classic Rock era will end just like the big bands of the 30's & 40's did. My father had over 500, 78's in his collection. Bands like Glenn Miller, Spike Jones & The City Slickers, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como & Wilf Carter. I used to pull them out of his collection & listen to them when I was a teenager on my record player (in the days before my stereo system) as it had a 78 speed on it. While the music wasn't my style, I still appreciated & enjoyed listening to it.

No, it's the era of the specialists. No full time player will step in as a kicker or punter unless there's an injury & roster restrictions.

Where can I watch Yellowstone Season 5A & B?

Then takes two months to undertand the offense, plays, as well as timing with the receivers.

The last CFL qb who punted was Sonny Wade 50 years ago. Never happen.

I've been following Chris Streveler on Instagram this entire off season. The man is more than ready. He's completely healed from his injury. His workout routine was insane, The Bombers have known that for months that he'd be ready to go. Two qbs will be ultimately released, probably the two former Rider qbs.

Jake will be 70 & still starting because he now plays like a 70 year would. At least he's consistent.

Ownership doesn't spend money.

Good thing that hockey didn't affect the debates? Wait, what??? Elbows up!!

He pends more time in the infirmary than on the ice. He doesn't help us on the ice wearing icepacks over the big bruise that is his body.

Pasy Cline's voice was so beautiful. It crossed musical genres from country to pop. Incredible singer.

Ehlers has to go. I'm sure he'll be a UFA this summer.

I have no problems with Canadian kids getting their shots with the NFL. Only some don't treat the CFL with enough respect. At least the Canadians who don't bother to go to the CFL Combine because they feel it's beneath them still have a Plan B available to them in the CFL if things don't work out for their NFL dreams. Lots of free agent American players in the same boat know it's over if they don't make an NFL squad. Canadians get a second chance. Kurtis Rourke got drafted by the 49ers. If he impresses Shanahan & works hard, the kid is in a pretty good spot being coached by a coach like him. He landed in a really good spot with a good team.

I think Goalie is as frustrated as the rest of us. This is looking more & more like the nightmare scenario we've all lived Year 3.