TheSource

It is back to the Dave Richie years for sure. Plenty of games during Cal's tenure as well. Since then it has been very inconsistent. Chances of it happening this weekend are between 0% and 1.0E-06%. I'll stop short of calling this weeks game a guaranteed loss, but it is going to be pretty close to that. It will be a miracle if they don't get the boots put to them good by Calgary and manage a respectable loss.

And if you can't be competitive in a small market that cannot attract private ownership, then perhaps the time has come to move the team to a market that can afford to be competitive. This is an issue for the league, just like the NHL the league has an interest in policing the franchises to make sure they are viable. Part of being viable means you have to be able to afford an operating budget big enough to compete on even ground with the other teams. Teams that sit in small markets that cannot do this need to be forced out of those markets into bigger markets that can support a team with private ownership.

Well said. It's this same frustration for this issue and all the related issues of not being very aggressive about improving that makes me rant and causes me to have a pessimistic view of the organization. But I can't see this status quo lasting indefinitely. There will be a tipping point where the blind loyalty and lack of effort to improve catches up and the team enters another rebuilding cycle. When that happens there will inevitably be changes, and not only MOS, but then Walters, and ultimately Miller's head will all be on the chopping block unless one or more decide to break the pattern.

Riders are a better team than the Bombers today mainly because they have better scouting and a coach/GM who is not afraid to challenge his players or replace a guy if he is not playing great. People here do not like Jones, but he has guts and is to be respected for the results he gets every year. I have no problem with that because those who take risks and make changes should reap the rewards of pursuing excellence. Bomber fans may not like the Riders, but at least they always pull out all the stops to shoot for excellence, which shows both in the offseason as well as at every point during the season as they are always trying to improve. It takes guts and desire to run a franchise this way year after year, decade after decade. The team is a mirror of the pride and desire of the fan base, which is not prepared to accept anything less. For us who follow the Bombers it is frustrating because Bombers always seem to put other priorities ahead of becoming the best in the league (such as frugal budget management and making tidy profits for the BOD). Not sure if it is because Bomber fans are satisfied with mediocrity, but for some reason, the way the Bomber franchise is being run in the last 3 decades, they just don't see the need to go much beyond that. It's unfortunate, but it looks like that's about how far the Bomber franchise will go in the near future of the current cycle before tanking again into another pitiful long rebuilding process. Then end could come sooner than some here think because Walters has not shown that he can keep good players in a competitive FA market because the guy is just not aggressive enough or smart enough to know a good deal from a bad one. Unlike last year, this year this team is going to have ALOT of turnover. I dare say that they will not handle it as well as the better run teams do, so I can see some dark times ahead.

Its a balancing act. The one thing you can see with Lapo and Nichols is that sometimes they get locked in on one thing and dont change things up. Going deep all game long is bad. Going short all game long is bad. They need to mix it up, even when doing so results in a 2 and out every once in a while. That way at least the defence is guessing.

This is very true. Lapo has not included enough deep shots in the gameplan over the last few years, so the chemistry is not quite there. Would really like to see the Bombers continue with some deep shots every game, but with Nichols struggling I am pretty sure Lapo's response will be to cut things down to nothing over 5 yards. This is what he did with Streveler, which eventually hamstrung him in that Hamilton game.

Yes, the issue is that Bombers constantly regressing, giving up embarrassing losses, and generally never being considered as a contender has become old. The tolerance for this type of effort is running out.

He probably thinks Lankford is better than those options, and although I agree with much of what you say, in this case I think Oshea is partially right. Cant see peterman or simonise filling the role of deep threat and speed receiver. They are good Canadian options, but still not a marquee deep threat import.

I guess this is what you get for turning a middle linebacker into a head coach. More mentally flexible head coaches often come from the more mentally skilled positions on the field such as QB. Would have loved to see Tom Clements coach the bombers, but with guys like Walters feeding in crap players, Tom was too smart to take that bait.

Yes. There is talent there, but it is the wrong combination of talent to win consistently. It's like a hockey team that only drafts excellent defensemen and then puts them out of position at winger, center, and even in goal. According to you, this is great because "the talent is certainly there tho". To me, not only do you need excellent talent, you need it at the right positions to be successful, and that is what the Bombers do not have. They do not have the right mix of talented players to be successful.

He is 100% right. Nichols is not in the same class as Reilly, Mitchell, Lulay, or Harris and has not earned the right to be free of criticism. Boos should be the least of his worries. If he were working for a serious coach and organization he would be worried about his job, but of course this is OShea and the Bombers, so no matter how badly he performs the job will be his alone for at least the next 2 seasons.

There is an assumption here that is incorrect, and that is the one that states "the O appears to be loaded with talent". The fact is that the Bombers have 4 Canadian receivers in Desmski, Wolitarsky, Simonise, and Peterman who are all good but essentially playing the same role. They go out to catch 3 yard curls and then try to break tackles for 3 more yards. They are not guys who can get separation or run 40 yard game breaking plays. You can also add Dressler into that same type of role as an import as well - just substitute the 3 yard curl with the jet sweep. There is a big gap in the Bomber offensive strategy in that they have good talent, but not the right talent to make it hard on opposing defenses. In a nutshell, that is the system Bombers are employing, and they have gone out like the dumbasses they are and recruited just Canadian receivers so they are now locked into this strategy long term. Every team in the league is now figuring out how to stop it by keeping everybody short and playing man on Adams with safety help, or not even bothering, and just letting him go because Bombers seldom go deep, and when they do Nichols botches the throw at least half the time. There are some losing times coming ahead for this club because it will not be easy to move away from Lapo's strategies now that the team is mortgaged so heavily by their silly recruiting practices.

I think this is also a flaw in Lapo's system. He does not use all his receivers as well as he should and his system lacks the ability to challenge other defenses vertically.

Rigmaiden. All he is good for is bringing in BC's re-treads. Other than that he SUX as a recruiter.

QFT

Yes. That's why last place in the West is a real possibility. Bombers were picked by all the media (except for Winnipeg) to finish last in the West before the season started.

Fixed it for you.

QFT

Randle is now past his best before date. Fogg is a good returner but is just bad as a DB and always will be. Sayles is this year's version of Charamicheal. Loffler is not really a safety and has been exposed. Alexander is pretty good, but he's the only one. The secondary has actually regressed from last year and is in bad shape.

That coach is one province to the West of you.

LOL, OShea leaving Nichols in so that Ottawa can complete the maiming... This is not a coach that will get the team to the playoffs this year

Not if you finish last in the West

That is IF they make the playoffs. There is a fair chance they will not.

YES. This is completely true. I called this before the season started.