Rich

I would say he has gotten better in the last couple of years, but before that there always seemed to be questionable call against the Bombers when we played Montreal. When a game doesn't involve Montreal, I have no problems with him as a ref.

Now that you've changed your avatar, does this mean the circus has officially left Winniepg?

If I am ever wronged and feel compelled to go to the media, I would never choose Gordon Sinclair. I refuse to even read his articles on more. On stories where I am knowledgeable of the facts, every time he completely twists the story and people's words to make his articles very slanted in whatever indignant way or point he wants to make that day. This makes me question and dismiss any of his articles where I don't know the facts. It is a shame if what he is writing is true. But because Gordon Sinclair is the author of the article, I place absolutely no weight into what he says.

I agree on all points. Rich, you and I have discussed this before, essentially all I want is accountability, the right people governing, not meddling in day to day ops etc. The fact that leaks are still occurring, nothing was done about the Mack leak, Mack being hired by the Board in the first place, certain members clearly having a lot of influence on the Board and are treating the Bombers as their own toy etc, is not sitting well with me. The Board IMO is just an knee jerky as some the fans, and yet realistically there's nothing we fans can do about it, because inevitably it would just lead to more knee jerk reactions or us fans hurting the team. Yes, we definitely agree on the bolded part. I don't think an entirely voted in board is the answer. Just the logistics of who is put on the ballot, how do they campaign to get peoples votes, etc, etc. I hate politics at the best of times, and I would hate for the Bombers board to become that. I know you are making suggestions to try and change the status quo, which hasn't been working, and I would be for any change that made the Bombers better.. I wish I had a viable alternative suggestion.

So how come Sask is doing loads better than the Bombers on and off the field ?I would assume leadership is part of it no ? we could talk about why they are doing better all day. but rest assured its not cause fake shareholders get to rubber stamp a nominee in some hokey vote. Not going to disagree with that, but their Board gets results both on and off the field. Maybe its as simple as they have better / more qualified people on their board. Jim Hopson, their CEO also has a lot to do with their success. The boards job should really be giving guidance at a high level and making sure the right people are running the organization. They shouldn't be hiring / firing coaches and GMs. The board should put the right people in place for the organization to run. Lets hope they finally got it right with Wade Miller.

@BobIrvingCJOB: Tim burke off to toronto to become defensive co-ordinator after settling contract with bombers

Is this only if Burke goes to T.O or elsewhere, or a favourable deal even if Burke decides to sit out the season ? Sounds like this is a done deal and not conditional . He agreed to a buyout, so that is the end of it as far as the Bombers are concerned.

Good pickup at DC for the Argos if he does go there. Would have liked to see Burke stay on as DC here, but really it makes more sense to make it a clean break. Wonder if Creehan will follow him to Toronto.

There are still politics in the NFL where you may be cut over a player the team drafted even if you had a better training camp then the player for the simple fact that they don't want to admit to making a mistake in the draft.

Heard Rod Peterson from the Roughriders on the TSN morning show this morning, he was saying that it was likely Dressler was going to hit FA and that Winnipeg may be a possible destination for him since it is close to home in Bismark, ND.

Presumably, as he's under contract with the BB, they would have to reach a buy-out agreement. I believe what happens is it is either a buyout like BriceDream suggests, or they pay Burke his partial salary over and above what the other team would pay him to bring him back to the salary he signed for. Either way, if he works again, the Bombers won't be on the hook for his full salary.

Some people are being dicks about it, but it really is a legitimate issue to question. Pretty much everybody on this site wanted us to do it, until we didn't. Then it's no big deal, and as you say, we should all get over it. I think my issue with this is we really don't know what search went on or didn't. We hear bits and pieces of who we may have asked permission to talk to, who we have talked to and who we didn't talk to. But no one really knows what has gone on. Most teams have been out of playoff picture for weeks now. It is possible that discussions, formal or not, have gone on with other individuals. And out of respect to people who didn't get the job, all of that should not be publicized. On the other hand, this organization has a track record of simply hiring the people / coaches who are present and / or interim solutions. So I can most certainly understand people's skepticism. I'm really on the fence on this. It is another wait and see year to see what they will and can do. If they strike out this time though, I'm not sure how many more at bats they have before they start doing some serious damage to the fan base and retaining and attracting paying customers.

I think they end up making money on the backend of this deal. 12 years is an eternity, and the fact they got the price locked in for that long as the game grows, inflation rises, and advertising dollars follow, I think they will be fine. I'd be curious to know how this compares to the top deal offered by TSN.

I see a lot of people unhappy with the Walters hire, people wanting more experience in their GM. Personally, I'm okay with this hire. I'm not ecstatic about it, but I don't hate it. I don't really buy in to this being the easy hire either. Miller has had 4 months to see how Walters does his job, strategize with him about the expansion draft, and see how he works, understand his philosophy. Miller isn't going to hire anyone he doesn't believe is going to work. People just don't do their job to fail. Being his first hire, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here. I would have been okay with Higgins as well, but it would be the same thing, not ecstatic about it, but a wait and see attitude. About the only hire that would have made me ecstatic is Buono, Popp, or Hufnagel, which really wasn't going to happen. So, a simple yes or no question, how do you feel about the Walters hire?

Why was Abou Zeid hired & what experience did he have? He was fired, right? According to his LinkedIn he is president and CEO of Dunmore Corporation which I couldn't find any information on or a website, however it was mentioned in an article a couple of years ago as being involved in the new Winnipeg Police Headquarters downtown, which is not a project you want to be mentioned as being part of (way over budget and time). The story goes like this .... he was part of the Bomber board, left the board to head up the construction of the stadium, and now got his cushy job back on the board

Tom Higgins - Coacing Record - 72 - 53 - 1 I will take that for the next 3 - 5 years to get this franchise back on track.

Interesting that on Hustler & Lawless last night, when they were interviewing Taman, he said that as a joke they gave Khari half his per diem per day, telling him he better get used to it, implying that the Bombers are cheaper then the Riders (no idea whether this is true or not on the per diems). He also said that the Bombers have not asked permission to talk to Khari. Now nothing is official, but by playing that joke, it sure sounds to me like Khari coming is a done deal, just no one will officially say anything until they are allowed.

Plain and simple the hate for Buckko stems from him signing a long term deal for broadcasting rights with CJOB then suddenly becoming president of the club. It is the epitime of the "old boys club" of the board. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours And in hind sight, he wasn't the right man from the job. From the fiasco of the stadium being a year late (not his fault, but shouldn't have made the promises he did) to the opening night problems, to hanging his hat on Mack. I'd love to know what discussions there was between the Bombers and TSN 1290 before CJOB got the broadcasting deal. You know TSN would have been ready to pay for the radio rights, lots of synergies with the TV rights. If CJOB out bid TSN 1290, then I have no problem with the deal. But somehow, with the way this club has been run, I don't have any confidence that that is how is went down. And now we can get back to Kavis Reed, don't mean to de-rail the thread.

Its fine if they want to wait until after the Cup to announce a new HC but if they have decided to fire Burke, why let him twist in the wind? Unless they've already discussed it with him and he's agreed to stay on. It is also possible that they have discussed him being fired and he agreed to wait to release the news.

For anyone interested, I setup a Pick 'Em to pick the winners (pictures got a little distorted): http://www.morningbigblue.com/community/index.php?app=pickems&do=games&pid=4&wid=47

http://www.cfl.ca/article/canadians-dominate-divisional-player-awards Up against Jon Cornish from the West. Does he have a chance of winning?

This reminds me a lot of the year that Dave Ritchie came in after Reinbold was fired. The team was bad, the season ticket base was decimated, the team was in debt up to its neck and on the verge of bankruptcy. And within 2 years of Ritchie coming on board, in 2001 we had our 14 -4 season and going to the Grey Cup. The emergence of Khari Jones and Milt Stegall, Charles Roberts soon after that ... the addition of Doug Brown and the franchise was rejuvenated. This city loves a winner, is starved for one, and if they can turn it around, the fans will return in spades. The question is, is Wade Miller the guy to do it. And if he can't, with the debt this team has racked up, can the club survive until the next guy gets dumped in there.

The season is over and we don't have to watch this edition of the Bombers anymore. Always hope in the off season although there is a lot of work to do this year. That's my silver lining.

I plan on including playoffs as well, so a few more CFL Pick 'Em weeks to go!