voodoochylde

Brady got hosed in the MOP voting.

You'd have to think that if he was concussed .. and hid it .. or it went unnoticed .. or was simply trotted back out there by the Argos despite suffering a head injury .. that the league and CFLPA might have a few questions for the Argos and their medical staff. That's not a good look for any organization.

My daughter has been coming with me to football games since she was 18 months old. She's 17 now. When she was about 4 years old there was a game against Calgary in the old stadium (we sat about 20 rows up from visitor bench on the 55) where she stood up on her seat and started screaming at the top of her little lungs, "BOO CALGARY! BOO! YOU SUCK!" Was hilarious and the older season ticket holders that sat around us just killed themselves laughing. Needless to say .. she's a Bomber fan.

Saw mention that Bighill has a strained calf muscle (take that with a grain of salt). From the way he went down after the play, I thought for sure it was a knee or achilles. Hit the deck like he was shot.

I will not invite bad juju onto this team by suggesting this will be an easy win - it won't be. Noel Thorpe has that defence playing at an extremely high level and, as many have already noted, playing at this time of year is all about momentum and confidence. Montreal has that in spades coming off their win in Toronto. I think this game is going to be closer than people think. Likely low(er) scoring. It's going to be about which offence protects the ball (or conversely, which team capitalizes on offensive miscues).

The “best team in CFL history” absolutely implodes in front of their largest crowd of the season. Kelly shows exactly what kind of man he is skulking away and not shaking hands after the loss. This tastes so much sweeter considering how the CFL (and many media members) were so eager to make the Argos, and Chad Kelly, the face of the league.

That’s one way to ensure the crowd is rowdy.

Today is pretty simple: * Physical line play and a run game that keeps us ahead of the sticks is going to be key - Free Brady. Stack up first downs and let the crowd roar. * Can’t allow VAJ to step up in the pocket and take advantage of a weak or undisciplined rush. His legs can extend drives and put pressure on our secondary. * Don’t give up the big play early. BC (much like TO) has thrived on explosion plays but we need to set the tone early - let them know they are going to have to earn every single yard the hard way. * Zach can’t have tunnel vision. He’s had games (going back to last year) where he forces things (unnecessary deep shots or to specific receivers) and this is often when things go sideways. Just a few thoughts running around my head. Let’s roll Bombers.

Merged the two separate Lions threads together .. and cacked up the original title in the process. Carry on!

I wasn't sure who posted it but there was some discussion involving Bob Irving, Duane Forde and others who noted that there's a concerted effort to brand Kelly the face of the CFL and in doing so, it might influence voting. It rubbed me the wrong way. Don't get me wrong, anything that can be done (within reason) to create hype in markets that are struggling I'm all for it. It's why when some around here were griping about how TSN was focusing on BC's new owner so much that I took the exact opposite tact. We need invested owners like that. It helps create an invested fanbase. That said, don't snub a guy simply to fit an agenda - that's just wrong. Brady has EARNED both the MOP and MOC this season.

And it might speak to why we passed on SOME of those players we've brought in - they didn't mesh with the locker room .. they were undisciplined or selfish or just not "getting it".

This. You can't take their record away from them though. They won games and beat the teams they were scheduled to face. It doesn't matter the how or why of it but you also can't turn a blind eye to how easy they had it right out of the gate.

Speaks to coaching. For all his perceived flaws, O'Shea has consistently fielded a disciplined and mindful team - they don't hurt themselves with stupid, selfish penalties.

By every metric, Brady has had the more exceptional season. Objectively, he did more to help his team be successful than any other MOP nominee. You take Kelly out of the Toronto offense, they still won games and still managed great field position in every contest they were in. You take Brady off the Bombers, do we win the close games? Do we grind out wins? Chances are, no.

The last time someone did it was in 2013 - Jon Cornish. A ridiculous 1800+ rushing yards. So .. it's been a decade since anyone has come close to Brady's numbers. With that said, the running game was much more prominent a decade ago. Top running backs were all hovering around that 1500 yard mark.

Was Madani. Just voted for CFL East and West awards. Of note, Brady Oliveira for West MOP, but Betts over Oliveira for Top Canadian in the West. Betts' impact in games was staggering. Crum got my vote for East rookie of the year. What they asked him to do was wild, right into the fire. — Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) October 29, 2023

I think in terms of a single player's impact to the overall success of their team and the excellence with which they've performed, Brady (objectively speaking) should be considered the favourite to win MOP. Toronto has been the story all season and the media / voters being what they are, will attribute much of that success and their record success to Kelly (rightly or wrongly).

Outside TDs .. their numbers are very similar. 2023 COLLAROS, Zach WPG 17 291 422 69.0 4,252 33 15 112.8 3.6 10.1 2023 KELLY, Chad TOR 17 270 394 68.5 4,123 23 12 109.6 3.0 10.5

If Dru establishes himself as the “face of a franchise” why would he consider leaving that organization to come back here? That’s wishful thinking more than anything.

Who’s better in short yardage? That’s the role. Pigrome .. Prukop .. they’d both be glorified RBs on this team. Prukop shouldn’t be on a roster in this league. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Pigrome isn’t in the league next year.

Not only that but .. learning the how and why things are done in a successful organization from veterans who have been there and have helped build it is IMMENSELY valuable. Culture is the easiest thing to destroy and the hardest thing to build - we only have to look at our not too distant past to see what the wilderness looks like.

Guys. Keep the discussion on football. Jets stuff can go to that forum and petty personal jabs can be left at the door.

With the way Parker has gotten his feet under him, and the physical presence he’s added in the secondary, they need to keep him in the lineup. I don’t put a lot of faith in the Schoen talk but he’s taken such a beating this year it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it finally caught up to him. Best case scenario, BC drops their game and we have an opportunity to get people healthy but there’s no way I’m banking on that. Our fate is ours to control .. at this point in the season, that’s all you can ever ask for.

Apparently there is “talk” that Schoen is done for the year.

One can only hope the powers that be give that Saskatchewan squad a chance to run it back. Coaches. Players. Management. Bring ‘em all back! 🙃