Mike

Actually, going into the game Willy got hurt .. we were in first place .. Weren't we 3-4 or 3-5 when Willy got hurt? 3-3 going into the game. So 2nd place, I believe.

Haha wow, talk about arguing semantics! Okay then you explain... if you can't tell the difference. When Drew Willy finished the game this year, the only game we lost, we lost by 1 point to the defending Grey Cup champs and it came down to the final possession of the game to be decided. If that's not "incredibly competitive", what is?

As for getting rid of O'Shea or keeping him ... I think O'Shea takes a lot of heat for all of the wrong reasons. Which, to me, is funny because there's a very obvious reason he SHOULD be taking a lot of heat that anyone rarely questions him on. His roster management is absolutely atrocious. The makeup of our 44 man gameday roster has been awful all year and a lot of it seems to be because MOS isn't able to make roster moves on his own - his hand has to be forced by injury to do anything. In the 2 years that he has been head coach, I'd like to see anyone name one player that has been benched because of their performance. There hasn't been. The little things that he's failed to do all year have been atrocious. Brendan Morgan, in the earlier part of the year, was taking ST penalty after ST penalty and not once did he find his way off the gameday roster because of it. The revolving door of defensive ends has been incredibly frustrating as well - only once we found Justin Cole did they sort that out and that was only because Thad Gibson got nicked. Tim Cronk having any role on our roster boggles my mind. The fact that he's a backup long snapper pales in comparison to the fact that we have him out there taking a considerable amount of snaps on offense despite being useless as anything other than a minor speedbump. With the return of Ian Wild, there's absolutely no reason you couldn't have Chris Normand fill that role and actually be versatile enough to provide some offensive upside as well. If Cronk stays on this week? Horrible decision. Letting Bryant Turner play while Nate Collins wastes away on the sidelines is a total shame too. Turner has been better of late but him and Anderson have taken turns this year doing absolutely nothing but Collins for some reason stays stapled to the bench unless there's an injury. Chevon Walker. Enough said. Dominic Picard. You can't tell me it's to keep continuity with the QB handling the same snaps, so what's the deal? Give Goossen a chance already, Picard has been atrocious all year. Justin Veltung is the best returner on our team but Troy Stoudermire is allowed to keep fumbling his way through games because he's the defacto man at that position. Nevermind the ball security issues. He was our guy last year, he's our guy this year. Why? Because loyalty I suppose. The roster management MOS employs is downright insulting. The fact that nobody gets benched for ANY level of poor performance is unacceptable, in my opinion. It's the same **** we went through with Kuale last year. Realistically ... with the personnel we have right now available to us, this should be our roster QB - Nichols, Davis, Brohm RB - Marshall, Normand FB - Pontbriand REC - Moore, Adams, Denmark, Veltung, Willie, Bastien, Kohlert OL - Bryant, Neufeld, Picard, Goossen, Chungh, Capers DL - Westerman, Cole, Peach, Turner, Collins, Thomas, Brown LB - Wild, Bass, Hurl, Leggett, Briggs, Waggoner, Newman DB - Bucknor, Johnson, Washington, Adams, Jones, Morgan S - Shell, Sherman K - Hajrullahu P - Castillo LS - Rempel

The reality is that the injury that took Willy out of the lineup for multiple games was going to happen sooner or later. So the idea of Willy staying healthy and keeping the Bombers competitive for an entire year is just a fantasy. This, I agree with. With the protection we were providing him? No way was a full year in the cards. Sadly. And I agree with you both there. It is sad. As much as I'd like to agree with you Mike as we all want the Bombers to win, we just have too many holes on our roster to be really competitive. ... then why were we incredibly competitive while Drew Willy was healthy? I mean really ... name these holes on our roster. Running back? I'll give you that one. Receiver? Debatable ... we could use another game breaker but Adams/Moore/Denmark seemed just fine while Drew was healthy. OL? Yeah ... probably why Willy is on the sidelines to begin with. But the talent itself is nowhere near as bad as it's made out to be. Scheme wise? Terrible. Defense? I don't see a lot of personnel holes. Especially as the year has gone on. I see one glaring issue with our team - the offensive game plan. Our talent isn't elite level but it's easily sufficient to maintain a competitive level of football with the proper gameplan. There aren't a LOT of holes on this team. There is one major one. And it's killing us.

The reality is that the injury that took Willy out of the lineup for multiple games was going to happen sooner or later. So the idea of Willy staying healthy and keeping the Bombers competitive for an entire year is just a fantasy. This, I agree with. With the protection we were providing him? No way was a full year in the cards. Sadly.

I don't agree with that. Maybe a couple wins more than now. They're 6-12 or 7-11 with Willy. Still nowhere near good enough. That doesn't even make any sense. When Drew Willy finished a game this year, they were 3-1 ... even when you count the one he left late, we're 3-2 So you think he stays healthy the rest of the year and only manages at best 4-9? Yep. You seem to forget that we were 5-1 last season & then went 2-11 the rest of the way with Willy as the starter. I don't see much of a difference between last year's team & this year's on offense. We don't have the offensive line to make a difference like last year. We don't have good coaching on the offensive side of the football like last year. Thanks to Ritchie Hall, our defense is average to slightly above maybe but it's improving. However, the defense can't hold us in every game when the offense can't move the football. Our Special teams coverage is horrible & has been all season. We don't have the talent & the Bombers are not a very good team.I like Drew Willy but he wouldn't make that much of a difference, I believe. If you didn't see the difference between Drew Willy this year and Drew Willy last year, I don't know what to tell you. The guy clearly took steps as a QB. I think saying we could have been hovering around .500 is a very fair, cautious estimate. Like I said, we were a competitive football team. Maybe you've forgotten what Drew Willy was like earlier this year because we've been forced to watch absolute garbage ever since then, but he was operating at a very high level and it was pretty clear he had taken the next step in his development. Was he a finished product, a complete QB? No. But the strides he had made were obvious and we weren't going to be a 3-10 team the rest of the way with him.

People just LOVE the hyperbole. Whether it's with win/loss records or salaries, they throw around numbers like "6-12" or "250k" like they have any clue what it means. Here's the reality: with Drew Willy, we were a COMPETITIVE football team. With him in the lineup starting and finishing a game, we were 3-1 ... could've been 4-0, could've been 2-2. But we competed every game and had a shot. Logical thinking suggests that doesn't balance out at 6-12 unless we REALLY had things not going our way.

I don't agree with that. Maybe a couple wins more than now. They're 6-12 or 7-11 with Willy. Still nowhere near good enough. That doesn't even make any sense. When Drew Willy finished a game this year, they were 3-1 ... even when you count the one he left late, we're 3-2 So you think he stays healthy the rest of the year and only manages at best 4-9?

I am.

It was efficient at moving the ball, but I wouldn't say it looked really good. We weren't exactly lighting up the scoreboard.

Pole Morris.

Tom Higgins is still desirable around here?

Love it.

Not sure what Wild will do for us here. Also really wonder if this means Simmons is a goner. Doubt this means we're out of the Henoc race.

PPV yesterday seemed like it was just a really average version of Raw. Nothing that got me fired up. Having Kane close out a PPV? LOL. Come on.

I heard the Lawless interview this morning & what he said really makes no sense. I don't even know what that even means? I've heard Murphy on the radio here in Calgary being interviewed plenty in the past on the Stamps flagship station 770 CHQR AM. The guy doesn't sound rough around the edges at all. He can be direct & to the point. He knows football plain & simple & knows how to build a winner. Interesting that when the media here in Calgary want to get the scoop du jour on player personnel matters they don't ask Huff.They ask Murphy. The Lawless comment about Murphy not being refined just smacks like the reason we passed on Lemar Durant & took Addision Richards instead because Durant is a quiet guy & didn't "interview well". Guys like Walters were so busy trying to find fault with his personality that they totally ignored his talent & he passed right by them to the Stamps who gleefully snapped him up. If the Bombers could get Murphy then passed because he wasn't "refined" then how stupid are they? Wait, don't answer that. I mean, if you want to take this a bit further & discuss Lawless then, how does he get a gig on the radio & is seen on tv as he has a demeanor & a voice better suited to work anywhere but the broadcast media. How refined does an overweight, wrinkled, middle aged man in a brushcut look? But hey, I ain't prejudging... I did like how Lawless laughed off the Chris Walby comments that Danny McManus should take over as GM as he's "just a scout". No management experience at all. Lawless' comments are accurate. Murphy IS rough around the edges. It's been the knock on him for a very long time and it's a big reason why he hasn't already been given a GM opportunity. That being said, I don't even care. Hire him anyways.

Stayed healthy and employed a competent offensive coordinator. Seriously. Ottawa has stayed healthier than probably every team in the league this year. They wouldn't be as good as they are if Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, BC, Montreal and Edmonton didn't have to contend with a ridiculous amount of injuries.

I don't think we're regressing or going backwards. Realistically, I'd like to see what we could do next year with a healthy Drew Willy coupled with a competent OC. That being said, Walters is probably gone which could mean a whole new hierarchy. Still going to hope for a healthy Drew Willy and a competent OC. It will be interesting to see what direction we go in if Walters leaves.

He'll be gone.

Sometimes I wonder if people around here actually know what a football practice is supposed to look like.

Stafford - Scheifele - Wheeler Ladd - Lowry - Little Perreault - Burmistrov - Ehlers Raffl - Copp - Armia/Thorburn I could get down with that.

Sorry, I don't buy that logic. The NFL has already passed on them the first time and in a lot of cases their sham degree from "Southern Pinestick A&M" is not going to lead to many employment opportunities in the real world that pay as well as a job in the CFL.. I can't stand this bias against athletes. Find one guy on our roster that is from a school you've never heard of. You miss the point, most football players in the US are accepted to college on athletic scholarships and would not qualify otherwise. Once there, few take advantage of the educational opportunity afforded them and piss it away on a meaningless degree or never complete. With the time commitment they have to put into football at that level it is understandable to some extent but most of these athletes do not leave college with any worthy credentials. If you can associate 10 import players on the Bomber roster with meaningful degrees I will be impressed. Define meaningful.

Sorry, I don't buy that logic. The NFL has already passed on them the first time and in a lot of cases their sham degree from "Southern Pinestick A&M" is not going to lead to many employment opportunities in the real world that pay as well as a job in the CFL.. I can't stand this bias against athletes. Find one guy on our roster that is from a school you've never heard of.

Our record when Drew Willy and Nick Moore both start/finish a game is 8-1, I think.

In his interview today he said he's here to put up some good film so he can get back to the NFL. He's got the right attitude, but it's clear what his goal is. No offense here Gbill - but what do you think all the CFL players want to do? Lets see, I can get my head torn off up here for minimum wage, or I can be a backup in the NFL and make 7 to 10 x the money. It's just refreshing to hear someone admit it for once. No one, absolutely no one, grows up in the US and dreams of playing in the CFL one day, and I highly doubt many Canadian kids do either (once they read the age of understanding the power of money). When I was a Canadian kid I dreamt of playing for the Bombers. It didn't work out but CFL football is what inspired me to lift weights, train and develop athletically. I'm sure I'm not the only one. My son plays at SFU & I can tell you unequivocably & without a doubt his dream is to play in the CFL. That has been his dream ever since he started playing at age 9. He watches every CFL game & very few NFL ones. I coached football for 15 years & I don't know of any player that said to me that they wanted to go to the NFL. They all wanted to play for the Stampeders as that was the city they were growing up in. They related to the Stamps players & as a treat every once in awhile a Stampeder player would attend one of our practices & talk to my players. So, think again Kpt Krunch. Lots of kids in this country want to play in the CFL. And then when they get to a level where someone points out that if they're good enough for the CFL, maybe just maybe they're good enough for the NFL, then they want to play in the NFL. "no thanks, I'm good without taking my opportunity to earn millions of dollars", said no one ever.