Mike

Waters wins easily either way.

You missed the part where I said with enthusiasm. There's showing up to do your job and then there's showing up to do your job with enthusiasm. The difference is fairly obvious when it comes to Kane. Every player has options. In this day and age, you can force a trade quite easily. It may not happen quickly but players control the ability to basically dictate their future however they choose. Kane dictated his by signing a long term deal here. They have a ton to do with playing in Winnipeg. Especially when a player like Kane goes out of his way to make them. To me the reason Kane's attitude has changed has a lot more to do with the vibe inside the locker room than anything else. A coaching change can solve a lot of problems.

Disagree. You can deal in speculation. I'll deal in what I can actually see and measure. You have no way of measuring Kane's desire level when it comes to playing in Winnipeg. Unless you are close personal friends with him or his agent. I can watch him play balls to the wall, pedal to the floor every shift he's out there. I can hear him talk about how he's excited to play with Scheif and Wheels. I can see him try and get the home crowd into the game and how his energy translates to his attitude on the ice. You can ... read some articles? You do realise that you're watching of him playing hockey for which he is paid a significant amount of money has nothing to do with the question of his desire level to play in Winnipeg, right? I mean, you *do* understand that, right? And no player in the history of professional sports has ever let their desire to leave a city outweigh their obligation to perform their job at a high level with a clear sense of enthusiasm, right? Don't get me wrong. I think Kane wanted out at one point. I don't think he does anymore and the difference in his attitude is night and day.

Disagree. You can deal in speculation. I'll deal in what I can actually see and measure. You have no way of measuring Kane's desire level when it comes to playing in Winnipeg. Unless you are close personal friends with him or his agent. I can watch him play balls to the wall, pedal to the floor every shift he's out there. I can hear him talk about how he's excited to play with Scheif and Wheels. I can see him try and get the home crowd into the game and how his energy translates to his attitude on the ice. You can ... read some articles?

Disagree. You can deal in speculation. I'll deal in what I can actually see and measure.

I'm going to play silly bugger here because everyone wants to always bring up this "we would have won X amount more games with a conventional defense" argument. How many games in our big start do we lose if Etch's defense isn't locking things down and creating havoc out there prior to teams getting more film on our D? A more conventional D probably wins a few games for us this year, but let's be honest - it probably loses us a few too. Our wacky defense confused the hell out of Lefevour, shut down Glenn and forced a bunch of turnovers and scored 14 points in Montreal. Does a conventional D automatically do the same?

Because Ottawa jumped the gun and axes someone asap? Come on Iso, you're better then this.. Hey SPuDs, I guess I want to see some changes & not the status quo. I really do believe changing the coordinators needs to be done. I'm actually concerned it will be status quo coordinators wise going into training camp. What's your thoughts? My thoughts are that this happens every year. Every time another team makes a move, you use it as an opportunity to complain that the Bombers are not. How about we just discuss the move Ottawa made instead of using it to take potshots at our management?

All you need to do to see Kane doesn't want out of Winnipeg is watch him play.

Love Mo Legg as a playmaker but don't like his tackling. He got beat a number of times going one-on-one against the ball carrier and quite a few of his tackles got shrugged off.I think Brack is a much more reliable tackler. Alex Krausnick may not agree

No way does Kane get traded right now.

That's a cop out answer though. It's not like there are hidden candidates all over the place, there are a limited number of viable options.

No way can you fire a head coach in his first year with an expansion team. Awful, awful decision if they go that route.

I want to win Noeller. We won't ever with him as DC. I think that's more important than keeping him around for anyone's amusement. and yet we could have easily had a winning season with him as DC if not for bad turnovers on offense, some break downs on special teams... That's why people keep arguing with you about this, the defense was actually pretty solid for the most part this season. The offense doesn't go MIA late in the year and a winning season and playoffs quite likely happen. So second last in sacks and last in run stopping constitutes a solid defence for the most part of the season? That's laughable actually. It also fails to talk about the effect on the offence, especially in fourth quarters many times so the offence could not get back on the field. In general football theory, sure, that's a problem. In real-life Bomber games? The first Rider game where many fans were losing their minds over Messam running for 10 yards on every carry. Total points generated by Saskatchewan's offence that game? 6. And us not being able to mount a comeback because we didn't have the ball? The defence got the offence the ball twice inside the 3 minute warning that game. And the offence gave us 2 turnovers. It's a flawed defence, no doubt. By design it gives up the run to take away the pass. I'm not in love with it. But the whipping it takes from people I'd consider knowledgeable football fans on here (some obvious exceptions), well it makes me wonder whether breaking down all 18 games after the fact is an exercise I should make time for. Because the games I watched, more often than not the defence was giving us a chance to win, not costing us the game. Well the one game example is not enough for me. You admit it is flawed, but you still want him back when we could likely find someone better? I guess the fact he has not been employed in the CFL for quite some time should tell us something. Who would you recommend that would be a clear improvement?

So Mike, tell me... If he is fired who will hire him as a DC? Please fill me in. Be interested in your take. ... what's your point?

So much hate for Etch.

Curious what your thoughts of what would have been a fair draft?I also have a problem with making an expansion team stronger then the teams they are plucking from. I thought the expansion draft was quite fair. Sure Ottawa sucked this year but they got some good pieces to build with and now get to add with another draft drafting first overall "I also have a problem with making an expansion team stronger then the teams they are plucking from." Why? Why not set up the draft so they have a middle of the pack team and are immediately competitive? Why punish a newbie? Because it punishes a fan base who has supported their team over the long haul. It would be a slap in the face to fans who have invested time and money into their teams only to have it dismantled for the "new" guys. There is usually a honeymoon period with a new expansion team to get over the first few years of losing. And if the fan base can't accept that they don't really deserve to have a new team, because all teams will have to eventually weather those periods. You still didn't answer what you thought would have been a fair draft. "Because it punishes a fan base who has supported their team over the long haul. It would be a slap in the face to fans who have invested time and money into their teams only to have it dismantled for the "new" guys." It punishes no one ... and according to the longsuffering reasoning it asks to subsidize incompetency .... this assumption that you have to "punish" a new team is idiocy and entitlement reasoning I thought we weren't allowed to call other opinions "idiocy"

If you ask me, they got too much. What you're discounting way too much is that football is a team sport. Ottawa got a pretty talented roster in the expansion draft. They did pretty well in the draft and with a lot of their import recruiting. But that all takes time to gel. The staff needs to get to understand their players. The players need to understand eachother. You give them a competitive team right out of the gate and you're basically handing them a powerhouse once they gain chemistry. That's way too much. Think about it ... what'd they get handed to them by the expansion draft? A Canadian rush end who had 11 sacks this year, a 700 yard receiver, their top 3 special teams tacklers, a 500 yard Canadian receiver ... effectively their starting Canadian LB (by trading Glenn for him) They got unbelievable pieces. Way too much, considering how much they got out of the last two CFL drafts as well.

I'll tell you right now, the Bombers would be prepared to give Milanovich a HC salary to be their OC. He'll consider $$$ offers to escape the dumpster fire in Toronto.

These are the guys I'd like to see back next year. The rest, I could take them or leave them. I'm sure not interested in letting a 6'1' DB that we invested an entire year of development into walk away so quickly. I hope Dumas is back next year.

Technically they are not, but many of them will re-up (or already have)

Keeping him in a shitty system just to keep it consistent isn't the best plan either.

Yeah no.

Not saying Wild isn't a damn good LB. But the market hasn't established itself at that price point for just damn good. Maybe it will. But it hasn't yet.

Key point. Goodrich is as good of a prospect as Demski in terms of talent. He could be a very good CFL player. I like JFG and Kohlert, I don't think Watson has enough good plays left in him to be a main target. Probably the best territorial exemption we've had a chance at since I can remember. Equivalent of an additional first rounder in the CFL Draft, in my opinion.

Ian Wild as a $150,000 LB? The salary landscape has changed a little bit but I doubt it has room for an above average yet not elite American linebacker to be making a buck and a half.