Mike

And why do you have to always get personal? I wasn't mad, dude. I always get personal? Alright... Anyways, how about that middle ground? Why would there be a middle ground? On what basis? Rids knows his stuff when it comes to salaries. He's worked with other CFL teams at arms length. Knows scouts on various CFL teams. Has had discussions with them about players. He attends the Senior Bowl every year & is on the field with the NFL & CFL scouts. He attends the E Camp the CFL holds in March. He is on a first name basis with most CIS head coaches across Canada. He talks to these guys & they all give him the scoop on what their former players are making. He is an equal partner with CFL player Shomari Williams in a college recruiting company. He has set up combines all across Canada. I didn't just pick those numbers out of the blue that I quoted. It was Rids who first told me what CFL first rounders make just a few days ago in a private discussion about this very thing. What a bizarre comment. You said "first round picks make 85-95k" and JBR said "no they don't" and you replied with "so what are you saying, they make 40-45k" and not only that, but you're extremely confrontational about it. How in the world can you not see yourself ignoring the possibility of a middle ground in that exchange? Truly a weird dude. If you honestly weren't mad, you need to take a long hard look at the way you talk to people because for a guy who was just engaging in a conversation and wasn't at all upset, you sure came across as a bit of a d-bag. Not attacking you, just being honest. I trust you when you say you weren't mad, but damn man ... you sure sound like it. A lot.

Duane Forde for GM Rod Black will be the assistant GM and a plate of Thanksgiving turkey will be leading the scouting department.

My favorite part is how you're acting as if any of us are saying the way the Bombers have been doing things is a good way to do them

Even if Collaros inevitably does not pan out, we can't afford to not be the team that finds out.

He's going to command starter money. And to those who ask "why would we pay it", why wouldn't we? He absolutely deserves starter money. He'd be signing here to be our starter, no sense in pissing around and trying to play the nickel and dime game. Pay the man and get him here. We can't afford not to.

I'd trust Atomic.

The fact that Goltz isn't doing short yardage is an absolute joke. Boltus looks like he's got concrete blocks for shoes when he's out there.

And I swear to god if I hear Iso make that "we should have picked him in the fourth round where he was projected to go" comment one more time, I'm going to lose it lol

I don't see how anyone can blame Etienne for his lack of production. Every time he's been thrown the ball, he's done something with it. Whenever he plays, I constantly notice comments on how much separation he can create for himself. It's not exactly his fault he's been saddled with awful quarterbacks and a brutal staff. Besides, his numbers over an 18 game season this year extrapolate to a 700 yard receiver. Really worth complaining about?

The fact that you'd try and make that claim again really goes to show that you haven't actually been reading what I've written. I have never gotten on a soapbox and told anyone how great Mack was, I have argued with people shitting all over everything guy did, there is a very big difference. With regards to you and Etienne you were all over the guy before he even came to training camp, you were all over the guy because he was on the roster but never playing, that's not something to ***** at Etienne for, you have a lot of misguided anger, you should have been critical of the people putting him on the roster when he wasn't ready to be there but no you took every chance to slag the kid. Yeah, so? Players get called out & criticized everyday. You slag Burke everyday. You've slagged Poblah & Buck. You're no better than me or anybody else here who has an opinion so get over it. I slag Burke cause he's done something no one else has done, he's made me stop caring about this team. Slagging Poblah (well all i've said is he's not living up to the hype and seems to have iffy hands) and Buck was done after they had been given chance after chance and failed. I didn't criticize anyone immediately after being drafted just cause they were off the board. oh and by the way, I *AM* better than everyone else here. Nice you can say negative things about players & coaches but of course no one else can. What have I said about Etienne other than I think he is a bust & was overrated? I didn't attack him as a person. It wasn't his fault Mack picked him so high but because all he did is set him up to fail. I just questioned why we'd draft a kid so not ready to play so highly as in a first round pick with a guy like Nate Coehoorn ready to be selected. I've never said anything else negative about him except as a football player. As far as #2 goes, no you're not. Not even close. I think the point that Dave is making is that it's very easy to think that you legitimately dislike Etienne because you didn't even bother to wait and see him suit up before you started shitting all over him, you've had your mind made up on him from the minute we drafted him. In fact, I could draw a very similar parallel to that and the way you talk about Kyle Walters as he gets ready to potentially become our new GM. The way you hint at it in your posts makes me think that if we do hire him in the permanent role, it doesn't matter what he does because it's very obvious you don't think he's right for the job. Your opinion (in my opinion) would hold a lot more weight if it didn't appear to be so based on your personal emotions and was instead based on information.

I'm sure we're all a little edgy given that the team blows. But yeah, you're right.

Why would we keep Delmonaco? The only player he's helped to get better here in his tenure is a defensive lineman conversion.

Nobody has ever said anything like that, it's like you've entirely directed your rage (and yeah, it IS rage) at Dave for saying something that you've created in your own mind.

I'm pretty sure he's never said that, it's only people like you who imply that simply because he defends Mack from the UNFAIR criticism he takes. Dave has never suggested Mack doesn't deserve criticism. He's simply suggested that he doesn't always deserve all of it.

I'd reply, but then you would undoubtedly whine about how I'm being unfair as a "person of authority" on this website, so I will just let the idea of a grown man using that "insult" speak for itself.

Makes no sense. There is no such thing as a "permanent" position. You have to let them make moves. To suggest otherwise is foolish. And then they move on & others are left to pick up the pieces. That's what I don't like. That is what is scary to me here. You mean they move on just like the "permanent GM" Taman did? Or how about the "permanent GM" Kelly? Maybe the "permanent GM" Mack? No GM is permanent and every time one leaves, another one is left to pick up the pieces and build the team with their own vision. The only thing that is implied by the title of "interim" is that Walters may have a shorter stay than the others.

Make both of them 100% absolutely responsible? How? There's no such thing. Mack was "absolutely 100% responsible" and his vision was different than that of the next guy. What good did that do? Walters is also "100% absolutely responsible" ... in the interim. It's almost as if you think he's going to treat this like his fantasy team on steroids or something. It's still serious work for him, he's auditioning for a full time CFL gig. The same way every CFL GM is auditioning for a full time NFL gig, if you really think about it. There's absolutely no way Walters is just going to goof around while he's the interim GM, he deserves the power to make the decisions he needs to make. As for your comments re: Miller, I think you went way off in the wrong direction regarding context. What you're implying is not what he meant at all. What he meant was that obviously this is important to him. He was saying he could be off filling easier roles for more gratification and instead, he's here because he cares and wants to do this the right way.

Makes no sense. There is no such thing as a "permanent" position. You have to let them make moves. To suggest otherwise is foolish.

From the exact same interview: WIECEK: One of the tools available to the CEO of a struggling sports franchise to effect change is to fire the head coach. You've kept Tim Burke on despite his team's 2-12 record this season. Why? MILLER: Because he's doing everything he can to turn it around with what he's been given. I just assumed Miller meant with what God gave him, i.e. a poor set of coaching tools.

The way Miller talks makes me think that there is absolutely no way we will not acquire a QB in the period in between Grey Cup and the expansion draft.

Here's the thing about Burke and his complaints regarding a lack of talent. Similar talent was at least competitive under LaPolice. We may not have won a ton of games, but at least we felt like we had a chance to win. I watch this team now and all I can think is that they have absolutely no chance. Given that these are professional athletes competing against other professional athletes, you'd think we could at least put up somewhat of a fight. To me, the main issue with this team is coaching. Top to bottom, they are doing absolutely nothing to improve the skillset of our roster. I can count on one hand the number of players we've had during the Delmonaco/Howell/Burke regime who have improved under their watch. Most of our imports seem to get worse the more they work with our coaches. Matthews came here and lit the world on fire, now he can't catch. Denmark was a ROY candidate, now he's a spare part who struggles to get open. Simpson played on instinct last year and seemed dominant at times, but struggled this year with our new offensive schemes. Our defensive backs, aside from Washington, seem to be getting worse. Ian Wild and Desia Dunn both debuted incredibly strong and now look mediocre (maybe a byproduct of our entire defense) ... in two years, they couldn't teach Alex Hall how to time his break well enough to avoid going offside. Mike Sims-Walker was highly touted enough to get his own press conference as a CFL rookie when he came here and now he can't even crack the lineup because Howell can't get through to him on the waggle. And don't even get me started on what our quarterbacks are doing in their development. It's ridiculous. Our coaching is garbage. Talent level may be on the lower end but they could still produce a LOT better with some average coaches.

Pretty interesting prospects too, in my opinion. DE Michael McAdoo and OL Cord Howard ... both from the Ravens. I've seen McAdoo play before and the one thing I find interesting is he's immediately one of the biggest DEs (if not the biggest) in the CFL ... 6'7" 245

He may flourish & he may not like Chris Bauman. Etienne has started & gone entire games without a catch. Jabari Arthur is finally playing like everyone thought he could in Calgary. How long do you wait? Considering you've been finding every excuse under the sun to not wait for him for almost 3 full years now, I find that comment to be pretty amusing.

No offense but this is complete bullshit. Etienne has upside for days, Foster has plateaued.