Tony Fresco

I was so scared this guy was coming back....whew....

For shits and giggles and the reminiscing of Nasty Nate in the other thread, I used MBB posting history and ChatGPT to get a Nate style commentary on the season to date. Enjoy folks, all meant for some levity in a frustrating to date season.
THE 5–5 FOLLIES: MIKE O’SAME AND THE BLUE BOMBER MUSEUM
Ladies, gentlemen, hobos, rounders and prairie plutzkies…your 2026 Winnipeg Blue Bombers are 5–5, which is a PERFECT record if the objective is to be neither good nor bad enough to force anybody in management to do something.
These Bombers are a football slot machine. Pull the handle and maybe you get a half of competent football…maybe you get 377 rushing yards surrendered to B.C.…maybe you get a 16–0 lead in Edmonton followed by three points and 35 yards of offence in the second half. Nobody knows! Least of all the fellows being paid to know.
After every fresh disaster, out strolls head coach Mike O’Same, president and founder of S.A.M.E.—Stand Around, Mutter Excuses. Mikey surveys the smoking crater and announces that the fellas simply needed to make two or three more plays. Brilliant! The Hindenburg merely needed a couple more buckets of water.
Meanwhile general manager Kyle Waiters, also known as the Duke of Stand-Pat, watches every other CFL club bring in receivers, defensive backs and pass rushers while Winnipeg guards its practice roster like it contains the lost treasures of King Solomon. Weak receiver room? Wait. Confused secondary? Wait. Ancient offensive line creaking like a haunted hotel? WAIT HARDER. Eventually another team will accidentally release an all-star directly into Kyle’s office.
Then we have offensive coordinator Tommy Con-Dull, architect of the CFL’s last-place red-zone operation. Give Brady O-FEED-ME-ra the football and he bulldozes Edmonton for more than 100 yards before halftime. Naturally, Con-Dull responds by hiding Brady in the second half like he owes the coaching staff money. Why use your best offensive player when you can have Zach Colla-Rust fling another hopeful balloon toward a receiver moving with the speed of a refrigerator being dragged through wet cement?
On defence, coordinator Jordan Yawner has installed his famous Prevent-Us-From-Winning scheme. Rush three, rotate seventeen defenders, place the defensive backs somewhere near Brandon and graciously concede the seven-yard completion. The opposition needs eight yards? Give them twelve. Need to protect field-goal range? Back everybody onto Portage Avenue. Watching this defence communicate before the snap is like watching six tourists assemble furniture without the instructions.
The crazy part is there are still some genuine ballplayers trapped inside this travelling carnival. Brady remains the engine. Trey Va-VOOM is one of the most dangerous returners in the country. Willie Sackerson and Jake Sack-resna can still wreck an offensive line. Nic Demski continues to fight. But individual talent cannot overcome an organization that treats adjustment like an admission of guilt.
Now the 9–1 Montreal Alouettes come marching into town. Mike O’Same will tell us the room is confident. Kyle Waiters will continue waiting. Jordan Yawner will station the secondary in St. Boniface. Tommy Con-Dull will discover a new method of reaching the four-yard line and emerging with three points.
The prescription is painfully simple:
FEED BRADY until the other club proves it can stop him.
Play the best players—not the fellows with the longest service pins.
Attack on defence instead of operating a government-funded receiver-relocation program.
Bring in actual competition before the season becomes an archaeological exhibit.
If the same problems keep producing the same losses…CHANGE SOMETHING.
The dynasty is gone, folks. What remains is a 5–5 club living off the fumes of what it used to be, driven by coaches who appear convinced that stubbornness is a substitute for adjustment.
But don’t worry.
Mike O’Same says they’re only a couple plays away.
Prolly.

The long game plan to the next Canadian franchise always starts with getting Atlanta a team first... Last a decade and move north.

This was @Tony Fresco

Did I hear that right? We have yet to intercept a ball this year?

I don’t know…. There’s a lot of competition for the 2C spot… Said no one. This kid should be given every opportunity to crack the lineup. It’s a big ask, but the bar from last season is incredibly low.

FWIW, Jets head scout also believes he could NHL ready next year and will be given a chance to prove it.

I heard one analyst say he could play next year, but I think that's not realistic. He's eligible to stay in Sweden or play for the Moose I believe. 2027 is very plausible.

I love the Bjork pick, but just to clarify, Frondell is a Chicago prospect (played a handful of NHL games this year), Anton Lundell is the player Florida won’t trade. Easy to confuse. And Frondell is a good player, 2 years older than Bjork and oversizes Viggo at 6’1, 198.
Frondell was also a 3rd OA pick.

Tackling is dirty hard work. Execution of tackling is a big indicator of discipline and motor. When its sharp, you see defenders gang tackling and holding guys up while others go for hits instead of trying for hits off the bat.
Its the canary in the coalmine of every D.
Its hard to be keyed up physically to be relentless and physical on D, when you don't have high energy/physical practices.
100%. I think JSK would've been a great fit in every way, if he was physically up to snuff.

When you see this, what is almost always happening (with a vet) is they are not in position to turn their head and look. Its US football obviously, but here is a pretty good video breaking this down.

It could be really. Him and KC are close. I wonder if like Helle plus Lambert plus our 1st type for Larkin Cossa and their 1st actually might work.

SteinbachOnline
The Niverville Nighthawks are National Champions!
The Niverville Nighthawks won the Centennial Cup National Championship, defeating host Summerside in a tight-checking, hard-fought battle on Sunday, crowning the MJHL team the best in Canadian Junior

With Rookie Camp getting underway Wednesday morning, it's officially time to talk about the 2026 Winnipeg Blue Bombers!

About 4800 for games 2 & 3. Went to game 2. Was a very entertaining game.

About 4800 for games 2 & 3. Went to game 2. Was a very entertaining game.

I agree on this. He's got intriguing skill, works like a dog and plays a solid 200-ft game against men in the SHL, but it feels too risky to pick a player of his stature in the top 10. He could end up a Top 5 talent when looking back, but you can't afford to miss on these high picks.

I'm seeing more and more rankings with Chase Reid as the top D and Malhotra as the Top C. Even if we still pick at 7, there's a good chance one of Tynan Lawrence, Keaton Verhoeff or Carson Carels are still on the board.

Malhotra and Lawrence are way below Verhoeff, Carels, and Smits in upside. They fit an organizational positional need but BPA is one of the 3 d-men. I like Bjorck as much as the next guy but he is tiny. Some guys can play through that and have success at the next level but I'm not betting a top 10 pick on it. I think he's a faller in the draft, much like Perfetti was, due to size.
If I were a betting man I would think that all of the 3 d will be taken before 7, and we will then go Lawrence at 7 to fit our need for a 2C. Sorry...I don't believe Yager is that guy. If Yager proves me wrong then what a good problem we have. I'm not picking Malhotra because i think Lawrence has a higher ceiling, even though Malhotra is probably better right now.

I'm seeing more and more rankings with Chase Reid as the top D and Malhotra as the Top C. Even if we still pick at 7, there's a good chance one of Tynan Lawrence, Keaton Verhoeff or Carson Carels are still on the board.

Jets sign defenceman Garrett Brown to a two-year, entry-l...
Brown signs two-year, entry-level contract with an average annual value of $1,050,000 in the NHL.Drafted 4 years ago at 5'9"
He's 6'4" now

This. But also cap situation can have an impact. Likely less is a factor now that the cap has been rising, but a team up against the cap may need an ELC or two to make the finances work. These are general factors. Ultimately, the player can force a teams hand if their play dictates it. We haven't seen much of that in recent years.
Now for a team that can't attract top talent in free agency, there is certainly an argument to be made to allocate a spot or two to emerging players. It's bad asset management to let a couple of RHD go on waivers for nothing. Would we even of had a need to acquire a guy like Miller if we still had Kovacevic.

8 more hours to wait for this to hit Netflix.