TBURGESS

The Riders won all three games and their running was a big factor in each and every one of them. That's what makes it important. The fact the Calgary also has a great O line and a great RB and we play them twice means we probably get beaten by their run game too. BC's horrible O line will hopefully mean we don't get beat by their run, but you never know, Harris, Logan and Brown are still very dangerous.

It wasn't a late hit Tom - again, you're off. Proves what you said last week as well (about the non PI call) that you really don't know what you are talking about. I heard the whistle live. However, none of the players did. I've seen this kind of thing in the past - usually in the NFL the umpire and referee (as they are the ones close to the LOS) will both wave their hands and blow their whistles if the players continue to play - and if a player (QB usually) is hit when they are doing that, they WILL throw the flag for Unnecessary roughness. I heard a whistle but did not see ONE official - and I only heard ONE whistle, until AFTER the hit, then we heard them blowing it again. Too bad for Darian - but he kept playing if had just stopped and stood there chances are he'd be trotting off the field with the rest of his teammates. He kept playing, so did the bombers. It wasn't the CFL's fines moment but it was the OFFICIAL's error, not the players, hence no flag. Late hit - are you smoking crack when you're watching the game? The play is dead when the whistle blows. It doesn't matter who hears it and who doesn't. Hit the QB after the whistle has blown and it should be a roughing play. EVERY SINGLE TIME. BTW: It's Terry, not Tom.

The Riders were in coast mode in the second half and it almost cost them the game. They lost Durant on a very late hit that wasn't called. They tried our offensive plan of throwing deep, even though they were running all over us and they had their 2nd string QB in.

200 run yards against isn't called Working.

The CFL needs to get to the kids way before they hit their 20's. I became a lifelong fan when my 6 man football team played at halftime of a Bomber game. I was probably 8 or 9. A couple of Bombers came out to our last practice before the 'big game' and chatted with us. Getting some players and coaches out to some of the kids games or practices would go a long way towards building support at the lower levels of the sport. There's no sugar coating it... the CFL is minor league compared to the NFL. It's a better game IMHO, but the level of the players and coaches is significantly worse. It's not about NFL hype. I used to buy the Salisbury house endzone tickets as they were all my friends and I could afford. I'd like to see the Bombers bring that back in some way to allow the folks with less disposable income to attend some games. A student section with discounted tickets would be great too. Get the younger folks in the stands and some will become lifelong fans to fill up the expensive seats.

Calgary is the best team in the league right now, and in a category of their own. Edmonton and Regina are the second tier teams and I expect them to fight it out for 2nd and 3rd for the rest of the season. The third tier includes Winnipeg, BC and Toronto in my mind. Our 2 games with BC will probably decide if we make the playoffs this year as the crossover team. The bottom tier is Hamilton, Montreal and Ottawa. One of those teams gets 2nd place in the east and 2 don't make the playoffs.

Toronto and Vancouver are big cities with lots of other things to do. A lot of people from all over the world, most of them don't even know what Football is and they certainly haven't grown up following the home team like folks on the prairies do. Toronto wants to be New York and they will only support what they consider the best football league, the NFL, not the second rate homey CFL. Even then, I expect they will only support a winner. Finding an owner or group of owners who want to lose money owning the Argos is a very tough job indeed. Changing Torontonians minds about the CFL is an almost impossible job, yet the CFL has to do it to survive.

No complaints about the way O'Shea's turned the team around or his winning percentage so far. I'm happy we signed him, but... His 'What Me Worry' schtick got lame months ago. I've stopped watching his press conferences because there is no information being given out. Injured players are 'not that bad' or 'a week away' or 'I don't know'. Problems like our run defense aren't problems. Losing streaks aren't losing streaks. Winning streaks aren't winning streaks. Big games aren't big games. He won't even say who the starters are. Personally, I'd like some actual honesty and no, that doesn't mean throwing players under the bus.

Nice to get rid of Suber's salary since he wasn't playing. Would rather have Hall at DE than Gibson. I guess it doesn't have anything to do with not having a place for him.

The Esks aren't the same team without Reilly at the helm and they were playing the best team in the league in Calgary. I was surprised, how easily Calgary ran on the Esks D. I'm not looking forward to our games with Calgary.

Ottawa needed some CFL experience at backup QB. Personally, I think Elliott's better than Hall.

I didn't say the receiver was trying to come back to the ball. I said the DB didn't stop him from coming back to the ball, which could be called PI. If the DB's head didn't turn it would be PI. He turned his head, not all the way back to the QB, but far enough to see the ball. If the ref right on the play doesn't see the early contact in real time, then I don't think it should be overturned by slowmo. If the contact is obvious in real time, but it was missed, then I don't have a problem with it being overturned, but I don't see it in this case. In other words, if you can't see obvious PI at the time, then it shouldn't be overturned. I know most of you think this one was obvious PI, but you wrong according to the CFL and they are the only folks who matter.

The DB's hand was clearly in front of the receiver. He hit the freaking ball with it. That's completely legal. He didn't stop the receiver from coming back to the ball, although he did stop the hands from coming up. Nothing wrong with that either. Just good DB work. The hand behind didn't turn the receiver. Was he a slightly early? In slowmo, I'd say yes. In real time, I didn't think so. If it had been called PI by the ref, there wouldn't be enough evidence to overturn it and there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the non-call either. Folks around here see/saw it differently than I did. Refs saw it the same way I did. To say it was clearly PI and we got 'screwed' is so far from the truth that it reeks of homerism.

The DB didn't go through the opponent to get to the ball. He was in front of the opponent. The question, in real time, is: Did the DB physically restrict or impede the receiver's opportunity to play the ball. The refs both on the field and on review agreed on NO. Most Bomber fans disagree. Most, if not all Riders fans agree with the refs and I expect that most non-Bomber fans also agree. If it was the other way around, would you want a Bomber INT taken away from that amount contact?

Weren't folks saying that Messam wouldn't do anything for the rest of the season and we'd handle him this game because we knew it was coming? Wrong and wrong. Just as wrong to say he wouldn't have been useful to us.

it's not that, he got their early, the review showed it. Would be a lame call to make at game speed, but when you review it how can you not say that he got there early? It's exactly why the idea behind challenging PI is utter nonsense. It's all still a judgement call on review and that makes reviews impossible to be worth while. In slow motion he got there early? Is that what we want the standard for overturning a non-call to be? I don't think so. I do agree, however, that PI challenges are utter nonsense.

Willy is the real deal. Best QB we've had in a loooong time. Buck's mentality coupled with being tough as nails. Ray's composure. Still in his first year as a starter so he still has a lot of possible upside. It will be interesting to see how the ankle problem plays out this week. Once the tape came off, I suspect there was a lot of pain and swelling. I hope he is ready for the Banjo bowl. If not, we will probably lose it.

I think that Bryant and Kuale are O'Shea mistakes, but I don't think the 3rd and 1 is. If we go for it and don't make it, the game is pretty much over right there and we lose. Kicking the FG gets us the lead and puts Regina a long way away from the red zone. If it's a half yard instead of a full yard, then sure... go for it.

The Non-PI call was the right call. The DB turned his head enough to locate the ball. He got his hand on the ball in front of the receiver. The only thing you could call him on is the arm on the shoulder and they almost never call that unless the DB turns the receiver and he didn't. I didn't expect a call the first time I saw it at game speed and I didn't expect one when I saw it over and over in slowmo. That's exactly the kind of non-PI that shouldn't be reversed on a challenge. It was the right call by O'Shea to throw the challenge flag just in case. I did think the Riders were off side on Durants 9 yard run. It wasn't the only time in the game that I thought a receiver was off side. Half the time it was us and almost none of them were called.

It didn't work out, but I think it was the right call. Take the lead and put it in the defenses hands to win it.

Both QB's have hand issues which affect accuracy. Could come down to which team makes the least mistakes.

I'd take Williams in a heartbeat. BTW: There's nothing the matter with going where the money is.

Great helmets. Readable numbers. Black, Red and White. Top 3 look IMHO.

He's a free agent so no reason other teams shouldn't pursue him, hopefully Walters is making inquiries. He's a Hamilton draft pick, not a free agent.

Gotta say I'm surprised that Dressler left 50K on the table. Maybe the half-season (9-11 games) contract was worth more to him than 1.5 seasons in Ottawa.