TBURGESS

I need a new jersey too, but I can't bring myself to buy the current ones. Royal Blue is the right colour for the Bombers IMHO.

I recall reading somewhere that they went after the free agents in the order they were available but that they had no bearing on order of interest You read that on the forums for sure. Right after we managed to sign Willy.

It's more about what Willy would choose than what the Bombers said, but of course, you've made your mind up and I'm not going to change it.

It's not ONLY who pays the most. Our biggest advantage was the open starting QB spot. That would be gone if we'd already signed the top FA in the offseason, Collaros. (Willy's turned out to be the best signing, but it's revisionist history to suggest he was thought of as the best FA in the offseason) I doubt we make the trade to get him before FA season if we'd already signed Collaros, so that advantage would be gone too. Willy would have probably had a choice among Mtl, BC, and Wpg. Mtl had a better O line (It's the offseason) and a fairly stable team that looks like it will be a contender in the East. BC has a stable team, is known as a QB factory, and looks like it will be a contender in the West. Wpg has 'blown the whole thing up' every year or two, is known as a QB graveyard, isn't thought of as a contender and just signed Collaros. I know we're talking hypothetically and there's no one right answer, but I think there's a very strong case to be made that Willy wouldn't sign in Winnipeg if Austin didn't take the huge risk of letting Burris go and signing Collaros. In fact, I don't think we'd have gotten Willy if we'd signed Burris too.

It was already known that Lulay wouldn't be ready to start the season. Willy would have had a choice of signing with Wpg after we just signed Collaros and compete for the starting job or sign with BC and get some guaranteed starts at the beginning of the season. I don't think his first choice would have been Winnipeg in that case. I also don't think we'd have paid him as much as we did if we already had Collaros, which would further reduce our chances of getting him.

BC's new uni from last year is the best I've seen in a long time. If we get camo instead, I won't buy one.

It doesn't matter where we are on the weekly power rankings, but I agree with the CFL.CA version.

Before the season started, I thought we'd win 6-8 games. Now that I've seen them play so well, I'll up that to 9-10 games which means playoffs, then anything can happen.

We should all be kneeling down and kissing Austin's ring. If he hadn't decided to take a huge risk and let Burris go, Collaros would have taken our offer, Glenn would have stayed in Ottawa and Willy would most likely have ended up in BC. (No I don't think we'd have been able to get both Collaros and Willy) I don't remember folks taking shots a Austin last year when Hammy was winning and we were losing. Most fans, including me, would have loved to have him in Winnipeg instead of Burke. We'd have loved the passion he shows because we were passionless. Now that we are finally winning, some of our fans are saying the only way to be a good HC is to be like O'Shea. I prefer cool calm and collected, but don't hate Austin or Jones for that matter.

No actual coaching experience, but he does train QB's so he could help Montreal.

I do think that Willy will be just as motivated as Ford, but it's not like the Riders cut Willy. He moved on because he wanted to start.False. Taman is on record as saying that they were moving on from Willy because he didn't fit their plans and they like their current back up better. They were going to let him go to FA but we tossed em a token piece for his neg rights. I don't care how Taman wanted to spin it. Willy was leaving to get a shot at starting. "I don't care what people who know the actual facts say, I'm sticking with my idea!!!" You're as obnoxious as ever. You really think that Willy would re-sign with the Riders to sit on the bench for another season when he had a chance to start elsewhere and to make starters money?

I don't have any sympathy for other teams or their fans but it's bad form to take shots at them IMO. Stay classy my friend... stay classy.

I do think that Willy will be just as motivated as Ford, but it's not like the Riders cut Willy. He moved on because he wanted to start.False. Taman is on record as saying that they were moving on from Willy because he didn't fit their plans and they like their current back up better. They were going to let him go to FA but we tossed em a token piece for his neg rights. I don't care how Taman wanted to spin it. Willy was leaving to get a shot at starting.

What have we learned in the first third of the season: In the East: Lose your starting QB and most of your starting O line and it will be very difficult to win games. Hire your HC late, fire your OC in TC and promote an unqualified ex-QB to OC and it will be very difficult to win games. Lose most of your starting receivers and it will be hard to win games no matter who your QB is. Expansion teams rarely win many games, especially in the first half of the season. In the West: It doesn't matter who's injured, Calgary will be ready to play and win. Losing Sheets and Dressler is a big deal, will make Durant look worse and will mean a lot less wins. When a rookie HC and starting QB look like seasoned vets, your team will be in every game. With a little luck you can turn that into 5-1. Chris Jones has turned a bad team with a good QB into a good team with a good QB. Rushing Glenn gets him off his game which results in losses. (We actually already knew that) On these forums: Winning beats losing every single time, but winning doesn't stop the arguing. Positron's vs Negatron's will always be good for debates. Some folks can't let the past go. Lots of fans haven't learned to win with class. Bombers fans still have a Rodney Dangerfield mentality and complain about other fans/media disrespecting us. Saying anything good about another team/player/coach will be met with angry posts.

I do think that Willy will be just as motivated as Ford, but it's not like the Riders cut Willy. He moved on because he wanted to start.

Like when he ran for a touchdown that got called back for holding? Yup. Just like that, only not needing a hold to make it around the corner. Yup...always Mr. Negative! As always... complaining about the poster.

Like when he ran for a touchdown that got called back for holding? Yup. Just like that, only not needing a hold to make it around the corner.

Austin's biggest problem is that he's lost his starting QB and 3 or 4 starting O lineman. If we lost Willy and 3 or 4 of our starting O lineman, we'd be lucky to be 1-4 right now. I'd expect we'd see a different side of O'Shea too.

I don't think Hall would be an upgrade over Smith. Poor arm strength + poor accuracy + pocket passer is worse than big arm strength + poor accuracy + running ability. Edmonton isn't going to trade NIchols and the Als wouldn't want him anyway. McPherson was supposed to be Calvillo's successor, but he never progressed partly because he didn't get enough playing time. QB's not Montreal's biggest problem anyway. It's coaching. They hired their HC late. They fired their OC in TC after he installed the offence. Dinwiddie is way out of his depth. They brought back the ghost of Don Matthews to try and right the ship. (It looked like it was way past his bedtime on the sidelines). They've tried to turn Smith into a pocket passer, which he's never been and won't ever be. They played musical QB's in the last game, even after Smith had an OK first quarter. They've put Brink ahead of Marsh. I don't see them turning it around this year and I expect another house cleaning in the off season.

The Riders are a top half team. Better than BC. Not as good as Edmonton or Calgary. One of their biggest strengths is their O line but it looks like they may be missing Picard and Labatte which will greatly reduce their effectiveness. That, plus home field advantage is likely to swing the game in our favour, but this one will likely be a very close, hard hitting affair. I for one, can hardly wait.

Chad Owens and Gizmo Williams are 'Once in a Generation' type of players. You can't expect every returner to live up to those lofty expectations. Woods is a solid, if unspectacular returner. I'd like to see him catch the ball in the air more often and get around the corner every now and then.

I don't mind Dinwiddie as a QB coach, but he's way out of his depth as an OC.

There is already too many challenges IMHO. Every TD. Every turnover. Up to 3 by each coach. We don't need any more stinking challenges.

Montreal is as bad as we were last year, maybe worse. Coaching issues. QB issues. Horrible decisions. Don Matthews looked like someone should put a mirror under his nose to see if he was still breathing on the bench. Smith, then Brink, then Smith, then Brink. I'm certain that's not the way to get any consistency. Smith's their best option. Let him run around and keep chucking it deep. That's what he does best. Dimwiddie as an OC? I don't see them winning more than 3 or 4 games this year. BC's an enigma. Play great one week. Stink the joint out the next. Calgary should have pressured Glenn more to get him off his game like Montreal and Wpg did. Harris had a great half and Calgary's great defense gave up a bunch of big plays. Not the result I was expecting, but it sure is nice to be alone in first place.

Doug Berry's a better OC, but Montreal fired him early this year, so he's not likely going back now.