johnzo

Same way we judge everyone else in this world. Just by observation. Watching how he acts and reacts. On the field, in front of the camera, what he says in the paper, what others say about him, watching how he handles himself before and after a game whether he wins or loses. You really think you can judge a player by their interactions with the media? Players never talk straight with the media. They talk in uncontroversial cliches, mostly. (which is why most of sports journalism is a total bore, but that's another topic) You're making up an opinion based on observing like 1% of what's going on. It's silly to hear people debate this stuff as if it's fact, it's just people waving opinions around based on how they feel.

On short yardage too, you want someone who can tough out yards, especially close to the goal line. So many times last year we'd be 2nd-and-3, 2nd-and-2, we'd run against a stacked box and fail to convert.

C'mon you guys, how do you know anything about a player's leadership qualities if you're not in the room with them?

Which team got killed by the expansion draft?

Tim Jessie was 1998. Robert Mimbs was 1990.

Interesting: the common meaning of "Royal Blue" has evolved over time, originally meaning a much darker color but then changing in the 50s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_blue

Another great read, thanks man! But I think the Bombers-Argos game link you want is http://cfl.ca/video/index/id/91389

#3 option? Oh for christ's sake, who do you think was our leading receiver in 2007, back when we the best passing attack in the league? Edwards, much like Milt before him, annually put up 1000 yards no matter who was at quarterback -- except for the one year when he had Bishop and LeFors and Casey Bramlet to work with, he only put up 800 then. Edwards would have been a 1500-yard man with Calvillo or Ricky Ray throwing him the ball.

Thanks to TE, who too often was the only offensive sparkplug on the Bombers. I always wanted to compare his receiving yardage vs. the Als against his receiving yardage vs. other teams. Seems like he always played his best when it was the Als on the other side -- he always seemed to play up to his opponents.

Oh man, that Brock Ralph catch.

YES.

Okay, here's a question: what are all the throws that a CFL QB needs to be able to make? I know that out patterns and hitch screens and corners are different for CFL QBs because of the width of the field, but are there any other unique throws that a CFL guy has to be able to make? Who are some QBs who can't make some of those throws?

Awesome.

JBR, I think your inside football writing is terrific so I'm pumped to hear you're going to do more of it. Will you do any Q&A type stuff? I know I have two or three questions after every game.

Upload them to Youtube then? Hosting is just one of the expenses. The CFL would have to pay to get the old games digitized, cataloged, etc. I have to wonder if there even is a CFL video archive and who owns it. Especially from the nineties when the league was in such crap shape. There's this awesome guy on youtube called cflvideo1964 who posts excerpts from his collection -- he has hundreds of CFL games since the 1970s on tape. I'd love to get my hands on his collection and get the whole thing onto youtube. It'd be a hell of an undertaking but then the games would be out there forever.

As much as I hate making excuses for people, you've gotta realize that those kind of archives would cost a bunch of money and I don't know where the corresponding revenue stream would be. Same with a CFL Season Pass kinda thing, I don't know if the market is there for it, given that the CFL is on basic cable in Canada and doesn't have much of a following internationally aside from weird Canadian expats like me.

TSN moved to a new VOD system near the end of the last CFL season. Previously they'd have the entire season available for viewing, now it's just games from the previous week. The new system wasn't very fast making the recent games available, either -- on the old system, they'd be up a couple hours after the games were finished, but now it can take days. HELL YES. In the US, you're supposed to use ESPN3 to get your CFL, but ESPN3 is bullshit. It's only available through certain ISPs, which is Not The Way The Internet Is Supposed To Work.

Yeah, if he had somehow magically transformed into Dieter Brock, he would have had to switch positions.

The only reason I remember Matt Dubuc at all is that when I watched the 98 Bombers, I would wish that #5 jersey would somehow magically transform Matt Dubuc into Dieter Brock.

I think Matt Dubuc wore #5.

Robert McCune: hell yeah. Guy is an assassin out there. Wil Ford: Sure, bring him back, but I think he's a DI-type specialist, not an every-down back.

The Riders will be just fine. Their O-line is still one of the best if not the best in the league, they have and they have a good QB. Running backs are a dime a dozen as well. Yes they need to replace Butler but they still have a very good football team for 2014. It will be very interesting to see how they do without Dressler. I think he was the best receiver in the league last year.

Toronto has one of those crappy 3-games-in-two weeks stretches, those are much more LOLCFL than starting and ending on bye weeks. Bet it's the Skydome scheduling that's to blame.

Mccune and Watkins are still out there, and we need an MLB.

I don't know if he has really great hands -- I remember at least a couple sure interceptions clanking off of them.