17to85

Wasn't the biggest problem for Swiston the fact that he kept getting hurt? I don't see why anyone would hate on the guy for his time here.

That is the most common sense answer here. Likely lots of rotation still but that seems like the basis for a defence that puts people in the best position to succeed.

Yes, the team does listen to the fans. And yes, we do monitor forums, mostly to make sure we can dispel false information that's being spoken about as fact. However, first off, it's not a decision made by the "Marketing department" to change the uniform colors. Secondly, yes, we are well aware that a segment of fans wants the team to go back to royal blue full time. Thirdly, it's not as easy as just "deciding" to make a change and then doing it. There are far more factors that would go into a move like that than just making a decision a couple of months before the season and swapping jerseys. It would have to be approved at a variety of levels, and then there would be a substantial cost to switching over all of the team gear, down to the most minute pieces of equipment. If a color scheme switch is going to happen, it's a decision that's made thoughtfully and carefully at higher levels than just the "Marketing department", with consideration given to all of those factors and many, many more. Yes, the royal blues are gorgeous and we know a lot of fans love them. But to suggest the team isn't listening to its fans, or that we "know best" as you put it, just because the royal blues haven't been brought back as the primary jersey is a terribly unfair characterization of the situation when there is substantially more to it than that. But thanks for your input! We all appreciate the spin job, but let's be honest, other than the royal blue jersey which is just copying an older design the latest batch of uniforms that have come out have been ass ugly and the team always says "we listened to the fans and have come up with this!" No one buys it. If you want my completely uneducated guess, Reebok who are known for making hideous jerseys came up with these abortions and the Bombers just went along with it and never told them to go back to the drawing board and come up with something that doesn't suck. If they really were listening to the fans about jerseys then we'd be royal blue full time. No one thinks the current jerseys are good and everyone hated the bullshit ones that came out last year. Hell royal blue isn't even the biggest thing in my mind, it's just the gross design of the things right now. I want to buy a new jersey, I really do, but I ain't paying money for any of the current jersey or the thirds that came out last year.

How do you declare war on a stateless entity?

It's just a real odd thing to sign two one year deals rather than a multi year deal. I wonder what the logic behind that was... Something to do with trying the NFL if he wanted I suppose.

Bob Irving thinks Sears already has a deal with another team. That's why he rejected the $135k offer from the Bombers he verbally agreed to. That's not proof of another deal, just proof someone is willing to offer more than what Walters was offering that Sears was going to accept. I suspect there will be some more negotiations going on before he actually puts his name on a contract. If he was willing to sign with the Bombers before free agency I doubt that he's just going to up and leave because he got another offer, he'll likely give Walters a chance to match.

IN THE CFL?! We need to launch a full inquiry to get to the bottom of this.

It astounds me that people can follow the CFL and still display a complete lack of understanding how the league works....

Not really. Well Mike, you may be right. Maybe the real answer is somewhere in the middle. After the mass exodus to here when this site opened up in 2013, there were many members who stayed loyal to OB & never followed for one reason or another. Some because they felt they owed Colin. Others because they never heard about this place. Over time, more & more people heard about MBB & came over. I've learned over the years that once people decide that a website isn't worth staying with or going to, it never recovers. Some real big CFL sites have come & gone or are still around in skeletal form this past decade or so. I think it's just a matter of time now. A lot of people never heard about this place because the insecure people running ourbombers censored every mention of it. I don't remember why people started leaving, I know why I left, Ourbombers was circling the drain. The quality of conversation had been sliding and when most of the people who were worth reading came here it was a no brainer to follow.

Because oil companies like to panic at the first sign of trouble. Doesn't mean things are going to be doom and gloom. I was reading last week for example, an article saying that things weren't as bad as a lot of people in the industry expected. The economy out here was so over heated that a slow down is not the end of the world. What's happened is that spring break up is happening earlier than usual, most stuff will be shut down before March as opposed to April or May this year... but for me by the time I'm done the well I'm currently working on I'll still have had one of my busiest years in the last decade even with being finished a month earlier than usual. There's always layoffs and such in the spring in the oil field, wait and see how things look in the fall before we make any real judgement calls. Sitting idle during the spring/summer isn't all that unusual. People are just so envious of Alberta though that they are actively rooting for things to fall apart. Not going to happen.

I am shocked to see so many people here are OK with that... The Grey Cup is the big money maker for every club in the league, most times the business model for teams is break even until you host the Grey Cup then profit from hosting. I am absolutely opposed to catering to Toronto and giving them the Grey Cup more often than everyone else. **** them.

Iso any word in Calgary about the rumoured joint arena/stadium proposal for the Stamps/Flames of late? Or is that on the backburner with the drop in oil and probable huge deficit in Alberta? I've heard rumours that some kind of announcement is coming "soon", whatever that means. The word soon has been for a couple of years now. All 3 levels of government have said no to any kind of public funding & now with the provincial economy in the tank the Flames would be crazy to even consider that as an option. The primary Flames owner Murray Edwards is a billionaire & I've heard stories a new arena will be 100% privately funded by him but it will come at a price for fans. If you want season tickets to watch the Flames, rock concert, circus, pro lacrosse then you'll have to pay expensive individual seat licenses. If it's anything like the 49ers owners have done then I'm thinking maybe ten to 15 grand financed over a five year period for a decent seat. I also think the arena will be stand alone & no new stadium will be attached with the project. I'm just speculating here. Wow! That will be something if they go that route. As wealthy as Calgary is, I'm not sure they would find 17,000 or so folks willing to pay between 5,000 - 15,000 for seat licenses. Maybe a smaller amount for general seats but larger amounts (like the 5 - 15,000 you suggested) for club seats and suites? Maybe a tax on each ticket ($5) bought? Anyways, it will be interesting to see how things shake out. The economic forecast for oil and gas is grim for at least the next 3-5 years and if the alternate energy source called LENR lives up to its progress thus far, oil could become almost irelevant in value. That would't be all bad. Oil will never be irrelevant. Even if it gets surpassed as an energy source there are still a lot of commercial products made from oil. Plastics being one example, you see the world getting off plastic any time soon? Never mind that usurping oil as a fuel is going to be a real hard task in it's own right.

big tall guy with decent speed and great hands and is good at going up and getting the ball... yeah he'll get chances just based on those facts alone. You can't teach size, and a player that knows how to use his size is always going to be given opportunities.

a third rounder, how generous of you. Johansen has way way way way way way way way more value than Kane and Postma isn't enough to bridge that gap. okay, I'd throw in Pardy too.... Seriously, upgrade to a 2nd rounder and make the deal although he is out 4-6 months now with shoulder surgery so this will be done in the off season where the Jets get more back for him. I am guessing it will happen before the draft or on draft day. upgrade it to the Jets first rounder and the Blue Jackets might not immediately hang up the phone but I think you are really over estimating how much value a known problem child in Kane is going to have, especially when you consider that Johansen has done nothing but up his value in recent years. Being a guy who can play top line centre he automatically holds more value than a winger, never mind that he's gotten better and better where as Kane hasn't and is a massive gamble because of his attitude. Pardy and Postma are throw ins that every team has. You are going to be disappointed in the return Kane gets I guarantee it. Teams will want him, but they'll want him at a discount price.

a third rounder, how generous of you. Johansen has way way way way way way way way more value than Kane and Postma isn't enough to bridge that gap.

"...no, I mean they're BIIIIG...I mean, I look at them and go 'oh you've really let yourself go'..." One of my all-time favorite stand-up acts of all time! Best....RIP... Trying to place that quote and it's bothering me now. Is it the big fat guy who was getting mugged on the Seinfeld finale? I'm impressed that that's where you'd go for recognition.

yeah 360 pounds at 17, that is not a positive in my mind. That speaks to someone who is going to struggle to not be massively overweight all through life.

That does it - I'm calling it the Superb Owl from now on I think it was probably Stephen Colbert who made that a thing.

The whole thing was just so senseless. I really have no use for people who get so angry they think that punching anyone, let alone a guy in his 60s is a reasonable course of action. 3rd Down was a staple on every CFL message board out there, the guy was just a huge fan of the game.

Any one who actually thought the guy was coming here is crazy

You're a bad person and I hate you.

Yeah unless you got the address of this place in the first couple days or from a person already here you'd have to find it by accident. the folks at ourbombers filtered the name of this place even in PMs. It's that kind of attitude that is why so many people abandoned ship when a better alternative showed up.

But who am I supposed to argue with now?

Good for him ... bad for us ... I think the point is it's bad for him. He can't cash in on his Super Bowl performance because he's already locked in for next year at league minimum. Still a lot more than he would have made if he'd had to keep working at footlocker.

Taman probably got confused and thought he was paying Ryan and not Chris.