17to85

I actually think the OL now is better than the one Khari had for most of his time here and that never stopped the offense from being one of the most dangerous in the league. Having a RB who can break tackles and receivers who can make plays does a hell of a lot.

But you didn't address the main point of the argument, which is that the OL still would have used the same tackles and guards and those to me at least are the more key positions in terms of doing the job.

Bellefeuile has shown the last few weeks that he doesn't have the creativity to move this team forward.... this offence peaked in mid-summer. I agree somewhat with not wanting to change the system year in & out.... and maybe he's not quite there yet, but I would not be opposed to canning Marcel and giving the keys to Buck for the rest of the season as a trial run! I think with a full offseason to prepare, Buck could put together a better, more creative offence than what we're seeing right now. I'm sure people are going to disagree with me... but really, there aren't a whole lot of other options out there that know the CFL game real well, are there!? Did the offense peak midseason because of the play calling or because we haven't had our top receiver in the lineup since midseason?

oh come now, put down the haterade. Mack always had a stream of new players coming in and they made changes all the time. He just didn't make the kind of changes you wanted. Keep your arguments straight at very least.

Picard and Labatte are not even remotely comparable. Guaranteed 100% that if we had Picard people would still be bitching about the OL not being good enough. Centre hasn't been the problem area on this team. We'd still have used the same tackles and the same guards that haven't got the job done.

I disagree. This is already a competitive team and when healthy maybe even a decent team. What we need more than anything is depth so that losing a player like Moore or Wild doesn't leave the team without adequate players in those positions. Sure there's some places that could use upgrades, but to suggest that this team isn't competitive already is just ludicrous. They have been competitive in almost every game they've played this season. If we add 4 or 5 difference makers we're one of the best teams in the league. Or is that what you mean by competitive? Being one of the best is the only way to be competitive? Cause that's equally ridiculous. If you consider being in most of the games competitive, I guess we're competitive, but I don't look at it that way. I call top half of the league competitive and I sincerely doubt we will be there at the end of the season. Winning more than you lose is competitive, losing more than you win isn't. Losing 8 out of 9 games isn't competitive. We were great in the first third of the season, competitive for the first half of the season, but we aren't anymore and we're still trending downward. 4 or 5 upgraded players won't get us to top spot in the league. It will put us in the top half, which is where we need to be to not only make the playoffs, but have a chance of winning it all. you didn't say 4 or 5 upgraded players, you said 4 or 5 difference makers, which implies star players. If we added 4 or 5 star players damn right this would be a top team. What we have here is something that makes sense to you but in reality is nonsense but you won't accept that your talking out your ass. A competitive team is a team that can compete and so far the Bombers are competing. You gotta stop trying to redefine words to suit your own crazy ideas.

so your username is a lie huh

But here's the thing, Labatte has admitted that he didn't even talk about his desire to not switch to centre with the Bombers. So the situation is one where the Bombers outline their plan for the player but the player doesn't tell them he doesn't like that. You think if he had said he wasn't keen on it that the Bombers wouldn't have changed their tune if it meant keeping him? That's where you realize that Labatte really wasn't all that interested in staying with the Bombers. He didn't put in effort with them to get things worked out with Winnipeg on his terms, he just used them to drive up what he could get from the Riders. Sure, he could've talked to them about it; but one gets the impression Mack didn't listen to too many people. Except the conversations would have been with the teams coaches not the GM with regards to what position he was going to play right? There's lots of things you can get on Mack for, but I don't think this is one. He did the best he could with the Labatte situation. You can't put a gun to a players head and force them to sign with you. Labatte was leaving and nothing was going to change that. Really the big thing that sunk Joe Mack was the handling of the coaching situation. Lapo wasn't a great coach but he fired him at the worst possible time and then replaced him with an even worse choice. That sets the entire thing off the rails in a big way.

I disagree. This is already a competitive team and when healthy maybe even a decent team. What we need more than anything is depth so that losing a player like Moore or Wild doesn't leave the team without adequate players in those positions. Sure there's some places that could use upgrades, but to suggest that this team isn't competitive already is just ludicrous. They have been competitive in almost every game they've played this season. If we add 4 or 5 difference makers we're one of the best teams in the league. Or is that what you mean by competitive? Being one of the best is the only way to be competitive? Cause that's equally ridiculous.

Some of us are true fans and never lose interest.

Can you explain how we are being exposed exactly? we are in these games for the most part, The redblack game was a stinker and so was the bc game (willy got hurt tho) but the team has had chances to win, they keep making mistakes tho, turnovers, special teams turnovers have killed us this season, you eliminate those special teams turnovers and we probably win 2 vs sask, the bc game? man The D held us in right until the 4th but when you are playing your 2nd string qb who has had like no reps, and can't move the offence at all, eventually the D will tire out. We got blown out by the redblacks sure, but again mistakes, tackling issues, turnovers. If we could actually eliminate our mistakes (mainly turnovers and special team blunders) we would have won several of those games. How are we being exposed exactly? outside of one game vs ottawa and one game vs bc, and i suppose the toronto game, we have been in every game this year with a chance to even win most of them.. Exposed? How? This team is 6-8 right now but eliminating mistakes and turnovers, which easily could have been avoided if we actually had some depth at some positions, guess easier said than done tho, that 6-8 easily could be 10-4. we have been blown out once, just so happens it was against the worst team in the league but besides that game and the other 2 i mentioned, we could have won every other game we lost if not for shooting ourselves in the foot. I don't disagree with you entirely. However, football games are usually won or lost by one or two big plays (often turnovers). Also, many of those turnovers were not as easy to avoid as you make it sound. A good number of them were the cumulative result of too much pressure on Willy and poor snapping on punts. If anything, I dare say there could have been MORE turnovers on special teams. I think the point though, is that with some small improvements it is possible to turn those big plays the other way and win some more games. It's not like this team is in a huge hole, just some things to clean up and more wins will follow.

the BC game vs. the redblacks was with gimpy shoulder Lulay playing though.

It's obvious that he was trying to explain his problem and type "few IQ" but one problem led to another and he made the typo.

It's not always about the money. He's one of the highest paid if not the highest paid offensive linemen in the CFL with the deal he got in Sask is he not? So it's not like the Riders got him at a discount. They're paying him as one of the top players at his position AND he gets to play closer to home, in his wifes (girlfriends?) home... how much more money did the Bombers need to offer to over come those factors? Where would the Riders have topped out at bidding? Money is only one factor.

Yeah sorry but Lapo sunk himself with his passive playing not to lose, and there's a reason he's on TSN now not coaching in the CFL. Burke will never be a head coach in the CFL again because of how terrible he was at the job.

But here's the thing, Labatte has admitted that he didn't even talk about his desire to not switch to centre with the Bombers. So the situation is one where the Bombers outline their plan for the player but the player doesn't tell them he doesn't like that. You think if he had said he wasn't keen on it that the Bombers wouldn't have changed their tune if it meant keeping him? That's where you realize that Labatte really wasn't all that interested in staying with the Bombers. He didn't put in effort with them to get things worked out with Winnipeg on his terms, he just used them to drive up what he could get from the Riders.

short kick, he picked it up and kicked it back down the field. At the end of the half I guess. Maybe they were trying to catch them off guard or something, lots of players onside at that point.

A few comments on your post. First of all, I live in the same community that Brendan is from and from what I've been told, he really liked Winnipeg. Its only a 4 1/2 hr drive from here. Rumours they wanted to move him to center may have been a factor. I have never spoke to him about it even though I know him, out of respect to his privacy. What I post is strictly my opinion. There were Bomber jerseys hanging in every bar and restaurant in town, because everyone here was/is dam proud to see him playing pro ball. His parents are rider fans but I've seen them at many games wearing their Bomber jerseys like any proud parents/family would. Would anyone expect any less. In the 2008 draft we took Shologan 4th and pasted on Brendan when we could have drafted him. In now way, shape or form could I possibly say I know that he would have stayed or not, but I do find it odd to read that others are positive that he wouldn't have. Currently there are Stamps jerseys hanging too with Jones on them. Our little town has turned out 3 olineman in the past 5 years. Using Neufeld as a example, his parents are long time season ticket holders and sit right behind the rider bench as they have for years. Paddy basically got hurt and in the mean time Heenan came in and took that job and owned it. Paddy now is in a good situation with the bombers and everyone here is happy and proud of him. Wishing him every success in the world for a long and healthy career. I believe he is very good and was sorry to see him go. Just this year we lost Zack Evans to Ottawa via the draft. He is a free agent at years end and I'm sure I'm not the only one that was hoping he would return this winter to play for the Riders. He re-signed a bit ago and opted to stay in Ottawa. He likes it there and its a good situation for him. Again, no hard feelings here, Wishing him the best of luck. Long storey short, Manitoba and Sask aren't that far apart, being in one or the other offers great opportunities for family and friends to stay close and still come watch games. For a Manitoba kid that didn't get a chance to play for the bombers, would it not be at least reasonable to suggest being right next door in Sask would be the next best thing? just my 2 cents, no hard feelings were intended. From Labattes mouth himself, he didn't want to play centre but he never brought that up with the Bombers. He said this in an interview after he went to the RIders so that's as close to the source as you can get. If a guy isn't willing to talk to the Bombers about whether he wants to play a position or not it's clear that he had already moved on mentally. He was going to Saskatchewan the whole way and he was using the Bombers to get more money from the Riders simple as that. I don't begrudge him that, I just wish people would stop acting like the GM made a huge mistake, he was negotiating from a position he couldn't win. There's lots of things people could choose to get on the GM for but the ones they always fixate on don't hold a lot of weight.

Actually no. What I'm suggesting is that O'Shea is contributing to the problem, without knowing it.and I was responding to the comments tracker made.. Might want to use the quote feature then. or just stop being so self important and realize not everyone cares what you say

Actually no. What I'm suggesting is that O'Shea is contributing to the problem, without knowing it. and I was responding to the comments tracker made..

a better way to word it is that some people need someone pushing them from behind to motivate themselves.

That's the kind of hard hitting analysis and insight we love to have. It's true though. which has been said by many people in this thread already and many people have added reasoning behind that belief in addition to simply stating that it's not going to happen.

That's the kind of hard hitting analysis and insight we love to have.

Just a question. What's the storey with Paddy? I was looking forward to seeing him play. Is he a healthy scratch? Why hasn't he been 6-gamed? Has he lost his job as a starter? Neufeld? He's hurt. They love him so if he could play he would be.

No offence intended but why should we hope for a miracle when we have been unable to do what was within out power to accomplish? I like O'Shea but he will be left holding the bag while the coordinators failed to come up with appropriate game plans. I guess they got hung up on the success of the first six games and believed they could just go with that. The point is that all we can do at this point is hope for a miracle. I don't know what your point in arguing this is... Noeller is simply saying the playoff race is out of the Bombers hands because of pissing away games.