17to85

maybe that's why he said he'd only go to Calgary, wanted to go to university there.

I don't like the way a lot of things happened in 2012 to be honest. I think firing Lapolice when they did was a knee jerk panic move and he should have got the rest of the year because they did compete better with him than without him for the most part. It was a typical Bomber thing to do. Think you're in a real good spot and first sign of trouble fire someone and start blowing things up and replacing them with someone worse. I don't for a second think that the roster was the biggest reason for this team falling like it did. It may not have been the best roster out there, but I don't think it was as bad as it was made to appear either.

I'd put that as Problem #1B. His biggest problem was a completely delusional approach to roster management (QB and free agency in particular). Huffer & Trestman wouldn't have made the playoffs with that sad sack line-up. Well, maybe they'd have coached them into the semis, but theres no way in hell they'd post a winning record. Yet Lapolice coached them to a grey cup game... Not buying that the roster was THAT far gone that a good coach couldn't have squeezed something out of it because we saw Lapo get something out of those guys, even if not for a long time and I don't think Lapo was all that great of a coach.

People get so focussed on drafts thinking that it's all set in stone because of rankings. Well Winnipeg fans should take a step back and realize that drafting is not an exact science. The Jets are a good example, they've gone off the board to varying degrees with all their top picks so far and I don't know anyone that's really unhappy with the end results of that so far, and NHL prospects are scouted in advance a hell of a lot more than CFL prospects. Walters seems to prefer a lot of the more "safe" picks based on what we know while Mack liked the most athletic guys a lot. Ultimately with the way Mack brought in players you need a real good coaching staff because they need some fine tuning in a lot of cases and he never put that staff in place.

Depends 1/2 on MOS and his ability to lead this team forward; and 1/2 on Walters' ability to find us a starting QB. My bet is we bring in either Collaros or Willy, and that they struggle somewhat behind a lesser OL than they had previously. Good leadership will coach everyone up somewhat though, and that impact will come at various stages throughout the year. I'm less worried about co-ordinators as most of this board. Schemes are important, but good leadership can help players rise up to overcome deficiencies. Winnipeg hasn't had a good leader at the helm of this football team since arguably Dave Ritchie. It'll be real interesting to watch it unfold, because I believe MOS's leadership will be a big story in 2014. Unless MOS is a Kelly-era tyrant (which I don't believe he is), this team will be on the upswing. but I don't see a coordinator solely as an Xs and Os job, there has to be some leadership coming from that position as well so that's why who they hire is pretty key too, Need some coaches who can get the most out of players and make them better players. Mack was very much a potential guy, loved him some athletes that maybe needed some coaching to become players and then failed to get coaches who could do that. O'Shea hires some good teachers for this team things will be on the right track.

are we still going to try and pass this off as fact? Come on, listen to what he said, it was a flat out admission that they failed to replace that kind of leadership! The really stupid part is that the following offseason they failed to address that aspect again and even got worse givng Burke the gig. Macks #1 problem was he didn't know how to hire a coach.

Is this actually true? What are we basing this on? That Henoc will only play on a team that has Cauchy on it? I'm not sure that's cast in stone. Word is that Walters didn't want Muamba #1 overall Mack did and Mack won out.

I think we know that Mike Edem would be wearing Blue and Gold right now if it were up to Walters, and that probably would have meant Cauchy would have spent most of the season on ST, if he had started at all. Mike Edem would be a Bomber. Henoc Muamba wouldn't. Walters isn't invincible. I like him but he's not bulletproof with his drafting approach either. Nobody is. Right now people are just still riding the anti-Mack hate train so therefore Walters is the greatest thing ever and Mack the devil himself. We'll see just how good Walters does in the next couple seasons.

Hey you're putting in the effort to defend an indefensible position, you can try and back track and say it's not bitterness over the guy thumbing his nose at the Bombers but it's not flying with anyone cause we all know your reactions better than that.

A draft is always about improving your club in the future. If you are relying on the draft to make you better right now you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Case in point: Henoc Muamba. Yeah he was on the roster in his rookie year but it wasn't until closer to the end of his second year that he really developed into a starter.

you say that, but the fact you're spending as much energy as you are trying to defend this "he's just being lazy" position seems to indicate some level of bitterness. Actions speak louder than words.

Ever the apologist. what did Burke do that made him look even the least bit qualified to be a head coach? Lapo had the same qbs and his teams never looked so out of it as Burke did.His history as a DC, his ability to get those defenses to play outstanding. He obviously was out of his element and out of his depth here but I don't think he was given the tools to succeed.. Not apologizing, just passing along some food for thought.. QBs being shitty are an acceptable reason (when combined with all factors yes) for a coach being shitcanned in the NFL, why is it not a consideration for a rookie HC in the CFL? a functioning offense would have covered up for the other inconsistencies a bit (lipstick on a pig and I wouldn't have been happy about it, just so you know) and I doubt a mike Reilly or Tate/Mitchell would have fixed our woes... Just that it is something to think of.. just because he was a good defensive coordinator doesn't mean he wasn't a terrible head coach. The quarterbacks Burke got were so bad that Lapo got them into the grey cup game one year, at the end of 2012 the offense actually did move the ball too... but under Burke the teams biggest problem wasn't the players, it was the lack of preparation, the lack of motivation and the lack of any kind of teaching of the players. Burke was one of the very worst head coaches this team has ever had and that is regardless of what kind of qb he had. With Ricky Ray he likely still would have missed the playoffs because his teams were THAT ill prepared week in and week out.

Ever the apologist. what did Burke do that made him look even the least bit qualified to be a head coach? Lapo had the same qbs and his teams never looked so out of it as Burke did.

yeah I think Reinbold had a lot less to work with on this team (also because of his failures as a GM) but at least the team seemed to play for him. No one played for Burke, they just seemed to never be prepared to start a game, seemed to lack a lot of effort and desire. Burke just came across as the least inspiring coach ever.

**** it, Burke may be a great DC but as a head coach he was terrible and deserves no break for it. He put one of the most lifeless teams on the field week in and week out he deserves all the flack he gets. Good riddance to bus driver Tim.

That's only because my passion for arguing never goes away, but it was too the point where watching the games was just "ho hum another blow out who cares" no anger, no frustration just acceptance and that is a terrible feeling.

I honestly didn't think anything could try my patience with this team more than Mike Kelly clowning around but geez at least I was angry with Kelly, I'll take anger over apathy any day. It was hard to care about this team and that is a real damning statement about things.

all I'm saying is drafting with hindsight is a pointless waste of time.

Good by to the absolute worst football season I can remember and good riddance. I thought 2012 was bad but my stars 2013 topped it on the suck meter.

When we actually see a coach worse than him... Considering I have never seen a coach as bad as him with this team that could be a long long wait. That's right, Tim Burke was a worse head coach than Mike Kelly, Jim Daley and Jeff Reinbold, quite an accomplishment. He deserves every single bit of bashing he gets because he led the consistently led the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked onto the field.

I stand by the fact that since all of the top prospects in the draft had NFL ambitions AND with the Ottawa expansion draft looming taking a flyer on a guy going to the NFL was not a bad move.

and if Mulumba finds his way up here and is a top level NI for years are you still going to scream about a wasted pick? The only reason people keep rehashing the picks is cause some people have unrealistic expectations of what you get out of a typical draft. Every single team has misses every single year.

That'd be good but Wylie would be awesome too. He did some real good things with the o-line when he was here before.

yeah was really unhappy with Lapo trying to do too many jobs, really get the impression that O'Shea isn't that kind of person and I'm glad. Burke wasn't that kind of person either but he failed because he wound up really doing nothing.

In a draft year where all of the top prospects were getting NFL looks I don't see a problem with taking one of them and hoping he finds his way back to the CFL.