Atomic

I don't hold it against Hefney.  I highly doubt it was ever put to him that "You have to play SAM or be released."  He probably thought there was no chance they would release him so he was free to stay at halfback.  I'm sure reality set in after he was released and he realized he was going to have to accept the change.

Courtesy of Darrin Bauming.
 
https://twitter.com/DarrinBauming/status/347022552926941185/photo/1
 

 

I don't hold it against Hefney.  I highly doubt it was ever put to him that "You have to play SAM or be released."  He probably thought there was no chance they would release him so he was free to stay at halfback.  I'm sure reality set in after he was released and he realized he was going to have to accept the change.

That's b/c they'll hit them no matter how long the ball has been gone.

They just got volunteers to ride them around in circles around the stadium.

This is exactly the least surprising news I have read on the internet today.  

like '74 oakland A's we salute you?

I honestly thought you were joking.

Saw Fitz make a nice catch and shake off two tacklers. Looking forward to seeing him in game action. Thought Jade looked good too. Thought I saw him make a tough catch in traffic, not sure if it was the strip play that was mentioned earlier because I thought he held on. Best QB was tough to judge. Liked what I saw from Goltz and Clement seems to have 4th string locked down.
As for punters, Renaud had some long boots but man they are never pretty. Not nearly enough hang time on most. Pav (#79) had the nicest boot of the day, a high, long spiral that drew applause from those in attendance. Looks like e kind of guy Gold Donny would cut class with in high school, so I hope he gets a shot somewhere.
The new barn is a beauty and I can't wait to see it packed on a beautiful summer evening in peg city!

Made it out for the afternoon practice today.  Some notes:
 
- I've never seen the Bombers dedicate so much time and effort to special teams.  Dickenson is really putting his stamp on the team.  They practiced kickoffs for awhile:  Palardy put his two kickoffs at the 13 and 15.  Pavlopolous put his two at the 14 and 15.  Cameron put his two at the 22 and the 9.  I saw Massey, Denmark, Ford, Simpson, Kennedy, and Washington lining up as returners.
 
- The battle is on for the right tackle job.  Both Douglas and Boatman were getting reps with the first team.  Boatman is a big boy but Douglas is certainly more agile.  The rest of the OL looks the same as last season.  Kowalczuk had a few atrocious snaps as the second team centre.  Pencer seems to hold his own as the left tackle on the second team.
 
- Let's hope our starting receivers get healthy.  Matthews, Watson, and Edwards were all sidelined.  Watson's hand was wrapped but not in a cast.  First team receivers were therefore Denmark, Etienne, Poblah, McCree and Adams in Matthews' spot.
 
- Pontbriand still has the edge as the number one fullback.  Good hands, good quickness for a big guy, and he absolutely steamrolled a DB who got in his way.  That said, Fitzgerald made a nice catch in traffic and had some guys bounce off him.  He looks like he has improved already from when I saw him at rookie camp.
 
- Woodson was out there practicing and man does he look dangerous with the ball in his hands.  Let's hope he can stay healthy this year because he could be a difference-maker.  He can run, he can catch, and he made Dan West look silly in the open field.  He also took a big hit from a DB but bounced right back up, so that's a good sign.
 
- Clement got a chance to run the first team offence near the end of practice and looked the best I've seen him look so far.  Made nice throws to Poblah, Denmark, and a beauty to McCree in the endzone that McCree leaped for and came down with.  Clement also had a good run up the middle... I mean it's hard to say because they can't tackle him, but he's got some serious wheels, that's for sure.  Hall also got a chance but suffered a couple ugly drops from Massey and Poblah... Massey in particular is going to have to show he can be more consistent catching the ball or there's no way he sticks around.
 
- What can be said about Etienne that hasn't already been said?  He's fast, he gets open, and his hands look so soft... he plucks the ball out of the air like it's nothing.  Can't wait to see him get a chance in a game.  Brett Carter didn't do much today and lost a contested ball to Desia Dunn who ended up hanging on for the interception.  Still like the potential there though.
 
- Overall, I was not very impressed with the offence outside of the one Clement drive.  The receivers looked a little confused, they certainly weren't on the same page as the QBs on a lot of plays.  Though the defence was flying around so they deserve some credit as well.
 
- Alex Hall looks like he's ready to pick up where he left off.  What a beast.  In fact the whole d-line looks like they are ready to go.  I'm excited to see what Gilmore brings to the table, because he looks pretty deadly out there.

Even the fundamental premise of the article is flawed... if we are going to include coaches in the list of Joe Mack's biggest accomplishments as GM, I think you have to point to luring Tim Burke away from Montreal before you look at landing Craig Dickenson.

Even the fundamental premise of the article is flawed... if we are going to include coaches in the list of Joe Mack's biggest accomplishments as GM, I think you have to point to luring Tim Burke away from Montreal before you look at landing Craig Dickenson.

Oh great they put all the gates in one place.  Typical WBB mismanagement

I was there for the last 30 minutes or so, didn't get to see all that much.
 
First team offence was Pierce, Simpson, Denmark, Poblah, Watson, Adams and McCree.  According to Ken Wiebe, Chris Matthews left with back spasms but it's not that serious.  Fitzgerald appears to have the inside track on the #1 fullback job.  Will Ford was also getting some reps in with the #1 offence.  The defence looked pretty much as you would expect with Muamba out.... Parker, Labbe, McGee at LB and Jovon, Hefney, Suber, Stewart and C. Muamba in the secondary.  The defence was definitely flying around out there.  No fights while I was there, but they weren't in pads and there were no linemen in the skelly period.
 
Washington intercepted Goltz on a play where the receiver (McCree?  Kennedy?  Not sure which) fell down after some good coverage.  I saw Massey catch a nice long ball in the endzone from Chase Clement.  The more I see of Brett Carter the more I think he's going to stick around in some capacity.

MONTREAL ALOUETTES 2013 SEASON PREVIEW
Starters on Offence
QB: Anthony Calvillo
OL: Jeff Perrett, Scott Flory, Luc Brodeur-Jourdain, Andrew Woodruff, Josh Bourke. Lots of Canadian depth here too. Ridiculous collection of non-import OL.
RB: Battle between Jerome Messam, Chris Jennings, Brandon Whitaker and a couple new faces, including 11 year NFL vet and Super Bowl champion Dominic Rhodes. I could see them keeping an import while starting Messam, similar to what BC and Calgary do with their running back situations.
FB: Patrick Lavoie (Currently out with back injury)
WR: Jamel Richardson, Brandon London and SJ Green are locks. The other 2 are open for competition between Arland Bruce, Bo Bowling, and a handful of rookies. Canadian Eric Deslauriers will be on the roster but whether they have a non-import receiver full-time is still up in the air.
Starters on Defence
The defence wasn't great last year so we might see some significant changes. That makes it hard to predict who the starters will be, but we can make some educated guesses.
DE: John Bowman. The second DE spot will be open to competition.
DT: Alan-Michael Cash, and then Moton Hopkins and Scooter Berry will compete with some rookies for the other DT spot.
LB: Shea Emry, Chip Cox. As for WILL, they picked up Ejiro Kuale and there has been some talk that they are looking at moving Kyries Hebert into a linebacker spot rather than Safety, but that hasn't been confirmed. They also have a couple good prospects with playing experience like Bear Woods and Kenny Ingram.
DB: Billy Parker, Jerald Brown, Seth Williams (Out with ankle injury), possibly Kyries Hebert, Byron Parker, Geoff Tisdale.
Key Special Teams
Kyries Hebert and Daryl Townsend will likely lead the way on the cover teams, and Sean Whyte is entrenched as the punter and kicker. The returner spot will probably still be open for competition as it was never really seized and held onto by any of the candidates such as Trent Guy, who is no longer with the team.
New Additions: QB Quinton Porter, RB Jerome Messam, CB Byron Parker, DB Geoff Tisdale, LB Ejiro Kuale, SB Arland Bruce, RB Dominic Rhodes.
Subtractions: KR Trent Guy, RB Brandon Whitaker, WR Brian Bratton, DB Dwight Anderson.
Draft: #3 LB Mike Edem (signed), #5 RB Steven Lumbala (signed), #14 DT Hosam Shahin (NCAA), #23 DE Jesse Joseph (NCAA), #30 LB Nicolas Boulay (signed), #32 DL Michael Klassen (signed), #41 OL Jake Piotrowski, #47 OL Simon Legare (signed), #57 WR Damone Blackman (signed).
Players on the bubble: Anyone on the defence is fair game outside of John Bowman, Shea Emry, and Jerald Brown, in my opinion. Chip Cox is probably safe but he is 30 years old and you never know with a new coaching staff. Hebert is also not getting any younger. Scott Flory is getting up there and there are a lot of young Canadian OL behind him.
Last season summary: 11-7, 1st in East, Lost East Final to Toronto. Last season saw a continuation of Montreal's potent offence led by Anthony Calvillo and a trio of deadly receivers. There were some issues on special teams and their defence never seemed to live up to the standards expected of the players they had. As we all know by now, last season was Trestman's last as the head coach.
2013 outlook and prediction: It's hard to imagine the Alouettes really falling off after so many years at the top. But with Trestman moving on and Calvillo being 41 years old... I mean come on how much longer can he keep this up? Unfortunately for the rest of the league, I think it would take a big disaster to knock Montreal off the top. Their receivers and OL are just way too good and Calvillo is far too polished. If Messam regains his 2011 form, watch out. Of course, if Quinton Porter ends up starting for any significant period of time, all bets are off... all things considered I'm going to say 9-9 and second in the East.
EDIT: Changed to reflect release of Victor Anderson and signing of Brandon Whitaker

Just give the guy whatever he wants.