Super Duper Negatron

Game is officially sold out. Announcement to come soon.

Putting Davis in gives me a reason to watch the game other than being a glutton for punishment!

fyp.

Surprised good or surprised bad?

Damn you Rogers for causing the Blue to not win nearly enough games and for not allowing us to lose our way in to the play offs!

**** this guy so much...

The amount of Glenn detractors out there always surprises me. The closest we have come to replacing Glenn since he left is Willy, and Drew has yet to prove to me that he is even "as good" as Glenn was in his prime, never mind better.

Final FREEP column


I’m often asked how Winnipeg has changed since the Jets came back. The truth is, we’re not so different. Our image has improved, but the things that make this city and its people great, they remain a constant.

Winnipeg got a little lost in "the national conversation" during its 15 years outside of the NHL, sadly looking in. But Winnipeggers didn’t forget who they were. They just didn’t have as many opportunities to show the world their spirit of community, their warmth and their drive.

Winnipeg was labelled a second-tier city during those 15 years, and now visitors marvel at how the city has "come back." I find that notion more than a bit hollow. The spotlight was turned off but people here didn’t stop living full and rich lives. Sure, the 40 or so nights of hockey are great. But they’re not all-defining.

Maybe there was a temporary funk after the Jets left, but by the time I arrived here in the summer of 1999 it had begun to lift.

It was August when I drove in from Thunder Bay. The Pan Am Games were in full swing and Winnipeggers were draped in those awful salmon-coloured volunteer jackets. The world had arrived for an international sporting event. Athletes were the stars, but Winnipeg triumphed. The city was vibrant. It had gusto. And a lively rhythm. I fell in love almost instantly.

A run of bad fortune and bad press had outsiders expecting to find the city had rolled up its sidewalks. The departure of the Jets, a national focus on Winnipeg’s crime rate and a tough economy had dinged up the city’s reputation.

But for new arrivals that summer, me included, Winnipeg offered surprises.

The Free Press newsroom was humming. So were the restaurants and sporting venues. To be honest, that first week, I was a little awestruck. To me, Winnipeg had it all.

In the ensuing years, the province unveiled to me its remarkable way of life. Cottage country steeped in Canadiana, a historic but ever-refreshing music scene and multiculturalism that is celebrated rather than stifled. My Winnipeg is so colourful — Jewish and African and Asian and indigenous and Irish and French-Canadian.

The Pan Am Games revealed a city that had soul, pulse and relevance. That feeling faded a bit after the athletes and international media left town, but it was my original impression of Winnipeg and it proved lasting. It was also a preview of where this city was headed.

My first job at the Free Press was on the copy desk, working nights, writing headlines and trying not to mess up stories written by reporters I’d admired from afar.

When an opening in the sports department came up, I leapt. Over the next decade and a bit, I moved in and out of the hockey, football and baseball beats. I’ve been a columnist the last few years.

It’s been an education, an endless stream of thrills, early morning flights, laughs and deadlines. I have absolutely loved it. My office walls are covered with framed stories from my time at the Free Press. A Mike Keane tribute, a John Ferguson column and a series of stories from the Olympics.

This will be my last column for this newspaper. I’ve accepted a position with TSN to write and talk about sports. A colleague once said to me, "This is the best job there is. You get to see the world and sporting events all on someone else’s dime." For me, truer words were never spoken.

I’m excited for the next challenge, saddened to be departing the Freep, but comforted knowing I’m not leaving my home.

That’s what Winnipeg is to me: home. It’s where I met my wife and where our daughter was born. It’s where my neighbours, friends and colleagues are, and for me, it’s the only place to live.

It’s funny, we Winnipeggers like to knock ourselves. And God knows the rest of the country likes to take its shots.

But for me, Winnipeg has always been this incredible place. It has never seemed too big or too small and it’s never seemed remote.

In my 16 years here, Winnipeg has opened a new downtown ballpark, built a new rink and a new football stadium. And yes, the Jets came back, too.

The Jets, with their consistently packed houses and caffeinated fans, have become the cover of the sports book in Manitoba. The images of the NHL franchise leaving and then finally returning have been shared worldwide. The story of loss and redemption the Jets represent is the one people outside Manitoba know.

But for me, after living in this province for 16 years, other stories resonate with equal strength.

Cindy Klassen and Clara Hughes, Ace Walker and Rick Forney, Milt Stegall and Charles Roberts, Jonathan Toews and Jocelyne Larocque, Jennifer Jones and Jeff Stoughton.

We’re not just the Jets and the NHL didn’t save Winnipeg. Quite the opposite. Our hockey fans and our corporate community gave the NHL a soft landing when the Thrashers cratered in Atlanta. We took them in. They needed us as much as we needed them. We shouldn’t forget that.

Earlier this summer, watching the Bombers play a game before a less-than-capacity crowd, I was awed by the oomph of the fans. There may have been only 25,000 in the stands and the news all week had been grim. Fans were grumbling about another losing season.

But when the game started, the fans came to life, loud and on cue. Times were tough and many had talked about abandoning the Bombers — but there they were, roaring in full throat. It strikes me that this is what sports in Winnipeg is about, as much as the big lights at the MTS Centre.

The spirit and devotion isn’t just for show, to be trotted out when Hockey Night in Canada comes to town. There’s durability here. Heartache, and the ability to overcome it, is more a part of Winnipeg’s fibre than any new-found attention.

The Free Press indulged me and allowed me to write this piece, with the stipulation that it not be a list of thank yous. That list, of course, would be long and wouldn’t fit into a single column.

It can, however, be wrapped up in three simple words for a city where I found myself, in more ways than one: Thank you, Winnipeg.

Interesting that the contract info yesterday said 2 more years after this season, now it's only 1? Does that mean the 1st source was wrong, which means the salary numbers are probably wrong too, or is the second source wrong.

I just read Wiecek's column today, in which his main argument essentially amounted to "the Bombers shouldn't try to sign Muamba because...they already have someone worse than Muamba".
 
I miss Lawless already.

Well, Ritchie Hall hall did a great job adjusting at halftime completely shutting down Cornish in the second half. The Stamps run game ground to a total halt in the 3rd & 4th quarter especially so it's unfair to say that all of our coaches can't make adjustments at halftime. Just ONE coordinator can't make adjustments & we all know who he is. Ritchie Hall can make adjustments & did so by shutting down the Cornish strut. I think Jon had visions of having a 200 yard game against the Bombers. After the way he ran in the first half, did anyone think he'd only end up with 94 yards? Hats off to Ritchie Hall for calling a great defensive game. 

Any bets on whether they bung up the colors and/or design? This organization has a habit of dropping the ball...

Toronto? Crushed!
Calgary? Crushed!
Or not...

Man, was that 2001 season fun.
 
Our record after we fired Berry / ditched Kevin Glenn is depressing as hell.

I don't know how anyone can honestly believe Marcel Bellefeuille is a good offensive coordinator who deserves to keep his job.
 
His gameplanning and ability to utilize players properly is absolutely atrocious. We sign Chevon Walker this week and dress him ... never believed it was a smart move to begin with ... but at least give the guy a chance to make an impact. His assets are best used when you get him into space and what does MB do? Call plays to run him up the gut the entire day. What a joke.
 
Don't even get me started on Nick Moore and Clarence Denmark, who are stud receivers who have basically been brought down to the level of short yardage possession receivers. Two touchdowns between them all year. Find a way to get these guys open.
 
Last time we threw a touchdown to a receiver? August 9th. On a sweep. It's a joke. This offense is honestly embarrassing, it's getting worse and I find it insulting that anyone within the club expects any of us to believe it's not Marcel. Is it just a coincidence that he's done the exact same things anywhere he has ever been? Is it just the players every time? Biggest coincidence in the world that no matter where he goes, stud players end up looking like garbage?
 
For as good as Drew Willy can make this offense look periodically, I want to flip it around and pose a question to everyone - can you guys imagine how good Willy could look in a REAL offense?

embarrassing that they make a firing and MB stays.

What he said. Sums up my feelings almost exactly.

I was actually thinking about this the other day....
 
Other then a game against Tor that SK lost by 25 points and a game against Edm they lost by 10 points, 2 of their losses have been by 4 points, 3 losses by 3 points, and 1 loss by 2 points.    For a team that lost both their #1 and #2 QBs a couple of games in the season, to be a field goal away from 4 more possible wins / ties isn't bad.
 
The Bombers had Willy for most of the season, and even with Willy, the Bombers losses have been by 26, 1, 29, 30, 7 points.   While the Bombers wins have been by 4, 2, and 10 points.
 
I know it is tough to look purely at the score to compare the two because the score dictates so many decisions in the 4th quarter, but a couple of plays going the other way and the Bombers could easily be 0 - 8 right now while SK could have 2 - 3 wins.
 
QBing is now a wash between both teams (unproven rookies with maybe an edge to SK for having a bit more experience). Then consider how many blowouts the Bombers have lost in (with Willy) and how many games in which we were done by half time, and the games coming up against SK aren't guaranteed by any stretch of the imagination.  SK has been in most of their games with a chance to win right up to the end of the game.  The Bombers have lost 3 blowouts where there was no chance for a comeback in the 4th quarter and some games by the 3rd quarter.
 
I wouldn't at all be surprised if we lose both games against SK.  Then again maybe I'm just getting conditioned to the Bombers losing over the past number of seasons.

Fixed it for you.

Fixed it for you.

Rocket Robin Hood and Astro Boy before going to school in the morning....#80sKidsProbs

My Riderfan neighbour has been on vacation and today I volunteered to cut his grass for him....
 

Orders from Taman - he thinks they can find someone older and more expensive.  Currently leaving frantic messages on Allen Pitt's voicemail.

Rod Black ziplining.