MOBomberFan

Yes I'm eager to hear the lineup this year, but honestly just give me practically any three Canadian 90s rock bands and I'm almost guaranteed to go. Bif Naked, I Mother Earth (one of my all time faves) and The Watchmen has been my favorite lineup so far, that night set a pretty high bar.

https://greatoutdoorscomedyfestival.com/gocf-winnipeg-manitoba/

True story. It's rare that any team in any sport becomes a perennial contender like we have. I've said it before: these are the good times! How will people cope when we eventually and inevitably come back down to Earth and are once again scrapping for that last playoff spot where anything can happen if we just believe?!?

I'm something of a bright-sider myself. Getting to 4 Grey Cups is an accomplishment in itself. Winning 2 out of 4 ain't bad either. But winning sure does feel better than losing... When people get critical of the Blue it helps to remember they likely suffered through the drought same as the rest of us, and they simply want what is best for the team, the best for winning football games. I'm sure some guys especially fear regression because they don't have another 30 years on this Earth to wait for another championship. Expecting an all-star at every position is silly, but wanting/wishing for upgrades, especially from some of our older and less dominant pieces (Kola, Jake) isn't. I get the disappointment. We all remember what it's like to be a bottom feeder, none of us want to experience anything close to that again any time soon... hence the creeping concern... Thank goodness we have the staff we do... they led us out of the wastes to the promised land, now we are navigating being victims of our own success, but if anyone can do it in today's CFL it's KW and co. TL:DR: Koombaya, praise the trinity

Konner Burtenshaw, a Canadian FB was kicking around on the practice roster all season til the extended PR window closed and he was released along with Agudosi and others. No idea if he could play but he was available. We were still able to play an American FB and be one of the top 2 teams for Canadian snaps You know, all those FB snaps

Jake the Snake back in Blue and Gold for what feels like his 20th season.

My cannot miss event of the summer #3 (alongside Burt BlocK Party and Banjo Bowl) https://greatoutdoorscomedyfestival.com/gocf-winnipeg-manitoba/ 3 night event this July... Tom Segura, Bill Burr, Nate Bargatze headlining... Bobby Lee, Gerry Dee, Jessica Kirson supporting... Outside on the Lyric lawn at Ass Park... on sale now... If I only go VIP for on one night I'm thinking VIP Friday, general admission Saturday... as much as I love Ol' Billy Redface I'm an even bigger Tommy Bunz fan and I'm exactly immature enough to be entertained by Bobby Lee.

I remember him (Ruby) having a rocky road but first rounders are always under the magnifying glass and there is more expected more out of them early on. He was barred from the league for the 2021 season due to vax status complications, but he was also an East All-Star in 2022

Another common denominator is Brady taking over at running back for AH33. Harris was the ultimate checkdown and was used that way very frequently.

Not sure we've actually linked anything yet, here you go: https://3downnation.com/2024/01/29/winnipeg-blue-bombers-sign-centre-chris-kolankowski-to-two-year-extension/ Per sources, Kolankowski will earn close to $140,000 in 2024 and around $150,000 in 2025 as part of his new deal. This is a significant raise over what he made in 2023, which came in just shy of $90,000.

Exactly this. You'd hope that Eli would be able to win the position out of camp at this point. Though I suspect the Bombers are bracing for a couple losses along the O-Line and are bringing back as many familiar faces as possible rather than trying to insert someone entirely new. If Eli starts it might be at G in place of Gray while Kola stays at C where he is most useful. Kola is no world beater, and every group has a 'best' and a 'worst' but as a unit our OL was the best in the league and I'm not sure how that happens with a terrible C

Totally where my mind went. Prove you can be more than a gadget QB and you can take the reigns. Naysayers like to write him off as one dimensional but that's just how he was used... Strev can throw the ball just fine

Eli was very good at clobbering the guy infront of him, no doubt about it. Compared to Kola, Eli is enormous. I can understand the disappointment... even though I've been defending him all season, I'm also disappointed that Eli isn't moving on up as I had expected. I'm left wondering... is it actually favoritism? Could it be that Eli is so far behind Kola in football IQ that his size and athleticism can't make up for it? Seems hard to believe, given the hype associated with Eli since before he was drafted... at this rate we may never find out how good Eli could be, they are both now signed through 2025...

I recall the exactly first time I heard 'Fort Hew'. It was Aug17 2017, Winnipeg is hosting Edmonton that night... Wade Miller happens to drive past by my worksite and spots me decked out in Bomber gear, I spot him and give a hearty cheer. He hits the breaks and asks us to sit tight and soon after his assistant is on site handing us tickets for the game. Most of these guys had never been to a football game in their lives and were completely unaware of all things Bomber related, but they were pumped to go. Fast forward to gathering at the stadium and someone asks me what this #FORTHEW printed in bold on the ticket meant, but of course they pronounce it 'Fort Hew' and I like to think that put the term out there into the universe somehow. A few short weeks later the police would be called in to tranq Hewey, our famous moose on the loose. Big year for bomber stadium lore, whatever you call it. PAS is taking some time to grow on me...

Ayers was a boyscout and Bridges plays a lot of Call of Duty

Not yet! Ayers was one of the names revealed from our neg list this year, he's been on our radar a while. Bridges and his North Dakota State team won 70 of his 75 games (including his redshirt season)... played and won 12 playoff games and 4 national titles. Goes on to win the IFL championship as a first year pro. All the guy does is win! Bounced around a couple NFL camps before landing here.

Damn, one of my favorite players when he was playing here, 47 is way too young to go whatever the cause

Lots of reasons add up to losing those cups. Prukop's bonehead pick in 2022, none few of our stars showing up in 2023, it's not all poor Jake Thomas' fault

We did however give up almost 6 yards per carry, teams simply had fewer chances to run on us because we are the best team in the league in so many other facets. Shore up that interior line and we are potential juggernauts

For context, at the end of the regular season we were #1 in Yards allowed per game (319), Passing yards allowed per game (229.4), and Points allowed per game (20.9). We were #3 in Rushing yards allowed per game (90.2) behind TOR (83.7) and OTT (84.8)... only reason OTT is ahead of us is because teams passed on them at will and didn't even need to run the ball.

That's the hitch right there, not everyone can afford the extra spending, the field becomes potentially imbalanced again

He's never been any sort of dominant force that we love to see but he is deceptively strong and verifiably athletic, he plays all across the line, that's not something you discard lightly... size can't be taught... still plenty of time to peak, he's only 29

That would be a numbers game like any other, and it could work... cap usage is a rolling number that accumulates as the season goes on, an extra column is not that hard to track... teams with the need or desire to free up $ by season's end (maybe bonuses and extensions?) could take advantage and more CanCon gets showcased in the process. Of course it shouldn't come at the cost of winning. Nobody wants to hear we lost but hey at least we saved some cap

Yes indeed! Today we lament the impending loss of Oleary Orange and crow about the potential in Tui Eli.... both of whom were 4th rounders. More picks in the 2nd is a great thing

I read somewhere that barely 10% of CFL draft picks make it on to a regular season roster. Of course, your odds of finding one of those 10% goes up with more selections. As we creep towards cap hell trying to extend everyone it's important to have guys in the pipe 14-4, first in the West and a championship berth on hard mode! AND a bonus draft pick! Stop bragging!