MOBomberFan

Further, I don't think the Bombers EVER had any intention of moving Hefney around or cutting him when he got his bonus. Further strengthening my smoke screen argument. If this whole pot bust never came about, Hefney would still be a Bomber I think.

All of this sounds like a smoke screen to me. Bad press + more bad press + promising rookies = cut Hefney. You can argue that his play dropped off, or he was a 'cancer' in the locker room... whatever the case, I think Hefney is now a bit of a scapegoat so that Burke can say he's sticking to his guns on discipline. I don't buy any of what the Bombers are selling when it comes to Hefneys release. If there is a bright side... you can't unearth the next great starter til the old one moves aside. Still sad to see my favorite (recent) Bomber get shafted like this.

Dance, puppets. Dance....

If I were saying 'ra ra ra Jade Etienne will be a perennial All-Star' and that turned out to be wrong I'd say you have a case. I can only speak for myself, and I was preaching patience in opposition to those writing him of as 'too weak' or 'too frail' as if anyone could possibly know how tough the kid really is from the bleachers. The guy was taken on potential alone. If he lives up to that potential then anyone who would have cut him in the past couple years based on their preconceived notions about how long players should be allowed to develop before being considered a bust... can go suck a lemon.

Personally, I just like it when other people are wrong... especially when they've been complete ass-clowns throughout the whole process. Etienne has been a contentious issue for a couple years, so you'll have to forgive those few of us who have been preaching patience in the face of 'Bust this' and 'Harry Potter that'.

No kidding guys. Jade Etienne is only now at the age that guys like Marco Iannuzzi and Nate Coehoorn were when they were drafted... let's see what he's capable of now that he's had a couple years of coaching, development, and fitness training under his belt. He really is fast and has nice hands... with his size, he could be the legit threat that Mack thought he could be.

I think I'll play those odds. Why the heck not?

This is about as surprising as finding out Hefney puffs the chronic.

Bummer about Cameron, I really would have liked to see him make the cut. Hamilton thought he was worth a look before we signed him, so he may yet show up on someone else's PR, if not ours.

Can't argue with that! My big issue is there's no way to be sure Hall or Goltz can win the games that Buck can. I'm on record saying that if I were Joe Mack, Buck Pierce would be a water boy, but that's contingent on having a viable backup. We may have that already, we may not, but riding Buck til he falls apart is better than throwing either of these guys to the wolves without the need to do so, first.

Guys, it's not like he's saying anything other people aren't already saying. I agree, Buck is an accident waiting to happen, but we simply do not have a better answer at QB, I don't know what you guys expect him to do, short of handing the reins the Hall/Goltz, crossing his fingers, and wishing really really hard for one of them to be a gamer. As for the vets that did play... did they do anything worth cheering about? I sure didn't see it. Burke may have a long way to go when it comes to public speaking, but it's nowhere near the stupidity or volatility of Mike Kelly, and way more interesting to listen to than LoPolices formulaic 'we need to improve, we need to practice hard, we need to stick to the plan' responses. Just my opinion. Tim Burke was our HC-in-waiting since the day we hired him away from MTL, let's try to give him a few weeks of regular season games with his system in place before we start pining for a new HC (not saying that's what you're doing, but that would be the logical next step). Edited to make my responses a little clearer.

Masoli with the nice throw on the run,then gets completely leveled and bounces right back up. Looks like Hamilton has something to work with at QB, anyways.

We're looking at you, Hilton #79. Offside and a drop. Stellar work.

Montreal is making a game of it. We all new Porter was good at running, and nobody handles a fumble better than Porter, all that practice I suppose Hamilton O is looking pretty inept all of a sudden too.

This must be the bus I got on at Ferry, and I didn't even realize we turned people away. Things were worse than I thought. I sure hope it's sorted out by the home opener.

You're right, that happens too... but last year in week 1 we only took Brink, Elliott, and Goltz to Montreal, and Montreal didn't even bother playing Calvillo at home. And I think learning a new system is the only reason Burris came to Winnipeg in week 2, otherwise he probably would have sat, too. As for the rust, the best I can hope is that Burke steps up the pace at practice even further. Actually, the very best I can hope is for either Hall or Goltz to wow us so much in game 2 that one of them is named starter! Wish into one hand...

Thanks for the link! Need.... football...

So what if Buck doesn't play in the second game? Teams very often don't play their projected starter in away games, while the home to get's the privilege and advantage (hahahaha) of playing their starter. Are you guys seriously worried that Buck is incapable of completing a pass? Seriously, you can thank Isaac Anderson for several of those incomplete passes.

That's right. Every team guns for the QB, but teams are going to be that much more aggressive to try and take Pierce out of the picture. We see other teams a little more willing to risk a roughing penalty to get a solid lick in on Buck. Sure, 15 yards and a first down is a costly penalty any time, but not so much when the payoff is getting to face one of our untested backups. Buck is a marked man, above and beyond any other QB in this league.

I predict that Jade Etienne will be a starter by the end of the season. He is fast and covers a lot of ground quickly, and as others have pointed out he looks like he has a chip on his shoulder and is ready to prove the doubters wrong. Call me an optimist, but there's a reason why we drafted him to begin with.

Yes, oodles of variety. We also got those spiffy beer dispensers that fill from the bottom up, but I only saw them serving Budweiser.

Your knee slapper for the morning. Q: How much does it cost to take the bus to the Bomber games? A: 2 quarters.

I took one of the Blue and Gold Express buses from St James... I saw the first bus go by as I was walking to my stop, and it was packed to the ****. Nobody at the next 4-5 stops was getting on that thing. The next bus was fine. I got a seat, and I didn't notice us turning anyone away all the way to the stadium. Perhaps some routes were a little more saturated than others? Whatever the case, traffic was fine til we got to Pembina... lots of cars with 2 or less people in them blocking traffic, sitting in the middle of the intersection, jamming up the long procession of buses trying to get in. We definitely need some cadets directing traffic or something, because as long as there are ******* drivers who think they're time is more valuable than everyone else's, we will experience this again and again. I left just after the start of the second half. I thought that if it were this crazy getting in, it would be so much worse getting out. I'm a bit surprised to hear things ran smoothly getting out of there. Here's hoping things are sorted out for the next game.

I just thought it needed repeating.

Yep, apathy or even hostility. But it's a Wednesday night Pre-Season game, I would have been more than a little surprised if it sold out. I imagine the regular season home opener will be much more of a big deal. A convincing win would go a long way towards ensuring another sellout... then another...