MOBomberFan

Really, why are you guys ragging on the Winnipeg Sun?
 
I can think of a number of reasons the Winnipeg Sun could be a valuable asset to the Winnipeg Football Club if they would just work with them ...
 
For starters, the Winnipeg Sun is
 
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You guys are doing it right, voodochyle. We are passionate about our team & after this years start the frustration is sure there. Sometimes like a pot on a stove, things boil over. We all care.

I think to celebrate Coach Harris I'll going to one of his old haunts for lunch: The Burger Place at Portage and Rutland. The man had good taste in greasy burgers, that's for damn sure.

I think to celebrate Coach Harris I'll going to one of his old haunts for lunch: The Burger Place at Portage and Rutland. The man had good taste in greasy burgers, that's for damn sure.

It's not that though. It's simply more pointing out that you can't judge draft picks until a few years have gone by. Etienne was sepen as a massive bust and terrible pick at the time meanwhile everyone and their dog agreed that if Poblah was eligible for the actual draft he likely would have been the #1 overall pick. Just goes to show that 
I find it amazing how guys are justifying how Etienne was a good pick by throwing Poblah under the bus...really just serves to back up the idea that pre-draft rankings aren't all they're cracked up to be since a couple years after being selected one guy is starting to show that he looks like he can be a solid contributer and one guy still has a hell of a lot to prove. 

Still a quarterback driven league.  We invested a couple years of development on Brink and Elliott.....and cut them both.  
 
We went boldly forward..... with our chronically injured veteran option "gives us the best chance" in Pierce..... in a offence "tailored" for him by Crowton (no, I am not making this up)
 
Goltz better be the deal.....or this QB thing, will simply cost a lot of people their jobs, moving forward.....sooner, than later.

Bryant Turner has a grizzly bear carpet in his room.  The bear isn't dead, it's just afraid to move.

I guess I'm part of the IMWT crowd by default only because I wasn't wringing my hands and screaming like some others were doing, but just saying that patience was a virture.  And I definitely think that was the message that most of the people who thought JE could one day be a great receiver for us were also saying.  I don't recall ever anyone saying that Etienne was Lapo's pick.  How could they support that?  They couldn't, as Mack is in charge of the draft.  JE has always been Mack's pick, and anyone with a brain who isn't in constant panic mode knew that JE would need a few years to grow stronger and get bigger.  He's done that.  Now he's contributing.  Why is that so hard for people to grasp?  I don't get how something positive always has to be turned into a negative around here.  It's just like the NDP...oh wait...I'm not getting political anymore on these boards....

All I'm hearing in this thread, is a whole lotta "We're 1-3 right now..." .......easy to point fingers at something so ridiculous as "what Burke says in the media". If we weren't 1-3 to start, nobody would care a lick about what he says or how he says it. Christ, it's not that far removed from the stuff Kelly was saying in the media. I'll take Burke's "sometimes-too-blunt" honesty over Kelly being a *****, any day...

I do enjoy statistics. Let's hope Bucks have a change in trend.
 
No point in pining over Elliott now, he's long gone and won't be coming back. I just really wanted to move on from Buck after 2012, and I thought Elliott was going to be the one who helped us do it. Maybe it will be Goltz or Hall. Literally nobody knows.

Lol or it means that every team is already satisfied with their qb depth.   Elliott went to BC where apparently Buono is magical in his selection of QBS.  
 
2 player of the weeks despite playing on a piss poor offense in turmoil definitely disagrees with your statement.    
 
Now I'm not saying Elliott is an elite guy, but dear lord he at least had a pulse when he was on the field and as said before at least he could move the ball.   His mistakes could of been easily corrected if we were to simply pull him out in the red zone and put Randall Cunning-Goltz in so he can sneak in for all those easy tds.   

Yes but in our other 2 games the receivers didn't make drops , kickoffs were not out of bounds and we were very tame on our penalties... yet a certain player has consistently been lack luster in all 3 games....
 
Perhaps if our QB stepped up it would of over came those other "obstacles"  our defense over came Buck turning the ball over early in both of the first 2 games.... why can't Buck save the day ever?

Who said anything about glowingly positive?? Why is it always black and white with you people??? You know, there's a really nice middle ground where it's nice and neutral. Irving and Tait are masters of it...

I'm also a doctor. My name proves it.

Here are the results: I am going to do a couple stats for the week.
Studs and Duds:
Stud of the Week: Jon Cornish (5 correct picks)
Dud of the Week: Chad Simpson (10 incorrect picks)
 
Reach of the Week (player with fewest incorrect selections)
northof60 - Jade Etienne
iso_55 - Nik Lewis
 
Diamond in the rough (player with fewest correct selections.)
Mr. Perfect - SJ Green
Zontar - Andy Fantuz
Doctor Handsom - Fred Stamps
 
Players with one strike:
 
 
Chaosmonkey holoman MOBomberFan Fraser Bomber_fanaddict Nighthawk M.O.A.B. northof60 iso_55 SPuDS CodyT Y2C blue fever sweep the leg Mike kelownabomberfan  DR CFL Cam Noeller 02L Spaceman Spiff SmokinBlue WBB Fan Girl Mr. Dee tacklewasher RagingIce

I agree. The tough one is the QB. Until you have identified a true replacement better the devil who know. That is the struggle with the QB spot and why QBs are perhaps hanging on too long in both leagues. Not the players' fault. They'll often stay until someone says it's time to go.

This comment is obscene. Not only is it mindless speculation but holy Christ it is massive jumping to conclusions. Completely unnecessary. 

Nearly made it to 1:00pm before I cracked a beer. Not too shabby.

Happy Birthday ISO!!! What was Jesus like? 

I WANT GAME

Hamilton:
 
Is Kent Austin a proven HC? I suppose to some he is and to some he isn't. He won a Grey Cup as we all know but that season as a whole was fairly average and they did run into some favourable circumstances. His NCAA career was fairly lacklustre but that probably has little to do with how successful he will be in the CFL. In my heart, I believe he will be an upgrade over Cortez (but how could he not be?) but I also thought Cortez would be a good fit last year. They have a rookie DC in Orlondo Steinauer and as terrible as Cortez was last year, the one thing no one can dispute is that he ran a great offense. It is probably a good thing for the Ti-Cats that he is gone, but they will be implementing a new offense which could easily not be as potent as it was last year, especially considering the fact that their offensive personell is not nearly as good as people make it out to be.
 
I'll start with Hank Burris. No one can dispute the career year he put up last year but that's the thing, it was his best statistical year in his career at age 37. The years prior to his change of scenery had been a steady decline and he is only becoming less and less mobile with age. People talk all the time about Calvillo being primed for a down year but I have heard little speculation that Burris will struggle. Frankly, a mobile QB at that age who had a "resurgance" after a few bumpy seasons is a prime candidate to disappoint. Of course I could be way off here but all those facts combined with the loss of Chris Williams and Avon Cobourne (who as underwhelming as he was as a runner, was a great blocker and an above average receiver out of the backfield) leads me to this possible conclusion.
 
I am also not even remotely sold on Chevon Walker as an every down RB. He had a sensational start to the season using his premiere speed but between getting hurt and becoming VERY underwhelming after the first few games, leads me to believe he isn't the second coming that TSN wanted us to believe. When compared to Cobourne, his blocking is atrocious and he isn't the between the tackles runner that is generally successful in the CFL. He does have great speed and is a good receiver out of the backfield but in my mind he is in a race with Hugh Charles for the worst starting tailback in the CFL and it's not really close.
 
At receiver, without Chris Williams these guys are not scary. I'd like to remind everyone that their number one import receiver is Bakari Grant. He's solid as a number two or three I suppose, but does he compare to Edwards or Matthews? He may even be just barely on par with Denmark. Fantuz was a sure-handed but slow SB who wasn't so sure-handed last year. Signs do point to a bounce back from him, but as of now he is not the dominant SB he was in his one great season. Giguere is no better than Poblah at this point in his career and Onrea Jones is the epitome of painfully average import receiver. Greg Ellingson had a good pre-season but does that mean anything at this point? Questions galore here.
 
I won't go into too much detail about the O-line. The interior should be good with Hage, Wojt and Dyakowski backed up by Husband and O'Neill but import tackles Marc Dile and Brian Simmons have been average for the couple years they have been around.
 
All I've been hearing is how much the defense has been improved this offseason. Sure, they couldn't get much worse than they were last year but other than McCollough, I don't really see it. They added Shomari Williams and Brian Bulcke to the defensive line. How those additions get anyone enthused will be an eternal mystery to me. As of right now, as far as I can tell the starting ends will be Greg Peach and Brandon Boudreaux. Both are decent if unspectacular players but both were also the ends for most of last year's debaucle on defense. Williams and Bulcke should sub-in at some points but as of right now, they are both overpaid NI spot starters. Terrence Moore looked good in spurts at tackle last season but the season before, so did Robert Rose and he washed out of the league last year after the obligatory couple of games for Saskatchewan. Torrey Davis is starting the year on the injured list but he will also be in the mix at tackle.
 
I have an immense amount of respect for Jamal Johnson at linebacker and he is really one of only a few really solid spots on this defense. Markieth Knowlton was once the premiere SAM in the CFL and was a deserving defensive player of the year a few years back. The last two seasons have been rough on him, however and he is at this point merely average at his position. The good thing about this group is that they no longer employ the abomination that was Kevin Eiben, but the third LB spot will either be Simoni Lawrence and MLB or if Johnson plays MLB, Ricardo Coclough at SAM and Knowlton at WIL. Both of them are former Eskimoes and had some success last season but neither are the big name free agents that everyone always hopes Joe Mack brings in.
 
In the secondary, I'd first like to discuss their starting safety James Patrick. I realize this guy is a "big name" and that gets people all hot and bothered but I can't stress enough how atrocious this guy was last year in Saskatchewan. He was never a strong tackler and made his money on turnovers much like Jovon Johnson. When the INTs stopped, the poor tackling became a bigger issue and his cover skills are in decline. He is most certainly a shaky part of this secondary. Evan McCollough and Dee Webb are both good players and should be solid parts of the secondary for the new few years. I imagine Ryan Hinds will probably start at corner and two years ago when he was a regular starter, he was a real nice place to attack every game. Based on what I read on the roster, the other starter at DB will be Delvin Breaux. I'm not saying this guy is not going to be good, but how in the hell would we know at this point? At least Demond Washington has some CFL experience.
 
I didn't even realize how many potential problems the Ti-Cats will have until I went through in all in my head. This is a team that many people have fighting for first place in the division (as per usual). I personally just don't see it. I realize that some of these questionable spots will probably work out for them but looking at the big picture, other than QB and mayyyyybe LB (but that's questionable) where are these guys better than the Bombers? And don't say Punter even if it's true.
 
Riders next.

I can totally respect the opinions of people who don't like Mack for certain things, because at least they can justify their opinion whether I agree or not. It's the people who don't know football from a hole in the ground that hate Mack that I just don't get.
 
My family and friends chat me up all the time about the Bombers, even when they don't know much about our team, never mind Mack himself... they can't name any starters or prospects he's dug up, draft picks or trades he's made, anything to do with Mack at all... except they KNOW that Mack is a problem and has to go. Makes me shake my head, and reinforces my belief that the media in our city has a lot to do with the negativity displayed by the 'casual fan.' The win/loss record obviously has something to do with it, too, but that can't be completely pinned on an individual (imo).
 
I'll share my brief Mack moment. It was I think August or September 2011 and I find myself standing behind Joe Mack at Costco. After a short but pleasant chat he tells me that they (he and his staff) want to do something special for this city, and that big things are coming. Sure enough, that year we find ourselves at the top in the East and went to the GC. At no point in time did I get any sense of the terse or pugnacious attitude everyone seems to think he has. I think he was a bit surprised somebody even recognized him, and was happy to interact with a fan. Anyways, I can confirm that Joe Mack is in fact a human being; he does not have horns, a tail, or a pitchfork, and there was no lingering smell of brimstone or decay anywhere.

While we're blaming 2012 on everyone, we really shouldn't forget Chip Garber.  That was just a bad decision.

Alright, moving on to Toronto.
 
I know everyone is talking about how good these guys are and all that and I recognize they are the defending champs so they've earned the benefit of the doubt to some degree. That being said, I can't think of a team with more question marks on defence than these guys. I will get to that later though.
 
On offense, Ray is obviously a top-tier QB so there is no qualm there. Again, as Mike mentioned earlier, that main thing that separates the Bombers from every other tea, in the league is obviously quarterbacking. I do agree that at every other position, they at the very least stack up to most other teams but Pierce is at the very best an average QB, if even that. But this is supposed to be about the Argos and I have digressed. I should also mention, that Harris and Collaros are both impressive at backup QB and I actually like their QBs 1-3 more than anyone else's in the league by far. Your third string QB can of course only get you so far but it's worth mentioning. Kackert is a dynamic and effective RB so again they have no real question mark here and although their receivers aren't as good as Montreal's are, it isn't a real position of concern. I still don't think Owens is that great of a receiver and Durie is a good receiver buoyed by his NI status but they are a serviceable 1-2. The real key here is Inman who in my mind is a tremendous talent who should only get better in his second season. Barnes and what's left of Romby Bryant are average enough 4th and 5th options. At OL, they are good but not great. I will be honest in saying that I don't really know who is going to start in this group, perhaps bluto can enlighten us, but Eppele and Reinders are good prospects at the very least. I imagine Tony Washington will start who is certainly not dominant for an import OT but at least decent. Van Zeyl, Keeping, Parenteau and Wayne Smith are also in the picture in some capacity and all are average to good NI starters. This is a good group nonetheless. 
 
I didn't discuss special teams much with the Als because Sean Whyte is solid but I would like to discuss the kicking game of the Argos. To me, this is a question mark. As of now, their kicker and punter is Swayze Waters, an import. I am not a huge fan of this guy personally as he has a strong leg but his accuracy is very questionable. They also recently signed Noel Prefontaine, which isn't a ringing endorsement of Waters as well in my eyes.
 
The defence is a huge question mark outside the outside linebackers. I know some will say that they were in a similar situation last year and brought in guys like Pacino Horne, Pat Watkins, Ahmad Carroll (who himself wasn't all that good but that's another story), Marcus Ball, among others and will lightning strike twice? Perhaps. Chris Jones does know what he is doing, there's no doubt but no matter what his track record is, doesn't take away the fact that there will be many new faces and CFL rookies on the Toronto D this year.
 
Their D-line is all new faces and should end up being 75% rookies. We all know Khalif Mitchell is a great talent and frankly, I don't care one bit that he's a nutjob since his play hasn't really declined in his three years in the league. He should be a standout on the line. The other tackle position will be filled in part my Jermaine Reid or newcomer Kiante Tripp. Reid has been a serviceable NI spot stater in the league and Tripp is completely green. There should be some growing pains there. At end, Flemons and Foley are gone (not that they were world beaters anyway but they were veterans who could play). In their place should be a combination of newcomer imports Johnathan Williams and Nekos Brown and NIs Cleyon Laing and David Lee. The two NIs are talent players, no doubt but they are in their first and second seasons respectively and have little to no in game experience. At LB, Marcus Ball is already one of the best WIL LBers in the CFL, if not THE best and Brandon Isaac parlayed a reasonably successful career as a HB into a very good season at SAM. Both are very solid. The MLB position however, should be an adventure. As of right now, I assume the 35 year old Robert McCune will start the year there, but I could be mistaken. Don't get me wrong, he's a serviceable and respectable player but even at a younger age, he wasn't among the top LBers in the league and at 35 one can only imagine that he doesn't have a ton left in the tank. NI Jason Pottinger has played the position in the past as well but his best days are behind him. 
 
The secondary, outside of Watkins will be entirely new as well. Watkins had a sensational year last year and for my money is a top 3 CB in the league if not better. I have an immense amount of respect for him as a player. On the other hand, the Argos will really miss Horne and especially Evan McCollough, a player I really thought the Bombers should have signed. He is probably the most underrated DB in the entire league and is not even remotely easily replaced. Of course there are some promising new faces that are going to try to fill the void but they are just that, promising. Who's to say that their new faces at crucial positions are any better prepared than the Bombers'? The names Jalil Carter, Jermaine Gabriel, Joshua Gatlin, Shane Herbert and Jamie Robinson don't mean much at the moment and any one or few of these guys may end up being as good as McCollough but as of now, they are question marks. Very similarly to the Als, the safety position is the one of most concern. Jordan Younger was not a spectacular athlete in his older age but he did do a very nice job of quarterbacking the defence. As of now, NI Matt Black is the new safety and how he does is very up in the air. I'm not going to write the guy off, but he always seemed like a career special teamer to me thrust into a starting job because the Younger retirement took the team by surprise. 
 
The Argos have many excellent players and that pains me to the bone to say but there are holes in the lineup. Could they find more Marcus Balls and Pacino Hornes? I'm sure some newcomers have what it takes but the fact remains that there will be at least 8 new starters on this defence and that could certainly lead to some problems.
 
Hamilton next.