the watcher

Best part? Nothing is changed for the dirty covidiots: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/covid19-vaccines-update-manitoba-health-officials-1.6344843
The sheer amount of stupid on this planet is excruciating.

On a personal note: my cousin's 2 year old granddaughter is in Intensive Care on a ventilator fighting for her life after contracting COVID.  The prognosis is not positive and the family has been told to prepare for the worst. 

The longer this goes on, the more the jackholes will take credit for the loosening of restrictions and the more likely they are to try it again. 

I find it interesting / odd that the Conservatives have forgotten what should have been their biggest lesson from the Harper years. You need to be pragmatic if you are a Conservative and want to govern Canada. The guy governed for close to 10  years by suppressing the more radical, members of his party. He was ( I think ) a born again Christian who wouldn't allow his members to table an abortion discussion. He was elected in Alberta yet kept the PAL requirement for gun use and ownership.  He recognized the  importance of officially naming 1st Nations as a separate nation within the nation. He may have been despised by the left but he knew how to pull the central vote his way. He knew what he could get away with and what he couldn't and forced his party to comply. I had hoped O Toole  would have this ability but he wasn't even close.  What the PCs are embracing now will keep them out of power. At least I hope it does. 

A couple of comments from someone who votes conservative occasionally : 
I view this as political suicide. They are ignoring one huge fact. This country is %85 vaxxxed. That %85 will generally be disgusted by the support many PCs are giving to the idiot convoy. They will be pleasing the part of the nation that votes for them no matter what they do. They will be angering the part ( %85 ) of the nation that they need to convince to vote them into power. I can hear the Liberals giggling from here.
I often heard people complain that Harper was to controlling. That everything the party did in his time needed to cross his desk and get his stamp of approval. I bet O'Toole wishes he had that kind of control.
Aside from the afore mentioned political astuteness or lack thereof, I find the reaction of the PC's disgusting. Not only the support of the vocal ones but the deathly silence of the rest.
The PCs challenge is always to appeal to moderate voters. It's the only way they will ever attain power. What's going on now will set their party back to the days of the Reform Party.

Just a couple of thoughts :
Its sad to see AH go. He put on some of the best performances ever and at crucial times. He will be missed but it's pro sports. We've all seen it before. I'm still going to miss AH but I'm excited to see what our young Canucks can do with more time on the field.
There was no way we weren't going to lose a bunch of players. The dominance during the regular season was epic. It is something we will talk about for years. When that happens the teams we dominated are going to come hunting. Alot of these guys have a 3 to 5 year window before they are done/ trail off. So you know they need to capitalise.  All Walters could do was to prioritise who we could or couldn't keep. 
 
 

Just a couple of thoughts :
Its sad to see AH go. He put on some of the best performances ever and at crucial times. He will be missed but it's pro sports. We've all seen it before. I'm still going to miss AH but I'm excited to see what our young Canucks can do with more time on the field.
There was no way we weren't going to lose a bunch of players. The dominance during the regular season was epic. It is something we will talk about for years. When that happens the teams we dominated are going to come hunting. Alot of these guys have a 3 to 5 year window before they are done/ trail off. So you know they need to capitalise.  All Walters could do was to prioritise who we could or couldn't keep. 
 
 

Andrew Harris could have been a Bomber this year. The choice was his too. Some people saying that the Bombers did him wrong but he owns a big part of it as well. We know guys like Jeffcoat and Bighill are leaving 50-100k on the table to come back, they chose to be Bombers. Andrew had that same choice in front of him, and at age 35 he should have known that this was going to be the way it ended with us someday. If he feels that an extra 50k in Toronto is the way he wants this to go down...that's on him. This won't be a popular take but he valued himself higher than the team imo, and that's his right to do so, but let's not spit out the narrative that the Bombers did anything wrong in their treatment of him. If Harris wanted to sign a contract more indicative of his age, and diminished reliability, he is still a Bomber.

Sad to see Darvin and Harris go, but it had to happen eventually. 
Darvin isn't the receiver he once was, but he was still a hell of blocker and great guy to have on the team. Made some big plays when it counted in the 2019 and 2021 playoffs. Nice finish for him in blue and gold catching the game winning TD in the cup.
Harris clearly struggled with injuries last year but looked great when on the field. Too bad they couldn't work out a deal but had to move on to younger guys at some point. He no longer had to be the focal point of the O with Collaros around. For a few years he carried the team, but the team improved enough that he didn't have to carry them anymore. Wish him good luck in TO and glad he's not playing in the West.
 

There's probably a better chance we lose Castillo to the NFL than Edmonton. 
Look we need to stop and remember how this team was built in the first place. Couple key free agents but mostly it was guys they drafted or recruited. Lose Stove? Well recruit another guy. Lose Lawler? Recruit someone else. Desjarlais to the NFL? Well There's a reason walters drafts olinemen every single draft. Darby was a guy they grabbed in season as an injury replacement. Kyle walters is all about depth.

dude was so clutch in big games. Grey Cup 19, Western Final 2021 .... it absolutely sucks that it went this way but I understand why it had to happen.  Great sport, shitty business.

True... but let me list a few names to make you feel better... Bryant, Collaros, Hardrick, Bailey, Bighill, Jefferson, Jeffcoat, Rose, Neufeld, Oliviera... feel better yet? 

At some point those children need to be sent to their room. In this case home. I use to send my kids out and tell them they could come back whenever they wanted. As soon as they were willing to behave. It usually worked. But I didn't ignore them.

" Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."  - Voltaire

At some point those children need to be sent to their room. In this case home. I use to send my kids out and tell them they could come back whenever they wanted. As soon as they were willing to behave. It usually worked. But I didn't ignore them.

We needed to make a splash at receiver and Ellingson fits the bill. #1 or #2 receiver I don't know if I care. We are a very balanced offense with a great QB and o line
Fill the rest of the gaps with scouting. We're in good shape 

Yup....guys we lost to other teams  Darby is already replaced...if someone unseats Maston...we are that much better and he slides to safety until BA back
Jones got bumped out of starting lineup after Rose came back...and was 6th DB in essence...Houston can fill his role....I liked what I saw of him.
Stove is/was good for us, but we fared fine without him, and DT are easy to find...and a new one will be cheap....
Desjarlais hurts....but we had no chance in that one, but Grey is more than adequate and plays with same mean streak and aggravates the hell outta Dlineman...we will see minimal drop in our line play.
Lawler hurts, but no way we need to pay that price, and Ellingson will replace that production....and maybe Meridith is back and wows...Jackson perhaps..Agudusi...some new guy...we need to find 1 receiver...big deal
 
 

I don't see Adams as a loss on the field really. I think replacing his production with a rookie will be very doable. Lawler is a really good receiver and Ellingson is step back from him but I could also see Ellingson going over a 1000.

We had 80% of the divisional all star team on our roster last year. Something had to give. It was inevitable. The fact we retained about 80% of that 80% puts us in a great position to three-peat.

Pipe dream, man.
Think about it. They’ve already got rings. No ring chasers here and the truth is, some guys want the money or the opportunity they can’t have here.
Lets just call it what it is. No American player grows up wanting to win a Grey Cup. The whole idea of passing on money is great in theory but no way is every single player going to think like that.

Can’t find the next Stove or Mike Jones or Darby or Lawler if you just ride the ones you have until the wheels fall off.
We’re going to find players. There’s a reason Danny Mac and Goveia were both sought after as GMs this off-season. 

Not very often do you see the Grey Cup champs win FA the following year.

Huh. They had their whole team to sign this off season. A lot of players wanting to get paid.  This off season is a win in my books. We have to rely on drafting well, and our scouting team to bring in replacements. It’s the same every year, especially for good teams. You’re going to lose some players but the job Walters has done with what he’s had has been phenomenal.

Lawler had 300,000 reasons to leave, Stove will get top DT money, and we simply moved on from Harris and Adams due to cost vs diminishing returns. The guys we really NEEDED back all signed back at below market value.
We didn't have to get better, we just had to stay ahead. If we don't rest guys and take the last couple weeks off we are basically a one loss team in 2021. We were so much better than anyone else that we could afford to lose a couple guys. Look at the all star team, it was all Bombers...lol.