the watcher

I remember when Hustler & Lawless jumped to 1290.  It was before the Jets were even back if I recall (and definitely before TSN got the radio rights).  I was having a drink with a CJOB employee friend and he said everyone at CJOB thought they were nuts and the station told them they were betting on the wrong horse.
 
Turned out pretty good for both of them.
 
Despite the criticism, Gary works hard and has a ton of insight.  He's clearly the most connected guy in Winnipeg.  I know when there is a development or even a big win or loss with the Bombers or Jets, I seek out his twitter or H&L to get his take on things.
 
Good for him and good for Winnipeg to have the local guru deepening his national connections and presence.

Will be able to read his articles again now that they won't be behind the Free Press pay wall.

I don't really get the Walters hate. He got a franchise QB and tried to fix the Oline.
All in all I don't think he is the problem.

It was barely off the sideline and the play took him there..
Man, how this concept of respect your oponent and sportsmanship eludes some of you...

This D has been improving every week.They simply dominated tonight . I'm impressed to see what a competent backup could accomplish with limited reps.Good job by Walters to go out and get solution to a problem.

This D has been improving every week.They simply dominated tonight . I'm impressed to see what a competent backup could accomplish with limited reps.Good job by Walters to go out and get solution to a problem.

This D has been improving every week.They simply dominated tonight . I'm impressed to see what a competent backup could accomplish with limited reps.Good job by Walters to go out and get solution to a problem.

They proved you wrong today.

It's been a long, long wait but I think Nichols is the reliable backup QB the Bombers have been waiting for.  His game was far from perfect but he showed enough intelligence and understanding of the system in one short week than any other QB has shown in many years.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/bombers/Dont-put-a-stopwatch-on-Miller-Time-326774901.html

 

Wade Miller doesn’t need the job. Which in the end may enable him to do it properly.

The CEO of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers could clean his desk out at Investors Group Field tomorrow and move back to Pinnacle or one of his other businesses. He doesn’t need the paycheque and has other interests to keep him busy. This isn’t to say he doesn’t want the job. He does. And he wants to be successful, returning the Bombers to a position of relevance in the CFL.


But he won’t do it dancing to someone else’s tune. He can’t. It doesn’t work that way in pro football — or any business. Too many cooks, as they say. Or in the case of the Bombers — too many passionate observers.

Miller doesn’t have to take advice from a well-meaning but misinformed booster. He doesn’t have to allow the now mounting pressure from fans or his board of directors to influence his decisions.

He can quite confidently say, "I’m doing it my way and if you don’t like that — go find someone else."

A loss in Saturday’s Banjo Bowl will very likely signify the end of any playoff hopes for this season and put Miller in the latest of tough spots.

Hey, maybe if they fall to 3-8, the Bombers will find a way to win six of their last seven and get to nine wins which may or may not qualify them for the post-season. But the more realistic guess is they’ll be toast and thoughts will once again have to turn to next season.

The clamour for change will hit new heights and Winnipeg the football market will become a crucible.

Miller has lots of qualifications for the job he holds but his ability to be impenetrable and above the whims of others may be the most important.

It may save the organization from yet another in a series of inglorious gaffes. From a continuation of poor hirings and quick firings which has kept this team championship-less for 25 years. From changing direction well before it’s clear they’re headed to the wrong destination.

Fans are already staying away from the stadium. The ultimate pressure — a drop in revenue will soon be on Miller’s doorstep. The board will have questions and in the past it’s right about now when they’ve wanted to be involved in providing the answers.

Less than two seasons into a fresh start program, people will want to hit the ejector seat button and start anew. It’s more difficult to continue on a path — even one facing challenges — and let people complete the tasks as put forth in a plan. Historically the Bombers have taken the easy way out. We know what that’s gotten this city’s football fans.

It may prove the planners are flawed and indeed misplaced, but it’s too early to reach that conclusion. Miller knows this.

Will he lie down in front of his office door and tell his board they’ll need to fire him in order to get to his football operations staff?

This is where it gets tricky in Bomberland. Where a volunteer board with no football administration experience gets involved in decisions from which they should be kept away. In the past they couldn’t help themselves and had to put their fingers in the pie.

They got it right when they hired Miller and board chair Brock Bulbuck promised his group would be hands-off. Now it’s time to stick to those vows. That part of the process is more important than the results of today.

Same old Bombers, you say? Attempting to influence or even removing Miller would truly be the same old Bombers. The board-influenced Bombers that fired Cal Murphy, gave Jeff Reinebold and Mike Kelly the keys to the kingdom, allowed Brendan Taman to be forced out, hired Joe Mack, extended Joe Mack, fired Paul LaPolice, installed Garth Buchko and oversaw a stadium file riddled with ineptitude.

Letting the CEO do his job and allowing him to let GM Kyle Walters and head coach Mike O’Shea continue with their plan would actually represent true change and offer hope that a new day is actually upon the Blue Bombers.

Two years isn’t enough time to turn around a professional sports franchise.

Miller has held strong on the football operations end of things to date. He hired Walters and he was involved in the process of selecting and courting O’Shea. These are his guys. He wants them to succeed. Left to his own devices, Miller will let this duo return for next year.

It’s impossible to predict what will happen next season with this team. Walters has improved the roster but he hasn’t had time to create depth. The point of Walters’ plan was to build an organization with depth and the ability to overcome injuries and the loss of talent due to free agency. To construct a scouting department which constantly churns out useful players. To hire a coach who would grow with the team and eventually take them to a Grey Cup. And then another. And another. To win championships and be a perennial contender.

From the beginning, he said it would take time. Winnipeg loved the sound of it when Walters first spoke as GM and laid out his scheme. But now, with the pain of potentially missing the playoffs once again taking hold, many in Bombers nation have developed short memories. Or they ignored the bit about time all along.

Maybe the guy in the luxury suite with purple teeth after a few too many glasses of pinot noir should be heard and his words acted upon. Perhaps the person in line at the Rum Hut sporting a paper bag has all the answers.

Or maybe it’s time to give people a real opportunity to do their job. Maybe Miller Time should be judged with a dispassionate eye and not a stopwatch.

Could "let my people go" in our case mean that we need to can Bellefeuille, and  Brohm, so that the plagues will stop?

Talk about over-reaction. This is talking about a guy's vast potential...in reverse. Geez, can we let the guy fail before everybody's declared an idiot?

I'm surprised Higgins was let go. I still think he'd make a good GM (and that's what I wanted him for) and was surprised he did come back as a coach. Taking over a team when a 'legend' at QB retires, and a 'legend' at coach goes to the NFL (wondering here.... is Popp keeping Trestmans' seat warm for a return????) really is/was a no win situation for whomever was going to be the next head man there. I agree with Goalie that the Bombers probably said no to Higgins as I can't see Higgins (or anyone for that matter) preferring the Mtrl situation to Wpg's. 
 
And why do some here insist on canning MOS? Hey, I get pissed at some of his decisions too - but IMO this team of ours, as I mentioned, it two years removed from, by far, the worst run 'pro' franchise is all of North America and quite possibly the world. I'm not over exaggerating. We have a rookie GM, rookie CEO, and rookie HC taking over (from last year) so I'm puzzled as to what the 'fire MOS' folks were expecting exactly.
 
I was/am expecting slow steady improvement and IMO we are much farther ahead then we were last year. Yes, we were blown out twice this year by Hamilton. But newsflash - and again I already said this - Hamilton is the #1 team in the league right now (it's not close) and have the best QB in the league right now (and again, it's not even close and Collaros as a lot of you know is the guy I wanted here and pined for and I was pissed when that 'release' and 'sign' thing happened before free agency) so there's no shame in that. Look what they did here to the Eskimos last night as proof as to how good they are.
 
Willy - very impressed this year with him. Last year after game 6 he was beat up and terrible. Why they left him in game after game is now answered for me. This year he's a different QB. He has learned. Even in the Hamilton beat down (prior to his leg being broke) he was still playing well and competing and wasn't nearly as terrible as he was last year during a game like that. 
I see a bright future ahead of us - and some of you want to blow it up and start yet again? Give your heads a shake. You may turn out to be right in the long run but for now unless Trestman or Mike Riley are willing to come coach here I'm in MOS's corner

Firing MOS for Higgins is literally the dumbest thing we, as an organization, could do. Firing MOS for just about anyone would be pretty dumb...

I don't want another housecleaning. Marve is going to win some games.

We played a good game. In it until the very end even without Willy, Cotton, and Adams and with Marve getting his first CFL start. Some great plays. Some really bad plays eventually ended up costing us the game. Good entertainment value. There's still hope for the season with Marve!

Why does no one think it is possible Veltung is hurt? It doesn't exactly streach the possibilities of belief.

I'm no expert but I really liked what Marve said today about running the offence at high tempo. Don't give the D time to rest. That has been sorely lacking. And it seems his skills are well-suited for the Gen3 spread-option running game along with a vertically-oriented passing game described here: http://www.footballstudyhall.com/2015/2/19/8061667/the-future-of-the-dual-threat-quarterback-spread-option-Malzahn-Briles

It was so bad, it was absolutely awesome!

exactly. LB and DB depth is essential for ST and spot duty if called for... i love that our ST guys can fill in for defensive reps without a terrible drop off.. not like in seasons past.

I don't believe it.
 
If the station is staying on the air, (it will) and if they make money from the bombers rights, they'll keep them.
 
 
ancillary question are the Bombers happy with the CJOB coverage?
 
 the cheapness of not taking Doug Brown to away games annoys me.  that's tight.
 
I'm not interested in hearing what a retired Olineman in another city has to say about the Bombers.
 
No doubt things are changing in radio and tv.

Some misguided sailors    posters on this   ship      board still think they can pull a fast one on me. Well, they're very much mistaken.

If nothing else, the Moes D will come hard and often.  The deal is to put in a O package to actually make them pay for it.   This is sort of a rubber meets road game for the Bombers.   Slinking back home, from yet another 0-fer western swing and on a new losing streak, would seem in many peoples eyes, regression.....
 
Limiting the mistakes that cost us the Stamps game, would be a good start.  

Seems to me the Coaching staff had a good look at the situation and decided Brohm did the QB sneak better than Marve. And they were right. Brohm made the sneaks looks look easy last night. I'd say that was a good decision.
That doesn't mean Marve is ruled out in different situations.