K-Shack

I went to the 2019 Cup not expecting a win (I had more hope going into the 2011 Cup, the other time I went to the game), but feeling like I needed to be there just in case we beat what turned out to be paper Tigercats. Suffice to say I'm very glad I went. 
Hope for the best, expect the worst, and sometimes you get to see the first Grey Cup win since you were 8 years old.

All the deserved love to Lucky Whitehead aside, Bailey coming in for him was another key cog in making us a tougher team in 2019 (along with the obvious Zach factor and BA taking over at safety). Also wild that we had Chris Matthews starting earlier that year until he was replaced by one Kenny Lawler.

what on earth is even going on here with this independent thread of craziness.......?

as I thought.....Haba....Hansen...Clements all fully dressed and participating in practice today.....Grant running sprint drills....I bet all 4 could be in the BB lineup...but 3 likely
Haba...Hansen..Grant in,,,Mcrae..Jackson...Mauro out.....now wouldn't that be a boost all around

this is a really ******* weird turn in the Week Of LDC thread......

Dobson has one more year of ELC and Tui just signed a spankin' new 3 year deal late in this past off-season....

Yeah I think this yr we get the best olineman available with our first pick...It's time to groom the next Eli/Dobson.....and keep that cupboard full with top talent...Next pick best be a high upside defensive guy on the line, as the 2 guys we drafted last yr...ain't gonna be anything, and Bennett won't really be either...unless he makes some dramatic turn around this yr, but he will be turning 28 next yr during the season...so not like he is a young development project
I do like Cole tho, and can see a role for him...christ see one now, and he has been getting more and more reps on defence when the game still matters, so obviously the team see's it too.
I still think he would make a killer safety or SAM personally, same with Ford, and this was his one time shot for the NFL...guys like him are dime a dozen in the NFL talent pool coming out of school every yr, and with U.S football experience, I was shocked he got a deal, but it was based mainly on his testing numbers....so hopefully we lock him up after his rookie deal...He also is a real good returner, so would be extra valuable on the game day roster

Oliviera about $115,000 with roster/housing plus some incentives.  Augustine is about $110,000 with his roster/housing bonuses, don't think he'll reach any other incentives.  50-55k saving if it's a rookie Canadian.  Less if it's a guy further along his career.
Mike Miller is another one opening up some money they might be able to use this year.  He's about $100,000 after housing.

yeah you have to replace them...but you will be replacing them with entry level deals, or just a tad over league minimum as opposed to 3...and 4th contract guys...so the cumulative number adds up...Best bet for next yr vet deals likely to be off the books will be Darby, Lawrence, Thomas, Augustine, Briggs, Hallett, Kramdi, Kolo and maaaaybe Neuf as we need to integrate both Eli and Dobson into the starting lineup or risk losing Dobson, as Eli is locked up into 2025.
Not sure what plan is for Cole and Clement moving forward, but likely one will see the road, and we replace with a rookie...I could also see Bennett not making the cut next yr, especially if we are able to land one of, or both of Bennet and Kongbo from the Hammer.
Bailey I doubt we move away from as he is pretty key to the offence as a whole and he is dirt cheap...so bumping him up for next yr wont kill us, and he has done nothing to play himself off the team...Unless they make the decision to actually give Agudosi a real chance and see if he can fill the Bailey role, as his rep in the NFL journey was the same type of tenacious player, especially on ST's...But u can bet next yr that the Lawler/Schoen/Demski/woli quartet will be back
 

you're right... I missed that... and I thoroughly disagree... Born in Canada, played minor ball in Canada, played high school football up to grade 12 in Canada... yes, he is Canadian... I can't imagine why someone would argue otherwise 
Sidney Crosby spent his 15-year old season at Shattuck St Mary's in Minnesota and has been in Pittsburgh since he turned 18... is he Canadian? 

I don't think these players constitute much in savings at all once you factor in the cost of replacement for them. Bailey and Darby...maybe 25k in savings combined if replaced by rookies, Neufeld maybe 20k after you extend Dobson to replace him, and Thomas maybe 20k if you draft a rookie or sign a league min NAT to replace him. That might get one of the two mentioned extended but definitely not both and maybe not even one. Every player that leaves the salary savings are their current salary minus cost of replacement.
Dalton and Brady are currently on their rookie deals. Dalton will get 200k on the open market....easily...he might sign here for slightly less but we will need to find at minimum 100k in SMS savings, and Brady easily deserves 130-145k. That's another 70-75k in savings needed. We will need to move on from big fish to get that kind of space. The obvious wild card will be how much savings is created by the 6 game this year to offset the SMS next year.

Houston may also be due for a raise but I think he's more replaceable if need be with ADS and others able to take on a corner spot. The other players that come to mind are Dobson and Eli, depending on contract status.

I believe Woli is a full-time Winnipegger now... so he gets bonus points for that!
I agree with you but I think you are confusing a few key points...
no one is questioning Rourke's Canadian status... the comp of Woli was to Ben Cahoon... Rourke is 100% Canadian and the fact that he played college call in the US just shows how good he is/was
I think what bothers some people is why all the Rourke love and no one else... does TSN even know there's another Canadian QB starting in the league right now who is also making an impact?... seems like all they want to do is talk about Rourke... all the bending over backwards they did for Rourke last year and nothing for Ford this year?... Ford might actually be at the perfect skill level where he could become a great CFL player but never really "great enough" to get an NFL look

I do believe you're right. Folks here were hoping Stubler would come here as the new DC under O'Shea . Instead we got Etcheverry. 

Pretty embarrassing I can find my beer league hockey stats from 2008 but have a hard time finding stats from previous CFL seasons. 

So... no sign of Miller or Grant?

Take it easy on Bluto! Great to see him posting hear and also the CFL needs more Argo Fans like Bluto!
I agree Bluto - I am looking forward to the Argo game against my Bombers - Just to see who might be Number 1!! And I for one am glad that the Argos have a good QB. The CFL needs all the help it can get and a good Argo team is good for all the league.

It's pretty unlikely the Argos win a game between Winnipeg and Sask... but I like your confidence!

I believe the scenario was he once ate a bag of ketchup chips while watching a Beachcombers episode

As a stupid 17 year old, I fully believed in Reinebold and "a younger mentality" after Kindly Cal's old school ways. In a lot of ways, those seasons galvanized me as a Bombers fan. So many jumped off the wagon, and I was determined to hang on. I have vivid memories of listening to the Troy Kopp game on my little CD/Radio in my BU dorm room and just screaming and yelling so loud that people came running down the hall wondering what the hell was going on. Ha ha. 
2013.... the irony of a shitty defense then is that Burke circa 2011 is one of the best DC's we've ever had. Lapo even said he was the biggest FA acquisition they made going into that year and a big reason why we went to the Cup. 
There were dark times, and I certainly came close (as Matty Geebs alluded to, 2013 era was SO bad...) but 17to85, in one of the only times I can think of him ever being right about anything, said " You have to hang on because one day this is going to end, and when it does it's going to be all the more glorious for having gone through this ****".... damned if he wasn't right for once. 

The Bombers did a few things that off season that would really shape the current culture that we have today. Taking the intern tag off of Walters and bringing in Danny Mac and Ted Goveia ended up being huge moves that paid off in the long term. I thought Walters getting Chris Randle and the 26th pick for the 24th pick was high way robbery. Randle was really a bright spot on some bad Bomber defences during those first couple of season of the current regime. 

1997 called and is laughing right now.  I honestly don't think I watched a single game in 1997 or 1998.  In 1997 I was in Australia and "streaming games" wasn't a thing back then yet.  I was back in Canada in 1998 but the Bombers were so bad I think I passed on most of that season too.  I got back into the Bombers again in 1999 after Reinebold was hoofed out.  I just couldn't stand that idiot.  Even now when I saw him on the sidelines at the home opener with Hamilton this year I had an attack of PTSD just seeing him standing in a Winnipeg football stadium.  Yuck....

Hard to say, look at the players he had to work with, can't make lemonade from potatoes.  

To finish off the month the Bombers would continue to tweak both their roster and their coaching staff. They announced Gary Etcheverry as their new Defensive Coordinator, and tweaked their quarterback depth chart by releasing backup Justin Goltz and trading their 5th round draft pick in 2014 to the Tiger-Cats in exchange for QB Brian Brohm.
Off-season Timeline: Winnipeg Blue Bombers - CFL.ca
Oh how far we have come!

https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/leaders... significantly better than cfl.ca 
Your memory is typically impeccable for these sort of thing so I hesitate to question you... but I believe O'Shea had Stubler tapped to be the DC... then he chose Calgary instead... leading to the hiring of Etchevarry.