Captain Blue

Adding crazy confusing rules like this will only make it more difficult to attract new fans. Great job CFL.

I can't fault them too much for thinking we're going to run this thing back for as long as possible until the wheels fall off.

And now he's the head coach of my favourite football team. How cool is that? In ten years some other former Canadian CFL player could be coaching someone else's favourite football team and maybe that resonates with him or her.

If the ratio didn't exist there would be no Mike O'Shea story, and countless others just like that. Those stories are what make the CFL personal and connected to people, not just Yet Another Football League.

I thought Buck Pierce had a really rough game plan today. Way too much Prukop, thought he was trying real hard to pull off the fancy play. Maybe he was trying for a change of pace since Collaros was also brutal, but I'm surprised we couldn't generate more in the run game when needed. You don't often see the Bombers fail at so many spots in one game. Offense (Collaros and Pierce especially) was just off all night. Defense didn't make the major play that we thought they would. Liegghio's short kick offs and missed kicks made the difference too. Plenty of blame to go around.

Great year, awful loss. Whole team flat out didn't bring it today. Lot of head scratching decisions offensively today and by the staff.

Dickenson challenging a play to prolong his team's own agony is hilariously stupid. What a classless loser. We should have run up the score.

You know, the classic FNF theme is enjoyable.

Everyone getting sucked into this debate is just giving the opposing viewpoint more air. There are very few folks that think that hit was clean. Most wear a lot of green.

Thing is they really aren't there to protect Marino, or really most players that require discipline. These players make up a tiny fraction of their constituents. They benefit more from protecting the majority of players, particularly the ones that make them money (QBs). For instance if anyone has followed the Deshaun Watson stuff in the NFL, when Roger Goodell appealed the initial discipline decision, Goodell was then able to appoint whoever he wanted for the appeal. This seems extremely odd, right? But that is because for the NFLPA it's not worth fighting over (or conceding something else in return). They aren't going to fight over something that affects such a small amount of players.

Folks, we also need to talk about something very, very important: are we keeping the three stripes the rest of the season on our helmets? Cause I sure hope not.

Sometimes when there are borderline dirty players we'll see commentators and other supposedly neutral observers try to word things carefully. The fact that Rider homer Glenn Suitor called it a cheap shot and you've got other TSN personalities now calling it out show how far gone Marino is. The league needs to feel heat for this, it is pretty clear that Marino is very likely to do this again next week if he's on the field at all.

Hopefully the league suspends Marino for the next game. Hard to see how on earth the refs and command centre missed it but given their track record I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The CFL has to protect the quarterbacks, because there are already a limited number of really good ones. You want your stars healthy, and even the NFL understands that now. The Riders organization really needs a top down tear down. You've got assistant coaches ripping into refs. My favourite was Dickinson throwing the challenge on the OPI and a larger fellow in a bright green jacket just running out onto the field yelling. This is not about Dickinson "controlling" the team. That is, in my opinion, an old concept and view of coaching. You have to employ both coaches and players who understand how their actions affect the team. Its on individuals to hold themselves accountable. This is one of O'Shea's strengths. The Riders coaches and players continually cross boundaries that they shouldn't, with no regard for how it impacts the collective team.

Just a weird and fun LDC. Offenses hot out of the gate and then the defenses bounced back. Our offensive gameplan was out of sync today. A lot of poor interior runs and deep balls. They need to find a way to get the intermediate game going again. Defense was real bad to start but made the right adjustments. Frankie Hickson is a legit threat though. Kudos to Legs for a big kick. We really need Janarion Grant back - continually giving up too many singles on punts/kicks. Thought it was going to bite us.

In my opinion the people promising never to be back were likely not buying tickets anyways. Edmonton just flat out sucks and that's going to hurt the ticket sales more than anything else.

I think O'Connor has a good ćhance to be solid, especially with those good receivers. He's not very mobile though and that is going to be a huge change for BC. Gonna give up a ton of sacks in my opinion.

I really like Steinauer but wow is Hamilton just a mess. And with the QB situation there so awful right now its hard to see them turning things around soon.

Honestly the CFL needs coaches that are more likeable. Or simply less hateable. I think the hold call against Calgary was definitely on the softer side but the refs also may have cost us a defensive TD so Dickenson should stay quiet.

Exciting game. Both teams had their ups and downs. Calgary is much better with Maier in at QB, I can't see them moving back to Mitchell any time soon. Defense struggled a lot so that'll need plenty of work heading into Labour Day. Collaros really has to stop on the red zone picks. Think Al Bradbury may have given us a bit of a gift on that holding call but I'll take it - was surprised they hadn't called some earlier.

Defense just awful tonight. Really can't contain or tackle. This is going to be a tough one for them to watch film on next week. Feels like we are in big trouble now.

Pretty skeptical they will call that PI

Entertaining game. Calgary looking better than I anticipated.

Montreal needed a generous DPI and a very fortunate offside to score their touchdowns. Not too worried about that. Would have been nice for us to get the DPI call in overtime in my opinion but oh well. Refs were their usual inconsistent selves. Montreal's defense deserves full credit though. They got after it and kept them alive all game. Our OL is dinged up and needs the bye badly. Offense still needs to find their identity too. I'm not confident in Legs but would be stunned if we moved on. He has had a mostly good year and kickers across the league are not very good. We are gonna ride it out I think. Poorly played game on our part and fitting to lose on kicks after benefiting earlier in the year. Get healthy and carry on. At least TSN can stop talking about the various streaks.

Agreed, and we really need to stop making this a thing. Football players have limited years to make their money. They should make as much as they possibly can.

They really shouldn't, right? Super annoying, hurts the TV product immensely and it's artificial sound. It doesn't even create a fun and intense environment (compared to say a packed house screaming and clapping).