Captain Blue

http://www.bluebombers.com/article/blue-bombers-release-defensive-back-jonathan-hefney Well there's one big move so far. Not completely shocking and I'm in favour of it. Hefney's play had dropped, and obviously he's made some bad headlines.

I would argue that the reason players perform better with different coaches is that the other coach or coaches have found better ways to get more out of him with a scheme, less because they were able to inspire them.

Surely I can't be the only one who left 1.5 to 2 hours before a game to get to Canad Inns. The people who now have to leave that early to get to IGF will get used to it or find another way to get to the game.

Personally I feel like the ability to "inspire" or "motivate" is overblown. These guys shouldn't need motivation and if they do then maybe that's been the problem all along. Really I'd rather just have a coach that excels at the Xs and Os of the game.

My biggest issue with Tim Burke is not what he says, but rather that he has decided to stick with Buck Pierce despite seeing what has happened in previous years with him.

Bingo. Leave early, park somewhere and walk in to the stadium. Did it for years at the old one and while I realize that I have benefitted from the location change, I think others will find a plan that works for them.

I used to leave my house at or before 5:30 for 7 pm games. I considered that "normal" considering the increased traffic and where I lived (south end of the city). People that live far away from this stadium will soon get used to their new normal too. And on a side note, if buying tickets comes down to whether it will take 1 - 1.5 hours to get to the stadium I have to question your motives for going to the game at all (I mean this generally, not to you personally).

That seems waaaaaaaaay too extreme. The new stadium is actually closer to my house, close enough that I can ride my bike so this clearly affects me less, but to get to Canad Inns I used to leave about an hour and a half before game time. That left me enough time to find a parking spot, walk to the stadium and still make sure to get the player intros and the rest of the opening ceremonies. People will adjust, including casual fans. How many of us really thought about how long it took us to get to Canad Inns? I just accepted the fact that to get there at my desired time I had to leave 1.5 hours before. Once people find their time, whether its 2 hours, 1 hour or 30 minutes they'll just get used to it. And if anyone doesn't want their season tickets you can just mail a couple my way and I will happily suffer through the traffic for you.

Forget windows, they should just seal it shut with a nice wall.

Bob Irving said Goltz was throwing the ball really well yesterday (said this during the game) but then he had only two throws once I checked the stats...

To be completely honest, I think this whole thing is getting overblown by the media. Now that's not to say yesterday wasn't a HUGE mess - because it clearly was - but they will figure things out and people will adjust. I've heard complaints today from people already pre-complaining for the October games... I think once everyone figures out what works best for them and adjusts their schedule accordingly it'll be fine. At Canad Inns I think we all knew what exact time we had to leave by to get there at whatever time we thought was appropriate, but we only figured out that 'sweet spot' through trial and error.

Brown was just awful last night...criticism is fine, especially when the team was playing badly, but he crossed a line in my opinion. Also it's a preseason game and he was unhappy with all the players moving in and out of the lineup. Truthfully at one point I had to question whether he knew what the point of the preseason is.

Cohon just pronounced the Ottawa name wrong, he forgot to yell it.

CFL.ca should really update their stats faster.

Dickenson's got a little work to do.

I'm going to play Devil's Advocate on this one (a little). Buck Pierce is clearly the best QB on the roster right now, even if I do feel that we should just move on and get it over with. So I understand why Buck is the starter and I'm not going to argue that he shouldn't right now - we are trying to win games and the best chance to do that right now is with Buck Pierce under center However, I don't think Buck has reached an untouchable position. For instance while I think we all make a point about Buck 'just needing to stay healthy,' its not that simple. He's struggled with consistency and even when is healthy and playing well, his top level of play hasn't been that high in recent years. Now we can go and blame LaPolice and whoever else, but I think it's possible (although not likely) that a some point this year the Bombers may have to consider that even a healthy Buck is not the best option. I guess this doesn't have much to do with the preseason game or Twitter but that spurred me on.

It's quiet in here...

Site's slowing down...must be due to traffic (see what I did there?) No laughs? I'll see myself out...

All this talk about Irving, but does anyone else feel that Mitch Zalnasky (can't remember if I spelled that right) is pretty bad? I wish they had a stronger colour commenter.

I thought the same thing when I checked out the tickets last week. I want to be able to see everything, and much prefer the upper level to an endzone seat. You're just screwed half of the time in the endzone.

If you're not a season ticket holder and on a limited income (student or otherwise) why wouldn't you hold out and save up for a regular season game? Maybe if they offered them cheaper than usual more would consider it. Heck the only reason I thought about going was after TSN canned the game. Even still decided against it.

I honestly thought this was an elaborate prank that I had missed out on when I saw the all caps posts. This is a terrible idea. Why would you want to write the name Ottawa REDBLACKS like that? Between this and the French conversation to Rouge et Noir (which as someone pointed out already makes no sense since the team is not the Red and Black) this new team clearly is not a fan of the English language. I thought the name was pretty bad to start with but stuff like this really does make it way too ridiculous.

I'm interested in seeing how this plays out. Burke's harped on discipline and accountability. Hefney's math is starting to work against him: level of play decreased + goofing off + pot charge. I said prior to this coming out that I'd be fine with cutting Hefney and now I'm even more in favour of the move. And again, not just because of the pot charge but I'm sure the media will make that a nice talking point.

Very nice touch!

I was expecting to see more from Etienne. There is no doubt that he has improved, but he's probably equivalent to Rory Kohlert now.