Y2C

I mentioned Michael Bishop earlier.. I sat live in attendance as Bishop, known primarily for being dumb as a post but having a rocket for an arm started and won a game in Toronto less than a week after being signed by the Bombers in '09. Under Mike "6 reverses to Brock Ralph per game, minimum!" Kelly, no less. If Nichols doesn't start the Banjo Bowl, fire everybody.

Yes, Bellefeuille is terrible, but even worse than him is Brohm. I don't just declare players crap at the drop of a hat, but Brohm has been god awful his entire pro career and I still gave him a shot. Fact is, when he got time last season he sucked. There was no excuse of "he didn't know the playbook" or anything like that, he was here even before Willy and when he got in he showed nothing. I'll give players the benefit of the doubt, probably too much, but after nothing but pick 6's and showing zero arm strength in several opportunities when do you draw the line? People bashed Dinwiddie for having a noodle arm.. Dinwiddie was Michael Bishop compared to Brohm. Bellefeuille is bad, but no one's holding a gun to the QB's head to throw that 3 yard check down. It was still him calling the plays when Willy was under center and if you'll recall, Willy would throw long passes fairly often. Brohm goes to the check down 95% of the time, unless he's feeling adventurous and throws to a receiver beyond 10 yards!

It's been a while for me since actually attending the game. You can tell that because my last LDC the Bombers actually won. Keep in mind this thread doesn't necessarily have to be about live experiences at the game, just fond memories in general of this Canadian football staple. As I said, my last time in the stands was in the midst of the 12 game win streak in 2001. This just so happened to be the last time in the archaic days of non-televised games that the Bombers-Riders Labour Day Classic was not broadcast. Just as well, it wasn't exactly an exciting game. Up and comer Kevin Glenn was getting his shot to start at quarterback for the Riders. I still vividly remember watching Dave Donaldson high stepping out of the pile on the game clinching defensive stop at the end of the game. I also recall listening to the Riders radio guys hype it up like Glenn was the next Flutie after looking somewhat competent in the game on the drive home. As we were driving there though, I read the Free Press with Dave Ritchie stating that Winnipeg should get the LDC game every other year. I mean, it shouldn't change, the weekend in Regina is too good of an experience and every true Blue Bomber fan must experience it at least once. But still, Ritchie is the man. Other memories include being at the one when Westwood kicked a last second field goal to win the game. I was pretty young but do remember watching the play and thinking "holy crap, we won!" Another one was staying at the Regina Inn and back hen the Bombers stayed there as well. My grandfather, my uncle and me shared an elevator with Reggie Slack, to specify, at the time current Bomber Reggie Slack. My uncle commented something along of the lines of "don't let it be a blowout.." Reggie says they'll try and keep it close or something like that. After we part ways my uncle's just like "I meant don't let it be a blowout for them..." A lot of time though we'd stay at the Plains Inn. It wasn't fancy, but it got the job done. As for not being in the stands, the opening drive in 2003 was magic. -Short kickoff Harold Nash returned for great field position -11 yard pass to Milton Stegall -Huge catch and run to Mike Sellers down the sideline -Nice rushing play by Charlie Roberts. He got crushed and didn't even care -Play action, Khari strolls into the endzone untouched Your turn. Share your POSITIVE LDC experiences. More than enough negative around here lately.

Let's keep Marve upright.

I remember when I thought the whole "backup QB being the most popular guy in town" was some uniquely Winnipeg thing. Turns out it isn't, unless you're dealing with a guaranteed hall of famer, every football team in every city is just a quarterback change away from a dynasty! Just like the whole Winnipeg is the only "cheap" city in the world stigma. I fancy myself to be very smart with my money. I'm in the minority on that because I see waaay too many people spending beyond their means that are now tied down to an incredible amount of debt. Only in Winnipeg do people want bargain prices on merchandise.. I wonder how many people will get trampled on Black Friday this year?

Phil the Thrill

Marve is going to be electric.

No one can ever claim universal moral high ground here. Sadly there are more negative instances that happen at the LDC and Banjo Bowl than either group would like to acknowledge, but reality is that tens of thousands of die-hard CFL fans cheering on their teams get overshadowed by a couple of drunk morons. Same deal to a lesser extent online. Riderfans has no excuse though. Come on guys, if there was ever a case of getting dumber reading someone's posts Nate is it. But, who am I to judge? If they want to hear him go on and on and on and on and on about the latest article in Winnipeg print media about the Bombers no one's going to stop you.

Probably when I tried to jump Carl Kidd.

TBH, that seems like baseless speculation. Could just as easily single out Veltung, but he had a nice week and Stoudermire has been unspectacular and fumbled a couple games ago. In any event, I do agree that I hope he and anyone returning kicks for us would recognize that sort of play developing.

Great stuff by Hamilton on the onside punt. Argos ST unit should have been aware as Stewart just bolted in there, but it being a rookie returner makes a lot of sense. I didn't see at first and was just thinking "was that Owens standing there like a goof? What was he thinking?" Nope, sure enough it wasn't. Still 0-0 if Owens was returning that.

Bonehead penalty by Hefney... No way...

It's not part of the basic Shaw package. So I just ordered the TSN sports package for $4 a month. Oh, I know. I just don't like paying for something I'd use once in a blue moon. The other TSN channels always have on either the exact same thing throughout or stuff I couldn't care less about. In these rare occurrences I'll go with a shaky quality stream. I'd have probably paid for the gold medal game, but I worked that day so would have missed the 1st anyway.

You say that as if you didn't know this would be the case going in?

I don't have it either. Same thing as the World championships gold medal hockey game. I only get the 2 TSN channels and the Jets region feed doesn't have it on. But who cares, we get to watch NASCAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111312-!~!~!

When I saw Willy was okay to play I was all like

Andrew Harris.

Jon Cornish.

The positives from the game are that it is now certain that the defensive front 7 needs serious upgrades. There are no excuses when with Calgary's o-line injuries your front is not only getting no pressure, but getting absolutely dominated. The group is mostly going to get a chance to turn it around though, because let's face it, who's out there to sign before NFL cuts? That's okay though. It isn't as though we have 7 useless plugs up front. Now it's a situation where if these guys don't show they can be effective they're going to be searching for a job sooner rather than later. It's sink or swim time for a lot of guys (not just on D, btw). So yes, as far as positives go, at least as we get further into the season we're starting to separate the recurring problems from early season anomalies. Plus as lackluster as Hurl has been as a non-factor at MLB, he is still an improvement from the negative suffered with Kuale in the middle.

I don't have knee jerk reactions to games, so it's nice to get some closure. I don't care what the circumstances are, to not take advantage of Calgary's o-line situation is unacceptable. The front 7 has been under scrutiny from the start, but this tears it. The thing is, changes clearly need to happen on the defensive front, but what exactly can you do before NFL cuts? The guys we have now are going to have a chance to prove themselves before the axe comes down, so all we can do is hope. Got to single him out, Hurl has the right passport but that's it. When you're the MLB you have to be involved in the game. A month into the season and can you name a single play he has made? The only time I notice him is when I see a replay and he's negated by the offense with ease. As I say, he's got every opportunity to redeem himself. And of course it's hardly all on him. Zero pressure on a line patched together with chewing gum is a far bigger problem than one guy.

No team has ever started with 4 games on the road? I guess 2012 didn't happen then? Oh, how I wish that were the case.

Well you apparently know a lot more than I do. I was sure I heard he didn't make it out of camp, but I heard about it a while ago, so..

Yeah the Entourage vibe comes from having Mark Wahlberg as the producer. Its very like the Entourage as well in that they have guest stars from the NFL (current and past players and coaches) playing versions of themselves, much like Entourage has a lot of movie stars playing themselves, and as Entourage was supposed to be a glimpse of sorts into how Hollywood works this show is supposed to be a glimpse into how the NFL operates, including contract negotiations etc. I like it, it's pretty funny, and the Rock is pretty good in his role as a newly retired NFL player trying to become a financial manager while dealing with his past concussion history and lingering pain/painkiller addiction, and also trying to retain a shred of integrity. I highly recommend it to football fans. The slam on Saskatchewan was the first CFL reference I've seen so far, but I expect a few more. What is funny is that the Rock actually played for Calgary in 1995. He attended training camp. He wasn't good enough to make the team.

Nick Moore.

Listen, the chest thumping from a lot of Rider fans is unbearable, and we've been subjected to Glen Suitor fawning over anything in green for over a decade now, but nobody deserves to endure Nate's try-hard schtick. Rider Nation are good people. Passionate CFL fans, the vast majority of them. Rivalries are one thing, but to subject another group of human beings to Nate's ramblings? Do you not have a heart? Enjoying a forum without Nate's goofiness? Wondering how I ever got along without the use of "z"s in the place of "s"s... It being so kewl and all.