GCn20

Wait until Sankey, and Dean leave, and they strike out in FA, for the exact same reasons BLM said no thanks...RF heads are going to explode. True...and that's exactly the type of crap the Riders organization insists Harvard hires in their PbP guy. You can't speak a negative word about the Riders in a year where they keep piling cars onto the train wreck.....what's left to say that won't sound deliriously optimistic or foolish. Couple that with a guy known to be a blowhard and you've got what we see now. Just straight up ridiculousness and not all of it is on Ballsy. Although, he sure makes no effort to minimize it either. It's their fan base that drives this. Ever read anything negative about the Riders online that has a comment section? Pure gold the reaction it gets. However, when you are in THAT market, THAT reaction is business suicide so you have to skip merrily down lollipop lane so as not to trigger Riderfans who are blissfully adrift in their delusions.

I agree. Bailey's a team guy and will play to the whistle every down and not air his stuff out in the media but based on some visible frustration he showed last year. I think it is pretty apparent he wants to be featured more in an offence. I am not sure we can really provide him with that opportunity. Also, we traded away a DE for Darby...Keion was an emergency type signing. Maybe if he comes in cheap enough or the Bombers scouting staff poops the bed on DE prospects, but otherwise I don't expect him back.

Very under rated teamer.

Friend of mine just taught me to refill 1lb cylinders from a 20lb tank with an adaptor he bought from Amazon. Game changer. I ordered one and should be in next week. I feel so stupid for buying them at full cost now. I have a hose adaptor for a 20 lb tank but I hate hauling the 20lb tank when I just pop out of a couple hours in front of my cottage so I go through a fair amount of 1lb tanks out of convenience. Now I can refill them easily off my BBQ. Geez.....

I have fished both and have seen bohemeths out of Clearwater. Athapap you can spend days trying to get one or two of the same size fish as you will get in an afternoon at Clearwater. Could you break a world record at Athapap? Yep. Will you? Not unless you know that lake like the back of your hand and get lucky. If you go out on a guided trip from Bakers Narrows they will put you on some good spots but even the guides there aren't going to find you anything that you can't get at Clearwater. For my money Clearwater is the best bet. You will catch big Lakers and you will catch numbers. Even Reed Lake is a better destination than Athapap because you will get on walleye, and big pike at the same time as you are fishing the Lakers. Honestly, the allure of Athapap is that it had the world record Laker for a long time and that brings the people there, but it's Laker population and sizes for a guy making a trip once a year just don't mesh up with what is reported about that lake. I know crap loads of serious ice fisherman from the North and they all tend to agree with me on that. Nothing against Athapap....but the size of fish you can expect out of there is pretty wildly overstated. I did GBL when I was a teenager with my Dad. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. We didn't catch anything overwhelmingly big but weather didn't cooperate with us either.

Evans contract is a hefty bonus (not sure how much) upon reporting for TC and passing his physical. Something that Andrew Harris would not sign up for last year btw and the Bombers were called oderous for asking for that provision, although it is standard in most contracts.

I am sure IF Saskatchewan is willing to pay his current contract that Evans would be fine with that. If he is released, his best option at starting is still probably Saskatchewan and I don't believe they will offer him 440k. Saskatchewan desperately needs a starting QB before FA or no player will touch them with a 10 foot pole. Hamilton has all the leverage to force Saskatchewan to trade for his contract. It really is essential they have their QB in place soon.

They were messing with us. I thought holy crap here we go again around the mulberry bush...lmao.

After the deadline NFL teams are not allowed and won't make offers anymore. Offer has to come in before the deadline. This was the only way the NFLPA would allow the NFL to talk to/sign players currently under contract (option year window) with the CFL. They were initially dead set against it.

If Hamilton really wants to do right by Evans they trade him and not release him. I am positive that Evans would be OK with that because he wants his current contract in place at his new destination.

Wow....this really was the Riders only hope at having any kind of a chance at a winning record this year. Hear me out before laughing. With BLM, there could have been an outside chance he would inspire and bring a path to a winning culture. Yes, I know he would have got killed behind that OL. Really so will anyone else that the Riders could sign. Harris...dead....Evans...dead. All you really got is a hope and a prayer at BLM, and that he brings a culture change with him. That dream is now dead...and so is their season. Sankey, Lanier, Dean...they all waited to see if maybe BLM was coming and now that he is not I would be shocked if they don't go to FA...unless of course the Riders massively overpay.

I doubt the NFL would react kindly to CFL teams attempting to sign players that are under contract in their league. Soooo...basically anyone else.

Bass are fun for sure. Bass are great, but a 50 inch laker is the ultimate test of an ice fisherman imo....and Athapap is not the best place for big Lakers...Clearwater is a better option.

Demski wasn't re-signed until mid February in 2019, and he stated at that time the deal was done some time ago but he just hadn't put pen to paper on it before that as he was out of the country. Could be the same scenario again.

Going out for Rainbow's Saturday just down the road and hitting Clearwater for Lakers next week. Last year I hit the Northern Grand Slam for master angler fish. Hoping to get my first two species knocked out in the next few days. Need my rainbow and Laker. I got all wnter for Jack and pickerel..so not worried about that at all. Got mid lake a few miles from home for the rainbows ...but I suck at small trout fishing.

Eli played a few games at OG in 2021 when Neufeld was nicked up and he looked really good at OG. I don't think we have seen him at OC yet but that being his natural position and with his mean streak....yikes. He is Dom Picard with size. I agree. I know, I for one, am done with the covid discussion. Right now, we are back to normal....let's enjoy that while being mindful that covid could come back and leave it at that.

I don't agree with his decision, but I kind of envy his commitment to his beliefs. There are far worse people in this world than those who have faith. That's 2 GOATs back. Nice work KW.

Yes, math is good. Your figures are not though. First of all, Rourke's cap hit last year was only around 40k as he was 6 gamed twice and then ended the season as being the Lions bring back (one per each half of the season) that didn't count against the cap so subtract 30k from you "savings". Secondly, Burnham is not 165k in savings. He is 165 minus the cost of replacement which is at bare minimum 70k. That puts his cap savings at 95k if they go with a complete rookie at minimum salary. Thirdly, you nor I know whether Pipkin will remain a Lion. Therefore you are counting SMS savings that do not currently exist. There is a very good chance they bring him back, but if they don't you still need to factor in cost of replacement which makes it a wash because he was making bottom of the barrell money. So...here is the math...with the actual correct context and based on player coming in at bare minimum as replacements. Pipkin 80k..replacement 80k...net 0 Burnham 165k - replacement 70k - 95k savings Rourke- 40k - replacement qb 70k - net 30k loss Adams 75k - 2022 - 370k - net 295k loss Therefore your 391k of savings, although calculated mathematically correct, was containing figures out of context. Here is the REAL math. 95k -30k-295k that creates not a savings of 391k like your made up scenario, but an actual bare minimum shortfall of 230k from last year....and this is assuming that the Lions will roll with a 2nd string QB, 3rd string QB, and starting IMP receiver making league mins which is highly unlikely. So wrap your head around that for awhile and continue sticking your head in the sand and suggesting losing Rourke's league minimum salary doesn't make a big difference on their SMS. Whenever you are counting "savings" you need to always factor in cost of replacement as someone has to take those roster spots. The cheapest amount is league minimum and that is the very least for every single player that must be used when calculating savings. Realistically, the Lions QB room at ALL 1st, 2nd, and 3rd string will come in higher than last year.

Here is what we know to be fact about Tui. Up until his vaccination status kept him out of the 2021 Grey Cup, he was widely regarded as our best non-starting OL, with many suggesting that he was the heir apparent for an OL spot when one opened up. He plays mean, nasty football and excelled every time he was thrown into the lineup. He is a natural centre that can play OG at a high level. We know he accepted a 3 year deal to be here. Here is what we don't know. We don't know why he refused his 2nd vaxx. We don't know how committed he is to staying the entire 3 years. We don't know what a year away from the game has done to him (however when we got him it was after 2 years non-playing), we don't know what if anything has changed in his life or maturity level, we don't know how he will be accepted in the locker room on his return. I really love what we know about him, want answers about what we don't know, and am willing to bet that KW has a lot of the answers we are wondering about and felt comfortable putting ink to paper on him.

Personally I would like to hear something from Eli before I pass judgement. We have not heard Eli's version of events, or potential reasons for not getting vaxxed. Also, I will not hold one decision made 2 years ago against him indefinitely. Maybe he matured since then, maybe he has changed his thoughts on the matter, maybe he apologized and told Walters he was just a dumb, selfish kid who is asking for another chance after a year of reflection. We don't know. Therefore, If KW is happy to sign him, I'm happy to have him. The pandemic is not technically over but the chances of us going back to mass lockdowns etc certainly is.

The DTs had nothing to do with Biggie's lack of tackles imo. In fact, if the DTs were useless he would have had gaudy numbers and been playing in the tackle box all year. Fact of the matter is that losing Brandon Alexander down the middle of our defence, and Wilson' speed at WIL had more to do with Bighill's lack of tackles. He was often dropping back to help cover the S position in the intermediate zone or taking a larger section of the field to the WIL side than he normally would have to on plays in the flats. You can't be everywhere at once. If DTs were the problem he would have had inflated numbers like Sankey, and we would have got gashed over the middle in the passing game. Not worried about that cliff at all. We moved on from Andrew freakin' Harris when it was time, and there is no more a controversial move one can make than that in Winnipeg. If Walters gets the feeling a player is approaching that cliff I am sure they will be ready in that eventuality.

I can imagine how stoked the RIder coaches must be at the prospect of trading out one blubbering, crying, finger pointing, mental mess of a QB only to replace him with his exact doppelganger from another team. BROKEN. The Riders would be better off with a Dru Brown or another young QB that isn't mentally broken. Not sure what they are thinking about really. There is no pressure on him in Jacksonville, they are a team on the rise with a great offensive system and that seems to earnestly believe in him. Good for him, I say.

That would be true if Montreal hadn't paid 2/3 of Adam's salary before they traded him last year. Last year's total cap hit for Adams to the Lions was 75k. Between Rourke's time and Adams pay they came in at less than a 100k for their starting QB. Adams is due for 350-370k this year. Do the math TB. Montreal is not paying 280k of Adams contract this year. It doesn't matter who is ahead of you on the depth chart if the coaches are bringing you in to be TCF. Rourke went to the best opportunity he could find where he earnestly believed the coaches will give him a fair shot. NFL politics being what it is, I don't blame him.

We pay more for our starting QB than they do...advantage BC Our QB salary is only going up 50k over last year compared to 280k for the Lions....advantage Winnipeg We were 15-3 with a 550k QB last year, no reason to believe that the extra 50k we will spend on Collaros this year makes any difference. The Lions paid around a 100k on starting QB last year, they need to find 250k in their budget this year. Not as bad as it would have been if Rourke stayed and got his 600k but still some tough decisions for BC. They field pretty much exactly the same unit as last year but they need to chop 2-3 high end players. We don't. We have already incorporated ZC into our salary structure before. We did our sacrificing last year. BC is in a significantly tougher spot than we are.

VAJ's contract is 350k per. He was already paid his offseason bonus of 190k and half the remaining 150k last year when BC got him so he came in at around 75k for them last year, this year they gotta pay the whole enchilada.