GCn20

The 2001 Bombers didn't show up for the game, that won't happen with this crew.

Yea...I think it was Joe Mack's buddy Dom Capers that signed Mulumba and led him to believe he was TCF and would be available to the Bombers. Even still we did have a chance to sign him in 2018. Mulumba wanted to play, wanted to come to the CFL, but Walters was restrained by SMS and lowballed him and couldn't offer him the one year deal he wanted (no option year at that time). His agent then went goofy nuts and crapped all over the CFL and demanded a trade, and I would assume no other team would touch him with a 10 foot pole after realizing his agent was goofy nuts and was demanding big salary if he was to sign for more than a year.

That being said it is the NFL. Roster churn and shiny draft picks are common there.

Did Walters tell him that? I haven't heard anything to that effect. Mulumba talked a great game when he was drafted..how honored he was and how he would be up in Winnipeg in a New York minute if the NFL didn't work out. Bilikudi was simply a 3rd round BPA. A gamble that didn't pay off. Mack drafted piss poor for sure but all GMs screw some picks up. Mack was Mulumba, Walter's had Ekakitie...it is what it is. Mulumba would have been a beast in the CFL but he wouldn't play on an entry level contract...so be it.

Some QB have early success and then are figured out, others have the talent to have long successful careers because they don't have glaring weaknesses to exploit.

Amazing that any fan base would think a member of the opposition should help their player up.

I can't blame any of these guys for chasing it, PR makes more money than they can make up here as a general rule. WIth the state of our dollar factored in they are making good money and if activated for a few games it becomes significantly higher. However, once you are booted from one team's PR you should just give up the ghost and cash in over here. Your chances of sticking somewhere else even on their PR becomes remote.

There is a crap load of collusion amongst the owners to blackball fringe NFLers who are just a few games shy of pension. This is a well known fact. Many guys career prospects dry up suddenly as they approach that number even if they are still useful players.

I wasn't that big on Bilikudi but I always thought Mulumba would be up here. Didn't realize he would hold us hostage for a huge contract and make us walk away.

True,,,but I remember a few other phenoms in their first few starts tearing the league up in the recent past., Jon Jennings, Casey Printers, and Cody Fajardo are all cautionary tales about appointing young QBs as future MOPs too early. Jon Jennings, in particular, looked like he could do no wrong his first season. Something like 5500 yds passing with 30 TDs passing. He looked like he was on his way. He crashed and burned when DCs figured him out. Same with Printers, same with Fajardo....just saying.

Point taken on the Bilikudi and Mulumba watch.

Yelling at clouds today? Many fans here love Strevy and want to discuss his post Bomber career. Not sure why that is triggering you. Maybe time for a Snickers lol.

This game is just another indication that our starting offence is just too hard to defend and knows how to finish. In order to beat us a team is gonna have to score a few TDs. I can count on one hand how many times that has happened in the past 2.5 years.

Very impressive game by Ford.

A legit shot right now, as in next season, probably not..but he has enormous upside I'm sure a few teams would want to take a long look at on the PR. From there it's up to Rourke whether he wants to bet on himself. He has indicated he is interested in taking an NFL shot. For sure. Coming back this season is extremely risky for him. Not sure what his mindset is for doing it?

My best guess is he wants to get in synch with his offense before the playoffs, so he looks sharp in his final game

QFT...the only team that can beat the Bombers are the Bombers themselves. I don't care what team comes in and plays the best ball they've every played against us, if we play our best ball...WE WIN. I think the Bombers are expecting the Lions to protect their QBs heading into the playoffs by running a lot. Gauthier is a very good run stopper and you don't want Bighill risking his health by having to be the hammer all game.

There was a bunch of talk by Naylor and Lalji about the Lions being unable to do anything about his contract this year. In so far as the first two years go it's definitely a no-go for extensions or pay raises in that time frame. The question remains about what a team's ability is in the option year. TBurg may very well be right, but it just seems farfetched to me that the CFLPA would insist on the 3rd year to be an option year, and then allow there to be no options to speak of. I am not sure why you would roll out a wounded duck QB just before the playoffs either?

Was just reading an article by Dave Naylor stating he does not know if an extension is allowed next year or not but that it cannot be worked out before the NFL window when he enters his option. He stated the exact same thing that the wording is ambiguous and that league sources had not replied to him on his inquiry on the matter. The article was from August.

If you believe someone could turn it around, I suppose you are right. I am not sure there was time enough to do it. Throwing the party under the bus is exactly what he needed to do. Therefore, he will be seen as an agent for change both within but most importantly from outside the party. Also, I believe he had to get his profile up a little higher so that he is a household name not just an up and comer when he makes his run.

It was a no win situation for anyone coming in after Pallister and the pandemic. Stefanson is a place holder, and imo knew she was coming in as one. This is just my opinion, based on talking with people associated with the party, that they felt the tide had moved too far in Winnipeg to be able to recover in time for the next election. They did not want to tarnish a new long term leader with what is surely going to be a big defeat next year. I think the party felt the only person who could smooth things out with the electorate and stop the seat bleed in Winnipeg would be Heather but the best she could do is make it a close election. They were dead wrong because she just isn't a particularly good leader.

Exactly. Our team has proven time and again that it shows up in the big games.

It is right now for sure, but I don't see Wab Kinew having a long reign as premier. From what I have heard people in the party asked him to step away from the race and wait for a later time. The PCs wanted to throw Stefanson out as the sacrificial lamb first. Anyone taking over from Pallister was going to be starting way behind the 8 ball because the pandemic was a tough road for all governments and especially in Manitoba where our health care problems really had a light shined on them,

At any rate, Rourke's 3rd year is a moot point anyhow. The Lions are unable to do any kind of extension until his NFL option has expired and it is almost a certainty that he will look at NFL offers and that he will receive them. The state of QBing in the NFL is questionable right now and there is this 24 year old kid out there that just ripped the 2nd best league on the planet a new arsehole. Anyone thinking there will be anything but massive interest in Rourke is dreaming in technicolor. He has demonstrated at a very young age that he can ball, that is an NFL scouts wet dream. If he was 26 or 27 the interest might be lukewarm, but at 24, teams can really take their time and develop him and still get a young QB out of the deal. He's gone imo. The NFL will come for him, not because he is better than a Zac Collaros or BLM in his prime, but because he is so much younger than either of them were when they demonstrated they could ball up here. Even if the Lions throw 600k at him he likely still bolts. I mean, why not if you were him? Take your shot. If it doesn't work out you come back to the CFL to the highest bidder in a couple years and make your bank for the next 10 years. At his age, he would be monumentally stupid to not bolt to the NFL next year and at least try to live the dream. He will, at the very least, be a PR lock for any team that takes him.

My issue with Hodge is the same as my issue with Ballantyne. They are fans first and foremost, so you got to take most of what they write about and remove the bias yourself and to me that is not journalism. They are both excellent communicators and write well, just hard to describe them as media sources because some of what they say is pure homer-ism. Hodge has had the benefit of a Bomber juggernaut the past few years so he hasn't really had to be outlandish with his praise of our team, but before that there were some pretty big leaps of logic with his opinions. Ballantyne is just a joke...way worse than Hodge. It's easy to not appear biased now because he can say pretty much anything ultra-positive he wants and he would be correct. His stuff in the early days of 3DN when the Bombers were good but not great was pretty biased. When he first started he circulated some pretty unfounded rumors and tried passing them off as insider stuff. I think Dunk got on him for that, but helped set him up with some actual reliable sources.