GCn20

I like the BB...I use the lil Buddy because I just have a 2 man clam but if I ever get one bigger than that's the way I will go too. I won't be doing the winter camping thing because my ice hole is 50 yards from my dock, but it sure would be nice to have a 6-8 man for guests.

Blecchh...you must have felt dirty after that.

Lake Trout are a crap load of fun. I'm not big on eating them, but boy are they fun to catch. You might be right about pickeral vs mariah....I am just sick of them honestly, and rarely get mariah. Up here walleye on open water in the first month and a half of the season is as good as walleye through the ice down south so I end up making a pig of myself in the spring/early summer and find myself looking for other fish by the time August hits and I usually don't get hungry for them again until spring. Don't think I keep more than a handful of walleye each year through the ice. Sheridon/Cranberry/Flin Flon is some outstanding fishing. The air is different, and most importantly so is the quality of the water the fish are caught in. Don't care what anyone says, the fish in the North taste better. Just be careful with your propane heater and enjoy the winter camping!!

One man's inconsistency is another man's big day. I get mad when I don't pull a dozen out on the ice, other guys dream of that day. It's all relative. I had a day last year on Wekusko with 4 walleyes over 28 inches and almost 50 walleye in total. Dream day, but unfortunately that becomes the bar afterwards and anything less seems anti-climactic. Went just after New Years to Paint Lake and caught about 8 walleye in the 22-24 inch range....I was kind of disappointed. Love the mariahs!! Would fish them all day every day if I knew there was lots of them. Best eating fish out there. Make a swing through the North someday, I'll take ya out to a few pretty special lakes up here. Ice or boat...your choice. Wekusko, or any of the Grass River chain is just exceptional fishing for size and numbers with lots of incidental Lake Trout hookups, Paint Lake has numbers....100 walleye days are not an exaggeration, and I've got spots that no one has heard of near my wife's reserve that are mind blowing.

That would be another way to do it...sure.

Logic would say that BLM would run for the hills away from any contract offer by the RIders. Their OL, coaching, roster all screams last place and broken QB. That being said, never underestimate BLM's hubris. He may think he can excel despite having no OL or quality receivers. Also, never underestimate the RIders ability to make a mind numbingly stupid financial offer to BLM. If smart heads prevail on both sides, BLM seems like a poor fit for the RIders and vice versa. I'm not seeing many smart heads in this potential conversation though.

Your first comment literally applies to every party voted out of power, They all do it. They all believe they were misunderstood, and I've never seen any party of any stripe ever blame their crappy performance for their defeat. Every Liberal, NDP, or PC/CPC government that was defeated was defeated because the people thought they were crap. Good governments don't lose elections. Whether it is Rachel Notley in Alberta, Heather Stefanson in Manitoba, or whoever the last Liberal PM was....they all sucked and were defeated.

I have often wondered if we would get governments that care about their choices more if we didn't back load their incentives. Pay them a very good salary while they are voted in with little golden parachute afterwards. Then you might see governments making decisions that the people can get behind because losing their jobs would hurt a lot more. Right now after 8 years, or whatever the pension requisite is, you see "tired" governments who start governing to the wants and needs of their financiers instead of to the wants and needs of the voters at large. Once they've earned their pensions some of the MLAs, MPs stop caring as much.

Definitely don't want to lose Schoen, but I will always cheer for CFL players getting signed to the NFL. Without that happening our league folds especially with the state of our dollar right now.

I agree. I think people saw the market go kaflooey last year on 3 receivers and thinks this will translate to the norm. It won't. We saw this back a few years ago too when Edmonton went kaflooey on Adarious Bowman at 250k, (highest paid non-QB) and the market adjusted back to normal after. No receiver in this league is getting North of 250k this year and I predict that Lewis will be the only guy in FA that goes north of 180k. BC and Edmonton last year really screwed the receiver market up on top end because both teams had extremely low QB salaries that almost never happen. This year there are no teams in the unique position of spending that kind of dough at receiver. Honestly, I don't get where people are suggesting that Demski had some kind of break out year either. His production and games played are almost identical to the year before. He played fantastic down the stretch for us, as opposed to being injured like the year before, but pretty much same games played and same yardage.

Fantastic news!!

The thing working against Demski making the kind of money some on here think is twofold, injury history/no big season to his credit, and the fact that the CFL's new NAT status qualification for veteran players kicks in this year and that GREATLY diminishes his passport. He has been around 7 years and has no 1000 yard seasons to his credit, but is versatile. Take away the passport from any NAT receiver with that same resume and fans would be seething if their team gave him 180+. I would hate to lose him, because he is a Winnipeg boy, but really his production and skillset is replaceable.

It's over for the PCs. Time to lick wounds and regroup.

Covid references are sooooo 2021. lol

I like Demski a lot but I think you are viewing him through blue tinted glasses. I don't think Demski is a top 5 receiver in this league, and I think that only those are the guys that are getting anywhere near a sniff of 200k+ this year. If he is offered 185-200k I hope the Bombers let him walk. That is a big overpay imo. Demski is a fantastic NAT receiver for the Bombers and brings a lot to our team, but there are only a few guys in the league that deserve 180+ and he is not one of them. For that money you have to show that you can stay on the field and produce 1100+ yards beforehand. I understand that Demski has been snake bitten by injuries the past few years, but again, that is also something a GM has to look at when calculating the cap % any player is going to get. It may not be fair but it is a factor in any sport with a SMS or salary cap. Production and reliability are massive factors in contract $.

The only way we will get good people to run is to offer them a golden parachute at the end. The pay itself is laughable.

I think 170k would easily get it done with the Bombers. I honestly don't think he would get much more on the open market. He is versatile and a great deep threat but at the end of the day he has exactly zero 1000 yard seasons to his name. A lot of that is due to missing a lot of games, but that too factors in. I think a ton of people think the receiver market will be super-heated based on know nothing comments by Herb Z and Suitor. Fact of the matter is that last year the teams who blew their brains out on receivers did not get their money's worth. GMs around the league will have taken notice of that and a market correction will happen. You look at the top 3 receivers in FA last year and absolutely no one could argue that they provided the production to justify the contracts. Yes, all 3 missed significant time with injuries but at the end of the day you tie up that kind of SMS into a player you have to get the results and when you put out 250-300k on a receiver it may not cost you on SMS if they go down, but it sure ties up a lot of cash with not much production to the team.

Clearly. Rourke and KSB as pro bowlers? Yikes. Could both men contribute to an NFL team? Probably if given a chance...but pro bowlers? WTF. I get a kick out of Rider fans. They claim Sorrells was to blame for all their OL problems, while conveniently forgetting that he has been there since Chris Jones and got exceptional mileage out of little talent for 3 years over there. Only when the OL personnel became an absolute dumpster fire of Canadian Jr. football talent did the OL struggle, but somehow it's not Ferland, Bandy, or Johnson all playing incredibly poorly that were the problem, It was Sorrells not being able to coach up Jr. level talent.

I don't think they have any choice really unless they throw gobs of money at an OL, and BLM and have an all rookie defence.

The price to us is going to be much lower than somewhere else. We will have to pay him well, but everyone else hoping to get him is at a serious disadvantage. If the Riders, or Jones, are going to throw big money at him I see no reason why we wouldn't pay him what he feels is fair to stay home. Demski is a non issue imo, one of the FAs I am least concerned about really. He said he was waiting until the last minute for the phone to ring for the NFL but was preparing to come to camp in the CFL and was ready and had worked out his numbers already with the Bombers long before he signed. He signed in mid April iirc. Teamers, even great returners, are not generally massive contracts and I don't see Grant's salary being one that will cause us any SMS issues. He will get paid well as a returner, but generally that is not a big contract in the grand scheme of things.

There is a one week window prior to FA to field offers for all players. Maybe Demski listens to a few to get his market worth, but I guarantee that he wants to be a Bomber.

Every year Grant is a late signing. He even stated that it was always going to be NFL or Winnipeg in the Sun last year. He keeps his options open as long as he can, and the Bombers seem to be alright with that. Darby can fit our SMS this year, last year we let him walk because of Maston coming back. I would think Maston is a non-issue this year, as even if he signs with us his contract will not be high after his injuries. He is in a very poor negotiating position. I really don't see Sheed, or Jeffcoat as must signs tbh. I'd love to get JJ back, but he has to come cheaper than last year.

Yoshi is almost guaranteed as well. Dude loves Winnipeg.

Chris Streveler is not nearly as bad as SpeedFlex makes him out to be, and not nearly as good as Wbbfan is suggesting imo. I think Strev is a guy with average arm strength, that lacks some touch and accuracy. I think Strev could be a solid but not spectacular number one QB in the CFL but is highly unlikely to ever break any passing records. That's his top end. His low end would be as a really good number two QB, and package QB that any CFL team would consider an upgrade. Strev needs to work on his passing to ever be elite in the CFL. Speedflex is right on that. He could be effective as is though and WBBfan is right about that. His passing needs work but he could get by with it given all the tools he has. For sure. Strev isn't an elite passer, I think that if you look around the CFL starting QBs few can be called that. I think he could be an upgrade to a number of teams.

Stan is always a late signing, usually in the last week before FA. Demski has been a late signing historically too. Don't sweat it unless they are unsigned on the eve of FA. The 2022 season only officially ended 4 days ago.