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I have to seriously question what is going on behind the scenes with Marve. There is absolutely no way, after Brohm's last two outings, this team can justify keeping him as our 2nd string. The fact that he is, suggests to me that there is something very, very wrong with Marve in the coaches eyes that goes beyond his talent level. Coachability? Bad attitude? Complete inability to run the playbook? Something is keeping this guy glued to the bench when he should obviously be given a shot. It isn't that he has less talent then Brohm. I don't buy that Bellefeuille is playing favorites. There is something going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. I suspect that when Davis is ready that Marve will be the one getting walking papers.

That second and 3 play, where Edmonton stacked the box, and Willy handed off to Cotton for a two yard loss, just had me screaming at the TV. Everyone knew a hand-off was coming, and yet MB just made Willy do it anyway. Same with the hand-off to Marshall on the 3 yard line. Brohm should have had AT&T on his helmet, he was telegraphing that play so much. I do hate the way we run the ball. Where's the sweeps? Counters? Off tackle runs. Seems like shot gun formation run up the middle every time. No imagination. No variation. That falls on the coaching staff. Our left tackle was embarrassing and our centre was constantly shoved backwards without any resistance.. But yup, we shoulda been running off tackle for losses. Seems wise. You thought Bryant was embarrassing. Not what I was watching. Our OL had an overall poor game, but they are infinitely better than last year's line. I expected better run blocking than what we are getting though.

Eric Norwood. He asked for a contract from the Bombers and was offered a PR spot for the remainder of the season. He declined it, and the CFL ruled it was not a fair contract offer thus making him a FA.

Last season and through TC I advocated for people to trust the coaching decisions on who plays or not. As an ex-coach myself, I know that there are many more variables than who the most talented player is that goes into the decision. If the coaches still want to start Brohm ahead of Marve this week then I suggest they cut them both and bring in new backups. Brohm clearly does not have the ability to be a successful CFL QB. The two outings this year should have earned him his walking papers. It is mystifying that he is not the 3rd string. This clearly indicates to me that there is something so deeply wrong with Marve's attitude or ability to grasp the playbook that the coaching staff just won't trust him with the offence. In that case he needs to go too. I like Marve's level of talent WAAAAY more than Brohm's. I think any person who has watched an ounce of football knows who has more physical talent. The fact that he remains behind Brohm can only mean he is either not coachable, or has a **** attitude. Either way, he needs to go too if vast improvements aren't made by both him and Brohm in their on field performance. This pining for Marve needs to end. If he can't pass a scrub like Brohm on the DC, it isn't because he is a future all star.

What's the point of keeping someone on your neg list if they don't want to sign with you? Yeah technically you could keep their rights forever, but if they flat out tell you "Nope not signing with you no matter what kind of contract I get offered" then you're only wasting your time and neg list spaces hanging onto them out of spite, might as well remove them and move on.;Sure you're giving them up willingly, but in a more accurate sense you're losing them because they don't want to sign with you. It is not necessarily accurate to say that you are losing them because they don't want to sign with you. You could easily be losing them because they prefer to sign elsewhere. If given no choice, it's hard to say whether or not they might change their tune. How many NFL players are thrilled to be drafted by the BIlls....probably not many....but they understand that's where their rights went and they sign a contract. A lot of them come into the organization and then change their minds about it. Would we release the rights of our first round draft pick if he suddenly decided that he wanted to play elsewhere? I would hope we wouldn't.

What's the point of keeping someone on your neg list if they don't want to sign with you? Yeah technically you could keep their rights forever, but if they flat out tell you "Nope not signing with you no matter what kind of contract I get offered" then you're only wasting your time and neg list spaces hanging onto them out of spite, might as well remove them and move on.;Sure you're giving them up willingly, but in a more accurate sense you're losing them because they don't want to sign with you. It all depends on whether you consider the prospect to be blue chip or not and other variables. I would have kept Cato, for instance, if I were the Riders. He didn't show up for rookie camp and waited until the last minute before TC to ask for a contract. There was obvious tampering by Montreal, Taman even said he strongly suspected it. I would have tendered him an offer and kept him from the Als.

Just so there is no confusion, a player on a team's neg list can remain there until a team decides to drop them, declines to make them a contract offer, or makes them an "unfair contract offer". So long as any team makes a fair contract offer to a player on their neg list within 10 days of them asking for one initially and before the anniversary of them declining one, a player's rights can be retained by the team whose neg list they are on. There is absolutely no way that Fuller, Franklin, or Maybin refused to sign with us and then went onto somewhere else without us voluntarily giving up their neg list rights. Just can't be done. If we wanted to retain any of their rights we had the option to do so. I would imagine that Norwood, Maybin, and Fuller may have expressed that they were not willing to come here so we voluntarily dropped them. Happens to every team all the time. A player is added to your neg list and you contact him and he states he doesn't want to come so you drop him and make room for someone else. Sometimes its the timing of when you ask, sometimes it's not a good fit geographically, and most of the time it's a lack of interest in the CFL. Hundreds of players are added and deleted from neg lists around the league every year. A lot of times it's because it is found they have no interest currently in the CFL. 3 or 4 months later and things can alter drastically in a football career.

Franklin was likely straight up dropped from our neg list when we wanted to add someone else instead. Cato, was asked by the Riders to attend mini camp. He had just attended an NFL tryout the day before and did not attend the Riders mini camp. A couple weeks before the season started he contacted the Riders asking for a contract. The Riders had 10 days to offer him one but declined to do so. As per CFL by-laws, the Riders then had to drop him off their neg list. Neither Franklin, nor Cato, had any choice but to ask for and then sign a fair contract offer from the teams that neg listed them. You cannot opt out from the team that holds your neg list rights. If you turn down a fair offer from the team that holds your rights that team can return you to their neg list for a period of one year afterwards. If they offer another deal that is deemed fair and you turn it down it goes another year etc.

Rod is on the Riders payroll. Might as well be. Didn't he get a ring along with the rest of the team when they won the Grey Cup back in 2013. I'm not kidding here, that's what I thought I heard. That is actually kind of funny, but seriously doubt that is true. Rod isn't the 13th man. I am and have been for my entire life and I didn't get a ring. Rod got a milkbone and a nice firm pat on the head from Taman after the Grey Cup. Good lapdogs are hard to find.

Lirim was found by Walters, but Bucknor was a CFL veteran who had many starts before he became a Bomber.

Lapo is agreeing with Pedersen on this one (not that I would expect him to do anything but deny the rumours at this point anyway). Paul LaPolice ‏@PaulLaPolice 12m12 minutes ago I agree with @sportscage. I like Kirk but not his insiders segment. There is no way that Lapo can come into Regina looking like he lobbied for the job the past couple months. More damage control.

Yea. I can't imagine that Taman is too happy about the leak to Penton at this point and time. Sent in his lapdog Pederson for damage control. If anything, imo, this validates what Penton was saying. He sure struck a nerve at Riders HQ with his article. Methinks Pederson, and therefore the RIders, dost protest too much.

Can't really agree with that. The talent level in Saskatchewan is REALLY low right now. Riders have pretty much the number one offence in the league in most categories, can you explain how the talent level is low? There are 44 active members on game day. Offence is only 12 of them. Your defence is an abomination, and your STs and depth are not far behind. Hence...the talent level is low. I will agree that your starting talent on offence seems to be clicking right now, and I will even go so far as to say your defence has some talent as well but has way too many guys who are not CFL calibre being forced in due to ratio and poor recruitment. Too many scrubs to overcome.However, I earnestly believe that the D talent does not fit the scheme and that your secondary is poorly suited to the changes in the game. The Riders were a very physical secondary over the past few years and were built to be so, it just doesn't fit with the new rules. It's happening in other places too. Players that were once all star calibre secondary players but relied on physicality to do so are now being exposed. Unfortunately for the Riders...that's your entire secondary in a nutshell. Your LBs are some weak sauce, with or without Emry, and your ratio problems are forcing you to play scrubs on the DL that are creating zero push and not collapsing the pocket for Chick and Hall. Chamblin seems to be taking big time heat for this defence, and it does fall on him to find answers, but realistically Taman never put a defensive group of players on the field that is good enough. I will freely admit that your offence is playing lights out right now. It's the only reason the RIders haven't been getting completely blown out thus far. There are some deep systemic problems that are rearing there ugly heads right now, right from the GMs office on down, and the offence has been the lipstick on the pig. This gets worse before it gets better. I know...I watched this movie over and over again through the 2000's. Not to worry though, I am sure O'Day and Lapo will do their best to start a rebuild next year.

So....at least a couple years then.

Nope. He took second reps one day because Brohm blew out a shoe-lace and had to change it and then get re-taped. I was at that practice and was laughing when I saw the tweet afterwards that suggested Marve was taking 2nd string reps. They conveniently left out that Brohm was unavailable at that time to take them. Went to the practice the next day, and Brohm was taking 2nd string reps. No tweet about that. Have not been to one since, but I have heard no mention from my buddies I attend practices with that Marve has been taking 2nd string reps.

That's kind of odd considering the Riders sold around 25k season tickets that year that so many bomber fans were there isn't it? You guys can laugh at how bad we are all you want but even this year there are 26700 season tickets sold so the myth that any team will ever outnumber our fans in our stadium is simply that, That's kind of odd considering the Riders sold around 25k season tickets that year that so many bomber fans were there isn't it? You guys can laugh at how bad we are all you want but even this year there are 26700 season tickets sold so the myth that any team will ever outnumber our fans in our stadium is simply that, Frigging Migs. You're a joke,man. You have no life. Ripper is not Migs. I'm pretty sure, because he's not banned from riderfans and Migs has made other alternate accounts that have. Gotta be really careful though, Ripper. Pro-Rider comments don't get good reception here. Your pretty sure, LOL, we that makes me feel better. For anyone interested, I've posted under same name at riderfans for since 2006. Also Migs m.o. is to defend the rider management at all costs. For those of you that post over at Riderfans, you'll know I'm more the critic than the koolaid drinker. Ripper, I find both your commentaries and inputs to the forum to be respectful. You are in enemy territory and conduct yourself well. The difference between you and Migs is night and day. I can appreciate that you will defend your team and fan base, that is to be expected. Just as Trapper and Jayrock have become great contributors to the other Bomber forum (gawd....I hope they don't read this), it is nice to get other fan bases involved in the mix at our forums. I read your commentary often at Riderfans and know you are no Rider shill. Just a passionate Rider fan. Nothing wrong with that. Not my favorite team....but some people like bologna better than Filet Mignon. Whose to say they are wrong.

Why not let Greaves and Neufeld duel for the starting spot and then see what you can get for the loser? Sure, let Greaves and Neufeld duel for the starting spot, or Chungh and Neufeld for that matter, but trading anyone to free up a spot for Neufeld would be monumentally stupid. Neufeld will be back on the shelf within a couple of games.

So this week we're just taking the word of the coach and players and doctors about which players are injured? Just accepting their version of "the truth"? Adams was dead on the field. Dead. Doug Brown saw it. He sits further away from the field than I do, but he knows what happened. If you don't believe they used a defibrillator on Adams to bring him back from the dead, Doug Brown has a bridge to sell you. The only reason they haven't said he was dead is because he was. His eyes were open, just like a dead person. He got hit in the chest. That's where the heart is. You can't get hit in the heart and not be dead. It's like none of you care about the players. If the coach allows Stoudamire to ever play football again, he's a monster. You all are a bunch of monsters. I didn't think he was dead until I saw it on TV. I have seen enough movies to be qualified to assess a dead man when I see one. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of doctors who will tell you that once you are dead you shouldn't play football anymore. When Paul Friesen writes this article about it later this week there will be a lot of todasos being handed out around here. I just can't believe that the training staff would ever allow a dead man to play again. His eyes were open....open for god's sakes and he was laying down. If that ain't dead, I don't know what dead is.

This is why I assumed that they used the exemption for Stoudermire. I would assume he makes more in 3 games than Neufeld would have for one.

I could be wrong but i think you can pull as many people as you want off of the 6-game. But there's a limit to how many you can do before having to pay their salary for the time they're off? You have to pay their salary no matter what. You are allowed to take one player off the 6 game early without the previous games while on the 6 game counting against the cap. Stoudermire would likely be our first half exemption if he is back this week and Collins (on a rookie contract) we would likely activate, if healthy, and just eat his cap hit for the last 3 games. No matter what though, they are paid their salary in full while on the 6 game.

At this point, I am not really worried about the in-game scoreboard situation. At a just over 50% rate of conversion on the single point, the rate of conversion for 2 points conversions being roughly 40-50%, it may become a case of "we might as well just go for two" and have the same rate of success. Not sure why Lirim is having problems with these but I suspect it's a mental thing.

Our import scouting has been a little spotty to be sure. LBing, Receiving, DL, have all been areas of weakness for McManus. He has excelled at finding us KRs, DBs, etc. This is pretty normal. From scout to scout they are all going to have positions that they are better at finding players at then others, I think that Walters has done a nice job of recognizing and offsetting problem areas of recruitment through the use of FA. It would be nice if we could unearth a Chris Matthews every year but if we can't I like that our GM will go out and get a Nick Moore. This team still has some holes, and has potentially missed some opportunities to fill a couple of them....but I believe that Walters will sort them out during the season. Recruitment is only one phase of team building. That was Mack's down fall, and one I am not seeing with Walters so far.

Matt Dunigan is totally unlike the rest of us. He's got far more knowledge into the subject than anyone here...even you. And yet you all discount the doctor he has partnered with for ThinkFirst. Too funny. Believe what you want to believe. I don't discount what he's saying, but he's got three things working against him in my opinion. 1 - he's a defendant in Arland Bruce's lawsuit - no doubt he's going out of his way to speak up in favor of precaution at all costs while his case is ongoing 2 - he's one of the biggest proponents out there of ridding the world of contact sports altogether - agenda much? 3 - he's never met Drew Willy, let alone had a chance to diagnose him If I suffered a severe concussion, Charles Tator would be the man I would want wearing the white robe. No doubt about it. He is a brilliant physician. That does not, however, change the fact that he has some pretty extreme views when it comes to concussions and sport. He is a passionate man on the subject and sometimes lets his passion over ride his intelligence by making off the cuff remarks. At the end of the day though, he did exactly what he wanted to do...he turned the conversation into one about player safety after a head injury. His credibility takes some lumps when he makes an unwashed diagnosis, I think that is a trade off that he is obviously willing to make to advance his agenda.

Yes Matty's exactly like the rest of us. I know I enjoy spending the CFL offseason travelling around Canada lecturing in partnership with Charles Tator, my co-founder of ThinkFirst, which is a national concussion awareness group. Oh wait...that's not me that's Matty. I guess maybe his opinion on the matter should carry a little more weight than the average joe. Especially when it directly contradicts his own partner, Charles Tator. Matty may not be a doctor, but his work over the past several years with ThinkFIrst and his close partnership with Tator, has to be considered as making him as close to an expert as one can get without a medical degree. Unless, of course, TB...you have spent hundreds of hours lecturing on the subject yourself? Couple that with Dr. McDonald's expertise, the Bomber training staff, and a neurologist's assessment and I find it hard to believe that anyone could still cling to the belief that the Bombers are putting Willy under any extra amount of peril by playing this weekend.

Yes Matty's exactly like the rest of us. I know I enjoy spending the CFL offseason travelling around Canada lecturing in partnership with Charles Tator, my co-founder of ThinkFirst, which is a national concussion awareness group. Oh wait...that's not me that's Matty. I guess maybe his opinion on the matter should carry a little more weight than the average joe. Especially when it directly contradicts his own partner, Charles Tator. Matty may not be a doctor, but his work over the past several years with ThinkFIrst and his close partnership with Tator, has to be considered as making him as close to an expert as one can get without a medical degree. Unless, of course, TB...you have spent hundreds of hours lecturing on the subject yourself?