blueandgoldguy

I was pretty skeptical about Ottawa's hiring of Desjardins 2.5 years ago. I think more than a few here scoffed at the idea of giving him another chance as GM after the disaster in Hamilton ten years ago. Looks like Hunt knew what he was doing when he hired him.

Miller has listened to the fans and done some good things: - bringing back the beer snake - cheaper student section - tailgate area outside the stadium - post-game party with dj and letting the fans on the field and interact with the Bombers - continued with solid corporate support and may have even increased that support. Some of the bad: - failed to recognize and/or convince the rest of the Grey Cup committee that some of the sections for the 2015 Grey Cup were over-priced (charging the same $399 price for seats in the lower bowl at the 30-yard line as seats in the upper deck at the goal line and expecting all of those seats to sell was asinine). It resulted in a reduction of capacity from 40,000 to 36,000; tickets being given away by the hundred and maybe thousands to military, volunteers and others; and discounted tickets to those who had already purchased tickets and corporations. Yes, the team did profit by $7 million from Grey Cup week, but I can't help but feel they left some money on the table with the poor pricing structure of the Grey Cup. This is somewhat galling given the problems with the turnout the previous year in BC. Miller shares some of the blame. - his extensive search for a GM led to hiring of then-interim GM in Kyle Walters. The results speak for themselves - erosion of the season ticket base and what will likely be a huge decrease in gate revenues after this season. Other: - the Bombers' 2015 operating profit (without the Grey Cup) cannot be solely attributed to Millers' salemanship. Miller had little if anything to do with the 7 World Cup matches held in Winnipeg last year. Nor did he have anything to do with drawing One Direction or ACDC to Investors Group Field - that was True North. Without those additional sources of revenue, I think it is reasonable to assume that the the club's operating profits for the 2015 season (again, not including Grey Cup revenue) would have been an operating loss possibly exceeding 6 figures. Miller will not have the luxury of all these additional events to boost the bottom line of the club with the lone exception being the Heritage Classic in October for which I have heard the Bombers cut will be $200,000. So combine the loss in revenues from non-Bomber events at the stadium this year vs. last year with the decline in gate revenue from season ticket sales and single ticket sales (barring a miraculous turnaround by the club in the second half) and we may see a substantial decline in overall in-stadium revenues and a significant 7 figure loss for the year. Of course, Miller will have to bear responsibility for this as his one of his primary jobs with the club is the successful day-to-day running of the business side of the operation.

Interesting... http://3downnation.com/2016/07/22/end-mike-oshea-14-thoughts/

Assuming the season continues at it is and O'Shea is fired, what quality candidates will want to come here if they know Miller may interfere in the decision - making process.

Rielly was probably hit more frequently and injured more often than Willy in his first few seasons with the Esks and he has bounced back a few times to become one of the best, if not the best, quarterbacks in the league. Guy is a winner. Some players are just more resilient than others.

Did Miller train under Bauer? He was on the team, yes, but I won't recall Bauer training him in a management-type role.

Interesting looking at the comments from 3 years ago... Are you two worried yet? Sadly, it looks that way. His recruiting from the US leaves a lot to be desired. Might be the weakest of the 9 teams. His drafting has been decent but hardly outstanding which is what we were hoping for from a CIS guru. Looks like a bad start so far. 0 for 2. Unfortunately, this is starting to look like one of those sketchy interim solutions unless there is a dramatic turnaround. Looks like the skepticism was warranted. We have already seen the season ticket base decline from 24,000 to below 20,000 (I have heard as low as 18,000) in the 3 years the Miller regime has been in charge. Hopefully we can pull of two wins in the next 3-4 weeks to give the fans some hope, but if not I would have to think the walkup crowd will all but disappear and we will see another decline in season ticket sales. If the Bombers miss the playoffs I wouldn't mind a clean sweep of the organization from top to bottom, including Miller. He will be given another shot though and I shudder to think what will happen if the next hire is as underwhelming as this one appears.

Did Willy's knee injury effect his play this season? That could very well be, but it is worth noting that he played pretty awful in a few of his games last season prior to the injury.

Probably happened in the pre-season - the loss of confidence in Drew Willy. Lawless or another reporter brought this up with a tweet or comment in the paper with regards to the locker room

You seem to think the inability of the offense to generate points lies mainly at the feet of the O-coordinator...as if all the hitches, screens and 3-yard curls are set plays in which Willy has no choice but to make these plays. Watch Willy closely and you will often see him look down the field only to check down to a shorter safer option on several occasions. He appears very hesitant to make long, or even, intermediate passes. Much, if not most of the responsibility for the inability of the offense to generate offense lies with him.

Unfortunately history has shown that this organization will stick with a mid-season coaching replacement the following year under the guise of supposed improvement displayed when the new/temporary coach takes charge - see Tim Burke and Jim Daley. If O'Shea is fired after a 1-5 or 1-6 start and Lapo is hired as a mid-season replacement as many here suspect, it may set up a similar situation as in the past - especially with an easier part of the schedule upcoming at that point - in which a perceived improvement of the team under the new regime will be viewed as justification for continued employment the following season.

Walters and O'Shea have placed all their bets on Willy as evidenced by their inactivity in the off-season. They did not take one look at other quarterback options around the CFL thinking that the inconsistencies we all saw from him last season - prior to his injury - were nothing but a mirage. So far, it looks like they chose the wrong path.

If by OK you mean below average backup goalie then you are correct. A knowledgeable NHL fan knows this. In fact, goalie save percentage (the best measure of the quality of goalie) if effected minimally by the quality of a team's defense in front of him. When Pav's deal is complete he might find work a a backup in the NHL for a season or two. Otherwise, he will be headed to Europe or become a career AHLer.

Sadly it is starting to appear that way. I still hold out a glimmer of hope for Willy.

He said no thanks because Ottawa offered more money.

People pined for Khari to be taken off the field because he was done in 2004. What is this mad carousel at QB you are referring? Your comments seem to imply that the Bombers switch their starters with regularity...like every year. The reality is Kevin Glenn was the starter for the better part of 5 years, Lefors/Bishop for 1, Buck for 4 years, and Willy for (nearly) 3 years. Your comments belie the reality of the Bombers

And I remember when a time when a certain poster said Jade Etienne was improving based on that person's observations of practice and game film. He was proving to be a very astute pick by the Joe Mack administration. I also remember that poster stating that Joe Elliott was a competent QB and would see some success elsewhere. This poster was defiant despite evidence provided by several well-respected posters on this matter providing rather compelling evidence to the contrary. Both players moved on to other teams only to be shortly released thereafter never to be heard from again.

Your ranking of Willy compared to other CFL quarterbacks a few weeks back looks funnier as each week passes!

And with this nonsense, I now know not to take anything you post seriously. Thanks for that. I won't waste my time when someone makes asinine comments like Willy is better than Collaros....MVP last season before his injury, not to mention most, if not all, the others.

You are making the claim so back it up with stats. Show me how many times he was hit and hurried compared to last year. I eagerly await the numbers.

I believe it was a comment in the Free Press or a tweet from him. He flat out has the worst protection in the CFL, huh? Did it ever occur to you that Willy may force more cover 0, cover 1 situations than any other QB because he is incapable to looking past his first, and often, check-down option that results in a 2 and out. Teams will not change their tactics with Willy until he is capable of recognizing and completing a pass to a receiver that is open and capable of gaining more than ten yards on a consistent basis.

He was quoted as saying he would be involved in the day-to-day running of the on-field product when he was hired in 2013 or in the off-season after that. So far his hiring of Walters after an "extensive search" appears to be a dud.

Only one that is worse is Jennings and he has shown more in the first 2 weeks than Willy so that may change.

Hard to believe the general consensus around here going into the season was that the players would go all-out for a coach like O'Shea. I see no evidence of that.

Willy has been hurried much less than last season up to this point. Teams will continue to send the house on a consistent basis until Willy forces them to back off by completing more than a 4-yard pass. He has thrown the ball poorly for the most part whenever he attempts to throw for more than 10 yards. Of course, there are other elements of the team that are to blame as well, but Willy has to and should shoulder a large part of the responsibility...such as not completing a play before time expired at the end of the first half when there was 12 seconds left.