blueandgoldguy

Despite the setbacks in recent weeks, I expect the Bombers to win tomorrow. Home game, in snowy, windy conditions. Run game should feature more prominently. Vernon Adams shouldn't be able to run roughshod over the secondary...if they show up. Keep the turnovers to 2 or less, create 2 or more turnovers, run for over 175 yards...those are my hopes for the Bombers. Likely a low scoring game. Bombers 26 Als 17.

Dinwiddie is considered the greater offensive mind and he has a lot more experience with Qbs. Sadly, the Bombers may go with the lesser of two options as familiarity and nepotism play a larger factor in the hiring process than quality of candidate.

We faced Evans in his first game coming in cold off the bench and we still had our butts handed to us.

Yep, we were lucky to win that game vs. Calgary earlier in the season. They outplayed us.

Montreal's owned by the league and are losing millions this year....giving away 2-6,000 free tickets per game . They are not any further along in finding ownership for the team in Montreal....probably because the Wettenhalls left them with a massive accumulated deficit (who pays for that? League or new owners?)...and also because the team is likely to lose $7 million in 2020 under new ownership. Hardly an attractive investment. If the league's owners are willing to foot the bill in 2020 as the team struggles to find new ownership you can be sure they will be scrutinizing every penny spent. Bombers, being the second largest revenue team in the league can easily outbid them...and yes, I know there is a cap on coaching and management. The Als may very well not exist in 2020 if no owner is found and the BOG decides to no longer fund the franchise.

We took a chance on a special teams coordinator 6 years ago to lead the team. Why not take a chance on Ryan Dinwiddie to lead the offense next year?

Unfortunately it's 5.5 years too late for us that Zach is coming to Winnipeg. Hey at least maybe now he will say we have a better stadium than Hamilton!

Ugh, I don't like his chances of lasting more than a game especially with our o-line struggles of late. I wish Walters has made a play for MBT instead. Better than Collaros and not so injury prone. I would have taken Willy over Collaros actually. Wouldn't cost any picks

First Joe Mack for 17to85 and now Mike O'Shea.

Righting a wrong from the past...unfairly fired in 2012 without being given a chance to right the ship the rest of the season? I'm not saying that would justify it but that is how it could be framed in some people's minds. Outside the forum, where there is quite a bit of groupthink, I bet there are quite a few season ticket holders and casuals who would be fine if Lapo was hired as head coach.

He used up his one more try when he brought back both co-ordinators this past off season most likely. anyways we will see what happens in the final 3 games of the season.

Anyone remember what WWE's ratings were on TSN in the late 90s? 500,000?

Drew Willy is still out there. Just sayin'.

Well that did happen with Kent Austin. " Austin stay down you bum!"

hehe I did say it is a possibility that he will be hired as head coach should O'Shea be offered a job elsewhere with a more attractive financial package/Walters chooses not to re-sign him.

It's not as simple as that. From his days in Baltimore to the early days in Montreal Popp found high-end talent at most positions. Montreal had one of the best o-lines in the league for most of his tenure, some of the best receivers, top corner, top linebacker, the best running back of all time and top Canadian talent. Sure, he had Ham and Calvillo, but for them to reach their full potential Popp had to surround them with high end talent....and that he did. Towards the end of this tenure with the Als, it was apparent he was no longer bringing in the talent he once did...not just at the Qb position. Whether that was a result of his contacts drying up or a lack of drive, I do not know. This did appear to carry over to his tenure with Toronto. Two consecutive terrible seasons with some of the worst defense we have seen in recent years.

No the team in 2000 turned around near the midway point when Khari supplanted Bell as the starting QB. 5-3 in the final 8 games of the season. They also won in the east semi-final over the Ti-Cats before losing in the east final.

Our offense faded ....at least the passing aspect of our offense faded in the second half of the 2017 season. Nichols seemed to be throwing for 300 or nearly 300 yards per game in the first half but around Labor Day/Banjo Bowl his stats took a noticeable dip.

Based on how this season is shaping up I would be fine with Lapo being shown the door, but I disagree that Lapo hasn't developed a half decent QB. Durant emerged as a starter in 2008 and 2009 under Lapo's offensive schemes in Saskatchewan. Campbell was given a bad hand to deal with when his GM let many top free agents leave for other teams. I don't anything about this whole revolt against him. IF that's that case, perhaps he is gone. If this revolt is merely speculation on your part, or is being highly exaggerated by a source, then he is likely to receive a second chance to right the ship in 2020.

Lapo is likely gone. Hire Dinwiddie who is regarded as an up-and-comer for several year as the OC. He has been coaching now for 7 years, 5 of those with one of the best in Dickenson. We hired an unproven special teams coach to be head coach here 6 years ago. Now it's time for some fresh blood at the OC position. Sign Arbuckle as he already has a repoire with Dinwiddie and has displayed far more potential than Streveler up to this point. Sign Strev as well, as based on his performance up to this point, he will not command much on the open market (of course, this may change in the final 3 reg. season games and playoffs). Nichols can be shown the door. His performance has been wanting for the most part the past 2 years. When the running game is stopped he does not have the ability to lead this team to victory. We have seen this time and time again from him against the good teams ie. earlier this year in Hamilton, Last year's final against Calgary. Add in his shoulder injury and the likelihood he will decline further is that much greater in 2020. It's time to move on.

Well, one thing I will say is that Miller has a sweet gig. I would estimate he is making anywhere from $300 - $400,000 a year, perhaps even slightly more. That is likely far more than he would earn at Pinnacle.

Hall has been given the benefit of a nearly all-American starting lineup for his entire tenure with the Bombers. 1 or 2 starting Americans while the offense typically has had for a 5 starters. That, in itself, provides him with a significant advantage...well at least it should. IF the Bombers continue to stumble down the stretch and are one and done in the playoffs once again, good luck trying to sell the idea of a long-term contract extension of Mike O'Shea to the city and the fan base. He is not nearly as popular as many here may think. Walters might look at re-signing him, but it's possible, for a variety or reasons, O'Shea may leave for the Argos. 1) Walters offers too short of term ie. 2 years instead of 3 years and without a substantial raise, if any raise at all. 2) O'Shea wants to head back east anyways regardless of the Bombers offer and the Argos offer a lengthy contract (4 or 5 years) with a generous AAV. Assuming Lapo is gone in the off-season, I would really love to see the Bombers target Dinwiddie. He has been viewed as a rising star in the coordinator ranks for a number of years now and has been the quarterbacks coach with Calgary working under Dickenson since 2015. I would think he has enough seasoning at this point and should be handed the reigns to the offense. I would prefer him to Buck. Tom Clements is quarterbacks coach with the Cardinals. He would be an intriguing prospect for head coach given his connections to the NFL. Such a hiring wouldn't be without its risks given his time away from the Canadian football league, but there is no doubt he would be able to supply a pipeline of talent to this organization not seen since the days of Murphy. Moot point though as his salary is likely to be $250 - $400,000 US. Bombers would likely have to offer $500,000 Canadian to just to peak his interest and with the cap on coaching salaries, that is probably too much for one position.

Best not to completely rule it out.

I posted in the other forum that the Bombers have failed to draw a crowd over 25,500 this year, not including the Banjo Bowl, for the first time in the history of the IG Field. This after 4 seasons (including this one) of better than .500 ball. Frustration turning to apathy plays a role as well as high ticket prices in the lower bowl which have only been somewhat addressed with the introduction of family season tickets, student season tickets and individual family packs. There are more and more seats becoming available between the 30s, which used to be sold out...a result of charging new season ticketholders over $1000 per seat for non-club seats and $150 per game. Seats between the 10 yard line and corner end zones continue to sit largely empty at those high prices. Miller has to take part of the blame for this. As for O'shea, his contract is up this year and if he is one and done in the semi-finals (assuming the Bombers don't turn things around to finish first), he won't be back. 1 playoff win in 6 seasons. Try to find the last CFL coach who lasted into a 7th season with 1 playoff win and no division titles. I think you will be looking back decades to find one...in fact, I'm not sure it has ever happened. It could also be the Argos or Redblacks (I think they keep Campbell for one more season,) offer a lucrative contract offer a more lucrative contract that O'shea jumps at as soon as the season is over. Even if O'Shea makes it to the divisional finals and loses I think it's a 50-50 proposition at best that he is back. Barely above .500 in 6 seasons and no real progress towards a Grey Cup by the looks of this season...him going to bat for Richie Hall this off-season with more of the same results. He has to wear that. No, the more I think about it, the more it seems likely anything less than a Grey Cup appearance will likely result in the end of the O'shea era in Winnipeg...should be the end of Richie Hall and Lapo as well...unless Lapo replaces O'shea as head coach.

Hammy has tonnes of talent, probably more than the Bombers. They are the Grey Cup favorite right now, imo even more than Calgary.