blueandgoldguy

Probably zero of three who went to the police. Sorry I missed that detail, I was unaware that any of them went to the police. They seemed to come out of the woodwork when one decided to cooperate with the Toronto Star. Frankly a lot of your assumptions are making you look rather ignorant.

A few groupies? *shakes head* Having sex with a famous person without any semblance of a relationship, I don't know but how else can they be classified? How many endured his abuse and came back multiple times for more? . Who were the individuals who came back for more after abuse? You do realize that sexual predators can have power over individuals they abuse right? Blame themselves, might come back to the predator thinking the abuse will stop if they are the ones that change their behaviour, not the abuser. I remember hearing from Theo Fleury being asked why he hired Graham James to be coach of the Calgary Hitman after suffering years of abuse at his hands, and his reponse was, "That's the kind of power he had over me." The reason other people come forward after the initial charge is filed is not jumping on the bandwagon to get noticed, it's because someone took the courageous step to come forward knowing the risks involved - damage to their professional careers, embarrassment of having details of their private moments revealed to public, being doubted (like in this forum with some of the subtle or not-so-subtle misogynistic comments) and ridiculed. Those others know they are not alone in their suffering at the hands of the predator. I can only imagine the stress involved in coming public with something like this and I'm sure many victims would rather suffer in silence - not worth the trouble to go public in many minds.

Lowering the GST was a dumb move. Purely political and not something any economist would advocate. It's a consumption tax. Would have mitigated the annual deficit we have had since 2009. Reducing corporate taxes to their current rate is also questionable as it hasn't really led to lower employment rates. Instead of investing in their workers the money has been hoarded by corporations in the form of dividends to their shareholders. Obviously need to keep rates competitive with other countries, but it would have been in the country's best interest to keep the rates at previous levels to eliminate the deficit (which we were promised would never have happened back in 2008). Still undecided who I will vote for come election time. Right now, I think we will see a minority government - liberal or conservative.

Sad but probably true. And that means he will eventually revert back to the starting goalie with the worst or second-worst save percentage in the league just like last year.

Is Chad Johnson even starting with the Als right now or is he injured? Talk about Mr. Invisible.

Mack was so focused on signing Labatte (which he managed NOT to do anyways) that he lost out on Picard in free agency when he was ripe for the picking. That's probably what iso is referring to.

Incorrect. The top ticket price (excluding club seats) for season ticket holders in BC is $315 and that does not require a 3-year commitment to get a discount. In Saskatchewan for the 2013 Grey Cup, the top ticket price (excluding club seats) was $349 for season ticket holders. The top ticket price for the Bombers (again excluding club seats which will probably be $500) will be $399 IF the ticket holder commits to three seasons.http://www.bclions.com/102greycup http://riderville.com/article/saskatchewan-unveils-grey-cup-101-ticket-information A more apt comparison would be the season ticket holder who chooses not to commit for three seasons, but merely the season ahead. They will receive a $50 discount so the price will actually be $449 - an incredibly high price charged by an organization that has pissed away the goodwill of the community through incompetent management and season after season of losing. The Lions and Riders, on the other hand have had recent success with Saskatchewan being in the Grey Cup in 3 of the previous 6 seasons prior to last year while the Lions won the Grey Cup as recently as 2011 and have qualified for the playoffs for 18 consecutive seasons. They can justify the higher prices, Bombers not so much. Again $449 to a season ticket holder with no 3 year commitment!! That's more expensive than the 100th Grey Cup in Toronto! Top ticket price was $399 to season ticket holders for that one by the way and no 3-year commitment required either. Miller and the Bomber organization are taking a big risk with these price points. With a minimum price of $199 (for those willing to stomach the three year commitment and $249 for a non-committed season ticket holder) I'd venture to guess that the 2015 Grey Cup will have the highest average ticket price in CFL history. It would be great if the organization can pull off a Grey Cup sellout prior to the beginning of the 2015 season - it would fill up their coffers nicely even with the annual payments towards the stadium. However, I think they may be overestimating the demand for Grey Cup tickets in this market at those prices...even with the 10 year gap between games. Where are you getting the $50 discount from? My P1 non-club seats are $499 if I don't commit for 3 years. I thought if you are a season ticket holder for the 2015 season, but do not want to commit for 3 years that you would still get a discount of approx. $50 on the Grey Cup tickets. Thought I read that somewhere else?

$399 is with a 3-year commitment though. If you are a season ticket holder who does not want to commit for more than one year at a time the price will be $449. That is a HUGE difference compared to the last 2 Grey Cups or really any Grey Cup in history. Risky proposition considering the state of the team the last 7 years (1 winning season). They will really need the corporate community to step up to sellout the game prior to the beginning of the 2015 season. It's worth noting that the last Grey Cup in Winnipeg back in 2006 did not sellout until the week of the game. Back then tickets were considerably cheaper - North endzone seats - $100, Temporary south endzone seats - $130

Highest price for a Grey Cup ticket in BC this year is $360. The $499 is a joke. Ticketmaster says otherwise. $440 for the high end tickets for this year. That's for club seats though. Bombers will probably charge $500 plus fees and taxes for club seats at the Grey Cup next year so around $550 - $600 per seat

Incorrect. The top ticket price (excluding club seats) for season ticket holders in BC is $315 and that does not require a 3-year commitment to get a discount. In Saskatchewan for the 2013 Grey Cup, the top ticket price (excluding club seats) was $349 for season ticket holders. The top ticket price for the Bombers (again excluding club seats which will probably be $500) will be $399 IF the ticket holder commits to three seasons. http://www.bclions.com/102greycup http://riderville.com/article/saskatchewan-unveils-grey-cup-101-ticket-information A more apt comparison would be the season ticket holder who chooses not to commit for three seasons, but merely the season ahead. They will receive a $50 discount so the price will actually be $449 - an incredibly high price charged by an organization that has pissed away the goodwill of the community through incompetent management and season after season of losing. The Lions and Riders, on the other hand have had recent success with Saskatchewan being in the Grey Cup in 3 of the previous 6 seasons prior to last year while the Lions won the Grey Cup as recently as 2011 and have qualified for the playoffs for 18 consecutive seasons. They can justify the higher prices, Bombers not so much. Again $449 to a season ticket holder with no 3 year commitment!! That's more expensive than the 100th Grey Cup in Toronto! Top ticket price was $399 to season ticket holders for that one by the way and no 3-year commitment required either. Miller and the Bomber organization are taking a big risk with these price points. With a minimum price of $199 (for those willing to stomach the three year commitment and $249 for a non-committed season ticket holder) I'd venture to guess that the 2015 Grey Cup will have the highest average ticket price in CFL history. It would be great if the organization can pull off a Grey Cup sellout prior to the beginning of the 2015 season - it would fill up their coffers nicely even with the annual payments towards the stadium. However, I think they may be overestimating the demand for Grey Cup tickets in this market at those prices...even with the 10 year gap between games.

It's no coincidence that the quality of refereeing has dropped since Higgins left to coach the Als.

Willy slots in behind Glenn. I guess as the season progressed Collaros moved ahead of him as well, although he has been rather inconsistent especially with the game on the line. Crompton will top out as nothing more than an average QB imo. Low pass completion percentages for this era, especially when you factor in a decent O-line and one of the better receiving cores in the CFL. Not a very accurate QB, nor is he a great scrambler. I would be surprised if he is still a starter two years from now.

Etcheverry fits that description. Bellefeuille might too. Not sure if anyone else would have been interested in him.

and do you understand why that was? You know how undesirable a place you are for coaches when the average head coach gets 2 or 3 seasons before being fired and coordinators are lucky to get 1? Which proven coordinators do you suppose would want to come here if we fired the ones we have this year? You guys know that the lack of stability in the coacing and GM ranks is the reason guys like Stubler decided not to come here? This happens in other cities and yet they have no problem hiring quality coordinators and coaches afterwards. Ie Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal, Edmonton, Saskatchewan...pretty much the whole league actually. Does it? BC has been pretty stable with Wally as GM and his guys taking over after him, Hufnagel has been in Calgary for a long time running things, Popp has been in Montreal forever, Barker in Toronto for a long time... Saskatchewan had some turmoil for a while and it got them into a tricky spot but now it's stable again. The Bombers though? 4 different Gms in the past 7 seasons and 5 head coaches in that same time frame. You wonder why we can't get anyone with a proven track record to come here? It's basically been a guarantee to have your reputation trashed. Are we to assume the people we fired have done well in other cities after being fired here? That's what I'm saying, guys who were considered some of the best assistant coaches in the league came here and now are lucky to get work elsewhere. Winnipeg has a reputation of chewing up coaches and spitting them out and leaving them almost unemployable. That's why we need to stick with these guys again. They were not so bad as to warrant dismissal. When I look at this team I see bigger problems with the roster make up than with coaching. So keep the coaches, get that stability and work on getting better players on the team and see where that takes us. If we get to the point where the roster looks really good and the coaches aren't pulling their weight then we can make changes, but right now the roster has too many holes. Burke had no problem getting a job in Toronto. Doug Berry was hired as the offensive coordinator in Regina and also hired by Montreal at the beginning of last season and was let go in both situations - probably has something to do with his demeanour. Marshall (average to below average D-coordinator) went to Hamilton then Saskatchewan, then Edmonton. Reed went to Edmonton for 3 years as head coach. Kelly went to a high school I believe lol which is where he belongs. Lapo (average to above average offensive coordinator and average coach at best) hasn't been hired yet, that's the only one I can think of. However, he is enjoying his TSN gig and still being paid by the Bombers for this year I believe (final year of contract?) He can probably get a job as a coordinator in the next year or so. Who are these assistant coaches the Bombers chewed up and spit out that can no longer get jobs?

and do you understand why that was? You know how undesirable a place you are for coaches when the average head coach gets 2 or 3 seasons before being fired and coordinators are lucky to get 1? Which proven coordinators do you suppose would want to come here if we fired the ones we have this year? You guys know that the lack of stability in the coacing and GM ranks is the reason guys like Stubler decided not to come here? This happens in other cities and yet they have no problem hiring quality coordinators and coaches afterwards. Ie Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal, Edmonton, Saskatchewan...pretty much the whole league actually. Does it? BC has been pretty stable with Wally as GM and his guys taking over after him, Hufnagel has been in Calgary for a long time running things, Popp has been in Montreal forever, Barker in Toronto for a long time... Saskatchewan had some turmoil for a while and it got them into a tricky spot but now it's stable again. The Bombers though? 4 different Gms in the past 7 seasons and 5 head coaches in that same time frame. You wonder why we can't get anyone with a proven track record to come here? It's basically been a guarantee to have your reputation trashed. Wally and HUfnagel had success right out of the gate as coaches and it never really stopped. Playoffs every year. Dominating win-loss records pretty well every year too. Guys who are successful and have proven to be successful in the past like Wally aren't going to be fired. Toronto hired that highly touted coach from the US in 2009, Bart Andrus, and when he didn't work out after one season, they canned him and hired Jim Barker. When Jim Barker had a poor second season as coach he concentrated on Gm duties and hired Milanovich and the Argos won the Grey Cup in 2012. 3 coaches in 4 seasons. From 6-12 and out of the playoffs one year to Grey Cup victory the following year. Jim Popp struggles as head coach in 2007 and the Als finish 8-10 and lose in the Eastern Semi-Finals. This is one year after taking over for Don Matthews. He hires a highly touted NFL coach/coordinator in Marc Trestman who leads the team to an 11-7 record and the Grey Cup game. Follows that up with 15-3 and 12-6 records and two Grey Cups. Again 3 coaches in 4 years. Hamilton goes through coaches like no other team, yet they have no problem hiring the hottest candidate available. Fire Bellefeuille after three seasons in the playoffs, including a playoff victory in his final season, and move on to Cortez. Team goes 6-12 so the team fires him and hires Austin who happens to be the hottest commodity in the 2012 off-season. Team finishes 10-8 and goes to the Grey Cup for the first time in 14 years. Saskatchewan fired Marshall when it was clear things weren't working after 6 games. Miller took over to finish the season and they hired a coach, Chamblin, who had six years experience in other positions prior to. Marshall getting fired after a few games didn't scare off this candidate. And he won the Grey Cup 2 seasons after the team won 5 games. Bombers shouldn't be afraid to fire coaches if it becomes clear he isn't working out...even after 1.5 - 2 years. And as presented above, it won't prevent an organization from hiring highly sought after coaches provided the organization is willing to pay the price.

It's short sighted and doesn't take into account the starting point, and it's part of the reason why we've had this 25 year drought. Too many people have been fired because the instant results weren't there, or the team took a slight step back. All these knee jerk reactions because people only looked at wins and losses has done more damage to this team than anything.This.. Omg so much this.. If previous regimes hadn't mortgaged the future so often to try and appease the filthy unwashed masses,.maybe the drought would have ended years ago... But because they got so caught up on wins and losses, draft picks a plenty were traded or burned... QBs crushed without getting ample time to acclimate...A rebuild will never take a season or two... Especially after the destruction of our core like we have seen over and over again. It HAS happened before, yes... But that's the exception, not the norm.. Nope. Edmonton did it in one season. Not the exception at all either. Soooo deliberately ignoring what ive typed or just being obtuse? Edmonton was never as badly off as we were at oline, QB and overall canadian depth.. We signed one of their castoffs to start for crying out loud.... If you wanna argue, at least research what your arguing about.. Two completely different scenarios.. There is a turn around and then there is a rebuild.. You're mostly wrong (QB the exception which we hopefully have fixed this year). Their O-line was every bit as bad as ours last year. Rielly was absolutely mauled back there. Only reason he wasn't sacked as much as Willy this year is due to scrambling ability. Canadian depth similar to ours except our best Canadian was better than their best Canadian. They also signed a few of our castoffs over the past few years if you had been paying attention. Hate to break it to you; it's the CFL - 9 teams and 6 of those make the playoffs and the majority of the players come from the same pool (American colleges and castoffs from the NFL) that every team has equal access to. Teams don't really rebuild like they do in the NFL, NHL, MLB, and NBA where half the teams or less make the playoffs. Teams reload. Rebuilding over more than one season is an excuse trotted out by inferior management. This is what we had with the previous regime. A 4 - year "rebuild" and we are marginally better depth-wise than 2009. No need for the same excuses this time around.

and do you understand why that was? You know how undesirable a place you are for coaches when the average head coach gets 2 or 3 seasons before being fired and coordinators are lucky to get 1? Which proven coordinators do you suppose would want to come here if we fired the ones we have this year? You guys know that the lack of stability in the coacing and GM ranks is the reason guys like Stubler decided not to come here? This happens in other cities and yet they have no problem hiring quality coordinators and coaches afterwards. Ie Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal, Edmonton, Saskatchewan...pretty much the whole league actually.

It's short sighted and doesn't take into account the starting point, and it's part of the reason why we've had this 25 year drought. Too many people have been fired because the instant results weren't there, or the team took a slight step back. All these knee jerk reactions because people only looked at wins and losses has done more damage to this team than anything.This.. Omg so much this.. If previous regimes hadn't mortgaged the future so often to try and appease the filthy unwashed masses,.maybe the drought would have ended years ago... But because they got so caught up on wins and losses, draft picks a plenty were traded or burned... QBs crushed without getting ample time to acclimate...A rebuild will never take a season or two... Especially after the destruction of our core like we have seen over and over again. It HAS happened before, yes... But that's the exception, not the norm.. That excuse is getting almost as old as the original sin and this draft thing is also getting well worn. How many of the Oline guys do we have left from our first choices? The fans had nothing to do with the choice of Etienne. But I guess it much easier to blame the fans instead of the very poor choice of managers we hired. We didn't trade or burn our choices, we wasted them because we picked the wrong guys. Further we did not pick up vets that could have helped us but choose to go with raw US rookies in previous years or in this year for that matter. How are the fans to blame for that? We let an all star guard go because we wanted to make him a center and he said no. (His words).However, after the results of this year it will be very hard to blame the fans again. Going into next year with this team will get MOS in a very bad position comes LDC. One thing you must agree with, the fans will not wait another 2 or 3 years to get results and they shouldn't. Hamilton were 6-12 in 2012 and Grey Cup participants the next. By the way MOS keeps saying he has a very good team, so much for the destruction of the core. The previous regimes panicked over and over again when the losses piled up and the fanbase got up in arms.. Deny it all you want but why else would they throw away first rounders on bum QBs or go for boom or bust draft picks who were expected to wow from the start? Frankly, i dont care if you agree with me or not.. Im confident that miller wont sway from his path, nor walters or O'shea.. i believe they understand what needs to be done to finish this process and know just how brutal this teams non imp and imp depth was.. Oh and for the record... That core we have.. Its pretty small. How much of it was carried over from 2-3 seasons ago? Thats not destruction, thats rebuilding.. That was not panicking because of the fanbase being up in arms though. That was an inexperienced GM making a short-sighted decision. He didn't feel draft picks had much value..not because of the fans, but because that is how he truly felt. Not sure which boom or bust draft picks you are talking about either? Etienne? He was known to be a long term project who would most likely not start for 2 seasons - that's the exact opposite of drafting to appease the fans RIGHT NOW. Same with Pencer - guy with a lot of raw athletic potential who had a history of injury concerns, but was thought to be a project that would take a couple years to develop into anything. Mack reached on Etienne when he could have had a solid contributor almost immediately in Coehorne and when he got schooled by Wally for Westerman he reached again with a pick of an injury-prone project who had been out of football for the year. Not the actions of someone who is supposedly pressured by fans to draft someone that provides immediate results. They are the actions of an individual who has little or no business being a GM of the Bombers in the first place - someone who had been out of the CFL for 25 years yet for some mysterious reason was recommended by members of the BOD. And therein lies problem - upper management. They are the ones who keep insisting on hiring inexperienced persons to oversee the management of the team, and in 2 cases (Kelly and Mack), also had an extended absence from the CFL. These recent hires have been amongst the bottom 2 or 3 at their managerial positions out of all the CFL teams which usually means a bottom 2 or 3 position in the CFL standings. Guess what? That's where the Bombers have finished for the most part over the last decade. Walters is the latest inexperienced person to be hired. A failed special teams coach elevated to temporary GM only to have temporary removed from the title after the club ensured an exhaustive search for gm candidates. That doesn't mean he will fail of course. Hervey was somewhat inexperienced in Edmonton prior to be hired as gm (although he spent a few seasons as head scout so he is more qualified than Walters) and he appears to have established a Grey Cup contending team in only his second season. No reason Walters can't do the same, but the clock is ticking. If he fails to at least get this team to .500 next season and is fired, that won't be the fault of the fans. It will be the fault of the BOD and CEO for their uncanny ability to continually hire a bottom-2 or bottom-3 league-wide GM. By the way, how do you figure this team has bad international depth? If I'm not mistaken, aren't you one of the guys who championed the idea that Mack had established excellent import depth on the team?

It's short sighted and doesn't take into account the starting point, and it's part of the reason why we've had this 25 year drought. Too many people have been fired because the instant results weren't there, or the team took a slight step back. All these knee jerk reactions because people only looked at wins and losses has done more damage to this team than anything. This.. Omg so much this.. If previous regimes hadn't mortgaged the future so often to try and appease the filthy unwashed masses,.maybe the drought would have ended years ago... But because they got so caught up on wins and losses, draft picks a plenty were traded or burned... QBs crushed without getting ample time to acclimate... A rebuild will never take a season or two... Especially after the destruction of our core like we have seen over and over again. It HAS happened before, yes... But that's the exception, not the norm.. Nope. Edmonton did it in one season. Not the exception at all either.

O-line and D-line please.

Sounds like a great deal. Smart of the organization to gain some long-term commitments, just in case the team tanks again next year. This would mitigate any losses in season ticket sales for the following 2016 season

You have a time machine? Edmonton hasn't made a cup since 2005. Point is under Hervey Edmonton went from a 4 win outfit last year to a double digit win team this year and a Grey Cup contender. Last year for Edmonton would be comparable to Winnipeg this year (Reilly makes his debut in Edmonton in 2013 while Willy makes his debut for the Bombers this year, both the 2013 Eskies and the 2014 Bombers have poor O-lines and poor Canadian depth). There is no reason that the Bombers can't have a similar bump in the win column that Edmonton experienced this year. If Edmonton can do it, there is no excuse for the Bombers not to do it as well. Another sub-.500 season is inexcusable.

It's short sighted and doesn't take into account the starting point, and it's part of the reason why we've had this 25 year drought. Too many people have been fired because the instant results weren't there, or the team took a slight step back. All these knee jerk reactions because people only looked at wins and losses has done more damage to this team than anything. Name the people over the past 25 years who were fired because instant results weren't there as you put it.

When the Bombers needed a two and out with two and half minutes left in the game, BC twice ran for 9 yards on first down, leading to easy second down conversions. This essentially ended the game as the Bombers only had 25 seconds to take the ball down the field for the win. As little as 3 years ago, the Bombers seemed capable of getting the 2 and outs whenever they needed them late in the game to at least give their offense a chance to tie or win the game on the subsequent drive. The offense, of course, did not always come through, but at least the defense gave them a chance! Too many times this year when the defense has needed to make a big stop, to keep the game to a 1-TD differential or less, they have crapped the bed - allowing precious time to burn off the clock as the opposing offenses churned out yards along the ground ultimately leading to additional points (FG or TD) and ultimately leaving the game out of reach.

I was at the game and there were a few instances where Willy could have thrown the ball away but for whatever reason he held on to the ball and tried to run or turn away from the d-lineman only to be sacked instead. Those are on him. On some plays he simply didn't have enough time to get rid of the ball - the O-line was incredibly porous on those plays, moreso than normal even for them. On that last second hail mary, I'm pretty sure Willy didn't have 4 seconds to get rid of the ball. More like 2 - 2.5 secs as the 4-man rush somehow beat our 5 linemen. Willy had to turn away and didn't have time to square himself for the throw downfield before he was sacked yet again. Line was bad, but Willy has to take his share of the blame. On that first interception, the receiver was already covered and the safety was already heading towards that side of the field (probably 10 yards from the receiver when Willy was just starting to make the throw) and yet Willy still makes the throw deep downfield anyways! Pretty much impossible odds for the receiver to come down cleanly with the catch when the second defensive back can clearly see what the Qb is going to do (Willy was running out of the pocket at this point and his eyes were clearly locked downfield on that one receiver) and moving in that direction, and on top of that, the receiver is already closely guarded by the assigned defensive back. Just a real dumb decision by Willy. Would have been fine if it was a last second hail mary, but it wasn't. It was a poorly thrown ball that the receiver had no chance on. Second interception was simply an inaccurate poorly thrown ball right at the defensive back. Neither of Willy's are what I would call a good interception like the ball thrown by Glenn right to Arcenaux where the defender stepped in front to make a last split-second INT. Rather they were poorly thrown balls the receivers with no chance for a reception. And those corner route calls in the endzone? GRRRR. Has Willy completed one of those in the second half of the season? Bellefool deserves some (or most?) of the blame for continually going back to this play when it clearly does not work, and Willy deserves some of the blame for displaying such poor accuracy on these particular throws. Seriously, you would think at this level he would place the passes at least within arms reach of the receiver, not 5 yards over their head..or even further as seems to be the case on some of these plays.