blueandgoldguy

The hiring policies of this organization, over the past few decades can be viewed with a rightful degree of skepticism.
 
1996 -  Winnipeg Blue Bombers board decides to relieve curmudgeon Coach and GM, Cal Murphy in favour of the sexy, hip  young coach on the harley resulting in two of the worst seasons in Bomber history.
 
1999 - boards hired Lyle Bauer as GM and CEO. While Bauer does some good things like bringing the Bombers debt levels to manageable levels and increase season ticket levels and corporate sponsorships to a respecatable amount, he inserted himself into the decision-making process of recently promoted GM Brendan Taman in 2004 ordering him to fire Dave Ritchie.  He followed this up in 2008, ordering the firing of Doug Berry in favor of his buddy Mike Kelly, leading to the disastrous 2009 season in which Kelly traded away half the Bombers' upcoming draft picks and alienated the fan base resulting in the lowest crowds seen since the late 90s.  Oh, and the team missed the playoffs as well followed by Kelly's arrest and ultimate firing.  Bauer leaves for the greener pastures of Calgary around this time.
 
2010 - In its infinite wisdom, the Bomber board decides to hire a former director of player personal, Joe Mack, who hasn't been seen in these parts, or any other CFL city in 22 years.  A curious hire, Mack fails to deliver on his promise of delivering the franchise a long-term solution at QB relying on broken-down Buck Pierce to lead the team during his entire 4-year tenure.  Canadian drafting leads to mixed results, recruiting from the US is adequate, but free agency proves to be his greatest downfall as he fails to significantly upgrade areas of significant weakness, O-line and QB.  Needless to say he proves to be a terrible team builder leading the team to 4-14, 10-8, 6-12 and 3-15 team seasons.  His hirings for the head coach position are highly questionable, most notably the disasterous 1.5 year reign of Tim Burke.
 
2012- The hiring of Garth Buchko as CEO who lasted all of a year and will forever be known as the man who guaranteed the Bombers would be playing at Investors Group Field in 2012.  Another curious hiring of an individual who appears to have been unqualified for the job.  It appears that being the director of a radio station that broadcast Bomber games was good enough for the suits on top.
 
2013 - Bombers bring in failed special teams coach, Kyle Walters, acting as interim general manager in the wake of the Joe Mack firing, with assurances from up top that the Bombers will extensively search for a GM come the off-season.  Sure enough, in the off season, after this  "extensive search" Kyle Walter is hired.  His near 2-year reign as GM has been a mixed bag - high-priced free agent acquisitions Nick Moore and Korey Banks failed to impress(first year) or were MIA while Stanley Bryant has seen middling results.  Trades for the likes of Chris Randle and Dominic Picard have improved the Bombers at those respective positions on the field.  While Walters should be commended for doing what his predecessor failed to do, sign a young up-and-coming QB in Drew Willy, there was really no other options for both the GM and the QB for the starter's spot.  All other teams had their Qb positions filled with Burris and Collaros having rebuked the young GM in favour of teams elsewhere.  The big concern with this GM is his inability to recruit replacement players from colleges and the NFL down south, most noticeably at linebacker and the defensive line.
 
Will add something about Miller tomorrow....

I think Willy's overrated and he's above criticism on these forums but... He's definitely our best QB by a country mile right now. Brohm shouldn't even have a job with us.  Marve, who I like, hasn't got enough experience to even be in the conversation to be compared to Willy.  Change out OC's (Been saying that since we kept MB during the coaching purge) and we'd probably see a better Willy than we do now.

The hiring policies of this organization, over the past few decades can be viewed with a rightful degree of skepticism.
 
1996 -  Winnipeg Blue Bombers board decides to relieve curmudgeon Coach and GM, Cal Murphy in favour of the sexy, hip  young coach on the harley resulting in two of the worst seasons in Bomber history.
 
1999 - boards hired Lyle Bauer as GM and CEO. While Bauer does some good things like bringing the Bombers debt levels to manageable levels and increase season ticket levels and corporate sponsorships to a respecatable amount, he inserted himself into the decision-making process of recently promoted GM Brendan Taman in 2004 ordering him to fire Dave Ritchie.  He followed this up in 2008, ordering the firing of Doug Berry in favor of his buddy Mike Kelly, leading to the disastrous 2009 season in which Kelly traded away half the Bombers' upcoming draft picks and alienated the fan base resulting in the lowest crowds seen since the late 90s.  Oh, and the team missed the playoffs as well followed by Kelly's arrest and ultimate firing.  Bauer leaves for the greener pastures of Calgary around this time.
 
2010 - In its infinite wisdom, the Bomber board decides to hire a former director of player personal, Joe Mack, who hasn't been seen in these parts, or any other CFL city in 22 years.  A curious hire, Mack fails to deliver on his promise of delivering the franchise a long-term solution at QB relying on broken-down Buck Pierce to lead the team during his entire 4-year tenure.  Canadian drafting leads to mixed results, recruiting from the US is adequate, but free agency proves to be his greatest downfall as he fails to significantly upgrade areas of significant weakness, O-line and QB.  Needless to say he proves to be a terrible team builder leading the team to 4-14, 10-8, 6-12 and 3-15 team seasons.  His hirings for the head coach position are highly questionable, most notably the disasterous 1.5 year reign of Tim Burke.
 
2012- The hiring of Garth Buchko as CEO who lasted all of a year and will forever be known as the man who guaranteed the Bombers would be playing at Investors Group Field in 2012.  Another curious hiring of an individual who appears to have been unqualified for the job.  It appears that being the director of a radio station that broadcast Bomber games was good enough for the suits on top.
 
2013 - Bombers bring in failed special teams coach, Kyle Walters, acting as interim general manager in the wake of the Joe Mack firing, with assurances from up top that the Bombers will extensively search for a GM come the off-season.  Sure enough, in the off season, after this  "extensive search" Kyle Walter is hired.  His near 2-year reign as GM has been a mixed bag - high-priced free agent acquisitions Nick Moore and Korey Banks failed to impress(first year) or were MIA while Stanley Bryant has seen middling results.  Trades for the likes of Chris Randle and Dominic Picard have improved the Bombers at those respective positions on the field.  While Walters should be commended for doing what his predecessor failed to do, sign a young up-and-coming QB in Drew Willy, there was really no other options for both the GM and the QB for the starter's spot.  All other teams had their Qb positions filled with Burris and Collaros having rebuked the young GM in favour of teams elsewhere.  The big concern with this GM is his inability to recruit replacement players from colleges and the NFL down south, most noticeably at linebacker and the defensive line.
 
Will add something about Miller tomorrow....

The hiring policies of this organization, over the past few decades can be viewed with a rightful degree of skepticism.
 
1996 -  Winnipeg Blue Bombers board decides to relieve curmudgeon Coach and GM, Cal Murphy in favour of the sexy, hip  young coach on the harley resulting in two of the worst seasons in Bomber history.
 
1999 - boards hired Lyle Bauer as GM and CEO. While Bauer does some good things like bringing the Bombers debt levels to manageable levels and increase season ticket levels and corporate sponsorships to a respecatable amount, he inserted himself into the decision-making process of recently promoted GM Brendan Taman in 2004 ordering him to fire Dave Ritchie.  He followed this up in 2008, ordering the firing of Doug Berry in favor of his buddy Mike Kelly, leading to the disastrous 2009 season in which Kelly traded away half the Bombers' upcoming draft picks and alienated the fan base resulting in the lowest crowds seen since the late 90s.  Oh, and the team missed the playoffs as well followed by Kelly's arrest and ultimate firing.  Bauer leaves for the greener pastures of Calgary around this time.
 
2010 - In its infinite wisdom, the Bomber board decides to hire a former director of player personal, Joe Mack, who hasn't been seen in these parts, or any other CFL city in 22 years.  A curious hire, Mack fails to deliver on his promise of delivering the franchise a long-term solution at QB relying on broken-down Buck Pierce to lead the team during his entire 4-year tenure.  Canadian drafting leads to mixed results, recruiting from the US is adequate, but free agency proves to be his greatest downfall as he fails to significantly upgrade areas of significant weakness, O-line and QB.  Needless to say he proves to be a terrible team builder leading the team to 4-14, 10-8, 6-12 and 3-15 team seasons.  His hirings for the head coach position are highly questionable, most notably the disasterous 1.5 year reign of Tim Burke.
 
2012- The hiring of Garth Buchko as CEO who lasted all of a year and will forever be known as the man who guaranteed the Bombers would be playing at Investors Group Field in 2012.  Another curious hiring of an individual who appears to have been unqualified for the job.  It appears that being the director of a radio station that broadcast Bomber games was good enough for the suits on top.
 
2013 - Bombers bring in failed special teams coach, Kyle Walters, acting as interim general manager in the wake of the Joe Mack firing, with assurances from up top that the Bombers will extensively search for a GM come the off-season.  Sure enough, in the off season, after this  "extensive search" Kyle Walter is hired.  His near 2-year reign as GM has been a mixed bag - high-priced free agent acquisitions Nick Moore and Korey Banks failed to impress(first year) or were MIA while Stanley Bryant has seen middling results.  Trades for the likes of Chris Randle and Dominic Picard have improved the Bombers at those respective positions on the field.  While Walters should be commended for doing what his predecessor failed to do, sign a young up-and-coming QB in Drew Willy, there was really no other options for both the GM and the QB for the starter's spot.  All other teams had their Qb positions filled with Burris and Collaros having rebuked the young GM in favour of teams elsewhere.  The big concern with this GM is his inability to recruit replacement players from colleges and the NFL down south, most noticeably at linebacker and the defensive line.
 
Will add something about Miller tomorrow....

The Offense had 5 two and outs and 2 more three and outs. That's "not barely" as you would put it.  The offense generated little after the first 10 minutes of the game.  Cotton didn't touch the ball much in the second half due to poor gains on his three or four touches.  In fact, Cotton had two gains over 5 yards.  Tough to generate a running game with that kind of production.  Bombers had 27 passes and 17 rushes.  That's the typical ratio for a CFL game.

The McMahon demon seems to be alive and well after last night.

We haven't had a great GM since Cal.  Early results with Walters suggests he is average...but it's early.  Recruiting from down south has left something to be desired.  

I think we Bomber fans became a little overly excited with Willy the comeback kid after the 5-1 start last year.  Since then, I think he has one fourth quarter comeback (against Sasky) and mostly pedestrian efforts marked by indecisiveness and questionable decision-making.
 
People love to rag on Glenn for ill-timed interceptions but it's more than apparent Willy has thrown his fair share or poorly timed INTs as well.  See today's game for the latest evidence.

I think we Bomber fans became a little overly excited with Willy the comeback kid after the 5-1 start last year.  Since then, I think he has one fourth quarter comeback (against Sasky) and mostly pedestrian efforts marked by indecisiveness and questionable decision-making.
 
People love to rag on Glenn for ill-timed interceptions but it's more than apparent Willy has thrown his fair share or poorly timed INTs as well.  See today's game for the latest evidence.

After no cups for 25 years, no playoffs in 5 out of 6 and frankly 4 decent years out of the last 11, we're all pissed off. We've heard the excuses, we've seen the miscues, its just aggravating.

I noticed for the upcoming BC game there are seats in certain sections of the north and south endzone priced at $23.50 (1 youth and 1 adult) which includes the service fees.  It's a Salisbury House offer that requires a code.  Half price seats.  Good to see the club forming a partnership with Sals to provide a low price alternative for families for those tough-to-sell seats.

Depends what you mean by high pressure.  He was won 5 playoff games and I remember him beating the Bombers in the final game of the 2009 season that secured 2nd spot in the East for Hamilton and eliminated Winnipeg from the playoffs.
 
He has the same number of championship rings as Dieter Brock, Milt Stegall, Juron Bolden and Charles Roberts (who played a big role in the Bombers losing the 2006 East Semi-final and 2007 Grey Cup by the way).
 
Glenn came through this weekend with 3 Tds after the INT.  The defense did not come through when the chips were down.
 
Honestly it's funny when I read any gameday threads with Kevin Glenn playing for team x over the last several years.  Regardless of when he throws an INT - first, second, third or fourth quarter - he somehow fails to perform in the clutch and cost his team the game.  When most other QBs throw an INT it is glossed over.  Newsflash:  Glenn has won games in which he has thrown an INT.  I know it's hard to believe but he has.

Expecting a 50-50 split between the run and pass game in the CFL is asinine.  It's the CFL - a three-down league.  
 
If you run it on first down and only gain a few yards then you pretty much are guaranteed to pass on second.  You also can't consistently run on first down drive after drive.  Most players and D-coordinators will quickly recognize this and adjust accordingly unless either is completely incapable or incompetent.  A realistic scenario over the course of the season would be 33-35 passes and 20 - 22 rushes and those rushes would include a few QB sneaks.
 
Only rarely will you see a 50-50 split in a CFL game.  That happens when the O-Line is dominating the line of scrimmage allowing the running back to gain 5+yards every play...and it usually happens when the team running ball has a substantial lead.  It's simply not a viable option if the running back is gaining less than 5 yards on first down or failing to capitilize on second and short (say 3 yards or less) stalling a drive.
 
I'm afraid if you want to see a 50-50 split between running and passing on a semi-consistent basis then you will need to watch the NFL.  4 downs allows much more flexibility with the run-pass split especially on second down.

Expecting a 50-50 split between the run and pass game in the CFL is asinine.  It's the CFL - a three-down league.  
 
If you run it on first down and only gain a few yards then you pretty much are guaranteed to pass on second.  You also can't consistently run on first down drive after drive.  Most players and D-coordinators will quickly recognize this and adjust accordingly unless either is completely incapable or incompetent.  A realistic scenario over the course of the season would be 33-35 passes and 20 - 22 rushes and those rushes would include a few QB sneaks.
 
Only rarely will you see a 50-50 split in a CFL game.  That happens when the O-Line is dominating the line of scrimmage allowing the running back to gain 5+yards every play...and it usually happens when the team running ball has a substantial lead.  It's simply not a viable option if the running back is gaining less than 5 yards on first down or failing to capitilize on second and short (say 3 yards or less) stalling a drive.
 
I'm afraid if you want to see a 50-50 split between running and passing on a semi-consistent basis then you will need to watch the NFL.  4 downs allows much more flexibility with the run-pass split especially on second down.

My point is you cannot expect that on a regular basis especially with all the penalties being called on passing plays (not necessarily pass interference by the way) which artificially decreases the number of real passing plays in a game.  Also, as I stated in my previous quote, you will only see a 50-50 split if the opposing defense and coordinator are incapable or incompetent in stopping the run.  This was the case with Saskatchewan last week.
 
So when the Bombers have a 60-40 or 65-35 split in favor of the passing game for the majority of their games this season, don't start crying about them not running enough.  A team normally cannot run on first down every time as it's entirely to predictable nor can they  run on second and long as it's a low percentage play for a first down.  This necessitates a stronger emphasis on the passing game.  Add in the fact that we have a QB who is one of the weakest scramblers in the league and you should probably not expect to see more than 20 - 22 runs in a game.

Expecting a 50-50 split between the run and pass game in the CFL is asinine.  It's the CFL - a three-down league.  
 
If you run it on first down and only gain a few yards then you pretty much are guaranteed to pass on second.  You also can't consistently run on first down drive after drive.  Most players and D-coordinators will quickly recognize this and adjust accordingly unless either is completely incapable or incompetent.  A realistic scenario over the course of the season would be 33-35 passes and 20 - 22 rushes and those rushes would include a few QB sneaks.
 
Only rarely will you see a 50-50 split in a CFL game.  That happens when the O-Line is dominating the line of scrimmage allowing the running back to gain 5+yards every play...and it usually happens when the team running ball has a substantial lead.  It's simply not a viable option if the running back is gaining less than 5 yards on first down or failing to capitilize on second and short (say 3 yards or less) stalling a drive.
 
I'm afraid if you want to see a 50-50 split between running and passing on a semi-consistent basis then you will need to watch the NFL.  4 downs allows much more flexibility with the run-pass split especially on second down.

Nice to see the nasty streak end.  Great job by Willy, Cotton and the O-line.
 
Rider fans cry and commiserate by making out with cousins Skeeter and Bessie.

Canada didn't play Korea.  They played China.

Glad this conversation has received it's "official" start, there will be complications like the draft but I believe the benefits outweigh the negatives and I expect the CFL to implement the earlier start within a few seasons.  League wide, colder weather equates to large number of no-shows and poor walk-ups which hurts concession and merchandise sales.

Whenever I want to know what a player makes I just check out Nasty Nate old posts here and elsewhere.  Good enough for me, good enough for the rest of you.

Whenever I want to know what a player makes I just check out Nasty Nate old posts here and elsewhere.  Good enough for me, good enough for the rest of you.

I'm pleased with the extension.  Bombers can't afford to lose Willy with no proven backup regardless of how many people claim Marve looked good in very limited reps last year.  If it takes $400,000 after this year then so be it.  If he continues to struggle this year and the following year behind an improved offensive line, then the team can always look at restructuring his contract or releasing him if another option presents itself.

Since you left are you saying you can suck yourself?

I'm not complaining about a few cm of snowfall in march.  Par for the course.  We are coming off a pretty mild winter.  February was the only month below average temperature.  Our snowfall was 1/2 - 2/3s of what it normally is...which isn't much compared to other parts of Canada.
 
WHy was this thread directed at KBF?  Anyways, Kelowna has some advantages - mild winters, longer spring and fall, surrounded by beautiful mountains.  Then again, it's a ridiculously expensive place to live and the average wage does not compensate for the higher living costs; higher unemployment, lower average wages and a very slow-growing population.  Plus a hear many in the BC interior are not the most progressive-minded.
 
Most important, no CFL and NHL team.

You are wrong about CBC being mandatory carriage. Sun News was constantly whining about government interference (between losing lawsuits for defamation and slander) but as soon as it became clear no one wanted to watch Faux News North, they started demanding mandatory carriage for themselves. Good riddance.