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Danny Barrett was a decent coach and a pretty good QB in his day, but he treated media and fans like they were invading Nazis.

Ah, he's a putz.

The Cavalry is not coming, so grit your teeth and hang on folks. Who we got is who we will have for the rest of the season, for better or ill. There is a very real likelihood that Willy is looking at next year before he throws another football in anger, so if Marve aint it, we are stuck with hoping that Dom Davis has brought something to the party.

And gosh darn it, people dont like us! Just slap them around....and make them like it... The beatings will continue until morale improves

Well if Marve gets us a hit, Davis another hit and we keep going this could work. The problem with your scenario is that we would need nine more quarterbacks to finish the season plus more for the playoffs.

Impacts have a cumulative effect if there is not the time to heal between them. If somebody gets hit/jumped on often enough by someone else 80 pounds heavier, something bad is going to happen. Its like Russian Roulette- sooner or later the hammer is going to come down on the loaded chamber. Willy got hit 5 times in the first half and it was only a matter of time. If this or something like this didn't happen last game it would probably have happened soon after.

To keep things in perspective- Richie Hall's defence is performing well, especially considering the liabilities (Hurl, Leggett, Bucknor) he is saddled with, so that leaves the offensive offense and special teams. There may be an argument about how well we can do in Willy's absence but there is no possible excuse for the special-teams cock-ups we have seen this year.

Each of those quarterbacks have previous CFL exposure .. expecting an American QB to come in here and make any sort of impact without having previously experienced the league is not in the realm of realistic. (Smith was on the Argos PR last year) And Cato?

And that knee joint is going to be painful for the rest of his life and almost certainly arthritic.

Some if not all of the best coaches in the CFL have pulled their starting QBs early if the offence wasn't producing and a change of pace was in order. I've seen Don Matthews and Buono do it. The offence wasn't doing squat all first half, so it was decided to keep on doing the same in the second half. Where's the sense in that?

If Marve struggles in his first start, lets show some patience here. No doubt he thinks he can lead the team to the promised land, but getting up to game speed may take some time. I am still urinated off at O'Shea.

No doubt this development will cause all manner of joy over at Riderfans.

It is also QUITE possible that I could win the lottery but I wouldn't bet on that, either.

Life would be much easier if all decisions could be made with hindsight. The concensus on the gameday chat was that Willy should have been pulled. On the 'OB broadcast the opinion was that Willy should have been pulled, and even on the TSN halftime panel they reached the same conclusion. It wasn't rocket surgery.

Picking Waggoner was still a good move, but the rest of your post is dead on. Willy's injury means that the Labour Day games are going to be a nightmare and all that chortling done here over the Rider woes are going to sound pretty ironic.

Whoever decided to leave Willy in the game after halftime ought to do the honourable thing and fall on his sword.

There are a lot of things I would want to say about this but they would all be asterisked out. This has to be laid at the feet of one Michael O'Shea and possibly Marcel Bellefeuille. The decision to leave Willy in when he was doing nothing and when itwas obvious to all that it was out of hand, has to rank as the stupidest move of his tenure here. The probability now is that the season is very much in doubt and if it leads to O'Shea being fired, he will richly deserve it. *******

Because Marve's natural style is so different from Willy's, the offence is going to have to be retooled at least a bit to take advantage of his strengths. Even so, Marve's lack of first-team reps may hamper his performance, so lets not get our hopes up that he is the reincarnation of Matt Dunigan in his prime. We need to see if Marve is better than Brohm and good enough to trust him to be an alternative to Willy if need be. Toronto is a good team and beating them with Willy at the helm would be no small feat, but with Marve (if he really starts-not a given) a win would be a real shot in the arm for team morale.

You're right, I don't think many teams can overcome a start like that. However, I feel teams that are well coached and fully prepared don't let it happen to them.Hamilton is a good team and are very well coached. I just can't see them in the same hole. They come to compete. You know a tipped ball can happen to anyone? A blocked punt? We've already done that. And a mistake by a Kick returner? You can't coach that.Spit happens... They can and do happen in a game, but they are preventable. Block the lineman better and make sure he can't get his hands up to block the pass. Block better when punting, don't let the other team get a hand on the ball. Always be aware on kickoffs. Stoudemire said they we're fooled because Medlock normally kicks to the other side of the field when he lines the ball up where he did.Yes all that can happen, I just believe that good teams that are well coached don't let all three happen one after the other. Now, if only there was a way for our returner to get quickly across the field after seeing the ball heading to the other side....

We need to pray real hard that it is only one week plus a bye week.

That's my high school year book photo. Where did you get it? That picture is giving me flashbacks to the summer I spent in Estevan in 1990. Those guys look like the mayor and the local doctor. The two best looking men in town. They would place high in a Miss Saskatchewan contest

Exactly we are 0-3 against the best two teams in the league only have to face Edmonton once more at home. 3-1 against the rest of the league.If we can win 7 or 8 games in the next eleven, we should make the playoffs. I doubt that a 9 and 9 season even with crossover potential gets us there with three teams in the east already with 4 wins. Gonna have to start counting the free squares on the bingo cards to see what our chances are for the post season.Sweeping the Riders is becoming critical. Jeez, nothing like even more pressure going into the rubber match in September. Rubber match...does that mean all the players wear condoms during the game? Well, somebody is gonna get scrooged in the home and home with the Roughies. Might be Chamblin. If either team sweeps the series, somebody's head will roll.

I don't understand why this is so hard to comprehend. Reading blitzes, making quick decisions, and getting rid of the ball is how Danny Mcmanus made a career. It's where Willy is lacking. Just because you don't like the argument doesn't make it invalidNo the argument loses validity when you expect a qb to catch the ball and instantly throw it. Even Danny Mcmanus and Kevin Glenn, two notably quick throwers had trouble when the pressure was in their face as quickly as it's been coming for the Bombers this year. Drew Willy is the least of the problems on this team. This post is ridiculous hyperbole. I thought Drew Willy played great - he hung in there and completed some very tough throws. Bottom line - though some of you for some reason don't want to believe it - we were by far the worst team in the CFL two years ago. I mean, we were expansion team bad or worse. In two years, IMO - we've come a long way. The Hamilton Tiger Cats, right now, are a much stronger football team than we are. That's a fact that is proven in the two games we played them. But despite the constant pressure and the insurmountable odds, Drew Willy hung in there and I, for one, was very impressed with him. Far better than what he showed last year. That is growth and gives me faith that he could be the next great Bomber QB. Such a refreshing change from the garbage (and Buck Pierce - loved his heart and won't call him garbage but he was never anything more than a glorified backup IMO) we've had QB since Kevin Glenn was released. I think that "Drew Willy played great" is open to challenge- his stats and the scoreboard were not impressive but I am not saying it was all his fault- 5 sacks for example.

Good! i'm taking my girl friend to her first game next week. I don't want to waste money if Brohm's under center. If Willy can't go it's time to give Marve the controls. First impression last. First time I brought my daughter to the game (vs Cgy when Elliott was injured) the Bombers lost and it didn't help to have her interested to the Bombers. Same thing, when I brought my wife on a rainy game when the Als are in town (then in the old arena), the Bombers lost too and same thing she never get interested in the game and the Bombers since then. The rain didn't help either. I'll give my girl credit she does watch every game with me. Although it's not her thing she knows i'm into it and she'll always put on her best game face. I think she's more excited to finally go to the game then i am! Hopefully a better team performance than Sunday. Now you owe her and it will be something like sitting through "The Notebook" or a "Hot in Cleveland" marathon. Or dinner with her family. Or self-immolation.

Welcome to this sometimes fractious and usually impatient gathering.