Tracker

Loyalty is an admirable trait for a leader, but sooner or later that loyalty has to be repaid with performance or it becomes blind, unreasoning faith.

Muamba's talent was undeniable but his tease-tour of the CFL was low class. However, I could hold my nose if he came back.

Taman didn't invent this salary dodge and it was probably his best/only option for a cash-poor team- Bauer threw nickels around like manhole (sorry, personhole) covers.

Go wash your keyboard out with soap.

Bass has to step up his game. He was almost unnoticeable against Hamilton and we were lucky to not get trampled by a running game. It will be interesting to see if the Esks run right at him immediately. If they can do that, our outside linebackers have to collapse and the secondary will come out of deeper drops. That would make Bowman's mouth water.

And Walby's personality had a lot to do with it as well.

Yup. Berry was a marked man but he didn't help his own cause very much. Kelly has to be one of the worst hires as HC in 'Bomber history- right up there with Reinbold and Zaleski.

I don't think that BC is as good as indicated, and when Collaros is back (almost there), they ought to be no worse than third.

I'm not sure that too many had complete faith in the secondary- too many newbies for that. But, yes, the situation is a bit scary right now with more than one very good receivers in the Esks' lineup.

The Esk running game doesn't concern me, but the thought of Bowman running loose in the current Bomber defensive backfield does.

Everyone has off-days, and if Collins happened to have one on his free-agent tryout, that would put him behind the 8-ball. Our newbie receivers look to have potential but none look like another #85 so far.

Not everyone's cornflakes were unadulterated this morning.

Beware those who lurk under the bridge.

About time.

Reilly does not seem to be as mobile this year as past years, probably out of self-preservation and coaches' instructions, and he is not as effective when he stays put. To beat the Esks, the Bomber front seven will have to be at least as good as they were against Hamilton and the secondary will have to be even better. By no means are the Esks going to be as easy to beat as Hamilton, so the offence will have to step it up even more. The Bomber O-line kept a pretty good Hamilton D-line off Willy for the most part and I am not sure Edmonton's D-line is as good, but their linebackers are better, so they will have to be watched for blitzes. If Bowman gets the ball often, he will shred the Bomber secondary, and the other Edmonton receivers aren't bad either.

It wasn`t that long ago when the Bombers were committing multiple turnovers and getting pulped by the opposition, so it stands to reason that there is little reason for premature celebration. The Esks were taken to the limit by the Riders last night and I take two lessons from that: the Bombers had better get their poop together for that game or else, and the Riders are going to better than expected by most. If the Bombers are to stay out of the basement, they are going to have to earn it.

There`s always the chance of an upset in mismatched games. The Bombers needed Hamilton to commit 6 turnovers to before our team was able to scrape out a narrow victory, so the skeptics can be forgiven if they do not believe that the dark days are over.

In Hall's defence: on paper we ought to have a dynamite front four.

For those who thought that Durant would not rebound: he sure as spit looks good, and that means the Bombers cannot rely on the Riders keeping the Big Blue out of the basement.

Blink's career was nothing short of amazing given his lack of conditioning, preparation and self-care in general. If he had trained rigorously, he probably would have gone down as one of the greatest if not the greatest running back in league history- in short, a legend.

We were fortunate to catch the 'Cats without Collaros and by no means did the Bombers run roughshod over them. I still have reservations about both Willy and O'Shea, but the Bomber defence looked respectable despite Bass not being dominant. The offensive line shut down a very good Hamilton front four and it sure looks like Taylor Reed is sorely missed.

The biggest, most pleasant surprise was the play of the offensive line. LaPolice called a great game plan and Willy was able to execute it but I still have doubts about whether he will develop into one of the top QBs in the league. Despite all the high-fiving, the Bombers scraped by a team that looked disorganized and undewhelming in performance. Masoli looked like a rookie backup, and the real test will come next game.

If we lose tonight, I fear that it will become a race to the bottom between the Bombers and the Riders. 4 and 14 or at best, 6 and 12. Ugh.

They would probably have to have undie concession stands at the games.

I see this game as pivotal to the season. Given the people involved with the team, I do not know how the team morale can survive another beating or even come back after another anorexic first half.