TrueBlue4ever

Section 216!

Going off the top of my head, 21 Canucks, 20 Americans, 2 QBs and I think 2 Globals now. 7 starters must be Canadian, this is where Hammy fudged the numbers. Please correct me if I am wrong, this is somewhat guesswork.

All star team gets announced tonight too, no? Any guesses on how many we nab? We had 15 divisional noms, CFL all-star record is 11.

And thanks Darian Durant. His contract douchebaggery freed up the cash to sign Biggie. Best screw job recovery ever.

When does the voting actually happen? I’m not sure Hamilton making the Cup would change things because the vote is supposed to be on regular season anyway. Having said that I’m glad Pete Ghost put up this thread, because I have dreaded Simoni winning but fear Biggie will get the Stanley Bryant 2019 treatment. Zach is a lock given the chatter about him and the team success this year. Biggie absolutely should win as he was the leader of the best defence the league has seen in maybe 60 years. And his biggest strength (being swept up in the “Winnipeg was so much better they should get all the awards” mentality) is also the biggest weakness (“the Bombers were a team defence, Simoni carried his squad more”) and their black and white stats were similar. I hate the fact that Lawrence’s dirty play gets glossed over so much, he should lose votes for that alone. Bryant either gets the redemption vote for being stiffed in 2019 and then embarrassing the voters with his and Van Zyel’s respective performances in the Grey Cup proving he got jobbed, or the voters pull another “he’s won, time to spread it around” attitude. I’m more confident than most that O’Shea wins this easily over Dinwiddie, even if playoffs don’t matter. This team was SO much better than the other 8 this year that his coaching and team building cannot be ignored, especially after last year’s win. And Dinwiddie’s most memorable coaching move was absolutely making a clusterf*ck of clock management against BC and fluking out a win because their kicker sucked.

Or they’ll just break the ratio rules again.

Mea culpa. Also forgot the ALL CAPS!!

I don’t disagree for the sake of disagreeing or to look cool or “be better”, I will disagree where I have an opinion and will explain it where necessary, even if it is a minority opinion. I also agree with a bunch of stuff here, so I am not disagreeing “at all times”. If you disagree with me on a topic, make your case and I will make mine. Simple as that. If my logic is flawed, I’m sure my error will be pointed out. If my reasoning holds up, but you just don’t like it because it differs from your opinion or pokes holes your argument, that’s not my problem, and it’s not because I think I am better or cooler or whatever characterization you want to dump on me. I don’t get my social validation from others on an anonymous fan board. I’m here to debate football topics with other fans. If there is no room for dissenting opinion, then have we become a clone of the Riderfan boards, which is what I am told they are all about? But beyond all of that, why does my different opinion bother you so much? I don’t get that. If you want to discuss further or have it out or hurl insults or whatever, we can move this to the PMs so as not to derail the thread more. Peace out.

“Do your research!”

Assuming the complainant is completely credible, which may be too readily accepted here because it’s a Rider on the other side. “Hey, here’s a fan who chooses to get season tickets behind the opposing bench for the purpose of heckling players all the time (self-admitted) and dresses up in wrestling garb. Seems like a low key, mild mannered person would would never look to start a confrontation with the visiting team, minimize his own behaviour in inciting an incident or exaggerate a player’s response.” Hey, I have a picture of me standing beside Anna Kournikova at an autograph signing. Totally proves we are sleeping together! Look, I am not saying an incident did not happen. Ball likely did go into the stands. I was at the game and did not see anything from my vantage point, and did not hear an auditory uproar from the stands behind the Rider bench which is common when an incident occurs. So being there is not necessarily proof or a way to shout down someone who wasn’t. And being there and not seeing it is not proof it didn’t happen. Lots of fans, big stadium, and the vantage point may only be available to a few select fans. I’m just skeptical that it happened exactly the way the complainant lays it out. As was said, the victimhood portrayed in the article comes across as a bit rich to believe the throw was a violent as outlined. The kid says he was caught unaware of the throw and his uncle had to jump In to intercept it inches from his unsuspecting face. Yet he perfectly describes the “pro-level” wind-up and hard velocity throw. So did you see it coming or not? For now, we have one side of the story, and it is self-serving (gets us a picture in the paper and publicly slags those dirty Riders to the media). Gainey’s version denying it would be equally self-serving (protect my reputation, which already has marks against it, and potential liability). I’d like to hear some unbiased third party witnesses or await the league response rather than get the “scoop” from the Freep unverified. But a story slagging the Riders for alleged reprehensible behaviour is red meat to many on this board akin to Trump saying “immigrants bring in drugs and are rapists” to people in MAGA hats. I’m not ready to buy in just yet, that’s just me and that’s all I am explaining in my comments.

Players are in a no-win situation when it comes to fan interaction. Look at the post-game video of Toronto-Hamilton. Fans throwing beer at players, swearing, even throwing punches in one case, but once players go after them physically they will lose the argument in the court of public opinion every time. Players always have to defer to security and just get fans who are too abusive removed and never take it into their own hands.

No one really knows except those fans, anyone right beside them who witnessed it, the player, and the security guys who monitor all the cameras at the stadium. The whole place is monitored for fan misbehaviour, so if there is any traction to this story I am sure the club can find video of it and respond. I am not prepared to give the automatic benefit of the doubt to the fan in this case given their one-sided account. Heard versions of this type of story too many times be a nothing burger to accept it at face value with lots some independent verification. Just a vibe I got from the tone of the article.

Just avoid the edibles. I hear those things can mess up a weekend.

Actually, the article made no mention of where they were sitting or where the ball was thrown. All we know is “early in the first quarter” and is most likely after the Demski INT since that is when Gainey would have had his hands on the ball. What video there is does not show any throw into the stands, Gainey is holding the ball as he heads back to the bench. So heed your own advice if you say “did you read the article?” since your version of “it mentions sidelines by the bench” is not in there either. TBURG never said it was in the end zone himself.

Forgive me if I don’t think this kid’s version is entirely 100% accurate. Slow news day and a reporter trying to make something bigger than it is. The tell for me is the “former make-a-wish kid with the heart problem”, which tries too hard to paint a mouthy 17 year old as Mother Teresa. No, players should not be tossing things into the stands, but I am skeptical that a 90mph fastball with a “frozen, rock hard nose breaking velocity football” was deliberately aimed at the kid’s head, no video of it (presumably came after the early Demski INT play, Gainey took the ball back to his bench), maybe flipped it into the stands. More likely a Kramer/Newman “he spit on me” complaint where they admit they poured beer on the true perpetrator in the bullpen earlier. Kid getting his 5 minutes of attention and a picture in the paper to my mind, and the paper using the Rider rivalry to play up an angle.

Prolix is good because he will sometimes try to explain things a little more to the fans on the mike. Sadly his accent can cause unintentional hilarity. Like the game in Calgary where every time there was a tackle eligible play the player was required to report and the official had to announce it on the PA so the defence could not be tricked. After about five versions of “Calgary number ticksty tree is illegible on display” Bob Irving actually said “Poor Andre” on the broadcast, and the league changed the rule where it did not need to be broadcast any more. I liked the Proulx game where an Alouette got a little too exuberant after a sack and in his celebration bowled over Andre and then looked worried he was going to be flagged. Proulx pops up and says “There is no penalty on the play, it was an accident” barely containing his laughter. Judging by this thread I found not all Ticat fans may be as pleased with the referee selection. Some feel he has an anti-Hamilton bias. https://forums.cfl.ca/t/andre-proulx-take-it-down-a-notch/64657

The block was legal because it was behind the line of scrimmage. No matter, the game was over the play after Harris’ second touchdown when Theadric Hansen wiped out two Tiger Cats on the kickoff. They were broken after that.

We will be getting two or three ourselves. Look forward to seeing you there in some capacity, will keep you posted on our seats! Go Blue!

Brother buying them. Actually don’t have them yet (even with the sellout, there are a bunch on Facebook on the secondary market and prices are dropping). Will have them by Saturday. Eyeing some in the upper deck near centre field on Ticketmaster, but the extra taxes really up the posted price. Fortunately he wants good seats and said he’d but the rid of I paid my way out to see him, so he is committed no matter what he ends up paying. Probably going to run us about $500 per ticket when all is said and done. If I confirm my seat I will let you know.

Thank you for this. Wise words. I bit my tongue on a few posts since some might dismiss me as being holier than thou again, but I felt a few comments went over the line (“loser”, “weiner”, “should check his estrogen level”). I do agree that he does need to get off social media if it causes him strife, or if he expects it to be all positive strokes, because fandom is hardly all that, and fairly or not comes with the territory for pro athletes. But at least when asked a question by the media, he did not give the standard canned cliches and gave an honest, from the heart, real answer. I don’t feel sorry for him as much as I am concerned about his mental state and how hard he seems to take things. It may hinder him as a quarterback and team leader, but as a human he is entitled to his feelings and should not be mocked for it. Hopefully in the future he can find a way to tune out the internet critics or at least be at peace with it, but the pandemic has done a number on most people’s mental health. I know many who feel that the lack of real human connection and living and working in a more virtual world has led to a lot more isolation and loss of basic respect for others when you communicate mainly through a computer.

I’ll be there. Have family in Toronto who I am going with.

If O’Shea wants to be a leader of men, gain their trust to play for him, and to be accountable to him and their teammates as players, then he must be careful and choose his words wisely, so as to be accountable to them as well, as a coach, as a man. Fans don’t need to have that same accountability, so they can feel free to express their opinions, whatever they may be, with less filter or measured words.

Some random, maybe fascinating but largely useless stuff about the upcoming game: In the 108 year history of the Grey Cup, this is the 33rd time a team has returned to the championship game to defend its title. Defending champions are 21-11 in the following year’s game when they return. Since the founding of the CFL in 1958 they are 9-6. This is also the 46th time a team that has lost the previous Grey Cup has gotten back to the big game. Those teams are 22-23 overall, and 16-10 since 1958, in that scenario. Winnipeg and Hamilton are meeting for the 12th time in the Grey Cup game, including the matches where their military teams playing in the 1940’s. This is the most common match-up in Grey Cup history, surpassing the 11 match-ups between Edmonton and Montreal. Since the inception of the CFL in 1958, Montreal and Edmonton have met 8 times. With this year’s match-up, the Bombers and Cats will now tie that record in the CFL era. Winnipeg is 7-4 overall against Hamilton in Grey Cup games, and 6-1 since 1958. This is the 17th re-match in Grey Cup history, and the 10th in the CFL era (sort of, the Bombers and Tiger Cats played each other on 1957 and 58 so there was an overlap in the pre- and Post-CFL era there: the 1958 game is not counted in the “CFL era” stats). Overall, the team that won the first game is 10-6 in the re-match, but only 4-5 in the CFL era (starting with the 1959 Bomber-Cat re-match). Only 4 times have two teams met in 3 consecutive seasons. Here are the full results: 1928-29: Hamilton sweeps Saskatchewan 1937-38: Toronto sweeps Winnipeg *1945-47: Toronto defends twice over Winnipeg, sweeping the 3 games *1954-56: Edmonton goes 3-0 over Montreal *1957-59: Hamilton wins the first meeting with Winnipeg, the Bombers win the re-match, then defend their title in year 3 1961-62: Bombers win both against Hamilton (this is the first time two clubs will play 5 Grey Cups against each other in a 6 year span, Edmonton and Montreal will repeat this feat in the 1970’s) 1963-64:Hamilton and BC split with the Cats winning the first and the Leos taking the re-match 1974-75: Montreal beats Edmonton in the opener but lose the re-match 1977-79: Esks/Als again for 3 straight, Alouettes win the first, give up the title in year 2, and the Eskimos defend in year 3. 1998-99: Calgary beats Hamilton in the first one, Cats flip the script the next year 2002-03: Montreal/ Edmonton once again, Als win the first one but Esks spoil the title defence the next year 2009-10: Montreal sweeps Saskatchewan, including the infamous “13th man” penalty in game one. The Tiger Cats get a home game this year. This is the 11th time they have hosted, and amazingly only once in the prior 10 games have they not appeared as a team in the game they hosted (Toronto vs Edmonton in 1996). They are 6-3 as the “home team” in the other 9 Grey Cups held in Hamilton., although the first 8 were before the rotational system came into play. Before 1941, almost every game was held in Hamilton or Toronto (Ottawa did not host until 1925 when they beat the Winnipeg Tammany Tigers as the home team, Montreal got its first home game in 1931 beating the Roughriders), and there was no neutral site, so every year until 1941 was a home game for one of the teams (always in the east). The first “neutral site” game was in 1941 when Toronto hosted the game and Winnipeg beat Ottawa. After that game, Toronto won as the host city 6 times, beating Winnipeg in 1942, 45-47, and 50, and beating Edmonton in 1952. Hamilton lost as the host to Montreal in 1944. That game in Hamilton was the only one in a 14 year span where every other game was in Toronto. The first western Grey Cup was 1955 when Edmonton defeated Montreal in BC. After that game, Toronto and BC rotated the hosting duties, with BC essentially getting every third year. The next host city to have its team appear in the game was BC in 1963, who lost to Hamilton. But the true rotation of Grey Cup host cities did not start until 1965, with the 4 eastern teams and BC hosting. Calgary would get its first Grey Cup in 1975, Edmonton in 1984, Winnipeg in 1991, and Regina in 1995. Since the advent of the full rotational system , 11 teams have played at home in a Grey Cup game before this year. Those home teams are 6-5 overall, including the last 3 times in consecutive years from 2011 to 2013. Calgary and Winnipeg are the only two current CFL teams to have never played in a “home” Grey Cup game. Edmonton is the only franchise to never win a “home” Grey Cup. And finally, Winnipeg and Hamilton have met once before in a “home field” Grey Cup, all the way back in 1935 when the Winnipeg Pegs beat the Tiger Cats to become the first ever western team to win the Grey Cup.