TrueBlue4ever

Thank you. I appreciate the thought out answer and it is hopefully the template they used. My overreaction was based on the “league is a joke “ comment. It is easy to criticize the CFL, but doing so without context or offering a better solution is very frustrating to me. I don’t see this as a CFL failure, it is an MLSE failure. I am fairly confident that if the league had just quietly not said anything then Dave Naylor (who tweeted the original story) would have been all too happy to jump all over the league for sweeping the incident under the table and call them out for poor leadership. And no matter what you get reporters like Masani spouting off “way to go, Randy” snide attacks that I feel are unwarranted. So when I hear “the league is a joke” but no possible solution and just a chance to throw stones, I get my back up. Unfair to take it out on you. I am concerned there is a real agenda by certain media and MLSE to do everything they can to pump up anything other than the CFL, and pounce every time something goes amiss, and again I don’t see any wrongdoing by the CFL in how the situation occurred. So in the circumstances I think they did the best they could. I sure hope they slap MLSE hard for this sanctioned player appearance that put the league in a tough spot. I think an exception for promoting the league is certainly justified here in altering the rules, and protecting the player from his team’s carelessness.

Ok, apologize for the language. Please tell me what a preferable outcome would have been to what the league decided, as I originally asked.

A fan of the CFL. If you think the league is such a joke, don’t watch it and leave the rest of us to enjoy it.

Then **** off and go watch the NFL. You sound like Naylor and Madani.

What would you have preferred?

CFL just put out a statement on the situation. He will quarantine for two days, and if another negative test happens, he will be cleared for play on Sunday. Just won’t practice today or tomorrow. My take is this is the best they could do in a near impossible situation, and a quick and decisive response by them to balance the interests of safety and the integrity of the game on Sunday. https://www.cfl.ca/2021/12/03/cfl-issues-decision-status-argos-qb-mcleod-bethel-thompson/

They say the mind is the second thing to go as you age. Don’t remember what the first thing is.

I’m betting the team will bus it to Toronto rather than fly.

This is all on MLSE, not the CFL. They own both the Raptors and the Argos, they know the rules, and they send their QB to the game to do a very visible promo. Put the league HQ in an impossible position. Follow the COVID rules, and you remove Toronto’s most important player before the biggest game of the year at home, and people yell because you are setting up a Hamilton home field Grey Cup. Allow him to play an you make an exception to the rules and people scream that you are deliberately pushing for an Argo Grey Cup appearance. The non-attendance rule seems odd, but it has been in place all year. Boy, if MLSE wanted to bury the Argos and join up with the XFL (as Damien Cox has floated the rumour) wouldn’t a great way to do it be to sabotage your own team by getting your QB removed form the roster ahead of a big playoff game and creating a big PR mess for the CFL and the Argos? #justsayin’ Maybe this is revenge by MLSE for the league and the other 8 teams not following their wishes and backing out of the XFL talks.

Just a reminder, Lucky is a free agent at the end of the year.

Well, the way the senior broadcaster retirements are going this year, they need new talent in the booth. Maybe they are auditioning their guests?

The cold is a nuisance but manageable with the proper attire. Big thing is the feet. Wear winter boots, don’t make your feet too tight in your footwear with too many layers. A good old time trick was sock, plastic bag, sock to keep your sweat in, but keep your feet moving and move around at the half. Also, styrofoam between your feet and the cold concrete floor works. My concern game-wise is the increasing threat of snowfall. Now up to 80%. Bad weather is a great equalizer for a weaker team. This is where a healthy Andrew Harris would make a huge difference if it turns into a run game battle.

I thought yesterday was closed, today is open and Saturday is closed.

Only if it is Bob Irving. I feel that Brian Williams will get that slot now though.

I am sorry for your loss. There have been /will be many mental health challenges because of the forced distancing. It is galling that so many who screamed about lockdowns and overreactions and restrictions to their freedom of movement now have a vaccine that can allow for their lives to return to some sense of normalcy and avoid all that, and these same people refuse to take it.

I believe it is more common for a team that has swept the regular season series against another team to win the playoff game as well rather than lose it. Although the Bombers fortunately flipped the script on the Tiger Cats in 2019 after losing both regular season games.

Bombers still hold the all-time record beating the Argos 5 times in the 1990 season.

I’d say avoid a lockdown, but make vax cards mandatory for entry into any place, be it a grocery store, theatre, restaurant, inside of a gas station. Of you don’t want the responsibility of vaccinating to protect others, you lose the privilege (it’s not a right) to attend certain places. New Zealand enforced this and when asked if she was creating different rules for those who did not comply with the vaccination demands versus those who did, the PM matter-of-factor said “yes, that’s exactly what I am doing” with zero apologizing. As it should be.

I don’t listen to their local media, and I don’t care if they play the homer card -it just reveals their low broadcast standards. I don’t see the national media continually bringing up Harris’ failed test, and you’d be mighty upset if they still did, so why the double standard? In the Grey Cup all they mentioned was hardship and suspension once and talked about his redemption. They didn’t harp on the failed drug test. As for the fans, who cares what they think. Of course they’ll throw stones, just like you have with Leonard all year. Why do you care so much what they have to say, do you honestly expect praise from them? Don’t let them live rent-free in your head. Their opinion is irrelevant. And you being sore about it is exactly the reaction they want. Don’t give them that satisfaction, it seems foolish to get worked up about it. Just my two cents. Do what you wish I guess, but lots of the “Rider fawning media” conspiracy is overblown, and dumping on the fans for exactly the same behaviour displayed against them here comes off as hypocritical. If we want to hold ourselves as a better fan base than the “Gappers”, then let’s act the part. I don’t think you spy Fajardo. A Streveler-type run first QB is one you spy (like Tracy Ham, Damon Allen or earlier Henry Burris) but Fajardo still wants to throw first. Prevent the scrambles with contain, but no need to guard against him running in every play. If he changes his M.O. and starts to utilize the run as a regular option, easy enough to switch to a “spy” scheme then.

I think you guys look way too hard sometimes to find Rider media bias where it doesn’t really exist.

No, not the reason, but the suspension itself was noted. True that they did omit the reason for it, but we all know.

They mentioned the suspension in the article. Also said he was “snubbed” in not getting an all-star nom, ignoring who he lost out to.

I want to yell “Lauther, time’s up!” when he walks off the field after we win the game by 20.

So any thoughts on keys to the game? Here are mine: Offence: Winnipeg - control the clock. Bombers were second best in time of possession this year but surprisingly second worst in two and outs. Of all the things the LaPo offensive model was or wasn’t, it was predicated on ball control / grind out the clock / limit the turnovers style. Keeping the offence on the field keeps the defence fresh and wears down the other team, has been the recipe for success all year. So to control the clock getting everyone involved early (especially the versatile Demski) and spreading things around, with a healthy dose of run to keep drives going, puts the Bombers in the driver’s seat. Sakatchewan - establish a ground game. Despite a good receiving corps with some big play weapons, the Riders do not win this game on the strength of Fajardo’s arm. Powell needs to dominate on the ground as he has in the past against the Blue and Gold (but did not this year) and Fajardo needs to not be contained in the pocket and make first downs by scrambling for them to compete. Where Collaros extends passing plays with his scrambling, Cody turns scrambles into running first downs. Defence: Winnipeg - avoid the big play strike. The Bomber defence is very methodical and just plain wears teams down over the course of the game. Early in the year it was called “bend don’t break” and by year’s end was “4th quarter lockdown” but either way teams rarely completed long time consuming drives that finished in TDs, so a slower pace works to Winnipeg’s advantage. So keeping a deep pass or explosion play to a minimum again means they are doing well, and by game’s end they will have worn down the other offence. Pressure by the d-line is key to disrupting the time needed for big plays to develop and here the Bombers have a huge edge on the lines here. They allowed only 16 sacks (#1 by a good margin) while the Riders gave up 40 (#8). Riders had the edge in making sacks (47 to 39, numbers 2 and 3 in the league) but overall the line advantage leans heavily to the Bombers. Saskatchewan - force turnovers. Winning the turnover battle is a given for most football wins, but especially so here. Bombers led the league in turnover ratio and turnovers forced, as well as points off of turnovers. They also lead in fewest turnovers given up and fewest points given up off turnovers. So a tall order here. Fajardo is going to put the ball in bad spots at times (like those 50/50 chucks he puts up) and as we saw last week he is a good bet for a pick or two (or four). Zach Collaros had a league high 20 TDs and a league low 6 INTs, so big pressure on the ball hawking Rider secondary (who were tied for the league lead but only one better than Winnipeg) to make the big play interception to change momentum, or at least keep pace with the turnovers the Bombers are likely to get. Special teams: Winnipeg - keep it even. When they talk about winning two of the three phases of the game to win the game itself, this is the one area where the Riders have the edge. It is funny that outside of the final game against Calgary, our special teams were either never the deciding factor because we won by more than enough, or our kickers in fact came through as needed. But if the Bombers can at least come out of the special teams battle in a draw, then that is a victory in itself. Sask can bust one on a return (as we saw last week), have more faith in their field goal kicker, and as we saw in the 2019 West Final and again last week, are not afraid to pull out the trick play at an opportune time. Limit the returns, give them a long field to have to march down, and it is advantage Bombers. And we have yet to see the wily return specialist coach in O’Shea come out. Maybe a surprise of our own this week? Saskatchewan - limit them to 3’s. In past years forcing field goals was not a recipe for success against Winnipeg, because our defence could keep the score low too and Medlock would just put up 6 or 7 FGs to give us the margin of victory. But we all know the struggles to split the uprights this season. So Sask will need to keep us out of the end zone and then hope the Achilles Heel reveals itself when we line up for the trey. Other thoughts?

Good question. It is possible since tickets have to be purchased with credit card that they could flag the guy on Ticketmaster. And if someone transferred tickets to him then the name would come up since an e-mail link is required. But it might be more old school with a picture and scanning the cameras all around the stadium. Every single seat is being watched for any trouble during the games. If he showed up he could be charged with trespass if they found him.