TrueBlue4ever

William Powell.

Fair warning, this will be long, even for me, and painful to recollect. But offering my take of the lowest of the lows. I would imagine everyone’s version of rock bottom is subjective and defined by many factors, such as age and prior “rock bottom” experiences. I also believe that one’s first experience with despair may hit the hardest, and with age and subsequent failures the shock of the futility is no longer there and with it a grudging acceptance of “just another low period” as opposed to “this is the worst ever” becomes your new standard I cannot speak confidently about the 1970’s period (Speedflex is likely more well-versed on that tragic era) but I imagine coming out of the 1957-65 glory era, 4 straight seasons of 4-12, 3-13, 3-12-1 and 2-14 was rock bottom to them. Then Don Jonas was a ray of light after a decade of failure, but did not last too long (a parallel to the Khari Jones age). Then more down years while Dieter Brock grew into the job, and the disappointment of always running into the juggernaut that was the 1977-1982 Eskimos must have felt equally hopeless even though we were good then. And that 22 year gap hurt tons too. For me, Reinbold was the lowest point. We sacked a legend in Cal Murphy because the board tired of him ruling the roost, and saw a blowout in Edmonton (where they blantantly cheated and got away with it) as an excuse to kick him down the road and bring in the shiny new toy in Reinbold, who was going to inject life into the staid stale franchise that Murphy built. Well, for all that flash, Jeff was massively incompetent and the Board got played for suckers in hiring him. And they abandoned the classic royal blue uniforms as well and dropped the gold helmets and pants to boot as a full-on re-brand to add insult to injury. It was quickly evident Jeff had no clue what he was doing, but because of budget tightening and the fact we were still paying out Murphy’s salary, we could not afford to pay 2 ex-coaches so we were stuck with him. And going from what was deemed an unacceptable 9-9 season after 3 Cups, 5 appearances, and 14 straight playoff appearances with Murphy to 4-14 and 3-15 was a kick in the nuts. We typically lost by more than 2 TDs, including the worst home loss in club history (66-25 to Doug Flutie’s Argos where he was throwing multiple touchdowns to offensive linemen, just toying with us and embarrassing us). Reinbold had no clue how to salvage games, so he resorted to exorcisms in the dark dressing room to motivate the troops. Completely idiotic. Bob Cameron once said it was useless, but entertaining in a “can you believe this ****” kind of way - “losing was never so much fun as in the Reinbold era”. The only bright spot was Milt Stegall, and then he packed up and left in 1998 for the NFL, and all hope was lost. We were a train wreck, we knew it, and we knew there was no way out because the Board could not afford to fire Reinbold, who was given both the head coach and GM jobs and immediately showed he did not know how to do either. We started 0-11. We lost by two touchdowns or worse 11 times. An all-time worst 15 losses. We had one close game at home versus BC where after doing nothing all game we scored late and got the ball back, drove the length of the field down by 2 and got the the 5 yard line with a few seconds left. We all knew a gimme field goal would give us the lead, but we did not want to give the Lions any time to march back and steal the game, so we tried for the TD. Kerwin Bell calls an audible from the shotgun and the centre thought he called for the snap, and rifles the ball back to him when he was looking to the sidelines. Ball caroms off his ankle, he turns to flop on it and it scoots back between his legs and BC recovers and wins by 2. Devastating, and worse because we all KNEW they would find year another way to blow it, and they did not disappoint. Even bringing in Dave Ritchie in 1999 did not completely clean out the stench. We lost 65-15 in Hamilton that year, the worst road loss in team history to that point. So in the aftermath of all that, I chafe at those who belittle Taman, given what he had to recover from. Some did not like how he dismissed the draft - fair enough - but at least he explained his rationale and you could appreciate if not buy into his logic. He always said “why use a first round draft pick on an unknown who may turn out to be nothing, or who becomes good and then you lose him to free agency, when you can trade that pick and get a known commodity you know is good and can control for a few years”. That approach was hit and miss and left the cupboards bare later on, sure, but he saw that teams could rebuild quickly (not like the draft and develop model of other leagues) and two of his draft pick trades turned into Khari and Eliwonibi and then later Doug Brown, two moves that completely changed the trajectory of the team. Also brought in Blink, Bobby Gordon, Juran Bolden, Kevin Glenn, etc. so his track record was pretty solid. I prefer the overall picture to focusing on the bad end. We screwed ourselves out of 2 Grey Cups during his tenure thanks to arrogance and Blink’s partying in ‘01 and and freak broken arm (again with Blink fumbling the handoff) in ‘07. Mike Kelly was a goofball with a chip on his shoulder and the “I am smarter than everyone else, just ask me” syndrome, but the teams were not terrible, despite his weird “my jet sweep will revolutionize the game” formations. So like John Tortorella, if he wins you put up with the ego, but you have the pink slip ready at all times when he inevitably falters and burns all bridges. Irritating to no end, infuriating at times, a black mark on the franchise but not rock bottom to me. The Joe Mack era comes close, but the difference was how it unfolded. I am a LaPo defender largely because of how he got jobbed by Mack after getting to the Grey Cup. A rough 0-4 road start and Mack saw the chance to cut him loose and take the reins of “his team” and prove he was the smartest guy in the room. His arrogance made Mike Kelly look like a pre-schooler, he just had less opportunity to run his mouth In front of the media and pick fights with them. But in his case, his arrogance was rivalled by an incompetence that approached Reinbold (at least Kelly put competitive teams on the field). I have a friend who knew a high up coach in the Manitoba football heirarchy who said “I am one of 2 or maybe 3 people in the Province who when I call Mack he has to acknowledge my call, and he regularly refuses to even listen to anyone on his team’s state. I have never met the mix of arrogance and ignorance like he displays.” The 52-0 surrender on Labour Day is the single biggest indictment of his approach I have ever seen by a group of players. They basically boycotted him to his face on national television as a protest to the LaPo firing. His response was to crack jokes at the following press conference. Kyle Walters had no say in the draft planning when it mattered, saying 5 guys would have consensus on a player and then one holdout would ultimately get to make the pick, and would go another way (Jade Etienne, Tyson Pencer, Johnny Aprille who we’ll concert to a different position immediately). But since he was fired midway through the 2013 season, it gave me more hope for a faster recovery since we had management pieces in place who were good but handcuffed by the little Napoleon, even if the shine was completely taken off the new stadium opening with a 1-8 home record that year. Burke was in over his head for sure and I felt like Mack had him as the scapegoat, so his dumb moves like kneeling in a tied game at the end of regulation to stop the bleeding and get to overtime rather than push for a winning drive are frustrating but not as earth shattering as some see it, at least to me. I felt sorry for the guy, my anger was saved for Mack. Only knowing that we could recover faster with him gone and the memory of having lived through Reinbold and realizing that brighter days would come again kept this from being my rock bottom. It’s all about perspective. That’s why I equally get my back up about the Nichols/LaPo debates. They have their flaws for sure, but they are nowhere near as incompetent to me as some here would make them out to be. And Nichols was a quality human who pulled the team off the 2013 scrap heap and made them a contender again, and also donated a lot of his salary to the Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg, so one can say anything against his character. And LaPo has the team offensive numbers of 20 years and 3 franchises to back up his credentials. He adapts to whatever players he had at his disposal, and shifts his game plan around it. Does he get in his own head too much at times, sure, can it be dull and not explosive, yep, but he has 4 Grey Cup appearances and 2 rings, so I think he gets a raw deal around here for someone who broke the ultimate 29 year curse. Those who like to rip certain players need only read this very long depressing history to be reminded of how much worse things could be, and then take a step back and re-gain some clarity and perspective on what hopeless truly looks like. And then going into Labour Day with return game troubles and a case of the dropsies doesn’t look so bad after all.

I don’t know how anyone who was aware of the ineptitude of the 1970’s, the reign of Earl Lunsford, and the entire tenure of Jeff Reinbold, could look at Taman’s run from 1999-2008 and 2 Grey Cup appearances where we should have won and say that his time was rock bottom.

FIFY

LaPo let him throw the ball plenty as a starter, until Streveler showed that his inability to protect the ball forced the club’s hand into bringing in a better QB. Don’t let your bias re-invent the facts. Do you have inside intel as to their relationship? Because from an outsider’s point of view, I would speculate that he’d be fond of the offensive coordinator whose game plan showcased his skills enough to land him an NFL contract.

That’s his Twitter handle.

Because a higher proportion of vaccinated people means that there are less unvaccinated problem to catch COVID in absolute numbers. Say we are 85% doubly vaxxed, then there are fewer unvaxxed people around to catch it, and since the vaccine doesn’t eliminate the chance of getting it, our numbers skew higher. In Alberta, if only 25% are vaxxed, then (a) the overall rate of infection is likely higher, and (b) tons more people are susceptible to it being unvaxxed, so they will push those percentages higher for that population.

Making abortion illegal won’t eliminate abortions. Will just make it harder for the poor to access one safely. There are too many sleazy politicians with mistresses and live children around to risk banning abortions altogether, they’ll just make sure to keep it hush hush and available to them on the down low.

I know from a practical sense we do vote for a leader, not a party, just providing the political rationale for why a leader stepping down won’t trigger an election - the rules will argue that we vote for the PCs, not for Pallister directly.

Except we don’t vote for a Premier, we vote for a party. The party appoints a leader from within to be its figurehead (at least that’s the rationale to avoid the automatic election, personally I agree that if you step down an section should be called within a couple of months).

Not sure if it’s change of pace as much as it is how much we relied on him as part of the run game. #1 run offence, #8 or 9 pass offence in 2019. Collaros hasn’t been the big problem so far, it’s an average receiving corps with a case of the dropsies and injuries to key players (just got Harris back but no Demski to spell him off, Adams out for a bit). Collaros can scramble but has opted not to run as much, Darvin not back in form and Wolitarsky has been invisible. We’re relying more on the pass and the execution has not been there. Maybe we are saying the same thing but in a different definition.

Your first day here on the forum? 😉

Week 4 haikus (with pictures!) COVID-19 says “Elk hunting season open” Endangered species Elks postponement means For once, my pick’em’s not wrong Silver linings, folks. Argos’ game cancelled Media doesn’t notice Attendance unchanged. Tabbies off the mat. Big returns, new QB help Cats feast on the birds VAJ coronation As next big thing put on hold. Larks singing off-key LaPo has bad team MBB schaudenfreude His response? See ring. Rain, stout D hinder Leos offence that looks like Waterlogged tabby QB factory Churns out another Stamp gem Good systems, perhaps? Optimist’s version Despite bumps, we’re 3 and 1 Sunny ways, my friends. Pessimist’s version. Some clear flaws. Grey Cup defence? We’s just not ready.

And tons more flags this year it feels like. Wonder if a crackdown was quietly ordered in the off-season? Some new crews as well so they need time to gel.

Comes for the detailed report, stays for the haiku in the exact same post!

Note I said “supplements” to avoid liability. I won’t accuse of steroid use without some strong evidence, despite my cynicism, but at the very least some kind of “protein shake” is almost certainly being ingested here, that bulk isn’t just “eatin’ my Wheaties and finishing all the vegetables on my plate”.

Was not sure about the stoppage rule, thought that might include any break between plays. Last attended the pre-season “ref” session in 2019 and that’s how they explained it then, so the rules may have been tweaked since then. Did not know they ever went away from using slow motion, but with game flow the idea is to not need the slow mo to confirm a bad call and upend the red’s on field call, unless egregious or from an automatic on-field challenge situation. But your last point is well taken, their work has been below par this year.

Supplements can do amazing things to a body.

That has been retired as a lifetime achievement award recipient. Been waiting to see the predicted “smoke and mirrors garbage Riders will be 3-15” for 4 seasons now, someone has made a chunk of money betting against the MBB Rider doomsayers.

Yes, command centre can radio the ref at any time and say they have done/are doing a review. But as I understand it from the league directive, they only do so where there is a “clear” miss from the on-field crew that does not need slo-mo or multiple angles to detect. They will err on the side of “we’d rather live with the odd missed close call than disrupt the flow of the game and eliminate all human judgment”

Other random thoughts: Collaros needs to read a lot better on the read option to Harris If the swing pass to Harris is set up, the pass should not have the hang time of a punt. Those rainbow throws give the defence too much time to recover and leave Harris more vulnerable to getting lit up. Got to get it in his hands faster so he can turn upfield with time. When we don’t get good initial pressure on the QB, our secondary looks pretty suspect a disturbing amount of the time. Adam Bighill and Mike Jones should teach the defensive backs who like to shoulder check how a tackle is properly performed. Liegghio’s punting has been a little-mentioned by surprising bright spot for the team so far. Rarely has he provided the other team with a short field due to a bad punt. Having said that, I am surprised he hasn’t had one (or two or three) blocked yet this year. If an opposing special teams coordinator does enough game film on our blocking scheme, the angle of attack to him, or the length of time he takes to get the kick off, there sure seems to be something they could exploit. Trying to wade through the candidates for the most misguided MBB take of the first quarter of the season: 1. With LaPo and Nichols replaced by Buck and Zach, our offence is going to be much more explosive (not yet it ain’t) 2(a) Adams, Demski, Wolitarsky, and Lawler are as good a foursome as there is in the game (to find the one legitimate defence to this claim, all 4 have not been on the field at the same time this year, but c’mon) 2(b) Wolitarsky is an elite NI talent if he’s inside who is good for 1,000 yards this year (not with O catches on 2 targets and a brutal drop on an inside crossing route - at some point it’s less about misuse and maybe more about him just not getting open, being fast enough, or executing when the ball goes his way) 3. Best lines on both sides of the ball by far in the CFL (offensive run game a bit off so far, defensive run game a lot more than a bit off so far)

True enough. Nelson looks hesitant rather than just charging to any hole, but on a few of his returns there is almost zero blocking help. He also lacks the pure acceleration of Grant so he may be getting later to the holes and the blocking has collapsed by that point.

Oxymoron Silly rabbit, the Walby Burger is not for kids.

If we are going to coronate him with a game star, then we should at least spell his name right. It’s Liegghio (kudos JCon). He is star of the game for sure with the clutch field goals but also the punting which kept a driving Calgary offence on a long field all night. Kept them from score zone opportunities. Also Rasheed Bailey will shut up more than a few keyboard critics this week (I guess they haven’t coached enough high level football to see his potential before ragging on him) with some real clutch catches, especially on the final drive. His one drop can be forgiven. Guess we’ll need to find a new scapegoat this week to join LaPo and Nichols (they are still with the Bombers, right? They must be given the keystrokes spent ripping on them). 3rd star to Harris for some nifty running, the TD, giving the run game some spark, and always gaining extra years after first contact. HH is for that little something extra, and although the Mike Jones/Adam Bighill botched 3rd down coverage turned fumble recovery was huge in the end result, give it to Mike Miller/Shane Gauthier for their downright vicious special teams play which pinned down the return game pretty much all night.

I’d like to throw my challenge flag at this time. This contest blows!