TrueBlue4ever

Based on winning percentage, that 16-2 mark is only 5th best all-time: Calgary Stampeders 1.000 (12-0-0) (1948) Calgary Stampeders .929 (13-1-0) (1949) Ottawa Rough Riders .917 (11-1-0) (1949) Edmonton Eskimos .906 (14-1-1) (1981) Edmonton Eskimos .889 (16-2-0) (1989) That '48-'49 Calgary dynasty also won 22 games in a row over those 2 seasons. And, fun fact, Calgary has won 15 games in a season 4 times in their history, but 3 of those times did not win the Grey Cup.

Now that I'm out, a modest proposal in 3 parts for next year for this contest: 1. No eliminations, just accrue points for the entire year 2. 2 points if your selected player gets a TD, 1 point if he only gets a 2 point convert, 0 points if he does not score 3. No repeating players, and you have to pick from each CFL squad at least once during the year (seeing Messam every week is getting kind of dull, especially when we get down to less than 10 people and everybody picks him).

60 seconds. But I'm not being timed here. (And just beating everyone to the punch, nor am I being paid by the word). I do speak professionally for a living, however. No joke.

And this is exactly why I say a loss here is not so vital. I get that beating Calgary now will give the Bombers the belief that "we CAN beat these guys" (Calgary's players in 2001 pointed to the final regular season game in Winnipeg where they won to sneak into the playoffs as the springboard game that gave them confidence that they could compete with the big dogs), but let's face it, the 2001 Bombers lost that Grey Cup because they spent the week "sizing rings for their fingers" as many players on both sides of the ball later admitted - we lost that game due to overconfidence. So let Calgary have all the cockiness in the world. I doubt a win by us this weekend will put much fear into them, since they have already beaten us twice by 2 touchdowns each game, and the scores were not even truly reflective of how dominant they were both times. Ah, I hear you saying "But this is a different team. They haven't faced us with Matt Nicholls at quarterback!" Just stop for a second, metaphorically remove yourself from the Province of Manitoba for the moment, and re-read that second sentence out loud. Full respect to Nicholls and the job he has done managing the team through this 7 game run, but does that phrase really strike fear into the hearts of the inhabitants of Cowtown, or anyone else outside the 204? As an analogy, Carson Palmer may be a very good QB who can rattle off 7 straight wins with the Arizona Cardinals, but Tom Brady is not going to be intimidated because Palmer is now playing in place of Kurt Warner. There are ways to beat this Calgary team for sure, but if both teams are playing their best football at the same time on game day and make minimal mistakes, then Calgary is handsomely favoured in that scenario, and should be. I like our odds better flying under the radar, walking in there in November (which, as I said before, is a fairly solid lock for where the West Final is going to be played this year, even if we win this weekend, given that they get all East teams in the final 5 weeks, including 2 against Montreal), catching them on 3 weeks rest and with having played no meaningful football for the better part of a month and a half (I'm calling it now, Stampeders will have enough points to clinch first in the West by week 16), with bad weather possibly playing a part in shutting down their high-octane offense (Calgary in late November, odds are decent that is the case), and maybe they are fat, sassy and dozing while we are battle-tested, riding momentum, and scrappy after fighting BC for 2nd place down the stretch, with a playoff win under our belts in the West semi. That scenario has not been infrequent for Calgary teams in the past. Not trying to bash the Bombers, cheering madly for a win, especially to solidify a run at second place and a home playoff date, and to keep the (pipe?)dream of first in the West alive, but cheer with the heart and bet with the head is the winning formula, and I'm not pushing all my chips in with the Blue and Gold this weekend, that bet is best saved when we are the final 2 at the table.

If you compare these teams on paper, not sure how well we match up. Offensively they have us beat in every area. Defensively, maybe closer, but other than interceptions, most stats are in Calgary's favour or even. And what they lose in INTs (22 for us vs. 7 for them) they make up for in pass knockdowns (35 for us vs. 53 for them). Special teams are actually a saw-off, for as brilliant as Medlock has been, Parades has been just as good if not a touch better. Their punting and kickoffs are better, our coverage is better. The great unknown, and the hardest thing to predict which affects the vast majority of game outcomes, is turnovers. So we have a shot there, but Calgary just doesn't turn the ball over (#1 in the league, we are the only team close to them), so the very thing the Bombers have relied upon the most in this streak may not be available to us given how well they protect the ball. And Calgary is undefeated at home and win by an average of 15 points there. The best bet is pressure on Mitchell (his completion rate drops 31% when pressured) but that o-line is easily the best in the CFL, fewest sacks allowed (13 in 12 games, 10 fewer than the next best and less than half the league average). So can we win? Of course, any given Sunday, etc. etc. And intangibles probably favour the Bombers (upstart team still feeling disrespected). But I say odds are long here. AND THAT'S OK - here's why. This is not the game to win, because Calgary gets it's final 5 games against the East and will likely finish first in the West anyway, even if we beat them this week. But they have the bye in week 20, followed by the bye for the west semi-final if they are first, so that's a 3 week layoff (plus they could have first place wrapped up by week 16, so they would be in cruise mode for almost all of October) and if past Calgary teams are any harbinger, they plow through the regular season, and then stumble in the playoffs at home when rested or against a weaker opponent (2013, 2012, 2010, 2005). That may be our best road to glory (barring a tank job to finish 4th and get a crossover).

Crap, I knew that too! Got lost in my processing. And maybe all of my Medlock love blinded me. I'll edit that. Sorry all. And thanks to the MBB fact-checkers and copy editors for catching that. The Regina Leader-Post may be hiring and you'd be a good fit.

OK, the second segment of 6 games is now done, so who are the contenders for the Shaw CFL Awards (Schenley Award was so much cooler sounding back in the day) from the Bombers? One poster's suggestions below, happy to hear other opinions. Most Outstanding Player - The whole team has been clicking, with no real dominant performances that have carried the team repeatedly a la Milt Stegall, and different players stepping up each game. And since there is an award for defence and special teams, kind of default to offence here. I would say Andrew Harris, who was leading the league in rushing before missing the last game, but could Justin Medlock actually challenge for this award, given how clutch he has been and how many wins would be losses without his accuracy? And Weston Dressler may have something to say about this by year's end. (Most Valuable Player) - Not an official award, but maybe more appropriate for this team given that we have no dominant stats guys like a Mike Reilly, Bo Levi Mitchell, Adarius Bowman, etc. Again, Medlock has been vital to our success in close games, but can anyone deny that, pedestrian stats or not, Matt Nicholls has clearly turned this season around for us and has this offence (and defence) inspired with his fire and drive? 7-0 as a starter clinches it for me. Most Outstanding Defensive Player - Ian Wild has been a tackling machine, and Taylor Loffler brings a physical element to the safety position that has been missing. In fact, after I finished this write-up I went back and looked at Khalil Bass' stats and realized what a "quietly" outstanding season he has had (55 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 INTs, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery), and he may be the most underrated player on that defence. But I will take Maurice Leggett for his league leading 6 interceptions from the linebacker spot. Most Outstanding Special Teams Player - With all due respect to Quincy McDuffie and Kevin "are you kidding me, another flag?" Fogg, it is Justin Medlock hands down. Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman - I have no special insight into this position, so happy to be corrected here by someone in the know, but the o-line seems to have been resurrected into a force since Travis Bond got in there. Most Outstanding Canadian - Jamaal Westerman's team leading 5 sacks put him in the running, and Taylor Loffler's overall "presence" scores him some points, but this is down to Andrew Harris. The offence was intended to be built around Harris' skill set, so the glamour position is hard to ignore. We'll see if the injury changes this outlook. (Yes, I edited this because I am an idiot and assumed kickers are Canadian for a split second. That's a paddlin' coming my way.) Most Outstanding Rookie - OK, I can't keep making Taylor Loffler second best in every category, can I? Well...... In this corner, you have Loffler's 1 sack, 2 INT's, 1 forced fumble, 5 special teams tackles, and 27 tackles (and it feels like each one of them caused an injury to an opponent), and beyond that, how many receivers hear footsteps and bail out on tough catches when he is near? But in the other corner, Kevin Fogg has 3 INT's and 1 sack, plus an astounding 58 tackles (2 off of Wild's club lead), not counting his 1 special teams tackle, plus 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery. Fogg did have that one monster game in Toronto that may give me a bias, and Loffler's passport should not be discounted, but the tie breaker for me is Fogg's punt return work. He is fourth overall with 489 return yards, has a ridiculous 15.3 yard return average (second only to Chris Rainey in BC) and if his 3 TDs hadn't been called back by penalties (2 of which, and arguably all 3 had zero bearing on his returns given that he had already beaten the coverage and was clear to the end zone before the flags were thrown) he'd be leading the league in return TD's and likely return average. It's Kevin Fogg for me, and I don't think it's that razor thin a victory. Now light up the torches and bring the pitchforks.

Don't you mean "dickety 45"?

Ok, we need a name for this: OK, "Hardrick Hop" doesn't work because it isn't just him (plus "Jermarcus Jump" would have sounded cooler). Can't do "Bryant Bounce" or "Bond Bounce" for the same reason - we need something that reflects the entire group. So let's have some suggestions here. A few I have pondered (And I claim trademark on any of these if it takes off!): The Line Leap The Linemen Launch The Hog Hop The Beef Bounce River City Rumble The Jumbo Jump Any others?

Well fans, we had another gorgeous day for football here in River City, and the hometown heroes were looking for their 7th consecutive victory, something we hadn't seen in these parts since the days of Milton Stegall, Charlie Roberts, Kahari Jones, and Bobby Gorgeous himself, no not Bobby Gordon but one Mr. Robert Cameron, all the way back in 2001. Standing in their way were the Toronto Argonauts, who were trying to win back-to-back games on the heels of a 4 game losing streak. Well, if there was a theme to this game, it was all about redemption and finding a way. In the first half, we saw the offence, led by Matt Nicholls, do more of what we've seen lately, which is drive the ball but fail to convert those drives into touchdowns. And Justin Medlock was coming off of his first sub-par performance in some time, having missed 2 of his previous 3 field goals. And the defence was giving up big chunks of yards throughout the air and failing to contain Argonaut quarterback Don LeFervour. But it was the ghost of the Lincoln Locomotive, Leo Lewis, who was honoured at half time, that rallied this team in the second half. The defence redeemed itself from a spotty first half to shut down the Argo passing game and record 2 more critical interceptions, the offence found a way to cross the goalline 3 times to take over the game, and the special teams redeemed themselves from past bad penalties and missed kicks to produce 28 points on field goals, converts, and touchdowns. Now the Happy Honker Award is about that special play, not necessarily the big play to win the game, not the best player, but the one who did that something extra special. Now on defence, we had a couple of big momentum plays. Tyler Loffler broke up a big first down pass to receiver Tori Gurney with a thunderous hit along the sidelines, and Randall Homes had a key interception which the Bombers capitalized on to score their first offensive touchdown to tie up the contest, redeeming himself for an earlier fall on coverage that led to a Wayne Shaw Toronto touchdown. And offensively, Matt Nicholls shook off 2 interceptions of his own, one that was called back on review, and another that was called back due to penalty, and he used those extra lives both times to put deciding points on the board. But today's Happy Honker comes from the third component of the team, the special teams. Now, it would be easy to give this out to Justin "Money" Medlock, who is a sure a thing as construction in summer and snow in winter. And he was again today, going 6 for 6. But the Happy Honker player first happened on the scene late in the second quarter of this game. With the Argos having just scored to take the lead 14-9, Former Bomber kicker Lyric Haveacashew kicked off to Quincey MacDuffie, who found a seam and returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a momentum changing touchdown return. Then, after the Argos took the lead again late in the half, they were so afraid of a repeat performance that they dribbled the kick short, allowing a Bomber return to close to midfield and gave them the chance to kick a last second field goal at the half to close the score to a 3 point deficit. And once again, in the third quarter after yet another Argo score, MacDuffie brought back the subsequent kickoff all the way to midfield and again give the Bombers great field position to set up yet another field goal, which kept the Argos from Wresting control of the contest away from the Blue and Gold. So for not allowing the game to get away when the Argos looked to shift momentum, for a big return touchdown and several key runs all day,Quincey MacDuffie is today's Happy Honker recipient.

Why not? If they messed it up, they could just gamble on 4th down or punt it away

Saying outrageous things to stir the pot is one thing, but openly questioning the credibility of other reporters by name is classless (which is exactly what Pederson did in his blog against the Third Down Nation writers) and should be taken seriously, especially if you later admit your whole "conspiracy" angle which you used to justify said credibility bashing is totally made up and you don't believe it yourself.

#1 passing offence and #2 in scoring against the #9 defence in points allowed in the league adds up to Eskimo Derel Walker to keep me alive for another week.

I can't disagree with the above statement in light of that evidence. Having now read her post on Facebook, I will admit that it does significantly change my opinion of her motivation, at the very least. She says in a couple of places (in the CBC report and in a separate Facebook post) that she isn't looking for anything other than to bring the story to light - her opening line of her first post would strongly contradict that intent. Tone deaf as to the hit to her credibility at the least with that discrepancy, certainly smacks of opportunism to angle that incident into a windfall, which is unpleasant enough, or outright did make this up. If the video allows for more clarity that this was a fabrication, maybe it could be "leaked" to allow the media to have a new story to write. Thank you for providing hard evidence to bring into question some of her motivation, if not the accuracy of her story.

I am relying on the CBC link in this chain for the "facts" I am relying on. I don't have this woman's twitter feed, didn't see any post on her Facebook page when I looked where she was asking for a handout, and didn't see any post on Virgin 103 referencing her, much less a post from her to them asking for free tickets. So I can't speak fairly to any of that. I did listen to her version of the story in the audio clip, and it sounds like she had a couple of incidents, one inside the stadium, one outside. The "crossing guard" by the construction sounds more like a random fan who was part of the obnoxious group and not a club employee, so I don't read into the "made up" behavior as much. If I see the posts where she "demands" free stuff, then I may probably change my tune, I'm just going off of every source I have seen and it is consistent that, in what I've read the club reached out to her, and she was never looking for free stuff. And I don't think that "not removing the offending jacket" is a critical examination of a fact so much as drawing an incorrect inference to support the position to want to believe. And, full disclosure, my viewpoint comes with the personal bias of what I witnessed on Saturday as 'Rider fans in more than a few pockets had insults hurled at them as they quietly walked out of the stadium by some inebriated Bomber fans. Very small minority, mind you, but it did happen. So that lends credence to me that this could well have occurred. In the end, we can go back and forth and not get anywhere. I don't know what happened. I have no reason to dis-believe this person. I have no real reason to personally believe her either - I don't know her. But I'm not sure what her motive to lie would be - seems a lot to get free tickets. I'd like to know if the tapes showed anything or not, to give clarity to the situation, and if she's proven to be a liar, then I'll stand up and call her a liar. As for the Ritch Dowrey reference, I am sorry. The name mis-spelling was a spellcheck typo, but the reference to his situation as a parallel to someone being targeted for no sound reason and my criticism of any attempt to defence such an attack as being provoked to make my point about the supposed "victim blaming" here was ill-advised, inflammatory and out of place. I meant no disrespect to the atrocity he suffered or his memory, and apologize for the offence I have caused.

I didn't see anywhere that the mom demanded tickets from the Bombers as payback. And the "media" she ran to was social media, specifically her own Facebook post, where she just vented about the situation (but of course, that's just attention seeking too for the sake of getting free stuff, right everyone on this public fan forum??? *INSERT MASSIVE SARCASM EMOTICON HERE*). Bottom line, I don't see someone looking for a handout. The post got attention, the media jumped on board because they like to stir stuff up, and the club reacted with an effort to woo her back. Good for them. I don't know if it did or didn't happen. If video clearly shows one way or another, then maybe that should be disclosed, as it seems to have engendered some strong defensive opinions on both sides (present company included). If it didn't happen, them shame on her for being a gold digging opportunist using her son to get free stuff. If it did happen, shame on those people who would go after any rival fan, much less and kid, just for wearing the wrong colour jacket. I just know I saw enough unprovoked abuse of 'Rider fans myself by quite a few Bomber fans leaving the stadium on Saturday, after a win no less, when it should have been all roses and sunshine, to not be surprised that this kind of thing would happen. I get that it's fashionable to take shots at rival fans, especially 'Rider fans, on this forum, and that can extend to some good natured ribbing in the stands. But to make it abusive is deplorable in my mind, and not "just good natured fun", especially if the target is not a willing participant in the first place, not on a level to defend themselves (like a child would be), and not even doing anything to provoke the situation in a case of mistaken identity. Am I being overly sensitive about this? Maybe the physical assault (and ultimate death) of Rich Downey, may he rest in peace, at the hands of a drunken bigot who mistakenly ID'd him as a gay man has sucked the humour out of me for incidents like this, where someone gets targeted just for what they are wearing or where they are.

Maybe you should spell it out, as there are also a number of people here who don't want to believe that there are drunken Bomber "fans" who do stupid, terrible things because they get too drunk and like to mouth off to people wearing green tops, thinking that they must be evil Rider fans, and would rather look for a con artist mom and her nine year old son fabricating a story to swindle the Bombers in to giving them free tickets. Not saying that didn't actually happen, but I don't really see a motive to lie there, and my 35 year history of attending Bombers games has led me to see more than a few drunken escapades that were less than civil [*cough* beer can thrown at Rocket Ismael, snowballs thrown at the opposing team, beer bottles thrown in the stands breaking a fan's jaw and cutting her face, fan jumping on the field and fighting a player, fans knocking down the TV tent, "beer snakes" being dismantled and cups thrown around at people, fights in the stands between fans, between fans and security, between fans dressed like Hulk Hogan and police *cough, cough*]. I tend to believe the woman, but enough don't that perhaps we do need proof to avoid persecuting her and her kid with no proof that it didn't happen, either.

Would that make it Randle, Fogg, Heath (in for Johnson), Frederick and Loffler? I'd endorse that secondary.

Wow, I feel like a death row inmate who got the call from the Governor at the last minute.

White may be injured. There is talk of Shakir Bell playing. this is unconfirmed, so you may want to look into this.

OK, but there is a perception that a back-to-back series is different, in that with little prep time the team that wins just sticks with what worked the week before, and the team that lost will make all the adjustments. Furthermore, the "familiarity breeds contempt" attitude gives the loser that extra chip on their shoulder, and that loss is the freshest thing in their mind, so sweeping a back-to-back is often believed to be trickier than winning a season series. And I wasn't trying to find a way to make the team sound bad, had just heard that stat and thought it interesting. And based on pure statistical probability, over a 2 game back-to back series, there are 4 possible outcomes (if you assume no ties in either game, which never occurred for any teams in back-to-backs between 2004-16), which could be win-win, win-loss, loss-win, or loss-loss, so there is a statistical 1 in 4 chance of sweeping any back-to-back series between 2 dead even teams, eliminating all other variables. So over 26 series, statistics would suggest that the Bombers should have swept 6 or 7 of them over that time, been swept the same number of times, and split 13 of those series. So it does suggest some level of futility (kind of like a 26 year Grey Cup drought in an 8 or 9 team league, where odds are you would average 3 wins over that time frame). But your comment piqued my interest in that statistic, and if it was a fair representation of futility or not, so I decided to test your "gerrymandering" theory by looking at all the other teams in the CFL over that exact same time period to see if the Bombers look bad falsely or if that stat is indicative of something, compared to all of the other teams. Here's what I discovered: Between the time the Bombers last won a back-to-back series in 2004 against Saskatchewan (post-Labour day and Banjo Bowl weekends) and Labour Day this year, here is what each team has done. Records will appear like a won-loss-tied record, and indicate the number of series they swept, the number of series where the opponent swept them, and the number of series split. BC - 17 total back-to-back series, record of 10-0-7 (included in that record are 2 series where they played a team, had a BYE, then played the same team again - they went 1-0-1 in those scenarios). Their most recent successful series sweep was in 2015 against Saskatchewan Calgary - 25 total series, 10-0-15 (including 1-0-1 in a "BYE" scenario), most recent sweep was 2016 against Saskatchewan (in the only back-to-back set of games this season prior to the traditional Labour day back-to-back weekends) Edmonton - 27 total series, 3-11-13, no "BYE" scenarios, most recent sweep was 2015 against Ottawa Saskatchewan - 25 total series, 9-3-13, no "BYE" scenarios, most recent sweep was 2014 against Winnipeg Winnipeg - 26 total series, 0-12-14, no "BYE" scenarios Hamilton - 23 total series, 6-8-9 (including 0-1-0 in a "BYE" scenario), most recent sweep was 2015 against Toronto Toronto - 23 total series, 8-6-9 (including 0-1-0 in a "BYE" scenario), most recent sweep was 2015 against Ottawa Ottawa RedBlacks - 3 total series, 2-1-0, no "BYE" scenarios, most recent sweep was 2015 against Hamilton (FYI the old Renegades were 0-1-1 in 2005, the only year they qualified for this comparison before they suspended operations the next year - they played no back-to-backs in 2004) Montreal - 19 total series, 2-4-13 (including 1-1-0 in a "BYE" scenario, most recent sweep was 2007 against Toronto (Note: they haven't played a back-to-back series since 2013, but even so they would be on a 6 year drought of their own even factoring that in) Interpret those numbers as you wish as to the real or falsely perceived futility of the team. That's just the raw data.

Except possibly giving them insight into Winnipeg's offensive schemes and terminology directly from the playbook. The timing of the trade, and the starting QB injury curse that has happened wherever Glenn has gone as a back-up in the past are the only negatives to this deal IMO. But this is more of a money move for the Bombers than anything. Couldn't afford both QB's making over $600,000 against the salary cap (numbers quoted from CJOB).

He was my runner-up. That catch was ridiculous and very Happy Honker-esque, especially from a back-up Canadian unsung player, which was Cactus' favourite type, but without that turnover just before it, that play doesn't happen. And Fogg deserves some love after having a third TD stolen from him by a dumb penalty which had no impact on his return AGAIN.