TrueBlue4ever

Today’s key games: WPG @ LA SEA @ NAS SJ @ CAL Chi @ MIN Van @ DAL Arizona officially eliminated from playoff contention last night with the loss.

The Staal brothers disagree with you. https://www.wowktv.com/sports/sports-illustrated/424bc1c0/staal-brothers-choose-not-to-wear-panthers-pride-jerseys/ And they have the right to refuse, just like Colin Kaepernick had the right to take a knee, but it is weak to send out a “statement” through the team’s PR guy, citing a nebulous “we support inclusivity but we refuse to wear a symbol of this inclusivity because of “our religious beliefs”, and will take no further questions on this, thank you”. If you have such conviction, stand by it. Explain what in your beliefs specifically makes you reject homosexuality, how the Pride jersey is an endorsement of that specifically, rather than just a symbol of support and inclusion for a marginalized and historically oppressed group regardless of your sexual preferences. And don’t hide behind copy written by/for a PR flunkie who has to deliver your message for you. No further comment does not cut it here.

I got better.

If I were in Congress I would bring an “Eliminating Abortions” bill that would aim to protect the unborn from abortion. To do this I would mandate that all males at the age of twelve must undergo a mandatory vasectomy to avoid accidental pregnancies. Of course since these procedures are reversible, any male could choose to reverse it if they wanted to start a family with their partner, married or common-law. Any male who reversed it was then bound to raise the child for a minimum of two years before putting the child up for adoption, and pay all costs associated with the adoption process. They could also be liable civilly and criminally if they were involved in an ”unwanted” pregnancy because they reversed their vasectomy under fraudulent circumstances, or never got one. As for the 0.2% whose procedures fail through no fault of their own, well that is one tenth the rate of ectopic pregnancies or one fifth the rate of total pregnancies that come as a result of rape, and no one seems too worried about those exceptions, so like a Republican senator once said about a rape victim “if you can’t stop it, you might as well sit back and enjoy it”. Let’s see how fast the religious right change their tune on abortion once the onus is on men to be responsible for the child.

Show of hands - who here watches CFL Wired, and how often?

You think a 24 year old 6’4” Canadian receiver who came close to 1,000 yards last year would not make this roster over Wolitarsky? RIIIIGHT. And One thing Demski is not better at so far is staying healthy. We’ll agree to disagree, but I’m pretty confident if KSB donned blue and gold there’s be a few erection memes on this board. Just because TSN and 3 Down overhype him doesn’t mean you have to lowball his talent to balance the scales.

There you go. Tonight’s key game: Ari @ COL

OMG Namestnikov, that had better not cost us.

Appleton has been noticeable tonight, in a good way. Team has been moving its feet tonight. Good speed game.

1. He put up better last year in his second year than Demskii has in any year of his career. 2. He would easily make our roster. 2nd best Canadian receiver in the game last year behind Gittens while playing on a lousy team. Just more irrational knee-jerk Rider hate talking.

At this point I expect Wheeler to pass on a breakaway….with an open net. Scott Billick would call that a lack of motivation.

Stupid 3 point games.

The only tourism ad they’ll ever need:

I said the same thing to my wife, but she’s still mad at me. It’s like she makes up her own rules!

Remember that Brandon Alexander was a walk-on at a Florida skills camp/scouting combine. No pedigree, nothing inherent in his game that screamed “star”. Yet hard work made the coaches have to notice him, and we have a game-breaker now. No one is fodder unless they choose to be.

I notice he didn’t say “I‘ve never had sex with a porn star”, only that he’s never paid one.

Just like the ratio would never go away….and yet here we are discussing it after yet another reduction in the number of Canadians and re-classifying long-term Americans as Canadian. And just last year the Toronto head of the BOG wanted to change to a 4 down game and merge with the XFL.

I wish the questions were more clear and not slanted. Billick is a big disturber and chronic malcontent as a reporter for this team, and his questions were geared to create a narrative. If he knows there are problems, then out them, not make pointed accusations and spin the coach’s answers into your own narrative “Is there a commitment problem?” ”I need more from them, put it that way ” (never agreeing that “commitment” is the issue, in fact deliberately re-phrasing) Proper next question to avoid vagueness should be “by more, do you mean commitment, effort, motivation, or production?” Instead, Billick goes straight to “why aren’t they self-motivated” when Bowness did not say that. Nit-picking on my part, but I can’t stand how some media “frame” questions and spin quotes to suit their story agenda, and when one has a track record of negativity like Billick does, it comes off as pot-stirring. And Bowness himself has said on more occasions than not recently after losses that he has actually liked the game the team has played.

So the million dollar question - does eliminating the ratio inevitably lead to changing the rules? We’ve already seen the end zones reduced from 25 to 20 yards, and the hash marks moved in. There is always some talk about playing a 4 down game in junior football in some quarters and if we have all Americans striving to get to the NFL, would they not want a 4 down game to showcase their skills? Bottom line, stop worrying about the NFL and embrace that you are a minor league, a Canadian league, a summer league. I disagree with Booch that we “pay a premium” for lesser play. The cost difference of CFL tickets vs NFL for similar seats is huge, and also disagree that with no ratio the best Canucks still play. Right now there would be one Canadian playing in the CFL (last year) if there was no ratio - Nathan Rourke - and that guy was a unicorn. I honestly believe removing Canadians from the game is the next step towards removing the Canadian rules. I say no thanks to that idea.

Tonight’s key games: WPG @ Ana MIN @ Phi SEA @ NAS Veg @ CAL Pit @ DAL

Cons have to know they are getting bounced. Writing was on the wall for Pallister last year, which is why he bailed and left Stefanson to be the Kim Campbell scapegoat. Even if she had no gaffes (and boy she sure has) the NDP were taking over come the fall. So I think the glut of public spending is two-fold. Yes, it can be a last ditch attempt to buy votes, but it also sets up the incoming government. More spending equals more deficit down the road, and so as the new opposition they can scream “wasteful spending and fiscal irresponsibility” which is the stereotype of NDP governments, and most voters will forget where the spending started. These chess moves now are about setting up the future re-claiming of power.

All true, but it still gets you pretty far. Like the Presidency. Name the last Government that truly got voted in as opposed to one getting voted out. Now it’s F Trudeau, before it was Stop Harper, before that it was the scandal-ridden Martin/Chrétien regime, before that it was lame duck Campbell paying for the Corrupt Mulroney regime (now being repeated with Stefanson/Pallister in MB). Rage works because the typical voter would rather be angry and have someone to blame instead of researching actual policies. Politicians know this and play the game for power, giving people a villain to vote against rather than having policies that most will tune out anyway.

The leverage Chevy has is giving Montreal one year on term without competition to negotiate long-term with Dubois. If he is a UFA Montreal has 30 other teams to bid with. As much as Dubois talks about wanting to play there, if an $11 million offer came up in Tampa or Vegas, Dubois may well jump there.

No Canadian ratio, and no way Nic Demski would have ever seen the CFL field IMO. No current Canadian o-lineman would make the cut either. And maybe Andrew Harris does not survive his first year and gets replaced before he becomes dominant, or gets cut more quickly after his dip in play in year 4 and never becomes the long standing talent he has become. Fact is there are too many Americans playing that can fill the role of a Canadian that no Canuck would get the chance to grow as a player without the ratio protection (the Baltimore Stallion experiment showed how dominant a team of all-Americans could be and how Canadians would not get a look with a stacked American roster). And if no Canadian kid playing pre wee football can dream of making it as a CFL pro, they lose interest in watching the game on TV or in the stands, and the CFL goes bye-bye. A Canadian success story breeds interest which breeds eyeballs watching the game and kids invested in playing the sport.

I am not thrilled at all with the way the Jets have been playing, especially the power play and seemingly chasing the game early so much, BUT….. I had zero expectations of them being in the playoffs at the start of the year. So they overachieved big time through mid-January, and I did not drink the Kool-aid and get false expectations. So the slide has not eaten away at me so much. Getting into the playoffs would be pleasant but not a “successful” year, and I believe they banked enough points early that they will get in. It would take a playoff series victory to qualify as a “successful” year. Is there a team they can upset in round 1? Colorado extremely doubtful, even with the early season success they had (Avs were injured so those results in October/November don’t really mean anything). Minnesota I’d say no because the Wild just seem to know how to play the Jets well. Dallas might be the most plausible, if puck luck and goalie match-up is won. That and the power play gets un-stuck. And who knows who will win the Pacific, but I think any of them are beatable with a goalies they would face. But the Jets could easily be swept in 4 by any of them as well. I think the play has been better than the results more nights than not (blew a lead in Jersey, got a bit goalied in Long Island, blew a lead against LA and San Jose, got goalied big time against San Jose and Minnesota, probably outplayed Boston but you need to be perfect against them and not just better, played decent enough to deserve a point in Carolina) but their bad efforts have looked really bad, and that is what gets noticed. Having said all that, come the summer this team does need an overhaul of some sort. First thing is sign Hellebuyck to another extension and build the team around his likely $9-10 million per year salary. Then go to Dubois and determine if there is any chance he will sign long term this summer. If he says he wants to rest free agency, move him immediately to Montreal for one their first round picks this year (and another one next year if Florida makes the playoffs and their pick is lower) plus a solid centreman and depth defence in return. Once Dubois is figured out then it will determine if Scheifele is a “must keep” or “move on”. If there is no clarity early on those three, then fans should brace for, and more importantly accept, a tear down and re-build that means 3-4 years out of the playoffs. Reality of today’s NHL is that to be really good, you first have to be really bad for a while and get those top 3 draft picks - and get them to stay. Anyway, just my random rambling thoughts on things.