[Is Kent Austin the most "hated" coach in the league?]

 

 

The Bombers though have said they valued Willy higher in the offseason though, I see no reason not to believe them. That's the one aspect you are not taking into account here. It's also why they likely didn't go all in on Collaros initially. But you've of course made up your mind, no amount of logic will change it. 

It's more about what Willy would choose than what the Bombers said, but of course, you've made your mind up and I'm not going to change it. 

 

yeah except my mind was made up by logical reasoning and facts, yours by the voices in your head. 

 

'I hear voices and they don't like you'

 

Saw that on a shirt once, thought it was funny. Carry on.

[Is Kent Austin the most "hated" coach in the league?]

I'd vote for Chris Jones.

After reading a write-up about Mr. Jones in the Edmonton Journal today on his thoughts of pre-game coach banter and post game head coach handshakes, I think a few more might agree with you.

 

He has no use for them, think they are empty gestures and could care less what other people think about him. Charming. Out of the five games the Eskimos have played this year, he's shaken hands with one coach after the game. Reason. Micheal O'Shea ran over to him directly to congratulate him and there was nothing he could do. Jones believes coaches do this becuase they think they have to. Maybe some. But I think others, like O'Shea, do it out of respect and being a leader, whether they win or lose.  

[Taj Smith out Thursday]

 

Way to go Taj. How ******* hard is it to follow simple rules? 

 

This guy must be a real piece of …….

 

He's already thought to be an idiot, now he's going out of his way to prove it?

 

Talent…but do they really need that crap? 

Time to mahaul his ass out of town.

 

The way he plays reminds me of the way Kito Poblah plays sans confidence.

[Garcia to Als]

All Montreal needs is the bearded lady and the circus will be complete!

I think this is a rare case where one can't use the 'hindsight is 20/20' cliche when dissecting Montreal'sa current woes.

[Toronto has league worst pass defence, surprised?]

I'm enjoying watching Burke's D get torched.  Lost most of the respect I had for Burke after the worst leadership effort I can ever remember in the 2013 debacle.

 

Lost the rest of it when he still wasn't accepting any responsibility in his Freep interview before our home opener.

 

It's possible to like a man personally for his candor, and dislike him professionally because he's a poor leader, and refuses to take responsibility for his role in a disaster of a season.  That's how I feel about Burke.

 

I'm enjoying watching Burke's D get torched.  Lost most of the respect I had for Burke after the worst leadership effort I can ever remember in the 2013 debacle.

 

Lost the rest of it when he still wasn't accepting any responsibility in his Freep interview before our home opener.

 

It's possible to like a man personally for his candor, and dislike him professionally because he's a poor leader, and refuses to take responsibility for his role in a disaster of a season.  That's how I feel about Burke.

 

 

I'm enjoying watching Burke's D get torched.  Lost most of the respect I had for Burke after the worst leadership effort I can ever remember in the 2013 debacle.

 

Lost the rest of it when he still wasn't accepting any responsibility in his Freep interview before our home opener.

 

It's possible to like a man personally for his candor, and dislike him professionally because he's a poor leader, and refuses to take responsibility for his role in a disaster of a season.  That's how I feel about Burke.

 

 

I'm enjoying watching Burke's D get torched.  Lost most of the respect I had for Burke after the worst leadership effort I can ever remember in the 2013 debacle.

 

Lost the rest of it when he still wasn't accepting any responsibility in his Freep interview before our home opener.

 

It's possible to like a man personally for his candor, and dislike him professionally because he's a poor leader, and refuses to take responsibility for his role in a disaster of a season.  That's how I feel about Burke.

 

I'm enjoying watching Burke's D get torched.  Lost most of the respect I had for Burke after the worst leadership effort I can ever remember in the 2013 debacle.

 

Lost the rest of it when he still wasn't accepting any responsibility in his Freep interview before our home opener.

 

It's possible to like a man personally for his candor, and dislike him professionally because he's a poor leader, and refuses to take responsibility for his role in a disaster of a season.  That's how I feel about Burke.

That's the key word for me when it comes to Burke. Don't take all, but take some. Based on all the interviews I saw and read, he took none.

[Arland Bruce sues CFL over concussions]

I hope this does go to court and Bruce is exposed for his questionable character leaving serious doubts as to the credibility of his claim. Someone made reference to the brick in the head.....fact....at least one paternity suit that originated in Winnipeg. He acquired an SUV while playing in Winnipeg bad failed to make any payment on it, the dealer was left to chase him. Hopefully he gets what he deserves.....nothing.

My educated guess is that this won't have much bearing on the legitimacy of this specific claim.

[Arland Bruce sues CFL over concussions]

http://theconcussionblog.com/2014/07/16/first-law-suit-filed-in-canada-over-concussions/

I'd like to hear what Matt Dunnigan's opinion is on this.

[Comparative analysis - How bad is the Bombers OL?]

I think the bigger concern is their lack of depth. Greaves being injured forced the ratio to 3 Imp OL, playing an import guard is not the best way to utilize the ratio. Not sure what the scenario is if another OL goes down.

Speaking of depth, coincidentally I had a business meeting today where it was mentioned (yet again) that I was a hard core Blue Bomber fan in which I then was introduced to the father of Gord Hinse who said his son was signed by the Blue Bombers. The father did mention his son is having issues with his shoulder but close to being in game shape.

Does anyone know if that's been confirmed yet? I haven't seen it reported anywhere or is this old news.   

[Zach Collaros has concussion and back injury]

I have to say in every game I see ridiculous tackling attempts made by professional football players not bothering to use their arms to tackle but simply launching themselves like a missile at their target.  When they don't actually impale the opposing player they often strike a glancing blow and fall to the side or they completely miss their mark.  I liken this to a baseball player swinging for the fence with every pitch, trying to make a grand statement instead of executing the fundamentals of the game properly.  Turn tackling back into to tackling and penalize every missile launch as "spearing".

 

Interesting thought. The actually fundamentals of form tackling are changing to chest plate tackling, safe contact which is going to take some time, some commitment/buy-in and some tweaking before it works itself up to the professional leagues.

[Josh Portis Scouting Reports]

Yep Goltz was a terrible QB, but an elite short yardage guy.

And the first part of your sentence trumped the last part of your sentence which should always happen.

[Wpg v. Edm]

Is it still only Monday?  I can't wait for this game.  It has a great story line leading up to it.  2 worst teams in 2013 facing off at 3-0 with 2 former TO coaches both surprising the league.

 

I think both Defenses are going to be really strong.  I do feel Edmonton has a slight advantage on the D side of the ball.

 

Both offences have been putting points on the board although the Bombers have put up more total points.  I give a very slight advantage to the Bombers if they can get their run game going like they did against TO.

 

ST I'd say have been good for the Bombers and haven't really paid much attention to  the ESKs ST so I'll say they are even. 

 

I think this game comes down to FG kicking and field advantage.  Both of which I give the advantage to the Bombers.  That and being at home with what should be close to a sell out I'll say 

 

Bombers 24

Esks 20  

 

 

Note:  May biggest fear is O'dell playing to take Willy out.  The guy is reckless and doesn't seem to care if he injures anyone.  He did it to Calvillo and most recently to Collaros.  I don't want to see this guy make it to the backfield all night!

Keep fitzgerald in more for protection and run blocking I say.

[Montreal Game - Rules and strategic implications]

In the last minute of the  Montreal game, the Blue Bombers scored a touchdown and missed the 2 pt convert.

 

On the subsequent kick off, Lumbala takes a knee and then gets up and returns for 16 yards.  

 

I know kneeling by the QB is the end of the play, and kneeling in the endzone would immediately give up a safety or rouge.  To me, kneeling on the kickoff in play should result in a dead ball (as per Rule 1 Section 4 of the rule book):

 

"• When a ball carrier is on the ground and, in the judgment of the official, is not

attempting to advance the ball, the official shall immediately declare the ball dead."

 

 

Now, the reason I bring this up is our actions on the 2nd to last play of the game.  With 6 seconds left, Troy Smith throws a pass to Brandon Whitaker for 7 yards to the Wpg54.  Shouldn't the Bombers have let Whitaker lie on the ground for an additional second or two to run out the clock, rather than tackle the defenseless player immediately?

 

 

IMO, if Lumbala kneeling does not trigger a whistle on the kick off, the same rules should apply to Whitaker and the whistle shouldn't blow until he's touched.  

I thought that as soon as a knee is down, the play is called dead. Much like you see when control tower is checking to see whether a knee was down prior to a fumble.

As I missed that particularly play did his knee actually touch the turf because if it wasn't, it's a legit play, no?

[Kyle Walters Greatest Challenge]

Yes they did. I guess what should say is the quick game needs to function better.

 

I watched parts of the game again today...on several plays quick passes to the flats when the Als brought the house would've gained good yardage. There was literally no one out there. 

 

We didn't make them pay for the blitz often enough - until we do teams will be pinning their ears back.

Exactly, 'enough' being the key word.

 

Just out of curiousity, how many screens/draws did we attempt, anyone know? 

[Bombers release RB Will Ford]

 

A bit surprising.  Not crazy surprising, but a bit.

The only surprise is that he was actually brought back this year. He doesn't really do anything well enough to justify being anything more than a backup and we seem to have guys who can do that job better. 

 

No not suprising. He had a decent year last year considering our woeful record.

[No Zach Anderson on Friday]

Not even travelling. I'm assuming playing last week made his heel contusion worse.

I'd put this as one of the most frustrating types of injury for a football player.

[Bomber Depth Chart Week 3 vs Montreal]

 

 

Looking at the depth chart I see a very good defense that can get after the QB and a pretty good offence that still needs a QB and an OC to run it.  This will be our biggest test of the year so far.  Toronto took us for granted and weren't ready to play.  Ottawa was an expansion club playing in their first game ever.  Montreal isn't what they used to be, but they still have game and they won't take us for granted.

 

I'm looking forward to a hard hitting game that's won and lost in the trenches.  Not sure Montreal can beat us with their offence, but I'm pretty sure they can with their defence.  Just a few more hours till I warm up the TV, put on the Jersey, and pour the wobbly pops.  For the first time in years, I'm optimistic.

I think you might be writing Dinwiddie off a bit early, I thought he called a pretty good game for Smith in the game against BC. Played to his strengths and got just enough out of him to get the win along with the defense stepping up. Not much more a guy can do when you're handicapped by a passer that inaccurate.

 

 

Dinwiddie has a lot of experience with this aspect of the game.

 

You would think, and this is only a guess, that Dinwiddie is a better coach than he was a player. You would think.

Weird though that my wife, who never wants to watch football, wants to watch tonight when I told her Dinwifddie was with Montreal now. Weird.

[GDT: Toronto @ Winnipeg]

Mike O'Shea points out an unsung hero from the Argo game - Nick Moore.

 

"O'Shea said he singled out receiver Nick Moore to the players for understanding his role in the game. Asked to block more in the game plan against the Argos, Moore didn't get the touches many expected (two catches for 32 yards), but was critical in helping get others open and giving Willy more time.

"You talk about a guy, a free-agent receiver we signed to catch touchdowns and he's coming in giving everything he's got to make these blocks and downfield he's blocking hard," said O'Shea. "I singled that out because that's impressive. He was very physical."

 

It's nice to be reminded, once in a while, that there are players who check their egos, for the good of the team. 

A notch up in respect for Mr. Moore.

- Blue Bomber report, Ed Tait.

It's also a nice reminder that in football, the player that usually makes the 'play' is not the player who scores the touchdown or makes the tackle. This is what we teach at the grassroots level and it seems to resonate with the players.

[Evander Kane Interview]

 

I see a lot of similarities emerging between Evander Kane and Lebron James. They're both selling themselves as individual commodities with absoutley no desire to attach themselves to any team. They market themselves to fetch the highest dollar knowing that their bodies will fail them eventually but it won't matter as they will have built a successful individual commodity that can diversify beyond just playing the game.

Honestly, i understand what you are saying but i think it's a bit of a stretch comparing the best basketball player in the game today to evander kane, Kane might be a good player, he might be a super star but he isn't yet.. He hasn't won anything, no individual awards, no team awards. Say what you will but Lebron never left Cleveland cuz he didn't like Cleveland, he left because he wanted to go somewhere else to win. He might even sign with Cleveland this off-season. 

 

Honestly, kane might be our best player based on potential but the argument could be made right now that our best player all around is Blake Wheeler. 

 

I never said they were equal in talent or even at the same stages in their professional career, I'm suggesting the similarirties are pretty obvious as treating themselves as a business and not just as an athlete who wants to play.

[Evander Kane Interview]

I see a lot of similarities emerging between Evander Kane and Lebron James. They're both selling themselves as individual commodities with absoutley no desire to attach themselves to any team. They market themselves to fetch the highest dollar knowing that their bodies will fail them eventually but it won't matter as they will have built a successful individual commodity that can diversify beyond just playing the game.

[Jerome Messam signs with Riders]

Don't think Messam fits in with the new culture here.  That's probably all it comes down to.

Best answer yet. It could be that the Riders just replaced one headache in the lockeroom (Anderson) with another (Messam). 

[Nick's Quick Score Chips]

 

Those Buck chips were ridiculously awesome and I really sincerely wish they'd come back. Because you could only really get 'em in MB, we'd have to stock up anytime one of us went home and bring 'em back to AB for game days....

 

Buck's legacy in this town, akin to that of Old Dutch, Jeannie's Cakes and Honey dill sauce.

 

Wow.

[New Bomber culture]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/bombers/blue-experience-culture-shock-266371681.html

I don't know why this story made my heart glow, either it was the story about all the Bombers that want to visit sick kids, or that Wiecek actually wrote something worth reading.

True story: Last August, shortly after taking over as CEO of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Wade Miller asked players to sign up for volunteer visits to Children's Hospital.

It was something the club used to do when Miller was a Bombers player, but which they'd stopped doing in recent years. And Miller wanted it to start up again.

There'd be no media coverage of the visits, players were told. And also no Tweeting -- it'd just be some football players meeting with some sick kids who needed a hug from a comically oversized hero.

A couple of players signed up.

Flash forward to this year and the same sign-up sheet went up in the Bombers locker-room at the start of the season. The entire page was filled in a single day.

Then, when a Bombers staffer took the sheet down because it was full, he was scolded -- by some players who never got a chance to sign up and wanted to be involved.

You know how you've been hearing for months about how the new Bombers regime wanted to change the culture in the locker-room this season? Well, that's what a changed culture looks like.

It's about self-sacrifice and doing the right thing the right way for the right reasons -- even when no one is looking. Especially when no one is looking.

It's the Mike O'Shea way, Bombers defensive lineman Greg Peach says of his head coach.

"Right from the first day coach O'Shea met with us, he came in and told us, 'I want guys who do not need rules.' And that's basically what he's done. He's not enforcing anything -- he's expecting us to do the right things all by ourselves.

"He doesn't yell, he's not pushing us. He just expects us to expect that of ourselves. He's put it on us -- and we've responded."

 

Great line. That's what it's all about. Something to always try to aspire to do knowing no one is perfect.

[Jets Sign Mathieu Perreault]

It's club initiated arbitration. It's just a tool to retain his rights. No one likes arbitration so they will come to a deal. I'd suspect 4-5 year deal.

Considering it's Frolik and who we have as up and comers, I think the Jets management would rather see a two to three year deal max imo.

[CFL Week 3 Winnipeg vs Montreal Preview]

 

M.O.A.B., on 08 Jul 2014 - 12:51 PM, said:

Herb Zurkowsky @HerbZurkowsky1

Troy Smith has removed the tape from his knee and has a helmet on - but isn't practising.

 

Yup, just saw the same thing on the Als board.

 

I think I'd rather see us play Troy Smith than Tanner Marsh for the basic fact of reading defences and how Etch probably still has a few more wrinkles to introduce. 

[Willis fined for hit on Collaros]

 

Based on the speed of the play, there was no way for Willis to do any more than he did to avoid a bad play. The legal area to hit a guy is getting so small, there's almost nowhere to hit the guy that doesn't result in a penalty...

 

You can always form tackle someone who has the ball.  

 

It's not that hard, can't hit anyone above the shoulders, can't hit a QB standing prone in the pocket in the knees and below.  Somehow not being able to hit above the nipples works for rugby, problem in football is that the helmet has become a weapon and a tool for tackling, some guys like Willis have terrible habits and barely even use their arms to tackle, which is why RB's are usually flying by him into the 2nd level.

 

Yes it would be nice to see form tackling more often from Williis (and most other players for that matter) and Willis doesn't have the greatest reputation.

But I did not see him leave his feet, he did lead high but did lead with his shoulder with incidental contact of the helmets. On this particular play, I really don't think there was intent, other than poor form tackling and a chance to hit the QB. It was a bang bang play in a close game.