gbill2004

Bombers playoff hopes live another week!

Banks would sure look good in Blue & Gold.

Actually no. What I'm suggesting is that O'Shea is contributing to the problem, without knowing it. and I was responding to the comments tracker made.. Might want to use the quote feature then.

Actually no. What I'm suggesting is that O'Shea is contributing to the problem, without knowing it.

Lions offense not looking good. Collaros moving the ball nicely.

Do we have anyone we'd be willing to trade who could fetch us anything close to a first? I'd be more than willing to give up a guy like Watson, but he probably only gets us a third rounder or so. Maybe Watson and January for a first??

Bombers tried to sign him to an extension but he wouldn't sign, so we traded him to the Argos for Parenteau.

That's the kind of hard hitting analysis and insight we love to have. It's true though.

The upcoming CFL draft has a lot of good OL prospects projected to go in the first round. Maybe Walters can trade a current roster player for a first rounder??

Neufeld is decent, but can't seem to stay healthy. I'd prefer seeing him at RT and maybe Devin Tyler or Chad Anderson at LT next season.

Mike O'Shea's biggest problem now is his unconditional loyalty to people who are not performing. O'Shea wonders why the players keep taking stupid penalties. Its not that hard to figure out. O'Shea has named Kuale as the "leader" on defense. Kuale constantly takes stupid penalties and O'Shea sticks up for him. Other players see this, and whether consciously or subconsciously, they learn that if our leader can take stupid penalties so can we. A head coach who has blind loyalty to players who are not performing, eventually get fired for this reason. Same as any workplace. I work in an office and if my boss allows someone to get away with a certain behavior (e.g. coming in late for work), everyone in the office sees this, and they learn that this is acceptable behavior. It becomes the culture of the organization; coming in to work late is okay. Doesn't matter what the boss says, it's what actions employees see. Same works with athletes. O'Shea needs to be very careful here...while I like him, he is managing this situations very poorly. Hopefully he learns from this.

Hopefully Goossen can take a big step forward next year.

I question the point in Lawless writing this article. There is zero chance we sign Ben Heenan.

@EJKUALE: Fewq

It's 100% from last night but Kuale deleted it about 30 minutes after he tweeted it.

He's saying he's being targetted by the refs. No accountability. Kuale needs to go. His injury tonight might be a blessing.

@EJKUALE: I can careless of your opinions I am being targeted!!! Time to get the cfl pa involved!!!! Retweet that!!!

Kyle Walters can try and fix a huge mistake this off-season but it will take money. Lots of it. The Blue Bombers are still haunted by former GM Joe Mack’s inexplicable decision to let Brendon LaBatte reach free agency and sign with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. But, there’s a path to redemption and its name is Ben Heenan. LaBatte, as most Bombers fans are painfully aware, is among the best interior linemen in the CFL and was a leading factor in the Riders’ Grey Cup win last season. He should have been a Bomber for life, but Mack let him walk and Riders GM Brendan Taman was waiting with open arms. Pro sports is kind of like romance. There are no rules when it comes to getting the player a GM wants. Oh, and turnabout is definitely fair play. Which brings us to Walters and potential free agent and current Riders non-import tackle Heenan. Go get him, Kyle. Pile up the money. Make him the highest-paid offensive lineman in the CFL. Get Heenan to trade green for blue. Did we mention money? Yeah, give it to him. Lots of it. Taman will try to get Heenan to sign long before free agency, but as we saw this summer when he signed Weston Dressler coming out of the NFL, the Riders GM must keep balance in his locker-room and making Heenan his highest-priced player after quarterback Darian Durant will be tough to justify. But Walters can offer Heenan everything and anything but Drew Willy’s salary. And Willy can campaign, too. Don’t think he wouldn’t like to see this battleship standing on his line. Heenan could make Bombers fans forget LaBatte — maybe even Mack. Okay, the last part is a stretch, but signing Heenan could cure a lot of ills. The Bombers offensive line is awful. Fixing the line, gaining a running attack and most importantly, protecting Willy, is priority No. 1 for Walters this off-season. A Canadian playing tackle is rare enough in the CFL. One with all-star potential is like the Hope Diamond. They just don’t come along that often. Every GM in the CFL will want to take a crack at Heenan if he gets to the market. And for a team like the Bombers, he’s a game changer. Walters needs to take a play out of Taman’s playbook from the winter of 2011-12 when he remade the Riders offensive line with two quick strikes in free agency, a trade and draft. Taman signed LaBatte and Dominic Picard in free agency, traded for Xavier Fulton and drafted Heenan. Voila! The best O-line in the league. If Walters could snag Heenan and Tyler Holmes out of Toronto, he’d be well on his way to fixing his biggest issue. Easy to say but harder to do. Taman won’t want to let Heenan go and Jim Barker in Toronto will be doing his best to keep Holmes. This off-season will be the first of the new CBA and rising salary cap. Agents will want their players to test the market. Most of the new money will go to quarterbacks and Canadian offensive lineman. Heenan will be at the top of the class. “He’s going to hit the mother lode. The highest-paid offensive linemen in the league are older Canadian guys like Josh Bourque in Montreal. If you’re going to ply an old guy $200,000 or so, why wouldn’t you pay a young guy like Heenan, who can really play, even more?” said one CFL GM on Friday. “The cap is going up and there aren’t many quarterback deals coming up. All the money this winter is going to go to offensive lineman and Heenan is at the top of the list. He should get at least $250,000. Maybe more.” Riders supporters will immediately point to the fact Heenan was born in Regina, played his CIS football at Saskatchewan and is as homegrown as the wheat sprouting on the back 40. Yup. All things being equal, Heenan likely isn’t going anywhere. And Taman will be doing everything in his power to get his prized hog locked up long before February and free agency rolls along. So, Walters needs to tilt the table. And the only way to do this is with cold hard cash. As we know in Canada, there are lots of colours of money and it doesn’t only have to be green. Winnipeg is hosting the Grey Cup next season and there will be lots of cash streaming into the franchise. Heenan might be a bit of a pipe dream. Holmes, however, has to be looking around the landscape in Toronto and wondering if the grass isn’t greener somewhere else. A year ago the Bombers didn’t have a chance in free agency. The reputation of the franchise was in tatters and no one knew how the new regime would turn out. Now they have Willy, a coach in Mike O’Shea that players want to play for, the best stadium in the league and Grey Cup money to spend. So spend it, Mr. Walters. gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @garylawless Best of the potential free-agent hogs Expect Blue Bombers GM Kyle Walters to throw some money at his offensive line in the off-season. Here are the non-import offensive linemen currently on CFL rosters due to become free agents in February: Pascal Baillargeon, Montreal: Two torn ACLs, may retire Jake Piotrowoski, Montreal: Not a starter to this point. Joe Eppele, Ottawa: Multiple shoulder surgeries, likely to retire. Alexander Krausnick, Ottawa: Centre who is likely best suited to be a sixth man. Borderline CFL starter potential. Tyler Holmes, Toronto: Could potentially be tried as a tackle. Has a chance to be an all-star and is already a solid starter. Tim O’Neill, Hamilton: Thirty-four-year-old can start and also serve as backup. Limited, but knows how to get by. Greg Wojt, Hamilton: Shoulder injury cost him this season, has started and been an all star. Gord Hinse, Winnipeg: Backup, sixth or seventh man. Dan Clark, Saskatchewan: Best role is likely as sixth man. Got the chance to start and struggled. Ben Heenan, Saskatchewan: Tackle is best of the bunch, will be a perennial all-star. Matt O’Donnell, Edmonton: Big body who struggles at times, but you can’t teach size. Borderline CFL starter right now but will likely get a decent contract and the chance to become a regular.

We play Calgary twice.

O'Shea and Kuale are losing this game for us.

Totally ridiculous. Why?

@NickMoore_1: Let's go bomber nation. Can't wait to be back out there next week!!

Kim Murphy is the head ref tonight.

@BobIrvingCJOB: Snipers on the roof at TD place. The PM must be coming tonite

K) Airlift Mike Kelly in as a consultant because it's Panic Time!!