BigBlue

Bauming - - Injury Report

Another Great Season Ahead! Calgary has great management. That is my basis for picking them for first place. They do seem to come up with a talent in abundance all the time. Winnipeg is my pick for number two in the West; great management but not as good as Calgary's. I still think we have offensive personnel problems to solve in both the backfield and at receiver. I hope our number two quarterback doesn't take long to learn the game. I would be very happy if Collaros can play 65 to 75% of his games as a starter. Our defence looks invincible but we will see. I believe the D will be winning most of our games for us this year. I'm picking BC for third just because it's time for them to come out of the pit. They been doing stuff for three years now. They have a great quarterback. I think they will patch together a winning team. I could be terribly wrong about this. They have never stayed cellar dwellers for that long. Here I am way out on a limb. The Elks just seem to have unsettled management and controversy seen sub surface with not everybody on the same page, as far as the higher ups go. It's what I believe but I could be talking through my hat. They have talent and even more so this year. I just don't see harmony at this point. I could be terribly wrong about this. The Rough Riders have seemed in disarray for the past few years (since winning the Cup) without any kind of stable management structure. As community owners they do great. Translating that into corporate success in getting to the Grey Cup is a completely different matter. Maybe they are number one as homers, but that does not translate into points on the board. Like Edmonton they have talent. They have promising quarterbacks. However, it just seems like helter-skelter chaos in the last three years. I need them to prove different this year. So for now I am slotting them to finish fifth in the Western division of the CFL. I know a little bit about the Western Conference. I am out of touch with East. So I don't even know whether I can speak into my hat. Just call me clueless. However, here's one uneducated completely biased opinion: The Tiger cats seem very well-managed and it looked like they were going to win it all last season. I believe that momentum will carry them to first place. Montréal seems to be emerging from its pile of rubble in the new quarterback post- Cavillo era. Maybe they got the right people now; who knows? I like many of their new people from last season. They have a spitting chance to finish second. Toronto is a hive of activity. I have no idea how smart management is. I just know they're doing stuff. But they have an awful lot to prove. Maybe, this is the year they get their act together. But the big gaping hole is their own offensive line. If that could be improved they might have sufficient quarterbacking to go somewhere. I just don't see how they fill some of their talent shortages in the trenches. I have respect for Ottawa's management. They did a lot from the beginning. But now it feels like they are stumbling around. They are gambling on a potentially washed up quarterback. The way they handle their quarterbacking in the off-season amazed me. Letting Arbuckle go to Toronto because Lapo loves Nichols seems very foolish to me. They may have let a premium quarterback slip through their hands. And if the QB spot is not stable, the whole team languishes for lack of leadership and later confidence. Lose your confidence and all you have left is a paycheck with some credentials. That doesn't make for the heart of a champion. Anyway enough of me rambling. I pick Ottawa for 4th in the standings while Lapo "rebuilds". The biggest wildcard for all teams is going to be a very high injury rate. It's inevitable after a year off. Some will return in very good shape benefiting from the year off. Others have just been in a maintenance plan and without the constant hitting from a typical season, I just expect that injuries are gonna play a big and weird role this year.. So the biggest deal will be how good is each teams depth. Coaches everywhere will be saying "Next!" The ones hearing that call have the best shot at winning it all. I am super excited that the CFL is back to being a major part of the Canadian culture. Maybe it will lead us on a very nice path and give us hope that things can be better than they used to be. At least, that's the hope I'm taking. We will see.

yes mods please split thread into two or more

The 31-0 Shutout a couple weeks ago .... nothing comes closer for me

Any news out of Bomber practice this week? Which starters took a day or two off? Who has been practicing kick returns? Any change in first team reps? Did we have a closed practice? Anybody been able to chip out any Gatoraid? Will Lapo change his cast-in-stone game plan? Will Hall blitz on 90% of the defensive downs? Please list all planned trick plays:

I don't know what any of you have seen (or felt) but we have blown some leads this year. We find stuff that is working, we get a lead and then try and sit on it, often pounding Harris into an overloaded box ... leading to 2nd and long and then of course a punt... multiple 2 and out's allow the other teams' offence to finally find itself and get into high gear ... I guess we have blown good momentum and leads at least 3 times this year (maybe a lot more) ... I put this mainly on Lapo who despite his brilliance too often plays "not to lose" ... I am hoping we can correct this misjudgment even while making sure we don't make silly turnovers ... we can still play ball control offense with Nichols at the helm ... we just can't afford to give up what's working so well when we get momentum ... we are allowed to put the other team away when we are up a bit! Do you concur?

"SO JUST STAND THERE, DON'T DO ANYTHING" ... THAT'S WHAT I MEAN ABOUT BEING PASSIVE INSTEAD OF CREATIVE AND PROACTIVE .. Bill Belichick keeps replacing his injured/failing no names with other no mames ... we set our feet in cement on opening day

Well I have been cheering for the Blue since 1962 ... 2008 & 2011 we were total underdogs ... gotta go back to Kevin Glenn leadership to see a serious chance at the Cup .... I would like to see the Bombers hoist it before I die The Patriots have been great and don't cause emotionally induced illness for their cheering fans

My first question is will the Bombers start Streveler against Montreal? My second question is what is MOS and Walters doing to right the ship? My third question is based on the answer to the second question: why are you doing what you are doing? It breaks down to management philosophy ... are we sticking to what we recruited in training camp? It sure seems that way ... I can't recall one newbie since camp (other than maybe replacing some Canadian special teamers) Hamilton have made trades and just signed Chad Owens ... BC has brought in more receivers, Toronto switched QBs and is rehabing Carter, Chris Jones doesn't sit on his hands ... top teams might be able to stand pat but those of us with losing records need to fix what is broken ... we have a long record of being passive even before MOS came to town ... are we being delusional by standing pat? In the very least can we develop Streveler into a starter and the leader needed to win a Grey Cup, finally ... winning Cups are not a statistical probability, they have to be soundly earned Cutting Bond was bad judgment as was not replacing Loffler and Ritchie Hall We are not even tinkering in our downward spiral ... even a couple of adjustments earlier may have led to a winning record I am very close to giving up on this club and focusing on The New England Patriots, perhaps the best coached team in the world

Will the roster changes make any difference for the Blue? Can Matt Nichols pick up his game? Do they have Streveler prepared in waiting in case Nichols is flat again? Statistical probability favor the home team in back to back games ... Can Bob Irving or the crowd help us?

Andrew Harris

Andrew Harris

If hamilton can beat edmonton we can beat calgary

After wading through 13 pages of the "Sky is falling" (the Mat Nichols thread) and more of the same on the LaPolice thread, I saw a lot of grumbling and nonsensical blather. The " what a difference one game makes" sort of said it all in terms of a frustrated board of posters. But now that we have got that out of our system, let;s look at what we can do to be positive and to put our team in a position to win. It is possible to beat Calgary if we get a couple of non-offensive TDs like the Roughies were gifted at perfect times. Note too Regina replied to Calgary's attempted come back with more scoring of their own to really put them in their place, Assume that Lankford & Folketti start and that Chandler Fenner plays most of the gane What would you do as head coach/OC/DC to give the Bombers their best chance of winning?

Andrew harris

this is closer to what i see ... if we creep up and play tight or man-to-man we may get burned when a receiver breaks a tackle or bounces off a defender for a huge gain

Andrew Harris

Anybody recall how soft Lankford's hand are when a long bomb is thrown his way? How about slants thrown over the middle (2 situations where he can out run a defender)?

Andrew Harris

Andrew Harris

Dear 3rd & 1 Please Evaluate Chris Jones' moves as you see him (start from most recent)

Cutting Carter was pure and simple: it was a salary dump... coming up on week 10 they would have had to pay him for the whole year if he played one more game ... you don't want to lose a draft pick next spring for being over the salary cap ... nor do you want to be exposed for having such a high salary low performance team in front the country's most delusional fans

QB Harris came within 1 completed reception of tying a CFL record for most passes completed ever against a weak Alouette defense The Bomber defense carried the day against Hamilton while our offense was erratic. Throwing long bombs seemed to be an exercise in futility.... Friday's game may prove more difficult than playing either Edmonton or Calgary Ottawa is hot ... so are we

Andrew Harris

MOS saying Leggett is fine