BigBlue

I am really wondering what Jones did to win a Grey Cup .... was it his ranting and raving emotionalism demanding the best from his players ..... I am not sure if players give their best on a long term basis under such terrorism Is it Jones ego? The bully can win temporarily but can't build sustainable success... Have I overlooked something and Jones is actually a sweet guiy that his players will go to the ends of the eartth for? I don't think so but how could we find out? Is he another Bill Belichick? Excuse me but I just fell down laughing and I think I hurt myself. How did he win the Gey Cup .... I am guessing it was contagiuos bravado amonst a decent level of talent and the right ingredients that happened to be on hand My guess is that Jones has pulled a Mike Kelly move in Regina ... and they won't be able to put Humpty Dumpty together again any more than they could with Kelly As to "not playing well with others" .... the old boys club in the form of the other GM's and directors around the league .... they have a way of getting back at you in ways that you can not recover from Bas behavior does not make for good judgment ... I will be dumbfounded if Jones lives out the life of his contract with the Roughies .... and I would be fascinated to be proved wrong

I am not sure about how much the Bombers cared (we could check how much he was on reserve and how much on the PR) ... but we do know Bryan was frustrated being stuck at #4 all year and when Jones comes a wooing and whispering sweet things in his ear ... If we had control of his rights until February he might still be with us .. was even an outside chance we would not have signed LeFevour if we thought highly of Bennett

So is this about your disappointment about Durant or about Richards?

You sound like a sour grapes kind of guy

There are gentleman's rules (out of respect and to avoid wars) about the practice rosters ... Jones treats such things like a raging bull in a china shop

as Per BigBlue 204 " What we really need is a new thread talking about what rule changes we would like to see this year " I would like to see that practice roster become frozrn at year end so teams like Jones' Riders can't grab who they like at seasons end .... the clubs have spent all year mentoring and nurturing these guys and they should not be up for grabs like Bryan Bennet was nabbed .... let them be protected till February like the rest of the gang

Disagree it is a problem ... they will sign if they want to play (before main camp) and there is not that much wiggle room for the draftees any way

All this angst over drafting Richards just smacks of something not good (there are several labels to use here) ... what I am sure of is that Walters & company are not giving it a 2nd thought ... they draft lots of people and some work out very well (see Lofler) and some don't ... Richards might work out & might not ... it sort of depends on him and the help he can find .... he looks like he has potential but potential only turns into accomplishment some of the time .... there is 40 other prospects that will come and go this year ... management brings them in and then steps back to see who can live up to their billing The wisdom is to know its a numbers game and a character test ... managements job is to just bring enough potential prospects so that a few do work out well ... they can't do any better than that and neither do they worry about it All this hand wringing about how well a draft pick works out is to ask for impossible clairavoyance and is chumps game What is foolish is to draft Jade Etienne .... to not know what a long shot he was and if we wanted him to not have the nerve to gamble that he would be available in a later roiund .... betting on a dark house not knowing what a longshot he was shows how out of touch with reality the pick was ... if Jade was ever going to "make it" it would have had to be without the pressure and billing of being a first rounder So we will see how Richards does this year and there is no other way to look at it

As far as the draft goes I think we need to seperate it even further from the NFL DRAFT so that all the Canadian prospects have plenty of time so sign up for a tryout with an NFL club ... then say in early to mid May have a draft of the unsigned Canadians ... and then after that have a draft of the NFL signed players who would then stay on the clubs' neg lists ... less guessing and a lot more fair ... who cares how we used to do it; lets do what actually makes sense

as Per BigBlue 204 " What we really need is a new thread talking about what rule changes we would like to see this year "

The next time there is more $$$ for the players ie raising the cap I would like to see 5 development Cdn players added to each roster @ somewhere between the league minimum and 50% of it .... taxi players who would dress for home games only .... would also like to see one Cdn QB (a 4th QB) at a salary of 150% of the league minimum .... players like Yantz would have a chance to develop and other positions could be mentored increasing the supply of players who can develop into starters and then we might get around to starting 8 Canuchs

So is the league goinbg to adjust the instant replay rules?

You get that from listening to Jack Wells?

Every year around now we have CFL league meetings .... so whats going to be going on this year? Trestman & Popp to Toronto might be the stability the club needs right now Durant might finally put the Alouettes back in the hunt with its shiny new management team Regina Ottawa & Winnipeg have new stadiums & better sources of revenue ... Hamilton too is lurking Things are never that bad in Alberta, the land of milk and oil .. even though their government has spilt the milk lately ... no sense in crying about it And Vancouver continues in its own little whirlwinds of its own making ... GreY Cup here they come TSN TV revenue is good So there is nothung to worry about, really .. maybe they will just change a few rules and call it a day (call it a week?) Well done CFL! Carry on ....

I am wondering about the Bombers overhead relative to its day to day operating budget. The player expenditure budget is fixed by league law but what about coaches * instructor salaries, scouting costs, travel expenses related to evaluating new talent and that sort of thing. Are we better or worse off than citiies like Edmonton and Ottawa which appear better off or struggling clubs like Toronto & Regina? Can we spend freely or are we really tight?

At 170 lbs he is too small to play in the CFL

Wade Miller was hired with great fanfare and promise .... and so far things have been ok or maybe better than OK But what has he really done? It's hard to see what impact he is having behind the scenes Is he on board for more than just having a good attitude? How would you rate President Miller compared to his colleagues across the league?

What does it mean when all Ottawa had to pay for Drew Tate was a conditional 2018 5th round pick? Was this just a salary dump? Is Walters happier with LeFevour than what Tate might do? Curious Calgary would make sure he did not come to Winnipeg! Maybe we are more of a threat than we appear ...

I feel kind of good about the LeFevour signing .... he can run the offense if we have a real offense and I think we do ... if he can be taught to look downfield during a scramble maybe he can become a legit CFL QBer ... his performance with the Argos last fall was somewhat encouraging ... Dom Davis is going to have to be good to get # 2 backup reps ... Dan is my preference over any Montreal castaway like Cato & company

I for one am feeling like we have a real GM that is building the long term future of our Blue. I think we filled a couple of our biggest holes and yet didn't break the bank and hamstring us over one player. Could we have done better? Yes possibly but we didn't do half bad either.

"Word is the Bombers are high on Kyle Knox, who played in 11 games as a rookie in 2016. But if Kyle Walters wants some veteran help, one of Damaso Munoz, Cory Greenwood and Glenn Love would provide an immediate upgrade. Again, like with many teams, it’s a question of affordability." So do you think Walters will have somme actual comprtioon for Knox at MLB when camp opens? Iy's been a while since we had a genuine rookie MLB candidate with a real chance here ...

Who still needs what in free agency? http://www.cfl.ca/2017/02/15/still-shopping-plenty-needs-across-board/ Team: Montreal Alouettes Need: Offensive tackle Team: BC Lions Need: Defensive end Team: Calgary Stampeders Need: Offensive tackle Team: Edmonton Eskimos Need: Cornerback Team: Saskatchewan Roughriders Need: Defensive tackle Team: Winnipeg Blue Bombers Need: Linebacker Team: Toronto Argonauts Need: Receiver Team: Ottawa REDBLACKS Need: Halfback

Same site, same rough math; the most active recruiters so far have been: 7 Riders 4 Red Blacks 4 Lions 3 Argos 3 Eskies 2 Bombers 2 Stamps 2 Cats 1 Alouettes

Thats a very interesting list. Based on my crude math here are the number of free agents each team has lost to another CFL club: 7 Cats 4 Bombers 3 Riders 3 Argos 3 Alouetttes 1 Eskies 1 Stamps 0 Lions

Now that we are two days into the frenzy has anybody out there summarized what has happened across the CFL?