KptKrunch

I've been watching Nicols for 6 years here. I know what he brings and I know the type of Qb he is. He's now hitting his prime. He's a lot better than any QB the bombers have recruited from the US (not from other CFL teams) since Sean Salisbury and prior to Danny Mac - that's why we're the joke of the CFL. As for the rest - you guys figure it out. I already know it.

I disagree. We can win games with Nichols.I think it'll take 4 more wins to make the playoffs. Let's say we beat Montreal, BC, Ottawa once and another win somewhere. It's definitely doable with Nichols and the D playing at a high level. Montreal with Marsh and BC with Beck we can beat. Montreal with Cato/Crompton and BC with Lulay are both questionable games. I can't really see us beating anyone else unless the defense keeps playing how they did this week - which isn't sustainable.Our D is getting better every week. Again, I disagree. ummm - our d was terrible on Labour Day - and don't give me the 'tired' excuse. If they got tired they go tired because they allowed too many 1st downs to a rookie, struggling QB and a RB who you knew was getting the ball. Our D is better than our O true - but that doesn't say much and is not anywhere near a powerhouse in this league. That being said - if all three facets are going we can win or at least be in games, even with the big boys

Yup we're 4-7 but at least we are not 1-10 plus, we still a high chance to make it on the playoffs. Who knows with Nichols at the helm, with an improving Defense and with O'shea now handling the ST we can get to something. What if Henoc signs in Saskatchewan. He might you know...

Stay in Edmonton with your boy, McDavid. Stay in Calgary with your Hamilton boy - dressing room issues I hear - can't you take a joke - sheesh. You know, with bomber fans like you in Calgary this makes me soooooooooooooo happy http://gfycat.com/TalkativeJaggedAiredaleterrier

I only watched the first quarter so I have to watch the rest of the game. Like the score and happy Nichols got us a win but then again these are (still) the worst two teams the CFL and from DoD's description it's pretty obvious why (with five TO's in the first half the bombers should have been out of it and would have been if it were any other team than SK). All I know is.... 8 to 2 with McDavid only getting two points over the Canucks 6 to 3 with McDavid not playing against the Flames (who beat the Jets on Friday) Would be nice to see an Oiler rookie sweep by hammering the Jets on Monday with McDavid having a 6 point game. Oh wait, this if football..... meh just can't get into it. Maybe if the Bombers can win another two in a row, I'll start paying more attention again

One thing for sure - Nichols is far far better (as is Willy) than any QB recruit the bombers have brought in in the past 20 years. That's why most years we're doormats. I wonder where Nichols will sign next year? My bet - Ottawa.

And he's 54 years old. Didn't know that. Fricken Walters! LMAO - well - ole 'Bernie' really went down hill here in Edmonton. No fans were heartbroken here when he was traded but that being said I know a lot of Eskimo fans are hoping he does well in Wpg. I know he's no superstar though - and his best game in a bomber uniform may very well be the Banjo bowl.

You could make the argument it already has as both TV numbers and league wide attendance are down this year. I know I"m losing interest extremely fast. CFL always has been a second rate pro league but it is our league and I support it. But now it's NHL rookie camp - and McDavid - that I'm interested. In fact, I'm far more interested in reading about McDavid's first day at rookie camp - which was just a physical - than I am about anything CFL, including who the QB is going to be. As for the officials - I'm still extremely pissed at that moron Al Bradbury who was looking on when Willy took that hit on the chin. There's supposed to be zero tolerance when a QB gets hit in the head, regardless of the circumstance that lead to that hit in the head. No different than when a punter is contacted. Yet it seems to be open season on Bomber QB's especially. Trust me, if I were a dlineman playing against the bombers, I'd have no concern about hitting a bomber QB low, late, or to the head. Why? Because I already know I got a 50/50 chance of getting away with it (or better) and any retribution on my QB will be called immediately. Hence why I call this a second rate league - there are clearly bias's when it comes to officiating.

So the 0-9 Riders playing a raw rookie equals great depth? That's all bull ****, its poor coaching and poor qb play and nothing else. Agreed Brandon - Montreal lost their top two QB's, and have a better record, and they still fired their HC. Edmonton lost their #1 and traded their #2 to us because #3 was so good. Toronto started the year with their #1 on the shelf and he still is. Only Sk has done worse and it's better that 50/50 they'll only be one game behind us come Sunday. I said it when Willy was first hurt - we'll see what this team is made of when it faces adversity. All teams do. Great teams, even good teams, will find a way to overcome adversity. The Winnipeg Blue Bumblers fold like cheap tent when faced with adversity, and have done so for the past decade. Not sure where to blame. Would be easy to blame just one person but it's a team effort to win and a team effort to fail. IMO - the Banjo Bowl is a must win for the Bombers. It really is, they lose, the season is toast. Written off. And yes, I expect a lot of changes to happen if they do lose - never mind the axe falling, it should make the Texas Chainsaw Massacre look like a Disney movie when all is said and done.

Then we get a week of "I told ya so" and "We need to keep this group together" and "We're on the right track" and "O'Shea's a great HC" and so on before we fall back to earth the week after. Honestly, we should win this week. Regina's only won a single game all year, it's very hard to win back to back and we're at home. Agreed 100%. That's what will make a loss that much harder to take as fan. As for MOS, the rest of the coaching staff, and the Bomber management, another loss to SK at home means that there is no place for them to hide. The "I gotta watch the game film" cliche they use every week shouldn't even be brought up. Suitor had an interesting comment on MOS yesterday here on 1260 in Edmonton - he said that MOS's policy of only talking to him (and not his other coaches) has a negativec affect in the locker room. He feels since the coach doesn't trust his assistants, why would the players? He's only speaking as a former player of course but makes me wonder, how much credibility in the room does MB even have?

Since this season is all but toast - I think they should put Goosen in there. He's most likely the heir apparent to the role anyway, so why not let him snap the ball now. He can't be worse than Picard. Only time I notice him on a play is when you see his man go unabated to the QB, or when he takes yet another totally unnecessary roughing penalty. JBR and TLB have it right. Time for Mr.Picard to move on - but here's where the metal meets the meat so to speak. We all make mistakes, all the time. It's what makes us human. What makes a human a great - a human who can not only own up to a mistake, but take measures to correct it. My issue isn't with the Bombers signing Picard - but like Kuale last year, my issue is when it has become obvious that the player was the wrong choice they continue to play him. It's why Willy is out and our other QB's are now taking a pounding. Matt Nichols is not iron man - in fact his injury history is almost Pierce like (considering how few starts he has in this league in his 6 years here). I really can't see Nichols staying healthy for the long term while he's here. How about it Walters / O'Shea? Can you not stand up and say 'my bad' and run Picard out of town? I know I'd respect you a heck of a lot more if you did.

Agreed, that's the first thing I noticed on the play... not only was the punt right down the middle it also had no hang time ... the ST unit was basically SOL right from the beginning... Lirim shoulders most of the blame for that particular punt return... Yep great point. I was against the wind and LH was just trying to kick it as far as he could, instead of concentrating on putting it to a corner (which he is usually good at). We say someone 'vacated' a lane but the punt cover team in the huddle knows where the ball (as in what side) is being kicked too - and it's never kicked 'in the middle'. There's just so many things going on during a punting play that we really don't know. But that being said - 3 TD returns from punts and it's only the halfway mark is unacceptable, but so is our crappy defense (if you bothered watching the Eskie/Cal game - lots of two and outs there but didn't see a D get 'tired' - that "our D got tired in the second half" excuse a lot of you use around here is pure BS) and pathetic offense. At least we're consistent all across the board. Except for the fans - fans are still the best IMO.

Someone here called Brohm a semi-pro QB. Agree on this 1000%. He is. Friesen (I think it was him) in an article I read here in the Journal about signing Nichols also hit it right on the head - signing Nichols was a 'great' move but why are they doing something like that now? Why wait until it is too late - either they are stupid or cannot evaluate talent. Either way..... if it walks like a clown and acts like a clown .............. Goalie - the reason why is we are all passionate Bomber fans. And even though a lot of us disagree with each other (and some hurl insults I love that but it proves the frustration) we all share something and we need to sound off somewhere or else we'll explode. I always feel better after going for a rant on here. It's like therapy lol. Even if people disagree with it - at least they read it and share my pain. Maybe this message board name should be changed from "Morning Big Blue" to "Big Blue Group Therapy" lol.

I don't know about all the Marcel hate here. It's hard to say exactly what went wrong. But I remember in the fourth quarter when we recovered Demski's punt, it looked like they had two deep passes called and Brohm didn't even get a chance to set his feet before he was sacked. I know it's easy(er) to point your finger at a player, or a coach, or a system. But I said it the day that Willy got hurt (well ok, might have been a few days after) that though the injury sucked and would definitely hurt us, the good thing to take away from it was the fact that we would find out what kind of metal the team was made up of. How would the players and coaches react. Even if we didn't win a game - if they fought hard, competed, and were in the game, then at least that would give us (well me anyway) hope that we are on the right track. Well, I think it's safe to say this team - and I'm not pointing fingers here as it is a team and everyone shoulders some blame - is showing it doesn't believe in themselves or their fellow teammates/coaches. MOS as pointed out, since a 5 - 1 start (someone said 7 -1 we weren't 7 - 1 we were 5 -1 and the wheels fell off) we've gone 5 - 17 or whatever. Firing anyone now won't help - but unfortunately it looks like another major house cleaning at the end of the year. O'Shea will be back in Toronto running Special teams or something, Kyle Walters will go back to being an assistant, and who knows what else will happen (Miller??). I think the only silver lining here is that though he's know Zack - we do finally have a QB we can build around in Drew Willy. Though the way we protect him, he probably won't be around when the 'build' is complete.

Nah it was the right call. Adams never really had control. Catching a ball is a lot different than a handoff as you need to prove possesion and the evidence wasn't there. Fact is though, fricken Brohm actually made some decent throws downfield into the find - FINALLY. Up to that point this looked like a highschool game with two incompetent QB's. Not that the wind is helping any but sheesh, enough with the outs and dumps. At least Smith with the wind was throwing down field. Looks like a 'rider victory though as they'll have the ball in the fourth quarter. Can still be a blowout win too who knows - but so far at least we're in it which is a lot better than I thought.

Doesn't work like that in the CFL - even if he had an 'option' year left - he burned it when he was in Indy. This is why I keep berating the CFL draft here. Normally, in a draft, you draft the BPA or at worst the BPA for a position you have very little depth in. The CFL is the only pro NA draft I know of that you don't do that as if the player is 'too good' you won't get him. If it wasn't for university rules - I'd like to see the draft completely abolished and just go to two territorial picks and the rest are UFA's that can be 'purchased' - maybe a similar system to the Soccer system- knowing you couldn't do that though until the players uni career was over.

Like you?

Did they even throw a ball to Veltung last game? I don't recall them doing that but then again, they could have but since the balls were so badly thrown it's hard to judge just who they were throwing too. Do we have any comments from the 'game film' yet. Has anyone ever asked the jokers on the bombers any tough questions 'after' they watched the game film so they can't say "we gotta watch the game film'?

Yep - just like it was even here in Edmonton (for the first half anyway) but once the rain stopped you know what happened (so glad I left and didn't sit through that atrocity). I guess all we can do is pray the wind and rain stays through the whole game. If it does. like that first half here in Edmonton the game will be brutal and about as entertaining as watching grass grow, but the score should be close. If the rain stops - Sk will destroy us so I didn't even vote. Maybe we should add 'weather' to the poll options as that is our only chance to keep the game close. If this was for the Banjo bowl though (and maybe another poll will start for that) put me down for NICHOLS

Why don't we name Mike Kelly OC while we're at it?

Hey Mr.Dee - as bad as the OP is he's right. Though we did win the first game of the year there - like last year it's been pretty much unraveling. The simple fact is, the SK players will in fact be all pumped up. They usually are anyway but with this coaching change - just like in Montreal you can expect a HUGE emotional boost from the 'rider players. Now, will Wpg be able to respond in kind? Just like the posts I make about the games when Winnipeg comes here (Edmonton) and I say they'll get blown out. I get a similar reaction, and after the game, year after year, gee, guess what - BLOW OUT. Problem is on here some people read these posts and they think the author is 'hoping' for a blowout. For me its the complete opposite. It's not very fun sitting in the stands, surrounded by a bunch of Eskimo fans, and hearing it from them after yet another bumbler play. If I had a dollar for every time an eskie fan asked when Wpg would field a real team here and at least put up a fight........... Labour Day, like it or not - it not much different. I'm a student of history and as the OP says, even when SK is in the tank (like they are now) they always seem to rise to the occasion and play way above their heads in this game and the bomber players and coaching personal cannot match that enthusiasm. I give thumbs down too because, IMO - the OP has it wrong. I say it's a 90% chance of getting utterly destroyed, and a 10% chance of us making a game of it and having me be a bit late to the annual family bbq. I haven't been late to that barbeque in over a decade - and I won't be late this time. Do I hope I'm wrong, you bet I do. But I'd gladly bet you I'm not (I could use some easy money )

ummm no - he isn't more mobile. But don't take my word for it - wait and see when he gets in a game.

I think the problem in Montreal is when they had Cavillo - especially towards the end o fhis career - they had no 'succession' plan. At one point everyone was thinking McPherson but he showed to be no good. Remember the Eskimos who dominated for so long in the 70's, 80', and 90's? They dominated because they always had a succession plan at QB. It wasn't until the 90's started and they started bringing in bums like Archer that the mighty Eskimo's fell to earth, and didn't really turn it around until they got Ricky Ray. Montreal (and Popp) lived in the here and now. Heel - I get what you're saying but when you have one of the greatest QB's of all time playing for you and are able to hire a decent coach(es), in an 8 team league (mostly) it's kind of hard not to miss the playoffs. Not saying Popp is a Joe Mack - and not saying at one point at time he wasn't good - but everyone eventually gets 'comfortable' and that looks like Popp to me. Yes, he has taken them to the playoffs many times, but his shelf life in Montreal is bast the best before date now and that franchise won't dominate again until he's gone.

I think we all were/are. I still am. I'm sick (and bored) of the merry-go-round we've endured over the past 10 seasons at CEO, GM, and mostly coach. I don't want a 'bum' in there forever, but I don't want to be changing them out every year either - I like to see them get enough rope to hang themselves with. MOS is starting on his rope unfortunately but he's Canadian and loyal to the game - both as a player and now as a coach - so I do want him to succeed and since he's our coach I want to see him succeed here. I'm still in his corner but it gets tougher and tougher

Don't be so harsh (jk) I hope you're right. This has been, for so long, the bombers Achilles heel (no pun intended on the Marve injury). Not since we had Clements/Hufnagel has this team had two bonafide QB's on their roster. We got lucky with Nichols though I'm not so sure he's going to be in that category either. I just know what I saw from him early in his career before his leg injuries hit was really impressive. It could be the fact the injuries + Reilly = an "I don't give a crap" attitude from him this year. I know he isn't well liked in the dressing room here either, at least that's the rumour going around (when Franklin came into games prior to the game he started last week everyone's game on the offense seemed to go up a gear - and that's not me saying it that's everyone around here including the talking heads on the radio). I hope that Marve's issue's against Calgary were injury related. And though I was rather harsh on Brohm in another thread, that bum better have a worse shoulder than Khari did with the way consistently throws balls in the dirt and has been all year. I can't believe he's employed as a pro football player. If he is hurt and he's trying to play through it, I get it. If he's healthy - there really is no excuse for him collecting a paycheck playing pro ball. Either way - unless Brohm is playing well Sunday, no way no how I do not see a scenario where Nichols doesn't come in to the game at some point. I just hope we can keep him healthy.........