USABomberfan

I'll preface this thread by saying, I am not complaining at all about the win tonight.  Beating Saskatchewan is the best thing in the world no matter  how it was done.  We rarely win in Regina and this is a happy occasion.
 
Do not get me wrong at all, it was a great game, our offense was fantastic, Drew Willy played exceptional, Paris Cotton is a beast, Nick Moore is back and better than before, Clarence Denmark is a warrior.  And screw the Bellefeuille haters, he outdid Chapdelaine this game.
 
 
 
 
But......
 
Richie Hall's defense was not looking good out there.  Lots of plays where guys were out of position, vanilla playcalling, getting gashed in the run, thank god Adams came up with that pick on that one throw or we might really have gotten in trouble.  A little surprised too that the Riders didn't go for it on 3rd and short when they were on their last possession and punted it there even though I know Messam got a bit whacked there.
 
It was a good game but this defense had better not be getting gashed like that week in and week out.  Hall was hired to fix it and fix the run and so far, he almost looks worse than Etcheverry.  I'm gonna enjoy the win for the time being but we can't afford that in Hamilton next week or late in the season.

Pretty easy to bash Montreal, but think about this ... between our team and theirs, which team has had the better record after Labor Day the last few years?
 
Both our teams have seen turmoil lately but look at which team seems to know how to get out of it?
 
There were threads last year going around the other bomber site suggesting that the Als fire Jim Popp and do a complete tear down, yet he once again pulls a rabbit out of his hat and fixes that team, and would that have happened had he got axed?
 
The Als have been a 2nd half of the season team and most of that is thanks to their leadeship skills and ability to stay focused, and let me tell you after last year, I certainly think people within our organization and fanbase could take note of that because for once I would like to see my bombers go out and have and strong 2nd half and go rolling into the playoffs and be the hot team for once.
 
Just be aware of that friends.

Only when Duane Forde is talking.

I'll man up and say I was wrong about the Redblacks.  Even though it was only one game and they still got 17 more games ahead of em, they couldn't have asked for a much better start.
 
But I can't for the life of me figure out wby Jim Popp brought on Jonathan Hefney to that team, that guy is a friggin cancer everywhere he goes.  Personally I did think the call there on him was a little overblown, but come on, finish that play up and then walk away and quit yapping.  No excuse for giving the Redblacks a freebie.
 
Also, Turk Schonert's playcalling sucks, he's worse than Crowton.

Gamethread for all the non-bomber games.
 
The bomber game'll have it's own thread, but I can't wait guys cuz the action is back and it all starts off again TONIGHT at 7:30.
 
Go Big Blue.

I know much has been said of doing this, and I know most people go to using free flash streaming sites like VIPBOX, Firstrowsports, and others, but I don't recommend doing this because these a lot of them have malicious ads on them, and some even stop you from using adblocker software.  Plus the quality of this method is a lot better and the games are seen in much clearer definition even with average DSL speeds.
 
http://cflonwatchespn.blogspot.com/2015/06/how-to-watch-cfl-games-in-states.html
 
This should clear up the confusion that CFL.ca and ESPN don't explain to their users.

I'd rather they focus on getting the team ready for the season than making sure a guy who probably has the ceiling of a #3 QB in the CFL a fair shot.

Yup another story down in the backup QB saga in the Peg.
 
In Joey Elliot's case, I can understand his frustration there.  He was straight up shipped out with no competition period in either mini camp, training camp or preseason and as he had already been a member of this roster, that situation was totally mishandled.
 
The Max Hall case last year was handled correctly.  Fans thought he got the short end of the stick cuz he was Crowton's guy, but that wasn't true.  He went up against stiff competition and failed to deliver the dynamics that Willy, Brohm, and Marve brought to the house.  Guy had heart but his talent was inferior.
 
In Yantz's case, I can understand the novelty and sensational story that a Canadian QB who cracked the roster would be, but at the end of the day, this is the business of winning and knocking out our 2 backup QBs on what will probably be a 3 QB roster would've taken quite a big impressive showing.  Tough to do against positions pretty tightly solidified.

Well folks, the week we've all been waiting for is finally here and in 4 more days, the real thing the CFL 2015 season starts.  Lotta things to watch for this week and while certainly there will be things that can be seen in week 1 that may be misleading when it comes down to the late season, a lot of teams are needing to prove something in terms of where they sit today.
 
Game 1: Thursday at 7:30 ET  Redblacks at the Als - Neither team had a very good preseason, but for the Als, they want to start out the 2015 season strong and contend for the East.  Their miraculous turnaround last year after starting out 1-7 on the year but finishing 9-9 and making it to the East final despite not winning it, is a momentum swing in and of itself and was done behind the arm of pornstache and Jon Bowman leading a vaunted defense.  Both factors are in play again and they are here to prove that run was not a fluke.  The Als have been in trouble early the last 2 years but have made the playoffs now for the last almost 20 years in a row, something that does not seem to be coming to a stop anytime soon.  The Redblacks, it's their 2nd year now back in the league, and after debuting a 2-16 record, well the only place they can go is up.  Their big challenges facing them is that Hank is probably done after this year and they don't even know how much he has left at this point, and I would not be surprised if sometime this year even, Thomas DeMarco took over the controls.  Also did adding Mo Price, Greg Ellingson, Chris Williams and others address their receiving issues?  I think they'll do better than 2 this year and some wins, even big upsets will be seen this year, but it will not start in Montreal.
 
I will say Alouettes 26-14
 
Game 2:  Friday Night at 9:00 ET  Tiger Cats at Stampeders - Hamilton will be trying to get to their 3rd Grey Cup in a row under Kent Austin, something that would've been unimaginable even just 5 years ago.  Calgary once again comes out under Bo Levi Mitchell and Jon Cornish who after getting sidelined for a while early last year expects to come back again strong and once again lead the way for the stamps.  The Stamps have had a lot of change of receivers over the years from Kenyon Rambo, Jabari Arthur, Mo Price, Nik Lewis, Forzani, Sinopli, and a plethora of others that have all departed now, yet continue to get it done and old Huffnagel is still out to prove his team is in control of the West.
 
The Grey Cup rematch is on and it'll be another nip and tuck close battle, but I think the Stampeders pull it out just barely by a score of 23-20.
 
Game 3:  Saturday at 5:00 ET   Eskimos at Argos  -  This game is one of those huge IF games that you really don't know what to expect.  For the Argos, they will not have Ricky Ray in this one so all eyes will be on Trevor Harris going up against what was a tough Eskimo defense last year.  He will have help however from the much anticipated return of Chad Kackert and the new addition of Brandon Whitaker in the passing game and with a new defensive coordinator, the Argos have some things to look forward to.  The Esks also though are not without loss, while Reilly has gotten the credit for much of their play, RB John White who was that one guy who bruised through defenses will not be there opening day, and ex-bomber Chad Simpson will try to get it done.  Also no longer there is WR Fred Stamps, and Shamawd Chambers is also on the 6-game IR.  Adarius Bowman had a big year last year, but will he do it again?  Good solid first year of Chris Jones but those expectations are gonna be way up again so the pressure is on.
 
Really don't know what to call here, but I'll take a surprise Argos by 4
 
Game 4:  Last but not least at Saturday 8:00 ET  Bombers at Riders:  So we all wonder, will the new additions on our O-line show up and withold the pass rush of Tearrius George?  Good news is John Chick is suspended so that will make the job easier.  Cotton will be there this time and we want to see Drew Willy and our special teams improve on last year, and our defense stop Allen and Messam.  I think it'll be another close tight one here but think we just end up a tad short with a 27-25 loss.

Well folks, the week we've all been waiting for is finally here and in 4 more days, the real thing the CFL 2015 season starts.  Lotta things to watch for this week and while certainly there will be things that can be seen in week 1 that may be misleading when it comes down to the late season, a lot of teams are needing to prove something in terms of where they sit today.
 
Game 1: Thursday at 7:30 ET  Redblacks at the Als - Neither team had a very good preseason, but for the Als, they want to start out the 2015 season strong and contend for the East.  Their miraculous turnaround last year after starting out 1-7 on the year but finishing 9-9 and making it to the East final despite not winning it, is a momentum swing in and of itself and was done behind the arm of pornstache and Jon Bowman leading a vaunted defense.  Both factors are in play again and they are here to prove that run was not a fluke.  The Als have been in trouble early the last 2 years but have made the playoffs now for the last almost 20 years in a row, something that does not seem to be coming to a stop anytime soon.  The Redblacks, it's their 2nd year now back in the league, and after debuting a 2-16 record, well the only place they can go is up.  Their big challenges facing them is that Hank is probably done after this year and they don't even know how much he has left at this point, and I would not be surprised if sometime this year even, Thomas DeMarco took over the controls.  Also did adding Mo Price, Greg Ellingson, Chris Williams and others address their receiving issues?  I think they'll do better than 2 this year and some wins, even big upsets will be seen this year, but it will not start in Montreal.
 
I will say Alouettes 26-14
 
Game 2:  Friday Night at 9:00 ET  Tiger Cats at Stampeders - Hamilton will be trying to get to their 3rd Grey Cup in a row under Kent Austin, something that would've been unimaginable even just 5 years ago.  Calgary once again comes out under Bo Levi Mitchell and Jon Cornish who after getting sidelined for a while early last year expects to come back again strong and once again lead the way for the stamps.  The Stamps have had a lot of change of receivers over the years from Kenyon Rambo, Jabari Arthur, Mo Price, Nik Lewis, Forzani, Sinopli, and a plethora of others that have all departed now, yet continue to get it done and old Huffnagel is still out to prove his team is in control of the West.
 
The Grey Cup rematch is on and it'll be another nip and tuck close battle, but I think the Stampeders pull it out just barely by a score of 23-20.
 
Game 3:  Saturday at 5:00 ET   Eskimos at Argos  -  This game is one of those huge IF games that you really don't know what to expect.  For the Argos, they will not have Ricky Ray in this one so all eyes will be on Trevor Harris going up against what was a tough Eskimo defense last year.  He will have help however from the much anticipated return of Chad Kackert and the new addition of Brandon Whitaker in the passing game and with a new defensive coordinator, the Argos have some things to look forward to.  The Esks also though are not without loss, while Reilly has gotten the credit for much of their play, RB John White who was that one guy who bruised through defenses will not be there opening day, and ex-bomber Chad Simpson will try to get it done.  Also no longer there is WR Fred Stamps, and Shamawd Chambers is also on the 6-game IR.  Adarius Bowman had a big year last year, but will he do it again?  Good solid first year of Chris Jones but those expectations are gonna be way up again so the pressure is on.
 
Really don't know what to call here, but I'll take a surprise Argos by 4
 
Game 4:  Last but not least at Saturday 8:00 ET  Bombers at Riders:  So we all wonder, will the new additions on our O-line show up and withold the pass rush of Tearrius George?  Good news is John Chick is suspended so that will make the job easier.  Cotton will be there this time and we want to see Drew Willy and our special teams improve on last year, and our defense stop Allen and Messam.  I think it'll be another close tight one here but think we just end up a tad short with a 27-25 loss.

Well folks, the week we've all been waiting for is finally here and in 4 more days, the real thing the CFL 2015 season starts.  Lotta things to watch for this week and while certainly there will be things that can be seen in week 1 that may be misleading when it comes down to the late season, a lot of teams are needing to prove something in terms of where they sit today.
 
Game 1: Thursday at 7:30 ET  Redblacks at the Als - Neither team had a very good preseason, but for the Als, they want to start out the 2015 season strong and contend for the East.  Their miraculous turnaround last year after starting out 1-7 on the year but finishing 9-9 and making it to the East final despite not winning it, is a momentum swing in and of itself and was done behind the arm of pornstache and Jon Bowman leading a vaunted defense.  Both factors are in play again and they are here to prove that run was not a fluke.  The Als have been in trouble early the last 2 years but have made the playoffs now for the last almost 20 years in a row, something that does not seem to be coming to a stop anytime soon.  The Redblacks, it's their 2nd year now back in the league, and after debuting a 2-16 record, well the only place they can go is up.  Their big challenges facing them is that Hank is probably done after this year and they don't even know how much he has left at this point, and I would not be surprised if sometime this year even, Thomas DeMarco took over the controls.  Also did adding Mo Price, Greg Ellingson, Chris Williams and others address their receiving issues?  I think they'll do better than 2 this year and some wins, even big upsets will be seen this year, but it will not start in Montreal.
 
I will say Alouettes 26-14
 
Game 2:  Friday Night at 9:00 ET  Tiger Cats at Stampeders - Hamilton will be trying to get to their 3rd Grey Cup in a row under Kent Austin, something that would've been unimaginable even just 5 years ago.  Calgary once again comes out under Bo Levi Mitchell and Jon Cornish who after getting sidelined for a while early last year expects to come back again strong and once again lead the way for the stamps.  The Stamps have had a lot of change of receivers over the years from Kenyon Rambo, Jabari Arthur, Mo Price, Nik Lewis, Forzani, Sinopli, and a plethora of others that have all departed now, yet continue to get it done and old Huffnagel is still out to prove his team is in control of the West.
 
The Grey Cup rematch is on and it'll be another nip and tuck close battle, but I think the Stampeders pull it out just barely by a score of 23-20.
 
Game 3:  Saturday at 5:00 ET   Eskimos at Argos  -  This game is one of those huge IF games that you really don't know what to expect.  For the Argos, they will not have Ricky Ray in this one so all eyes will be on Trevor Harris going up against what was a tough Eskimo defense last year.  He will have help however from the much anticipated return of Chad Kackert and the new addition of Brandon Whitaker in the passing game and with a new defensive coordinator, the Argos have some things to look forward to.  The Esks also though are not without loss, while Reilly has gotten the credit for much of their play, RB John White who was that one guy who bruised through defenses will not be there opening day, and ex-bomber Chad Simpson will try to get it done.  Also no longer there is WR Fred Stamps, and Shamawd Chambers is also on the 6-game IR.  Adarius Bowman had a big year last year, but will he do it again?  Good solid first year of Chris Jones but those expectations are gonna be way up again so the pressure is on.
 
Really don't know what to call here, but I'll take a surprise Argos by 4
 
Game 4:  Last but not least at Saturday 8:00 ET  Bombers at Riders:  So we all wonder, will the new additions on our O-line show up and withold the pass rush of Tearrius George?  Good news is John Chick is suspended so that will make the job easier.  Cotton will be there this time and we want to see Drew Willy and our special teams improve on last year, and our defense stop Allen and Messam.  I think it'll be another close tight one here but think we just end up a tad short with a 27-25 loss.

I don't necessarily disagree about this.  You could make case that Willy may have the opposite problem at times when he appears to try and wait for a play to develop downfield as opposed to taking the shorter option and sometimes pays for it with a sack.  We know this.
 
However this throw short of the sticks on 2nd and long seemed to be a thing that all our QBs ffrom Jyles, Pierce, Brink, and Elliot all did and all while Lapo was coaching.  Sometimes it may have been appropriate if the team was in bad field position and needed to get just enough room to get out of their own EZ 1st down or not, but it often ended up becoming too much of an ultraconservative mantra that this team embodied and never got fixed.  Elliot later on would sometimes piss the coaches off for attempting to chuck more balls deep in the EZ when they didn't want that, but all in all, r2p was the motto here.

I'm talking about the BANJO BOWL.  Since when was that played in Regina?

Wrong on both counts.  Whenever Durant was not behind center, Lapolice's play calling stunk to high heaven and was unwatchable.  Unacceptable on all counts and if he was as good as people say he is, every single one of those 7 other teams would've been pounding on his door and blowing up his phone telling him he has a job as coach or OC after he got fired here.  That didn't happen and for good reason.
 
And trust me there were way more long balls thrown by our offense last year on 2nd and long than there had been in a while.  It was sometimes good, sometimes not good, sometimes Willy did need to check it down instead of trying for a home run like he did in the Banjo Bowl, or against BC in that final game last year.  But all in all, at least I can say this offense wasn't playing not to lose like that f***ing clown Lapo tried to instill here.

Wrong on both counts.  Whenever Durant was not behind center, Lapolice's play calling stunk to high heaven and was unwatchable.  Unacceptable on all counts and if he was as good as people say he is, every single one of those 7 other teams would've been pounding on his door and blowing up his phone telling him he has a job as coach or OC after he got fired here.  That didn't happen and for good reason.
 
And trust me there were way more long balls thrown by our offense last year on 2nd and long than there had been in a while.  It was sometimes good, sometimes not good, sometimes Willy did need to check it down instead of trying for a home run like he did in the Banjo Bowl, or against BC in that final game last year.  But all in all, at least I can say this offense wasn't playing not to lose like that f***ing clown Lapo tried to instill here.

I know I'm in the minority saying this, but I still think Bellefeuille's offenses are better built than Lapolice's were.  I think the key is having balance between those short passes, intermediate passes, and long balls.  Sometimes Bellefeuille or Drew Willy get a bit too hooked on the long ball or trying to find a play too far downfield when they're better suited to hit the short route.  Though in a sense, I do like doing that instead of what that idiot Lapolice did when he'd get hooked on those garbage short routes on 2nd and long and constantly play that conservative mainy approach.
 
What Bellefeuille just needs to do is just add a bit more of a play fake blend to those to keep the defense guessing on which pass is coming.  But also, let's not confuse lack of effective playcalling with lack of execution, cuz that seems to happen a lot here.

I don't even understand that sillyness anyway.  Cut Marve for ... Partridge?  Moniz?  Sunseri?  All of those are downgrades and only barely serviceable at best.  Our QB situation is fine and doesn't need fixing.
 
Our O-line ??? No thanks to those doosh's at TSN I have no idea what kind of shape that's in, but I expect we're better in that department.
 
I only hope our holes on defense have been because Hall is intentionally going vanilla so he can throw the ripples at Darrian Durant come opening night but if that isn't the case .... Maybe we can call up Randy Melvin and tell him he has a job as DC here.

Good god can these flags just stop already?

I don't think you guys understand what the man is saying at all.  He's talking about buying a sports package online that covers the CFL for a monthly fee or something so that way he doesn't have to buy a whopping cable TV along with internet to see it.  And yes such packages do exist.  MLB TV is one such package, you don't need a Cable subscription to get it, you can get it purely over the internet, same with NHL Center Ice in the USA at least.  In both you have the option to add those as part of your cable package, but you don't have to have one in order to get those, and even NBA TV has something similar.  I don't know if up in Canada you can buy those online but you can in the USA.  The NFL doesn't have that option in North America, but some people use VPNs so that it thinks they're coming from overseas and they'll use those to buy a Gamepass package, which technically isn't legal, but it's hard to tell when someone's using a VPN.  But even if you do have to be overseas to do this, it still is their way of making it available to those who do not have the option to get direcTV.  The CFL really could do the same thing for expats stationed across the Pacific.
 
Also if you're in the USA, you actually can watch most CFL games without having Cable.  ESPN3 which shows the games that TSN is broadcasting, is a pure online streaming format of ESPN, and all you need to get it is just an ISP that carries it, not a TV provider.  Now if the game is being shown on ESPN1 or ESPN2 on TV, then yes you would need one, but most of the time you can get by without one.  Bottom line though, there are plenty of services that use online streaming formats to bring content when you need it to a specific audience.  And by the way I don't see Netflix going anywhere in terms of making their product less available to their current crowd, especially when competitors like Amazon Prime, iTunes, and others would immediately capitalize on a fumble like that.
 
Bottom line, the music industry didn't just stick to radio airwaves to make their new content available, and just like going to the store to buy new CDs for every new song that comes out now is totally unnecessary, same thing can happen with the sports world.

Yeah I was going to say we've only been realigned back to the west for 1 year so far and Calgary last year in the preseason pretty much makes this point a non-issue.

I call BS on this

Yeah me either, especially not Marve, Sunseri's arm is much weaker, and even when he has had time, his long range accuracy has been terrible.  Plus I tend to think he gets the deer in the headlights syndrome based on what I seen in his games.  I also like the way Marve has been developing and think his ceiling is way higher.
 
As to Goltz, I'm not calling for him back, but I'm not all that surprised that he seems to be doing better in Edmonton.  Playing for incompetent coaches can make you look way worse than you are and may not always reflect the best of your abilities.  Simpson I believe had some nagging injuries in 2013, plus having that bad O-line in front of him didn't help either.  But I always thought he was decent.
 
As to the other game, I know many people disagree on this point, but I think the Redblacks really do have a coaching problem.  I know it's not the only thing, I think Hank's age is just too far up there and he just isn't seeing the field like he used to, and he won't be playing much longer either, but even if it is only preseason, I just don't feel any different vibes coming out of there or anything that says that team is going to be improved.  I could be wrong, but if I was a Redblack fan, I don't like what I'm seeing period going on over there right now and it reflects poorly on the coaches.
 
And for those who put this squarely on Marcel D, I'd hate working for or with that guy too, he's certainly proven he's an idiot before, but I'm looking at the here and now and blame Campbell and his staff because the referendum was to go out and get more or better talent onto that roster and especially fix those WR problems.  Desjardins did that and even Schultz said the Redblacks have more talent on that team this year, so someone in the front office did their job.  But when results pile up on that field in trainwreck fashion like they have been even with upgrades, there's a coaching problem.  I don't see anything playing out much differently than last year for them and Rick Campbell's rope is going to run out I'm willing to bet.

I think the main point of that article was to poke fun at ignorant US football fan statements, and I think it was pretty well written actually.  Overall, the bias against the CFL isn't nearly as strong as you might think.  I know a lot of American fans who like watching the games during the down times.  I think the main deal that kind of keeps them from being too glued into it is that it runs into the NFL and college football seasons, and nobody's going to give up any slots in those times when their NFL or Alma Mater team is playing to watch any CFL games, that's just how the beast runs.
 
Overall, I don't find too many opinions coming from Americans too degrading on the league, the people I got real problems with are some of the Brits I seen writing blogs or articles on American football in general who admit they don't know how the game works even but feel they can have credibility in writing about it and talk down on it.  That's what I got a problem with.  I don't mind if they prefer their version of football to ours, it's a sport that's got some good deep rooted traditions and history and can be a fun game to watch and play in the video games, but they should know if someone tried to degrade that sport when they know nothing about it, it'd make em look pretty stupid and as such, they shouldn't be trying that tactic with our football either.

Overall ... well obviously we got some work to do on defense, didn't really get a good look at our running game which is what I was kinda hoping for but was kinda disappointed Randle's numbers weren't a little better rushing.  Marve impressed again with his rushing and passing TD, even if he only was 4-9 passing.  Overall, qb play was pretty good though.
 
Any win is good but gotta remember this is only preseason so you can't read that much into it.
 
But I'm not happy about the prospects of new rules people are talking about.  I consider any rule additions to be bad for football and think the CFL needs to work at getting rid of them.

Overall ... well obviously we got some work to do on defense, didn't really get a good look at our running game which is what I was kinda hoping for but was kinda disappointed Randle's numbers weren't a little better rushing.  Marve impressed again with his rushing and passing TD, even if he only was 4-9 passing.  Overall, qb play was pretty good though.
 
Any win is good but gotta remember this is only preseason so you can't read that much into it.
 
But I'm not happy about the prospects of new rules people are talking about.  I consider any rule additions to be bad for football and think the CFL needs to work at getting rid of them.