Training camp is over .... adjustments have been made  and its time for the opening kickoff

Anybody change their minds on how preseason changed their expectations for this year .... Montreal thrashing Ottawa changed mine .... cutting Willy raise my hopes for the Argos .... Edmonton looks stronger than I first thought and Regina even worse

For the first time in years I am forecasting Winnipeg finishes first in the league  .. just an optimistic hunch .... I forecast these final standings:

Winnipeg

Calgary

Vancouver

Edmonton

Ottawa

Montreal

Toronto

Hamilton

Regina

 

 

 

 

Sounds like Mr Richardson has the "brains" to match his "skill"...

http://3downnation.com/2017/09/26/new-riders-rb-trent-richardson-i-would-love-to-go-out-there-and-run-somebody-over/

Asked what he knows about the CFL... "Not much. I know it’s end zone to end zone – 120..."

And it sounds like he thinks he gonna walk in a dominate the CFL...

"...I know you put a pigskin, a football in my hand I’m ready to run and do what I do best – get in the end zone and probably run over a player or two"

I would love to see him run into a wall by the name of Alex Singleton, Bear Woods or Solomon Elimimian and see how many people he thinks he's gonna run over after that... 

Wasn't the current commissioner only appointed in July? And not really responsible for those signed into the league beforehand?

Each case should be looked at individually and acted upon based on each specific case. I believe this is now being done. I don't see the problem with the way they are handling the current situation. 

Its not like they have a course of action to follow, they are setting that standard now. 

And, IMO, they are doing a bang up job, especially compared to previous regimes..

11 minutes ago, bearpants said:

Sounds like Mr Richardson has the "brains" to match his "skill"...

http://3downnation.com/2017/09/26/new-riders-rb-trent-richardson-i-would-love-to-go-out-there-and-run-somebody-over/

Asked what he knows about the CFL... "Not much. I know it’s end zone to end zone – 120..."

And it sounds like he thinks he gonna walk in a dominate the CFL...

"...I know you put a pigskin, a football in my hand I’m ready to run and do what I do best – get in the end zone and probably run over a player or two"

I would love to see him run into a wall by the name of Alex Singleton, Bear Woods or Solomon Elimimian and see how many people he thinks he's gonna run over after that... 

yup sounds like some other big time NFL "stars" who thought they would come down (up?) here and dominate.   Can't wait to see who gets to shut him up first.

14 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

Wasn't the current commissioner only appointed in July? And not really responsible for those signed into the league beforehand?

Each case should be looked at individually and acted upon based on each specific case. I believe this is now being done. I don't see the problem with the way they are handling the current situation. 

Its not like they have a course of action to follow, they are setting that standard now. 

And, IMO, they are doing a bang up job, especially compared to previous regimes..

So why does Richardson get approved, when he has a past with domestic violence, and Manziel does not?  We're not talking about different commissioners here, we're talking about Richardson gets a contract one day, and Manziel doesn't get one the next day.

Yeah if based soley on that makes no sense really

 

33 minutes ago, SPuDS said:

Different time, different commish. 

And I don't think Briles was ever given the green light, was he?  I know Hamilton wanted to bring him in and I think their management was pushing for it but did Ambroise give this the thumbs up?

According to Jeff Hamilton of the Free Press, he knew:

Quote

Given that, it’s easy to imagine what the CFL head office was thinking when news broke that Briles was now a member of its league. But instead of acting quickly, this time the CFL went dark.

And now, after the accounts of multiple CFL sources close to the situation, there appears to be a reason why.

Sources have told the Free Press that when news broke Monday morning that Briles was joining the Ticats as an assistant coach, a number of high-ranking employees were left feeling shocked, with some completely unaware it had even been talked about, let alone planned. Another source, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by the league, said Ambrosie did indeed speak with Ticats CEO Scott Mitchell about hiring Briles prior to Monday's official announcement. He also informed Briles would be hired on Monday, or "at least early this week."

The argument that Ambrosie knew that Hamilton was planning to hire Briles shouldn’t come as a surprise. Mitchell confirmed it early Monday. While the CFL had gone silent, Mitchell was doing an interview with football blog 3downnation, where he defended the move to add Briles to his coaching staff, despite mounting criticism against it.

He also claimed the league was aware of what was happening.

"They were," Mitchell told Drew Edwards, editor-in-chief of 3downnation, when asked if the league knew about the hiring prior to the announcement. Mitchell added, "I spoke to the league about it as a potential concept and had a good discussion about it, a good deliberation about it."

The term "league" can be a vague one, as there are a few high-ranking officials that deal with varying magnitudes of the day-to-day business. But a source confirmed those conversations were with Ambrosie, adding: "(Mitchell) would not have said that unless he spoke to the league office. And the person he’s going to talk to in the league office, who is going to have his back, would be the commissioner. Scott has been around long enough to know who to talk to."

If Ambrosie had felt strongly about not having Briles be part of the CFL, he should have voiced his disapproval during early deliberations. If he felt there was a real fear Briles’ reputation would have lasting damage for the league, Ambrosie had the jurisdiction to squash the hiring right then and there.

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/cfl/cfl-dropped-the-ball-442191933.html

“I recently had a really positive meeting with Commissioner Ambrosie and welcomed the chance for us to get to know each other and have an in-depth talk about a possible future with the CFL. I love this game and want to be back on the field in a situation where I can help a franchise in the long term. Over the past months, my agent helped me vet all of my options for playing, figuring out where I could be most effective and get back to having the most fun with the game I love. I’m ready to play today, but we all agreed with the Commissioner that it made no sense for me to join a team with only a month left in the season – it wouldn’t have been fair to my teammates, coaches or the fan base. I want to come into a team and earn my job day one, like everyone else. I look forward to preparing myself as best I can and look forward to what the future holds.”

 

So removing all the questions about intentions and ulterior motives and douchebaggery from this, and accepting it at face value, the following statement seems either unwise or untrue:  "I’m ready to play today, but we all agreed with the Commissioner that it made no sense for me to join a team with only a month left in the season – it wouldn’t have been fair to my teammates, coaches or the fan base. I want to come into a team and earn my job day one, like everyone else. I look forward to preparing myself as best I can"

If Hamilton was involved in these conversations, and they should have been, they should know that it makes perfect sense to join the team with only a month left in the season.  Teams expand their practise rosters this time of year for that reason.  The QB position in the CFL is very different and most QBs take years getting adjusted to these differences.  He could be two months ahead of where he'll be at the start of next year if he started attending practises today.  This should have nothing to do with earning a job - he should be wearing a "trainee" badge every time he steps on the field.  And Hamilton should know this.  Were they telling him he'd come in and get to start in 2 weeks?  That's idiocy.  It's doomed to fail.  And it will be doomed to fail next May as well.  If he wants to be a CFL QB, he has years of learning just like everyone else.

Maybe the commis wanted the focus to be on the play offs and teams and not on the freak show of Johnny Football. 

 

Also I did not see anyone post about Montreal contacting Colin Kaepernick about playing in Montreal.      That'd be fun to see!

3 hours ago, Mike said:

But they let Cox in originally.

thats my point.

same thing with the Briles case, they were gonna let him in until the public outrage. They only seem to care when somebody is watching.

I thought the CFL couldn't meddle with a coaching hire like they can with player contracts.

 

http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/hamilton-tiger-cats-fans-saved-team-art-briles/

 

 

Quote

Normally the league doesn’t weigh in on coaching contracts the way it does player contracts. But in this unique situation, they really were given no choice and ultimately the CFL announced Monday evening that Briles would not be joining the league.

 

 

So from my understanding- Ambrosie didn't tell them they couldn't hire and vetoed the contract- but it was more about Ambrosie driving down to tigertown and convincing the owners and decesion makers that it was a terrible hire and please don't do it.

Edited September 27, 20178 yr by wanna-b-fanboy

29 minutes ago, Atomic said:

So why does Richardson get approved, when he has a past with domestic violence, and Manziel does not?  We're not talking about different commissioners here, we're talking about Richardson gets a contract one day, and Manziel doesn't get one the next day.

Well, wouldn't it be nice to know all the relevant facts about each grass fire as they pop up? But no, we won't find out everything. That's we appoint somebody who can do that, and is willing to do what's necessary to get things right. Sounds to me all parties, so far,  are ok with the results, so, where's the problem?

Will they get every case bang on? Doubters. But from I've observed they are way more pro-active in one year than others in a few years work.

And is it really a big deal? Only if we make it so.

3 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

Well, wouldn't it be nice to know all the relevant facts about each grass fire as they pop up? But no, we won't find out everything. That's we appoint somebody who can do that, and is willing to do what's necessary to get things right. Sounds to me all parties, so far,  are ok with the results, so, where's the problem?

Will they get every case bang on? Doubters. But from I've observed they are way more pro-active in one year than others in a few years work.

And is it really a big deal? Only if we make it so.

What a load of **** this is

4 minutes ago, Atomic said:

What a load of **** this is

Likewise..

 

13 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

Well, wouldn't it be nice to know all the relevant facts about each grass fire as they pop up? But no, we won't find out everything. That's we appoint somebody who can do that, and is willing to do what's necessary to get things right. Sounds to me all parties, so far,  are ok with the results, so, where's the problem?

Will they get every case bang on? Doubters. But from I've observed they are way more pro-active in one year than others in a few years work.

And is it really a big deal? Only if we make it so.

Why should we all be expected to just sit back and accept every decision that the CFL makes?  We should question it.  That's how change happens.  The era of "sit down, shut up, there's an old rich white guy handling it and he knows best" is gone.

If no one spoke up, Briles would have been hired.

"Is it really a big deal?"  Uh yeah, domestic violence kinda is a big deal.

7 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Why should we all be expected to just sit back and accept every decision that the CFL makes?  We should question it.  That's how change happens.  The era of "sit down, shut up, there's an old rich white guy handling it and he knows best" is gone.

If no one spoke up, Briles would have been hired.

"Is it really a big deal?"  Uh yeah, domestic violence kinda is a big deal.

Clearly it is if Manziel was denied, yes?  maybe there is another reason RIchardson was approved.. angr management and domestic abuse classes or some such??

 

why not assume there is a valid reason as opposed to throwing your arms up and assuming the CFL is ok with people who assault women.

12 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Why should we all be expected to just sit back and accept every decision that the CFL makes?  We should question it.  That's how change happens.  The era of "sit down, shut up, there's an old rich white guy handling it and he knows best" is gone.

If no one spoke up, Briles would have been hired.

"Is it really a big deal?"  Uh yeah, domestic violence kinda is a big deal.

I guess that's how you see it as opposed to what's really happening. If you can't see it or accept it, that's on you.

Briles was 'un-hired' by the commissioner. It played out how it should have.

Domestic violence is a big deal. We all know that. And that's why each 'case' has to be looked at separately.  You're trying to tie everything into one topic, and it just ain't so.

1 minute ago, Mr Dee said:

 

Briles was 'un-hired' by the commissioner. It played out how it should have.

 

The CFL only made the right decision after a huge public outcry and the terrible publicity that came with it. No facts about the hire changed. That's not how it should have played out imo.

7 minutes ago, sweep the leg said:

The CFL only made the right decision after a huge public outcry and the terrible publicity that came with it. No facts about the hire changed. That's not how it should have played out imo.

And was the commissioner secluded from all this? Was he not in the know from the get-go? Did he not keep informed all along? *Did he not talk to Young and talk him out of it? And in the end Briles was un-hired. Otherwise...what?

Edited September 27, 20178 yr by Mr Dee

20 minutes ago, SPuDS said:

Clearly it is if Manziel was denied, yes?  maybe there is another reason RIchardson was approved.. angr management and domestic abuse classes or some such??

 

why not assume there is a valid reason as opposed to throwing your arms up and assuming the CFL is ok with people who assault women.

I feel like you're missing @Atomic's point a bit here... the league approves one guy and denies another guy the next day while they seemingly have the same (or very similar) rap sheet... why didn't the CFL make a statement on Richardson and why he was allowed to sign a contact... seems fair to question it...

Just now, bearpants said:

I feel like you're missing @Atomic's point a bit here... the league approves one guy and denies another guy the next day while they seemingly have the same (or very similar) rap sheet... why didn't the CFL make a statement on Richardson and why he was allowed to sign a contact... seems fair to question it...

..no not really missing anything.  Manziel has a bit more of a troubling history, no?   I don't know Richardson's history.  both have domestic abuse charges that were stayed.   So maybe the stayed part is what got Richardson in and something else held up Manziel? 

 

I can't say I know both cases well enough to pass judgement on.  Whos to say Richardson's case wasn't a scorned girlfriend who was trying to ruin him?   Id assume the CFL would have done their due digging into the background of both stories before saying yay or nay.   I'm curious as to the why as well. 

I'm guessing the league doesn't want you to know how the Richardson Manziel decisions were made. Similar to how you don't want to know how sausage is made. 

Edited September 27, 20178 yr by Rod Black

50 minutes ago, SPuDS said:

I'm curious as to the why as well. 

That's all I'm saying.  I never said anything else.  Just asking "why the difference in treatment?"  And IMO it's a fair question.

18 hours ago, 17to85 said:

There's your answer

Im really starting to think Rider fans exaggerate about players to feel better about themselves as fans. Maybe its just me

Reminds me of onterrio smith. 

Ricky williams was 10x the rb richardson is. Maybe more. And 10x better fit in the cfl. I would take most of the back up rbs in the league over him, and a few NI fbs. Not a fan of the guy at all.

2 knee surgeries before his rookie year started. Poor vision (see his legendary meme), hes a hybrid back. Doesnt have even average speed now. Good power for his size, but not any where  near messam power. Doesnt have the agility or change of direction quickness. In college he was a systems back, with an excellent run blocking OL. Only the every down/feature back one year. Hes like soo many denver broncos backs during their zone blocking era.  A TON of guys nation wide could have had the same success he had on the same team. 

With how often the riders run the ball it makes even less sense. Whats the upside for them? He isnt even the vince young of rbs. Maybe the biggest first round RB bust of all time. I like cam marshall. As much as i can any rider player. I hope he gets healthy and back into action and gets him self another NFL sniff. 

 

I dont get why manziel gets hammered in the press soo hard. Whats the difference off field wise between him and gronk? If they kicked out every guy in the league who had similar problems to him in their past we MIGHT have enough players to field 2 teams. 

Edited September 27, 20178 yr by wbbfan