Well, while we still got 4 days to go till we kick our game off, we save the best for last.  Meantime, Thursday night should be a good one to kickoff the 2019 season.

The subplots: The TiCats for obvious reasons are the favorites to win the east, and with the return of Steinhauer, the high hopes they got on Masoli and what looks to be a rock solid roster, there's many reasons the optimism is high.

For the Riders, the questions will be whether or not Craig Dickenson will prove to be their O'Shea, and whether or not they can protect Collaros.  A lot of changes have come to the roster with several former BC Lions including Arceneaux and Elimimian now there as well as former Colts WR Moncrief.

All that to say, while Steinhauer built his reputation on running an aggressive defense for Kent Austin, I seen some experts on the CFL site expressing concerns about June Jones no longer being there to be the guider for Masoli.  So will the TiCats offense get a high level of play under a defensive HC?

And the Riders will be a very different team than what we saw under Chris Jones, a guy who could win but had a toxic attitude at times and brought in cancers like Duron Carter.  Question is will this change be for the better or the worse for them?  Can't wait to see what this year of change is going to be.

thats the thing...it wasn't a matter of "if" he was gonna get knocked out but when...and it didn't have to be a head shot either...as cheap and lowdown dirty as a hit it was..Lawrence turned to the side and hit him more with his shoulder/body than a blatant spear or helmet to helmet shot so the impact wasn't as violent as it could have been..if that pop knocked him out just imagine a real good bone rattling smash...

19 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

I like your idea but needs to be harsher. A players second infraction involves a hefty fine and 3 game suspension. If we are serious about getting blatant head shots out of the game I'm even thinking that the team itself needs to be punished if they have a repeat offender on their team.

Too late to change the rules now, the C.P.A. has already been signed, sealed and delivered.  Maybe next time they'll take harsher punishment into consideration.

I would point out that Shomari said he was sorry and he really didn't mean it, so its all better now.

The hit was dirty. I want to see the league come down hard on Lawrence, a repeat offender. Good on Milt for asking Dunigan to comment on the head shot. 

I'll buy all,the hand wringing over this when the same Helen Lovejoys also question why SSK continues to employ Collaros or ,further still the League, in the first place.

Can't have it both ways.

2 hours ago, Mr Dee said:

On that Lawrence hit. 

A grade 2 penalty was immediately called, and correctly. This upped the normal 15 yard RTP to 25 yards in the new rule change. 

I would suggest they give the refs a hip pocket option of immediate ejection if they deem it intentional. I don’t think, right now, they have that option. Only after a 2nd infraction.

I hope the punishment to “oh so sorry” Lawrence is immediate and relevant.

I think the way its been done in the past in extreme cases is two are called and the second is an ejection. If the ref can eject you for a punch or kick I think they should be able to stretch it to intent to injure. 

 

1 hour ago, Geebrr said:

Harris is also a good receiver and can be be used there 

Yep and you take a lot less abuse on screens and swing passes rather then running up the gut. I do like powell hes an exceptional runner. I think hes gonna have a strong year, but probably will see his YPC drop and take more hits then ever before. Gonna be a lot of blitzing, run blitzing and stacking the box. 

 

31 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

Too late to change the rules now, the C.P.A. has already been signed, sealed and delivered.  Maybe next time they'll take harsher punishment into consideration.

To change the rules yes. But the suspension length is at their discretion and they can start coming down harder on intent to injure, and enforce it more strictly. And I think that would be a huge step forward. 

37 minutes ago, Booch said:

thats the thing...it wasn't a matter of "if" he was gonna get knocked out but when...and it didn't have to be a head shot either...as cheap and lowdown dirty as a hit it was..Lawrence turned to the side and hit him more with his shoulder/body than a blatant spear or helmet to helmet shot so the impact wasn't as violent as it could have been..if that pop knocked him out just imagine a real good bone rattling smash...

He sounded mentally broken in that snippet in preseason. Once you become mentally fragile the body will follow. 

28 minutes ago, WBBFanWest said:

I would point out that Shomari said he was sorry and he really didn't mean it, so its all better now.

Really? Because he told Collaros to "get the **** off the field". Sounds like he felt remorse.

 

52 minutes ago, Booch said:

same can be said about Michah Johnson..talks about how his and AC Leonards addition makes their D-line better than with Jefferson there...which in itslef was laughable, but Johnson now has to work with weaker talent around him than in CGY and won't be the force he was there, and didn't do much last night though it is only one game in..but still...didn't wow me, and Hughes picked up right where he left off the last 2 seasons...non factor and invisible

Micah Johnson looked ok, the rest of the line was invisible.

59 minutes ago, Booch said:

same can be said about Michah Johnson..talks about how his and AC Leonards addition makes their D-line better than with Jefferson there...which in itslef was laughable, but Johnson now has to work with weaker talent around him than in CGY and won't be the force he was there, and didn't do much last night though it is only one game in..but still...didn't wow me, and Hughes picked up right where he left off the last 2 seasons...non factor and invisible

I thought Micah Johnson was one of the better players for Sask.   I agree with you on Hughes, he isn't the force he once was.

So if you can’t hit the QB when he’s diving head first now - doesn’t that make 3rd and inches a lot easier ha

13 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

Micah Johnson looked ok, the rest of the line was invisible.

Agreed. Compared to the rest of the Riders, Johnson looked ok.

but 275k OK?

Delete

Edited June 14, 20196 yr by M.O.A.B.

42 minutes ago, Zontar said:

I'll buy all,the hand wringing over this when the same Helen Lovejoys also question why SSK continues to employ Collaros or ,further still the League, in the first place.

Can't have it both ways.

Yeah, you can have it both ways. 

You can employ a QB.

You can get bent out of shape for a shitty, greasy, dirty hit. 

 

Your argument sounds like you saying- you can't ***** about dirty hits if you trot out a player with an injury history. Yeah, you can. You can have it both ways. 

26 minutes ago, Floyd said:

So if you can’t hit the QB when he’s diving head first now - doesn’t that make 3rd and inches a lot easier ha

You are definitely considered a RB on that play 

16 minutes ago, Booch said:

but 275k OK?

The line is way overrated 

44 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

Really? Because he told Collaros to "get the **** off the field". Sounds like he felt remorse.

 

He's not only sorry, he's super sorry.  That's pretty darned sorry if you ask me:

https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/lawrence-on-collaros-hit-i-love-zach-to-death-it-wasn-t-intentional-i-m-super-sorry~1706488

I’d have to go to the greatest lengths to believe Simoni Lawrence didn’t mean to hurt Collaros. The greatest lengths. 

Even if you believe Lawrence couldn’t have stopped, he hit him in the head, not the body, the head. 

That was dirty.

Unlike a certain seaway, you ain’t no saint Simoni.

And oh, I don’t believe you Lawrence.

 

5 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

I’d have to go to the greatest lengths to believe Simoni Lawrence didn’t mean to hurt Collaros. The greatest lengths. 

Even if you believe Lawrence couldn’t have stopped, he hit him in the head, not the body, the head. 

That was dirty.

Unlike a certain seaway, you ain’t no saint Simoni.

And oh, I don’t believe you Lawrence.

 

Cynic.

43 minutes ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

Yeah, you can have it both ways. 

You can employ a QB.

You can get bent out of shape for a shitty, greasy, dirty hit. 

 

Your argument sounds like you saying- you can't ***** about dirty hits if you trot out a player with an injury history. Yeah, you can. You can have it both ways. 

It was a dirty hit. But one can still call it that without all the virtue signalling over head injuries. If one is going to do that then they have to broaden the discussion to asking why Collaros is even playing again this year.

You know if you truly cared about player health and not just your teams win/loss.

I agree with Zontar. Collaros has every reason to be upset at Simoni. That hit was disgusting. However, the Rider organization should be questioned as well. They are knowingly putting a guy out there that is a hit away from a life time of Parkinson's. I was flabbergasted when they re-signed him, and appalled that the Rider faithful supported the signing. They get what they deserve out of this, no QB. Zach Collaros and the fans around the league that had to witness that disgusting garbage hit have the right to be incensed. The Rider organization and a great majority of it's fans bear responsibility for rolling him out in the first place and lose their moral high ground in all of this.

Just now, gcn11 said:

I agree with Zontar. Collaros has every reason to be upset at Simoni. That hit was disgusting. However, the Rider organization should be questioned as well. They are knowingly putting a guy out there that is a hit away from a life time of Parkinson's. I was flabbergasted when they re-signed him, and appalled that the Rider faithful supported the signing. They get what they deserve out of this, no QB. Zach Collaros and the fans around the league that had to witness that disgusting garbage hit have the right to be incensed. The Rider organization and a great majority of it's fans bear responsibility for rolling him out in the first place and lose their moral high ground in all of this.

Yes, let's blame Collaros for getting drilled in the head on a cheap shot. 

I'm pretty sure the fans don't set the roster. 

41 minutes ago, WBBFanWest said:

He's not only sorry, he's super sorry.  That's pretty darned sorry if you ask me:

https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/lawrence-on-collaros-hit-i-love-zach-to-death-it-wasn-t-intentional-i-m-super-sorry~1706488

Unintentional...who you foolin'?

3 minutes ago, gcn11 said:

I agree with Zontar. Collaros has every reason to be upset at Simoni. That hit was disgusting. However, the Rider organization should be questioned as well. They are knowingly putting a guy out there that is a hit away from a life time of Parkinson's. I was flabbergasted when they re-signed him, and appalled that the Rider faithful supported the signing. They get what they deserve out of this, no QB. Zach Collaros and the fans around the league that had to witness that disgusting garbage hit have the right to be incensed. The Rider organization and a great majority of it's fans bear responsibility for rolling him out in the first place and lose their moral high ground in all of this.

If you want to blame the Riders for putting Collaros out there. Then you need to place blame on the Bombers for employing Buck Pierce.