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.

Just now, B-F-F-C said:

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.

Or any player that has had a concussion. That is weak-assed logic. 

 

2 minutes ago, JCon said:

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. 

Yep, inherit risk playing a violent sport that team and player takes. If they want to take that risk, fine.

So no more bleeding heart lectures because Collaros will always be one clean hit away from disaster too..

3 minutes ago, Zontar said:

So no more bleeding heart lectures because Collaros will always be one clean hit away from disaster too..

I think people are just disgusted by the hit itself- I don't think people are disgusted by the dirty hit because it was ZC- people are disgusted by the dirty ******* hit. Insert CF or MR or BLM and I think you find the same level of disgust. 

To be fair- any player is potentially 1 hit away from disaster. 

Edited June 14, 20196 yr by wanna-b-fanboy

1 minute ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

 

To be fair- any player is potentially 1 hit away from disaster. 

Simply not true with a concussion history like Collaros. It's a decidedly  heightened risk. 

3 minutes ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

I think people are just disgusted by the hit itself- I don't think people are disgusted by the dirty hit because it was ZC- people are disgusted by the dirty ******* hit. Insert CF or MR or BLM and I think you find the same level of disgust. 

To be fair- any player is potentially 1 hit away from disaster. 

True but I don't believe that hit would not have knocked Nichols or any other QB out of the game the way it did Collaros.  It was a glancing blow something we have seen hundreds of times before.

1 minute ago, Zontar said:

Simply not true with a concussion history like Collaros. It's a decidedly  heightened risk. 

It is a slippery slope to blame players with recurring injury.

It was a dirty play, and that is really the issue at hand.

I know you are defending your guy, and I think you are a good fan in general. I'd say you're off on this.

1 minute ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

True but I don't believe that hit would not have knocked Nichols or any other QB out of the game the way it did Collaros.  It was a glancing blow something we have seen hundreds of times before.

A glancing head shot is still a head shot.

Hard to say what will cause what.

4 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

It is a slippery slope to blame players with recurring injury.

It was a dirty play, and that is really the issue at hand.

I know you are defending your guy, and I think you are a good fan in general. I'd say you're off on this.

Nope. Understand the anger.

Went through it with Collaros and Willis when he was here.

But if this is going to be a moral crusade about health in general one has to include other factors too if it's to be taken seriously.

24 minutes ago, Zontar said:

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.

Because he was medically cleared to play and there isn't a professional sports league today that takes head injury and CTE seriously enough?  I can't possibly begin to understand what you are saying about "virtue signalling about head injuries", because it's very real.

You should have stopped at, "It was a dirty hit".

2 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

Because he was medically cleared to play and there isn't a professional sports league today that takes head injury and CTE seriously enough?  I can't possibly begin to understand what you are saying about "virtue signalling about head injuries", because it's very real.

You should have stopped at, "It was a dirty hit".

When he missed time last year after routine contact is Collaros still playing this year truly taking CTE "seriously"?

When everybody questioned why Pierce , Lulay still put on a helmet was fair and reasonable  discussion why is Collaros situation suddenly off limits?

Yes. It was a dirty hit. Yes. it was intentional.

No. I don't blame Collaros, he slid and protected himself. No. I don't think that any other QB would have just got back up. No. I don't think it was a 'glancing blow'. No. I don't think the CFL is doing enough to protect players in this kind of situation.

23 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

True but I don't believe that hit would not have knocked Nichols or any other QB out of the game the way it did Collaros.  It was a glancing blow something we have seen hundreds of times before.

You have no idea how any head shot is going to affect anyone. 

Any word from the league about an scheduled disciplinary hearing?  Or will they wait until week 1 games are over?  

4 minutes ago, JCon said:

You have no idea how any head shot is going to affect anyone. 

Exactly.  Compare hockey enforcers Todd Ewen's and Tie Domi's outcomes.

It was on Simoni Oglethorpe to avoid that shot and no one else.

10 minutes ago, Zontar said:

When he missed time last year after routine contact is Collaros still playing this year truly taking CTE "seriously"?

When everybody questioned why Pierce , Lulay still put on a helmet was fair and reasonable  discussion why is Collaros situation suddenly off limits?

Because it sure sounds like you're victim-blaming here.

1 minute ago, Wideleft said:

Exactly.  Compare hockey enforcers Todd Ewen's and Tie Domi's outcomes.

It was on Simoni Oglethorpe to avoid that shot and no one else.

Arguing a point nobody's making or made.

4 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

Because it sure sounds like you're victim-blaming here.

Cynic in me suggests the hand wringing is phony when it excludes relevent factors. If the discussion was narrowed to crime and punishment fine but some really want to be a hero over this.

Edited June 14, 20196 yr by Zontar

16 minutes ago, Zontar said:

When he missed time last year after routine contact is Collaros still playing this year truly taking CTE "seriously"?

When everybody questioned why Pierce , Lulay still put on a helmet was fair and reasonable  discussion why is Collaros situation suddenly off limits?

People are questioning why he's back. People where questioning why he came back last year after getting hurt. That doesn't excuse a clearly dirty hit. That could have been harker taking it and same results could have happened.

Why Collaros was out there makes no difference to the outcome and should never play a role in the punishment. Anyone who argues that is either delusional or just being a homer.

Edited June 14, 20196 yr by Bigblue204

4 minutes ago, Zontar said:

Cynic in me suggests the hand wringing is phony when it excludes relevent factors. If the discussion was narrowed to crime and punishment fine but some really want to be a hero over this.

So what you are saying is you're totally ok with the headshot that begins an athlete's concussion history, but any shots he takes after that are on him.

I understand now.

9 minutes ago, Zontar said:

Arguing a point nobody's making or made.

I was replying to someone, so I believe you must have been on your home planet when that post was made.

9 minutes ago, Zontar said:

When he missed time last year after routine contact is Collaros still playing this year truly taking CTE "seriously"?

When everybody questioned why Pierce , Lulay still put on a helmet was fair and reasonable  discussion why is Collaros situation suddenly off limits?

I don't recall any of us seeming to think the league should prevent Lulay or Pierce from seeing the field.  Usually what we've suggested is that if a QB becomes injury prone, the team should consider moving on from him especially if his performance is affected as a result.  That's what happened with Pierce and later Drew Willy.  Arguably that's happened to Collaros now too.  But the league's not going to just kick players out just because they've had a few concussions along the way, or force QBs like Ricky Ray to retire just because they consider it.

Blaming a QB's past injuries on another player's dirty cheap shot is no different than blaming a running risk taking QB like Mike Reilly for the same thing if he's running and deciding not to slide but the opposing player cheap shot him.  You can get injured getting hit cleanly on plays like that, but it doesn't make it your fault for another player's cheap shot.

3 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

So what you are saying is you're totally ok with the headshot that begins an athlete's concussion history, but any shots he takes after that are on him.

I understand now.

 Right. Loved the hit. Glad Collaros got hurt. I'm a bad person.

Happy ?

2 minutes ago, Zontar said:

 Right. Loved the hit. Glad Collaros got hurt. I'm a bad person.

Happy ?

People with bad opinions aren't necessarily bad people.

1 hour ago, JCon said:

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. 

Please show me where I blamed Collaros. I agree that the fans don't set the roster, but they can express their opinion when a team chooses to employ a QB whose head is mush. They chose not to do that, and I have no sympathy for them.

21 minutes ago, USABomberfan said:

I don't recall any of us seeming to think the league should prevent Lulay or Pierce from seeing the field.  Usually what we've suggested is that if a QB becomes injury prone, the team should consider moving on from him especially if his performance is affected as a result.  That's what happened with Pierce and later Drew Willy.  Arguably that's happened to Collaros now too.  But the league's not going to just kick players out just because they've had a few concussions along the way, or force QBs like Ricky Ray to retire just because they consider it.

Blaming a QB's past injuries on another player's dirty cheap shot is no different than blaming a running risk taking QB like Mike Reilly for the same thing if he's running and deciding not to slide but the opposing player cheap shot him.  You can get injured getting hit cleanly on plays like that, but it doesn't make it your fault for another player's cheap shot.

I disagreed vehemently with the Bombers bringing back Pierce for his final year. Both because I didn't want to see him getting killed by a head shot, and because I knew that he could not stay healthy anymore. My position has not changed. Yes, I firmly believe that when a guy can't blow his nose without getting a concussion that someone needs to step in and prevent him from himself.

Edited June 14, 20196 yr by gcn11