8 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Gotta be honest, that whole team was a tire fire. Tough to know whose play suffered from others and who just sucked

Yup...be interesting to see what the cgy escapees do...tho Rose has kind of hit skids last couple seasons

10 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Gotta be honest, that whole team was a tire fire. Tough to know whose play suffered from others and who just sucked

Living here in Calgary & barely interested, I have a couple of friends who are hard core Stamps fans like we are here for the Bombers that keep me abreast of what is going on.  There's a lot of anger & frustration with the fanbase. Just about everybody in the City hates the owner Murray Edwards. He's an absentee, non existent owner who lives in Switzerland. He is reputed to be cheap & any money the Stamps do make on their operations goes right to the Flames, supposedly.

One friend who is the son of a former player & supposedly in the know told me that they have weekly management meetings for each team Edwards owns during their particular season. Dickenson will tell Stamps ownership representatives like Stamps President Jay McNeil as well as upper Flames management like the CSEC President what he needs money & player wise. Everybody nods in agreement & then that's the last of it as Edwards comes back later with an answer & says no.

In fairness, McNeil is actually trying to change things with the Stamps but even as Stamps President, he answered to Calgary Sports & Entertainment Corporation President Robert Bean in 2024 but who has since stepped down & has been replaced by Robert Fraser. 

Then there's issue with the team itself brought on by years of neglect & John Hufnagel's mantra of "Next Man Up". Huff is like Edwards. He hates free agency & has said publicly in the past that he doesn't like overpaying for players. So when he was GM, he never really took part in the free agent frenzy. Accordingly, he is a team consultant to Edwards as well as the CSEC President & is still Dickenson's boss.

Last season, Hufnagel was upstairs in the coaches box with a headset. I was told he was talking to Dave Dickenson telling him what plays to call. The feeling was that Huff was interfering with Dave Dickenson's job as an OC. That the two men clashed over this.

Hufnagel still has a lot of influence on what the team does operating wise as he is friends with Edwards. If Huff says don't spend money, then the team doesn't spend the money & players leave which adds to the hard feelings between Huff & Dickenson. Problem is, there's no more "Next Man Up" anymore as the well has run dry. The Next Man is worse that the guy before him. It's a great theory that only works if you have talent & depth. Two things the Stamps don't have anymore.

I think a lot of players on the team saw what was going on & just gave up last season. They stopped caring. Dave Dickenson was griping all season long about the way the team played, including one swear fest news conference with the media when he blasted his players. I think they finally just tuned out.

Jake Maier would continually throw picks at the worst possible time & lose game after game that they should have won. Yet he'd pass for 300-400 yards in a losing cause. He finished third in the CFL with over 4,000 yards passing with a sub par receiving corps other than Begelton. Yet he ****** up continually.

Maier couldn't run & seemed to gain back some of the weight that he had lost in the off season heading into camp. He moved & scrambled less & less as the season went on. RB Diedrick Mills inexplicably left the team for 4 or 5 games due personal reasons. His absence really was the number one reason the Stamps season tanked.

They really only had one receiver in Begelton. Offensive & defensive lines were an issue. The trade to get Oromilade for LB Cam Judge may have strengthened the DL but significantly weakened their LB corps. So, one step forward & two steps back with that trade. I can't see how it helps strengthen a defense getting a quality DL when you lose a quality LB like Judge. 

Judge was their best LB by a wide margin as Awe didn't have as near a great a season as he had in 2023. Their secondary sucked. They have VA & now they're desperately trying to fill the holes to get him some talent to work with. Interestingly, this week short yardage qb specialist Tommy Stevens who is a free agent tweeted on X that there's no way he'll play fullback for the Stamps. 

Edited February 2, 20251 yr by SpeedFlex27

Well today is the day the Hervey window officially opens… it’ll be interesting to see if any signings are more or less official before FA opens.

Argos have tweeted out three [pictures of individuals with toothpicks in their mouths. Looks like McManis is not going to free agency.   

8 minutes ago, pw13 said:

Argos have tweeted out three [pictures of individuals with toothpicks in their mouths. Looks like McManis is not going to free agency.   

He signed already didn’t he. 

33 minutes ago, Goalie said:

He signed already didn’t he. 

He just did 

4 minutes ago, Mike said:

He just did 

Biggie re-up imminent lol

8 minutes ago, Booch said:

Biggie re-up imminent lol

I think it was pretty obvious after signing the guys we have that we weren’t going after McManis 

Toronto had to sign McManis, to not do so would be like us letting Beady walk

Yeah they weren’t gonna let him go. Not a chance. Think Walters knew that also. 

I know we have the Jones and Jones at LB plus opt-injured Wilson and Ayers who still chasing his NFL dream. Nyles Morgan could be a nice pickup for us. 

On 2025-01-30 at 1:45 PM, bluto said:

Hamilton, Edmonton and Sask usually are ready to bid up our free agents. I don't think we'll be players for Ceresna. Still hoping to see the Argo IG account post a toothpick before Sunday (when the tampering window opens).

We have so many guys available... I'm prepped for a big exodus.

Well it wasn't before Sunday... But it got done.

 

Now about Brink, Amos, Metchié, Arbuckle, Smith, Haggerty, Sopik, Adeleke and so on (and so on)... And if we're able (unlikely), Ceresna.

 

 

Good signing for Edmonton.

Wolitarsky signed in Hamilton 

Ted says thank you very much. I’m gonna be pissed if it’s a team friendly deal over there. 
 I never really thought he’d play for another team. It’s extremely disappointing. 

All the best to Woli.

Dom Wooganowski in the Hammer makes my heart break. Ugh. Forever a Bomber. 

1 minute ago, Noeller said:

Dom Wooganowski in the Hammer makes my heart break. Ugh. Forever a Bomber. 

Watch DW play well in the hammer while I watch JT be continually washed out with hands on hips struggling to get into his three point stance. 

Tyrell Ford has agreed to a 2-year deal with #Elks.
 

As expected

1 minute ago, Mike said:

Tyrell Ford has agreed to a 2-year deal with #Elks.
 

As expected

Not surprised at all. Will be interesting to see what he got. 

34 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Ted says thank you very much. I’m gonna be pissed if it’s a team friendly deal over there. 
 I never really thought he’d play for another team. It’s extremely disappointing. 

$105k was a pretty good deal for a solid Natl. receiver and glue guy, still don't understand why they let him go.

If you don't want to play for the best organization in front of the best fans in the league you can F O

Hendrix to BC

 

1 hour ago, Mike said:

Good signing for Edmonton.

Wolitarsky signed in Hamilton 

Knew he wouldn't be on market long

 

52 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Watch DW play well in the hammer while I watch JT be continually washed out with hands on hips struggling to get into his three point stance. 

Hand on face mask...holding himself from falling flat on face

Just now, Booch said:

Knew he wouldn't be on market long

 

Hand on face mask...holding himself from falling flat on face

We release a great locker room player who still has fuel in the tank that can probably still deliver on the field if he can stay healthy, we release a great locker room guy with nothing left in the tank and re-sign a great locker room guy who used up his reserves some time ago that puts the team at a disadvantage when he’s on the field.

Different positions yes but logical, consistent and anti JT AB sentiment no. And no it’s not the end of the world just a bit annoying different rules for different players. And of course all of this is just my humble opinion.