Start getting excited, Bombers fans

Team's brass knows about Canadian ball, for a change...

By: Gary Lawless

The first thing Kyle Walters did as new GM of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was look at the football operations budget and cut a big chunk out of the department's top salary and then plow it right back into scouting and coaching.

Coupled with a renewed commitment from the front office to spend more on football, the dividends have already been large. With the hiring of Buck Pierce as a running backs coach Friday, Bombers coach Mike O'Shea announced he'll have a coaching staff of 11 this season, which is two more than last year and the largest in club history according to the communications department.

The Bombers also have more scouts than last season and all in all the football operations department looks like a real, live pro-football outfit. Something that couldn't be said the last few years in Winnipeg. I made the statement a number of times during the Joe Mack era that the Bombers were beat long before the game ever got to the field. That can no longer be said.

Walters was handed the budget by CEO Wade Miller last summer during his time as acting GM and asked how he would change it. Walters took $100,000 out of the GMs salary and moved money around on the spreadsheet. And then he asked for even more money to spend on football. He got it.

Miller promised Walters he'd commit to putting the Bombers on a level playing field with the rest of the CFL's football operations departments and he's lived up to it. The Bombers will allocate more than $10 million for all things football this season. More than last year and catching up with most teams in the CFL.

One can argue more coaches and more scouts mean little if they don't add up to wins and that's a fair statement. As important as how much money one has to spend is how well that money gets spent.

This is where the Bombers have made their biggest improvements under Miller and Walters.

When the 2013 season began, the Bombers had a CEO with no football experience, a GM who proved to have little to no understanding of how to build a CFL roster, a head coach with no offensive experience in the CFL and an offensive co-ordinator who admitted he was still learning the CFL game. I couldn't make that up if I tried.

Today, they have a former player in Miller as CEO, a young GM in Walters but one with a lifetime of CIS and CFL roots, Hall of Fame player Mike O'Shea at head coach and two former quarterbacks Pierce and Danny McManus in the coaching and scouting ranks as well as seasoned and experienced CFL men Marcel Bellefeuille and Gary Etcheverry at the offensive and defensive co-ordinator positions.

Off the field, the Bombers are light years ahead of where they were at this time last season and if it doesn't equate to wins right away, it will in time. The Bombers were the worst-run organization in the CFL for a number of years but that can no longer be said.

The Mack era distinguished itself in its stubborn refusal to admit ignorance of the Canadian game. Beyond all of that era's many failings, this is why the team progressively got worse.

No one in Canada understands the nuances of the Canadian game better than Walters and O'Shea. They played three-down football all their lives. Then they moved into coaching it and in Walters' case to management.

I once asked Joe Mack what he thought of Brad Sinopoli as a player, who had been named winner of the Hec Creighton Trophy as Canada's best collegiate player the day before. He looked at me funny and then admitted he didn't know who I was talking about. That's akin to an NFL GM not knowing the Heisman winner. This wasn't a moment of weakness. Mack was a scout and by all accounts a good one. But he ignored the Canadian component of the CFL, which is foolish and unforgiveable.

Last week, I asked Walters about the upcoming CFL draft. He gave me a detailed description of the top five players and then told me he'd be drafting one of three players depending on their availability when he selects second overall. Gave me their names, strengths and weaknesses.

Walters also told me the draft was weak and fell off dramatically after the first five picks which is why he won't capitulate to Ottawa GM Marcel Desjardins' demand for the No. 2 pick for quarterback Kevin Glenn.

Does Walters want Glenn? Sure but he wants to ensure the future of the franchise and not just improve the club for a couple of seasons.

Bombers fans should be enthused but more about the long term health of their team than just this coming summer. The Bombers are back in good CFL hands from Miller to Walters to O'Shea. That's the best news of all.

Among other things. He was clueless when it came to evaluating Canadian university talent. As far as blaming Kelly, that was 2009, folks. Mack had 4 drafts to get it right. He didn't.

Another drive by of the past regime? Come on that's lazy writing. Seems like he's tooting Walters horn when maybe he should be tooting Millers horn more. It's the CEO not the GM who gives out more money for operations staff. And let's be honest here, Walters based on his experience level should be making less money as a GM too. It's an article that really is Lawless' MO. Hype up the people he likes while cutting down people he doesn't. There's nothing ground breaking there and until we see the results on the field it's all just self serving. 

It was Kyle that said he went through the budget with a fine tooth comb, and that he was going to move money around...He may have gotten more money from the CEO, but he is still doing a very good job regardless of your personal biases!

17, I didn't attack you. I didn't call you names or say you said anything bad other than telling you to get over Mack's firing. If you took offense then I apologize. You went into a defense of Joe Mack on this thread right away primarily because Lawless had kind words to say about the present regime. Somehow that seems to get under your skin whenever it happens. You are probably one of the only ones here who still thinks the man was hard done by. Very few shed any tears for the man when he was fired. He's not missed now.

A positive article from our extremely negative media and the thread boils down to a bickerfest yet again..

When did MBB become OB?

Meh, Lawless has a point, but as usual in the rare instances he actually knows what he's talking about, still manages to throw enough crap in it that the effect diminishes.

Wait until we start 2-7 and see what Lawless says.  He will turn like he always does and try to say he said it all along.  All this article is about is Lawless telling us how smart he is and stupid the Bombers have been.  

 

About the Sinopoli thing, maybe Mack was trying to be funny with Gary...as in, who wants a canadian QB?

 

One thing about our staff he leaves out is a 71 year old QB with no CFL experience.  Not huge, but still he left it out.

 

I'm not getting too excited.  I've been let down hard before.  I'll wait and see what they can prove on the field.  

 

Just playing devil's advocate here.

Wow. I must have missed the signing of a 71 year old QB!! Who did we get Ploen back??

A positive article from our extremely negative media and the thread boils down to a bickerfest yet again..

When did MBB become OB?

Well, we did all migrate there to here so why should things be any different?

 

A positive article from our extremely negative media and the thread boils down to a bickerfest yet again..

When did MBB become OB?

Well, we did all migrate there to here so why should things be any different?

 

Yeah but Spuds came over so it got ruined.

 

Ah, we like SPuDs....

 

Wait until we start 2-7 and see what Lawless says.  He will turn like he always does and try to say he said it all along.  All this article is about is Lawless telling us how smart he is and stupid the Bombers have been.  

 

About the Sinopoli thing, maybe Mack was trying to be funny with Gary...as in, who wants a canadian QB?

 

One thing about our staff he leaves out is a 71 year old QB with no CFL experience.  Not huge, but still he left it out.

 

I'm not getting too excited.  I've been let down hard before.  I'll wait and see what they can prove on the field.  

 

Just playing devil's advocate here.

Wow. I must have missed the signing of a 71 year old QB!! Who did we get Ploen back??

 

You missed the signing of the QB coach?

Can't wait to see Ploen trot out on the field again.... Big news!

Meh, Lawless has a point, but as usual in the rare instances he actually knows what he's talking about, still manages to throw enough crap in it that the effect diminishes.

What an utterly useless, stupid post.

It's exciting that they are rebuilding the organization, but one fear I have is that they won't stick to investing in football operations if the wins don't come quickly, within the next couple seasons, and the stands aren't full.  It's good to try to do this now because they have some time before they need to start paying the stadium debt, but that pressure is coming.  The way to justify the spending is to have a winning team and full stadium, I just hope the board is patient enough to see it through.

At risk of igniting the debt debate I think they are okay until the NDP get ousted. Then all bets are off as far as what they might have to pay back.

The sneaky NDP "sponsorships" to help cover some costs (like traffic issues) might not be there under a PC government

I'm all for public investment on IGF (even though I'm a conservative at heart) but I suspect in time that dept will be somehow forgiven.

A positive article from our extremely negative media and the thread boils down to a bickerfest yet again..

When did MBB become OB?

Well, we did all migrate there to here so why should things be any different?

Yeah but Spuds came over so it got ruined.

Logan, yer dead.

 

Meh, Lawless has a point, but as usual in the rare instances he actually knows what he's talking about, still manages to throw enough crap in it that the effect diminishes.

What an utterly useless, stupid post.

 

 

This has as much insight as a Lawless article.  No wonder you like him.

 

 

Wait until we start 2-7 and see what Lawless says.  He will turn like he always does and try to say he said it all along.  All this article is about is Lawless telling us how smart he is and stupid the Bombers have been.  

 

About the Sinopoli thing, maybe Mack was trying to be funny with Gary...as in, who wants a canadian QB?

 

One thing about our staff he leaves out is a 71 year old QB with no CFL experience.  Not huge, but still he left it out.

 

I'm not getting too excited.  I've been let down hard before.  I'll wait and see what they can prove on the field.  

 

Just playing devil's advocate here.

Wow. I must have missed the signing of a 71 year old QB!! Who did we get Ploen back??

 

You missed the signing of the QB coach?

 

Zooom...I heard the plane...did you see it?  It flew over your head just now.

 

Bass said we signed a 71 year old QB (instead of saying QB Coach).  Bomber was just making a joke that he made it sound like we just signed a 71 year old Quarterback.

Ah, we like SPuDs....

You mean potato chips right?  I mean, who doesn't like potato chips?

Meh, Lawless has a point, but as usual in the rare instances he actually knows what he's talking about, still manages to throw enough crap in it that the effect diminishes.

What an utterly useless, stupid post.

This has as much insight as a Lawless article. No wonder you like him.

My remarks were clear and concise. Insight not required since the content pointed directly to a conclusion that was both accurate and clear.

It's unfortunate you have such blind hatred for lawless. Try injecting some insight into your own posts

Lawless writes a negative article & he's criticized. He writes a positive article & he's criticized. And people here say the media in Winnipeg is negative?

Mack was ignorant of the CDN game and, seemingly, too arrogant to let others in his employ who did understand it (Walters) make decisions. 

 

He was also completely out of touch when it came to Free Agency and obviously was above or didn't understand the importance of working with GM's from rival clubs. 

 

Thats on him. 

 

However, its come out his wife is/was battling cancer, and speaking from experience I can see how his focus might've been elsewhere.

 

He simply was not the right man or in the right position to do the job. 

 

However, the media -- especially Neckless -- does seem to have a boner for Walters, simply because he gives interviews and returns calls. And I agree with 17-85, some of his decisions have been fair at best. 

17, I didn't attack you. I didn't call you names or say you said anything bad other than telling you to get over Mack's firing. If you took offense then I apologize. You went into a defense of Joe Mack on this thread right away primarily because Lawless had kind words to say about the present regime. Somehow that seems to get under your skin whenever it happens. You are probably one of the only ones here who still thinks the man was hard done by. Very few shed any tears for the man when he was fired. He's not missed now.

You can't offend me and that's not what I'm talking about. I told you in another thread when you said how tired you were of this argument that if you'd stop with the blind hatred I'd stop calling you out on it but you jumped right in here so you can't blame me for wondering why you had the change of heart right?  If you want to have a rational discussion about Joe Mack I'm all ears but all you do is ***** and ***** and ***** and blame him for everything under the sun even if it's not right. 

I'll blame him for everything under, over, above, beyond, around, beside, near & far from the sun. Did I miss anything? #mack=loser

I'll blame him for everything under, over, above, beyond, around, beside, near & far from the sun. Did I miss anything? #mack=loser

So you're not going to start whining when I keep arguing with you about it then?

Iso…how about a little toffee to soothe the situation?