Chris Jones versus Michael O'Shea

I have to admit that I'm more than a little bit jealous of Chris Jonesl and his Eskimos. It seemed at the beginning of the season that we were seeing two teams rising out of the ashes like two proverbial Phoenixes. Sadly now it appears there is only one.

Chris Jones appears to be somewhat of an angry bird, maybe not like Kent Austin, but he does seem to be getting the most out of his players. I don't like that kind of motivation where the players are playing in fear of the coaches anger, authority and power.

By contrast Michael O'Shea appears to be a pinball Clemons clone, at least to me. Last May I attended a pinball Clemens dinner as a fundraiser for the Calgary Colts junior football club. It's hard to sit still near the Pinball, he is such a force of motivation and inspiration to be your best, to do your best and be yourself. He makes it very acceptable and important to just be yourself, to live life appreciably and thankfully.

I'm guessing that pinball Clemens was Michael O'Shea's mentor and role model. But I am wondering how well he's doing that here in Winnipeg, that is coaching just the way Pinball did. There does appear to be a few significant differences which I'm only beginning to identify for myself.

For one it's the close tightlipped relationship with the media where not even an assistant coach can express himself. I don't particularly like the Winnipeg media except for Tait and Irving but their job is to stir up interest and get the fans excited. I'm not sure what O'Shea's thinking is but in this matter he doesn't seem to be looking for the best in these reporters and is not slipping out juicy tidbits to two or three of his favourite media guys or even to Sarah Orlesky.

Another seems to be governance by "the establishment". On this club the players once starting stay starting until injury; there is no tweaking or upgrading but rather just what your place in line until an injury let's you in. Certainly Will Ford never had a chance and Paris Cotton hasn't got a full half to strut his stuff in spite of very good performances earlier. This is especially illustrated when an outstanding player like Johnny Sears who plays with heart, soul and skill can't find his way into the line up. We need to coach in such a performanxe based style or we won't get our very best players on the field; in this there seems to me to be something quite wrong in the way things are being done.

Then there's that appearance of favouritism, maybe not cronyism, but familiarity that results in choosing one player over another because you like them or not rather than based on results. I don't know if these are good examples but witness Kuale over Kromah or Brohm over Marve or perhaps Bryant over JFG, or else instances where we are not utilizing a guy like Fitzgerald more. McManus might be right about Brohm, he certainly was about Willey. But whether it's the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator or the head coach, I personally don't like the way they are deciding who gets onto the field on any given Sunday (so to speak).

I'm absolutely thankful for Michael Shea being here and with Kyle Walters and all the other supporting cast from president to janitor. We have definitely upgraded our Canadians and found great talent under rocks. Last year we had inadequate American talent and that has been upgraded as well. Further we had to scour out all the bad attitudes and losing thinking. It seems like if you are part of the old guard you've had to play like a maniac to keep your position on this club. So we have a new order and great hope and we'll see what the final third of the season will bring. Five and one the first third, one and five the second, and the jury is out for the third.

Chris Jones doesn't appear to be running things like our dear head coach and Edmonton can have him. In the long run angry bird doesn't work. I like what O'Shea is trying to do. I like he's trying to be like Clemons (if that's true). But he can't be Clemons. He has to be his own man, go to his own strengths and see things through his own set of eyes. As a rookie head coach he has a lot of latitude from me (as if that mattered anyway). Pinball was a great teacher and an amazing leader and I'm grateful that we are going to have a lot of that through this coach of ours. Michael O'Shea just has to find his own legs and it is going to take him a little while to sort all this out.

I don't want to stand here and criticize like some nagging wife. I just know it won't be long before we rise out of the ashes; we are already seeing glimpses of it.

Why Edmonton is rising and we are not I don't know ...but Grey Cup here we come (just not this year).

how are you guys leaving Hajrullahu out amongst our most outstanding rookies?  the kid has been rock solid all season, even when pressed into punting duties.  I've seen that affect kickers place kicking in the past, but it hasn't hurt him a bit....

 

 

I think it's fair to at least acknowledge that he brought in SOME awesome rookies.

 

But not enough of them. I mean, let's be honest ... Grigsby is going to win the MOR award. Bruce Johnson has been awesome. Mo Leggett is fantastic too.

 

But we need more. Especially at routine spots like receiver or rush end.

I'd throw Stoudemire in that mix too. He went to camp with the Riders, but he'd never played a CFL game before. That's 4 good rookies. How many are expected for one season?

Stoudemire was scouted and recruited by the Riders but was a shrewd move nonetheless.

 

 

Great point. Likely no one had ever heard of him before The Beloved brought him up north.

how are you guys leaving Hajrullahu out amongst our most outstanding rookies?  the kid has been rock solid all season, even when pressed into punting duties.  I've seen that affect kickers place kicking in the past, but it hasn't hurt him a bit....

We're talking about American rookies.

I'd be a lot happier if we could of gotten a decent import receiver and O-linemen. We really dropped the ball in those areas. 

 

how are you guys leaving Hajrullahu out amongst our most outstanding rookies?  the kid has been rock solid all season, even when pressed into punting duties.  I've seen that affect kickers place kicking in the past, but it hasn't hurt him a bit....

We're talking about American rookies.

 

OK... but even still, I'd still put him at the top amongst rookies, regardless of passport...

 

 

how are you guys leaving Hajrullahu out amongst our most outstanding rookies?  the kid has been rock solid all season, even when pressed into punting duties.  I've seen that affect kickers place kicking in the past, but it hasn't hurt him a bit....

We're talking about American rookies.

 

OK... but even still, I'd still put him at the top amongst rookies, regardless of passport...

 

but again not what we're talking about here. There is a difference between bringing in non imports and imports. We are discussing how the american recruiting seems to have taken a step back. 

maybe the thought was more speed... for Etch's D!  DB's can be converted to LB's, can't they!? lol

so then what's the excuse for players like Kelly and Bryant being the best options at receiver? 

Kelly's been about as good as we'd usually expect from some random American rookie that isn't Chris Matthews/Greg Carr/TJ Harris. It would be nice to be able to get a guy like that every off-season. I don't know if that's realistic. Are other teams doing that?

 

The current Bombers do certainly seem to place a higher importance on veteran players than we've seen in these parts for a while. And seems to me that's what EVERYONE was clamouring for by the end of the Mack era.

Kelly's been about as good as we'd usually expect from some random American rookie that isn't Chris Matthews/Greg Carr/TJ Harris. It would be nice to be able to get a guy like that every off-season. I don't know if that's realistic. Are other teams doing that?

 

The current Bombers do certainly seem to place a higher importance on veteran players than we've seen in these parts for a while. And seems to me that's what EVERYONE was clamouring for by the end of the Mack era.

You need both. Mack was too reliant on his rookies, Taman was too reliant on veterans here and we never had the depth because we didn't have the young guys coming in. Based on one year Walters needs to pick it up in the young american aspect of things. You can't win long term being one dimensional in how you build you team, you gotta be able to sign the right veterans and replace people internally. 

so then what's the excuse for players like Kelly and Bryant being the best options at receiver?

Marcel B.

so then what's the excuse for players like Kelly and Bryant being the best options at receiver? 

There isn't one. I'm still not sure why we didn't keep Jaymar Johnson. He looked better than Romby at the very least.

Coaches decide who plays, not GM's.

so then what's the excuse for players like Kelly and Bryant being the best options at receiver? 

Kelly is 12th in receiving. No excuse is needed for keeping him on the roster.

 

so then what's the excuse for players like Kelly and Bryant being the best options at receiver? 

Kelly is 12th in receiving. No excuse is needed for keeping him on the roster.

 

I'd rather a guy who has less yards but is a threat every week than a guy who pops up with a good week here and there. 

Not Kelly's fault Willy hasn't been playing as good now as he did earlier in the season.

but it is Kellys fault that he doesn't get open very much. That's quite a feet too because when you're 6'5 you should always be open. 

Kelly, in the last Saskatchewan game, where Willy threw for Denmark, was wide open twelve yards down the field, and could have had twenty yards, at least.

Sometimes these receivers do get open and the play doesn't get to them.

 

This is football and this happens all the time.

 

The unlove for Kelly is irrational.

Kelly earned the job in training camp when he defeated all candidates for that position and there were many.  He continues to produce when thrown to and make spectacular catches and score critical TD's even though he is often covered.  He has done nothing to lose his job and no other player  has done enough to unseat him so far.  We seem to have this discussion every second week with the same result.  Kelly has his lovers and his haters and that's just the way it's been since he set foot in Bomberland.

Kelly was an absolute beast in the Banjo Bowl. Just because a receiver isn't putting up numbers doesn't necessarily mean they suck. Given the state of the Bomber o-line some games I impressed that they get as many passing yards as they do.

Why all this talk about Kelly.....when we are still saddled with Romby - a vet who can't get on page with the QB's, is not going to make a tough catch, and who takes penalties?

Why all this talk about Kelly.....when we are still saddled with Romby - a vet who can't get on page with the QB's, is not going to make a tough catch, and who takes penalties?

Because we've grown weary of bad-mouthing Romby?

Kelly earned the job in training camp when he defeated all candidates for that position and there were many.

which is the crux of the issue, we didn't bring in any good candidates in camp. You know who else beat out all those guys? Old man Romby Bryant who beat them without having to even be in training camp.