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Fun to sit and watch practice today... Been about 20 years since I was last able. With respect to the late great Randy Turner, the king of Odds and Sods writing.... here's some thoughts: -All jokes aside, Jake Thomas looks like he's lost at least 30lbs and maybe 10 years. Not sure it'll translate but he gave himself a chance. -There were a number of guys who I thought looked leaner (Adams the DL and Wallace, notably) and I wonder if there's a concerted effort by Brendan the trainer to get guys faster this year -Makonzo got hurt. Wasnt carted off, but he landed awkwardly in coverage and came up favouring his wrist. Didn't look good. -Mitchell looks very smooth and runs good routes. -If Vaughters can stay healthy, he is just an absolute load. He and Willie would be very hard to handle. That said, they were doing a drill to see who could get off the line fastest without being offsides and Jake beat Vaughters and was giving him a hard time. We'll call that a one off. -Both Zach and Strev looked good, tho Strev had a couple brain cramps. One under thrown ball that he was immediately angry about and I think a botched run play that he took the heat for. Patterson definitely has a rifle arm... Accuracy is the question. - I have hopes for Keric Wheatfall to take another step this year. -Our LB corps, as already noted, is very very deep and the coaches have a lot of options. People were shifting around a lot but packages with Kyrie at MACK was interesting. -Watched a lot of OL/DL 1v1... OL wasn't terrible, though it seemed like there would be holding calls on a number of plays. DL are just so much faster and you're trying to not get put on roller skates. Thought Wallace showed very well and some of the Americans like Randolph, Vanterpool and Lofton as well. In the reps we saw, we didn't think Neufeld looked very good. It was a bit concerning watching him get "walked" by a few DL. -Its very impressive what Mike Benson does. He really whips that ball and it is so deadly accurate. -Coaches are all very engaged and animated. Osh was hollering pretty good at one point about a missed tackle "You gotta have that!!" Richie, JY, Costello, among others, very very active and involved. -Stan and Willie are both basically coaches. They do a lot of teaching. That's just a few thoughts. I didn't take notes or anything.. just tried to enjoy the sunshine and being at the barn again. I love the CFL, I love the Bombers, and I love Manitoba summers.... It's great to be home.

I hope it's nice. I'm getting a nice treat that game. Was nominated for coach of the week. My club (Rods) get $500 donation and I'm getting a $100 GC to the Bomber store and get to go on the field for pregame with my boy.

Just to speak to Wolitarsky’s character and just what a good dude he is … few years back, some friends and I went to go see him play at Earl’s on Main and we ended up chatting with him and Streveler … he found out it was my friend’s birthday coming up who loved live music and he offered to come play some songs at his birthday party. Sure enough, few weeks later, Woli was in my basement sitting around with us having some beers while he played the guitar. All-time guy. I’m sad to see him go.

In case anyone needed more proof of what a class act Brady O. is, he came out to my son's U13 A3 hockey final today (he is neighbors with one of the boys on the team) to watch the game, give the kids a speech in the room at the end and hand out the player of the game award for us. The kids were absolutely pumped and I am sure are now Bombers fans for life.

Kayaking on Lake Flathead in Montana today and what do I find? A roughriders flag on a private pier: So I grabbed some pebbles and left them a message:

"Cam Lawson at DT with Thomas & Schmekel sitting out.

Osh ain't taking Thomas off the roster unless he was dead and even then it's 50/50

Really easy to always say that there's some mystical coach out there that would be a better fit. We've been through generations as CFL fans watching teams including our own who keep believing that. Hufnagel, Grant, Mathews, Buono, O'Shea That's the order of CFL coaches by winning percentage. Let's pull our collective heads out of our asses.

He sucks

Bombers not offering Bighill a contract ahead of free agency according to Jeff Hamilton my first daughter was born Monday and this still might be the best news I’ve had all week

https://www.bluebombers.com/2024/12/02/blue-bombers-agree-to-terms-with-all-cfl-left-tackle-stanley-bryant/

We've got a shot to erase the bitter taste of the last 2 years tonight. Play smart, clean football. Just Win. LETS ******* GOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO BOMBERS GO!!!!!!

That deep ball right off the bat with Zach testing out the glove hand has to go down as one of the dumbest ******* things I’ve ever seen. And if that’s not coaching, I don’t know what it is. That should be so quickly addressed on the sideline before they take the field. Hey man, you’ve never worn that thing before, let’s feel it out before we sling it deep.

Honestly the main selling point of the CFL are the timing rules of the final 3 minutes. And arguably the most boring part of any NFL game when a team with a one score lead can just bleed the clock under 2 mins with 3-4 plays.

I met the soon to be mother of my child at the Bomber game against B.C. our first date was August 3rd 2023 We beat the Lions 50-14, I had my last ever first date, Less then 2 years later, we have season tickets together, we bought a home, and we’re expecting our first kid together. A lot do amazing memories In a short amount of time, especially against the B.C. Lions! Go Bombers!

Went to practice this morning. Nothing ground breaking to report. Thought the running back 36, smaller American guy looked solid. Really effective blocker in the one on ones. Imo play of the day was made by Corcorcan(can't remember how to spell his name, but the wr they drafted this year). He is slow...there's no doubt about it. But he went up and made a great play on an under thrown ball that should have been intercepted. Schoen looked like himself out there. No brace on. No lack of speed etc. Routes were as sharp as ever. Talked to him after the practice and he said he was feeling great and anxious to get back out there. He was great with my son too. Talked to him a bit and gave an autograph. Sergio is the man...he came right up to my boy (who was wearing his schoen jersey) and talked a bit, then said he'd introduce him to Schoen after practice. Which he did. Needless to say, we had a great morning!

Wait wasn't he going to Saskatchewan? I thought Uncle Cleetus from Weyburn had some insider info on Facebook.

Not every one will be ready for this and that’s understandable. But we will definitely need a shot of positivity around here this off season. With that in mind here are some things I look forward to with the bombers in a positive light only. Terry Wilson. I was extremely impressed by how poised and in control he was when he came in. Stepped up in the pocket, kept his eyes down field when pressured and threw with authority. He has Great arm talent, and athleticism. But the mental side of him looks legit too. I look forward to seeing him progress next year. another Canadian draft. We really cleaned up in this last draft, which was a strong draft to be fair. So I don’t expect us to replicate that success, but adding another piece or two to the AR will be huge for our NI depth. On that note, our rookie Canadians did better than I expected this year. I can’t wait to see big kev with another tc under his belt, think Wallace will be poised to take a starting spot next year, mci came a very long way as a blocker too. I hope to see a good chunk of pre season reps for mci to play rb so we can see what he has and let him develop. He went from a guy out of place on an AR to a solid FB in one season and that’s pretty good. Kelly, I think he has a sneaky good chance of becoming our starting S next year. Imagine 3 starting Canadian dbs? Never thought I’d see that on a good team. tyjuan garbutt really turned a corner late. He isn’t the instant dominant pass rusher we need, but he’s a damn good two way end who plays with discipline. Imo he’d be excellent as a di rotational back up next year. Ayers and Cole. I’d love to see more of Ayers at mac and Cole at wil. Both guys are monsters on teams just scratching at their potential but are still a lot of fun to watch. Devin adams. Such an incredible athlete and raw talent. Gonna be awesome to watch him in his first full camp. Woods. Our best dl for my money all year. Guys a beast who can play a bunch of inside positions and some edge especially in the 30 front. Only 25 years old and the sky is the limit. can lawson and schoen the return. Nuff said. Love what both these guys bring. Owen Hubert. Really over achieved early. Hit the rookie wall hard. But showed a ton of lunch box type stuff that could make him a very valuable rotational piece next year. The majority of the secondary as well. Holm and Kramdi stepped up big, griffin and bonds were excellent Nichols was my modp for us and ford legit would’ve been moc in the league most years. How do you improve on that? Well Nichols is the only guy at 30. So another year could bring improvement for each of those guys. JY. Through some early struggles he really turned a rag tag group of guys into an elite pass defence. I can’t imagine what more he has in store with a year of growth and prep.

Note for any MBB members in the GTA who'll be at the game tomorrow: I have a cooler full of beer, my section of the tailgate is serving cheddar smashburgers and I've got my travel humidor full of the okay'est cigars that you'll have all week. Any of you are welcome to pop over for a cold drink to wish me a happy birthday and talk football. My name is on my jersey and my picture is on my FB or IG if you need to find me just PM me for them.

I start the Game Day thread and the team wins 40-3. Dang, I'm the secret weapon.

So it's inspired by Booch?

Shove this win up your ass, Jamie Nye

Practice notes from DT via Twitter. Vanterpool at LG Kramdi is practicing Jarious Jackson has arrived.

Tait says Schoen a full participant today for the first time. Huzzah.

Hey @Booch, I found your new homescreen pic.

Buy me a Grey Cup or go to hell!

Schoen is back on a 1 year deal https://www.bluebombers.com/2025/02/01/blue-bombers-re-sign-two-time-all-cfl-receiver-dalton-schoen/

Holm back on a 1 year deal. https://www.bluebombers.com/2025/01/15/blue-bombers-re-sign-defensive-back-evan-holm/

2 west finals vs. The lions 2 Grey cup losses, 2 west finals vs. Riders 2 Grey cup wins.... just saying.

This is a rule of the site, but it is mostly around legalities of not trying to steal content and making sure people who create content get the revenue / clicks / views for producing it. If Zach wants to post an article he wrote on this site, its his right as its his content. As for posting articles here, I have no problem with Zach promoting content here. As many have said, there is very little CFL content in even the major news sites these days, so if its a passion, I see no harm in doing what they are doing. It promotes the CFL and Winnipeg sports scene, which is great. Without any knowledge of traffic or the business model for Bonfire sports, I highly doubt they are getting rich off of it. It might trend to spam if he starts posting a new thread daily which simply links to an article, but that is not at all what I've seen so far. There is a stickied thread where he posts videos, and this is the first "dedicated" thread I've seen or remember. Go do your thing Zach and let the haters hate.

Vaval has to be the leading candidate for ROTY right?

Only two Nat DT's. Has anyone checked to see if O'Shea is okay?

1 brady. ofc carried the team today. 25-210 yards 2 zach. protected the ball, got it out fast and made good decisions couple tough throws 3 cam allen. some good cover, couple great hits separated wrs from balls which changes how teams can attack you. hh sterns bone jarring catch over the middle block of the game to strevy as a wr lead blocking for brady had a good edge seal crappy honker to that stupid ass siren dunce caps to lawson jr, form tackling on d, hogan honorable mention to strevy for doing a lot in light of injuries, wallace, wilson in short yardage, jones, and wj Unsung hero award to Person. he didn’t record a stat, but he tipped holms pick and had atleast 5 key pressures plus a couple hits. bonus points to having lapo in the booth. he’s soo damn good and improves the quality of life watching games by a ton

Looks like Milt will be at the game on Friday.

Whenever I get asked about why Mitchell isn't playing I say it's because he's an X wide receiver. And to get him in would require he or Wheatfall changes position. Based on having Case in for Schoen on Sunday I have to believe the Bombers have reservations too. The first day of camp this year they had Mitchell at slot next to Wheatfall. The next day Mitchell was at X with the 2s. And since the end of camp that's where he's stayed. Mitchell has played some slot in his career but the Elks clearly felt he was a WR. For his career I've got him with 151 targets at WR and 55 in the slot--73% WR is pretty high. When they signed Geno Lewis in 2023 they tried Mitchell in the slot but eventually bumped him out to Z. Watching his '24 and '23 Sunday night Mitchell had some real struggles with the waggle...more hesitant than most guys. How much was him and how much was the bad QB situations in Edmonton...who knows.

Something no one has mentioned so far was I thought Hogan called a hell of a game. We’re going to score a lot of points this season whether it’s number 17 or number 8, I really enjoyed some of the X’s and O’s He drew up. I think you’re going to see an opportunity for good receivers to make plays often in this offense.

I really don’t get any of the Myron Mitchell hype. I would be incredibly unaffected if he were to be cut tomorrow.

If there’s one player—just one—in the entire Canadian Football League who absolutely screams 'poster boy for performance-enhancing drugs,' it’s got to be Zachary J. Collaros. I mean, the sheer physical dominance, the unstoppable power, the jaw-dropping speed... it’s almost too obvious, right?

Don't you take that tone with me...

Only friesen can be that obtuse.

Andre Proulx is the best ref in the league.

Let the media again stress this superior defense we have to over come Argo's gave up 2nd most passing yards at 5342...we gave up least at 4227 Argos had 2nd worst QB rating at 105.5%...we had best at 86.9% Argo's gave up 2nd most passing TD's at 31...we gave up seconf fewest at 20 Argo's gave up second worst completion percentage at 70.8%....we had best at 60.9% Argo's gave up 50 offensive TD's...we gave up 33 Argo's give up on avg 6.8 yards on 1st down...we give up 6.0 Argos gave up 6514 net yards of offence....we gave up 5915 We gave up 1876 rush yards to the Argos's 1532 we got 26 sacks to the Argos' 48 Now based on on all that, who would you think is facing the tougher defensive test??? With their back-up to boot? We keep ZC clean....time to throw, and the Argo defense guessing.....I can see this being over early if prime time ZC show's up...and based on vibe and what I seen of late...I can't see why he won't....and oh yeah...We still have BO to throw at them

Taylor said Younger invited him back earlier in the season when BA originally went down but he couldn't make it work with his job or family. He posted a video of a workout later on and Younger reached out to him again to see if he was still interested in playing, and they made it work. https://www.bluebombers.com/2024/11/11/in-my-words-nick-taylor/

First practice of the regular season is today. Out with the old and in with the new. Time to get it started.

This site is getting dangerously close to unreadable on a daily basis. We've been losing regular contributors because of it, which is a shame... Feels like the Jim Daley/Tim Burke/Lapo era of darkness based on some of the posts, and not an unmatched generational winning streak on and off the field...

You win that challenge you take 3 points off the board and have the ball. That’s the worst pi I’ve seen in ages.

Collaros is literally Uncle Rico way past his physical prime but all he wants to do is throw the ball over them mountains

Vanterpool in for Dobson is a major upgrade up front too. Vanterpool would be my player of the game. Here's a stat for you: Peterson averaged 130 yards per game in his last 2 years of U Sports. 130 yards rushing in his first CFL game. Took a few more carries to get there than it did in U Sports...but still.

Give some love to wheatfall too who looked like a legit threat out there.

Well the 2019 team was 3-5 with Streveler starting and 4-0 with Collaros starting. So he had some impact. D wasn't getting it done by themselves, they got smacked around pretty bad in majority of games after Nichols went down. Probably don't get to any of the post-19 Grey Cups if you don't host the West Final. Matt Nichols never hosted a West Final. Buck Pierce, Kevin Glenn and Khari Jones hosted 1 East Final each. Collaros has hosted 4. Good to have some perspective. The only comparison that will matter in the end is Dru Brown from 2024 on vs Collaros from 2024 on.