gcdrought

I respect comments about what the team could have done better. But you find that in any close CFL win, and I'm sure the BB coaches and players will focus on those things in practice. I just think it was an impressive win, no matter what. Hamilton lost badly last week, they were at home and you know they were highly motivated. Right from the opening whistle the Bombers showed they would be in the game to the end. And they shook off a 121 yard missed field goal return that would have made many teams say 'here we go again'. I'm not suggesting that one win proved the BB can hang with the best. But it showed they could fight and be competitive and that's a major step forward. I think they deserve full credit.

A great win. Yes at times it was a little ugly but there was so much more energy and fight than Weeks 1 and 2. Kudos to all the coaching staff and players. Well done! Hopefully it's the beginning of a winning streak.

Mike - Our discussion started when you took issue (no problem with that) with me saying that Joe Mack and Wade Miller were the primary guys established with re-building the team. You asked why i was mentioning the two together and said they had "entirely different roles". My first reaction was did I get it wrong. But I went back and read stories about the hiring of Mack and Miller and it was clearly stated by the team and the two guys that it was their job to re-establish a winning tradition for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Miller's exact phrase was I want to restore a "winning culture". So despite their different titles, I do consider both as the prime decision-makers to get the team back on track. Mack was hired as a GM/VP Football Operations and he focussed on personnel and the hiring of a Head Coach . Miller chose to start the re-build by choosing a General Manager, in this case Kyle Walters.You won't believe me, but I don't mind being factually wrong. Being wrong means you've learned something and you won't repeat the same mistake twice. So there is value in it. Your opinion is that Mack and Miller have entirely different roles and I assume you feel they are not similarly accountable for the re-build. I tried my best to explain why i made the comment. But if i'm being honest, I need some counter-facts presented to explain what I have gotten wrong before I correct myself. I'd be lying if i said it wasn't a little frustrating doing some homework, presenting actual facts and then being told I'm wrong without any explanation as to why. There's no need for a response. Enjoy the game and hopefully the first win.

Are you serious? A Bombers' fan saying "I bet the Riders will win more game than the Bombers (in 2016 with Chris Jones)" is so threatening to you that you use phrases like "Words matter", "Most importantly" and "your threatening my sanity". I had to read that section twice to believe someone actually wrote that about a football prediction. We're talking about a football game here, not nuclear war. I get that it is your manner to insult people, e.g. using phrases like "to suit your obtuse need". That isn't my style thankfully. My starting point is and always will be that people have different perspectives and none of those perspectives remotely "threaten my sanity", especially when it comes to a football game. Get a grip on what is really frustrating and important in life and lay off phrases like "Words matter", "Most importantly", "wtf", "your obtuse need", etc. As for me cherry-picking comments, I'm really not sure what is more important than a team's won-loss. I guess it's cherry-picking to mention the record and to wonder about the management and players that have led to that record . Not a single thing that I've said on this site isn't factual and it's about the things most relevant to a football team. And none of the comments I've made haven't been made by others, other than the Saskatchewan prediction. Thanks, not really, for the chat. You can have your last insult and I regret this 'chat' degraded. But if you choose to attack people for saying something as innocent as 'I'll bet the Riders have more wins", I'll fight back. I don't mind one bit the folks who want to take me up on that bet and I respect those who think I'm nuts. That's all in good fun. But frankly your level of moral lecturing on a message board about a football prediction is something I would never expect. I hope it's just isolated to me. As for being called a troll by the rose-colored glasses wearers who want to go 'rah, rah, rah' regardless of what happens on the field, I take the term as a compliment. Thanks!

If it's a condition of the site that you can't be troubled by 7 wins in 32 starts then it's probably better for all involved I find another place to comment. I assumed from reading some of the blog comments that objectivity was encouraged. But there do appear a few who want to beat down any sense of critical dialogue. I'm not sure why speaking about reality - in this case poor performance - is so threatening but it seems to be. I guess this site was not designed for that. Personally, as a long-time Blue and Gold fan, I have no idea why talking about reality is so threatening. You celebrate the good times, be satified with the average times, and wonder what needs to be done when things are bad. But to some on this site that's not the definition of a real fan. Criticism is a no go. To a number of you who are objective and aren't troubled by positive or negative comments keep it up and thanks for the brief interaction. Cheers.

Lol, frankly it isn't that big a deal. I think Jones is the kind of guy who's proven he's a winner and he'll continue that in Saskatchewan. You don't. As for what's "convoluted" and "exagerrated", I think questioning 7 wins in the last 32 games and two poor efforts to start 2016 warrants significant concern. There's nothing "exagerrated" about the record. It's fact. Fans have every right to wonder what the rest of the 2016 season will bring. You seem to take the opposite position and feel that questioning the record, who's in charge, etc. is inappropriate. It's somehow terrible to say that a team built and coached by Chris Jones may do better than a team assembled by Kyle Walters and coached by Mike O'Shea. If someone made that prediction - having watched our past 3 seasons and our first two games in 2016 - I would understand why they may feel that way. Sorry that the comment seems terrible to some. But it's what I feel will happen and I am hardly going to apologize for it. Both of us are entitled to our opinions without the other one using terms like "convoluted" and "oft-exagerrated".

What part of "Saskatchewan, 3-15 last year, will win more games than the Bombers this year" is so difficult to understand. There is no reference WHATSOEVER that the Bombers will win fewer games than Saskatchewan did in 2015. I think the hiring of a proven winner, Chris Jones, will start to pay dividends. It may take a little time with the 75% roster turnover, but my guess is it'll happen.

I don't bet against the Bombers. I actually cheer for them game in, game out. But I am intelligent enough to realize that it is a bad sign to see a team that has only won 7 of its last 32 games being manhandled last week by Calgary, and not play well the week before against Montreal. You guys feel the regime that has gone 7-25 in those 32 games will suddenly turn it around. I hope you're right, but frankly so far I see no reason to feel that way. If I did bet against the Bombers I'd suggest something. But betting on a message board seems a little difficult, no disrespect intended.

Lol I don't mind being called almost 100% factually incorrect, but it's cheesy to not provide specifics. Joe Mack was brought back after 23 years of non-involvement with the CFL and made GM/VP Football Operations and assigned the task of re-building the team. So that one was correct. And Wade Miller, who had no track record of management success in the CFL, was made President and CEO of the Bombers, and he said that he wanted to restore a winning attitude and winning culture within the organization. So that one was correct as well. As was the reference to Chris Jones winning in the past. As was the reference to the Board hiring Mack and Miller. I don't care who you are responding to. If you are going to call someone almost 100% factually incorrect, at least have the courage to explain why so you can be critiqued as well. I stand by my comment - 100% by the way - that Mack and Miller were given full authority to make decisions to turn the team around.

I know we're the underdog, but the Bombers just have to be motivated to prove they're better than people think. Time to begin turning this around. Go Blue and Gold.

You clearly don't understand the power structure of the team. Mack was given full control to run the team. His title was G.M but there was no one above him who was interested in day-to-day football affairs. So he was the guy entrusted with turning the program around. When Mack was fired Wade Miller was hired, as President I think, and he was given full authority to run the team. He hired Walters, and he and Walters hired O'Shea. How can you ask what do Mack and Miller have to do with one another. They were both "the guy" given total authority on football decisions. Their titles were different; their mandate was the same. Fix the team. As for "you're not going to find proven winners", that's a defeatist copout and it's also untrue. Saskatchewan went out this past off-season and paid big money for a proven winner like Chris Jones and they gave him the keys to re-build their team. He has replaced 35 of the 44 players from last year's team and I'll bet you Saskatchewan, 3-15 last year, wins more games than the Bombers do this season. Guys with proven winning track records are out there. You just have to have the guts to go and get them, and if that means paying more, big deal. You'll have more fans in the seats with a winning team and the investment will pay off in no time flat. I gather from your comments that you think it was fine to hire Mack, a guy who had never been a GM and had no affiliation with the CFL for some 25 years. And then to hire Miller, a guy who had never accomplished anything in a football management position. The major blame for this team lies with its Board. They keep on hiring guys with no track record of building a winning CFL team.

I'm new on the board and I've been negative. I remember when this new regime started and they went 5-1, I was praising them like crazy on different comment sites (local papers). Finally, we were going to have a legitimate Grey Cup contender. But it was a mirage with a couple of lucky wins. Since that time, the Bombers have played 32 games...and won 7 of them. It's just really tough to rally around the team when there's almost 4 losses for every win. Personally, I know I'll cheer them and make positive comments when they become truly competitive again. But suggesting that people like me should ignore their 7-25 record and two poor efforts to start 2016 and not be negative? Sorry but I couldn't disagree more. Maybe when the Board of Directors knows how angry fans are they'll get a proven winner in here to fix things - not a Joe Mack or Wade Miller.

I didn't hear O'Shea's interview, but it was in the paper as well that he felt the 4th quarter was a good one, without any acknowledgement that Calgary had changed to a passive defence. Even if you didn't hear it or read it directly, fans have every right to comment on something that other people heard and read. Unless you feel the people who originally brought it up are flat out lying...and they aren't. This whole issue would be fixed by the Bombers starting to play some consistent, good football. That's 100% on them, not fans who have been loyal but are exhausted by the years of poor play.

People are mad because the Bombers have played crappy football for going on 6 years now. Not average football, but crappy football. Winnipeg fans deserve better than bad season after bad season. I used to accept this poor play saying 'oh it's just one or two bad years'. But even I have come to the point of anger. Get someone in here who can build at least a competitive franchise. Other teams routinely do it, while the Bombers remain the league doormat. Sorry, but 6 straight years of bad football and 25+ years without a Grey Cup in a relatively small league is unacceptable.

Well we'll find out if they have any heart this week. They got trampled in Calgary. If they don't come out angry in Hamilton, it'll be a long, long year yet again.

That's a good question. The official marking the ball clearly put his arms towards the field, meaning the play was ruled in bounds. With the clock starting at the whistle and only 12 seconds left you should immediately bring on the FG team. That decision is all on O'Shea. But when O'Shea didn't do that, Willy should have known immediately that he couldn't waste a bunch of time in the pocket to throw a 3 yard pass. Both of them get an F for clock awareness and being alert. But O'Shea's the bigger culprit because he's not receiving and calling plays. Pretty much his sole job at that time is to watch the clock and to know when to send the FG unit onto the field. Didn't a similar clock mismanagement issue happen in Calgary last year that cost us a win? If so, there was even more reason for them to be alert.

I didn't hear O'Shea's comments, but I have to admit they are troublesome. Most of us here know what we are watching and we know there have been two straight games where the opposition has given up a bunch of garbage yards in the 4th quarter. For O'Shea to suggest the team played well in the 4th quarter is either blind desperation or he thinks we are all rubes and don't know Calgary had a 29-point lead and rushed only 3 giving Willy and the receivers all day. I cheered for O'Shea initially but he now reminds me a much nicer Mike Kelly. Both of them treat the fans as fools sometimes, as if we don't understand what is going on on the field. Mike - if you don't know it and that seems next to impossible - your team only looked like they were playing well in the 4th quarter. The opposition basically let you score as long as time ran off the clock. You do understand that - don't you?

You have to rate QB's by how they perform when the game matters. Willy has generated about 100 yards passing for the first 3 quarters of both games. That's dismal. And no, he wasn't under a constant rush. How a guy who probably hasn't won 15 games in the CFL and has lost far more has a $400,000 contract is beyond me. I was all set to cheer for the guy when we got him. Sure he was our third choice after Collaros and Burress, but big deal. But he simply has not developed. He doesn't seem to see the field all that well and if you put any sort of pass rush on him he's in real trouble. Right now he's the worst starting QB in the league...despite all the cheap 4th quarter passing yards he's gotten when the other team rushes only 3 guys and gives him and the receivers all sorts of time. I'll be the first to congratulate him if he can turn things around. But other than a few games after he first joined the Bombers, he has been decidedly sub-par.

So true. I said to myself when it was 36-8, O.K. here come all the phony passing stats where the other team just lays back. Forget the garbage time stats, the offense has been terrible. As you say, there is no silver lining

You really only have to look at the pass rush. As in the Calgary game, the second they got up 36-8 they started rushing 3 guys every down and their secondary played deeper. You had 5 Blue Bomber offensive linemen blocking against 3 rushers so Willy had all sorts of time and someone will almost always come open when a QB has 6 to 7 seconds to throw. A team has gone into a prevent defense (willing to give up yardage to bleed the clock) the moment they stop blitzing.

As we all know the stats in the 4th quarter of blowouts are as phony as they come. The defence only rushes 3 guys and equally important the secondary is in a total prevent defence. They couldn't care less if they give up a slew of 10 yard passes. Willy has generated about 100 yards passing through 3 quarters of both games and that's brutal. I don't think I've ever seen a QB who has lost far more games than he's won and who has not even won a single playoff game being paid $450,000. It's stunning how overpaid this guy is. He can complete all sorts of passes once he has no pressure and the defence drops well back. But any QB can do that.