Rich

Personally, I'd give O'Shea one more year. I do hope they replace Marcel. However, something has to be done because at the end of the day, the Bombers are a business with a hefty mortgage payment on the stadium to make. Season ticket renewals will likely dip next year, I'm predicting they will go below 20k. Will firing Marcel help that? Probably not, there has been too much losing for too long. Will firing O'Shea help that? Probably not as there has been too much losing for too long. The only exception to that is if they can make a big splash of a high profile hiring with a Hufnagel or Trestman (yes I know Huffer is still under contract in Calgary and Trestman the NFL). But really can't see that being an option at all. So I think it really comes down to is will the BOD put pressure on Miller who will pressure Walters to make a change for appearance sake, hoping it will kindle a few more season ticket sales.

OK...everyone makes mistakes. I'm certainly not immune to them. However, why didn't they pick up the flag? His memory couldn't be that bad that he couldn't remember 5 seconds later that he did indeed acknowledge Adam's position on the line. This doesn't make sense. Agreed. And I'd assume that Adams and/or O'Shea would have told the ref, "yes we did have an end...Darvin Adams, and you acknowledged it". Would that not jog his memory?Or command centre could have called and said "pick it up idiots!" No they couldn't and you know that. Why? Why couldnt they? They all have ear buds. Johnson could have easily said "wtf you doing? Pick up flag and drop it again and say no infraction on the play". They follow along dont they? Illegal procedure is a non-reviewable play so the Command Centre can't get involved. No one can order an official to pick up a flag. There was that game in 2011 between Montreal and the Bombers were an official threw a flag for defensive pass interference in the end zone against the Als. It was a terrible call and should have actually been offensive pass interference against Greg Carr. The officials huddled and tried to get the official who threw the flag to pick it up but he refused. He was fired shortly thereafter because of that call. No.. I get that. What i meant is that the command centre is watching live. They must see things close to real time.. If they see a potentially game altering mistake by the officiating crew, wouldnt it be prudent to allow them to stop the error? Why wont they allow a situation like that to help fix these dumb mistakes... Even if this were the case, I don't think it would have helped us. The penalty over the PA was "No End". This was the info they had to go on, not even a player number. To expect the command centre to find the footage of all players and the correct camera angles of all the players lined up correctly in the time that they had isn't reasonable. Even after plays they always review (like TDs and turnovers), there is a guy with a flag who tells the officials if the play is being reviewed. When the flag goes up (or is it down), they can continue with the play. Otherwise they wait. You really want the CFL to do that on EVERY play? It would slow down the game way too much and people would be complaining about that.

I suppose we will have to agree to disagree. I don't want my coach throwing a challenge flag unless there is evidence to do it. You never know what is coming next and when you will need your timeouts and challenges. It is a waste to throw it on a play that will not be over turned. I wonder, if that play had actually of been a catch (which was the best info that O'Shea had at the time), would you still be arguing so adamantly two days after it happened that he should have thrown the flag? Because I have never seen anyone make that argument before on a play that was a successful catch.

You risk not having your "free" challenge for a play when you really need it. When someone (player, coach, spotter) has seen evidence that a call was wrong. No one saw the evidence, no one told O'Shea it was a questionable play, so he didn't challenge it. There is absolutely no justification to challenging a play "just because". And thats what this would have been. Coaches have seconds to decide and don't get the luxury of hindsight. Your reason for throwing the challenge was because Calgary was marching and we had nothing to lose. So why do you harp on that one particular play. They were marching for a whole bunch of plays on that drive, why don't you complain that he didn't throw the flag on any of those other plays where he would have lost the challenge? Because you are using hindsight to justify your argument.

6 - 0

4 - 0 for The Wild with 1 minute left in the first. Looks like The Moose won't be able to beat The Wild this year.

For Buff, if the term isn't 8 years (and I hope it is not), then his AAV will probably have to be higher than Seabrook's. I suspect they are still looking for at least 7.5+

Chicago will have $49M tied up in 7 players for the next 5 years. Cap is $71.4M right now. The floor is $52.8M

Yes, I agree with you all. The timing of the call was the worst it could possibly be for the Bombers. I'm not happy about it all, pissed off about it just like everyone else. I'd also still like to know why that flag was thrown after the play and after the linesmen ran in to talk to the other official. But I don't believe it was a conspiracy theory. It was a horrible mistake by an official. And I hope that official is demoted and / or fired or whatever they do to punish them. And to TUP, I hope to hell that official isn't officiating the Grey Cup. These things will always happen because the officials are human and are going to make mistakes. As a team you have no control over that. The only thing you have control over is to not be in a position where it has such a profound effect on your season. This mistake could have cost us a playoff spot. But we put ourselves in that position to have that profound of an effect. And it does seem we get the short end of the stick more than anyone else.

True but at the same time the team did fight back to get close. It doesn't matter when the points are scored. Just that they are scored and the refs significantly hurt our chance to tie the game. That argument is pure hogwash they hadn't lost the game at that point but they were behind. The bad call didn't cost us the game. It may have contributed but it wasn't the sole reason why we lost. just wasting my time. Haters gonna hate no matter what and the logical will always win out in the end. And logic says that they significantly hurt their chances to win when they only put up 25 yards to Calgary's 137 in the third quarter and spot them and 11 point lead in that time. They kept fighting and that is great but you simply cannot nap for a quarter in professional football and expect to win. That's too is logic. That's absolute BS. Who cares what quarter the points are scored. The reality is they did score the points which put them in the position with the ball at the end of the game and in a favourable spot to at least tie the game. So who cares that they did nothing in the 3rd quarter. What if they scored 30 points in the 3rd but the Stamps scored 31. Would you use the same argument? The fact is that at the end of the game they had the chance to tie or win. That you can't argue. This is kind of the point. If that incorrect call was made in the 2nd quarter, then people wouldn't be blaming it as the reason the Bombers lost the game. Yes it was a horrible call. Yes it probably cost the Bombers points and potentially cost the Bombers the win or a chance to go to OT. But it wasn't the only reason why we lost.

Paul Wiecek ‏@PaulWiecek 1m 1 minute ago #Bombers issue statement: We’re deeply disappointed in what happened last night regarding the officiating error,,, Paul Wiecek ‏@PaulWiecek 58s58 seconds ago "While we understand that mistakes happen, it is extremely frustrating for our organization, and our fans, that it occurred... Paul Wiecek ‏@PaulWiecek 1m 1 minute ago at such a crucial point in the game, and our season." --Wade Miller

https://twitter.com/WiebeSunSports/status/647844984733851648

I can't disagree with you. What you are describing is the big picture and you are very much correct. Within the big picture there are always pivotal moments that help shape the big picture. I can understand when the Bombers screw up and shape their own destiny, in regards to a playoff birth, but when the refs step in at a pivotal moment and directly effect the game, it leaves a bitter taste. Let the players screw it up for themselves...lol. Oh I agree that it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. People have a right to and should be mad. All I'm saying is that one play isn't the deciding factor on if we make the playoffs or not.

Mistakes are made by refs all the time, always will be. As a Bomber fan, it is frustrating as hell to watch that happen in the final minutes of a game. But if you take a step back and look at it, if one play like that means we miss the playoffs, we don't really deserve to be in the playoffs. Meaning the Bombers have squandered many other chances in many other games to put themselves in a position where a call like that could have such a profound impact. You can really blame all those other plays and squandered opportunities just as much as a missed call.

I believe they have 21k and change sold in season tickets. 2k tickets sold for the game. Not sure if I should be surprised that they only sold 2k or that they were able to sell 2k.

Usually when there is a no end call the flag is thrown right when the ball is snapped. I really want to know why in this case the official ran in from the side line to talk to the other official AFTER the play was over and then throws the flag. What did they say to each other and why did it take that long to throw the flag?

I'm not lobbying for the end of Canadians in the CFL or anything, but I don't think CIS would die. It may diminish in interest, but it would continue on. CIS currently has basketball, curling, hockey, soccer, football, swimming, track & field, volleyball, wrestling. There is little to no professional opportunities in most of those sports. The cream of the crop of the CIS could continue on to Olympics in those, just like the cream of the crop in CIS football could make it to the CFL / NFL.

We should just stop learning??? I don't understand that POV.Learning is nice, but have we really gotten anywhere with our expanded knowledge? New tech, same old evil. I think there is a huge difference between knowledge and experience. We have had many advancements with knowledge in terms of technology and medicine. Unfortunately as far as war and the environment go, until you experience the tumultuous times that a natural (or human) disaster or war inflict on the general populace, there is no way that reading about it in a book as knowledge can give you the same perspective as living through it to want to avoid it. I believe this is why you see upswings and downswings in human culture over many years and generations. It seems it is the human condition to have to experience pain and suffering to truly appreciate to live without those things. The human race has been around a long time. But every generation is new and has a lot of lessons it needs to relearn. History has shown us that over time all great civilizations decay until things get so bad that it affects change and a new upswing starts. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Cycle of life and all that stuff.

I'll be at the game tonight. What do you think the chances are that I could convince the Bombers to play the Jets game on the Jumbotron. And if they did, what would be the percentage of people watching the live game or the screen?

I think it would really cause more turnover in rosters and we would become even more of a feeder league to the NFL. If you didn't need Canadians, then there would be no need for the draft. There are way too many American players for there to be a semblance of an import draft. So now when you have a losing season, you don't even get a first round pick the next year as a "consolation" prize. There would be very little trading, because all you are really trading now is neg list players. Experienced vets would still be a valued commodity but when was the last time an import was the main piece in a trade? QBs would still be a valued commodity, but why would you trade either of those guys away? The only thing another team could give you is a neg list player (which theoretically you should be able to find a bunch of equivalent neg list guys out there) or another experienced vet. But that rarely happens even today. With the abundance of Americans, I think you would see continuous turnover in the bottom half of the roster, and I'm already finding it difficult to identify with players on this team. Though that could be because we suck.

Yes I agree. I think Lawless is taking the position because he, for one, felt Kane should be at camp and play while others, including Hustler disagree. And I maintain an allegation this serious is worth having the player take a time off from the team. If we're talking a year to resolve, then its tough but the Grand Jury is assembling shortly and will either return an indictment or not and given the circumstances of this case, the DA might even cancel the Grand Jury. So odds are, how this case proceeds will be learned sooner rather than later and Kane should have stepped away. Allegations are too serious. If in two weeks the DA doesnt proceed, then Kane comes back. And all that was lost was camp and maybe a handful of games. I know that isnt minor but you err on the side of caution and good sense and good optics. As of now, if the Grand Jury returns an indictment, you essentially have a charged and pending trial for rape of a guy who's been playing hockey and thats bad optics at best. I think this whole escapade is an example of the "bad side" of the social / digital media age we live in. It removes the ability for people to be patient and let things unfold Every minute detail is out there in real time for everyone to consume, and it builds a sort of frenzy. You said yourself that there are people out there who already think he is guilty. By the way you post, it sounds like you already believe he is guilty. The truth is there is a very very small group of people who have actually seen the evidence in this case and can even begin to make a somewhat educated opinion. (There are for sure two people who know what happened) Everyone else has made up their mind based on he said, she said, and prior reputations. I'm not convinced suspending him until there is a formal charge is the right course of action. The accuser in this needs to be protected. But at the same time Kane deserves protection too. If he is formally charged, than yes, I agree he should be suspended with pay. I think everyone can agree that the sooner they take this to the grand jury, the better. Is there still more evidence they need to collect? Witnesses they need to interview? Letting this go on and on is not doing anyone any good.

I have definitely moved into apathy. Doesn't even feel like game day today. There is nothing exciting about the prospect of sitting through another one of these games, especially against Calgary.

I think it is more pointing out the hypocrisy of people. I don't think anyone is suggesting that they should string up the accuser. At the same time, people shouldn't proclaim Kane guilty until he is proven guilty. Should accusers be shamed for coming forward? No. Should accused people be assumed guilty? No. Neither is right. Neither should be done. People should wait for the process of the law to take its course and judgement passed. Unfortunately it is human nature that both will happen.