Mike

I forget the exact wording he used, but he tweeted something over the weekend about how people need to understand a running back can't do anything when he's playing 1 against 12.

What on earth does one have to do with the other?

SIGN JOSEPH RANDLE

His Twitter comments over the weekend MAY have had something to do with it ...

Not going to bother grading things out. I agree with a lot of what you're saying. Here are my thoughts ... Walters, more than any GM we've had in recent times, has his finger on the pulse of the league. He understands the CFL and I'm sure he's got up to date opinions and information on nearly every player currently on a roster. He has done a good job of bringing in established talent in various capacities. Moves like Randle and Stoudermire, incredibly underrated moves to make for a GM and that impressed me. I also love his dedication to the draft and am very excited to see what talent he provides our roster from that pipeline going forward. As for the negative stuff ... I think he's a bit too fast and loose with dealing away draft picks (really don't like that Brohm trade) and to me, he definitely failed in his first season of import recruiting. Do I want him back? Absolutely.

I think most people (myself included) just base their preferences on who seems to be on a successful staff, have a good mentor in front of them, etc. I'm curious - what do you know that makes you say Jackson is too early into his career? Or that Shivers is the same?

Who says Zach Anderson is an undersized DT? Dude is a powerlifter and is easily pushing 300 pounds. He just also happens to be fast as well.

Good question, but I wouldn't expect him to give any other kind of answer at this point. He can't afford to pigeon hole himself.

Absolutely Zach Anderson, JFG, Sherman, Derek Jones, Neufeld, Briggs ... Zach Anderson is so underrated and ANY competent NI talent that we have under contract should be back.

Walters? I wouldn't say Walters is on the hotseat, but our enhanced scouting staff definitely is. These guys are supposed to get out there and find us the players we've never heard of. We need a lot more of those. Fingers crossed for McManus to find us some more studs.

MOS is absolutely safe. People should've known better than to expect ZERO mistakes from a rookie HC. He gets the benefit of the doubt this year.

The esks absolutely embarassed the Etch D, they had a plan to get 7, 7 or 9 yards every first down and that was a huge problem in the game, but number 2 on my problems defensively list is the fact that the only time they could get pressure is when they sent 8 or 9 guys. The defensive line was just completely neutralized by a pretty shitty edmonton OL. Need to improve that area in the offseason big time so they can disrupt things without having to completely sell out on a blitz. Offensively the OL just got completely worked. They might as well have turned around pre-snap because that would have given them an advantage in chasing after the DL who blow by them. Bellefeuille I felt got really bland with his play calling as well and obviously hates Paris Cotton because he didn't give the guy a chance to succeed at all. He had like 2 or 3 carries in the first half, one was one of those stupid wide runs that the Bombers never seem to block properly on and the 2nd was completely blown by the OL getting worked. I actually thought Etcheverry made the right adjustments early in the game. I actually think he's been fairly decent with his adjustments for the most part. JBR pointed it out in the chat yesterday too, but I liked that he dropped his zone coverage lower when Edmonton got into a rhythm of working 1st down with the goal in mind of going for 2nd and short. Unfortunately, without any sense of pressure from our defensive line, there was just nothing there to disrupt Mike Reilly from picking us apart. I'm not a fan at all of the fact that they took out Marvin Booker, who has been disrupting quarterbacks ever since he got here, and replaced him with Jason Vega who is in the middle of probably the worst season of his career. I'm not so sure I wouldn't get rid of both Peach and Vega in the off-season. They're both fairly capable when they have Turner and Anderson creating havoc in the middle, but as for trying to create anything on their own? Haven't seen it yet this year. Our trench game right now on both sides is just pitiful. Offensive lines are just making a point of stopping Turner in the middle because nobody else is capable of creating for themselves (aside from Booker, who of course is on the bench) and defensive lines are just treating us like tackling dummies on their way to the QB. It's becoming apparent to me that it's not just the depth that we're lacking. Guys like Peach and Vega who were cast in big roles this season simply aren't meeting expectations either.

I know it won't be a popular opinion, but I'd keep Etch around provided we can improve the offensive line and the offensive playcalling. Etcheverry's defense may not be popular around here (and I understand why) but he'd see a lot more success if we weren't on the field so much lately. That being said, a lot of people (myself included) would be jaded by the lack of interest in stopping the run. If he could just adjust that, everything else he does has had some impressive results. If he does go, I would be curious to see Barron Miles here. I'd be curious to know who has the most involvement in Edmonton's D outside of Chris Jones too. For OC, I'd definitely want a new face and first on my list would have to be Jarious Jackson at this point.

Stick in a fork in them. They're done.

Hoping we can steal one tonight as well. Would love to see them come out as strong on the forecheck as they did in Arizona.

Thanks very much for the updates.

Definitely. Can't absorb the necessary information in the classroom in that amount of time, there's no way.

How do you know? Got a personal sit-down with Kyle Walters and Mike O'Shea? And what would you expect them to say if he did? Booker has been an upgrade and a pleasant surprise. And that's what happens when you give a guy you believe in more than one game worth of reps. You keep implying we should have some kind of revolving door where we try guys out and if they fail to excel, we move on to the next one. That's not how any sensible manager of people works. Hickman and especially Booker have shown good things. Those were guys who came after the NFL cutdown period. Exactly what you were crying for, so at least be bothered to acknowledge it. Well, it used to be. Too bad the CFL doesn't have what it used to have called a 5 Day Trial. A player comes in & has 5 practices to impress or he's gone. I can name you so many players who came into the CFL in mid season after NFL Cutdown Day who ended up being stars up here starting as 5 Day Trials. Too bad we can't do that anymore. Like I said, competition brings out the best in players. And I wasn't "crying". I was make a point of discussion. That is what we do around here isn't it? Dan Kepley, Willard Reaves, John Hufnagel, George McGowan, James Murphy, Jeff Boyd, Willie Burden, Jay Washington, Tom Burgess & Kent Austin are guys I remember for sure that came in for 5 Day Trials & played for years. The CFL did away with the 5 Day Trials over 20 years ago. And why do you talk down to people you don't like or agree with? The other mods have sent out PMs to people here asking to show more respect & what do you do??? Oh & one more thing, I don't know what I did to piss you off but if you want us members to have decorum around here & respect other people then practice what you preach & do the same, Mike. Be a leader as a mod & set an example. You want to argue that you're making a "point of discussion", the first step would be to make sure your point of discussion isn't based on misinformation. Of course, you have to go and turn it into this personal issue you seem to have where you think everyone who points out a mistake in one of your posts "doesn't like you". Come on, man. It's not me not liking you, but if you want discussion as you claim, don't get upset when you get corrected as part of the discussion. Give me a break. You always make it personal with your pissant comments when you either don't like someone or what someone said. Not just to me but others here as well. Maybe you need to acknowledge that. Just once, I'd like to be able to talk to you without having to deal with your smart ass comments. If I'm wrong about something then so be it. It wouldn't be the first time & it won't be the last. I have some pretty strong opinions, I admit that. However, I also can & do accept opposing points of view. For the most part we all play pretty well together in the sand box so why can't you? We go through this what, once every couple of months? You take something I say beyond personal. Then I make it clear to you that it's not personal at all. Then you apologize for getting all up in arms about it. And then we move on. What stage of it are we at this time? You do realize you're getting upset because I said you weren't being very observational and that you were crying. There are comments on this forum every single day that are worse than that and the people that they're directed at don't complain even half as much as you do. Toughen up.

Neither one of them serves the same purpose now that Moore is back, so while I don't necessarily agree with the decision, I understand the reasoning behind it.

How do you know? Got a personal sit-down with Kyle Walters and Mike O'Shea? And what would you expect them to say if he did? Booker has been an upgrade and a pleasant surprise. And that's what happens when you give a guy you believe in more than one game worth of reps. You keep implying we should have some kind of revolving door where we try guys out and if they fail to excel, we move on to the next one. That's not how any sensible manager of people works. Hickman and especially Booker have shown good things. Those were guys who came after the NFL cutdown period. Exactly what you were crying for, so at least be bothered to acknowledge it. Well, it used to be. Too bad the CFL doesn't have what it used to have called a 5 Day Trial. A player comes in & has 5 practices to impress or he's gone. I can name you so many players who came into the CFL in mid season after NFL Cutdown Day who ended up being stars up here starting as 5 Day Trials. Too bad we can't do that anymore. Like I said, competition brings out the best in players. And I wasn't "crying". I was make a point of discussion. That is what we do around here isn't it? Dan Kepley, Willard Reaves, John Hufnagel, George McGowan, James Murphy, Jeff Boyd, Willie Burden, Jay Washington, Tom Burgess & Kent Austin are guys I remember for sure that came in for 5 Day Trials & played for years. The CFL did away with the 5 Day Trials over 20 years ago. And why do you talk down to people you don't like or agree with? The other mods have sent out PMs to people here asking to show more respect & what do you do??? Oh & one more thing, I don't know what I did to piss you off but if you want us members to have decorum around here & respect other people then practice what you preach & do the same, Mike. Be a leader as a mod & set an example. You want to argue that you're making a "point of discussion", the first step would be to make sure your point of discussion isn't based on misinformation. Of course, you have to go and turn it into this personal issue you seem to have where you think everyone who points out a mistake in one of your posts "doesn't like you". Come on, man. It's not me not liking you, but if you want discussion as you claim, don't get upset when you get corrected as part of the discussion.

How do you know? Got a personal sit-down with Kyle Walters and Mike O'Shea? And what would you expect them to say if he did? Booker has been an upgrade and a pleasant surprise. And that's what happens when you give a guy you believe in more than one game worth of reps. You keep implying we should have some kind of revolving door where we try guys out and if they fail to excel, we move on to the next one. That's not how any sensible manager of people works. Hickman and especially Booker have shown good things. Those were guys who came after the NFL cutdown period. Exactly what you were crying for, so at least be bothered to acknowledge it.

Where did the Richardson comparison come from?

At this stage of the season, you're not bringing in a fresh rookie anywhere and throwing him right into the lineup. That's not how football works in week 16. Of course you can bring players in for a look, but you're not going to say they are better than X player at this point in time. But to be satisfied with the status quo? Competition is always a good thing. It's never bad. NFL cuts were a month ago & yet we stood pat.So we brought in a couple of receivers. No intl OL. No intl linebackers, running backs or DL?? Maybe one or two guys could have helped us immediately. If McManus is as good a scout as he is supposed to be then we may have found us a a keeper or two. We'll never know though as we didn't do anything. How can a team that went 3-15 last year & is on a 5 or 6 game losing streak now just blow off its fans by saying that nothing can be done? And MOS saying that his job is to build & not tear down? Just execute & play better? How naive does he think the Bomber fanbase is? Really? No his job & the same with Walters is to win. I know this team has a lot of holes & to make the playoffs is a herculean task. All the more reason to bring in players to fill these holes. Players to push the ones we have to play better. Or to push the deadwood out the door. And their not satisfied with the status quo, you can bet your bottom dollar on that. There's only so much you can do realistically over the course of a regular season. The bulk of the movement will be made in the offseason. There was lots of turnover last offseason, and you can bet there will be lots again in the upcoming offseason as well considering we are hosting the Grey Cup next year. If you asked people in May if they would be happy with a 6 or 7 win season, the intelligent majority would have said yes considering we won only 3 times last year. Starting off 5-1 was more of a curse than a good thing because it unfairly raised the expectations of the fan base. Make no mistake, the team is committed to building a winner, but it takes time. Considering where this team has come from in less than a year, there is no reason to believe that the powers that be will fail in making that happen IMO. It's not only that where there are holes in his argument. Complaining about having no OL brought in ... yet we've brought in Chad Anderson and Jace Daniels. Complaining about having no DL brought in ... yet we've brought in Marvin Booker and Greg Hickman. Complaning about having no RB brought in ... we just moved McGuffie onto the active and now we're putting Cotton in. Changes have been made there too. Maybe one or two of those guys could have helped us immediately? Booker and Hickman are contributing on the 44 man roster. The only part he didn't miss on was the LB part.

At this stage of the season, you're not bringing in a fresh rookie anywhere and throwing him right into the lineup. That's not how football works in week 16. Of course you can bring players in for a look, but you're not going to say they are better than X player at this point in time. But to be satisfied with the status quo? Competition is always a good thing. It's never bad. NFL cuts were a month ago & yet we stood pat.So we brought in a couple of receivers. No intl OL. No intl linebackers, running backs or DL?? Maybe one or two guys could have helped us immediately. If McManus is as good a scout as he is supposed to be then we may have found us a a keeper or two. We'll never know though as we didn't do anything. How can a team that went 3-15 last year & is on a 5 or 6 game losing streak now just blow off its fans by saying that nothing can be done? And MOS saying that his job is to build & not tear down? Just execute & play better? How naive does he think the Bomber fanbase is? Really? No his job & the same with Walters is to win. I know this team has a lot of holes & to make the playoffs is a herculean task. All the more reason to bring in players to fill these holes. Players to push the ones we have to play better. Or to push the deadwood out the door. So basically you haven't been paying attention is what you're saying. The Bomber fanbase may not be naïve but if you're any indication, they're sure not very observational.

He's not practicing today. lol