bluto

not conflicted at all. i've known about this for some time and have been more accustomed to it by the day. i'm very happy for #50 to get his shot. i'm moreso happy that it is under a management team that has every outward appearance of (shocking, i know) doing everything the right way and building a foundation to compete. he's the consummate leader. a winner in everything he's ever done. i remember him once saying in his final years of playing that he regards every year that he doesn't end as a champion as a failed season. that's the sort of mentality that the WBBFC needs more than anything. given time, he will win a GC as a HC. bank on it. as to the part about who my western team is, right now it is BC because they are our sister-franchise under the Senator... but it looks like that relationship is about to end so i ought to select another. the candidates: Edmonton: i have family there and although the Esks made a young bluto cry on a cold, rainy November day at the Ex in 1982, looking back i can't help but be impressed by that Warren Moon team. they were the Evil Empire for years and easy to hate, but they've sucked for a long enough time(and watched Tillman trade us Ray) that my heart has softened towards them a bit. Calgary: i respect their recent accomplishments but i couldn't support a team that is run by a guy who hates my HC and GM... also, having family in Edmonton kinda nixxes this. Regina: other than being able to craft funny limericks about this city, i find their fanbase boorish and possessing short memories since when the Argos fell on hard times they were the ones screeching loudest to fold the team... even though they've been on the brink themselves many times... and i never heard of them refusing the millions of dollars Ontario transfered to their province every year since confederation... they also were awful to Toronto fans in the 97 GC. plus they insist that it is their right to host the GC which in effect makes it a local game since all the people who are willing to go can't because of the lacking of proper facilities for an event of that magnitude. Winnipeg: they've got Osh. that could be reason enough right there. i also have some friends who support them. on the negative side, they were awful to Toronto fans in the 91 GC and their franchise's all time most notable player twice insisted that Toronto shouldn't have a team. tough call. i'll have to listen to my sports-gut.

a TiCat fan hating on Osh... ...colour me shocked.

Walters with Goveia and McManus under him actually sounds pretty studly to me. Shaping up to be an impressive sounding staff over there. Difficult to argue that both of those two recent adds haven't been adding promising prospects and players the last few seasons down here in Southern Ontario.

third straight year of massive turnover on our D is coming up.

does this mean that i won't see a guy like Cleon Laing drop into coverage anymore?

stupid is as stupid does Mrs. Blue.

Brady has been/is an OC with Toronto and Montreal. can't see him leaving Milo yet though.

Walters beaten to the signature of 3 sought after players by REDBLACKS...

Hervey just made himself a much better GM. Jones has had autonomy to pick his own players and has found some good ones.

not sure that he'd bring any of our staff with him. if Jones is bound for Edmonton, that may mean a big turnover for our defensive coaches though... hard to estimate how this could shake lose. As long as we still have the staff on offence intact (Brady, Mass, McAdoo) and if we land a solid DC (Burke would be fine by me) i really don't know what he would do with our position coaches on defence... Burke (if it IS him) may have to keep them if Barker has guaranteed their jobs. sucks that we're likely to lose 2 blue chip coordinators... but the fact is that they deserve their shots. obviously, as we've seen in recent years, being a very good coordinator isn't a guarantor of success as a Head Coach, but you've got to let guys like Stubler, Burke, O'Shea, Jones etc. have the shot that their skill as a coordinator has merited. Osh is a stud coach. in the same way that he was a stud linebacker. he's never failed at anything... the guy just radiates "win". hard to see you ever having a problem with players not respecting him either (which has been a theme with your last few regimes). he was our original FIFO guy under Stubler (Fit In or **** Off). i could gush about the esteem i hold him in for several paragraphs more... but again... who can say if someone can make the big jump to HC or not... ...but getting a good QB and a good OC along with him could be the dawn of a new Bomber era in the west. and i wouldn't bet against him.

That's just it. I think they are building that many over the next few years. Problem is they would need at least 60 - 70 hotels or 8,000 - 10,000 additional rooms to meet the current needs for Grey Cup week. that's a big ask. not sure how you figure on that specific number. Toronto had just under 36k hotel rooms as of 2004... so it's hard to see a town like Regina adding 10k to however many they have

i sense a Guelph connection coming.

i like him. i think he'll have success sooner than later. then after he's proven, we'll sign him and bring him home when Barks retires

Jaxon and iso have the right of it. TSN announced a 4.5 Million average viewership. Last year was a record 5.4 Million. Both were lopsided games so you couldn't say it was because of that.

yeah don't worry, this place is not somewhere you'd find Regina apologists. Facts are that it's a city of 200000 people roughly, it is way too small time for an event where you expect 40k plus in the stands. Maybe if the league stops jerking off that fanbase to no ends they'll realize that you can't host it in a small time city like that. that may well be true... but i broached this topic very candidly on OB (remember that shithole?lol) and no matter how plain i made it that Regina simply isn't able to support this event to the level it (and the fans) deserve, the troll-baiting apologists took swipes at me for it until i eventually cracked and told them to **** themselves. (somehow i didn't get banned for that... my ban ultimately came for something entirely different)

Bluto, you 're a Grey Cup regular aren't you? Did you go to the Grey Cup in Regina this year? as iso said, yeah i stayed home this season. as KBF said, yeah it was because i didn't want to be billeted in some stranger's house. i have a group of friends who are annual attendees who couldn't go and went to Vegas to watch it instead. Robynjt went with them. want to bet where you'd have more fun? i decided against Vegas since i had a group of friends going to a resort north of the city for the weekend that i got in on... then they moved the date to next weekend. so i could've done both but elected to wait till the new year to go back to LV. ridiculous that this event which has clearly outgrown Regina can still be awarded to a city that due to its lack of facilities excludes fans from other markets. let me be very clear for all of the kneejerk apologists: this is not a slam against Regina nor the people who live there. it is a statement of fact. the Grey Cup can not be played in markets too small to house the fans seeking to attend it. end of. (every time i saw the aerial shots at the game i raged... house, house, house, field, silo, stadium... throw remote...)

been looking forward to watching this game less than any GC i can ever remember. just really can't stand the thought that either of these fanbases will get to welcome a GC champion home... ...at least the TiCats are doing me (us all) the favour of shitting the bed so as to save us watching the second half. thanks Hank.

i've known ever since we got Chris Jones that we'd be losing Osh someday in the not too distant future. to whomever gets him, he'll be bringing leadership that demands accountability, emotional intensity and encyclopedic knowledge of defences and special teams... what he'll need is a guru for the offence. a Chapdelaine type. Khari was a poor OC and a middling QB coach and he gives me no reason to believe that he's a good choice for you.

turns out that the Sheepdogs are a studio band.

first half: on our way to the comprehensive victory i had predicted. second half: didn't even score... don't deserve to go to the GC had a (very) bad run in with a drunken A-hole from Hamilton (and his pig wife)... other than that, kudos to the TiCat faithful.

Not sure where Ford is (he isn't in his regular seats...) But I totally want to party with that dude.

14 minutes till kickoff... Atmosphere is buzzing here. Have to credit the black and yellow: there's a horde of them here. A section of them just started the "Argos suck! Argos suck!" Chant... I started chanting "From the Cup!" Back at them... They stopped chanting and looked at each other all confused as if to say "did bluto just break our chant?" Priceless.

my QB is 8-4 in the postseason... theirs notsomuch. no Kackert... but Ray still has Owens, Durie, Inman, Chiles and Bryant... i'm on pins and needles waiting for this. big crowd (which will have a noisy TiCat contingent that will be surely called "half the crowd" by the media who tries to downplay the CFL in this city). will be such a mess downtown (Santa parade, raptors across the street) that i bet that thousands won't be in their seats until well after kickoff. Argos v Stamps after 2 convincing finals victories.

here ya go...