TBURGESS

Best guess is that 95% of the normal starters will be starting this week. Maybe a couple of new guys, but I don't expect to see Picard or Brohm or Davis starting. I'll pull on my Jersey and drink some wobbly pops one more time this year then sigh as I put it back in the closet until next year.

I agree with protecting QB's in principle, but I don't know what else you expect the league to do. There are already special rules for the QB that are mostly enforced properly. You can't hit the QB after he throws the ball or below the knee or above the shoulders. The QB can slide feet first to protect himself. How many QB's were injured this year on illegal plays anyway? 2 or 3? I think the new rules are a big part of why this season was worse than last. The defences have to play off the receivers which gives the underneath play to the offenses, which means that you see tons of short passes and huge completion percentages without a lot of yards. Lots of PI's this year. Lots of challenges to get PI's that weren't called in the first place. Lots of those are just a prayer that doesn't get answered, which slows the game down. (The first challenge shouldn't be free) Lots of other penalties called for things that weren't penalties last year, which slows the game down.

Just go into an Incognito window in Chrome and you can read as many articles in the Sun as you want to. (Resets the counter to 1 every time).

I filled mine out last night and it wasn't quite as easy as I thought it would be. More players that I want back than those I want gone. Maybe player talent isn't quite as much of an issue as I've been told it is.

Did I miss some official announcement? Only thing I heard was Doug Brown and Lawless said he was coming back.

BC gave the ball away 5 times, one for a TD and still beat TO. What a bad game. Oh well. We're officially done.

If O'Shea was the HC of any other team who'd been 8th out of 9 teams two years in a row and hadn't won 2 games in a row for most of that time, no one would want him as our HC. In fact, most would rightly ridicule the idea.

My take: Calling reviews should have to be done within 10 seconds of the end of the play. First the coaches and spotters look at it. Then we go to a TV timeout. Then the HC throws the flag. Then it goes to the refs in Toronto. Then they get it right or wrong depending on your view. Finally 10 minutes later, we start play again. I hate the PI reviews but I accept they are going to be there going forward so offensive PI should be reviewable as well. I don't like the idea of a 7 point TD with no point after. I'd prefer if the 2 point point after try came from 5 yards out. I'd like the single for missing a FG to only be applied if the ball stays in the end zone to force the returners to run it out or give up the point. If the ball goes through the end zone, then no points awarded, just like hitting an upright. How about changing the FG's points depending on the range? 2 points for FG inside the 20. 3 for FG between 20 and 45. 4 outside the 45.

Fyp

Crappy cheap shot and it wasn't even the first time he did it in the game let alone the season. I hate that kind of crap no matter who does it. No surprise that he's a little lighter in the wallet. If there were any teeth in the CFL he'd get at least a 1 game suspension. Too bad too. I like everything else about Westerman.

Less competent than 8th in a 9 team league two years in a row? Less competent than less wins in year 2 than in year 1? Less competent than no winning streaks (2 or more in a row) at all this year, in fact none since last July? Less competent than not beating any of the 5 teams who've made the playoffs this year? Who would hire a HC like that?

We've only had 5 plus .500 seasons in the last 15 years and 3 of those were in '01, '02, and '03, which leaves 2 winning seasons in the last 10 years. We've been out of the playoffs 5 of the last 6 years and will probably be out 6 of the last 7 by the end of this season. Those stats are more important to fans in the stands than the 25 years without a Grey Cup win IMHO.

Talking to assistant coaches doesn't mean we want them as an assistant in Winnipeg. Maybe Miller's talking to an assistant or two (Condell? Steinauer? Brady?) about wanting to make the jump to HC next year. Maybe he doesn't want Walters or O'Shea to do it because he already knows that Walters/O'Shea won't be here next year.

You really want to leave this job to O'Shea? His past player and coach recruitment record demonstrates that he has virtually no connections or ability to do this job well. He is the antithesis of a schmoozer. No. I really want to give the job to a new HC who's shown an ability to recognize a good coach when he sees one. I also want it to be done in a professional manner following the CFL protocol of asking to talk with coaches in the off season.

Not Millers job. Shouldn't be done during the season. Unprofessional.

No, they didn't, but no defense can consistently excel when they spend so much time on the field. The O has to give them a break from time to time. Look at the time our D spent on the field today. The defense is the best part of our team, but they didn't wear down as the game went on. Ottawa threw for 300 yards in the first half.

525 yards against and 38 minutes of Ottawa offense tells me that the 'D' didn't have a good game.

Lawless has been flogging that (hopefully dead horse) idea since the Banjo bowl. I for one, hope he's wrong, because that's a horrible idea.

The 'I like Mike' group will be happy to see Lawless' article on TSN: http://www.tsn.ca/could-the-riders-ask-to-talk-to-jim-popp-1.381277

Of course you did, because it's the most contrarian opinion to be had. Hiring DD would be no better than keeping MOS on, which I'd be just as happy to do. It's not contrarian to say I'd like to see DD in Winnipeg. We already given O'Shea a chance and he's proven (12-22) that he's not up to the task. I don't know if DD can make the jump to HC, but he's excelled everywhere he's been except the NFL.He's the best off all the young guys wanting to become a HC IMO. If he can't make the jump, then we fire him in a couple of years and try again. DD is an OC of one of the best offenses in the league even tho they've had to replace most of the O line, half their receivers and have only had Cornish for part of the year. It's pretty much agreed on that we need to fix our offence and DD could bring that to the Bombers.

If Huf gets pushed out, I'd hope we'd back the Brinks truck up to his door and offer him GM/HC. If DD gets pushed out, I'd be happy to ignore the whole rookie aspect and take him as our HC. Yup, I said it.

It's not just Winnipeg. Almost no one keeps HC's who don't make the playoffs for 2 years in a row. Almost no HC's who've started with 2 losing seasons have ever turned it around even on other teams. You're talking continuity on a 5 win team? You really want to continue in the same vein? Another season of hoping to luck into the last playoff spot and go with the old 'anything can happen in the playoffs' scenario? I don't, Yes... we need a winning record or at least a 9-9 record before we go for continuity. Find folks who can win and stick with them is better than find folks who people like but aren't winning and stick with them.

Glenns stats would have looked a lot better if his receivers had caught the ball they way they usually do. Probably wouldn't have changed the outcome though because Hamilton is a way better team than Montreal this year.

How would us releasing him save face? If Montreal wanted to take him from our PR, they could have done it by simply making him their 3rd string QB for a week.

When you start by assuming that Walters is a good GM and that O'Shea's a good HC, you lose the argument IMO. O'Shea shouldn't have hired MB in the first place at the very least he had his opportunity to fire MB last off season. Now you want to give him another year because he couldn't figure out that MB was useless in the first place? Hall's been a success, but honestly, Etch should never have been hired in the first place and we were one of two teams who was looking for a DC when Hall was fired from Regina, and they were the other team. Hall either signed with us or went out of the CFL. I don't see the massive turnaround you do. 5 Wins this season is worse than the 7 we got last year. We haven't won back to back games since last July. We look like we're out of the playoffs again this year for the 3rd year in a row or we might sneak in with 5 or 6 wins. O'Shea's job is to put a winning team on the field and he's failed. It's Walters and Millers jobs to change the way the organization is viewed by others.