TBURGESS

Looking at the depth chart for the game, it's probably a good thing it won't be televised.

I don't like one dimensional QB's, but I can't say that Marve's a one dimensional QB yet. He had very little choice but to move around last year because of the O line. I don't think that means he can't read a defense. I suppose it could be true, but there isn't enough evidence either way yet. QB's need to do what they do well to be competitive. Marve uses his feet and throws very well on the move. He has the arm to throw from the pocket for sure, but I don't think that's the way to use his best attributes. I don't think he will get a sniff in the NFL next year, no matter what he wants unless he starts for most of the season and plays lights out. I have no expectation that either will be true. I could see him as the #2 this year if Brohm flames out.

I'll never understand why folks want to make a scrambling QB into a pocket passer. Scramblers can be very effective. Flutie for example was a terrific scrambler. He rarely won games from the pocket. He moved the pocket around to gain extra time to throw. Now, I'm not suggesting that Marve is Flutie like. That would be dumb at this point in time. I am, however, suggesting that a scrambling QB can get the job done if the offense is set up correctly.

That truly sucks. I was looking forward to seeing his returns.

It's a business. If the coach doesn't think any player has it anymore, then it's time to replace them. It shouldn't matter if the player has 1 year or a ton of years under his belt. BC gave McCallum a choice to retire or to be cut. He chose to be cut. Nothing the matter with that IMO.

Pencer left the practise field yesterday too. Trail of vomit behind him likely means he's not badly injured though.

O'Shea thinks everyone on the team is good in interviews. I haven't heard him say anything negative about any player or coach while they were on the team since he got to Winnipeg. Kuale? Big name MLB according to O'Shea. Kept starting him even though Wild was there. Etch? Running game doesn't matter according to O'Shea we'll be fine. Long losing streak last year? Blame no one, just keep trotting out the positives. Makes all his positive declarations kind of suspect IMO. (That's not the same as lying like one poster suggested yesterday.) Why was O'Shea annoyed at the MLB question yesterday? Who our MLB's going to be is one of the biggest stories in camp this year. It's one of the position battles to watch, yet O'Shea says something to the reporter like "Your going to ask that question?". Praise for Hurl's intangibles, not his measurables. Runs well and doesn't have to think about it... Hurl's going into his 4th season in Halls defense. He shouldn't have to think about it anymore he be assignment perfect. He knows what the expectations are and the things that will be taught later in TC to his competition who haven't even had a week of Halls defense yet. The tangibles will come to the surface later in TC IMO.

I don't see 2 imports being used as kickers in BC. It just doesn't make any sense to me ratio wise. I don't have a problem with giving McCallum a choice of retiring or being cut. Kinda a vet advantage. If McCallum's time has come, cut him behind closed doors like every other player.

Of course it's my opinion, but my opinion isn't based on nothing or simple assumptions. Facts... Hurl lost his starting job in Regina last year. (No one is saying that's the only reason the Riders were losing) We signed Hurl as a FA for starters money. O'Shea has said multiple times, even before he saw Hurl at TC, that 'We' think he's ready to be a starter. O'Shea said last year that Willy was the starting QB before TC which turned out to be true. Allen has a much better pedigree than Hurl. Some of the best CFL'rs are guys with NFL talent but are a little too small or a little too slow to play in the NFL. We don't NEED to start Hurl anymore because we signed Westerman. Opinion.... Given the above, I'd rather have Allen than Hurl because I think that would make us a better team. Assumption.... Given that O'Shea has already penciled Hurl into the starting job, he's likely to start.

I saw Hurl play last year for the Riders and I wasn't impressed. I said as much when we signed him in FA, so no, I don't think he's starter material, but should be an upgrade on special teams and good for rotation when we need him. Them's the facts as I see them.

I prefer Allen over Hurl because he's played LB very well at a high level, has NFL talent, but is too small for MLB and too slow for DB in the big league. It'll be Hurl though because they brought him in, paid him as a starter and said they thought he was ready to start. Goosen/Chungh at guard/6th is better than Goosen/Neufeld IMHO. I liked the way Daniels played at the end of last year, especially his run blocking. Younger, cheaper and less injury concerns make him a better choice than Dile in my mind. Still... they brought Dile in in FA, put him at the top of the depth chart and paid him like a starter so we could easily see him as a starter at least at the beginning of the year.

I'd love to see that kind of reporting for the Bombers. Of course Drew Edwards is the best in the CFL at it so it might be a bit of a stretch for our media to do as good a job.

When a guy dresses and then gets hurt during TC, he's not been give a vet day off, so no, Neufeld didn't get a vet day off. I said Daniels would beat out Dile for the starting job when we signed Dile in FA. I've not been at TC to see if I'm right, but according to Lawless, I might be. Neufeld's being paid too much (2nd or 3rd highest on our O line IIRC) to be the 6th guy. If Chungh takes his spot, then I expect us to try and move him. I called either Dile or Neufeld to be the TC surprise cut. If Daniels/Chungh play well, it could come true.

What are you basing your opinion on?

Sounds like Neufeld's still fighting the injury bug. No use paying him big bucks if he can't stay healthy. (See how much fun it is to guess what's wrong with a player)

I don't think anyone here owes anyone an explanation for why they're not providing camp updates. I'm not suggesting they do. I've noticed a big difference this year in the number of folks sharing the TC experience around here, so I'm wondering why... Sideline access instead of stadium? Folks not wanting to take the heat for their opinions around here? No one going to camp? Folks lost interest in the Bombers? Relying on what the Bombers and the local media give us is good enough for most? Something else?

Maybe the media folks in Winnipeg finally figured out if they tweet it in real time, no one needs to read their articles the next day. Still doesn't answer why the fans aren't giving us updates this year.

I haven't gone once yet. Bad assumption by me then. Sorry.

I'm disappointed at the TC reports this year too. Very few folks are doing them. I'd expect a daily report from posters like Mike, who I assume is there, but nada. In years past we'd have heard about Moore's great catch yesterday in real time from multiple posters. This year we have to wait to hear about it from O'Shea or read about it in the papers. It's almost like there's a cone of silence.

You say you like to work with facts and not conjecture yet you have already shown in the past that you will only believe what the coach says if it fits what you currently believe to be the truth. So even if he fully disclosed injuries, there is a good chance that you would choose to believe he is lying. As for timeframes, injuries aren't always an exact science. Players have setbacks while training or rehabbing. The truth is that there is a very small percentage of fans that follow these things as closely as the people on this site do, and satisfying their curiosity does not out weigh the cons of fully disclosing injuries. The way I see it is that there are two main reasons why they don't disclose injuries: 1) First, medical conditions are a personal matter and a player would have to agree to have their injury disclosed for a coach to get up in public and do so. This is a matter of a right to privacy between a player and a doctor. I've heard Maurice say this a number of times in his interviews for Jets players. That due to privacy of medical information, he does not have the right to disclose ailments of other people without their permission. Is he making that up to not answer the question? Possibly, I'm not a privacy lawyer, but that explanation certainly makes sense to me. 2) Injuries rarely fully heal during the season and they won't other teams targeting those injuries to take a player out during a game. This is just common sense and the reason why most teams in any sport don't fully disclose injury information. As for how O'Shea treats the media. I can understand why he has the disdain he does for the questions they ask, but I agree he needs to work on how he handles them better. 1) In this day and age, it's possible that explanation makes some sense. I kind of doubt that players are ever asked if it's ok to disclose their injuries. It's easy for Management to use it as an excuse though. I'd guess the real reason is that coaches are control freaks and they don't want any info to get out just in case someone can use it against the team. 2) This argument is often used and it's pretty shaky at best. At the playing speed in the pros it's almost impossible to target another players injury directly during the play. Also most players know that if they target another players injury, that they will get the same in return. These guys all take the same risks and they are more of a brotherhood than most fans think. 3) I don't expect timeframes to be an exact science. Knowing what the injury actually is would give anyone who can google a good idea of the actual timeframe needed to recover. 4) I don't trust what the coaches say because they tend to lie to the media a lot or give half answers or ignore the questions and rant on about what they want to. If they chose to be up front and honest about most things, then I'd believe most things they say, but quite honestly, they are spinning the best case scenario most, if not all the time. 5) The media asks some dumb and leading questions. No argument from me on that one. How the coaches handle it says a lot about they kind of person they are IMHO. Media is a big part of a HC's job description, especially when the other members of his staff aren't allowed to talk to the media. Doing it badly reflects badly on the team. Doing it really badly, like Kelly, earns you a quick trip to the unemployment line. Real leaders handle the media well and that doesn't mean treating them with disdain.

I know thats the way it's going to be. Doesn't mean I have to like it or agree with it.

Off the top of my head... Why do I care what ailment a player has... I like to work with facts, not conjecture. (Stops fan arguments. Some fans know that an injury is something serious, others know that it's really nothing others know that the player is just doggin it, still others know it's something that's embarrassing to a player like a kick in the nuts. The actual facts get rid of all these dumb arguments.) I like to know if this is part of a recurring problem or something new. (Example: Does Addison have another concussion, is it his knee or is it something else?) I don't trust the info coming from the Bombers regarding injury time frames. (A day becomes a day or two becomes several days becomes ????) I like to know if we have to replace a guy going forward or if it's just a day or two off. (Losing Bryant or Picard for any length of time would be a huge problem) I like my HC to treat everyone like an adult and know that they can handle the truth when the get it. (I hate the sneering, the lack of information, the barely suppressed 'You don't need to know anything' that O'Shea uses. Media's part of his job. Get better at it or the media will bite him as soon as they can.)

I want to know what's wrong with our injured players. I hate the way O'Shea handles the media. I consider it lying by omission, which forces fans to make up their own injuries. Most of the time they are worse than the truth. Flame away folks.

And too early to suggest he isn't.... I didn't say he isn't one dimensional. He may be or may not be one dimensional. It's way too early to suggest either is true. Happy now?

Marve's played less than a full game in the CFL total. It's way too early to suggest he's one dimensional.