TBURGESS

gary lawless ‏@garylawless Jan 11 Richie Hall has a contract in hand and #bombers are just waiting for it to be returned before announcing him as new DC #cfl gary lawless ‏@garylawless Dec 31 Bombers in contract negotiations with Richie Hall Contract in hand and signed contract are two different things.

See this is what happens where there are no facts to go by. Folks make up their own version of reality which may or may not be anywhere close to the truth. For the record, I seriously doubt that this forum comes up in any of the Bombers decisions.

You agree that it doesn't matter to the casual fan and yet you call it impatience by those who want to know what's going on. Wait for the snow to melt to make an announcement? That doesn't help the people who care about the Bombers in the off season and it doesn't help those who simply don't care until training camp. The Bombers being in the news tomorrow is no different than being in the news in February. Make the decision, sign the candidate, and make the announcement. We've heard what the decision is and that the top candidate is Hall. If we've already signed him, I expect there would be something in the Twitterverse or those with inside knowledge would let something slip. That leads me to believe that there's some snag. Maybe Hall figured out that he's worth more than he was when Benevides was still in the picture and the offer we thought was a slam dunk isn't. Maybe another team is thinking of changing out their DC and Hall has other options.

The DC announcement is for the 2% of the fans who are on the message boards. The average fans girlfriend, parents and people like that don't care. Even the casual fans themselves don't even think about the Bombers in the off season unless there's a major free agent signing. Some may read about the draft. Most will wait until it's close to training camp.

Stamps was a great receiver who had a bad year. I expect him to bounce back in Montreal and hit the 1000 yard mark again assuming he doesn't get injured. Edmonton wasn't using him so getting a younger, cheaper receiver in return is a good deal for them. I'd call this one a win win.

JFG's a special teams player and a decent backup. He got a big fan base here by making a couple of big catches late in games early last season. I don't see him making the jump to starter. Kohlert is our best NI receiver. Legit starter, but not a go to guy or a game breaker. Watson was a good receiver and a great blocker, but his time has come and gone IMHO. Even when he was in the lineup for most of last season, he wasn't a difference maker. He may have a couple more years left or he may just get hurt yet again.

You're right, the best way to market the team to the public is just to send out a mass e-mail about the hiring of a new coach. Maybe they can just include it as a hidden message in the wanted ads next week. You think a presser to announce the hiring of Hall would help market the team? Really? The only folks who watch the pressers are the rabid fans who you don't need to sell the Bombers to. The 'news' papers would certainly carry the story. That's where the non-rabid fans get their info anyway.

It is pretty funny. One or two folks want an official notice that we have a DC signed and a bunch of folks get upset about it, call it 'entitlement' and make up 'reasons' why it may not have happened yet. Personally i'd take an official text from the club. No need for a presser on this one. What are they going to say? Hall's only choice for a DC job was Winnipeg and once Benevides turned us and Regina down, there was no one else with experience even in the running.

The way I see it... Chamblin wants a different type of defense than Hall runs, so he ended up taking more and more control during the season. Neither Hall nor Chamblin is going to change the way they think, so it's best for everyone if Hall isn't there anymore. That doesn't make Hall a bad DC, just one who prefers a different style of defense from his HC. Benevides runs defenses the way Chamblin likes, so he'd be a better fit, but he doesn't want the job. That leaves a newcomer as DC to run Chamblin's defense and Regina picked Quick. It remains to be seen if this is a good or bad choice. We likely won't know for sure until late next season. As for Hall in Winnipeg... His defenses need serious pressure from the front 4/7 to be effective. We don't have the players to make that happen so I expect to see changes in our front 7 right away. We'll get a bend don't break, wait for the other team to make mistakes type of defense. Not as exciting as an attack defense (My preference), but played well, it should be effective. Certainly more effective than Etch's.

It is my preference to formulate strongly-held opinions with as little real information as possible, including who the Bombers ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT EXCEPTION MUST DRAFT AT NUMBER TWO OR THEY ARE RUINING THE FRANCHISE!!! (trademark pending), and will vehemently shout down anyone who offers an opinion contrary to mine, so if you don't mind, your so-called "knowlege" has no place here. Harumph. Did 17 hack your profile?

I'm not a Brohm fan, but I think the Bombers will try and re-sign him. I doubt any other CFL team would be interested unless it's at a fire sale price.

That's too bad. I'd have loved to watch a Benevides defense in Winnipeg.

I like aggressive systems, which is why I prefer Benevides. Consensus? Around here? Never. Not even among the smart guys.

Assuming that you're talking about me... Check back in the threads and you'll find that Cortez was my #1 choice for OC and Washington was my #1 choice for DC.

Nice to see that Benevides is still in the running.

It's foolish and insane because he is one of our best DBs. He's better than Leggett, closer to Randle than you seem to think he is. Yeah He's one of the best players on the team. If we didn't have him you'd notice he was missing. Agree to disagree and without the name calling.

Doug Brown seems to be pretty impossible to replace We could have drafted several since he left, but we didn't.

$140K bonus!? WOW. I've never heard of a CFL bonus worth that much before. Smart of Taman to get rid of Picard before he had to pay it. $195K a season sounds about right to me.

BC's got a very good group of coaches so far. Tedford's a bit of surprise, but Cortez and Washington are top notch coordinators.

The Bombers aren't paying down the full loan, they're just paying down the $85 million. The $10M loan from CIBC has nothing to do with the taxpayers (other than potential impact on the Bombers ability to repay the $85M), and any interest paid on the $85M isn't a taxpayer cost - the Province lent $85M to the Bombers, not $85 + interest. No one said the Bombers are paying down the full loan. The $10 mil CIBC loan means the $85 Mil repayment gets pushed back which means accruing extra interest. $85 million over 45 years at 4% compounded semi-annually, one payment per year is about 4.9 Mil per year. If the Bombers weren't paying interest, then the payment would be less than $2 Mil (1.889 * 45 = 85) per year, so no they didn't get an interest free loan. It doesn't matter which level of government is paying the interest on the rest of the money, it's still a taxpayer cost.

Let it go 17. You're the one who made up the story that I didn't like him because of his fumbles. Washington's a pretty good DB, not a great one and would be replaceable if he didn't sign with us. It's not like he's Randle or Leggett or even Sears. He's pretty small (5'09", 176). He gets picked on quite a lot. You like him, so he's some kind of god in your eyes and everyone else is 'foolish and insane'.

Wild was one of our very few impact players last year. He'll be missed on D and as a long snapper. Not impossible to replace. No one is, but he'll be very hard to replace.

Reading between the lines: The Bombers weren't as happy with Morley's play at center last year as a lot of the fans on these sites were and they don't think Goossen is ready to be the starting center next year.

Sucks to hear the Wild has an NFL contract. Good to hear that the Bombers will release him early to take advantage of it. Good luck to Wild.

January isn't signed yet and I think that Daniels out played him late last year. He may not be signed this year, unless his price goes down IMO. Neufeld hasn't been healthy and mostly played guard for us. I don't see him as the starting tackle this year. Morley's expensive, to high for the 6th guy and I'd like to see an up and comer as our 6th. Morley's not a top O lineman, especially as a guard. My take: LT - Daniels LG - Greaves C - Picard RG - Goossen/Neufeld RT - New Import 6th - Neufeld/Goossen #2 pick takes Hinse's spot