johnzo

Actually, this more reminds me of 1999 and Kerwin Bell: we've just gone through two very dark years with awful coaching and no quarterbacking, and now we're getting a 5000-yard a year vet who might not be the first choice of some but who is light-years better than what we had. Hopefully the Khari Jones part of 1999/2000 will repeat itself as well. I feel this franchise is lurching towards permanent joke/doormat status, like the Rough Riders of the 1980s - 1990s. Hank might have clear deficiencies but I think he could stop the bleeding and help us turn the corner. (to mix metaphors horribly).

This is a great point about Dickenson/Garcia: if you're going to downgrade AC because he had a great supporting cast and good coaching, then you have to downgrade both those guys too, given how the Stamps were a titan regardless of which one of them played. That was a hell of a QB dynasty in Calgary in the 90s

Gotcha, thx, missed that.

What's up with Chris Garrett? Is his career done? I don't see him on the Bombers' roster.

Arland Bruce has had some miserable games against Suber too.

For me, Calvillo is a surefire top 5 guy. it goes Flutie, Ray, Calvillo, with Moon slotting in there somewhere based on reputation. I only really got to see Moon play a couple games in 1983 when the Eskimos were (finally) declining, so I can't say. I think Ray gets the nod over Calvillo because Calvillo always played on stacked teams in a weak division, so it's tough to tell how big an impact he was really having. Ray made bad teams into mediocre teams, and he made good teams into champions. He's also a great playoff performer, going 3-1 in Grey Cup games. I think that Dunigan's durability issues takes him out of AC's class. AC was super durable. Dunigan also has a similar Grey Cup record to AC; he was great at winning finals (going to five Grey Cups) but not so great at winning them (he technically won two, but his first, in 1987, was really Damon Allen's victory. Allen was fantastic in that game). I think Dunigan was a more exciting player to watch, by far, but if I had one game to win, I'd chose Calvillo. Garcia had a nice couple of years in Calgary but I don't think that's enough of a body of work to put him in with the all-time greats. Clements I don't think is in the same class with those guys -- he had his moments but he doesn't feel like an all-time great to me. Played in the weak East for a long time, and only got to a couple of Grey Cups. He won 'em both, though. Where does Dieter Brock, the Dan Marino of the CFL, fit into this?

(changing the subject) I grew up in Thunder Bay loving the Jets. Totally pumped to hear that I might be able to get a Thunder Bay Jets jersey in a few years. Also, beauty game by Pavelic last night.

Losing James Green and Wallace Miles is a mortal wound? You say we've "lost" Kohlert -- if you're so sure that he's gone then please tell me why he hasn't signed with the REDBLACKS yet.

What are you even talking about? From 2010 thru 2012 the guy won a Grey Cup, while putting up typical AC numbers: 5000 yds a season and a 3:1 TD/int ratio. He had a sweet thing going with Trestman and wasn't showing any signs of slowing down ... not until last year. Ideally he would have quit after 2012 and spared himself that awful concussion but I can't blame a guy for hanging onto the only job he's ever held in his adult life.

The media loves the Sherman story, it'll be pumping their tires for the next couple weeks. Denver-Seattle isn't a real media bonanza matchup, both are mid-tier media markets as far as NFL cities go, and neither team has a big intense national following like teams such as the Packers or Cowboys. Also I gotta say that I hate the two week break between the finals and the Super Bowl. Just play the goddamn game already.

Was it Calvillo refusing to take a seat? Or was it the coaches refusing to play McPherson et all? Also I remember hearing that Calvillo didn't want people talking to him during games, he wanted to sit alone, and that this was an issue for Dan Hawkins. That kind of aloofness is a bit of a red flag; doesn't sound like a coaching personality.

Note that the East was pretty weak when Moon won his Grey Cups. I think Brandon's question is interesting. Best CFL QB career ever? I'd say yes. Guy played at a high level for longer than any other CFL QB. His durability was also pretty amazing, you take away his wife's cancer and his final concussion and he didn't miss a lot of starts. The only CFL career that compares is Damon Allen, and Allen was much less consistent than Calvillo was. Allen was dynamite in Grey Cups, though. Definitely not the best CFL quarterback ever. Flutie was spooky good. He had radar like Wayne Gretzky did in his prime, and was way better (3-1?) in Grey Cups than Calvillo was.

Guy made one of the biggest plays in Seahawks history -- hell, in Seattle sports history -- wish he'd been more classy about it.

C'mon you guys, it's not AC's fault the Bombers have been such a shitty team. Guy is one of the best ever, it's been a privilege to watch him.

(stupid Sun. The article says his career began in 1995, but the Posse were a thing in 1994.)

Will have a news conference next Tuesday. David Naylor has confirmed he'll be retiring. http://www.torontosun.com/2014/01/14/longtime-cfl-quarterback-anthony-calvillo-to-announce-future-plans-next-week

Or sit tight to become a midseason injury / desperation signing guy like Michael Bishop. The QB supply in the CFL is still thin enough that it's unthinkable that someone with Burris' pedigree will be sidelined for long, even if he doesn't go to training camp. Say Edmonton loses Riley or BC loses Lulay for the season, I bet you'd see an unemployed Hank get employed quick.

Man, this thread is a lot better than an offseason thread about another team naming its stadium ought to be.

I was amazed that any DB could cover anyone on that day. The field was so icy that everyone was running in slow motion. You look at the dome cups like 83 and 87 and 89, they're lightning-fast compared to that game. Our offensive gameplan was perfect, we let the receivers draw everyone deep and then dropped it off to Kehoe or Cantner in the flat. We ran that play over and over and Hamilton couldn't cover it. They were keeping people in the box to defend against Reaves and lateral pursuit was super hard on that terrible field anyway. I think that 68-7 game twelve years later was Commonwealth's revenge for our '84 Grey Cup win. The biggest thing, scheme-wise, that I notice when I watch it is that there were very few (if any?) shotgun formations. Everything was under center with the quarterbacks doing long drops. Lots of QB footwork there you just don't see today.

Speaking of ask-the-coach type stuff, Mike O'Shea gave me an awesome answer on cfl.ca a few years ago. I wanted to know how defences adjusted based on what the offence showed at the line and he broke it all down for me really well. http://www.cfl.ca/article/mike-o-shea-answers-your-questions_42082

I actually applauded Kelly when he stopped doing the call-in show. It's just a stupid bit of fan service. No one comes out of the coach call-in show looking better than they came in, except for maybe Knuckles, who is probably immune to dumb at this point in his career.

Goodbye first pass attempt of the season being intercepted.

Best of the season to everyone, and especially to Rich, Mike, and the mod team for giving us such a great forum!

Reed > Etcheverry > Marshall Watching Marshall's soft-serve defence was so frustrating. At least Etcheverry attacks with his D. Reed's D wasn't super good but it kept us in a lot of close games in 2010.