johnzo

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I suspect that it'll be an injury that brings Goossen into the starting lineup. We're not deep enough to just let him stew until he's ready; at some point he'll just be tossed in and we'll see if he sinks or swims.

yup, I horked it up. I blame not being able to do simple arithmetic in my head while posting on my phone on the bus. The extra win will not go to the BB. I feel pretty good about the 5-13 prediction, alas.

Calgary 13-5 -- class of the league, depth at every position, will be fine with either Tate or BLM starting. BC 11-7 -- Kevin Glenn will keep them rolling in cozy pass-friendly B.C. Place. Sask 10-8 -- lost some pieces but I think we saw Durant level up last year and when he's at his best I don't think he has an equal in the league. Edmonton 7-11 -- a year ahead of Winnipeg, but still a pretty bad team. Winnipeg 5-13 -- national part of the roster is super thin and there's no quick fix. Bombers feel years away from being competitive. Hamilton 11-7 -- terrific group of nationals with Laurent and Butler signing on; Austin will bring Collaros along well. Toronto 11-7 -- I dunno, it seems right to put the Argos and the TiCats at equal footing. Montreal 8-10 -- transition year, chaos at OC will set them back but I think that Tom Higgins will get them gelled by the end of the season. He's turned around teams before. Ottawa 4-14 -- who is Hank gonna throw the ball to? This is the weakest collection of receivers I can remember in the CFL.

GODDAMMIT. TSN VOD is the only way I can watch the CFL down here at all. Any Rogers or Bell subscribers out there want to make some easy $$ sharing their account? PM me.

I think mbrg is right here. There were only five Stampeders rushing on that play. Seven guys were on the line, two dropped back. And FFS we had Grigsby in the backfield blocking too, so our protection outnumbered their pass rush 6-5. Look at how #51 was one-on-one with the outside rusher and totally whiffed on him. He wasn't even a speed bump. This is some Boatmanesque ****. Meanwhile on the other side of the line, #60, he's just kinda wandering, lost in space, and then he reaches out and taps the guy opposite him as if to reassure. This looks pretty shameful for the OL here. Maybe you can fault Hall for throwing a ball he shouldn't have thrown, but you can't blame him for playing behind an LT who's more of a matador than a football player.

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I think that if Brohm is the #2, he'll be the least popular guy in Manitoba -- he'll be unjustly standing between Robert Marve and the starting job.

Man, I keep hearing how Aaron Woods is a keeper but I've never seen him do anything in a game to really distinguish himself. What am I missing?

I think we're gonna look like the 2013 Eskimos. Terrible record, only occasionally competitive, but with a promising QB.

I'm impressed by Willy's pocket presence. He seems to move away from danger well and he keeps his eyes downfield and completes passes even when he's under siege. It's been a long time since we've had a QB who could do that at all. I'm thinking we're going to be like Edmonton was last year: pretty awful record but with promising QB play.

I think the reaction to Poblah vs. Pencer just a matter of the prominence of the different positions. I think it's easier to see when an OL isn't doing their job, especially on TV. The OL is on TV every play. When they screw up, it's usually a sack and the end of a series and an almost certain replay so that the color guy can pin the blame It's harder to see when a receiver's not doing their job. A fourth or fifth option receiver like Poblah draws the crowd's/camera's attention 2-3 times a game. If a guy like Poblah's not productive, maybe it's because he's not getting open, or maybe it's because the QB likes another receiver better, or maybe the offensive scheme never features him. So I think that bad OL are more natural fan hate targets. Receivers are largely invisible and get more patience.

A CFL strike sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud, but this is the Crazy Football League we're talking about, so I never just dismiss potentially bad news out-of-hand.

Re: NI talent, it really hasn't helped that we've lost our top three NIs during the past two off seasons. It's not just bad drafting that hurts us--I'd love to see a draft success breakdown by team because I'm not certain we're the worst drafters in the league. It's the exodus of NI talent that has really killed us.

Called it, and I don't ever get predictions right. Pencer just didn't look like a football player against the Argos.

Yeah, I'm wondering how much more patience we have with Pencer. He looked overmatched out there, just whiffing on guys.

lolFriesen

Fired up!

HBO is owned by Time Warner Cable, which is not exactly a forward-thinking organization.

That wasn't a training camp injury.

Do you know what a jersey devil is? The only people who fight "real" jersey devils are Mulder and Scully on the X-Files. Do Catholic folks also object to tasmanian devils? Devil's food cakes? Dust devils?

You know, I bet Burris sticks around the league for 3-4 more years. He's been so good at avoiding injury that I think he's pretty low mileage for a 38-year old.

Love seeing three new import RBs. Hopefully one or more of the newcomers emerges; we need an upgrade there.

This is super interesting. For all the crap we give to football officials, you've gotta respect the level of book learning an official has to have in the CFL. http://www.cfl.ca/article/test-time-take-the-2014-cfl-rules-exam I got 5/10.