17to85

more likely scenario, they were planning on closing training camp but when the fan anger rose they did damage control.

"We can't believe this player was still available with our pick, we had him rated as the best player in the draft the whole time" Things every GM everywhere says after a draft. I think it applies here too. Doing a sell job for public consumption. Obviously they like the guy enough to give up a first round pick but I'm not getting super pumped because they're blowing a ton of smoke up his ass right now.

I did say if you can get a first and a prospect that's about the best you can hope for, but keep in mind that first round picks are going to be harder to pry out of teams that aren't certain of their playoff spots going forward. With the changes to the draft lottery teams giving up potential lottery picks will be much less likely. Simply put Buff has a big salary and he does have some question marks about his work ethic. I'd take him but not for the premium some of you think he's worth. Edmonton doesn't have to give up their big pieces to plug a hole temporarily. You want one of those pieces offer something with some long term benefit to it.

"Everything the Bombers do is great" all the complaints stem from the initial tweet that said training camp was closed to the public. It's not about it being in a different location, it's about the surprise news that the public couldn't attend then the scrambling by the club to say "nononononono that's not what we meant! stay tuned!" They coulda had a plan in place to let fans watch well in advance but instead they are in panic mode because they got caught napping on the job.

No it wasn't. The first round pick, well woopdeefrickindoo. One year of buff a first round pick and table scraps ain't enough to get the conversation started about Hall. You know what might get a conversation started? Meyers or Trouba.

It is something that could be a great out reach to the fans. Sure they could say "**** you" to the fans and close practise, but doesn't it make more sense to have it open to the fans so that families can go out for the day and watch a bit of training camp, maybe someones young son has one of the players toss them a ball after practise and you've created a fan for life. There is no negative to having fans watch training camp. For a league like the CFL that prides itself on being accessible and fan friendly not having a way for fans to see training camp is a black eye. Perception is everything and the Bombers need to come up with something that works. Pissing off your fans is no way to run a team.

This is pretty much exactly it. If we get a good OL out of the draft with the first pick it's a good draft regardless of how the rest works out.

I won't be broken up if Cotton gets beaten for the job. The key though has to be that someone has to beat him. Cotton was the best RB in training camp last year, he should have been the starter, but Grigsby fluked out a big game in week one while cotton was hurt and they refused to put the better back in the game.

So the problem here is that you are vastly over rating his value. Gotcha. The price for rental players has been dropping sharply for a few years now.

That says something. Poblah was on Toronto's Neg list prior to him being eligible And there was that safety the Bombers took a while back that Ritchie was looking to bring in as an import because they found out he was a NI and he busted hard. Joe Morgan? That's the one.

what do you honestly think Buff is worth as a 1 year missing piece? You get a first round pick + a secondary prospect I think that's the best you can hope for from anyone. As I pointed out before, Boychuck got a pair of 2nd round picks as a guy with one year left on his deal. Can't expect to get much more than a lottery ticket or two for the guy given his contract status.

That says something. Poblah was on Toronto's Neg list prior to him being eligible And there was that safety the Bombers took a while back that Ritchie was looking to bring in as an import because they found out he was a NI and he busted hard.

and womens soccer of all things.

I think you're on to something. The Oilers are pretty stupid. They waited this long to do something, they will wait another year and hope everything works out. I think they are content to try and win 5-4 rather then 2-1. To get a franchise-calibre D would require them parting with something major and they might as well stand pat right now. They have the coach they want, let him evaluate where they are. For that reason, if Buff was on the market, I could see them being interested. Buff's one year contract reduces his value but it doesnt hurt the Oilers long term. I think other teams would pay more though, a team that thinks they are one piece away from a cup and remember Buff's time with Chicago. A team like that will see the one year as a benefit and pay more in the way of picks and prospects and talented depth to "win now". Think Philly. If you're trying to say Buff is a franchise calibre D I'm going to laugh in your face very hard. No one is offering up a franchise D in trade so all this talk is pretty mute. One year of Buff is not worth a Hall or an Eberle or anything else like that. If you want to talk BUff for something around the 16th overall that the Oilers got from the Pens then I'm sure there's a discussion to be had, but if you think one year of him plus some table scraps gets you a big time name you're out to lunch.

Fact of the matter is that the Bombers are not in a position to be giving away average players on the OL just yet. Picard is old, Neufeld is overrated (but loved by the GM I think for whatever reason) and Chung and Goosen are young. I think it would be a mistake to move Greaves without a big return coming back this season. Maybe if the youngsters step up you do it in the back half of the year or next season but right now it's too much of a gamble.

You're joking right? A first round pick, a guy with one year left on his contract and a guy playing in Russia that Edmonton really doesn't need anymore since they won the McJesus lottery is your offer for Taylor Hall? A guy who has been a top 10 scorer in the NHL twice already at a young age... That is a terrible offer. Try giving Edmonton something you don't want to part with and then add to it if you want to get a player the calibre of Taylor Hall. Buff would be a good fit in Edmonton, but with only one year left on his contract he is not worth a hell of a lot. Boychuck with one year left returned a couple 2nd round picks. Adjust your value for a player to take into consideration contracts.

Okay boss. Some people do care. Mateas just signed a 3 year contract with Ottawa. Same with Goossen last year. If you don't care, that's cool. But others do care. I'm quite curious why he only signed 2 years. if he turns out to be really good he'll get a new contract with a big raise before he's into year 3 regardless. If he wants to try the NFL again why not sign a 2 year deal? It is worrying about nothing. CFL contracts are barely worth the paper they're printed on. Guys play well they get paid, guys don't they get cut.

it wasn't vote splitting that gave the NDP the win in Alberta. Oh sure you can add up the % of votes for the PC and WR and make that assumption, but that's lazy analysis and doesn't even attempt to look at the reasons for the election playing out the way it did. Go back to the previous election in Alberta, do you know why the PCs got the big majority they did? It's because the Liberals collapsed in a rush to prop up the PCs to keep the WR out. WR was gaining support and the left freaked out and added their voice to the PCs in the middle. So then Redford takes that big majority and slaps Albertans in the face with the arrogance and entitlement. People were livid at the PCs and Prentice didn't do anything to make people think they'd changed. The WR should have been poised to win then right? Everyone was going to bail on the PCs for the WR? No because Prentice grifted Danielle Smith but good and got her and a bunch of others to cross the floor and join the PC party. That told people that the WR were no different than the PCs and both parties took a hit in the popularity because of it. The WR was really scrambling to do damage control this past election. So what you have is a bunch of people very unhappy with the PCs, not trusting the WR after the party tore themselves apart looking for a place to vote. The Liberal party couldn't even field candidates in every riding, they had a ton of issues of their own and never had a chance. So who was left? The miniscule Alberta Party that not many people know about who again can't field candidates in every riding? Prentice killed the WR in the short term at very least and thought that his only competition was the WR so a quick election call would carry him to another majority. He spat in the face of Albertans with the budget and dared them to vote for someone else. The province took that dare and threw the PCs arrogance and entitlement in their faces. Now we see what happens. Notley has some challenges considering the overwhelming lack of experience in her caucus and a province that is still right leaning fiscally regardless of this election. She's gotta keep the extreme parts of her party in the middle where she campaigned and play nice with the corporate world. It's an uphill battle and depending on what the right does with itself it might get even harder. There is a chance here that the PCs might be finished, it will then be up to the WR to rally the right around their banner, but that's a challenge as well given what happened to them. Maybe the PCs can recover, but this is a pretty significant blow to them. Interesting 5 years ahead, but I do know this, Notley isn't going to do anything too crazy this term. They're still in the proving themselves to Alberta phase. They come in and upset the apple cart entirely Albertans will throw them out on their asses the first chance they get.

2 years, 3 years who gives a ****? 2 years has been the standard length of a contract in the CFL for a long long time why get our undies in a bunch over a 2 year deal? Some management regimes don't even last 3 years, long term planning in the CFL is wishful thinking at best. Things change so quickly.

Yeah one of the best defensive backs on teh team might be a surprise cut because he's not got reliable hands on punt returns... do you people seriously hear yourselves? Washington is a damned good DB who gives a **** if he ever returns another punt or kick in his time here? He can line up in my secondary any time.

He went to the Esks and you knew that.

The real point is that in order to not have the offer matched you're going to have to pay up an amount that would see you surrender multiple first round picks.

My only problem with Mike is his condescending "know it all " approach to others, and how we have a 20 year old kid giving lectures to posters on these forums like he knows it all, and has life all figured out. His approach just rubs me the wrong way, and he's the only person on these forums that stands out like that because of his know it all attitude, and just dismissing other posters ideas. I think I might need to just start doing what you used to do with Mike's posts and just ignore them. And I get it he has his posse on here, who back him no matter what, so I'm going to lose any internet pissing contest, but that's fine with me. I'm here because I love the Bombers and love discussing Bombers, not to make any friends.Any chance of adding an ignore function on this forum? So you're jealous that people like Mike more than you? Want to know why that is? Cause after the ribbing he got little Mike dropped the self important insider act and didn't care if people thought of him as an insider. You on the other hand still seem to crave that attention. Mike stopped taking himself as seriously and people liked that, why don't you try the same?Uh I'm not jealous of anyone. I assume most people don't like me on here. That's fine with me. I explained my primary issue with him...the way he talks to people and the "know it all" condescending attitude. But I'm ignoring his post from now on, so it'll be a non issue.I get along with everyone at work, except for this one know it all punk who thinks he's the greatest thing in the universe, and now I just ignore him. So it'll be the same here, which is cool. Yet it always comes across as jealousy, and further to my point about not taking yourself too seriously, the bolded is a prime example. I honestly think most people just don't care. If people do dislike you, it's for the constant whining and jealously you show. Stop pretending it's important whether people see you as the smartest guy around or not. It's internet 101.

He had a couple big hits on his highlight package and people thought that meant something. Was just a case of a good name and a couple highlight reel hits and people assumed he was legit. Much more impressive to see someone with impressive stats behind them than an impressive highlight package. If you don't have a good highlight pack then you are either terrible or the people putting together your tape suck badly.

My only problem with Mike is his condescending "know it all " approach to others, and how we have a 20 year old kid giving lectures to posters on these forums like he knows it all, and has life all figured out. His approach just rubs me the wrong way, and he's the only person on these forums that stands out like that because of his know it all attitude, and just dismissing other posters ideas. I think I might need to just start doing what you used to do with Mike's posts and just ignore them. And I get it he has his posse on here, who back him no matter what, so I'm going to lose any internet pissing contest, but that's fine with me. I'm here because I love the Bombers and love discussing Bombers, not to make any friends. Any chance of adding an ignore function on this forum? So you're jealous that people like Mike more than you? Want to know why that is? Cause after the ribbing he got little Mike dropped the self important insider act and didn't care if people thought of him as an insider. You on the other hand still seem to crave that attention. Mike stopped taking himself as seriously and people liked that, why don't you try the same?