iso_55

What's happened to Grand Marais? I was there last summer after a number of years & there used to be a lot of burger joints along their main drag. Now, it's just Lanky's. Any explanation? I was shocked. It's like the place is dying off.

Guys, let's get real here.... Wow.

For chains, I prefer Panago Pizza. For a cheap pizza, I like Little Caesar's BBQ Chicken Hot n Ready.

It's Desjardins. He left a scorched Earth in Hamilton with an expensive contract for Casey Printers. He's now upped the pay significantly for elite qbs in the CFL in the process with the Burris contract. You have to wonder what Ricky Ray & Travis Lulay who are better qbs than Hank will want in the future. Seven hundred thousand? Eight hundred thou??? Not saying they're not worth it but it's no good if the pay structure for players at one position are out of whack with others. Generally, it'll drive up the salaries for other positions now.

I try to get to Chicken Delight once per visit. Usually the night before I drive back to Calgary. I stay at my brother's place in Winnipeg everytime I come to town. I usually check into a hotel the night before I leave so as not to disturb them taking a shower, packing etc as I'm up around 3;30 am the morning I go back. So, I usually say my goodbyes just before dinner time, go get some CD, take it back to my hotel for an early supper & hit the hay about 10 pm... Just a routine I've got myself into over the years.

If there is a strike, I'll blame the BOGs not the Players. They deserve to be paid & to be partners. After all, it's the players we watch & not the BOGs. The league needs to pay them their fair share.

My concern is that we'll have more coaches challenge flags & slow the game down even more. It's also pretty evident that on 90% of deep throws the official makes a PI call. I don't think the CFL does enough to train their officials on pass interference & that should be the one big area the league needs to clean up with officiating. I just don't want to see games any longer than they are now. I'd also like to see coaches be penalized for bogus challenges. Throwing a challenge flag just for the sake of throwing it on the 1% chance the replay official will find something to overturn or confirm a penalty.

Jacquie, I can assure you that I believe both individuals are probably crazy. Johnson is waaay out there. He's had as feeling of entitlement I bet right back to high school that he can do anything he wants, anytime he wants. I feel sorry for his now ex wife. She didn't deserve to get beat up like that. No matter what occurred between them. A man who hits a woman is a coward first, needs to spend time behind bars second & needs help third so he never does it again. In Calgary, Joffrey Reynolds assaulted his former girlfriend in her apartment. The guy may have been a great running back but what he did should prevent him from ever going on the Stampeders Wall of Fame at McMahon Stadium forever. He did serve some jail time but not enough as far as I am concerned. He also violated his parole a number of times including missing court dates & contacting his former girlfriend which he wasn't allowed to do which got him thrown back in jail a second time. Reynold's now been deported back to Houston, TX. I doubt we'll ever see that guy back in Calgary again. Not many fans, players or media here stand by him anymore. He's basically thought of in Calgary as scum. I think we can move on now Jacquie. As I misunderstood your post, I apologize.

Pizza Hut pizzas are too greasy.

I'll take your words under advisement. Thank you.

That would make sense because the punt cover team had to give the returner a 5 yard cushion like today. I had forgotten about the 5 yard rule. Just add a couple of yards onto that by stepping forward & voila, you have the return stats. Brule developed into an All Canadian corner during his time with the Bombers. I remember Brule & #27 Doug Strong, another pretty fine Canadian defensive back as the other punt returner at that time.

He freakin headbutted her. You think this is nothing?!?! Okaaay Jacquie, I didn't know. Don't get your guts all tied up in a knot. I hadn't heard anything about Johnson's domestic abuse case since the Hard Knocks series a few years ago when he was released. All you needed to say was that he was convicted of deomestic assault & went to jail. From your comment you seem to be assuming that somehow I don't think spousal abuse is serious which is so wrong if you do. So, I don't like that assumption. Next time, choose your words differently, okay. Boy, you sure read a lot into one sentence. Sure Mike, the comments weren't directed at you so why should YOU feel offended? I do get upset when someone says something like that to me. Jacquie doesn't know me. She has no idea about my beliefs or core values. So yeah, damned right I resent it. I think Johnson is a coward for doing what he did. I do think what he did was serious. Very serious. I honestly didn't know he did that.

He freakin headbutted her. You think this is nothing?!?! Okaaay Jacquie, I didn't know. Don't get your guts all tied up in a knot. I hadn't heard anything about Johnson's domestic abuse case since the Hard Knocks series a few years ago when he was released. All you needed to say was that he was convicted of deomestic assault & went to jail. From your comment you seem to be assuming that somehow I don't think spousal abuse is serious which is so wrong if you do. So, I don't like that assumption. Next time, choose your words differently, okay.

#32 Paul Brule. Cornerback & punt returner. Played with the Bombers from 1968 through 1972. There's a name from the past. Remember him very well. He returned punts back in the day when there was no blocking allowed. The ball was punted, caught & the returner took a few steps & fell down as he was swarmed. Brule was good at it. I mean, as good as to be expected under the circumstances for what most fans considered a boring & wasted play. You look at the punt return averages back in the day before blocking & they were 3.5 yards I bet on average. A good returner might be 4.2 yds per return. All the punt returners back then on every team were Canadian. They were deemed expendable by the coaches. Very, very few Americans returned punts for fear of injuries as they were the main playmakers at the skill positions. They did have to have great hands as I recall hardly any of them ever muffing a catch with 12 tacklers running full speed towards them unblocked. And guts. Those CANADIAN punt returners back then had to have plenty of guts. Returning punts was a suicide mission before the blocking rules changed.

You could be right, SPuDs... I just think it's circumstances & the way things are working out. O'Shea thinks that the coaches he hired are more than qualified to be Bomber coaches & I'm okay with that. I wanted to see more CFL experience. Having Stubler sign with Calgary still stings but gotta move on.

SPuDs, yeah, I think it is just working out that way... You think O'Shea just wants Canadian coaches? He wants to win first. I don't think he's some kind of Canadian nationalist when it comes to hiring qualified people.

I could care less if the coaches are American or Canadian. I just want coaches that can win. Period. If they don't, find new ones. I wouldn't call this staff cool or ground breaking. Some of them weren't the team's first choice because some coaches more desirable that we wanted went elsewhere & wouldn't sign here. It's just the way things worked out.

If Chiu is qualified, why not? I'd like to see this coaching staff with more overall coaching experience so I have a wait & see attitude towards it...

kkpfrase was really upset on CFL H more than a few times because her brother is just an okay safety. He's nothing special. He gets beat a lot. He overcommits & then can't react in time. Ottawa is going to get torched deep a lot with him back there. Now if I said that when he was with the Stamps she'd have been all over me with anger but it was a well known fact.

I read a story years ago where Asper was indignant about the games being cancelled. Wettenhall & Braey were lukewarm on hiring Lysko to begin with & the actions he took to cancel the games pushed them over the edge. But IIRC it was Lysko getting Asper angry & aligning himself with the other 2 that precipitated his being fired. Bottom line as Alison Redford is finding out, you may think you may are the boss but you serve at the pleasure of caucus. Lose them & you are done. In this case, the BOG's. If Cohon starts fining teams heavy handedly, he'll be out of a job.

Why take the chance being sued on a board where you're supposed to come have fun & talk about football? If people take things to the limit as far as slandering others then they have no life. I say things here & can be pretty blunt at times but I know there is a limit to what I can say about public figures.... if people go past that line then it's their fault if they wind up in court & spend their next year's salary on legal fees.

Remember former CFL Commisioner Mike Lysko & his insistence that the CFL cancel their weekend games immediately after 9/11 but the Board of Governors didn't want to, especially Braley, Asper & Wettenhall? Lysko as Commish had the power to do what he did which was to cancel the weekend games & he did so.It was the right decision, I believe but for all intents & purposes he was a dead man walking after that as those 3 got him removed as CFL Commissioner after the 2001 season ended. So yeah, Cohon has the power to fine teams but he'll make a lot of enemies handing out fines like that to teams that need every penny of revenue to survive. As well as embarrass the hell out of the owners. He'd be gone within the next year.

I don't think or hope so. We need help NOW. We can't afford to waste another pick. We have to improve our Canadian strength before we can start to improve as a team. Drafting Lavertu & he returns to school would be a bad outcome.

Guess I'll be "that guy"...... Umm welcome to the board. How is it you know of Rob and why do you feel he will have a great CFL career? Thanks for the welcome. I've known Robert since he was in middle school. Extended family...brother in law. He's a good kid and is so very focused and talented. I won't pretend to know much about the CFL rules and the game in general but from what I've seen, it's a pass oriented league and the QB should have a strong arm and good mobility which are both strengths for Robert. How's the Offensive line in Winnipeg? Receivers? RB's? Kinda figured you knew him pretty well. You will quickly learn we have an extremely passionate fan base here and are very championship Hungary (it's been a while) This makes the majority of us grumpy and a little on edge sometimes when we have someone come in and start talking up someone we don't know as the next best thing. No offence to you and Robert. We have had plenty of players come through our league that just fizzle out or leave during training camp due too many different reasons especially QBs. This is why we are usually pretty sceptical about a new guy. If Robert is committed and passionate about football he will fit in here quite quickly. I wish him the best if he makes it through mini camp and into camp. Winnipeg is a fun place to play football. How is our Oline?...let's just say it's a work in progress. RB...we have had pretty solid RBs as far back as I can remember and not a possiision to worry about. Nothing wrong with a family member pumping another family members tires here. On CFL Horsemen, Eric Fraser's sister who went by the handle kkpfrase would attack anyone who said anything negative about her brother. It got pretty funny at times, especially when Stamps fans on that board would say Eric sucked in coverage after a game as she'd lose her mind. Now she's on the Ottawa fan board. That'll get interesting. I once told her going to war with every fan who criticized her brother was not very smart. And that maybe Eric didn't appreciate the fact that she did. I just told her she should either stay away from CFL H or just relax. But I know it would be hard... If I had family in the CFL, I'd disappear from here as I'd know I'd end up saying something I shouldn't & later regret it.

I've seen that place but never tried it.