Noeller

Last year moved to prime time for the first time. Riders saying they'd like to move down but asking price is high...

Hadn't he had some pretty significant injuries?

Minor news, but fwiw, Jeff Fuller was waived by his NFL team today.......not sure if he'd come back north to Stamps (or whoever) or if he's planning on trying to catch on with another team down there.

Fwiw, I got it from a Kirk Penton tweet......had not heard anything about the kid.

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but apparently Matty Dunigan's kid Dolan (playing for La Tech, like the old man) was born in Winnipeg and therefore eligible for the draft tomorrow. Penton says he's a DE, but is listed at 225lbs, which doesn't seem right, tho I suppose he could just be a pure speed guy...

I know absolutely nothing about anyone in this draft, but it's always exciting to see how it goes down. Looking forward to it!

Laine ended up being benched for a good chunk of today's game. Bit of an eye opener....still a very young kid.

That's a cool tweet for sure...good on him. Hope he can stay healthy...

Lie-Nay, no?

Anything that brings misery to Rider "fans" in any way, shape or form is okay in my books...

CFL announcing today that, along with a direct $50k donation to Red Cross for Fort Mac, they're going to donate proceeds from sale of new jerseys on May 12th to the cause as well.....

http://www.bluebombers.com/2016/05/05/188500/ Kyle Walters is scrolling through page after page of player evaluations, the information quickly flickering on the monitor in the Winnipeg Blue Bomber GM’s office like a picture flip book. To his right is an enormous white board, featuring the names of some of the players the Bombers are tracking heading into next Tuesday’s Canadian Football League Draft. There are numbers in brackets, representing player evaluations and grades. There are notations scribbled in as updates. And, frankly, the whole mess looks like something only the Enigma machine could decode. Now, make no mistake, this is hardly something the Bombers GM has hurriedly slapped together in an attempt to cram for the annual talent grab that is the draft. The draft has always been one of Walters’ passions, dating back to his days as an assistant coach with the Bombers. He’s been through it now from all angles, first as a second-round pick (10th overall) of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1996, then as an assistant coach and assistant GM with the Bombers and now as the man steering the ship on draft night. And, as much work as it is, he absolutely loves every minute of it. “It’s awesome. It’s very exciting,” said Walters in an interview with bluebombers.com this week. “It’s a lot of work. I mean, the day after the draft next week I’m flying to Montreal for the East-West Bowl, which showcases players for next year’s draft. “I remember going home for the holidays this winter and my film work started Dec. 20th. And it took a long time to get through it all.” Getting through it all represents the bulk of the work, covering months and months of research. During a 45-minute chat this week, Walters broke down how the club prepped for next Tuesday’s draft: -The work for the draft begins, as Walters explained, at the annual East-West Game that features CIS players heading into their CFL draft year. This year’s game is at Molson Stadium in Montreal and includes three days of practices, a combine for those participating and a CFL free-agent camp. That’s where the evaluation process really begins in earnest. -In September, the CFL will provide a list of every player who is draft eligible. This year’s number was 594 and CFL teams then begin whittling through those names to see which players are still active on a CIS or NCAA roster. After that process, the list had been cut almost in half, down to 300. -Walters and Ted Goveia, the club’s Assistant GM & Director of Player Personnel, then work their schedules so that during the fall, they are watching all the CIS players they can, taking in at least one live game of every CIS team. Danny McManus, the Assistant GM & Director of U.S. Scouting, and Drew Morris, the National Scout, will do the same for the Canadians playing in the NCAA. Along the way, they are conducting as many interviews as possible with college coaches and pro liaisons – NCAA schools have staff strictly to handle inquiries from NFL and CFL teams about their players – as well as athletic therapists, teammates, etc. all in an effort to compile as much information as possible about a prospect. -After watching at least three games of each prospect live or on film, Walters then puts together a 25-play video clip of all 300 players on their list which shows both the good and the bad, strengths and weaknesses. That begins a grading process (out of five) that the Bombers use which works like this: That process then pares the list even further and the Bombers develop a Top 50 list from which Walters, Goveia, and Head Coach Mike O’Shea put together written reports That ranking process takes into account a player’s ability, but also some of the intangibles like character/leadership and injury concerns. Those grades are adjusted after the annual CFL Evaluation Camp held in Toronto which includes player testing, interviews and drills. The process hardly stops there. As the list is adjusted, the Bombers’ brain trust begins digging even more for answers. Follow-up interviews with college coaches are conducted and, if there are injury concerns, more questions are asked. Just how diligent are the Bombers in all this? Last week, the club flew in four prospects they are interested in to have their own medical staff conduct examinations. This year’s draft is especially deep along the offensive line – the Bombers have seven O-linemen ranked with first-round grades of 4.9-5.0 – and has good talent at the receiver and linebacker positions as well. The Bombers have seven selections in the draft: 9th, 10th, 28th, 37th, 46th, 55th and 64th. Their first-round selection, which would have been second overall, was forfeited when they grabbed linebacker Garrett Waggoner in the supplemental draft. Asked if he felt any differently about forfeiting that pick to add Waggoner, Walters said: “I’m cautiously optimistic on him coming back and improving. He played all the games last year and showed he was pretty good. Relative to the other first-round players drafted last year, he had a similar impact. We also knew that Graig Newman was likely headed to free agency (he signed with Saskatchewan this winter). I still think Garrett Waggoner’s athleticism is still something to watch.” Surrendering their first-round pick means that for the first time since 2010, the club will not have a pick in the top 3. But they do pick back-to-back to start the second round, at the 9th and 10th spots. The 9th pick came as part of the trade that sent Chris Greaves to the Edmonton Eskimos last year. “With two picks in the top 10, we know we’re going to get two guys we like,” said Walters. As well, the additions of Matthias Goossen and Sukh Chungh through the draft (both are starters on the offensive line now) as well as depth guys like Jesse Briggs, Derek Jones, Brendan Morgan and Chris Normand (plus, a possibly healthy Addison Richards this year), means the Canadian talent cupboard is no longer barren. Still, the draft is always a search not only for depth players who can compete on special teams, but for potential homegrown stars. “There’s much less desperation this year for us,” Walters said. “You always want to add to your O-line depth. Every single team every single year is going to say that. But in the last couple of years we were saying, ‘Boy, we need a kid to come in and dress and play at some point.’ “We’re deeper in certain areas, now we’re looking at upgrades who can maybe beat somebody out. That’s kinda nice rather than we have to draft this position because we don’t have a guy there.”

It's the Donald Trump/Red State mentality.... Freedom Of Speech!! I can say whatever I want!!

I was gonna say, the Con's have just as much fanaticism on their side, over different issues. But now's not about politics and the extremists on either end. I tend to be a very middle-ground person, and this is the time for middle-ground common sense to prevail...

TORONTO — The Canadian Football League has revealed details on the time and broadcast information for the 2016 CFL Draft, which will be televised on TSN2 and RDS2 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET on May 10. The league also announced Wednesday that the draft has expanded from seven to eight rounds. “With the emerging Canadian football talent across all levels, general managers across the CFL agreed that expanding the draft would be beneficial to the league.” said Glen Johnson, senior vice president, football. Adding a round to the CFL Draft allows nine more Canadians the opportunity for a training camp invite, as well as giving these players, who may return to school for their fifth year, to get professional experience, helping in their development. For the teams, it gives them an additional player in training camp who does not count toward their overall maximum roster limit. Since 2013, the CFL Draft consisted of seven rounds of selections and from 1997 to 2012 the draft concluded after six rounds. It was also announced that TSN2 and RDS2 will broadcast the CFL Draft on television from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. ET with subsequent rounds being streamed live on TSN GO. TSN’s CFL Draft team will be hosted by Farhan Lalji, joined by CFL on TSN analyst and CFL Draft guru Duane Forde, who has covered the draft on 11 previous occasions. Joining Lalji and Forde will be CFL Insider Gary Lawless, CFL on TSN analyst Chris Schultz and Lee Barette, founder of the pre-eminent website on football prospects in Canada, CanadaFootballChat.com. RDS’ Draft team will consist of host Matthieu Proulx as well as a trio of analysts, Bruno Heppell, Didier Orméjuste and Pierre Vercheval. CFL.ca will have wall-to-wall coverage with instant analysis, exclusive interviews and official Draft Tracker for fans to keep their eye on for all eight rounds. Barring any trades, the order for the first round of the 2016 CFL Draft is as follows: 1. Saskatchewan Roughriders Winnipeg Blue Bombers* 2. Montreal Alouettes 3. BC Lions 4. Toronto Argonauts 5. Hamilton Tiger-Cats 6. Calgary Stampeders 7. Ottawa REDBLACKS 8. Edmonton Eskimos *Winnipeg forfeited its first round selection in the supplemental draft to select Garrett Waggoner. The Canadian Football League regular season kicks off June 23 when the Toronto Argonauts host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at their new home at BMO Field. It culminates with the playing of the 104th Grey Cup on Nov. 27, also in Toronto.

Don't get me wrong, I'm anti-All Things Conservative, but now is not the time for politics or eco-conspiracy theories........let's just do everything we can to band together and help.

Lethbridge-based ******-canoe from the NDP party tweets out this morning that all of this is karma on Fort Mac for all the environmental damage done due to oil and gas work. Believe what you want about the oil and gas industry, but what a dink thing to post on social media RIGHT NOW.....

That's the ***** of it... Forecast for AB is mostly hot and sunny with 40kmh winds. Thurs has a 60%chance of showers but that's about it...

Bob Hartley is from Ottawa area and interviewed once back around 2008 for a Sens gig. Will definitely be on their radar.

Man some of those images... Terrifying. Everyone getting our of town as fast as possible. Some to Lac La Biche, some to wherever they can go. So scary...

We'll likely be checking it out next week sometime...busy weekend coming up...

is it Friday yet? I want Civil War now.........

I've tried Googling, but not really getting anywhere -- anybody seen TSN mention anything about their coverage of the draft? Just curious if it'll be in the evening or day time, and how many rounds they might show on TV before going online-only....

Lawless saying that Kevin Dineen is being mentioned by all his contacts as a strong candidate for Calgary....

It's gonna come down to what people think determines "Rookie Of The Year". McDavid is far and away the best player, but is that enough to overcome the lack of games played? For the record, least number of games played by someone winning the award: 31. McJesus played 45...