MOBomberFan

I can totally respect the opinions of people who don't like Mack for certain things, because at least they can justify their opinion whether I agree or not. It's the people who don't know football from a hole in the ground that hate Mack that I just don't get. My family and friends chat me up all the time about the Bombers, even when they don't know much about our team, never mind Mack himself... they can't name any starters or prospects he's dug up, draft picks or trades he's made, anything to do with Mack at all... except they KNOW that Mack is a problem and has to go. Makes me shake my head, and reinforces my belief that the media in our city has a lot to do with the negativity displayed by the 'casual fan.' The win/loss record obviously has something to do with it, too, but that can't be completely pinned on an individual (imo). I'll share my brief Mack moment. It was I think August or September 2011 and I find myself standing behind Joe Mack at Costco. After a short but pleasant chat he tells me that they (he and his staff) want to do something special for this city, and that big things are coming. Sure enough, that year we find ourselves at the top in the East and went to the GC. At no point in time did I get any sense of the terse or pugnacious attitude everyone seems to think he has. I think he was a bit surprised somebody even recognized him, and was happy to interact with a fan. Anyways, I can confirm that Joe Mack is in fact a human being; he does not have horns, a tail, or a pitchfork, and there was no lingering smell of brimstone or decay anywhere.

Wednesday, September 18th, along with past President George Graham and media friend Ralph Warrington during the Football Club’s annual Legacy Dinner.

Cool! Great to hear he will be in attendance, I had this funny feeling he was never coming back to Winnipeg for some reason.

Chad Owens

Maybe an even better question is: would change for the sake of change have yielded better results? I'm also still unclear on who you think should have been signed, fired, hired - anything representing the change you believing is missing. That's all. Your problem is that you have an opinion, but can't back it up with evidence.

Squeeze the ball, Isaac...

With respect, I disagree.

It's easy to say that management should do a better job of this and that, but not citing specifics doesn't lend much weight to your argument. I'll start you off with an opinion of my own: there was 1 specific player to reach FA I wish we could have won; his name is Dominic Picard, and I think we can thank the uncertainty surrounding Labatte for not being more aggressive in signing him. However, we have gone out and signed guys like Buck, Cauchy, Palardy, and Boatman... all FA's locking down their respective positions, some since the day they were signed (well, maybe Buck locks down the ice-tub more than he does the QB position, but never the less...) Again I ask aloud to nobody in particular, who in 2010, 2011, and 2012 should we have gone out and signed that actually made it to FA?

Marquee FA's Like Chris Bauman? I doubt he would he be locking down a position, despite the cries that Mack should spend some 'real money for a proven veteran' when he was on the market. Buck Pierce was quite the high profile FA signing in 2010. In 2011 we signed nobody memorable and went to the Grey Cup. I think we missed out on Dominic Picard while we had little say in where Brendon Labatte went in 2012, yet a non-move like losing Gregg Carr, which Mack was skewered in the papers for, turned out to be a big gain in Chris Matthews. This year we picked up Cauchy Muamba who is undoubtedly an upgrade over Ian Logan. I see balance in an approach like this... try to find the right players for the right roles. It's just as hard as it sounds. Picking up cast-offs from other teams doesn't always translate to success. For every Andy Fantuz there's a Chris Bauman.

Wow. I just got home from a GOLDEYES game that got rained out, and it was still probably a better game than this. Thanks goodness it wasn't on TSN so I don't have to watch this atrocity.

Because it's 4:12pm and nobodies started one yet! GO BLUE ROOKIES!

I defer to the expert engineers who have inspected and certified the stadium as being safe. Find me a single concrete building that has no cracks.

Saw this and had to share it. Not entirely safe for work (profanity & partial nudity). Now that I've got your attention...

Tried Internet Explorer 8 at work, seems okay here.

Ouch! Sucks for him, and sucks for EDM. I guess we're all going to find out just how good a starter Mike Reilly really is... Last I heard, Adrian McPherson was pretty happy to be where he is at now. Playing in his home state, he's a big fish in a small pond (relatively speaking). Down in the AFL he is one of the top 5 passers (yardage) and the current league leader in both rushing yards and TDs... may be tough to walk away from the spotlight to back up Mike Reilly.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/bombers/mack-burke-give-each-other-room-to-do-their-jobs-211939581.html

To be clear, I don't want to start cutting said players for such a minor thing, and I don't really buy all the other 'better' reasons to cut him either. Other players who undoubtedly smoke weed (at the very least) haven't had their names publicly dragged through the mud to the degree Hefney had his; first with Twitter yappiness last year, and again with a pot bust this year. I concede it would be an odd time for Bomber management to start worrying about public opinion now, but I truly feel like this bad press ultimately led to Hefney being released, and we are a worse team because of it. At least now we'll probably get to see a lot more of Demond Washington and Johnny Sears.

Further, I don't think the Bombers EVER had any intention of moving Hefney around or cutting him when he got his bonus. Further strengthening my smoke screen argument. If this whole pot bust never came about, Hefney would still be a Bomber I think.

All of this sounds like a smoke screen to me. Bad press + more bad press + promising rookies = cut Hefney. You can argue that his play dropped off, or he was a 'cancer' in the locker room... whatever the case, I think Hefney is now a bit of a scapegoat so that Burke can say he's sticking to his guns on discipline. I don't buy any of what the Bombers are selling when it comes to Hefneys release. If there is a bright side... you can't unearth the next great starter til the old one moves aside. Still sad to see my favorite (recent) Bomber get shafted like this.

Dance, puppets. Dance....

If I were saying 'ra ra ra Jade Etienne will be a perennial All-Star' and that turned out to be wrong I'd say you have a case. I can only speak for myself, and I was preaching patience in opposition to those writing him of as 'too weak' or 'too frail' as if anyone could possibly know how tough the kid really is from the bleachers. The guy was taken on potential alone. If he lives up to that potential then anyone who would have cut him in the past couple years based on their preconceived notions about how long players should be allowed to develop before being considered a bust... can go suck a lemon.

Personally, I just like it when other people are wrong... especially when they've been complete ass-clowns throughout the whole process. Etienne has been a contentious issue for a couple years, so you'll have to forgive those few of us who have been preaching patience in the face of 'Bust this' and 'Harry Potter that'.

No kidding guys. Jade Etienne is only now at the age that guys like Marco Iannuzzi and Nate Coehoorn were when they were drafted... let's see what he's capable of now that he's had a couple years of coaching, development, and fitness training under his belt. He really is fast and has nice hands... with his size, he could be the legit threat that Mack thought he could be.

I think I'll play those odds. Why the heck not?