Mr Dee

I'm not sure if you should be yet. The Riders announced their defensive coaching staff on December 14 and the rumours about Miles being in line for the Bombers DC position started after that. Also the position in BC would have been LB coach compared to DC. Did you know the Riders have 2 DB coaches on their coaching staff right now which seems weird. OK, I'll agree to be only half-way concerned or conch. but this info sure seems odd as is this whole situation now. I'm anticipating some news this upcoming week and I'm still pulling for Miles.

I'm pretty sure I don't like this piece of news…. Barron Miles, a former Lions teammate of the new defensive assistant, was taken out of the running when he accepted a two-year contract to remain with the Saskatchewan Roughriders as a defensive backs coach. http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Jarious+Jackson+departure+leaves+Lions+with+hole+coach/9350796/story.html Now I am getting concerned.

The CJOB call-in show has sunk to low levels in recent times what with the predictable questions and answers, and the never-ending commercials. I don't know how Bob Irving can stand it. If they would allow answers relative to the intelligence of the questions, then it would be vastly more interesting. It's the same for the media, I have no problem with a coach who gives a straight answer to a question and then blasts the media when some ding-dong keeps asking the same question in a different form. They get what what's coming to them. Asking a coach, in those dumb, mandatory question and answer periods, especially after a dumb/tough loss, what the problem was, will only anger that coach further. Not a good idea.

I wonder what Miles or Marshall think about Jones only wanting to play for Calgary?

ModAdmin, at EP has posted this: http://instantscouting.com/news/cfls-winnipeg-blue-bombers-set-for-open-tryouts/ Oh, and that's Bellefeuille, now that he's officially a member of our staff. And this: Bryant Turner Jr. ‏@Blitz_Turner 3m I'm thankful that there are no Winnipeg fans like bama fans! Got our back no matter what! #gobombers

..Just one version of our new…. - kick that Stubler D- offence.

….Grief of 2013-….is it a coincidence that it forms a 'W'?

…………..2013?

I'm leaning towards 'suck' for being the word of the day.

Oh come on. It's all part of the program. He isn't the first etc... You coach poorly, we lose, we b it ch. Is some of it overdone? Perhaps. Is it underserved? Hardly.

While we tick tock towards more 2014 news announcements, we can throw out the dirty bath water that was the season of 2013. Goodbye/riddance to these: - 2013 year of the big BM movement (Buchko, Mack released) - Less Bucking around now, Pierce is finally traded. - torturous HC decisions - torturous HC non-decisions - O-line deficiencies underlined once again - the emergence and disappearance of Jade Etienne (Burke?) - Burke re-invents the dog house and the aw-shucks interview - thankfully, the visor look did not catch on - In the Urban Dictionary, the term "No Offense" is used to make insults socially acceptable. In Bomberland it meant extending Gary Crowton's contract. - our defence got exposed more often than Miley Cyrus - the expresson "no hope" was used to describe our chances every game we faced - if we could buy 'laughing' stock through a broker, we'd all be rich Feel free to add your goodbyes…

A simple case of... Mind Matter

Aren't you one of the ones that keeps telling people to stop assuming and making up theories or is that just Mr. Dee? Seriously, why would you come here and freeze your ass off millions of miles away from your family instead of going to Calgary where you're near your family and the totally awesome mountains? There you go again, assuming things and/or making up theories, for the millionth time. And that's a just Mister Mr. Dee, if you don't mind.

You have the song right, but have the words mixed up. Christo Bilukidi was the one released, by Oakland. Mulumba signed with Green Bay originally, and is playing now, with Neal, because of the injury to Clay Matthews and Nick Perry. And, although he is looking good now, there is of course, no guarantee.

There is no lazy, there is no stigma for Stubler. He, and his wife , discussed the matter thoroughly, and they both came to her decision to stay closer to home.

It's horribly bitter. My Grandpa was on a Lancaster in WWII so I felt compelled to try one. It was a mistake... So, you're saying it's the perfect beer to celebrate the year we've just had.

I'd love to see us throw Fitz(gerald) in packages designed for run or pass, especially in those short second down situations.

When you're trying to get a yard or so, anywhere on the field, you should be able to do it every time. I would like to see us use a FB with our TB to give us more options and a more direct push. The only time I can see a team failing to get one yard…is against our D.

I heard the CFL media in Virden is also reporting these rumours. Virden?….must be Avro Lancaster working behind the scenes!

but that's not JUST because of an offense. In a lot of those situations the defense is protecting a lead and playing more passively to try and avoid making a huge mistake and giving a big play. I can see the merit in gambling some of the time though. There are lots of situations where you're probably just as far ahead to go for it as to kick it away but it really depends on a lot of factors. If a team was properly prepared to use those factors in their favour, then they could take advantage of short yardage situations to get 1st downs and TDs. I'm surprised that teams don't have special plays for short gains and goal-line plunges. I mean, other than the old shot-gun-formation-handoff-5-yards-deep standby.

The closest I've seen Can. teams gamble on 3rd down always seem to come from the Alouettes. When they are trailing and motivated, and with Calvillo, they don't seem worried to push the bar, so to speak, because they have been a confident and cocky bunch. Just remember how many times there have been situations where you have questioned the play call to punt. Obviously, in higher levels of F/ball, there are only certain situations where punting should not be punted. But with all the necessary facts and statistics behind a coach's decision, I definitely would like to see more gambling. That same thinking goes into situations where a team is trailing and has all 3 downs to use because they have nothing to lose. Many, many times, teams are successful and move down the field to score. Of course, this is based on a team being able to move the ball in the 1st place. Offensive thinking changes when you know you have all 3 downs to move the ball, not just two. And on a Bomber's note, onside kicking probably would only have made a difference of 10-12 yards. (other teams getting the ball around the 40 as opposed to around the 50-52 on unsuccessful tries)

Ah, but that's there's the rub. Statistically, the odds are more in favour than one would think. It's just that nobody has the balls to try it. Everybody is willing to say it won't work at an upper level, and indeed it may not, but the if you read more articles or opinions on the subject, the reason becomes more clearer. All the coaches are scared to try it. And who can blame them with the salaries they make. But if you've watched NFL games lately, more and more, FG decisions are being booed by the fans because they want to gamble more and go for the 1st down. Not always, but the tide is turning. On a related note, at one time, it was figured that for every punt in an Oakland Raider game, it cost something like $50,000 per punt because of how much they paid their punter. I believe they were the first team to draft a punter in the 1st round. Interesting stuff.

Kevin Kelley, the Little Rock, AR (Pulaski Academy) football coach whose team never punts, and always goes for the onside kick. Kelley says his research has shown that by not punting or kicking off, his team has a 15 percent better chance of winning any given game. Pulaski recovers onside kicks at a rate of 20 percent, and has a fourth-down conversion rate of 50 percent. On kickoffs, Kelley says his philosophy is worth it because he determined that by kicking deep, opposing teams were getting the ball on the average at the 33 yard-line. When the other team recovered onside kicks, the average starting spot was the 47 — a difference of only 14 yards. Kelley figured 14 yards was well worth it for the 20 percent return in successful onside kick recoveries. An Example? The Bruins visited the Cabot Panthers, one of the best teams in Arkansas and a school with roughly five times the student body of Pulaski With Kelley calling plays, Pulaski scored on its first drive. Naturally, the Bruins then attempted an onside kick, which they recovered. Soon, they scored another touchdown. They repeated the drill -- onside kick, recovery, touchdown -- again. And then again. With 8:35 left in the 12-minute first quarter, Cabot trailed Pulaski 29-0 and had yet to run a play from scrimmage. The Times recently cited a paper by David Romer (PDF), a professor of political economy at the University of California at Berkeley, that has become “the gospel for the antipunting faction.” Romer’s determination, after studying punt data from 1998 to 2004, was that teams should never punt when facing fourth down with less than four yards to go for the first, regardless of where they are on the field. Other analysis has suggested that teams should never punt from inside their opponent’s forty-yard line. As a corollary, they should always go for a touchdown, rather than a field goal, from inside the five-yard line. http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/dromer/papers/PAPER_NFL_JULY05_FORWEB_CORRECTED.pdf http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9970245/grantland-channel-coach-never-punts http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/scorecasting/09/15/kelley.pulaski/index.html#ixzz2ojeiaiOw Statisticians say teams shouldn't automatically punt. Fans say they want to see a more exciting game. Recruits would surely love to play for a school pitching endless high-pressure offensive and defensive situations. What do you think?

im ok with the bellefuille hire if we can add wylie as OL coach and a QB coach who has been in the league for a bit. Now that you've mentioned the latest rumour-de-jour, (the Bombers courting Wylie), I must assume Bellefeuille has a hand in this process and if it is so, then a well done is in order, if they get this prize. Make it so guys, make it so.

It all starts with the Barron. In fact, we should hire Miles Gorrell away from the new Ottawa entry. Then, at least, according to the Who, we'll have the best vision in the CFL.