The Unknown Poster

Reading between the lines, we might be able to deduce that Flory doesn't have a lot of support for a strike. The rumour is a majority voted for a strike but if its a soft majority, it would explain a few things. A strike seemed imminent a few days ago. The language the PA used hinted at that as far as waiting for Alberta to come back and then "we will strike together". And the fact they submitted a new offer. That could indicate a lot of players urging the PA to put something a bit closer to the League offer on the table. The question now will be, will the League's dismissal of the offer result in players urging the PA to move a bit closer or does it anger players and put them in a mood for action? I dont think there is any urgency on the part of the league at this point. If nothing happend between now and opening day I think we will begin hearing rumblings (or perhaps an official release from the CFL) that the players will be locked out without an agreement. That puts the ball back in the PA's court and would certainly test the resolve of the players. How many players are willing to strike to try and make gains for a deal two years or three years or four years down the road? How many players want to lose money now to gain money later with a good likelyhood that a lot of them wont even be in the league then. I maintain that if the CFL's offer was voted on right now, it would pass. The PA is trying to a) get a bit more satisfy the hardliners who want a lot more. I suspect the League has a face-saving compromise somewhere. Whether that is bumping up the signing bonus or starting at a higher cap this year with smaller incremental increases, who knows. But once we get to the point where the players will be locked out and those game cheques are in real jeopardy, the CFL makes a "consession" so the players can save face and jump on it. That would be my strategy.

I havent seen Gary Lawless whining about his access. Good, respected journalists dont need the Coach to go out of his way to come over and feed them info. A good journalist probably isnt all that concerned about "official" access because he's going to get the story he needs one way or another. Friesen is probably worried that if he cant get official scrums how will he get any info at all.

There is some truth, I am sure, to the idea Friesen just wants to stir the pot and when he gets people riled up, he is content. There are load of media like that, especially in politics. The the really good ones report in such a way to create discussion and debate, play devil's advocate etc. Friesen just seems that he relishes some gimmick he has created for himself as Winnipeg media's bad boy but the reality is he just seems like a really lazy journalist who could probably file most of his stories without even getting out of bed.

Players blinked.

I'm not sure this is a universal truth. I'm a media friendly guy. I hate the blind hate for Lawless and Westwood etc. Usually people have no reasonable discourse with media. But in this case Friesen's job seems to be to be a negative prick. There's a difference between working with media and bending over for media. O'shea has the right to set the rules.

Why do some people get so worked up about forums. If you take the time to come on here and make sarcastic remarks about other people sharing their opinion on here, the joke is on you. Friesen wrote a stupid article. People are well within reasonable bounds to discuss it here.

Bombers should revoke his credentials.

Don't forget his joint medicine. Adler loves his joint medicine. Can't say I dislike his pro conservative leanings. Then again I liked john collinson until he went crazy.

Isn't this a misuse of Cloutier? I liked his show. Having him in this role seems underwhelming. Nate what were the details of the Hal/Adler incident. I found Adler to be a lot of fun and interesting years ago but he has sort of become a bit blustery. Didn't he had a national show? Why did he come back?

Kenny Omega and Mentallo were once skinny young kids at one time. Cut guys some slack. And I say that as someone who was heavily critical of Ringmasters. So much so that one of their guys attacked me on live radio. Good times. Good times.

Politics thread active in general discussion. Wasn't Wade going to announce the new transport plan today?

Goosen has looked what so far?

All that is is intimidation. Unless you're someone important posting crap on the internet is no different than standing on the street corner saying anything which is quite allowed. Just there's a lot of people willing to go through the process of trying to scare people with lawyers even though there's nothing they can really do. Exactly. I've had some really nasty things said about me online but there's not a lot you can do. Sammy is suing a student newspaper so he's pretty determined to go after people that slander him. But it's hard to prove and usually not worth it. I had a guy steal a logo off my website once. He changed the colour but it was otherwise exactly the same. I told him it was funny but knock it off. He replied "talk to my lawyer" and gave me his lawyers name. So I called his lawyer who had no idea what I was talking about. 30 minutes later, the logo was removed and Im pretty sure he got a bill for his lawyer's services. It works both ways...lol But remember, the defense to slander is the truth.

i;ve always liked Steen but the impression I get is he was just a figure head and doesnt really have the marbles to be an effective leader. Paula is the leading candidiate in my opionion if only for the fact she's a right leaning politician and this is Winnipeg. It might come down to Paula vs Judy and Paula will speak more to Winnipeggers than Judy and the stigma of the NDP will hang around Judy's neck. but Im by no means an expert in civil politics. Sammy still hasnt made his intentions clear but I cant see him running. His chances are slimmer this time around and I dont think his ego will allow him to run and lose. He'll pat himself on the back and announce he has "other interests". He might throw his support behind Steeves who, last time I talked to him, seemed pretty dense.

i dont think it makes much sense for the players to strike right now, unless they just want to avoid training camp. But for many players they have to see that as a detriment to their careers potentially. The real pressure in a strike would be before the first game of the season. On the flip side, I agree 100% that the league should lock the players out if there is no agreement. I wonder if they have anything in place to add games to the schedule. I cant see anyone wanting to play football outdoors in December, so would they add early week games and have teams do a couple of short weeks? Regardless, if both sides are strategizing the best time for labour action and NOT talking in the meantime, they are both fools, the PA moreso though as the league has made a reasonable offer. The PA should counter with something more in line with the League's offer.

Has there been any speculation as to how the strike vote went? If the PA and League are not in communication and the votes have been counted and considering the PA's email to membership seemed to point to a definitive strike action, can we assume the lack of action is indicative of a vote that wasnt in favour of striking?

A little bit of talk in the Transit thread in the main Bombers forum. Looks like Judy Washawasha is going to run. I think she might be counting on the fact that much of what she said the city needed to do to move forward (raise taxes) that Sammy cried foul over, he ended up doing himself. So she could run on the "I told you so" platform. Also, with 2 or 3 right-of-centre candidates running, she might hope to split the vote. On the other hand, she did surprisingly poor last election (pundits seemed to have the vote a lot closer than it turned out) and the plunging popularity of the NDP *should* hurt her. Justin Swandel announced he wont seek relection, which is probably for the best. I wonder if there is a sense of a changing of the guard coming and some of Sammy's friends are taking the opportunity to move on. Paula Hvac seems the leading candidate right now. A former Sammy ally, she's smartly taken the "I fought from the inside and was kicked out for being the voice of the people and we need more accountability" tact.

Size has nothing to do with work, you are correct. "look" is more important. Every single guy you mentioned ranged from fit to muscular. Locally, people have to understand that at this level it's not meant to be WWE. It's like community theatre. These kids are developing. In Winnipeg we have a long history of developing guys that go on to larger national promotions but for every one guy that does, he needs 20 other guys around him for a promotion to function. Just in the 12 years of PCW (my promotion) we've had: Chi Chi Cruz (he was on the way 'down' from his career where he had appeared on TV for WWE several times and worked around the horn, most notably in Memphis) Kenny Omega - possibly the best 'total package' worker on earth right now. Was under contract to WWE when their development system was a shitshow (before HHH over-hauled it), and has worked for Ring of Honor and is a regular in Japan. Mentallo - local veteran has worked in Japan, a couple of stints in Mexico's CMLL, a WWE try out and the MTV project Mike Angels - perfect example of a unique look on a guy with unbelievable work and charisma, Was recruited to work Japan after being seen in a youtube video (the infamous Cottage Country Falls Count Anywhere Match vs Kenny Omega - trust me, google it) Adam Knight - WWE try out, worked several stings in Japan Jon Cutler - WWE try out, under WWE contract in developmental before the over-haul. And there's been a handful of other guys who've travelled around the US and Canada as well as a try out stint or two in Mexico or Japan. Lots of good talent. Dont judge the "skinny" guys too harshly. What usually happens though, is a promotion comes a long because there is an ego somewhere there that wants to do it "their way" rather than just get involved with an established local promotion. You end up with too many promotion and the talent is spread too thin. The best guys usually gravitate to each other and then the number 3 or 4 promotion is left with maybe a few trainees, rookies and veterans that were never any good. Ringmasters suffered this through much of their existance (and no disrespect to their guys as they certainly had a couple of really good guys). But if you like local wrestling and want to see/enjoy it for the developing talent, you have to go to one of (or both) of the top two promotions in town and see the best talent. For us, our "young guys" are made up of three guys who came out of Lance Storm's Academy and a guy who came from the UK, not just "fans" who went to two training classes and are now wrestlers. And sorry - way off topic. This is better for the wrestling thread because I am, as always, happy to talk wrestling ;-)

LOL. just gonna delete that cuz it's apparent you can't change peoples minds on here. Let's just say cuz i just don't have the patience to post all the stats of the guys taken after him in his 2010 draft but... check it out... he's definitely pushing bust status. My point is that its too early to tell. If Burmi disappeared off the face of the earth tomorrow, then yes he's a bust. If he returns to the Jets next season or in 2015, then he has the talent and youth to be a contributor. Not a bust yet,.

The end result might be a failure as I clearly said. But it's too early to say. Sutter is a failed draft pick Burmi isn't.

Anyone who says he's a failed draft pick doesn't know what they're talking about. It's true he may need up in that category but he has talent to burn. And unlike many guys with talent, he also always out forth the effort. He just didn't buy into the plan. For his skill and age he's worth it to being back. He's an immediate upgrade in depth.

Unless Hamilton is spending millions it doesn't really matter. The floor and cap are close enough that they have to spend so they might as well spend on good players and try to recoup the difference.

If the o line performs well then it was a great situation and we are also developing our online coach of the future. If the line plays poorly then obviously it sucks. I'll reserve judgement.

Marty is a great guy. And his only crime was making the RRCC station something people wanted to listen to. The powers that be didn't like a highly popular show in that covered drive home spot. And the free press actually had reporters sobbing after Marty would critique their coverage. The real losers in all that were the students. Marty continues to fight the good fight with his shaw TV show (which is very very good).

I misread the message from my source. He told me Hal's contract was up in August and I assumed he meant last August. Obviously this August makes more sense. RRCC cut their own throat when they went to war with their own radio station. That station was giving real experience to their students. But their board was made up of people from other stations that didn't like a student radio actually getting listeners and competing. Plus the relationship between RRCC's pres and the free press was an issue.