The Unknown Poster

Jim Rutherford is the new GM. Dan Bylsma has been fired.

I think the CFL is just playing with the PA at this point. Now the strike talk is in full effect, the league might offer a new deal shortly with minor consessions so as to prove they are the ones who really dont want labour distruptions. If the PA rejects and strikes, public perception will be fully on the side of the league as well the league will be in the position of saying "hey, we made you guys a fair deal and now you strike...so if you want to play football, better come back to the table". The onus would be right back on the players. The PA will then make a new deal that the league will reject and suddenly you'll have veterans questioning the PA about why they're missing games.

Im not sure BDI's attraction is that their ice cream is "special", though I seem to recall it's creamier. Its just the idea of it. I know people that swear by Banana Boat but if I want ice cream, why go there when I can go down the street to DQ? BDI is the whole experience - all the poeple, the fact its seasonal, walking over the bridge while you eat etc.

I think Ladd had a poor stretch where he took bad penalties but Im not sure I'd hang that around his neck as a constant. He's a very smart player with a strong effort. And he can certainly score top line goal numbers. Its also true that line combinations are more than just putting the top three point getters on one line etc. But generally speaking, if Andrew Ladd is your top LW, then you have a depth problem. If Bryan Little is your top centre, you have a depth problem. Chevy has done a good job through trades, waiver wire and drafting to address depth but it continues to be a problem though every season it improves. Im not sure if O'Dell will be a regular. I know Gary Lawless considers him a permanent bubble player, in that no-mans land between being too good for the A and not quite good enough for the NHL. But you need guys in the A that can fill in on the big club and then go back down. I'd like to see Adam Lowry make the Jets this year. Ideally, if Klingberg can push for a spot and if Telegin comes back, our depth is much better. If our 4th line is Halishchuk - Slater - ??? (Peluso), its a step in the ring direction. I'd like to see Lowry and Klingberg push for 3rd line minutes on the Jets. I know Lowry converted to centre but it might be asking a lot for him to fill that role initially. I dont think Chevy has a choice but to be active. And I think there is a decent chance we trade a core member. Chevy said there were deadline day offers that were sufficient to require ownership input. If those sorts of offers came in on deadline day, there be better deals to be had on draft day.

Madani reports players will begin striking on Monday. Didnt say if that meant Monday at 11:59PM or Monday morning or what. I could be wrong but this just seems foolish to me. I dont see what is gained by striking away some Pre-Season games that are only going to end up screwing some players who are on the bubble. Strike before the regular season if you want to pressure the league.

CJOB looks so damn cheap when its road games. Like how much does it cost to send a guy on the road for a couple of days with irving? I never even know who the colour guy is to be honest. Dont they use...name escapes me, whenever they are in Hamilton, someone else for home games and then who?

I think our top six is good. I mean sure, I'd love to have a line-up where our 3rd line is something like Ladd-Richards-Frolik (and even then, Richards is a 4th liner in LA right now, is he not?) but our top six is good with the potential to be great. Wheeler is a legit top line guy and Kane is a legit top line guy who has the potential to be an all-league top line guy. Scheif is the X factor and looked like a top line centre but needs to play the entire season in that role. Ladd-Little-??? is also a question mark. When Wheeler is on the RW, I think thats a legit second line on most teams (especially on teams that dont have a lot of defined 1, 2, 3 etc, but just roll wave after wave of quality). We need a top six RW. Frolik fit in there and could continue to do so but ideally, he's a really really good 3rd line RW. I know Buff has been pencilled in there but it seems most people forget Maurice flipped Buff to LW and he seemed to play even better. So in reality, we have a "glut" at LW and are lacking at RW though I guess Buff ends up in the RW spot. Thats why Buff should be traded, to be honest. He just doesnt fit the needs of this team and yet is such a talented, unique player that has specific skills that *do* fit the needs of other teams. And as someone on HF Boards stated, when the Jets are in a position to compete, do we want a 29 year old Buff? Absolutely. Do we want a 33 or 34 year old Buff? Not really.

It actually struck me when I was at Starbucks this week that they are incredibly friendly and personable there. Great service. Is Market Burger actually owned by Ace Burpee or is he a figure head for the PR?

What was the nature of the challenge, that rookies were not included?

Second season of Orange is the New Black launched today. Anyone else into this? I have to admit to being a bit of a TV/movie-phile. I generally buy Blu-Rays when there's a movie I want to see rather than just watching it on PPV or In-demand (I like to collect). Premium TV has really been leading a creative resurgence in recent years, probably dating back to The Sopranos. Its nice that Netflix has become a legitimate competitor for HBO (which puts out some really great shows like Sopranos, Deadwood, Boardwalk Empire, True Blood etc). House of Cards was tremendous. While cable channels like AMC are getting in on the act, I annoys me a bit. The Walking Dead would be so much better on Netflix or HBO where they could truly appeal to adults (HBO passed on The Walking Dead when Thomas Jane was attached). As for Orange, it took me a few episodes to get into last season but Im looking forward to banging out a few episodes tonight. As an aside, for you Trekies, it was recently the 20th anniversary of the finale of TNG, one of the best Series' Finales in TV history.

Im with you on the waiting Nate. I avoid Timmy's at peak times unless there's something good on the radio. I usually hit of Starbucks because for some reason no one uses their drive through. McD's (I almost never go there now) is usually pretty quick. They built an "Express" drive thru on Pembina years ago (it orginally had no sit down restaurant) and it was ALWAYS the slowest McD's in town. Hilarious. Part of why I havent been to Kawaii Creme is the length of time to make my order. Im glad its fresh but it just seems like a bunch of kids working there that dont really give a crap.

I used to love Chicken Delight pizza, but the St Annes location tastes different than the Pembina HWY location (St Annes = better) so I stopped ordering it. Havent BDI in a long while and must try them again. Whenever I go Im determined to have a Goog special and then chicken out on trying something new (after the long wait in line) and just end up with a Flurry. Side note: Im sure I remember DQ Blizzards being better. The last couple of seasons the candy/whatever is mostly in the bottom rather than mixed throughout.

Piece of trash is a pretty weak way to describe the starting goaltender of the Winnipeg Jets. That sort of rhetoric isnt needed.

I know Westwood isnt popular among some for usually lame reasons. I like him. I find his position on most things to be insightful and usually bang on. He's vastly improved as a speaker as well. Because I usually listen to CJOB for Bombers coverage I mostly hear Westwood discuss hockey so Im looking forward to hearing him talk football more where he is certainly an expert. Not sure if Walby would be any good. He usually seems hammered when I've seen/heard him speak but im sure he will be insightful. Is Doug Brown still on CJOB? I always found him annoying. He came across arrogant. His speaking style was of someone that thought he was a lot smarter than he really was.

you can when your life is constantly on the line... Are you joking me? RCMP salary is less than this for a whole year and their lives truly are on the line. These guys play a game, for God's sake! I think he meant their professional life. Like their job, they can get cut at any time. Peace officers, military do put their lives on the line but 99.999% make it through. And as long as they do their jobs properly can retire after a long career with great benefits. I would say the average RCMP officer's salary would be darn close to the average CFL salary and you are looking at a big difference in average career length. There is really no comparison between the community contribution of an RCMP officer versus a CFL player. Dont even want to bother with that debate. But sports is one of those things that is what it is. I remember when I was a kid and the new arena debate was raging. My dad complained about what players make compared to what he makes. And I said well Dad, if 15,000 people paid X amount of dollars to watch you do your job, you'd make more.

Good for TSN. I generally listen to CJOB because I like Irving. If Irving doesnt want to do the full pre-game and post-game, they could have someone else do it. I hope this is indicative of TSN going after Bombers rights when the deal is up (wasnt one of the issues the conflict between Bombers/Jets?).

I would suspect the PA would *not* want rookies to count. Why would a rookie vote to strike? If the pre-season is wiped out, who is the first to go? Probably the players on the bubble, the rookies getting a look. Teams will only be able to go with what they know and if they dont know the rookies, they are done. Rookies will vote to to NOT strike. Thats why this re-vote confuses me. Is it being forced upon the PA due to labour laws or is this the PA "confirming" their mandate. Ie. they got a strong mandate to strike when there was no impending strike their talk of walking out caused a lot of players to slam on the breaks. So now a re-vote. If they dont get a strong majority to strike, thats as good as voting in favour of the CFL's offer. On the subject of this extra Playoff game with no added pay: does that mean players play an extra game for the same per-game bonus? Or the money now spent in Post Season is divided up among more games?

I think the issue is Ontario could strike by then but the PA wont strike unless they can all walk together. Then again, the PA said they'd be in a position to strike a couple of weeks ago and didnt so I dont put a lot of stock into it. Striking now doesnt help them much.

Except that supposedly they already voted on a strike mandate. Obviously different but my experience has been when asked to provide a strike mandate we don't get asked to do so again two weeks later.

Yes

Ues

If that 98% figure is true that represents the players who actually returned their ballots. We don't know how many did. Logic would dictate the voter turnout would be greater now with players actually in camp. Further, that 98%, if true, was a vote to provide a strike mandate to union leadership to take to the negotiating table. That was a "we probably won't have to use it" scenario. Things are more real now. The fact the PA internally was telling its members to be prepared to walk out a couple of weeks ago and nothing happened might indicate that the reality is many players had a "I'll give you the strike mandate for leverage but I ain't actually going on strike" attitude. We shall see. If the players strike this weekend they are crazy. Wait til the games matter. If they think owners will capitulate for a couple of exhibition games they are nuts.

Piece of trash?

Party busses in Winnipeg are not allowed booze. Adults aren't capable of making their own decisions I guess.

Is this re-vote due to some labour law or a choice on the part of the PA? If so does that indicate the leadership feels it needs to take the current temperature of the membership?