GCn20

I don't think so. I think he read the press clippings and decided he didn't need to compete for his spot anymore. Observers at the time said he was half-arsing it in his last 2-3 days and the Bombers said buh-bye. Won't rule out PCI though, could be that as well.

Calgary had a decent offence last year. Yes, they had benefit of a pretty friendly schedule that allowed them to beat up on the divisions weak sisters at the time they were the weakest. However, at the end of the day it doesn't matter how you get points, every team will do it differently based on how their roster is built. Calgary had Carey and they rode him hard....as they should have. BLM was average last year, and that is all they needed him to be. He is clearly not in the MOP conversation anymore, but he can still provide reliable QBing and does know how to win still. Will he be great for Hamilton? Doubtful. Will be bring confidence and swagger to their group. I think so. Will he fold like a lawn chair...nope. Is he good enough to lead the TiCats to a Grey Cup victory....hard to say....probably gives them a better chance than Dane Evans though.

Slay looked great the first few days and the hype machine was rolling on him iirc. Then he completely checked out for some reason and was gone a couple days later. It was baffling.

Grant has been pretty successful with his handful of gadget plays they package for him. He's not an every down receiver though and we don't want to double duty him too much because he is such a game breaker as a returner.

Duane Slay is who I was thinking of, but Ortiz fits as well.

I think last year Sayles was pretty good tbh.

LMAO...you think unions negotiate based on what can be afforded? You think employers negotiate based on that? If that were the case you wouldn't see all collective agreements ending up virtually the same give or take a % or two. For sure. Best province imo.

All of that is seperate from the taxes. The unions have access to all revenue numbers and expenditure disclosure written write into the CBA. The MGEU has all the CBAs available to read...check it out. Financial disclosure is page one on every single one of them just about.

No it wasn't Knox...he actually made the team I think and was here for a year but yea definitely a guy that looked like a budding star in limited time and then flamed out. Guy I'm thinking of was before Knox. I think maybe even towards the end of the Taman era? Big pedigree and reports out of camp were sensational and it started us all on a frenzy of how good this guy would be....and then we cut him...lol. Wish I could remember his name. Biggest swing and miss I ever saw from our various forum members TC reports. I'm thinking Mike might remember as he was pretty active during TCs back then?

I will reserve judgement on Wade until actually seeing him play. Every year there is a guy who is hyped that is among the first releases. One year we had a MAC that was supposed to change the world go out in first cuts lol. Can't remember his name but boy we hyped the crap out of him and then poof he was gone. Wish I could remember his name. He was used as a cautionary tale about expectations for many years after. It will depend more on whether Wade is as good as we think he is.

I can't imagine that NT will be a problem for us. Fairly easy to recruit. What i don't like about undersized DE's isn't their ability, it's that they generally get worn down much faster. But in a rotation....yea for sure having a speed guy sub in for a power guy is going to give OTs fits.

Like anything the devil is in the details. Private liquor sales will generate a crap load more tax dollar revenue than what the province will lose of retail revenues, That is a demonstrated fact across every province. Absolutely, this will create challenges for liquor related social problems. However, if the extra revenues are put back into social programming for these issues at the same % level as they are now it is still a huge win for revenues, we are in no worse position on social programming related to liquor sales, AND consumer convenience wins. The MLCC locations will have to compete on service levels and selection to maintain profits....simple as that. The way free enterprise is supposed to work. You are completely wrong that the province makes most of it's money on retail mark ups of alcohol. That only accounts for less than 10% of over all profits on alcohol sales. Problem is those tax revenues aren't included in the totals being released by the NDP and unions, but it is the fact. I don't care if the MLCC generates 100 million dollars to revenue if the lost sales of alcohol due to increased sales, and that is firmly established by history, loses us 500 million in synnovial taxes. Even if they are at par what's lost and what's gained are even, consumer convenience should be the determining factor then. The only way this takes millions of dollars out of health care is if the government does not use any of the tax dollars generated through the increased alcohol sales tax towards the needed increases in social servicing. There is zero evidence that would be the case. Therefore it's a straight up lie by the NDP to say that.

I think its boom or bust. Harris can be an improvement but only if the OL has improved as well (which is not looking likely) but if the OL is garbage Harris will be worse than CoFaj because he had little to no mobility. I guess, he might improve the depth of sacks surrendered in the latter because he won't run 15 yards backwards first...but that's not much of a consolation.

Don't read too much into anything Darrell Davis says, he only shows up at the Rider stadium for the free donuts. The guys is literally out to lunch on pretty much everything he says about the CFL. They brought in a couple new faces. Pretty tough to call anything improved in any way unless they have recruited 2 game ready stud IMP OTs...because that was the biggest part of their problem last year. Blake could help a bit if he doesn't have to play OT, but Godber is no improvement over Clark and the matadors of the middle Johnson and Ferland still look to be starters at this point....and that is not good. When Jake Weineke is your top weapon on O....yikes.

I honestly feel the same. Blake is not particularly good at OT, and Godber vs Clark is basically a push. I don't really see the improvement unless the RIders have found two stud IMP OTs in the offseason. That's where any improvement will have to come from. No this was not a Joe Mack pick although it seems like one. Oh my...the infamous Darrell Davis kiss of death.

I'm not a huge fan of undersized DE's. However, in limited deployment he could certainly add a wrinkle to our D that would give DCs something to think about and very much a change of pace for any OL he lines up against. Would take them out of rhythm that's for sure. Yea....I think his very top end would be if he could be a JFG type player in this league. I doubt he would make the team in any kind of specialist role. He would have to demonstrate himself as adequate depth with really good ability as a ST plumber. I quite honestly don't see a scenario where he makes the team. Not a knock on him...just the reality that he is trying to crack a stacked roster against long odds.

I agree. They need to go. Their was a time and a place for the knives to come out for spending and that time has passed, and they never cut in the right places anyway.

1. All profits from liquor sales do NOT go directly back into health care. They go to general revenues and then are budgeted back out. Just like any other government revenue source. 2. Your comment about alcohol care amounts is completely bogus. With increased sales come increased tax revenues, and that offsets increased spending on alcohol health care and adds back into revenues. Various provinces that went this route years ago, because this was a post prohibition solution to alcohol sales, ALL report better over all revenues through a mix of private/public alcohol sales. Therefore your figures are bogus...completely bogus. Manitoba is one of the only provinces left that has not abandoned government run liquor stores. Why? I'll tell you why. Increased access leads to increased sales. Increased sales = increased tax dollars. 90% of government revenues from liquor is generated through taxation and not retail distribution. Also, it is fallacy that people would completely abandon retail government liquor stores, if they did then maybe that says something about the way they are operated. At any rate it is nothing but complete fiction that moving away from government run retail would lead to lost revenues. It would simply lead to a shift in how revenues are generated. The "math" you are so fond of is flawed. It does not take into account that most revenues are generated through taxation on alcohol. Therefore, you cannot say that revenues are lost when they can be easily offset or even increased through ease of access ergo increase in sales. As someone in the liquor sales industry, there is another BIG red herring to address as well. Taxation on spirits and wine are being held back from regular increases in order to drive people into the liquor stores when compared to beer. I just went into my hard drive and in the year 2000 my cost per unit of alcohol was $.85 avg, on beer it was $1.09. In 2021, my last active year managing my business the cost of alcohol was $1.19 and beer $2.26. That's a crap load of lost revenue right there if the province weren't artificially holding down the taxation of spirits and wine in order to drive people towards their retailers. Anyone with half a brain can see that. It's not MY smoking gun. Perhaps go back and read again.

Raising social programs is not stifling economic growth if it is mitigated by enough economic growth to counter act the expenditure. It is a complete fallacy that right wing voters are against increased social programming. What most right wingers are against is increasing social programming while stifling economic growth. However, the left doesn't wanna hear that because it is too reasonable an expectation.

Puh-lease...it's no more pathetic than stating that allowing some private liquor sales will take millions of dollars out of health care. RIdiculous pre-election statements are most definitely not exclusive to the right. Private booze sales=hallway medicine...same old lying NDP.

The state of the CFL in Alberta right now is a little concerning. Calgary is quickly becoming a tire fire, and Edmonton with a multi-million dollar loss....yikes.

Could very well be, say there is 20 non counters that still leaves us at 90. We gotta be at 75 for camp so a good 15 guys are getting a plane ticket home after rookie camp. Yea....and if he does make the team the media is going to make this a distraction imo. He would probably set a world record for tweets, questions, and analysis about a fringe STer. God forbid he gets a start or is promoted/demoted. It would be a media frenzy.

There are 110 players on this list. Some will have to be released prior to camp. IIRC teams can only have 75 plus non counters in camp. I am not even sure how we can have 110 right now since the offseason limit for players under contract is 85? We must have a bunch of guys listed and in rookie camp that haven't been actually signed to a contract yet.

Thanks Zach. Keep us informed if you are there, and get the podcast rolling let's hear some football talk. The offseason has been too long.

I would argue that rookie camp is still an audition for many for main camp. A great number will be released and it is still just an audition for a camp spot at this time.