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The problem with Wiecek is that he doesn't really give a **** about the CFL. He'd rather be doing his horse racing or curling than covering the Bombers and because of that despite being a pretty good writer his pieces on the Bombers are very lacking in substance. Are you saying that Winnipeg -- capital of Manitoba -- Free Press reporter -- the guy who writes articles -- Paul Wiecek is a good -- as in capable -- writer? In a technical sense yes, it's the content that is the problem with him when it comes to the Bombers. ha, sorry, I was taking a dig at Wiecek's passion for using em dashes instead of commas. I actually teased him a bit through Twitter and he since got better. That said, ever since the paper went all pay site and I'm stuck reading it through my iPad I'm far less engaged. Yes, I somehow managed to move on without Doug Spiers' "brilliant" column.

The problem with Wiecek is that he doesn't really give a **** about the CFL. He'd rather be doing his horse racing or curling than covering the Bombers and because of that despite being a pretty good writer his pieces on the Bombers are very lacking in substance. Are you saying that Winnipeg -- capital of Manitoba -- Free Press reporter -- the guy who writes articles -- Paul Wiecek is a good -- as in capable -- writer?

I'd love Dressler. SB's that can have great hands, repeatedly get open, and separate from coverage at an elite level are not common. Stegall and Geroy come to mind. Dressler's got the potential to be in that class. I get that freakishly athletic WR's come out of college all the time now... but 17to85 among others is famous around here for debating the merits of arm strength vs. technical proficiency and smarts for a QB. When do we start the conversation about technical proficiency vs. freakish raw attributes for a WR? If a guy like Dressler wants to talk to your club because it's closer to home for him and he's leaving his current club... I try my best to take that shot. Oh man, that's apples and oranges. A WR with a 10 cent brain but stud playmaking ability will go hell of a lot further up here than a QB with a rocket arm and no game sense. (*cough, Michael Bishop) Sure he has to pick up the waggle and such but there's a lot more room for just relying on freak-show athleticism. That's why you have these guys in the NFL playing receiver who also had offers to play basketball.

Did you happen to notice how much better the linebackers looked this year compared to last? I don't think that is a coincidence at all. As a positional coach Creehan is good, as a defensive coordinator not so much but let's not use that to say he's not good at coaching a position. Who had the secondary this year? I've mentally blocked this year after about August to be honest; just recall our back end was highly underwhelming. Was that Creehan's mastery?

Is/was Nelson that good a DC? The biggest knock I have on Burke (as a DC) is that he seemingly has Casey Kryptonite attached to his hip.

I don't know... so many US colleges turning out absolute freaks at receiver and DB.... guys that won't even get a try-out with an NFL team cause they're 5'11.... Imagine if we had JUST ONE really, really good scout based in the US full-time that knew how to sell the CFL to these guys who just had their NFL dream shot down. I would pay 200K to a guy like that before I paid 200K to Dressler. He could dig up a handful of 22 year old guys just as good, 4 inches taller, and 100 grand cheaper.

And according to many of our own forum members, the Winnipeg print media is the laughing stock of the media. Nope. WPG media is somewhat negative, but they are among the sharpest. Penton just won CDN football reporter of the year! Our organization is (or has been) a poorly run joke, and our media have the balls to call it as such. If you want warm and fuzzy, move to SK and read Rod Pederast and the Great Fan-stone. Among the sharpest? Yeah. No. Lawless can't keep his thoughts straight from one article to the next, Friesen somehow manages to write 30 articles a year about football without actually ever discussing football, Wiecek would rather be covering curling, Bender doesn't even know the rules of the game and Toth spends 75% of his time covering the team chatting it up with his colleagues (I still remember Toth's tweet earlier this year when he said Buck looked really sharp in practice and Pierce had only thrown one pass that day) Tait knows his football. Irving knows his football. Penton is a good writer and is getting more up to speed with the game. That trio are the only ones I would consider sharp. So our media covering the CFL are awful ... except for the three we have that are better than what's in any other CFL city? Agreed about Lawless, he's lazy and relies on his board leak for all his stuff. Friesen does what the paper tells him to do to sell that paper. Wiecek is also lazy. The King of The Em Dash. I don't have an opinion of Toth or Bender. Still, those top 3 are as good as the CFL gets. Maybe as far as quantity but I'd certainly say Lowell Ulrich in BC and Herb Zurkowsky in MTL are great at what they do. Jim Mullin, although I feel like he doesn't write much anymore, is also really good. Terry Jones is another favorite. I find Zurkowsky lets his ego get the best of him though you can certainly say he's earned that. Frankly, I'm surprised I forgot about him. Yes, Jones and Ulrich pen good work too. My point is little ol' Winnipeg has at least 3 guys covering the Bombers reasonably well and quite a few other cling-ons giving their two cents. They seem to compete with one another, and the result is we get reasonably incisive, critical stuff, not fan-driven garbage like they have in SK. People that say everything they read about the BB is negative clearly aren't seeing the big picture -- it's negative because the team is so lame! If we had a good team, respected management, and a great record the scribes would love to be gushing about how awesome we are cause thats easy to write and sells papers. So fix the f-ing team, stop hiring train wrecks to run it, and the media will follow.

And according to many of our own forum members, the Winnipeg print media is the laughing stock of the media. Nope. WPG media is somewhat negative, but they are among the sharpest. Penton just won CDN football reporter of the year! Our organization is (or has been) a poorly run joke, and our media have the balls to call it as such. If you want warm and fuzzy, move to SK and read Rod Pederast and the Great Fan-stone. Among the sharpest? Yeah. No. Lawless can't keep his thoughts straight from one article to the next, Friesen somehow manages to write 30 articles a year about football without actually ever discussing football, Wiecek would rather be covering curling, Bender doesn't even know the rules of the game and Toth spends 75% of his time covering the team chatting it up with his colleagues (I still remember Toth's tweet earlier this year when he said Buck looked really sharp in practice and Pierce had only thrown one pass that day) Tait knows his football. Irving knows his football. Penton is a good writer and is getting more up to speed with the game. That trio are the only ones I would consider sharp. So our media covering the CFL are awful ... except for the three we have that are better than what's in any other CFL city? Agreed about Lawless, he's lazy and relies on his board leak for all his stuff. Friesen does what the paper tells him to do to sell that paper. Wiecek is also lazy. The King of The Em Dash. I don't have an opinion of Toth or Bender. Still, those top 3 are as good as the CFL gets.

And according to many of our own forum members, the Winnipeg print media is the laughing stock of the media. Nope. WPG media is somewhat negative, but they are among the sharpest. Penton just won CDN football reporter of the year! Our organization is (or has been) a poorly run joke, and our media have the balls to call it as such. If you want warm and fuzzy, move to SK and read Rod Pederast and the Great Fan-stone.

Presumably, as he's under contract with the BB, they would have to reach a buy-out agreement.

Lapo goes to OTT I suspect he brings the Kanus with him to DC. Dyce as OC wouldn't be a stretch in OTT either. I secretly hope that Miller can work his magic and keep Burke as DC (provided Creehan is given his Blue & Gold apple & road map). Seems doubtful though.

So.....in your world.....rumours about Mack being turfed and Wade being hired and possible head coaches and positional coaches are leaked to the media.... But other GM's being interviewed? Never. People would die before they speak of it. Even anonymously or off the record. Right.

Some people are being dicks about it, but it really is a legitimate issue to question. Pretty much everybody on this site wanted us to do it, until we didn't. Then it's no big deal, and as you say, we should all get over it. Of course it was a legitimate issue, but no where did I say it's no big deal. My comment was directed at the mocking overuse of the word 'exhausting' Miller says in the presser an extensive search was done and Walters came up as the hired one. That's where we stand. Look, let's be honest here. Unless the Board has gone under total lockdown since Wade arrived -- which it hasn't, since the reporters have been tweeting about Khari, O'Shea, etc -- we didn't hear about a SINGLE interview being conducted for GM. Does that mean there weren't discussions or phone calls or even actual interviews being done that were kept 100% under wraps? Sure, it's possible. Just highly unlikely. So yes, time to move on. Walters is GM, Wade is the big chair. Fair business. But as fans we have every right to be critical of the process.

The way this organization has been run and has performed as of late is beyond absurd.

I am happy for Walters as he is seemingly a good man, and he has a grassroots Brendan Taman vibe about him (with the added bonus of actually playing the game). But this is a really critical time for the club and the team is a complete and utter cluster-truck. I just wouldve preferred someone with more experience to handle this grenade.

That is better, yes, than KJ with the big headset. That might even be really effective, provided we get a good DC.

Wonder how "many stones were left unturned" in the search to fill this position?

Pains me to say but I'm of the "Anybody But Khari Camp." I don't want to see a good, smart guy get beat up and broken.

Wonder if Wade is going to look a little slimmer after such an exhaustive GM search?

Because it creates the conditions for a toxic environment. Hire someone to do a job, a job where that person needs to make decisions, and undermine their decision-making by pressuring them to make the decision you want them to make while you are basically holding a gun to their head (employment-wise). Further to that, look at the scenario it creates in a year or two. Miller forces KJ onto Walters, the team goes sub-500 two years straight and then Walters contract comes up. The first thing he is going to say is "you basically tied my hands by forcing your HC onto me." People want/need to be evaluated based on their ability to do their jobs, independent of interference.

I'm in the US so its wonderfully easy to tune out the CFL. I don't even know who the half time act is. Is it that Call Me Maybe chick in a Green and White winter jacket?

That's a great point. With Walters basically a done deal, this will be a really telling move. I don't want either as the next HC, but from an organizational perspective, it HAS to be the GM's choice.

Guarantee the discussion never reached dollars and cents....which is a good thing....

Fortunately for you, so is Miller. It will be KJ in 2014.

The really big positive out of this is how accurate we've been on this site. We've taken Miller's words, posted our opinions/predictions based on fan experience, and through much debate we've basically called things so far. I'm utterly convinced at least two reporters hang out here and get their material. Its not vice-versa. With that in mind, I think Khari is a done deal as HC. Right now, they are working on Burke to say as DC as a) he's a great DC, and they are paying him anyway. Burke probably has told them that he is waiting on offers from other teams to DC (such as Chris Jones' former team) but I'll bet Miller is working on him. As for OC, my gut tells me they are talking to Bobby Dyce.