Tracker

If you are hypersensitive to criticism, you should stay out of professional sports, stand-up comedy and politics.

I think that the irritant is not just Nichols inconsistent and often disastrous play, but also that the Bomber braintrust refuses to give Streveler opportunities to display his abilities or lack thereof. And equating criticism of Nichols' play (not character) to hatred is a false equivalency.

Conversely, you and your ilk appear prepared to excuse Nichols no matter how poorly he plays.

Jeffcoat is likely to miss the game.

Eric Rogers

Winning the Grey Cup while part of the Eastern conference would be like bragging that you have a 200kmh car because you drove it off a cliff.

No question the O-line stunk against Hamilton, but against Toronto, Nichols had all the time a competent quarterback needed. Nichols has no excuse/reason/justification/rationale for his performance.

I actually hope that Arbuckle plays and plays well. If Arbuckle plays and shines, and Nichols pales in comparison, there can be no argument any longer about Nichols' fate. If Mitchell plays and beats the Bombers, there will be the excuse about how great the Stamps are with their #1 QB back.

Apparently Jeffcoat is iffy for the Stamps game.

No question the O-line stunk against Hamilton, but against Toronto, Nichols had all the time a competent quarterback needed. Nichols has no excuse/reason/justification/rationale for his performance.

I picked the Riders to win for the second week in a row.

I would think that Nichols' ego must be close to being shattered. I also do not think that the collapse of the defence last game was happenstance. I suspect that the rest of the team saw that a) Nichols was incapable of carrying the game b) he was not going to be replaced and c) the Bombers were inevitably going to lose. If you want to see Nichols' standing in the eyes of his team mates, watch what happens when he is decked or comes off the field after a series. If they treat him like he has halitosis, he is done.

Congratulations on finding someone special to share your journey with. May all of your troubles be little ones.

This kinda comes down to each generation of players training the following one. Locker room, social and organizational culture are notoriously hard to change once established.

At the end of last season, it was obvious that Nichols was injured but was still putting out. I cannot speak for others, but I assumed that he would come back this spring, healed and as good as he was in 2017. My bad.

Two words: John Hufnagel.

The infuriating thing about Nichols is that he has shown that he can do it. But will he? He is like a strip-tease performer- shows you enough to get excited but not enough to satisfy.

Maybe it is the deflating of enthusiasm and the eerie sense of deja vue.

Agreed. The team recruited heavily for the D-line and, as you and others have pointed out, blitzing isn't working, so why keep on with it? Bighill is not up to speed yet, so that is not helping, either.

Until the past two games, I would have said that the Bomber on-field talent was as good as or better than anyone else in the league. The biggest issue the team has, IMO, is behind center. There is no way to tell if this is the fault of the coaching or Nichols but there is evidence that it is both.

As Drew Willy demonstrated, past a certain point, many people do not rebound from and emotional beating. The "learned helplessness" syndrome kicks in and they are done.

Some candor would be refreshing.

World class recreational substances will produce a similar effect.

When you look at the roster, there sure as spit looks to be the talent there, apart from the QB position. The coaching?.......well, look at the difference new/better coaching has made for Corey Greenwood and Vernon Adams. And, much as it pains me to say it, Cody Fajardo.

There is no way to predict which Bomber team will show up on Thursday, but we can be assured that the Stamps will play well. Its a bit early to say that this is a must-win game but its pretty darned close to that.