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Sam Miller is 5'9" 182lbs. 5'10" 190. Lots of SAM linebackers have played at a similar size. Kent, Malveaux, both guys in that ball park. Nice to see some size being added. Kelly Malvaux was talented but very short- he had to roll his socks down to poop. You can teach technique but you can't teach height.

Benton looks like he has the right stuff- speed, a good spidey-sense and good reactions to developing plays. He looks to have enough mass to survive in the middle but it comes down to whether he can adapt to the CFL. I wonder what his GPA was.

Many of our Canuck players are still growing into their roles- like Bucknor, who played well and can only get better. We really missed the boat with Pencer who ought to have been a top-ranked O-lineman but bombed out even after being given all kinds of chances, At this point, I would say we are average, and I would bet that at this time next year we will be in the top two or three.

Was DesJardins trained by the Gleiberguys?

ESPN writers have been known to induge in mood-altering substances, and the quote may be the result of one such event.

Words and phrases that should make you nervous: However - always a qualifying word and apropos in this case…because it is defensive. I'm sure he will back off - no, you're not sure. Hall's defence clearly wasn't working - Clearly, it wasn't the defence that was the problem. he had enough balls to step in and take control - we all know how this particular phrase can lead to more trouble, not less. The riders haven't slipped any where as much as many of you would like to believe - the more that leaks out about the Riders, their signings, their non-signings, and whats lays ahead for this team, the better I like the chance of the Bombers finishing ahead of them. So you believe O'Shea wears no stink for Etch's defence? MOS was a linebacker himself, how is it that he had no input when it was your biggest glaring weakness? What moves have the Riders made that lead you to believe the Bombers will finish ahead of them? I understand you want to believe in your team, we all do that, but there is nothing more than speculation on your end. There are no facts to suggest it will happen. Agreed that O'Shea had to be aware that Etch's weird defensive strategy was flawed, but he was a rookie head coach still learning, and micro-managing the coached under him would have caused all sort of problems, maybe worse than we already had. Etch had to stand or fall on his own performance rather than being spoon-fed. Control freaks in management can do a lot in a short period of time, provided their underlings follow slavishly, but they do crash and burn to the delight of most, as it takes a tremendous amount of energy to function in that mode. It is not sustainable.

Confirmed in part by Chamblin yesterday. He stated he will be doing the playcalling for the defence. I hope this continues the downwards trend of the riders. I don't see how you can blame all the losses on the Defence considering the offence was horrible after durant went down. on his mom. Not classy.

Well, that just Sukhs.

According the a Bomber insider, the reason that Hall has not been announced as the DC was that all talks had to take place in The Cone Of Silence, which has delayed things.

Richie Hall is flat-out good people and a darned good coach as well. His previous experience as a head coach ought to help him understand the type of working relationship that has to exist between head and assistant coaches, and so make for a smooth coordination, Whatever comes up should be easily resolved. Welcome Mr. Hall.

Well, well, well. Hall may have a bone of contention with O'Shea before he even hits town. This bears watching.

Maybe someone forgot to cover their asterisk?

Uh huh. Don't travel much to the US do you? Fly from WPG to NYC and you're looking at basically a full day and over a thousand bucks, due to the connections in TO or MPLS or MON or CHI. Whereas you can fly from Calgary (much further west) to NYC direct most of the year in 6 hours and 400 bucks. Fly from LA to WPG takes at least half a day. At least one connection. LA to Calgary is 3 hours, nonstop, and way cheaper. Not saying WPG is a travel backwater but its certainly not an easy or affordable place to leave. Not true. I just took a flight to LA in June, connected in Denver. Left at 8 AM local, arrived at 12 PM local (6 hours total) Exactly -- connection. I just did LA - Calgary last week. 3 hours. And because no connection, my luggage arrived with me. WPG airport is as cute as a bugs ear but it aint an international hub (though neither really is Calgary). You really can't appreciate how lousy that is until you live in the Northeast USA, and can literally hop a last minute flight to London for $399 and get there in half a day. Calgary has designs on becoming a much bigger airport though. They're on their way. It always boggled my mind that Winnipeg given it's position right in the middle of the bloody continent couldn't find a way to make itself a hub. Calgary either has spent or is in the process of spending $600,000,000 on airport expansion. With the Alberta economy in dange of flatlining, that may not have been wise but it is The Alberta Way.

The proper term is "pedant" or "sheit-disturber".

Canada's economy is struggling at the moment, but it does not have the structural weaknesses that the US dollar does, so a 70 cent Canuck buck is not likely. The US economy has deteriorated to the point where almost 50 cents of each dollar spent is borrowed. That, plus military spending and dramatic deterioration of much infrastructure means very bad news for the US dollar.

Not everyone worries about that Yes, you're right, that's pretty much what I said. Try this: draw a circle with a radius of about a day's drive -- say 800km -- centered on Edmonton or Calgary or Regina. Then draw the same radius around Montreal. See how many more cities and people are in the Montreal radius?I've driven the country coast-to-coast and it's astonishing how wonderful the west is. FYP.

Benevides has announced his intent to take a year off and get to know his family.

Lawless has also said this PM that Benevides has withdrawn his name from consideration in the competition for the vacant DC job. This leaves only Hall and apparently he and the Bombers have agreed to terms and will be announced early next week. Hall was said to have the inside track from Day One.

Its a bad news/good news scenario. Lower energy prices mean household budgets are not as stressed and the Canadian dollar will find a resting spot around 0.90 USD, which will make exports more competitive. Bad News:The tar sands are largely owned by Chinese and they have no problem shuttering a bad investment until things improve. There are major black clouds on the horizon- the European enconomies actually shrank last quarter, Canadian real estate is about 30% overvalued ond overdue for a "correction", and the American Economy is teetering, due in no small part to the antagonistic political climate there and military adventures which have bled some 1.5 TRILLION dollars out of the economy. The biggest,most successful US investor, Warren Buffet (no relation to Jimmy) has pulled about 34 billion dollars out of the stock market in expectation of a crash.

In Alberta we have a deficit of $6-7 BILLION dollars.... Just this year. You guys have it good. And the Flames want a new arena? Good luck with that. This has been brewing for the past two years and its gonna get worse in Alberta. There are problems with a one-source economy, and the forecasts are for at least two more years of low oil and gas problems. Just wait until the tar sands start shutting down- they take years to get back up to full production.

Hmmmmm...if Benevides really wanted to go to Regina but got bad vibes or such, but Hall wanted to come here all along, I would rather have Hall. Don't like the idea of a coach whose first choice would have been elsewhere.

Blake may or may not make the team, but most athletes have their best years ages 26-29, and linemen often play well into their 30's.

Clearing out the deadwood.

Lets not delude ourselves. If Walters wants to bid up Heenan to force Taman to drain his cap space, thats one thing, but I rather doubt he would do such a thing. For starters ,the CFL is a small fraternity and Walters might need a favour from Taman at some point, so burning that bridge would make no sense. Heenan would need a pretty big raise to move here, and his wife/girlfriend would likely veto that anyways. If we have a legitimate shot at Holmes without breaking the bank, lets go for it. If that doesn't work, lets draft and develop.

Love the name. CRONK. CRONK!!! That he has to compete for his job in training camp. Which he would have had to do anyways. We can add his name to the list of phonetic Bombers: Crump, Bonk and Czap.