Tracker

Next season the Bombers win those games. I'm confident Bombers win at least 9-10 games next season. Could've won them this year too. We were outplayed at the QB position - rest of the team played well enough to win those games. I think you're going to get a lot of dissent on this one. Willy wasn't allowed by his O-line to play well and was beaten into the ground. Beyond that, our defense was figured out by Labour day by the other teams, and our receivers as a whole were barely good enough on a good day and significantly sub-par other days. And that is not even addressing the weak D-line and coaching.

All worthy of becoming trivia questions.

Maybe Morley's play tailed off because he was trying to cover for all the other problematic players on the O-line.

Teachers never retire- they just lose their class.

Much ado about nothing of significance.

Good luck to Donovan- glad he had the sense to quit when he heeded to instead of risking permanent damage.

And darned few could when Dougie was motoring.

Glen January was not as good this year as last, and if continuing owies played a part in that, he deserves an invite to training camp. That said, he has more of his career behind him than in front of him, and we need to begin grooming a replacement.

All this is encouraging, and we can write this whole season off as a mulligan. I think fans will be ready to wash out the taste of this year, but I cannot see the same forgiveness extending into next year. It sounds like Walters and O'Shea are aware of all the snafus this year and are prepared to make the necessary changes, down to making at least one of the current assistant coaches walk the plank.

PS: we need to find another long-snapper to replace Wild in that role. His neck must have been shortened about an inch and he is going to have his lifespan shortened as well.

Good news for the Alouettes and the league. Higgins is and always has been a good guy and a good coach who never got snarly even when things were difficult. I still happen to think that he would have been a good fit here as well. Better than O'Shea--maybe.

Crompton is a place-holder until someone better comes along. He's done reasonably well considering but I wouldn't trade him for any of our top three QB's.

Maybe he meant that Romby Bryant makes those around him look bet.ter by comparison

Now, who we have that we can spare that Ottawa would want for the # one draft pick?

Amen. As bad as Kelly was, he's probably had enough excrement dumped on him by now. But he's still a a great choice for a bad example.

Bucknor was a very pleasant surprise. I thought the halfback on his side and safety would have to cheat over to his zone to cover for him, but even though his tackling leaves something to be desired, he was good for a rookie and seemed to improve over the season. How many Canadian corners are there around, anyways? Definitely a ratio-changer.

Well, now we have reason to hope for better next year as per an article in today's Freep: It was the first year with O'Shea as head coach, however, and he was asked Sunday what lessons he took away from his rookie season as a head coach. "We've got a lot of work to do. And there's lots to learn still. That's an easy answer," O'Shea said. Asked where his team needs to get better, O'Shea didn't mince words. "Every phase. We want to win championships, so saying we're going to fix one thing here, one thing there -- it doesn't work that way. "We have to get better across the board. We can't afford to take penalties, we can't give up so many turnovers, we can't give up that number of sacks, we can't give up those rushing yards, we need to be more effective in the red zone. "It's everything. We're trying to improve every facet of the game. What I've said to the coaches so far, is we're going to spend this off-season inspecting everything." Asked to assess the performances of offensive co-ordinator Marcel Bellefeuille and defensive co-ordinator Gary Etcheverry, O'Shea was upbeat. "They've worked extremely hard. They've put their players in positions to be successful. They've done a pretty good job." But O'Shea hedged when asked if the two men would be back for 2015, noting he hasn't yet had his own performance review from GM Kyle Walters. "When I have that meeting with Kyle, then I'll be able to go down the line and go from there."

Alexander's career is over, but Teague Sherman looks to have the raw athleticism that, with coaching could make him very useful as a weak-side linebacker. Could be a diamond in the rough and a home-town boy to boot.

Wild would be a tremendous loss if it comes to that. His hit on the final play against Calgary made up for a lot of the misery of watching the defence fold in the last few games. If we can get the D-line shielding him better and maybe move him to an outside position, he would be an all-star.

Its gonna be a dogfight between Edmonton and Hamilton in a low scoring game dominated by scrambling quarterbacks and carnivorous D-lines. If it comes down to talent, the Esks have an edge but the difference could well be the coaching, and Austin gives the 'Cats a big edge there. 20-17 either way.

Mike Kelly also finished the 2009 season with 7-11 record. Just sayin' No comparison here apart from the raw numbers. I have never seen a coach burn off so much goodwill from the media and fans in such a short time as Kelly did. The board of directors should take a blood-oath to never, ever appoint a rookie to be both GM and coach at the same time. Rheinbold and Kelly were unqualified disasters and should be held up as glaring examples of what not to do.

Portis? What did he do on the sidelines? Portis was in complete command of masterful restraint.

Now you've got me all excited and tingly.

Nice to both ending the season on a winning note and not having that foul taste in the mouth afterwards. One win after all this time is cause for celebration but it does not gloss over the problems that still have to be addressed on the team. Now the real hard work begins.

The problem with concussions is that the damage is cumulative until a threshold is reached and then you are Eric Lindros or Matt Dunigan. Thankfully, the protocols are a lot more stringent than they used to be.