Tracker

This is really a false debate in that there is no good reason to assume that with an off-season to recover from this season, Willy will not be as good or better than he was at the start of this season. We know what he brings to the table and one game isn't going to change that, but whether the backups are legitimate future starters is still open to debate. Calgary is going to maul anyone behind the Bomber center and Marve is our best hope to salvage a bit of respectability in this last gasp.

From today's Freep: WINNIPEG Blue Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea volunteered Thursday his 6-11 football team "needs to get better, from me on down." But when O'Shea was asked by reporters if he was admitting he'd personally made mistakes in his rookie season as the Bombers' field boss, O'Shea bristled. "I'll have to go back and go through everything and take some notes on that," O'Shea replied. So, no mistakes leap immediately to mind? O'Shea was asked. "Nothing leaps to mind? No, because I'm solely focused on beating Calgary," he said. "But I'm sure you'll tell me." It was a rare testy exchange between O'Shea and local reporters and it came on the same day the Bombers held their last full practice of the 2014 season at Investors Group Field. The club will travel to Calgary today in advance of their final game of the season on Saturday at McMahon Field against the Stampeders. It seems that O'Shea's stubbornness is going to continue and that does not bode well for our rookie head coach.

It is to be hoped that they do a mind-wipe on Willy so that he forgets the merciless pounding he has taken this year (and will probably get another helping of from Calgary). That sort of 10-sack pounding has to wear on his confidence and ability to focus. In the Calgary Herald today the Stamp D-linemen were described as smacking their lips in anticipation of fattening their sack totals. They appear to look to the game as a full-contact practice.

O'Shea is a rookie head coach and is expected to make mistakes, but the pattern of his choices is becoming worrisome. Its not too late for him to review the year, learn from his mistakes and correct them. I hope that Walters is wise enough to have a chat with O'Shea and that O'Shea is wise enough to listen. O'Shea will not get another chance to be a head coach if he gasses this one.

Funny this is that in the first few games this year, it seemed that we were able to do the half-time adjustments to the other teams' offenses and defenses, but not at all since. Worse yet, this has been a hallmark of the team's futility for years. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Sadly, it is starting to sound like there is a sizable and growing discontent with the coaching currently used by the club. However, given O'Shea's demonstrated determination to keep on with the same old, I am not optimistic about significant change to come. I just hope that he is not as rigid as he has shown himself to be thus far.

From what I could see this season, Picard was no better than Morley and Morley was somewhat better,so, no reason for that change. Best might be worth pursuing if his injuries have not been of the same ilk as Swystun. We paid both Swystun and Pencer far too long for far too little except to fill the roster.

Sacking coaches if they are incompetent cannot be used as an excuse for an inability to attract coaching talent. Coaches have egos as much as anyone else, and probably more so, and if they are looking at a team which keeps lousy coaches year after year, they would have to assume that the organization has no real drive to win (like the Toronto Make-beliefs). Some people have a knack of being able to spot talent and others do not (like the Toronto Make-beliefs). If you set your PVR to record "The Biggest Loser" it will automatically record all Leafs games.

Willy has made his bones and has to be considered the incumbent next training camp. Marve still has to prove that he can play in this league on a consistent basis, so it would make sense for him to start and play with a quarter reserved for the #4 fellow. And if anyone here thinks O'Shea will be poring through this site looking for advice, they need to go for a pee-test. Now.

On the basis of performance, its hard to argue with this ranking, but if Willy hadn't been beaten to a pulp, he would be a contender for no lower than #2.

There's no point in starting a bidding/salary war just to be poopheads. Heenan isn't going anywhere and the Riders will juggle things to make it so, so the other GMs will back off quickly. Holmes is a legitimate target and worth pursuing and Walters had better be in at the finish here.

Not too many takers on that.

At the beginning of this season, I was cautiously optimistic with reservations about Etcheverry. The caution was somewhat blunted by the quick start and I waited to see what the second half of the season brought. As unexpectedly good as the first half was, troubling trends began to appear and worsened as time went on. The really disheartening thing was that the same damned things not only repeated, but got worse. And then got worse yet. The talent is simply not there in critical areas- that was obvious in critical areas but that can be changed. Even now, the some of the new blood brought in show promise and give reason to hope that next year will be much better. Nothing, however, is going to improve unless the really bad coaching decisions are acknowledged and steps taken to make sure they are never repeated. It comes down to Norman Einstein's definition of insanity. We lost the last game and at least one other because a failing and fading Drew Willy was left in way too long. Against the Leos, it was obvious to even me that Willy was floundering by the end of the second quarter and got worse in the third and fourth, and yet he was left in to both take a physical pounding and remain totally ineffective to boot. If O'Shea and Co. could not see what the heck was going on and take steps to both save Willy's confidenceand maybe even win the game, he is not going to be the person to turn this team around. I would bet the players who care are just as downcast at this point in the season as they were last year. We have one more loss to endure and then the season will be mercifully ovww it is going to fixed.er. Then O'Shea and the coaches owe a full accounting to the fans and players as to how this year went off the rails and ho

Grigsby is as good as ever.

No matter whom you are cheering for, its been entertaining.

Or maybe because he's a mediocre injury prone player? If he couldn't make it onto this disaster of an offensive line this year, he would have to improve substantially to be mediocre.

OmiGod!! Cue the Engelbert Humperdinck song.

If the team plays as well today as it did against the Stamps, we have a good shot at winning. Getting into the playoffs is another kettle of fish altogether.

The fat lady has not only sung, she's gone home and is in her jammies.

I don't think we were looking for all-star status, just a good solid lineman like Chris Greaves. All we can do is wait until next year and hope this was just a bad year for him (and the team).

Um...wait a second.....wait....um.......I got nothing.

But, but...we have been told repeatedly that the run game is just not important any more. What's a girl to think?

Neufeld is not likely to get us to forget Walby, but he had the right passport and CFL experience. The ripple effect of losing a starting Canuck went right down the line and probably changed the whole game plan with all the juggling. It sure didn't help when every import O-lineman who stepped in was inept.

It is sounding more and more like the opinions of many on this board that Mack was an arrogant, bull-headed individual who saw himself as being able to almost singlehandedly rebuild the Bombers using scouting and his own infallibility in drafting. LaPolice had his failings as well, but Mack and those who hired him are largely responsible for the mess. .

Only if you bring donuts.