TrueBlue4ever

Sorry to hear you had a tough time, and that your flag got pinched. All the fans I encountered (and it was about 95% Tiger-Cat fans) were pretty pleasant and welcoming. I got the odd boo of course for my Bomber attire, but I just responded by saying at least I wasn’t an Argo fan and that got a smile every time. I always remind myself that in enemy territory you are vastly outnumbered, so some praise and thanks (even if phony and insincere) keeps the wolves at bay. If I am invited to someone’s house for dinner, I don’t piss on the rug and complain about the food. Now, my section had a larger contingent of Bomber fans (sat right in front of Mike O’Shea’s mom) so that may have played into it. All that said, I was amazed after the game how gracious their fans were in defeat. After 4 losses in 8 years and losing that lead in my home barn and losing in OT, not sure I could have been so congratulatory in that scenario like Cats’ fans were to me.

Can you explain why Kyle Walters hasn’t cut him yet, then? He doesn’t seem like he jokes around.

Let’s not forget that Lucky Whitehead sure seems like he would be interested in returning. Fire or not Adams could be the odd man out. And Davis Sanchez said that he saw Brandon Banks after the game and Banks told him he was retiring. Acknowledged that Banks was emotional, so did nothing want to write it in stone, but Hamilton will be different next year. Tough for them, 4 Cup appearances in 8 years and nothing to show for it.

If this is the case, that is the one player I do not see us being able to recover from the loss of. Harris, Adams, Jeffcoat, Alford could all go and I feel our depth would find a way, but if Zach is gone that fundamentally weakens our team in a massive way. Would hope for a free agent pick-up rather than what we have In the wings here and now. I’m not 100% convinced of this, and here is why. If Castillo stays, then no-brainer Mourtada is gone. But if Sergio does depart back to the NFL or elsewhere, then Mourtada may be the best option to at least come back to camp and try out against Liegghio or another pick-up. He was terrible early but did straighten out his angles in his later efforts and went 12/13 in FGs and converts in his last two games. Also has the strongest kickoff leg of the bunch. But with the early struggles the perception was set in stone that he was done from the fans, so I see why people think he will not be here - I just think Walters is not quite ready to cut bait until the Castillo situation is clear. Plus, if the club thought he was useless regardless of who else was here, they would have cut him already. I think Walters is hedging his bets on Castillo’s return and is keeping Mourtada around for training camp insurance for now. Not saying I agree with that approach, just how I think it could play out.

Bomber fans in my section gave it a standing ovation. Cats fans who were not aware of him applauded in recognition when I explained why it was a big deal. Nice gesture by the Tiger-Cats organization to put up the video tribute to him, and to Brian Williams.

Second only to the “Troy Davis to Edmonton from Hamilton for their Grey Cup run in exchange for Jason Maas, but we’ll let Maas stay with the Esks until next year so they still have a QB for the playoffs, then move hiIm after the season for a retired player and pretend it’s a separate legitimate deal”

Not for me. 😁

My keys to the game: Offence: Bombers - Finish what you started. Last week the team gave away a bunch of points in the red zone with turnovers. Cannot afford to play with fire twice. The team that has won the turnover battle has won 23 of the last 24 Grey Cups, and these two teams were the best all year at protecting the ball themselves and also getting the other side to cough it up. Bombers need to maintain drives to keep the home crowd out of it, work the clock, and get points on the board every opportunity they are in the score zone. They were second worst the league this year with 4 red zone turnovers and have been uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball since the second Montreal game. Spreading the field with jet sweeps mixed in with power runs up the middle by Harris will then open up the downfield passing game, and keep Hamilton from keying in one one area consistently and setting up the chance to jump a route or knock the ball out Hamlton - Hurry it up and quick strike. I think wbbfan nailed it saying the Tiger-Cats should employ a hurry up offence to limit the Bombers’ ability to get their substitutions in. The rotational defence has been the magic elixir for the Blue and Gold d and their dominance this season, run and gun may be the only way to neutralize it. Get the ball quickly into your stars’ hands (and the Cats are starting to drop like flies with injuries to their big guns) with sweeps and short patterns to set up the deep strike. This will also keep the Bomber front 4 from disrupting longer developing pass plays with their relentless pressure. Mike Jones being out hurts the tackling proficiency of the secondary a bit, so hitch screens may be an effective weapon against the secondary who like to body check as much as wrap up at times. Defence: Bombers - Controlled physicality. We saw in the 2019 game how the Bombers literally beat the Cats into submission with their physical play. Frankie Williams got mowed over, Brandon Banks quit the game when the going got tough, and Dane Evans was a deer in headlights. So they can be physically intimidated I believe, especially Banks, who shrinks when the contact gets rough and checks out mentally. But control is needed. The home crowd could influence the referee calls if they start screaming about dirty play, and we know Brandon Alexander likes to play on the edge and gets flagged for the rough stuff from time to time. Willie J loves the strip sack and the arms will be flailing. Be sure to wrap up when tackling and avoid the thundering shoulder checks in the secondary instead of just bringing them to the ground effectively. Hamilton - Lock down on first down. Winnipeg led the league with a 6.5 yards per play average, and also had the second best 2nd down conversion rate at 47.6% and time of possession at thirty one and a half minutes. But they were also second worst in the CFL in going two and out on a drive. Hamilton needs to keep the Bombers in second and long as much as possible, and that means keying in on the run game and controlling the line of scrimmage on first down plays. Good luck with that. Loading the box may be the approach. As long as the Bombers have second and short opportunities and can use their whole playbook, they are in control. Special teams: Bombers - Contain, contain, contain. Directional punting by Liegghio will be very important here. The special teams cover unit led by Mike Miller and Noah Hallett has been stellar this year in limiting returns, but Brandon Banks is as dangerous as anyone back there, so keeping discipline in closing off the lanes is vital. Bombers had the best starting field position average on the CFL this year, due in part to flipping the field with good punting and then letting the defence do its thing to get the ball back quickly. The wind was crazy in the Hammer yesterday, hopefully it settles down a lot for today’s game (gusts of up to 50 mph are projected, so half of what we got yesterday but still a potentially big issue). Like against the Riders, a special teams tie at game’s end is a victory. Hamilton - Take it to the house. We know how good the Bomber D is, especially in the second half. The Tiger-Cat offence will need some help from the other two facets in scoring points to have a chance at winning today, in my mind. That means a pick-6 or a special teams return score. With Frankie Williams out that latter option becomes tougher, but Brandon Banks is hardly a slouch. A kick return score would be a massive emotional and psychological win for Hamilton and may be the great equalizer in the contest.

Weather 6 degrees and sunny in the Hammer today, will be 4 degrees at kickoff and hold steady at that temperature for the entire game. Will feel like minus 3. One factor may be the wind, which is projected to be 32 mph gusting to 48. Yesterday was insanely windy in the city, with gusts up to 100kph, power outages in some parts, and some freeway bridges threatening to close around the area

Section 216!

Going off the top of my head, 21 Canucks, 20 Americans, 2 QBs and I think 2 Globals now. 7 starters must be Canadian, this is where Hammy fudged the numbers. Please correct me if I am wrong, this is somewhat guesswork.

All star team gets announced tonight too, no? Any guesses on how many we nab? We had 15 divisional noms, CFL all-star record is 11.

And thanks Darian Durant. His contract douchebaggery freed up the cash to sign Biggie. Best screw job recovery ever.

When does the voting actually happen? I’m not sure Hamilton making the Cup would change things because the vote is supposed to be on regular season anyway. Having said that I’m glad Pete Ghost put up this thread, because I have dreaded Simoni winning but fear Biggie will get the Stanley Bryant 2019 treatment. Zach is a lock given the chatter about him and the team success this year. Biggie absolutely should win as he was the leader of the best defence the league has seen in maybe 60 years. And his biggest strength (being swept up in the “Winnipeg was so much better they should get all the awards” mentality) is also the biggest weakness (“the Bombers were a team defence, Simoni carried his squad more”) and their black and white stats were similar. I hate the fact that Lawrence’s dirty play gets glossed over so much, he should lose votes for that alone. Bryant either gets the redemption vote for being stiffed in 2019 and then embarrassing the voters with his and Van Zyel’s respective performances in the Grey Cup proving he got jobbed, or the voters pull another “he’s won, time to spread it around” attitude. I’m more confident than most that O’Shea wins this easily over Dinwiddie, even if playoffs don’t matter. This team was SO much better than the other 8 this year that his coaching and team building cannot be ignored, especially after last year’s win. And Dinwiddie’s most memorable coaching move was absolutely making a clusterf*ck of clock management against BC and fluking out a win because their kicker sucked.

Or they’ll just break the ratio rules again.

Mea culpa. Also forgot the ALL CAPS!!

I don’t disagree for the sake of disagreeing or to look cool or “be better”, I will disagree where I have an opinion and will explain it where necessary, even if it is a minority opinion. I also agree with a bunch of stuff here, so I am not disagreeing “at all times”. If you disagree with me on a topic, make your case and I will make mine. Simple as that. If my logic is flawed, I’m sure my error will be pointed out. If my reasoning holds up, but you just don’t like it because it differs from your opinion or pokes holes your argument, that’s not my problem, and it’s not because I think I am better or cooler or whatever characterization you want to dump on me. I don’t get my social validation from others on an anonymous fan board. I’m here to debate football topics with other fans. If there is no room for dissenting opinion, then have we become a clone of the Riderfan boards, which is what I am told they are all about? But beyond all of that, why does my different opinion bother you so much? I don’t get that. If you want to discuss further or have it out or hurl insults or whatever, we can move this to the PMs so as not to derail the thread more. Peace out.

“Do your research!”

Assuming the complainant is completely credible, which may be too readily accepted here because it’s a Rider on the other side. “Hey, here’s a fan who chooses to get season tickets behind the opposing bench for the purpose of heckling players all the time (self-admitted) and dresses up in wrestling garb. Seems like a low key, mild mannered person would would never look to start a confrontation with the visiting team, minimize his own behaviour in inciting an incident or exaggerate a player’s response.” Hey, I have a picture of me standing beside Anna Kournikova at an autograph signing. Totally proves we are sleeping together! Look, I am not saying an incident did not happen. Ball likely did go into the stands. I was at the game and did not see anything from my vantage point, and did not hear an auditory uproar from the stands behind the Rider bench which is common when an incident occurs. So being there is not necessarily proof or a way to shout down someone who wasn’t. And being there and not seeing it is not proof it didn’t happen. Lots of fans, big stadium, and the vantage point may only be available to a few select fans. I’m just skeptical that it happened exactly the way the complainant lays it out. As was said, the victimhood portrayed in the article comes across as a bit rich to believe the throw was a violent as outlined. The kid says he was caught unaware of the throw and his uncle had to jump In to intercept it inches from his unsuspecting face. Yet he perfectly describes the “pro-level” wind-up and hard velocity throw. So did you see it coming or not? For now, we have one side of the story, and it is self-serving (gets us a picture in the paper and publicly slags those dirty Riders to the media). Gainey’s version denying it would be equally self-serving (protect my reputation, which already has marks against it, and potential liability). I’d like to hear some unbiased third party witnesses or await the league response rather than get the “scoop” from the Freep unverified. But a story slagging the Riders for alleged reprehensible behaviour is red meat to many on this board akin to Trump saying “immigrants bring in drugs and are rapists” to people in MAGA hats. I’m not ready to buy in just yet, that’s just me and that’s all I am explaining in my comments.

Players are in a no-win situation when it comes to fan interaction. Look at the post-game video of Toronto-Hamilton. Fans throwing beer at players, swearing, even throwing punches in one case, but once players go after them physically they will lose the argument in the court of public opinion every time. Players always have to defer to security and just get fans who are too abusive removed and never take it into their own hands.

No one really knows except those fans, anyone right beside them who witnessed it, the player, and the security guys who monitor all the cameras at the stadium. The whole place is monitored for fan misbehaviour, so if there is any traction to this story I am sure the club can find video of it and respond. I am not prepared to give the automatic benefit of the doubt to the fan in this case given their one-sided account. Heard versions of this type of story too many times be a nothing burger to accept it at face value with lots some independent verification. Just a vibe I got from the tone of the article.

Just avoid the edibles. I hear those things can mess up a weekend.

Actually, the article made no mention of where they were sitting or where the ball was thrown. All we know is “early in the first quarter” and is most likely after the Demski INT since that is when Gainey would have had his hands on the ball. What video there is does not show any throw into the stands, Gainey is holding the ball as he heads back to the bench. So heed your own advice if you say “did you read the article?” since your version of “it mentions sidelines by the bench” is not in there either. TBURG never said it was in the end zone himself.