TrueBlue4ever

Who really cares?

Bombers have been 24 seasons in the West division since their last 1st place finish in 1972. In a 5 team division, that drought is even more significant than a 29 year Grey Cup drought in a 9 team league. And for those who question the importance of a first place division finish, since the Lions entered the CFL in 1954, in 65 seasons, the first place team in the West division has gone on to the Grey Cup 40 times (61.5%), the second place team 17 times (26.2%) and the third place team 8 times (12.3%). By pure coin flip the percentages should be 50-25-25 (removing any home field advantage consideration). In the East it is even more pronounced. The #1 seed made the Grey Cup 49 times (75.4%), #2 15 times (23.1%) and #3 only once (1.5%). So finishing first in either division has resulted in a 68.4% chance of getting to the Grey Cup historically.

Since the league contracted from the US expansion in 1996, there have been 10 seasons where a team has had a bye in the final week of the year (all other years we had an 8 team league) due to the unbalanced schedule. Of those 10 seasons, here are the results: 1996 - Edmonton bye, then won West semi at home over Winnipeg (went on to lose in the Grey Cup) 2002 - Hamilton bye, out of playoffs 2003 - Hamilton bye, out of playoffs 2004 - Edmonton bye, lost West semi at home to Saskatchewan 2005 - Winnipeg bye, out of playoffs 2014 - Winnipeg bye, out of playoffs 2015 - Edmonton bye, then another week off before winning West division final at home over Calgary (went on to win the Grey Cup) 2016 - Calgary bye, then another week off before winning West division final at home over BC (went on to lose the Grey Cup in overtime) 2017 - Ottawa bye, then lost the east semi final at home to Saskatchewan 2018 - Saskatchewan bye, then lost the West semi final at home to Winnipeg So of the 6 teams that went into the playoffs after a final week bye, all had a home playoff game and their record was 3-3, including 2-0 for those with a "double bye" right into the division final.

Surprisingly, not too early to start analyzing the playoff race. All scenarios do NOT consider the possibility of ties at this point, just too complicated to factor in that possibility at this point. WEST Winnipeg - have clinched 4th place in the division, will clinch crossover playoff spot with wins and Ottawa losses totalling 2. Will clinch west playoff spot with wins and Edmonton losses totalling 3. Will clinch home playoff game with wins and either Calgary OR Saskatchewan losses totalling 6, will clinch west final home game with wins and Calgary AND Saskatchewan losses totalling 6. Calgary - Will clinch crossover playoff spot with wins and Ottawa losses totalling 4. Will clinch west playoff spot with wins and Edmonton losses totalling 5. Will clinch home playoff game with wins and Saskatchewan losses totalling 7 (if Saskatchewan does not beat them by 28 or more points in their remaining game), will clinch west final home game with wins and Winnipeg losses totalling 8 (if they beat Winnipeg by 3 points or more in their remaining game). Saskatchewan - Will clinch crossover playoff spot with wins and Ottawa losses totalling 4. Will clinch west playoff spot with wins and Edmonton losses totalling 5 (if they win season series). Will clinch home playoff game with wins and Calgary losses totalling 7 (if Saskatchewan beats them by 28 or more points in their remaining game), will clinch west final home game with wins and Winnipeg losses totalling 8 (if they beat Winnipeg in their remaining game). Edmonton - Will clinch crossover playoff spot with wins and Ottawa losses totalling 5. Will clinch west playoff spot with wins and Saskatchewan losses totalling 8 (if they win season series) OR wins and Calgary losses totalling 9. Will clinch home game with wins and Saskatchewan AND Calgary losses totalling 9, will clinch west final home game with wins and Winnipeg losses totalling 10. BC - Can finish no better than 2nd in the West. Eliminated from home playoff game with 1 loss or a Saskatchewan win OR a combo of losses and Calgary wins totalling 2. Eliminated from playoffs with losses and Edmonton wins totalling 2, OR losses and Ottawa wins totalling 5. EAST Hamilton - Have clinched 3rd place in the division. Will clinch a home playoff game with wins and Ottawa losses totalling 2. Will clinch east final home game with wins and Montreal losses totalling 4. Montreal - Will clinch a home playoff game with wins and Ottawa losses totalling 5. Will clinch east final home game with wins and Hamilton losses totalling 11 (if they beat Hamilton in their remaining game). Ottawa - Eliminated from home east final game with losses and Hamilton wins totalling 2. Eliminated from home playoff game with losses and Montreal wins totalling 5. Eliminated from playoffs with losses and Edmonton wins totalling 5. Toronto - Can finish no better than 2nd in the east. Eliminated from home playoff game with losses and Montreal wins totalling 4. Eliminated from playoffs with losses and Edmonton wins totalling 4. CLINCHING SCENARIOS THIS WEEK: Hamilton clinches a playoff spot with a win in Calgary and an Ottawa loss in BC.

No "thinking" required - that combination by the math WILL guarantee us first place.

Crown Royal (manufactured in Gimli - Northern Harvest blend won "whiskey of the year" internationally last year) and Jeannie's Cake (any Sobey's or Family Foods will have)

We need duplicate names again in the CFL, so Yukon Eskimos it is. And we need to embrace the past history of Ottawa and open up American expansion again, just to bring back San Antonio and have 3 Rough Rider teams!

Why would you go over to the Rider forum in the first place? You honestly can't be surprised that they would be taking pot shots. Why inflict that upon yourself?

Milt Stegall thought LaPo called a great game. Recognizing both Streveler’s strengths and weaknesses and devising a solid plan to lead to a win. I think Milt knows a little more about offensive game planning than you, so I’ll go with his assessment, thanks.

If they botched that call, I was calling the league office.

Jefferson hit it with both hands, one after the other.

Edmonton is not the best offence in the league. This is Trevor Harris in a nutshell. Lots of big yards, can’t finish, and a .500 QB.

So, which victory over Edmonton was uglier?

YEEESSSS!!!!!!!!!

Wow, those calls may make up for the missed holding.

I think this will be a good challenge.

So Wolitarsky flat out drops a pass on a nice roll out, and you blame the OC for that? Moronic.

Well, the precedent has been set that a sitting President in an election year cannot choose a nominee because the American people should have a vote on who will be their leader to select one. Unless of the course the Republicans are complete hypocrites who care nothing about the American people and only about self-interest (NEWS FLASH - they are complete hypocrites). Sadly the Republicans won't even try to put a spin on this one. Hopefully Ginsburg can hang on at least until January.

Nope. This guy. It's in the eyes.

8 games in we’ve scored less than 26 once, loss to Hamilton. Nobody should have any concerns about the O.

Last year at home to Calgary in game 17, which got us into the playoffs,

Rose - 2 picks and managed Banks pretty well Jeffcoat - despite some holds, still a force Wolitarsky - reliable making catches and knowing where the first down marker was, took a few hard hits well until the injury HH - Adams has a nice TD catch, but Sayles gets it as he made some nice open field tackles.

Maybe, just maybe, circumstance had something to do with the play calls. Down by 14 early pushed us to a more pass happy game plan, the deep stuff was defended very well, so Nichols had to check down a lot, and the line gave him worse protection tonight than pretty much any game this year. And we lost our 2 wideouts, who were our best receivers early. And that 106 yard TD Drive was short pass ball control, so not stretching the field later was a product of many things. LaPos balances offence has scored 4 TDs a game up to now. Perhaps the knives can be put away just a bit longer.

Some of the more reactionary posts in the last 3 pages is why I avoid this place for 2 days after a game. We have not been exposed. Our roster management is not awful. This team CAN be taken seriously. Nichols overthrew some receivers, the line did not give him good time like in other games, coverage by Hamilton’s DBs was very good on deep balls, the team got down deep early and never committed to the run to get back into the game, and some bad special teams gaffes. Add to that injuries to the two best receivers tonight, and a 6 to 1 turnover ratio, and we lose. Guess what, we weren’t going 18-0. It’s a loss, it sucks, Hamilton was more emotionally ready to play on their first drive and all night defensively, move on to next week. We’re still a good team. I’ll see you all on Monday. Now back to the hysteria.

Whether he's been told to be this way or just took it upon himself to do it, Westwood's job is to be contrarian and "pick fights" with Jim Toth to make the show "edgy" and "balanced". Anyone irritated by it just justifies Westwood's M.O., that old show biz axiom that "I don't care what they say about me, so long as they are talking about me".