TrueBlue4ever

Don't you mean "dickety 45"?

Ok, we need a name for this: OK, "Hardrick Hop" doesn't work because it isn't just him (plus "Jermarcus Jump" would have sounded cooler). Can't do "Bryant Bounce" or "Bond Bounce" for the same reason - we need something that reflects the entire group. So let's have some suggestions here. A few I have pondered (And I claim trademark on any of these if it takes off!): The Line Leap The Linemen Launch The Hog Hop The Beef Bounce River City Rumble The Jumbo Jump Any others?

Well fans, we had another gorgeous day for football here in River City, and the hometown heroes were looking for their 7th consecutive victory, something we hadn't seen in these parts since the days of Milton Stegall, Charlie Roberts, Kahari Jones, and Bobby Gorgeous himself, no not Bobby Gordon but one Mr. Robert Cameron, all the way back in 2001. Standing in their way were the Toronto Argonauts, who were trying to win back-to-back games on the heels of a 4 game losing streak. Well, if there was a theme to this game, it was all about redemption and finding a way. In the first half, we saw the offence, led by Matt Nicholls, do more of what we've seen lately, which is drive the ball but fail to convert those drives into touchdowns. And Justin Medlock was coming off of his first sub-par performance in some time, having missed 2 of his previous 3 field goals. And the defence was giving up big chunks of yards throughout the air and failing to contain Argonaut quarterback Don LeFervour. But it was the ghost of the Lincoln Locomotive, Leo Lewis, who was honoured at half time, that rallied this team in the second half. The defence redeemed itself from a spotty first half to shut down the Argo passing game and record 2 more critical interceptions, the offence found a way to cross the goalline 3 times to take over the game, and the special teams redeemed themselves from past bad penalties and missed kicks to produce 28 points on field goals, converts, and touchdowns. Now the Happy Honker Award is about that special play, not necessarily the big play to win the game, not the best player, but the one who did that something extra special. Now on defence, we had a couple of big momentum plays. Tyler Loffler broke up a big first down pass to receiver Tori Gurney with a thunderous hit along the sidelines, and Randall Homes had a key interception which the Bombers capitalized on to score their first offensive touchdown to tie up the contest, redeeming himself for an earlier fall on coverage that led to a Wayne Shaw Toronto touchdown. And offensively, Matt Nicholls shook off 2 interceptions of his own, one that was called back on review, and another that was called back due to penalty, and he used those extra lives both times to put deciding points on the board. But today's Happy Honker comes from the third component of the team, the special teams. Now, it would be easy to give this out to Justin "Money" Medlock, who is a sure a thing as construction in summer and snow in winter. And he was again today, going 6 for 6. But the Happy Honker player first happened on the scene late in the second quarter of this game. With the Argos having just scored to take the lead 14-9, Former Bomber kicker Lyric Haveacashew kicked off to Quincey MacDuffie, who found a seam and returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a momentum changing touchdown return. Then, after the Argos took the lead again late in the half, they were so afraid of a repeat performance that they dribbled the kick short, allowing a Bomber return to close to midfield and gave them the chance to kick a last second field goal at the half to close the score to a 3 point deficit. And once again, in the third quarter after yet another Argo score, MacDuffie brought back the subsequent kickoff all the way to midfield and again give the Bombers great field position to set up yet another field goal, which kept the Argos from Wresting control of the contest away from the Blue and Gold. So for not allowing the game to get away when the Argos looked to shift momentum, for a big return touchdown and several key runs all day,Quincey MacDuffie is today's Happy Honker recipient.

Why not? If they messed it up, they could just gamble on 4th down or punt it away

Saying outrageous things to stir the pot is one thing, but openly questioning the credibility of other reporters by name is classless (which is exactly what Pederson did in his blog against the Third Down Nation writers) and should be taken seriously, especially if you later admit your whole "conspiracy" angle which you used to justify said credibility bashing is totally made up and you don't believe it yourself.

#1 passing offence and #2 in scoring against the #9 defence in points allowed in the league adds up to Eskimo Derel Walker to keep me alive for another week.

I can't disagree with the above statement in light of that evidence. Having now read her post on Facebook, I will admit that it does significantly change my opinion of her motivation, at the very least. She says in a couple of places (in the CBC report and in a separate Facebook post) that she isn't looking for anything other than to bring the story to light - her opening line of her first post would strongly contradict that intent. Tone deaf as to the hit to her credibility at the least with that discrepancy, certainly smacks of opportunism to angle that incident into a windfall, which is unpleasant enough, or outright did make this up. If the video allows for more clarity that this was a fabrication, maybe it could be "leaked" to allow the media to have a new story to write. Thank you for providing hard evidence to bring into question some of her motivation, if not the accuracy of her story.

I am relying on the CBC link in this chain for the "facts" I am relying on. I don't have this woman's twitter feed, didn't see any post on her Facebook page when I looked where she was asking for a handout, and didn't see any post on Virgin 103 referencing her, much less a post from her to them asking for free tickets. So I can't speak fairly to any of that. I did listen to her version of the story in the audio clip, and it sounds like she had a couple of incidents, one inside the stadium, one outside. The "crossing guard" by the construction sounds more like a random fan who was part of the obnoxious group and not a club employee, so I don't read into the "made up" behavior as much. If I see the posts where she "demands" free stuff, then I may probably change my tune, I'm just going off of every source I have seen and it is consistent that, in what I've read the club reached out to her, and she was never looking for free stuff. And I don't think that "not removing the offending jacket" is a critical examination of a fact so much as drawing an incorrect inference to support the position to want to believe. And, full disclosure, my viewpoint comes with the personal bias of what I witnessed on Saturday as 'Rider fans in more than a few pockets had insults hurled at them as they quietly walked out of the stadium by some inebriated Bomber fans. Very small minority, mind you, but it did happen. So that lends credence to me that this could well have occurred. In the end, we can go back and forth and not get anywhere. I don't know what happened. I have no reason to dis-believe this person. I have no real reason to personally believe her either - I don't know her. But I'm not sure what her motive to lie would be - seems a lot to get free tickets. I'd like to know if the tapes showed anything or not, to give clarity to the situation, and if she's proven to be a liar, then I'll stand up and call her a liar. As for the Ritch Dowrey reference, I am sorry. The name mis-spelling was a spellcheck typo, but the reference to his situation as a parallel to someone being targeted for no sound reason and my criticism of any attempt to defence such an attack as being provoked to make my point about the supposed "victim blaming" here was ill-advised, inflammatory and out of place. I meant no disrespect to the atrocity he suffered or his memory, and apologize for the offence I have caused.

I didn't see anywhere that the mom demanded tickets from the Bombers as payback. And the "media" she ran to was social media, specifically her own Facebook post, where she just vented about the situation (but of course, that's just attention seeking too for the sake of getting free stuff, right everyone on this public fan forum??? *INSERT MASSIVE SARCASM EMOTICON HERE*). Bottom line, I don't see someone looking for a handout. The post got attention, the media jumped on board because they like to stir stuff up, and the club reacted with an effort to woo her back. Good for them. I don't know if it did or didn't happen. If video clearly shows one way or another, then maybe that should be disclosed, as it seems to have engendered some strong defensive opinions on both sides (present company included). If it didn't happen, them shame on her for being a gold digging opportunist using her son to get free stuff. If it did happen, shame on those people who would go after any rival fan, much less and kid, just for wearing the wrong colour jacket. I just know I saw enough unprovoked abuse of 'Rider fans myself by quite a few Bomber fans leaving the stadium on Saturday, after a win no less, when it should have been all roses and sunshine, to not be surprised that this kind of thing would happen. I get that it's fashionable to take shots at rival fans, especially 'Rider fans, on this forum, and that can extend to some good natured ribbing in the stands. But to make it abusive is deplorable in my mind, and not "just good natured fun", especially if the target is not a willing participant in the first place, not on a level to defend themselves (like a child would be), and not even doing anything to provoke the situation in a case of mistaken identity. Am I being overly sensitive about this? Maybe the physical assault (and ultimate death) of Rich Downey, may he rest in peace, at the hands of a drunken bigot who mistakenly ID'd him as a gay man has sucked the humour out of me for incidents like this, where someone gets targeted just for what they are wearing or where they are.

Maybe you should spell it out, as there are also a number of people here who don't want to believe that there are drunken Bomber "fans" who do stupid, terrible things because they get too drunk and like to mouth off to people wearing green tops, thinking that they must be evil Rider fans, and would rather look for a con artist mom and her nine year old son fabricating a story to swindle the Bombers in to giving them free tickets. Not saying that didn't actually happen, but I don't really see a motive to lie there, and my 35 year history of attending Bombers games has led me to see more than a few drunken escapades that were less than civil [*cough* beer can thrown at Rocket Ismael, snowballs thrown at the opposing team, beer bottles thrown in the stands breaking a fan's jaw and cutting her face, fan jumping on the field and fighting a player, fans knocking down the TV tent, "beer snakes" being dismantled and cups thrown around at people, fights in the stands between fans, between fans and security, between fans dressed like Hulk Hogan and police *cough, cough*]. I tend to believe the woman, but enough don't that perhaps we do need proof to avoid persecuting her and her kid with no proof that it didn't happen, either.

Would that make it Randle, Fogg, Heath (in for Johnson), Frederick and Loffler? I'd endorse that secondary.

Wow, I feel like a death row inmate who got the call from the Governor at the last minute.

White may be injured. There is talk of Shakir Bell playing. this is unconfirmed, so you may want to look into this.

OK, but there is a perception that a back-to-back series is different, in that with little prep time the team that wins just sticks with what worked the week before, and the team that lost will make all the adjustments. Furthermore, the "familiarity breeds contempt" attitude gives the loser that extra chip on their shoulder, and that loss is the freshest thing in their mind, so sweeping a back-to-back is often believed to be trickier than winning a season series. And I wasn't trying to find a way to make the team sound bad, had just heard that stat and thought it interesting. And based on pure statistical probability, over a 2 game back-to back series, there are 4 possible outcomes (if you assume no ties in either game, which never occurred for any teams in back-to-backs between 2004-16), which could be win-win, win-loss, loss-win, or loss-loss, so there is a statistical 1 in 4 chance of sweeping any back-to-back series between 2 dead even teams, eliminating all other variables. So over 26 series, statistics would suggest that the Bombers should have swept 6 or 7 of them over that time, been swept the same number of times, and split 13 of those series. So it does suggest some level of futility (kind of like a 26 year Grey Cup drought in an 8 or 9 team league, where odds are you would average 3 wins over that time frame). But your comment piqued my interest in that statistic, and if it was a fair representation of futility or not, so I decided to test your "gerrymandering" theory by looking at all the other teams in the CFL over that exact same time period to see if the Bombers look bad falsely or if that stat is indicative of something, compared to all of the other teams. Here's what I discovered: Between the time the Bombers last won a back-to-back series in 2004 against Saskatchewan (post-Labour day and Banjo Bowl weekends) and Labour Day this year, here is what each team has done. Records will appear like a won-loss-tied record, and indicate the number of series they swept, the number of series where the opponent swept them, and the number of series split. BC - 17 total back-to-back series, record of 10-0-7 (included in that record are 2 series where they played a team, had a BYE, then played the same team again - they went 1-0-1 in those scenarios). Their most recent successful series sweep was in 2015 against Saskatchewan Calgary - 25 total series, 10-0-15 (including 1-0-1 in a "BYE" scenario), most recent sweep was 2016 against Saskatchewan (in the only back-to-back set of games this season prior to the traditional Labour day back-to-back weekends) Edmonton - 27 total series, 3-11-13, no "BYE" scenarios, most recent sweep was 2015 against Ottawa Saskatchewan - 25 total series, 9-3-13, no "BYE" scenarios, most recent sweep was 2014 against Winnipeg Winnipeg - 26 total series, 0-12-14, no "BYE" scenarios Hamilton - 23 total series, 6-8-9 (including 0-1-0 in a "BYE" scenario), most recent sweep was 2015 against Toronto Toronto - 23 total series, 8-6-9 (including 0-1-0 in a "BYE" scenario), most recent sweep was 2015 against Ottawa Ottawa RedBlacks - 3 total series, 2-1-0, no "BYE" scenarios, most recent sweep was 2015 against Hamilton (FYI the old Renegades were 0-1-1 in 2005, the only year they qualified for this comparison before they suspended operations the next year - they played no back-to-backs in 2004) Montreal - 19 total series, 2-4-13 (including 1-1-0 in a "BYE" scenario, most recent sweep was 2007 against Toronto (Note: they haven't played a back-to-back series since 2013, but even so they would be on a 6 year drought of their own even factoring that in) Interpret those numbers as you wish as to the real or falsely perceived futility of the team. That's just the raw data.

Except possibly giving them insight into Winnipeg's offensive schemes and terminology directly from the playbook. The timing of the trade, and the starting QB injury curse that has happened wherever Glenn has gone as a back-up in the past are the only negatives to this deal IMO. But this is more of a money move for the Bombers than anything. Couldn't afford both QB's making over $600,000 against the salary cap (numbers quoted from CJOB).

He was my runner-up. That catch was ridiculous and very Happy Honker-esque, especially from a back-up Canadian unsung player, which was Cactus' favourite type, but without that turnover just before it, that play doesn't happen. And Fogg deserves some love after having a third TD stolen from him by a dumb penalty which had no impact on his return AGAIN.

Well fans, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers entered today's game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders trying to do something they hadn't done in a long time. You see, in 26 prior tries when faced with a back-to-back series, the Bombers had failed to come away with a sweep. In fact, you would have to go back to 2004 against these very Roughriders to witness a Winnipeg win against the same team in consecutive games. And the Bombers were also trying to win their 6th straight contest, something we haven't seen in these parts since 2001, a span of 15 years. So a lot of negative history to battle. And of course the Green and White would have something to say about it, on the heels of last week's loss where they felt they deserved a better fate, and struggling through a dismal 1-9 season to date. And what we witnessed today was a physical, nasty, chippy, some might say dirty slugfest, with many players at both benches ending upon the injured list before it was all said and done. But for our purposes, it means that we got to see more back-ups come in and make plays, and means that there were more candidates for our Happy Honker Award. Now I've often said that the Happy Honker Award goes not to the player who had the best game, and not necessarily the player who made the game-deciding play per se, but someone who did that something extra special in the game. And we saw a ton of special plays out there today. We had Bruce Johnson, who had a very tough week last week, make a couple of big tackles on Kendall Lawrence sweep runs that could have turned into big plays had he not been there. And we had Johnny Adams make a big stop on Ron Bragg at the one yard line on the first series of the game that kept the 'Riders from getting a touchdown, and they ultimately settled for only 3 points there. And Terrence Frederick had 2 huge plays, the first a shoestring tackle on 'Rider receiver Terry Holley, not to be confused with singer Buddy Holly, to keep the 'Riders from a first down, and of course and even bigger tackle on a third down gamble late in the 4th quarter off of a failed fake field goal that was the last big chance for Saskatchewan. And there was Tony Burnett, not to be mistaken for singer Tony Bennett, flying all over the field today. And Matt Nicholls with what would have been a game-saving tackle on a Jennifer Lawrence return, had a penalty not made the play pointless anyway. No, all of that was good, but this game was all about momentum. The 'Riders scored first and the Bomber offence struggled for much of the first half, before a long drive gave them the lead which they would hold until late in the third quarter. And when Kevin Fogg returned a punt for 76 yards to put the Bombers up 17-3 I figured we had our Happy Honker winner, especially since I promised I would give it to him once he got a return that counted, having had 2 prior runs negated with penalties. Well if we didn't see another orange flag on the field to wipe out his third punt return TD of the season, which must be some kind of record, maybe Matt, er, Gord Cook can look that one up for us. So he would have to wait for his glory. And with that called back touchdown we saw a big change in momentum, as the 'Riders would respond with a touchdown of their own to tie the game and make the Bomber collars a bit tighter. But needing to wrest back momentum from the 'Riders, and facing a 4th quarter drive where Saskatchewan appeared poised to take the lead with the ball deep in Bomber territory, the defence came up big once again, and wouldn't you know, it was Kevin Fogg, undeterred by his earlier lost score, who made the big play. With the ball at the Bomber 20, and a pass to receiver Buddy Holly being completed, Fogg came in a ripped the ball from his hands, forcing a turnover deep in Winnipeg territory to stop the scoring threat. And after a big catch by Ravioli-Gambino on the next play, the Bombers were on their way to the game-deciding touchdown. So for not quitting when so many would have thrown their hands up in frustration, for changing the momentum at the key time in the game, and for causing the big turnover that this team has thrived on for so many games now with the 'Riders on the verge of taking the lead, a turnover that turned into Bomber points in the end, Kevin Fogg gets today's Happy Honker Award.

Sucks when you know you've been eliminated with a half of football to go.

Andrew Harris.

Transcona is akin to the platypus. It just exists to prove that God has a sense of humour.

10-man practice squad..32-man practice squad. Same size. Please, this is the team that thinks there is no difference between 12 and 13. Let's not confuse them more.

The cool nickname - The Birmingham Rifle The cannon arm - 55 yard passes from his knees, Joe Poplawski saying Dieter once split the webbing between his fingers on a 20 yard pass it was so hard. Could hear the wind ripping as the ball sailed. The off-season regimen - Supposedly he had a 16 lb. lead football he warmed up with in the winter by throwing it against a piece of plywood. The NFL year - 33 year old "rookie" who set all kinds of rookie passing records and was one all-time great Chicago Bears team away from making the Super Bowl. The awards - back-to-back CFL MVP awards and a single season passing record (at the time) The games - At Ottawa, 41 of 48 passing; made Eugene Goodlow the first 100 reception receiver in CFL history. The last "true" drop back passer to play in the CFL.

My half season synopsis for each team after the Labour Day games. Would love input from others on this, especially the other "team reps" on the site, a.k.a lyin' guy, Ripper, kpt_krunch, Bluto, etc.: WEST Calgary (8-1-1) – Class of the league, and not yet looking like they want to mail it in. REASON TO SMILE: Best QB, best defence, best depth, maybe best running back and kicker, and motivated to win right now FATAL FLAW: None right now, unless they wrap up the division by October 1, get bored, and get caught napping in the West Final (which happens a surprisingly decent amount of the time with the Stampeders in the last 2 decades) BC (7-3) – No one thought they’d be this good, will teams stop taking them for granted and recognize how strong a squad they really are? REASON TO SMILE: The best young QB in the league and maybe the best 2 individual defenders in the CFL, and a hall-of-famer at head coach who knows how to win FATAL FLAW: Their performance in each game seems less impressive than their overall record, especially of late. Take away the Calgary games and they are 6-1, but they won those against Sask., Mtl., Ham. twice, but without their starting QB, and an Ottawa team in turmoil. And they were clearly outclassed the last time they played the Stamps. Winnipeg (6-4) – Have things finally turned around in River City? Nothing certain yet, but boy it sure feels like a giant cloud over this franchise has dissipated. REASON TO SMILE: Free agency pick-ups have re-vitalized this team at running back, kicker, and in the offensive playbook. A QB who can make plays, strong line play on both sides, and a turnover machine of a defence. Lots of good pieces in play. FATAL FLAW: Still not converting enough of those turnovers into 7 points, can’t continue to rely on 6 field goals and 6 turnovers every game as the season progresses, and since the road to glory will ultimately go through Calgary, that doesn’t bode well given how those match-ups went this year. Edmonton (5-5) – Maybe the most under-achieving team this year. An all-star season at QB, the top 2 receivers in the game, and many of the pieces from last year’s championship defence are still present, so what gives? This can’t just be Grey Cup hangover. REASON TO SMILE: All those pieces I just mentioned and a championship pedigree suggest that if they get it turned around, they can still be a force. And if a .500 record is a sub-par performance from them, it speaks to how good they can be when firing on all cylinders. FATAL FLAW: Just the vibe that something is missing, especially defensively. Blown out in Calgary, gave away a 4 touchdown lead at home to Hamilton and followed it up with a dismal home loss to Winnipeg. These losses speak to a squad with some unresolved problems rather than a “these things happen” one-off loss in each case. Saskatchewan (1-9) – 12 car pile-up, train wreck, nuclear disaster, pick your analogy. After stealing Chris Jones and his staff away from the Grey Cup champs, no one thought it would go this badly, even if he did vow to blow it all up. REASON TO SMILE: Nothing, unless you are from Manitoba or Alberta. Then it is ear-to-ear grins watching your rival crash and burn so completely. Seriously, I guess there is hope that rather than trying to drag out a few more wins from an over-the-hill bunch, the approach is to have a brutal season now and re-build faster. At least what the guy selling me the Kool Aid said. FATAL FLAW: It’s one thing to be lousy, it’s another to be a laughing stock, and this team has had some embarrassing defeats. What’s even worse than all that? To be so bad on the field when you’ve tried to cheat your way to victory, and been caught so flagrantly at it. The ultimate embarrassment, however, is to be even more inept off the field than on it, and the shenanigans of ‘Rider management (hiding players illegally, complaining publicly about a league-driven “conspiracy” against you when you get busted for it, and signing an unrepentant anti-Semite to your roster being just a few of their transgressions) have made many ‘Priders blush this year. EAST Ottawa (5-4-1) – A hot start with their back-up QB has largely disappeared, and there are now questions as to what is wrong with the Grey Cup finalists from last year. But in the East, their mediocrity is still good enough for top spot…..for now. REASON TO SMILE: Still the best 1-2 punch at QB and tons of weapons on offence. If they can figure out their o-line issues they could still take off. FATAL FLAW: Injuries have exposed a lack of depth, but moreso teams are starting to figure out the RedBlack game plan and exploit it. Both QBs are finally healthy and no bounce-back, so something deeper is amiss with this team. Hamilton (5-5) – Survived the early part of the season without their MVP quarterback, and have exploded offensively in recent games. Likely the most feared team (behind Calgary) as we hit the second half of the year. REASON TO SMILE: That powerful offence means they are never out of a game, as has been witnessed multiple times already this year. FATAL FLAW: If defence wins championships, then this squad needs some work before it can claim glory. All those great comebacks are set up by a sometimes porous pass defence giving up a big lead in the first place, and it will bite them at some point, won't it? Toronto (4-6) – Have somehow scratched out 4 wins, while not looking particularly flashy about it. But may start to lose ground (and relevance) if they can’t beat the top dogs in the division. Crossover position in jeopardy too. REASON TO SMILE: In the East, never really out of it as all teams seem to tread water around the .500 mark, and Ricky Ray can still pull a crazy good performance out of his hat on any given day. FATAL FLAW: That “any given day” is becoming fewer and farther between for this aging, and now somewhat injury-prone, dink and dunk QB, and there is no back-up plan in place. A few players here and there, but no real “team” feel here. And if BMO Field was the last great hope for this franchise in terms of Toronto sustainability and survivability, then we may need to start preparing the obituary. *SHUDDER* Montreal (3-7) – Think Saskatchewan without the admission of defeat. This is how you drag out the death of a team rather than blowing it up and starting fresh. REASON TO SMILE: Jim Popp is still the GM and he has always proven to be a good one for finding strong players and building Canadian depth (if his record of success in the past is any indication). And NFL castoff Duron Carter is arguably the single most dangerous weapon in the CFL at wide receiver. FATAL FLAW: Jim Popp is too busy trying to prove he is a head coach too. He isn’t. And maybe having Anthony Calvillo as your QB for all those years made you look smarter as a GM than you really were. Because Anthony Calvillo as your offensive co-ordinator is not making you look like MENSA material right now. And the sideshow that is Duron Carter may be even more dangerous for your own team to deal with than the athlete is for opponents to handle.

Is that why Johnny Cash was talking to me in the form of a coyote, telling me to find my soul mate?

Oops, typo on the "correct" name. My bad. I guess too much Cactus infected my brain. Will edit.