TrueBlue4ever

I mistakenly read this as "handful of negative posters running the forum". Freudian slip?

Actually it was the reverse. 7 carries in the 1st half, 15 in the 2nd plus the one reception. They didn't go away from him at all, they just didn't get the big gainers like they did in the first half. He was more of a clock-killer in the 2nd half.

If only they gave the ball to White instead of McCarty, and if only the game was 15 seconds shorter (seriously, Derel Walker from the 2?)

I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over that loud sucking sound. I think it was coming from the Bombers. And, oh yeah, John White.

Go to Calgary at season's end, offer Huf any and everything to come here and be the end-all be-all if he wants. Head coach and GM, player personnel too if he wants. That's the splash of hope this franchise might need at this point. There were some quiet rumblings he wasn't thrilled to have to give up coaching for Dickenson to stay there. Maybe he still has the coaching bug.

Hmm, Calgary has won 7 straight in Winnipeg (on top of 22 of their last 25 in Calgary against the Bombers), have won 13 consecutive games coming off a bye, have Bo Levi Mitchell playing against the second worst pass defence, second worst time of possession team, and worst overall defence. Let's go with Marquay McDaniel.

I would be in favour of this.

Another nail in the coffin.

Can't argue with that logic. Same for me.

So my brother lives in Toronto (problem #1) and has always enjoyed the NFL, enough so that he plays fantasy football every year. I have always plugged the CFL, but he finds it less exciting, and picks out the flaws in the game (to be fair, they certainly exist) and the league in general. So with the Argos move to BMO he says he is willing to really give the game a try. However, he has noted that some games he has seen (Calgary-Ottawa the latest) have real dull stretches in them, and a game he sees some promise in (Edmonton-Sask) is on too late for him to stick it out to the end. His big beef is with how the league markets itself (and I've told him if you compare to the NFL all the time, anything will look lousy). He says he simply wants some competency. Two examples he cites are the new jersey launch and the CFL website. He can't believe the league would launch a new look jersey for each team, and have one team (*cough* Bombers) not have the jersey available for purchase at the time if the launch. Secondly, he goes to the cfl.ca website the morning after the game and still does not see updated standings or even proper game stats for the match. I can't really argue against either of those flaws, but any suggestions on how to convince him that this game is worth getting behind? He says he wants to give it a fair shot, but wonders if being in Toronto where no one would care enough (even on the league website) is the problem, or is it a deeper problem with the game experience itself? Any suggestions on how to convert this lukewarm new fan and sell him on what the CFL has to offer? What is the best argument someone would have?

I think (hope!!!!!) he meant Bomber_fanaddict and not me.

You called?

Let me give this a shot (channelling my inner Cactus Jack): "The happy honker award doesn't go to the player who was the best or most dominant in the game, or had the best stats, but rather goes to someone who did something a little extra special during the game, maybe that one play that stood out or made a big difference at an important time, and changed the game. Well, with the game close near the end of the second quarter, the Bombers had just scored a touchdown on a defensive interception play by Mitchell Leggat [writer's note - that butchering of his name was deliberate - Cactus often mangled syntax when he was waxing poetic. He came from the old school where a little imbibing during the broadcast was not only practiced, but almost mandatory, kind of like Do or Die and his gin] to pull ahead of the Hamilton Tiger Cats for the first time. After successfully making the convert the Bombers lined up for a kickoff to Brandon Banks, the dangerous and dynamic diminutive returner for Hamilton, when Justin Medlock kicked the ball towards the out-of-bounds stripe. When out of nowhere Maa-cho Harris [he'd mess up the syllables there too] hustled down filed and scooped up the ball for the Bombers, recovering it deep in Hamilton territory in the process, and setting up an eventual Drew Willy to Ryan Smith touchdown pass with a minute left in the first half to open up a big 12 point lead going into the locker room, and that would prove to be the big lead the Bombers would need to hold on and win the game in the end. So for that big turning point play, the happy honker award goes to the big special teams player Maa-cho Harris." He might have also given it to Ryan Smith for that magic trick reception for the TD, but he loved the swing in momentum play that seemed kind of big at the time but maybe not the "TSN turning point"obvious type, but on reflection was a really big play to stop or start a key drive. Leggett's overall performance was more player of the game good, and too "good" for happy honker status.

Maybe I don't suck at this. The Bomber tacklers, however………...

That sounds about right, but feasibly 10th best. I figure in the West, Mitchell and Reilly clearly ahead, In the East, Collaros, Ray, both Burris and Harris right now are definitely ahead. Jennings I'm not sold on long term, but hard to say right now he's not on par given early results. Lulay may be better, but with all his injury troubles haven't seen enough of him lately to say yes. Durant could be better than him, but who knows where he is after his injury last year. Tate when he last played as a starter regularly was better than Willy is now, but it's been so long kind of hard comparison now. Glenn is better today, but let's see tomorrow, probably won't be. His competency changes like the weather. And I still put Willy ahead of Masoli - we'll see if that changes after July 7. But it is quite telling that in a nine team league he might rank 10th or worse, especially when so many QBs changed teams so recently and Winnipeg has missed so many opportunities to land any of them. How was Harris such a quiet free agent signing after 33 TD passes last year?

I'm sorry. There was a cat in this picture? I didn't notice.

I suck at this. Let's try speedy B - Brandon Banks.

Comparing Drew Willy RIGHT NOW to the other active CFL QBs who have started a game either this season or last (not factoring in any current injuries): BC - Jennings and Lulay Cal - Mitchell and Tate Edm - Reilly Sask - Durant Wpg - Nicholls Ham - Masoli and Collaros Tor - Ray Ott - Burris and Harris Mtl - Glenn where would you rank him as a starter from 1-14 in a nine-team league?

Jerome Messam.

Tori Gurley

Calgary 11-7 Edmonton 11-7 BC 9-9 Winnipeg 8-10 Saskatchewan 6-12 Ottawa 10-8 Hamilton 10-8 Toronto 9-9 Montreal 7-11 Calgary over Edmonton in the West Final Hamilton over Ottawa in the East Final Hamilton wins Grey Cup Bo Levi Mitchell MOP Andrew Harris top Canadian

Well, someone might as well start this up. Let's hear everyone's predictions for team standings (records included if you want, but only if you make sure every team has 18 games and the total wins and losses are equal!!!!!), playoff results, and awards candidates if you'd like. I'm going to let others go first, since I really have very little idea how things will shake out this year. New coaches in all western cities except Winnipeg, no Cornish in Calgary, Harris out of BC and into Wpg, Durant back but all new receivers in Sask., no Collaros to start in Hamilton, no Owens in Toronto, Popp coaching Kevin Glenn in Montreal, Trevor Harris backing up Burris in Ottawa but lost their starting tailback already. New uniforms, new stadiums, new season. Off we go.

Technically, she is giving me some of the money with the jersey. She and another work friend went together, split the cost of the ticket, and each walked away with over $13,000. Totally happy for both of them, that's a lot more significant amount to each of them than it would be for me, so really thrilled about it. And they also took some of from work out for drinks to celebrate and paid for my night, including dinner, and are both paying for the jersey.

Gave my friend my tickets to the pre-season game since I could not make it. She won the 50/50 draw, and has bought me a new jersey as a thank you. Road jersey, with "True Blue" name on top, #4 and, you guessed it, "ever" underneath the number. Will complement my retro "Clements" home jersey and my soon to be purchased autographed Drew Willy home jersey in last year's style. Wouldn't have bothered with the last one except for the autograph and the reduced price.

The first placekicker I can remember was Donald Igwebuike, the Nigerian-born Baltimore Stallions (nee CFLers) kicker, who started in the NFL in 1985 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Using a healthy tail-wind, he scraped a 50 yard field goal just over the bar with 2 minutes left to beat the Bombers 14-12 in the Eastern Final in 1994 to send them to the Grey Cup. And Reggie Roby was a black punter who played most of his 16 year career in Miami, starting in 1983. 3 time Pro Bowler, 2 time all-star, and made the all-decade team in the 1980's.