HardCoreBlue

I like what you're saying overall in this post, I really do. But remarkably coming from a person like me who coaches Atom football players where 100% effort and focus is everything, this statement imho is blinding some Bomber decision-makers from corrececly evaluating players and making some tough decisions. The tough reality being that regardless of 100% effort every play every down and being a loyal team member to a fault is unfortunately not good enough to guarantee a roster spot/starting position. We aren't in Atom, Peewee or Bantam anymore. When I really think about it, that's how Wade Miller was able to be a Bomber for so long . He was simply not talented enough to warrant taking up a roster spot but boy was he loyal, focussed and a hard worker. Probably why he got into private business. Now that he's leading this organization with a head coach who seems to be molded quite similarly, this color blindedness of seeing effort/loyalty as the end all be all of who deserves to be a Bomber concerns me.

You're right which depressingly usually tells one what kind of season we had . . .

no this is 100% false. Some opinions can be dumb and incorrect and some smart and correct. "I like chocolate more than vanilla" is a subjective opinion that depends on the person expressing said opinion, "In my opinion Drew Willy can't read a defense" is a dumb and incorrect opinion. All "opinions" are subjective, regardless of their correctness. You seem to take it upon yourself frequently to be the arbiter of others opinions. I don't think that's helpful, and points I think to what the OP was saying in the first place. That's because I am the arbiter. I bet I've been a fan of this team for longer than you've been alive. Your judgment of others "level" of fan support means absolutely nothing to anyone, except you. Don't you think it would be more productive to try to not antagonize people all the time? Good for you? Does that make a difference? A lot of people like to claim to be huge fans without actually backing it up, I'm just pointing out when people are wrong. If you think anything is personal, it's not, you just might happen to be one of those people who are always wrong and need the most correcting. Wow, you must be a hit at work.

I think I know what you're trying to say with this but help me understand this more. The word that is throwing me off is 'all'.

I like the way you think! It's reminded me what to say next time an eskiblow, stumpeder or roughie fan gives me a hard time.

No not completely. They've still haven't found that forward to open space up for their highly skilled yet not very good in limited space forwards. Not that I don't mind though.

Is that the Taman effect?Do you mean the Grey Cup championship win at home effect? Most teams will never enjoy that feat in their lifetimes. IMO he deserves a mulligan considering we are without our marquee QB. It's all about the playoffs. Nope it doesn't work that way. No mulligan given for not having your marquee qb. Sask needs to find a QB who can at least manage a game allowing other players to step up. To date, that has not been achieved Taman and group. As much as it pains me to say this, see Calgary as a perfect example of what needs to happen when a 'marquee' player goes down.

Collecting a pay cheque? The team definitely lacks leadership on the ice and on the bench. Just curious, but based on what? I'm not necessarily defending Andrew Ladd but needed Leadership comes in many different forms other than smashing guys in the face and looking mean.

It seems Nic Grigsby could not accept or understand that the RB position in the CFL is the one of the most if not cruelest positions to play. Ifhis plan is to stay in the CFL, it will be no different. This 'bad situation' Alex Suber refered to in his twitter is misguided as its not a situation unique to our club, it's straight across the board. Nah, the coaches not playing the best players and them looking to get out was the 'bad situation' he was referring to. Sitting Grigsby and Kelly just brought it to a head. Actually that statement supports what I said. In the RB world of the CFL, it's 'what have you done for me lately' (i.e., not four games ago) and lately Nic Grigsby was deemed 'not the best player'. He didn't accept that. What I'm suggesting is this scenario is not unique to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. This is the reality of thge CFL. If Nic Grigsby lands with another CFL team, he will be met with this 'bad situation' guarenteed. If anything, based on CFL standards, the Blue Bombers demonstrated tons of patience with him.

This statement has me puzzled. Maybe he mean we have a legit QB (Willy) and an able backup (Brohm) jus t like the Stamps. It will take more than a few games to make that statement, see Joey Elliott as an example.

It seems Nic Grigsby could not accept or understand that the RB position in the CFL is the one of the most if not cruelest positions to play. Ifhis plan is to stay in the CFL, it will be no different. This 'bad situation' Alex Suber refered to in his twitter is misguided as its not a situation unique to our club, it's straight across the board.

Stop listening to that funny feeling, it's been wrong all year

Honestly the biggest underperformance of the season. I predicted Smith was going to do some good things this season. The first thought I had in seeing this was why did it take so long? obviously, they are afraid another team will pick him up and bite them back. With what he's demonstrated thus far with his play? I'm not sure I'd be afraid of a) him getting picked up and/or getting picked up and having any sort of bite. I could be wrong though, maybe he'd shine somewhere else in this league but I'm not betting much.

Honestly the biggest underperformance of the season. I predicted Smith was going to do some good things this season. The first thought I had in seeing this was why did it take so long?

Was at the game and yup, bang on. All day, that's on the coach.

Or Willy ends up his aa** because over the top stuff, regardless of speed, takes time to materialize AND as you say quite correctly, no chemistry.

and it's that stupid notion that is the reason you don't see the progress. I'm not over stating anything,you are simply choosing to believe that wins are the only thing that demonstrates progress and that is a ******* stupid mentality. It's not a stupid notion. W's are how teams are judged, unless there aren't enough W's for a positive spin, then folks like you are forced to look for something else point towards progress. It's not black and white either. I see some progress, just not enough to say we're moving in the right direction or that we're that much better than last year. I understand what you're trying to say but like you, I don't believe it's that black and white in terms of how teams are judged, i.e., wins and losses. For example, take the RedBlacks, Bombers and Stampeders in where they're at now. My weight on judging them by their record is different. RedBlacks low, Bombers mid, Stampeders high in terms of this years expectations. So yes wins and losses are all that matter, but expectations of a season can temper that notion.

It's not better than last year just because, it's better than last year because it's better than last year. We've used the same qb every game this year, that alone is leaps and bounds better than last year, and he's even performed well! The team doesn't just roll over and die this year. It's better than last year because the bar last year was set so incredibly low. Very key point. Consistency at the QB position is a nice change for sure. ISO does make a good point about stubborness and it's impact on improvement. So far the jury is still out on that one being that this is the first year for the coaching staff.

Yes on all three counts.

Here's a recipe for disaster, players not executing form tackling/blocking AND coaches not getting their players in the right places to be successful.

There are 4 games left, I'm not exactly sure what you expect Walters to be doing right now. Trades? who and to where? who wants our crap really. You don't necessarily have to trade, just release if need be.

i mentioned it at the start of the year when O'Shea described his coaching approach that I hope he doesn't adopt Jeff Ren bold approach to being loyal to crappy players. He's a first year head coach so hopefully he'll understand that at this level 100 percent effort from certain players is not enough, they need to perform, huge difference between the two. My guess is Jeff Ren bold would tell you he found out this the hard way.

They could lose every remaining game and it would still be a huge improvement from last year, I think you are forgetting just how bad they were last year. Out of the game before the first quarter was done more nights than not, at least this time when they're getting beaten it's after a close game. I just don't subscribe to this logic. I think it matters where the losses and wins happen. If we had started off this bad, and recently won 5 of 6 I could agree. But were regressing so sharply that has to be taken into account. If we lose every game remaining in the season, including to a terrible Ottawa team, this team is in deep trouble next season. Wins in July and August mean nothing if the team completely falls apart. I just don't get how that's not understood,. This statement is where the debate lays. My opinion is it appears they have presently plateaued, not regressed sharply, with a better core to work with moving forward. Also supporting cast needs major upgrading. Another way of assessing is are our best five guys (core) we have now better than our last years best five guys (core)? I'd say yes.

This is gold. I'm going to use Tate's response anytime anyone questions me on anything. "Why didn't you change the toliet paper roll?" "Play Calling" "Why are you such a jerk?" "Play Calling" "What were you thinking?" "Play Calling" Awesome, thanks Drew.

You're probably right unless we lose the majority of our remaining games, then it might give reason to look at it more closely.