gbill2004

If the Bombers show a profit it gives the union more leverage in CBA negotiations.

Poor guy.

Finally a date.

Finally some concrete numbers, from Gary Lawless in today's Free Press: Wade Miller has been running from one mess to the next, doing his best to clean up the operation and image of the Blue Bombers. But he can only manage one mop at a time and the spillage is beginning to show. The Free Press has learned the Bombers are expecting a 12 to 13 per cent drop in season ticket sales this season. This is a blow and the Bombers clearly have a perception issue, but Miller has begun to re-establish some confidence in the organization. Who knows how steep this drop would have been had Miller not begun the rehabilitation of the Bombers brand since taking over the reins last August? Miller, the team's president and CEO, faces the monumental task of gaining back public trust, which the Bombers carelessly torched during the Joe Mack and stadium fiascoes of the last few years. The Bombers are now into their renewal campaign, and the club is forecasting a season ticket base of just under 22,000 for the coming season. That's compared to last year's record mark of 24,620. The drop could be as high as 3,000 season tickets when all is said and done. The team has currently sold approximately 20,000 season ticket packages for the coming campaign. Give Miller credit as there's lots to like about the new look of the organization, with GM Kyle Walter and head coach Mike O'Shea making steps to improve the win-loss record. But the disastrous operation of the club over the last few years, before Miller was hired, is proving more than fans will ignore. And that has resulted in stress at the box office. Miller must reverse the momentum of the current ticket slide. If not, more people will decide to stay away and the Bombers, saddled by stadium debt obligations, could decline into a financial miasma. Unable to pay bills and unable to spend money on football operations is the prognosis for the Bombers if Miller can't win the day. In the interim, Miller said he budgeted for this hit, and it won't affect the team's ability to meet its debt commitments or the product on the field. "We're on target to meet our financial obligations," said Miller. "The budget for football ops is set and our entire budget was set on the expectation that we wouldn't have as many season ticket sales as last year." Miller has proven adept at anticipating problems and then presenting solutions. While this dip in sales is large, it doesn't put the Bombers in crisis mode. A similar drop next year, however, will do just that. "This was expected. Our ticket sales rose due to the honeymoon period of the new stadium," explained Miller. "We've heard from fans the location of the stadium and team performance and natural attrition are why they're not renewing. And it breaks down to almost a third, a third and a third. I think 21,500 will be a normalized season ticket number for us." Miller noted none of the failed ticket subscriptions are of the high-priced variety. "Our premium seats, suites, loges, Blue and Gold club are all sold out. They all remain under contract for a number of years," he said. "We're in the middle of this, and we'll have all those numbers at the fan forum, which we'll be holding on May 12. We've just announced flex- and mini-packs. They have to be factored as well. We've just started our marketing campaign. It's too early to give final numbers." Unfortunately, as bad as the obvious on-field problems associated with a 3-15 mark, the Bombers' issues go deeper. They inhabit a publicly funded stadium that has been marred by a poor transition plan, design flaws, failed promises and missed deadlines. None of these problems is of Miller's making but mostly fall at the feet of his board of directors. The board, designed for governance, got involved in the day-to-day operations on the stadium file and the results have been disastrous. Miller continues to fight those issues but can't let them drag on the progress needed today. Covering up the mistakes of the past can't be Miller's focus. Recently, the stadium roof leaked, damaging a number of luxury suites. Miller blocked the media from access to the stadium to survey the harm. It smacked of a cover-up and it was unnecessary. All he needed to say was, "We have a leaky roof and our builder is working on repairs. Come and take a picture if you must and then get out of the way of workers." End of story. Don't get hung by the mistakes of others, Wade. Just ask your predecessor Garth Buchko how that works out. Buchko inherited a litany of board-generated problems and when he couldn't solve them, was made a scapegoat. Miller has a number of strengths that are being revealed as he goes forward. Chief among them appear to be his zeal to win and his understanding the fans of the Bombers are the organization's lifeblood. "We're going to have over 21,000 season tickets sold. This shows how loyal Bombers fans are. We're coming off a tough season, but they believe we're headed in the right direction and they're supporting us," said Miller. "My job is to listen to them and I do every day. We're trying to meet the demands of our fans. We just have to work harder and get more people out to the stadium. That's my job. Every game should be like the Banjo Bowl. We have the fans to do it. That's what I hang my hat on."

The delay in releasing financials is likely due to the current collective bargaining.

He doesnt appear on the roster anymore Interesting that appears right after they worked out Goossen. Bombers must be set on drafting Lavertu or Goossen.

They traded the 2nd rounder they got from us to Hamilton.

Things could change, but O'Shea told me that he plans on starting 3 NI's on the OL.

The whole point to having one guy do all 3 jobs is to free up a roster spot. So no. Problem here is if the guy gets injured during the game. Then you have no kicker whatsoever. Usually if a punter gets injured during the game, the FG kicker can punt, and vice-versa.

I had high hopes for Liram Hijarujaluia.

It's all about context though. If you look at the breakdown, a lot of the kickers with higher percentages also get to stat pad by kicking a bunch of 20-29 yard field goals. Maher only had 6 attempts inside 30 yards because Nebraska usually scored inside the red zone. Good point. He hit 10/10 at his NFL combine workout.

I checked out Maher's numbers and they aren't very good. Made 20/27 FG's in 2012. That's 74%. Seems to good from beyond 50 yards though.

I thought his numbers weren't very impressive? As an import they should be.

Isn't Watman a guard? We have enough guards. We need a centre.

I can't believe some don't understand what Katz the sleazebag is trying to do here. The BOD have every right to reject this joke of a nominee from Katz. Bombers need a rep from the City of Winnipeg. This nominee Katz gets isn't intended as a patronage appointment for his friends, even though that's how Katz runs his day-to-day political life. It doesn't surprise me he tried to get away with this...guy is a criminal and should be in prison with the BS he has pulled while in office.

I'd be okay with that.

Sponsoring doesn't mean paying 100% of the cost.

From today's Free Press: City hall is planning to offer a steep discount to the Winnipeg Football Club for the fees charged for its charter bus service to events at the Investors Group Field stadium. The discounted offer came after six months of negotiations when Blue Bombers team officials told the city they were not prepared to pay the full charter transit fees, which sources said cost the team $1.3 million in 2013. Information provided to councillors at a private seminar earlier this week outlined the city’s offer to the Blue Bombers, which includes: A discount of 42.3 per cent off of Winnipeg Transit’s charter rate in 2014, rising to 44.7 per cent in 2015. The discount will cost the city $750,000 for 2014; and $950,000 in 2015. The discount will only be offered if the province agrees to cover 50 per cent of the discount. Wade Miller, football team president and CEO, said he spent the past six months negotiating the deal with city hall, adding the new rate is good for the team, its fans and the city. Miller said he understood the deal will be presented to council at Wednesday meeting. “We can’t sustain paying $1.1 million to $1.3 million (for transit services) every year,” Miller said. “So we negotiated an agreement with the City of Winnipeg.”

I wouldn't characterize a Glenn for our 2nd overall pick as "laughable". I'm sure however that trade proposal came from Desjardins.

Is there any video online of the press conference?

Start up the Glenn to BC rumors again: http://blogs.theprovince.com/2014/04/28/steven-jyles-a-no-show-at-lions-minicamp/.

Maybe Ottawa would be interested in Morley and/or January (and some other spare parts...maybe one of our 3rd rounder's) in exchange for a combo of exchanging first rounder's, Kevin Glenn and their number 2 overall pick.

Bombers would be fine without January. He's getting close to his expiry date anyways.

Yes, but just look at him now. It was so hard on him that he looks like he's....eighty. That might be because he IS eighty.

Kenny Ploen played QB, HB and safety.