BigBlue

BC matches up well against Montreal at QB ... the tipping factor is that BC's defense is much better than the Al's D

I thought Tresman's claim to fame was getting the best out of his QBs?

Watch him go after Nichols, Brohm or both in FA

A healthy Lulay could be an effective threat especially to Glenn

How healthy is BC going into Montreal? Which starters will be missing besides Harris? Could Lulay play?

Curious what your thoughts of what would have been a fair draft?I also have a problem with making an expansion team stronger then the teams they are plucking from. I thought the expansion draft was quite fair. Sure Ottawa sucked this year but they got some good pieces to build with and now get to add with another draft drafting first overall "I also have a problem with making an expansion team stronger then the teams they are plucking from." Why? Why not set up the draft so they have a middle of the pack team and are immediately competitive? Why punish a newbie? Because it punishes a fan base who has supported their team over the long haul. It would be a slap in the face to fans who have invested time and money into their teams only to have it dismantled for the "new" guys. There is usually a honeymoon period with a new expansion team to get over the first few years of losing. And if the fan base can't accept that they don't really deserve to have a new team, because all teams will have to eventually weather those periods. You still didn't answer what you thought would have been a fair draft. "Because it punishes a fan base who has supported their team over the long haul. It would be a slap in the face to fans who have invested time and money into their teams only to have it dismantled for the "new" guys." It punishes no one ... and according to the longsuffering reasoning it asks to subsidize incompetency .... this assumption that you have to "punish" a new team is idiocy and entitlement reasoning No where did I say that a new team should be punished. What I said is that existing teams (and by extension their fan bases who have been supporting them) shouldn't be punished to such a degree, where an expansion team is taking the players that they scouted and invested time and money in developing so that the new team is better then them. You can infer from that that the new team is being punished, but the reasoning behind it is not directly that the new team should be punished. And for the third time, I will ask you again. What would you have considered to be a fair expansion draft. I'd like to know what you thought Ottawa would have deserved to have been gifted to them from every other team in the league. It would have been more fair if held say 2 weeks after free agency ... middle late February It would have been more fair if it was set up to have an average amount of personnel so you are not guaranteed to be last or 2nd last before the season started I might be able to buy your first response. But free agents would have likely just waited 2 weeks to sign. They would have made a deal with the team on a salary and sat on it. A player wants certainty of where they are going to play just as much as a team does. They don't want to be plucked off by an expansion team. So in practice, I don't think that would have mattered much. For your second point, it means nothing to me. It isn't quantitative. It means you want something to happen but you have no idea on what it would have took to make it happen. It also completely disregards other posts in this thread about football being about more then just the individual talents of the players. It is a team game and throwing a bunch of players together who are not familiar with one another with all new schemes is going to take time to gel. So unless you are throwing together a bunch of superstars from every other team, making Ottawa into a powerhouse by removing the best players from every other team, it isn't likely to happen. If the draft looks fair & promising all these under-the-table deals won't happen ... what would that look like? Each team protects 6 Canadians and say 12 imports .... The expansion team picks 2 of each They end up with 16 semi decent import starters and 16 marginal starting Canadians ... it won't be a great team but not awful either ... Canadian depth but no stars to speak of .... with good recruiting they could have a real team in a couple of years

Curious what your thoughts of what would have been a fair draft?I also have a problem with making an expansion team stronger then the teams they are plucking from. I thought the expansion draft was quite fair. Sure Ottawa sucked this year but they got some good pieces to build with and now get to add with another draft drafting first overall "I also have a problem with making an expansion team stronger then the teams they are plucking from." Why? Why not set up the draft so they have a middle of the pack team and are immediately competitive? Why punish a newbie? Because it punishes a fan base who has supported their team over the long haul. It would be a slap in the face to fans who have invested time and money into their teams only to have it dismantled for the "new" guys. There is usually a honeymoon period with a new expansion team to get over the first few years of losing. And if the fan base can't accept that they don't really deserve to have a new team, because all teams will have to eventually weather those periods. You still didn't answer what you thought would have been a fair draft. "Because it punishes a fan base who has supported their team over the long haul. It would be a slap in the face to fans who have invested time and money into their teams only to have it dismantled for the "new" guys." It punishes no one ... and according to the longsuffering reasoning it asks to subsidize incompetency .... this assumption that you have to "punish" a new team is idiocy and entitlement reasoning No where did I say that a new team should be punished. What I said is that existing teams (and by extension their fan bases who have been supporting them) shouldn't be punished to such a degree, where an expansion team is taking the players that they scouted and invested time and money in developing so that the new team is better then them. You can infer from that that the new team is being punished, but the reasoning behind it is not directly that the new team should be punished. And for the third time, I will ask you again. What would you have considered to be a fair expansion draft. I'd like to know what you thought Ottawa would have deserved to have been gifted to them from every other team in the league. It would have been more fair if held say 2 weeks after free agency ... middle late February It would have been more fair if it was set up to have an average amount of personnel so you are not guaranteed to be last or 2nd last before the season started

Curious what your thoughts of what would have been a fair draft?I also have a problem with making an expansion team stronger then the teams they are plucking from. I thought the expansion draft was quite fair. Sure Ottawa sucked this year but they got some good pieces to build with and now get to add with another draft drafting first overall "I also have a problem with making an expansion team stronger then the teams they are plucking from." Why? Why not set up the draft so they have a middle of the pack team and are immediately competitive? Why punish a newbie? Because it punishes a fan base who has supported their team over the long haul. It would be a slap in the face to fans who have invested time and money into their teams only to have it dismantled for the "new" guys. There is usually a honeymoon period with a new expansion team to get over the first few years of losing. And if the fan base can't accept that they don't really deserve to have a new team, because all teams will have to eventually weather those periods. You still didn't answer what you thought would have been a fair draft. "Because it punishes a fan base who has supported their team over the long haul. It would be a slap in the face to fans who have invested time and money into their teams only to have it dismantled for the "new" guys." It punishes no one ... and according to the longsuffering reasoning it asks to subsidize incompetency .... this assumption that you have to "punish" a new team is idiocy and entitlement reasoning

Curious what your thoughts of what would have been a fair draft? I also have a problem with making an expansion team stronger then the teams they are plucking from. I thought the expansion draft was quite fair. Sure Ottawa sucked this year but they got some good pieces to build with and now get to add with another draft drafting first overall "I also have a problem with making an expansion team stronger then the teams they are plucking from." Why? Why not set up the draft so they have a middle of the pack team and are immediately competitive? Why punish a newbie?

" You can't handicap the existing teams just to cater to an expansion team though." I totally disagree ... no one is helped by a weakling club ... equalizing if done fairly is better for everyone's attendance ... your statement just reflects owners greed and "how hard" they worked building their club to just give it away ... what crooked thinking

No one is served if an expansion team is purposely made too weak in the expansion draft .... and with all the free agency stuff I personally feel Ottawa didn't get enough "meat & potatoes" when they got to the table ... Should the league be more generous in any future expansion draft?

It seems to me that BC has as good a chance of coming out of the Eastern playoffs as either Hamilton or Montreal Has the CFL arranged for the host city to play in the Grey Cup again, LOL? If true then the Blue are a shoe-in for the Grey Cup next year !!! LOL LOL LOL

" Hopefully in talks with the coaches and Walters, things will be put in better perspective going forward." I can't seem to figure out whether MOS listens too much or not enough .... what I do detect is a bull-headed stubborn streak ... I hope I am wrong but there is something bugging me about him and my radar keeps going off saying "Warning Will Smith - Warning!!!"

If I had a choice between the two I would keep Etch and scuttle Bellf ... I can't live with mediocrity ... I guess I am a gambler at heart ... and besides Etch has a long cold winter to recalibrate and "adjust"

Mike O'Shea Head Coach Marcel Bellefeuille Offensive Coordinator Bob Wylie Offensive Line Paul Charbonneau Assistant Offensive Line Coach Markus Howell Wide Receivers Coach Gene Dahlquist Quarterbacks Coach Buck Pierce Running Backs Coach Gary Etcheverry Defensive Coordinator Nelson Martin Defensive Backs Coach Mike Scheper Defensive Line Coach Cory McDiarmid Linebackers Coach Dave Jackson Defensive Assistant Pat Tracey Special Teams Coordinator

We need to open up the bank for Wild. I believe he was the heart & soul of our defence all year, and we were noticeably different when he wasn't there. Never mind he was also our long-snapper......which we also need to deal with for next year. My thoughts exactly. Wild needs to be paid as an elite CFL defender. Also need to address the long-snapper situation with a competent backup. I'll forgive the Bombers if they feel inclined to over-pay on Wild as it would leave a huge hole to fill if he left and as has been proven elite LB'ers don't appear to be that easy to find. He might not command Shea Emry dollars but I don't believe he will be signed for much less, time for the Bombers to pony up to keep the few elite players they currently have. "I'll forgive the Bombers if they feel inclined to over-pay on...." anybody ... it always makes me laugh when I see fans trying to judge salary cap issues as if they knew anything about it ... no one here knows even tiny about it

I think MOS needs to give performance a higher rating when deciding who to start Comments like Romby Bryant makes those around him better fly in the face of this ... makes me question his sanity

Starting 2 Ni means we have depth; starting 3 makes us thin Draftees have too much to learn to be effective starters in their first year: see Wally Buono rule

T definely want Bob Wylie back but I don't think he stays if Bellf does I want Buck Pierce back but not Marcus Howell I have no strong opinion on the D Coaches because of the Etxh factor

Calgry over Hamilton

And who crosses over if both Lions & Riders lose next week Thu Jun 26 Toronto 21 Winnipeg 45 Tue Aug 12 Winnipeg 21 Toronto 38

So what has to change for us to get ahead of the Riders & ?Lions in order to get into 3rd place next year?

Progress: Pass or Fail How much headway did the Blue Bombers make this year compared to 2013? While management is busy this week evaluating personnel let's do our own analysis, at least a little. Let's look at it by component after component: Defensive Secondary – probably the biggest improvement of all, on the whole team except for QB: Pass Linebackers – Wild got more playing time, Sears when he finally got was an improvement; but we did not come close to replacing Muamba: no progress so Fail. Defensive Line – inside tackles (when not having to use a Canadian) was about the same as last year; meanwhile we deteriorated at defensive end: Failed to progress Canadian Defensive Players - Bucknor, Matt, Sherman, Teague Thomas, Jake for starters were a significant improvement over what we had last year except for Muamba: so Pass I think. Receivers – as a group we didn't have open receivers often enough compared to last year; we didn't change receiver personnel all that much; Moore was hurt too much to make a difference really. : Fail, if anything we regressed Running Backs – Volny, Carl Fitzgerald, Carl Pontbriand, Michel- are very much the same as last year.Cotton, Paris McGuffie, Sam are very much unproven although Cotton appears to have great potential. No eastern All-Star this year nor is this group likely to be rated in the top half of running backs for the league as a whole. Progress while promising is suspect so Fail. Quarterbacks - We have found a legitimate starter in Willy and have three potential other starters signed up at the moment. Marve looks exciting. Quarterback is the most important position on the field and although Willie was shell-shocked by season's end, our most important progress of the year was at QB: a resounding PASS! Offensive Line – Goossen has better potential than the rest of our backup lineman combined, and besides we cut most of them. Morley is a decent centre instead of an indecent guard. Greaves may have improved a little. However January was less than impressive and will not be an All-Star this year. The other two international line positions was a revolving door; there is nothing in particular to look forward to next year. Our biggest weakness last year still looks like the biggest weakness on the team this year. No real progress so FAIL! Canadian Offensive Players – Watson, Cory Feoli-Gudino, Julian Kohlert, Rory along with Greaves, Morley & Goosen as a group were more reliable than last year so progress was made: Pass Special Teams Returning – Stoudermire , Troy is the returner we have been looking for for years: a definite Pass Special-Teams Coverage - I personally thought this is where we lost many games due to field position. No progress and if anything worse… so Fail. Special-Teams Kicking - Hajrullahu, Lirim could be the league All-Star. Progress = Big Pass. Special Team Canadians – I am not sure about this at all but at least there seems to be better attitudes than last year so in terms of progress a small Pass. General Manager & Scouting – full-time enthusiasm replaced reluctance and twilight; Canadian recruiting got a lot better while American recruiting suffered: definite progress and hope … so PASS. Have to find a larger role for Danny McManus maybe as offensive coordinator. Head Coach – shell-shocked incompetence was replaced by overconfidence and rookie mistakes; the difference was night and day so progress was exceedingly obvious: PASS because we have found a genuine leader. Position Coaches – Bob Wylie Offensive Line Paul Charbonneau Assistant Offensive Line Coach Markus Howell Wide Receivers Coach Gene Dahlquist Quarterbacks Coach Buck Pierce Running Backs Coach Nelson Martin Defensive Backs Coach Mike Scheper Defensive Line Coach Cory McDiarmid Linebackers Coach Dave Jackson Defensive Assistant ... I really don't know but at least there are more of them and that's definite progress, so Pass. Coordinators – I can't help thinking that Marcel Bellefeuille kept everybody from doing their jobs properly and that's why Bob Wylie didn't help much in terms of getting results; Gary Etcheverry in my opinion was the number one reason we had a very bad season this year,.. When you play pressure defence you have to come up with a lot of big plays and we didn't do that , Pat Tracey seemed to be a rookie at these responsibilities and overall it seems like we lost special-teams battles game in and game out. In terms of progress I can only rate these three as a combined MAJOR FAILURE! I must admit that my evaluation was largely emotional and less logical than the usual analysis, but a failed season and general lack of progress doesn't sit with me very well. I'm very interested in what the more astute amongst us can offer in terms of their analysis and evaluation.

What interests me most is BB special team penalties and club comparisons on ST penalties

Nobody knew better when to take a deliberate offside .... knowledgeable and a genuine leader