BigBlue

Will Buono retire?

Based on what? There's literally no trend to support this statement. JJust my own observation

What is the most likely position for a Canadian non-import to make the NFL? There is an individual talent here or there but the only consistent position Canadians are recruited at is offensive line. Good lineman are rare both in Canada and the good old USA. Any offensive linemen taken in the top two or three picks is going to attract high NFL interest. I believe drafting an offensive lineman with the second overall pick is just too big a gamble. I don't care if the draftee in question says he is not interested in the NFL, now or later; I wouldn't believe him. I'm not sure I'm in love with Demski either. He did not dominate in the Bison-Dino Hardy Cup on Saturday. I feel very strong that our GM will be able to pick good lineman with our 11th pick and in the middle rounds. As long as we don't pick a guard or tackle with our number two, I will be happy. We just cannot afford to lose our top pick to the NFL, now or down the road.

A aggressive defence like Etch's was going to give up some big plays, maybe game changing plays. The key to success is forcing some big defensive plays, maybe in a 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 ratio. Pressure defences can't give up as many as they make. I'm not sure the schemes were the problem; I am pretty sure it was the lack of execution of those schemes, whatever the cause. I cringed every time I saw a seven man blitz and it was like we were rushing three people. That happened way too often. So in evaluating Etchevery we have to answer the question why didn't his schemes work? Was it personnel or was it design?

If MOS does that then he has one foot out the door already on the way to being canned. That would be a mistake. But he's stubborn so I wouldn't be surprised. Stubborn seem to be MOS's biggest weakness

Panthers were in the NFC championship game second year first year finished 7-9. Jaguars made it to AFC championship game the same year beat the 13-3 Broncos. Minnesota Wild made it to conference final in 3rd year. San Jose won a series in third year. In five years Marlins were world champs. Colorado Rockies made playoffs in 3rd year. "Expansion teams are supposed to suck" ... no they are not .... who put that regulation in your head?

I believe Tresman has been around the NFL enough to know what a HC csan & can't do ... if he is in the midst of a mutiny then you can only confront it with trades and cutting the rebels

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