BigBlue

MOS: The refs are not out there to get us .... you have to be positive ... you have to play the way that game is being called by the officials

All I want to know is who will be ready to start Sunday

does that mean we are trading for Ricky Ray?

In the post game show Bob Irving said that he does not expect Michael O'Shea to bring in Hall or other conventional defensive players. He seemed to imply that they would only be adding the type of player that could play Rtch's defense. Personally I don't think he will be making a lot of personnel changes this year perhaps just filling a hole here or there due to injury it's pretty hard for a import offensive tackle to adjust to the game quickly enough to be helpful this year I don't know what our instructions are to our US Scouts but unless they are ranting and raving over a particular individual I expect we will be signing the late cuts to contracts for next year not this year personally I would like to see O'Shea continue to overhaul the team and improve our talent level,,, I am not too concerned about making the playoffs, but I am very concerned about getting a much higher level of potential talent so we all want the big names and the past successes but I am guessing that that's not what Walters and O'Shea are looking at right now as they fill up the PR from down south does anybody really think were going to bring in a game changer for right now?

The play calling that disturbed me was not MOS' decision to kick FG but to go into a prevent Defense with 2 minutes to go ... we had been defending well the whole game ... why drop the DBs further back just cause we are at game's end? We needed to tighten up further and try an extra run blitz or two on that last drive!!

Yes and yes. Was Matthews one of those with "attitude" problems late last year or was he a True Blue professional?

I am sure many things have been tried ... I am wondering whether Chick can be trap play blocked ... Doug Brown used to be consistently double teamed but Chick is quite different ... running straight at his end position (whether he is there or not) works for me ... I am sure we won't be running a T-formation instead of double tights (using Pot & Fitz in both) but it might help us be more flexible with a wandering Chick .... MB doesn't seem to be a genius at creativity ... strikes me more as an out muscle out-power them type and that's what worries me most

Do you like going in circles?

With the labor Day home & home series on the prairies the Standings are likely to shift a little ... Calgary taking Edmonton for two with us splitting our series with the Riders ... I am still looking for us to battle for third with Edmonton ...with BC giving chase

If we consider how a backup QB would do running our offense ... how complex is it? Straight forward or tons to learn?

"... deflect attention " exactly ... system schemes and courage is everything to execution

This year in the CFL has been the year of the defence. Offences need to be more responsible, not turn the ball over and practice some ball control offence through running games. "Gun-Slinging", while enjoyable to watch, is rarely successful in the modern era. Throwing the ball 15-20 yards downfield is no riskier than throwing a wide side flat pass ... in fact there will be less pick-sixes ... remember that strategy of spreading out the Defense? We need a mix of passing plays not just all 10 yards or less with the odd bomb thrown in

Opening it up is about throwing more intermediate passes and a few more bombs .... its different than all this short passing and running up the gut too frequently ... nothing to do with passing skills or execution .... if you won't go downfield with your passes the D just starts creeping up giving us less and less room to maneuver and run that short stuff ... not hard to understand is it? Well what I got from it was we ARE opening it up.. We lead the league in opening it up lol.. But when we don't execute properly with the dropsies and the fumblitis then they don't show up on the sheet or in people's memory banks apparently.. Could go for it more often but then you gotta balance the risk/reward,right? Willys served up a few.. But again, we lead the league in big plays.. " Well what I got from it was we ARE opening it up.. " I don't think so .... way to much dinnk and dunk ... too much short stuff ,,, to much straight up the gut and not enough intermediate 15 yard passes on 1st down .... yes we hack it 30+ yards downfield once and a while but that's all the D has to worry about ... meanwhile D's have no problem creeping in on our expected short game

He will help some but won't solve Hamilton's main problems ... QBing cost Hamilton 1 or 2 games but not responsible for overall record

I don't think we would have had to overspend

They just need to make the schedule a little more carefully.The expansion draft really upset things. In order to accommodate Ottawa, the BOG's lowered the quality of play in the entire CFL. It's killing offenses. "There aren't enough quality Canadian OL from CIS to stock the teams." I don't believe we lack Canadian talent ... we just lack developed talent .... we need to add several development positions on our rosters for Canadians and bring them along over a couple years ... add a special protected taxi squad of say 4 Canadians at $25K each .... a pipeline of new candidates and the depth we want will start to develop ... The CFL (read the owners) are just too cheap to spend $$$ on referees and bigger rosters

I remember when Geroy Simon came back from the NFL .... coach couldn't see where he would fit into their plans either

Egomaniac officiating where the reffing determines the outcome of a game on a very marginal call: about that we can in all practicality do absolutely nothing... what has me on edge is if CFL headquarters gives an officiating crew a wink and a nudge about who it would be better for if one team were to win over another ,.... I don't think it could be true but some games I absolutely wonder .... something about who signs the pay check .... I see corruption elsewhere all too often; I just can't believe it could happen in our League even if its an old boys club in part

One of the reasons we have this controversy going is the league deliberately scheduled many east west games in the early schedule and fewer intra-divisional games .... so no confidence building from getting a win or two against divisional rivals (and toning down teams with strong records) .... so the worse it gets the worse it gets ... I think that's called momentum ... or its opposite whatever we call that

The biggest change in the Esks I can see is Jones & coaching staff ... not sure what all has changed personnel wise ... its been quite a turn around and I don't understand why

Opening it up is about throwing more intermediate passes and a few more bombs .... its different than all this short passing and running up the gut too frequently ... nothing to do with passing skills or execution .... if you won't go downfield with your passes the D just starts creeping up giving us less and less room to maneuver and run that short stuff ... not hard to understand is it?

Does Willey actually audible? I mean really .,...

Somebody said last night "we opened it up" in the 4th quarter (the types of plays we called) .... and what a difference that made Thats what has been bugging me: our tentative conservative don't-turn-the-ball-over style in the early part of our last few games .... thats on MB & maybe MOS We just need to turn our 4th quarter style into our all game style MB's temperment and habitual disposition? Lets open it up to Willey the gunslinger? It might work ....

the way MOS operates we won't bring a running back off the 'PR UNTIL Grigsby or Cotton gets hurt ... then the newbie has to make the most of the opportunity btw I like Stoudemire in the flat much the way Owens is used in Toronto ... I don't see him as a grind it out back