2016 FREE AGENTS

[BigBlue]

17 hours ago, WBBFanWest said:

Speaking of agendas, tell me, what exactly do you think the BoD's role in football operations is?

First of all, on the board will be the city of Winnipeg & of Manitoba representation: their not very secret agenda is fiscal responsibility and loan protection. While increasing crowd size is attractive for them the bigger focus is keeping costs down. Look for a veto from them on any aggressive spending programs outside of the salary cap.

 

Second, there will be former players on the board. They would spend wildly if they can to make sure there is the best possible coaching and talent acquisition. Unfortunately they are virtually powerless with nothing but moral suasion on their side.

Finally there is the "old boys club" of mature or retired businessmen. Getting on the board is a feather in their cap, a status symbol of their success. Being chairman of the board is even greater status. Unfortunately in Winnipeg the mentality from the business world is cutting costs and making a profit especially in the face of flat or declining revenues. It is just contrary to their nature to spend an unjustified nickel. They are most risk-averse. These business types are rarely entrepreneurs and visionaries. The Winnipeg business type is very different from say the more freewheeling business people of Alberta or even Saskatchewan.

Until our governance changes this type of board composition is going to continue... And that's why we have been stuck for the past two decades in mediocrity. Occasionally, we end up with better talent and on field management but it has been short-lived and anything but the kind of thinking that builds and maintains dynasties.

Edited January 4, 2016 by BigBlue

[WBBFanWest]

Congratulations.  You have just demonstrated perfectly that you have no clue how a Board of Directors in an organization such as this functions.

The BoD does not decide where they are going to spend money.  That's up to management.  Management prepares a budget and explains why money is going into this project or that one.  Individual board members might have questions about various things but they do not "dictate" where money goes.

I laughed at this: " Until our governance changes this type of board composition is going to continue... And that's why we have been stuck for the past two decades in mediocrity."   I know that there have been all sorts of rumours about board interference in years gone by but precious little evidence to back that up.  Bauer didn't strike me as a guy who would allow himself to be nothing more that a puppet CEO, Miller is certainly not.  You know why we lose, it's not because of the BoD, it's because we keep hiring weak GM's and HC's, Because we've drafted poorly, because we haven't had a dominant O line or QB in a long time.  There are a million reasons why we suck, but unfortunately for you and your agenda, the BoD isn't one of them, because again, THE BOARD HAS NO CONTROL OVER FOOTBALL OPERATIONS.

You need to get on the board of a larger non-profit organization and educate yourself a bit.

 

[Fatty Liver]

Good article from Doug Brown in today's FreeP regarding Free Agency.

Free agency not a magic elixir for Blue

 

It sounds as though, once again, the Winnipeg Football Club has made a New Year’s resolution to be highly motivated in free agency, and will wade into the fountain of players next month with its purse strings wide open. The question that remains, though, is whether it actually should or not?

As confirmed by Free Press reporter Paul Wiecek Saturday, the football club is, "promising to be aggressive in the free-agent market next month," and why not? Even though there is still ample time for players to re-sign with their respective ball clubs, there are more than 100 prospective free agents currently out there, and some very talented ones at that. When your football team is coming off a five win season, the status quo isn’t a viable option, so a willingness to change is a good thing, right?

 

Imagine a Bakari Grant, a Chris Williams, or an Andy Fantuz in the receiving corps of this football team. How much more dynamic would this group be with a proven home run hitter to stretch the football field? What about an Andrew Harris or a Jerome Messam in the backfield to bolster what has been a marginal rushing attack the last couple of seasons? How much would QB Drew Willy benefit — from both health and performance perspectives — if he was running a balanced offensive attack that included one of these proven all-star backs who each happens to be Canadian too?

Speaking of Drew Willy, how much better would he and the team be if he was competing with a Trevor Harris or a Travis Lulay in training camp? Imagine a scenario where the season wouldn’t be lost if the starting quarterback went down for a spell — for a third season in a row.

On the other side of the ball, what would the 2016 version of this defence look like if Ted Laurent teamed up with Bryant Turner Jr. in the middle of the front four, or if John Bowman came off the opposite edge of Jamaal Westerman for one final year? How much better would the linebacking corps be if Keon Raymond or J.C. Sheritt were added to upgrade it? These are just a few of the tantalizing morsels currently out there that would be instant upgrades to this football team that would send us all into another optimistic frenzy, drooling at the prospects of what could be in the coming season.

But that is the exact point of this opinion piece. Last off season we were all incredulous and goggly eyed about the likes of Dominic Picard and Stanley Bryant joining the likes of Nick Moore on offense, and guys like Sam Hurl and Jamaal Westerman teaming up with a strong core of defensive players. As it turned out, if you count Moore, Picard, Hurl, Bryant, and Westerman as five of the biggest free agents this leadership group has signed of late, after the results we saw last year, they most likely over paid for at least three, if not four of them. The only one that definitely lived up to his price tag — thus far — was the only one who had never even played in the CFL before.

CFL free agency seems to me to be much like the old golf adage that says you, "drive for show, putt for dough," and we just broke out our Big Bertha Alpha 816 Double Black Diamond driver (an actual golf club). Making waves in free agency and overpaying for talent is the equivalent of only working your biceps at the gym. It looks good, it grabs headlines, and makes your football team pop in a tight v-neck, but it isn’t sustainable. Most of the teams that are perennial winners in this league seem to do a lot better developing their own free agents, and then paying them once, or if, they establish themselves at all. There seems to be a disproportionate relationship between the cost of, and the production of, most Tier 1 CFL free agents. Which is probably why you don’t have to look too hard to find veteran spokesmen in the CFL who will tell you that you only augment or tweak through free agency, you don’t build from it.

There are good players out there to be sure, but they are usually there because they want more money than they are worth. Let’s just hope that this year’s free agency "aggressiveness," isn’t designed to overcompensate for a deficiency in developing cheaper, and undiscovered talent from within.

[Goalie]

Markus Howell joining the riders. Baron Miles off to the Esks 

[TBURGESS]

Stamps release Juwan Simpson → http://ow.ly/WCBMu 

[pigseye]

You're up iso.

[Noeller]

that's really the shits to lose Howell....not as concerned about Miles, but that also sucks.....

[Brandon]

No it was the shits when we lost Dickenson....  Howell did nothing to bolster our team.  Easily replaceable.

[BigBlue]

22 hours ago, WBBFanWest said:

Congratulations.  You have just demonstrated perfectly that you have no clue how a Board of Directors in an organization such as this functions.

The BoD does not decide where they are going to spend money.  That's up to management.  Management prepares a budget and explains why money is going into this project or that one.  Individual board members might have questions about various things but they do not "dictate" where money goes.

I laughed at this: " Until our governance changes this type of board composition is going to continue... And that's why we have been stuck for the past two decades in mediocrity."   I know that there have been all sorts of rumours about board interference in years gone by but precious little evidence to back that up.  Bauer didn't strike me as a guy who would allow himself to be nothing more that a puppet CEO, Miller is certainly not.  You know why we lose, it's not because of the BoD, it's because we keep hiring weak GM's and HC's, Because we've drafted poorly, because we haven't had a dominant O line or QB in a long time.  There are a million reasons why we suck, but unfortunately for you and your agenda, the BoD isn't one of them, because again, THE BOARD HAS NO CONTROL OVER FOOTBALL OPERATIONS.

You need to get on the board of a larger non-profit organization and educate yourself a bit.

 

I have worked with enough boards to know how they operate .... when they meddle and how much influence they exert with the cheque book ... it is your comment that breathes naivety about how the real world works, politically, corporately and egotistically .... Boards are as different as people are .... and as irrational and self justifying as individuals ... some are far more effective  than others .... some follow "the vision"  while others are most self serving ....

Outside of the mechanics involved how do you think each member really gets nominated and approved?

What type of BoD do you think the Bombers have had in the past two decades?

More importantly (beyond all things new-stadium related and hasn't that been a shmoz) what has this board done in the last two decades that could be labeled "effective leadership".

And since you brought it up, what have they done to improve "football operations"?

Give me a break ....

What is the constant, the reality before your eyes?

Do you really think we are on a 25 year "unlucky streak"?

 

[comedygeek]

4 hours ago, BigBlue said:

Do you really think we are on a 25 year "unlucky streak"?

In some ways, yes. 2001 and 2007 both should have been wins given the make-up of the teams and the seasons we had. Shoulda coulda woulda, of course, but it hasn't all been garbage. We've had some great teams many times in those 25 years (1992-94, 2000-02, 2007), some decent teams (thinking 2003 and 2011, specifically), and yes, many bad teams, too.

I'd say your assumption that it's all the BOD would be more accurate if we didn't have record-breaking teams during that run. Yes, we didn't win the Cup, but that's definitely an issue with those individual teams (and in some cases, terribly ill-timed injuries) rather than the make-up of the organization.

Also, I'm almost certain these same conversations exist in Edmonton and Saskatchewan, too, even though they've both had a couple Grey Cup wins in that same time span the Bombers haven't won. Inevitably, people will question ownership and management unless you win every year. In our case, ownership is represented by the Board of Directors, so questions will come. But at least with a BOD vs. private ownership, there are opportunities to cycle through and change things if we really do get into bad patterns. Imagine if we had a 25-year Grey Cup drought with private ownership! Haha.

[Bigblue204]

Ben Henaan has been signed by the Colts.

[BigBlue]

On 1/4/2016 at 2:53 AM, SPuDS said:

I didn't know our board of ditectors was actually a front for the Illuminati.  

No need to be serious if being a know-it-all is the goal. 

" the BoD's role in football operations is ... " to get sound and competent operators. We haven't had such since Lyle Bauer went sour. Bauer saved the franchise's bacon when it looked like the Blue were going down for the financial count .... we had some success for a while after that. Then Bauer started to accumulate too may mistakes and he quit before he got run out of town.

Bauer turned out to be a good hire when we needed a financial manager and fund raiser. But running operations to produce a champion requires a different type of judgment.

OKing Cal Murphy's breaking the bank for Matt Dunigan was also good but short lived. Hiring Dave Ritchie was good and firing him was poor.

Anything done recently by this board has been poor. The CJOB deal/hire was embarassing.... what was his name again?

The mismanagement of the new Stadium build could have been fatal and revealed huge cracks in management's abilities.

Hiring Joe Mack as a non resident reveals nothing but wishful thinking instead of critical dedication. He took the role on as a retirement hobby.

Taking on a no-accomplishment no track record Kyle Walters has been painful to watch and a poor bet if we wanted to gamble. Instead of making a diligent search we came off looking like cheapskates.

Finally Wade Miller .... a poor track record at Pinnacle if you check his industry references ... and running a Booster Juice franchise doesn't make you Donald Trump. Miller so far appears to be Mr. Invisible.

Our board is terribly broken "and quite frankly incompetent."

 

Edited January 5, 2016 by BigBlue

[iso_55]

Somewhere between WBBFanWest & Big Blue the truth lies regarding the BOD. I'll just say that the Board has had a hand in the failures of this team. How much I have no idea. 

[Bigblue204]

18 hours ago, iso_55 said:

Somewhere between WBBFanWest & Big Blue the truth lies regarding the BOD. I'll just say that the Board has had a hand in the failures/success of this team. How much I have no idea. 

fixed it for you...

[Jpan85]

 

One of

One of the bigger names off the board. There are going to be no NI offense lineman of value left once FA rolls around.

[holoman]

31 minutes ago, Jpan85 said:

 

One of

One of the bigger names off the board. There are going to be no NI offense lineman of value left once FA rolls around.

yep which means some guys who don't deserve it may get more than their value

[Goalie]

Well, the trade route is always there as is playing Internationals on the line. 

[Floyd]

Shologan, Laurent, Bulcke, Cappicotti, Laing - one or two of them will hit FA... change the ratio on the DL

[Mr Dee]

One month away from FA.

Let's see; Montreal re-signs OL Kristian Matte - Calgary extended DB Brandon Smith - Saskatchewan signs DB Derrius Brooks.

And the Bombers? They announce that cartoonist Tom Batiuk is a Bomber fan, and shows it through his cartoon - Crankshaft.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/bombers/blue-and-gold-in-black-white-364823611.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Somehow, this seems appropriate?

[pigseye]

1 hour ago, Floyd said:

Shologan, Laurent, Bulcke, Cappicotti, Laing - one or two of them will hit FA... change the ratio on the DL

They'll continue to play Hurl and Bucknor for better or worse, what choice do they have?

[Floyd]

37 minutes ago, pigseye said:

They'll continue to play Hurl and Bucknor for better or worse, what choice do they have?

Randle-Washington-Eric Fraser/Waggoner-Johnson-Courtney Stephens

Bass-Wild-Leggett/Derek Jones

Hall-Laurent-Turner-Westerman

2 OL, 1 REC and 1 rotational FB/RB

[Mike]

So we bench one of our best defenders from last year?

[Bigblue204]

1 hour ago, Mr Dee said:

One month away from FA.

Let's see; Montreal re-signs OL Kristian Matte - Calgary extended DB Brandon Smith - Saskatchewan signs DB Derrius Brooks.

And the Bombers? They announce that cartoonist Tom Batiuk is a Bomber fan, and shows it through his cartoon - Crankshaft.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/bombers/blue-and-gold-in-black-white-364823611.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Somehow, this seems appropriate?

I know why haven't they extended a key piece to the Oline....or stabilized our QB situation. God DO SOMETHING WALTERS!!!

[Floyd]

1 hour ago, Mike said:

So we bench one of our best defenders from last year?

Right, forgot about Adams...  then we cut Washington.  Problem solved.

[Guest J5V]

10 hours ago, Jpan85 said:

 

One of

One of the bigger names off the board. There are going to be no NI offense lineman of value left once FA rolls around.

I'm afraid you're right. Not a good situation for the Bombers. It's early though. Maybe we can do something yet.