Winnipeg Blue Bombers

[Ando]

That is extremely unlikely to happen under this regime. And the Riders are not exactly world beaters, so it's not like they lost to a great team.

[blueandgoldguy]

Nichols WAS a good quarterback. Since the second half of last season he has been alternating between average to awful. Recently he has been the worst starting QB in the league averaging barely over 200 yards passing per game.

Poor mobility, not much of an arm...all adds up to a Qb who relies on short passes and plenty of YAC yards from his receivers and Andrew Harris.

The defense continues to play poorly even with changes in the secondary and the addition of Adam Bighill. Hall is the common denominator here.

If the Bombers make the playoffs and are eliminated in one game I'm sure Hall will be gone (finally!) but I think O'Shea has a 50/50 chance of surviving for 2019. If the Bombers totally tank down the stretch and miss the playoffs altogether, O'shea will be gone, but I would bet the house Walters will be back.

Walters drafting and free agency has been good for the most part, but he and his scouts simply do not have the connections to bring in cheap impact international talent from the US like other GMs have ie. Hufnagel, Hervey, Buono at one time

[Goldie]

Honest question:

What have the Blue Bombers done right or done to make Winnipeg proud since November 1990?
Not trolling here (that would be a waste of time). I genuinely want to know.

I don't get the appeal of this franchise, haven't really followed/supported them in years & genuinely want to know.

I do know the team is -$200 million in debt to the taxpayers (that they'll never pay off)
I do know that the Bombers screwed up everything in regards to the construction of Investors Group Field (rushed, cheap construction, horrible location, cheapest possible architecture group)
I do know they haven't won a Grey Cup in almost 30 years (in a league that usually has just 8 teams)

As a big sports fan living in Manitoba and a fan or architecture (why I'm on here), please, someone enlighten me the appeal of this sports franchise....

[esquire]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

Poor mobility, not much of an arm...all adds up to a Qb who relies on short passes and plenty of YAC yards from his receivers and Andrew Harris.

Harris has done a lot to mask the blemishes of the offense. It would be a lot worse without him.

Originally Posted by Goldie

I do know the team is -$200 million in debt to the taxpayers (that they'll never pay off)
I do know that the Bombers screwed up everything in regards to the construction of Investors Group Field (rushed, cheap construction, horrible location, cheapest possible architecture group)

The Bombers have been paying their share of the stadium loans as planned. The issue with the development of the Polo Park site affects the City's share, not the WFC's share.

And your contention about IGF is a matter of opinion. The main mistake with IGF is that BRT was not completed to coincide with the stadium's opening... that's on the City.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Anyone lamenting Winnipeg not winning the Grey Cup in twenty-eight years needs to get some perspective Yes, it is statistically significant, but talk to the province to the West when you average 1 championship every 26 years. You're barely at our average time between championships.

What has Winnipeg done recently? They've been to the Grey Cup twice since 2007 and three times since 2000. Sure they lost those games, but the Riders are 4-15 in championship games and this is the CFL. Make the playoffs and you've always got a chance.

This season is an oddity in the West. There's only one good team and then a swath of mediocrity. There's very little outside of a special teams play on any given day to pick between 2 through 5. A Winnipeg victory in the rematch and you can pretty much toss a coin in the West for who finishes second to fourth. BC is only a two-game win streak away from the pile.

[Jammon]

Originally Posted by esquire

Harris has done a lot to mask the blemishes of the offense. It would be a lot worse without him.



The Bombers have been paying their share of the stadium loans as planned. The issue with the development of the Polo Park site affects the City's share, not the WFC's share.

And your contention about IGF is a matter of opinion. The main mistake with IGF is that BRT was not completed to coincide with the stadium's opening... that's on the City.

I really like the stadium to be honest. It has a great atmosphere and it really has good sight lines. Now that I have been using the park and ride, it has made travel there much easier. Honestly, I enjoy games there more than I do for the Jets even though I am a much bigger hockey fan.

With that being said, the biggest issue with this team is that it is a publically owned team. I would argue it's one of the major reasons we haven't won a cup since 1990. If the organization had owners, decisions would be made much more quickly- especially when things are going down hill. An owner might be willing to terminate personnel more quickly and assume the financial burden vs a publically owned organization that is going to stick to their strategic plan.

I have pretty much lost my patience with this team though. Walters has done a good job with the on-field talent, however, I am having major issues with coaching. This has been the Bombers biggest deficiency for as long as I can remember. We haven't had a winning coach since Dave Ritchie.

[Ando]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Anyone lamenting Winnipeg not winning the Grey Cup in twenty-eight years needs to get some perspective Yes, it is statistically significant, but talk to the province to the West when you average 1 championship every 26 years. You're barely at our average time between championships.

What has Winnipeg done recently? They've been to the Grey Cup twice since 2007 and three times since 2000. Sure they lost those games, but the Riders are 4-15 in championship games and this is the CFL. Make the playoffs and you've always got a chance.

This season is an oddity in the West. There's only one good team and then a swath of mediocrity. There's very little outside of a special teams play on any given day to pick between 2 through 5. A Winnipeg victory in the rematch and you can pretty much toss a coin in the West for who finishes second to fourth. BC is only a two-game win streak away from the pile.

This kind of thing doesn't really help when you have not won for 28 years in a nine team league.

[Ando]

Originally Posted by Goldie

Honest question:

What have the Blue Bombers done right or done to make Winnipeg proud since November 1990?
Not trolling here (that would be a waste of time). I genuinely want to know.

I don't get the appeal of this franchise, haven't really followed/supported them in years & genuinely want to know.

I do know the team is -$200 million in debt to the taxpayers (that they'll never pay off)
I do know that the Bombers screwed up everything in regards to the construction of Investors Group Field (rushed, cheap construction, horrible location, cheapest possible architecture group)
I do know they haven't won a Grey Cup in almost 30 years (in a league that usually has just 8 teams)

As a big sports fan living in Manitoba and a fan or architecture (why I'm on here), please, someone enlighten me the appeal of this sports franchise....

And yet all of your posts strongly resemble troll posts.

[Ando]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

Nichols WAS a good quarterback. Since the second half of last season he has not been alternating between average to awful. Recently he has been the worst starting QB in the league averaging barely over 200 yards passing per game.

Poor mobility, not much of an arm...all adds up to a Qb who relies on short passes and plenty of YAC yards from his receivers and Andrew Harris.

The defense continues to play poorly even with changes in the secondary and the addition of Adam Bighill. Hall is the common denominator here.

If the Bombers make the playoffs and are eliminated in one game I'm sure Hall will be gone (finally!) but I think O'Shea has a 50/50 chance of surviving for 2019. If the Bombers totally tank down the stretch and miss the playoffs altogether, O'shea will be gone, but I would bet the house Walters will be back.

Walters drafting and free agency has been good for the most part, but he and his scouts simply do not have the connections to bring in cheap impact international talent from the US like other GMs have ie. Hufnagel, Hervey, Buono at one time

Nichols is still a decent QB, I don't lay everything on him. The receiving corps is average at best overall right now. But he isn't good enough to win the big one by himself, like Bo levi mitchell or Ricky ray, for example.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Jammon

With that being said, the biggest issue with this team is that it is a publically owned team. I would argue it's one of the major reasons we haven't won a cup since 1990. If the organization had owners, decisions would be made much more quickly- especially when things are going down hill. An owner might be willing to terminate personnel more quickly and assume the financial burden vs a publically owned organization that is going to stick to their strategic plan.

For a while the Bombers were arguably too quick to axe coaches. For example, after coaching the Bombers to a dominant 14-4 season and a Grey Cup game they probably would have won if not for Troy Westwood's inexplicable misses, Dave Ritchie went 12-6 and 11-7. Then he started the year 2-5 and that got him the axe.

Doug Berry was decent and led the team to a Grey Cup game they probably would have won if not for our starting QB literally breaking his arm during garbage time of the division final. He went 8-10 the next season and that got him the axe.

Paul LaPolice went 10-8 and kind of fluked his way into the Grey Cup game, but still got the axe after a 2-6 start to the season.

I guess you could point at those three and say that if they were so great, why weren't they HCs anymore after leaving Winnipeg? But on the other hand, they had proven success in Winnipeg and with a little more patience they might have been able to build a winning team again.

Now the club's philosophy has changed, and O'Shea is getting a seemingly infinite amount of time to hone his craft. Meanwhile it's year 5 of the O'Shea regime and the possibility of a 9 win season is starting to look more and more remote by the week.

[Stormer]

Don't be discouraged. I am coming to my second ever Banjo Bowl. That can only mean one thing. A Bomber upset.

In 2013, my last Banjo Bowl, the high-flying Riders were coming off a convincing 48-25 victory in the LDC. Most of the 25 points were in garbage time. The soon to be champion Riders brought their swagger to IGF for the first time. Durant and team were soundly trounced 25-13 by the (up until then) hapless Bombers led by a no-name QB.

[esquire]

^ Haha, I remember being at that game... I was ecstatic. At least we had that moment in an otherwise terrible season.

[Crisis]

For those who want to see young men play for the love of the game, don't forget that you can get a Sask-Manitoba preview on Friday night at 7pm when the U of S Huskies come to town to take on the Bisons. The Bisons showed well against a highly ranked T-Bird team at UBC on Saturday, so the match against the surprising Huskies (42-0 over the Bears) should be a good one.

[Pinus]

OffenCe

DefenCe

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine

[Ando]

Originally Posted by Jammon

I really like the stadium to be honest. It has a great atmosphere and it really has good sight lines. Now that I have been using the park and ride, it has made travel there much easier. Honestly, I enjoy games there more than I do for the Jets even though I am a much bigger hockey fan.

With that being said, the biggest issue with this team is that it is a publically owned team. I would argue it's one of the major reasons we haven't won a cup since 1990. If the organization had owners, decisions would be made much more quickly- especially when things are going down hill. An owner might be willing to terminate personnel more quickly and assume the financial burden vs a publically owned organization that is going to stick to their strategic plan.

I have pretty much lost my patience with this team though. Walters has done a good job with the on-field talent, however, I am having major issues with coaching. This has been the Bombers biggest deficiency for as long as I can remember. We haven't had a winning coach since Dave Ritchie.

I would say that is nonsense. Edmonton and Saskatchewan are both successful community-owned teams that have always actively made changes when they are needed.

[djforsberg]

Bump.

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by Ando

I would say that is nonsense. Edmonton and Saskatchewan are both successful community-owned teams that have always actively made changes when they are needed.

Well the Bombers aren't community owned. They don't have any public ownership (unlike the other two), they're a non-profit.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by djforsberg

Bump.

[Crisis]

While I do love to see the Riders beat the Bombers, especially in such a heartbreaking fashion with 200 yards of Pick 6 returns, I think that Jefferson acted like a douchebag on his INT return for the TD. Just run into the end zone like an adult.

[djforsberg]

Originally Posted by Crisis

While I do love to see the Riders beat the Bombers, especially in such a heartbreaking fashion with 200 yards of Pick 6 returns, I think that Jefferson acted like a douchebag on his INT return for the TD. Just run into the end zone like an adult.

I hope you enjoyed your first professional football game. You'll be shocked to learn that this happens often by players who are paid to play a game.