WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced on Thursday that they’ve signed veteran kicker Sergio Castillo to a one-year contract.
Add one more to the kickers pool. Getting a little crowded at that end. The more the merrier.
Consistent kicker, not the strongest punter. Not a big fan of two kickers/punters on the roster, but I’ll take the points.
Ok all teams seem to be signing a lot of players before training camp cut down. But the Bombers last year cheated the players salary CAP are they headed to repeat this again this year? Guess we will have to see how many players get cut before the regular season gets started. Same for Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa the co- offenders.
Don’t like putting the blame on any one particular player in a team sport but do wonder sometimes if there would have been a different outcome in the GC game had Sergio been in Blue & Gold last year?
Probably. But then we’d be totally insufferable after having won three Grey Cups in a row on our way to becoming the mightiest CFL dynasty of the 21st Century.
Most of you prefer the kinder, humbler version of us winners. 
Kinder, humbler version of us “Winners”??? 
Er, runners up, perhaps. Seriously, though, it’s beyond obvious that you needed a real kicker. You have more kickers in camp than you have on the DL. Maybe Legghio can play DE. Have to say Sergio’s a good add.
When it comes to being humble, we’re the absolute best until we find ourselves undefeated halfway through a given season and our heads grow three sizes too big. After that we tend to get top-heavy and trip over each other’s huge egos. By the time we get to the playoffs we’re pretty much incapable of standing upright. We’re a mess.
I like Sergio as an add but, as O’Shea, Collaros et al said, one guy didn’t lose the CUP. It was a team effort. You don’t win many games when your 2 MOP’s on D combine for 1 tackle, when your OL gives up 4 sacks (2 more called back), when you blow a 9 point lead with a dozen ticks left on the clock.
You can rightfully argue the Bombers don’t get to OT without Sergio in '21. But he is 77% on FG’s regular season in a Bomber uniform. IMO he is a huge upgrade over Legghio but Legghio was last in a lot of kicking categories last year. The fact they signed him so quickly is a good indication of what the Bombers thought of their kicking last year. Good signing. 
"They’ve come undun.
They found a mountain that was far too high,
And when they found out they couldn’t fly,
It was too late.
It’s too late.
They’ve gone too far.
They’ve lost the sun,
They’ve come undun."
Sergio is an excellent add. I don’t care what his regular season percentage on field goals is, he is the best clutch kicker in the league. He proved that in 21 by going 5 for 5 in the Grey Cup and drilling a 47 yarder the Bombers had to have late in the 4th quarter with ease in a vicious wind. He deserved the game MVP. There is no one I would rather have to kick clutch field goals. Certainly not Parades who couldn’t make the clutch kick to save Calgary’s life that same year.
I think I am of the same mind as most Bomber fans or even non Bomber fans in that Winnipeg’s biggest weakness last year was kicking. Problem now solved. I have no idea as to why Jones would let him go when his replacement will be a step down. Could the Elks be up against the salary cap already with the team they plan to field?
Liegghio was nothing short of the worst place kicker in the league last year, costing the Bombers their unbeaten streak with a missed convert, missing numerous other kicks including several down the stretch and totally gassing the Grey Cup where only one more convert made would have gotten the Bombers into OT at least. Had Castillo stayed in a Bomber uniform last year I have no doubt that they would have won their third straight Cup.
Yes you can say that the Bombers didn’t play their best and indeed they probably had their worst game of the season, except for their loss to Hamilton. To me that clearly shows how much better the Bombers were than the Argos. As we all know any team can win any one game. I don’t really respect the win by Toronto because they didn’t have to earn their place in the big game. So even if some of Winnipeg’s big guns had off games or were playing severely hurt like Bighill, and even though Collaros had one of his worst games as a Bomber, they only lost by one point. And that was with Toronto playing by far it’s best game of the year.
That one point can be blamed upon Liegghio more than anyone, cold shanking a clutch field goal attempt that was much easier than the one Castillo made effortlessly in a wind tunnel the year before. Kicking is like goaltending in
hockey. You’re on an island by yourself. Great teams like the Bombers can cover for the mistakes of many on the field just like all teams cover for mistakes. But you can’t cover for shanked kicks or missed chip shots or weak goals let in by your goalie.
Well, the Bombers should be the last to talk about CAP issues. They were the most over the CAP of the 4 who were fined. But, yeah, I heard he was asked to take a cut.
Jon, you really have go get over this nonsense about the schedule. Are you going to tell me that the Boston Bruins, despite setting an all-time record for wins & points deserve to be considered the best team this year because of the regular season? They lost FOUR home games all year & in a SEVEN game series with home advantage lost THREE at home to the Panthers, an “unworthy” team in a last vs first seeding. Who’s talking about the Bruins now? The season doesn’t stop @ 82 games - or 18.
It’s not the Argos who choose their playoff opponents. Everyone knows how it works before the season even begins. So, either put on your big boy pants & beat the team you have in front of you or stop crying about it. Again, having an opponent as “unworthy” as the Argonauts to beat for the game that will give you a threepeat is a gift, isn’t it? You should be thrilled to be in that position. And head to head you only beat them by a point, & then lost by a point.
The Bombers are not without flaws. I was the 1st to admit that Castillo was the biggest factor in their '21 win. And yes, that’s a big signing. As for Legghio - once they take off the uniform it’s okay to stomp all over them, eh?
Castillo has only been above 90% once in his CFL career. And he finished 6th in kicking. So lets not anoint him as all world just yet. Let’s agree it’s an upgrade.
You fell right into my trap when you cited the Bruins/Panthers. You also don’t seem to understand my point. I’m not whining or crying about the Bombers at all. They lost a close game to a team playing it’s best game of the year by one point. That can happen to any team in one game.
My criticism of the playoff system has existed for many years and applies to all teams. It is about competitive integrity and fairness. No league should seed playoffs based on their location on a map. It’s that simple. Every team should have to earn their way to the big game. This is obviously the major reason Toronto has won so many Grey Cups. If they had to earn their way into the game you could probably cut their GC wins in half and therefore they get a big asterisk from me and many others.
Last year Toronto was 4th and BC 2nd. Toronto should have had to travel to BC at that point for the semi final while Montreal should have had to travel to Winnipeg. This perfectly illustrates how the current system isn’t based on their regular season records or who they have beaten, but rather the longitude of their location. This I would think is pretty obvious. It needs to be fixed.
Conversely, Boston was seeded # 1 and got to play the #8 seed as a result. Completely opposite of the CFL system. Florida is busy trying to earn it’s way to the Final. I can’t imagine them being seeded higher than an opponent because they are located a little more to the right on a map. This is an issue discussed extensively on other threads and if you are interested in tackling it on an informed basis you may wish to read up on the many good comments made. It’s not about the Bombers or this thread, however, and I felt the need to point that out.
As for Liegghio, I’m not stomping on him because he has “taken off the uniform”, whatever that means. I have not trusted him from the outset and two years of prior posts will back that up. Judging by the fact Bomber management planned on bringing in half of the free agent kickers on the planet and has now signed Castillo, they clearly didn’t trust him as well. I have nothing against Liegghio but in my opinion he isn’t qualified for the job. It’s that simple. I calls them as I sees them.
Welcome home Sergio!
Both you two make great points. Thanks for contributing!
And you missed mine. Meeting the 8th place club doesn’t ensure you an easier path to the championship. Nor does having home field advantage. No leagues have each team playing each other a like # of times. In baseball with 162 games you could do it more “fairly” as you call it but it is economically dumb. You have to beat all comers. Just play who’s in front of you & stop complaining. As for Legghio. Early in the season you were calling him the best kicker in the league, Jon.
But enough of that.
I think I said once he had the best FG stats at the time. I never once thought of him as or called him the best kicker in the league. Not even close. I have said several times in the past including all of this year that Sergio is.
I think you have still missed my point about fairness or competitive integrity. Of course you have to okay and beat whomever is put in front of you, but that should be the lowest ranked team if you’re the highest or vice versa. How can you logically disagree with that? Isn’t that what the regular season is for? So you think there is no need for a regular season and that it is fair to all of the teams to retain the geographical dartboard approach? I disagree, but you’re correct about enough of that.
But they still LOST. To a team that got to the Grey Cup over 2 of the three teams that beat Winnipeg in the regular season.
“The West is stronger than the East” was a myth last season. I don’t care about win loss because those numbers were skewed by 2 1/2 lame duck teams in the west…
Completely disagree. The West teams had a much tougher schedule. The East teams play the West teams far less. Toronto only played Winnipeg once in the regular season and do so again this year. I’ll take the East team schedule any day over the West teams. They also have a much easier travel schedule and don’t have to earn their way into the Grey Cup game based on regular season performance most years including last year. What is wrong with treating all of the teams the same or at least as close to the same as possible?
Just because Toronto played their best game of the year and Winnipeg didn’t and they still only barely won by one point thanks to Winnipeg having a high school kicker, doesn’t make them a better team or make the fact that the West is better than the East a myth. There would not have been better than a 50/50 chance Toronto even played in the Grey Cup if they hadn’t been given a geographical advantage and had to win the semi final in BC as should have been the case.
Thank you for that. The Jon thing and his East has the easier route has been getting a bit old lately. Argos beat them with a rookie QB doing the final damage. If the Bombers were who he thought they were, they should be able to overcome a Rookie QB taking them out.
You may be getting tired of the Jon thing, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t based on facts. You have completely misread my posts, which aren’t about the Bombers losing the game. Those posts come from those replying to me.
If you go back and check I am not good with the East teams having an unfair advantage and a path to the Grey Cup game sprinkled with rose petals.
Not one person has yet to make a logical case as to why Eastern teams should be given preferential treatment in their path to the Grey Cup and home playoff games they didn’t earn. I just want all the teams to be treated equally. I don’t get those like yourself that prefer arbitrary rules and a meaningless regular season with a playoff format based on geography or astrology or whatever it is based on. It certainly isn’t based on competitive integrity or fairness.
Blah, blah, blah. In MLB, NFL, World Cup Soccer, NHL all play some teams more than others. You may end up in the Group of Death or with the minnows. No team outside of South America had ever won a World Cup hosted in South America until 2014. Brazil, the top ranked team, were prohibitive favourites. Germany beat Brazil 7-0, a record beating, on the way to the World Cup title. If you are the best, you don’t yap about unfair advantages.
So unfair. The CFL is not unique. Had the Argos faced the Bombers earlier in IGF your Bombers aren’t guaranteed winners. (See Boston). If you want to be completely fair, Jon, then play all playoff games on neutral sites. Is it fair that the Bombers with the loudest crowds get a bigger advantage than the Argos with the smallest crowds? All season long. You don’t mind having that affect outcomes of games, do you? The Lions, in a one score game, couldn’t even hear their signals in the final minutes of the West final. So now you meet the Eastern champion on neutral ground & things aren’t quite so rosy. There’s no such thing as a perfect system.