Well I didn’t see any OPI on the play, but then I don’t have Winnipeg coloured glasses.
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Time to face reality & cut the dynasty crap. Outside of maybe Bomberville, the conversation has already turned which was predictable. “Dynasty Denied” is not only here - 3Downnations Winnipeg guy, John Hodge, is also talking “Dynasty Denied”. Farhan Lalji mentioned they could well have been 1-3 in GC’s at this time. Even the Sun’s Ted Wyman has chimed in.
“For all their greatness over the last five years, the Bombers will still be left to wonder what might have been…Had the Bombers won, many people would have described this franchise as a dynasty.”
IF THEY HAD WON! What they are is a .500 team. If a team which wins 2 in a row is a dynasty, what is a team that loses 2 in a row? You can’t judge the team by one without the other.
Nice to know that all previous teams had to do was identify talent - I suppose that’s easier than just buying it from other teams. Letting other teams’ scouts do it for you is so much harder, no?
As stated before multiple teams, since the CAP came into place, have had runs of appearing in the GC 3-4 times over a 4-5 year period. The Winnipeg run isn’t a black swan.
I think from Collaros reaction he knows whats going to happen. Even with the extra weeks rest and all Winnipeg did not get to the Grey Cup well rested and injury free like they have in years past.
Unfortunately that’s father time showing up. Likely means a lot of changes for next season, whether through attrition, free agency, trades, or otherwise I think the team will look quite different next season.
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holy buffalo bills batman
If you’re going to claim that they could be 1-3 in those games, then I’ll claim that they could of likely been 4/4.
No matter your babble, the Bombers are the only team to do it 4 straight years in over the past 4 decades. Not so simple, right? 5 straight remains to be seen. Each additional year gets tougher odds.
As for “buying their team” here’s a list of some of the players the Bombers have brought into the league the past few years: Streveler, Oliveria, Bailey, Schoen, Lawler, Hardrick, Neufeld, Couture, Desjarlias, Thomas, Wilson, Jeffcoat, Casey Sayles, Kongbo, Nevis, Houston, Nichols, Alexander, Holm, Parker, Alford…
Fact is other teams scout our players for FA’s.
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Not my claim, Blue. Read the note again. My point is nobody much is talking about a Bomber dynasty, not even the Winnipeg Sun writers like Wyman & Friesen. Or Hodge… So point the fingers there. Even Stegall, another ex-Bomber, chose to praise the Als after the win. Most of the talk is about blowing 2 opportunities after leading late in both games which would give them a legitimate claim.
Here’s a question for you. If you appear in the next 4 cups & lose them all despite finishing 1st in the West all 4 years, are you still a “dynasty”? How about ONE more year of, say 15-3, and lose it in the 4th Qtr by 4 pts…or 1 pt? Are you still a “dynasty”? Going 2-2 is IMO a very low bar for a “dynasty”. That would make the Als THIS year’s “dynasty in waiting”. Just win one more. In a 9 team league, hardly impossible. 
Correct, I do not see the Als as dynasty I’m waiting.
I do not see Cody as proving he us a franchise QB. But I would say he took a step in that direction … With a lot proof of concept to come. If he ever becomes that, only time will tell.
Man, you keep moving the goal posts…
Ofcourse nobody is talking about the Bombers & Dynasty - they all should be praising the Als.
What I took offense to was you trying to state that going to the final 4 straight times wasn’t something special. You are plain wrong on that.
I also took offense to you trying to claim that the Bombers just signed players from other teams and that was why they were good for so long. Again, you’re plain wrong.
I felt good about the Bombers chances going into the half, they outplayed them.
But Montreal came out and fought hard, they fully deserved that win. But lets not think the Bombers somehow choked this one away, one play here or there and the game was switching leads. It was 2 heavyweights going at it, but only one could win.
Still yet another very successful season for my team, and I’d think almost all Bomber fans would agree.
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That’s the very same analogy I’ve been using.
It was two heavyweights hurling haymakers at each other. Your guys weren’t so much beaten as just ran out of time. Last haymaker wins.
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When you get to a point where your franchise is expected to win the Grey Cup and people are throwing around the word dynasty and it’s your fourth consecutive championship appearance, you’re in a good place even if you don’t win that year. Those are “problems” other teams would dearly love to have.
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That was a really dumb decision to play Bighill in the Grey Cup. When I saw him starting I said I was shocked he was playing and also shocked that I knew he likely would not be able to play as well as the healthier proven linebackers. O’shea took sentimental over brains and it cost them.
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it looked that way on the TD Bighill got burned on.
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O’Shea is known as the most loyal coach around but sometimes that bites him. It didn’t look like Schoen should have been dressed either given his long absences from the game.
But hindsight is 20/20. I remember tons of people bitching about Andrew Harris being dropped for Brady. I supported the move and it turns out it was one of the top personnel decisions in the CFL of the 2020’s.
The Bombers were relatively healthy this year compared to their last couple of seasons but unfortunately for them they were at their unhealthiest for the Grey Cup while Montreal only had one injury to a starter believe it or not. That’s the way she goes.
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We also have to understand that there are thing Bighill brings to the field that wouldn’t show up on a hilite package. He’s obviously a big part of our 3rd & short package, and him not being in there could have ended with a different result before the half. He also brings that D QB stability that helps settle other players.
Agree with all that he should not have been 1 on 1 with a WR/SB, especially with him being hobbled. Not sure if that was a designed play by Mont, or a WPG breakdown, but that is what you would expect a team to do - target a weak spot.
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My reference is that if someone is going to say all you have to do is “identify talent” vs having to deal with “free agency” & that makes it easier to make runs, that is false. Winnipeg, like every other team, Blue, builds via free agency. During FA & the CAP it is not only possible, but the norm. In fact, FA gives the Bombers a chance to sustain the drive which, in the old days without a huge pool of FA’s yearly, meant the best teams were those who found the best players through their scouting system.
As for appearing in the GC 4 times in a row, yes they should be commended for that. But then making the leap to justify that as a “dynasty”, well that’s a different matter. That’s only half the story. They then also lost 2 games hugely favoured to win.
You only need to see the way the Winnipeg press is couching the loss - mentioning Zach’s QBR was on a 4 year continuous drop & zero TD’s, 2 INT’s in the last 21 GC’s, coaching blunders by O’Shea, record 16th GC loss. That’s what YOUR local press is talking about.
Misprint - how about 2 INT’s in last 2 GC’s.
The point you don’t acknowledge is that in the “old days” you could keep talent because there was no free agency. Also no salary cap or much NFL competition. Much easier to keep a good team together if you could “identify talent”, which clearly the Bombers can do as well as anyone. Child’s play back then compared to now. Easy peasy.
This is only the 3rd time in CFL history a team has went to 4 Grey Cups in a row. The other two teams had the massive advantages I have just set out. The Bombers accomplishments should be recognized, not pooh poohed. There is no team in any North American team sport in the salary cap era that can match their record of success, no matter how much you wish to parse and cherry pick stats to say otherwise.
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You’re on your own with a few other bloggers on promoting your “dynasty”. Outside of this article, aptly titled, some selected reading for you, Jon
Beyond heartbreaking. Talk of dynasty goes down the drain after Grey Cup loss to Alouettes - Taylor Allen/Jeff Hamilton Winnipeg Free Press Nov 20, 2023.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers denied dynasty in Grey Cup loss to Montreal Alouettes - John Hodge #Downnation November 19, 2023.
For all their greatness over the last five years, the Bombers will still be left to wonder what might have been…Had the Bombers won, many people would have described this franchise as a dynasty.Ted Wyman
Or read Paul Friesen’s take on the Bomber record. Or TSN’s Lalji… or Arash Madani…
I’m afraid, Jon, a few bloggers, mostly Bomber fans, are not going to change the narrative. We don’t have to debate this any longer. You’re preaching to the choir. The Bombers have gone from looking @ a threepeat to silence all naysayers 2 years ago, to looking @ a threepeat to do what only 1 team has managed to accomplish - the 1954-56 Als - 3 straight GC losses.
Posted this on another bomber thread
Adam Bighill wanted set the record straight about Montreal’s second touchdown on Sunday, a play on which he figured prominently.
Many observers questioned why Bighill would be in pass coverage in such a situation and his simple answer was this: He wasn’t supposed to be.
“If you guys in the media are maybe a little bit more savvy watching football than maybe your average person, you know that we don’t ask linebackers to cover receivers vertically down the field. Let’s just say I was trying to cover up and help out. Was that my man in man-to-man coverage? No. But it’s OK, there was a miscommunication that Montreal did a good job of exploiting, coaching-wise. They saw something from the previous game that they went and attacked and made a big play on it. That’s the way it goes, good play by them.”
-Ted Wyman
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I saw that too – he tweeted in response to Marshall Ferguson’s breakdown. It makes sense. I cannot imagine Ritchie Hall, the old master, asking a hobbled middle linebacker to go vertical on a receiver, particularly in the red zone. Montreal evidently saw something and attacked it.