Disagree with you on this one Lyle, I think they come out of the gate flying. It’s more the second half I’d have more concern about. Not discrediting either team they may play. Anything can happen on any given Sunday. But there is a reason the Bombers will be favoured over either team.
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It has been announced that Schiltz is starting
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Bo no more
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Mitchell was best last year coming off the bench in the playoffs. Maybe Hamilton trying the same thing. From the perspective of a fan, it doesn’t make sense not to start Mitchell. But we shall see how it goes.
Blovius Mitchell ain’t starting. Good solid, football decision by Orlondo Stein. Mitchell starts fast but fades faster. Only way Blo gets into the game is if Schiltz has a miserable first 3 or 4 series - or Hamilton starts blowing away the Als and Blow inserted late to protect starter Schilz in Eastern final.
Brown would be nuts to do anything but resign in Winnipeg. Unless Ottawa and Saskatchewan fix their lines Brown wouldn’t likely be a step up. Ottawa should release Masoli, he’s barely played in the last two years. He’s missed more time than Collaros did during his concussion issues. They should pencil in Crum, who wasn’t even on the roster to start the season or was maybe #3, he’s got the goods to do well as a starter but the game hasn’t slowed down for him yet. Fix up the line, get him working with the A team in training camp and see how it goes. I don’t believe Brown would be a step up from Crum. Any quarterback going to Saskatchewan would need a commitment from the brass that they will be able to protect him. Brown would be insane to go to Saskatchewan. Honestly? If I were his agent I would re-sign for a bit more in Winnipeg and get assurances that he will be penciled in as #1 when Zac decides to hang it up after his contract is up in 24 or 25. Dru is young and can afford to wait. Saskatchewan and Ottawa might pay him good coin but is that worth it if it doesn’t work out? If he doesn’t help them improve could he even get another job?
They should have stuck with Powell he was progressing really nicely.
Who said Walters is leaving? Sure he hasn’t worked out a new deal but Winnipeg is still working on this season. They generally deal seriously with contracts once the season ends. I fully expect them to re-sign Walters. Unless he wants to move on he will have a contract probably by Christmas.
There are a few other options for coach for Saskatchewan and I don’t see Buck or Dru leaving for Regina. Unless they fix their offensive line Dru wouldn’t be any step up from Harris, Fine, Dolegala. O’Day and Dickenson broke that team and one of them is still there so I wouldn’t touch Saskatchewan if I was Brown. IMHO I think Dolegala could be a very good QB with a bit more time and with a better team in front of him. I just wouldn’t want the job of fixing that mess with one of the contributors still in charge.
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I have no beefs with Kyle Walters. Bit of a slow start when he took over the Bombers a decade ago - but just teething pains.
If nothing else, Kyle Walters has been GM of the Decade - - - and he’s still barely 50!
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Couldn’t agree more. One of the biggest moves he ever made was signing Bryant. He was lights out in Calgary and they didn’t want, or really need, to pay out more for him. The next year he plucked Oshie from Saskatchewan and from there the line just got better.
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Walters made many excellent moves. He did however, lose Henoc Mumboa to the Riders. As per the usual Bomber problem thats plagued them for decades he was unable to pluck any worthwhile QBs, having to put up with Field Mouse Kevin Glenn for so many years. Khari Jones had some great stats but not a big game hunter. Guys like Max Hall, Drew Willy, etc. came and went seemingly forever. Matt Nichols, the game manager was maybe the best of a bad lot and steadied the ship until Collaros was rescued from the scrap heap.
Walters also lost that beast OG to BC but managed to get Paddy Neufeld out of Sask’n who’s been a warrior for years.
Also took a risk on Adam Bighill who BC had sent to the glue factory. Bighill didn’t have the range of Henoc Muambo but Biggy was so much smarter.
Had the good sense to let Lucky Whitehead get away - but had great guys in the hopper (Kenny Lawler, Schoen, Sheed Bailey, etc.)
For a Canadian kid, Walters has developed into the prototypical CFL GM. He’s got his mitts in all the college programs down south and is really good at identifying decent talent in Canadian U-Sports.
Best of all he’s given the Bombers continuity at the GM position. Same with the CEO (Wad Miller) who ditched his bad office behavior and to complete the Canadian Mafia you have Gentle Ben himself, Mike O’Shea.
Note: the OC (McManus), DC (Hall) & asst. GM are all Americans.
But for all intents and purposes the Bombers have become the model franchise in the CFL. Sask’n now a distant 2nd. BC rising - prolly 3rd, surpassing Hamilton.
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Well, yes, it took a while to get going. I don’t really care about losing Muamba and Chungh or even Couture. They couldn’t afford the price tag and they had decent prospects in the wings. As our scouting improved so did our depth. All I know is Walters and company are far superior to the Bauer years. I also believe that this era is better than the Murphy/Riley era.
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The saddest comment on Lord Lyle Bauer - he WAS NOT A FOOTBALL MAN.
He portended to be an aristocrat. Still does!
Yeah he was a decent businessman and did help the organization greatly on that end but he and his underlings were not great on judging talent end. I mean how could a former lineman not see how crap the line was? I remember in 2008 saying until I was blue in the face (again) that they needed to fix the line but everyone just brought out that Glenn was the least sacked QB and they still had a decent run game, much like Saskatchewan last year save for the sack end of things. The reason Glenn wasn’t sacked a lot because he could read and pass the ball very quickly. All the talk was about Glenn sucking. lol. Yeah Glenn never won a GC but he would have if he wasn’t on teams that weren’t good enough to go all the way. He racked up numbers no matter where he went though and would have won a GC in ‘07 if not for busting his arm. That team was just good enough with Kevin in there.
Here’s the real facts!! After being unceremoniously dismissed from the Bombers Lord Lyle has only had a brief respite as President of the Calgary Stampeders. He had an offer in his pocket - so he exercised it before the door closed on him in Wpg. But after that, Bauer has done virtually nothing - he’s made a ton of noise trying to get back into the CFL but like his career in Wpg, its mostly noise. He’s been beggin’ & hankerin’ for a job in pro football but nobody’s biting. NOBODY! Bauer is even more undesirable than his coaching choice, the human cockroach Mike Kelly. Even bad lice like Jeff Reinbold & Brendon Taman have found low level CFL jobs.
Best to keep Bauer out of the mix. Let old dogs lie!
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@Stickweld21 considering these guys haven’t had a team in decades they are really great fans of the CFL.
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Talk about staying power.
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