Get this off my chest :)

Winnipeg Blue Bombers
1

OK. so i've been warned a few times regarding my language and insults and i will man up and apologize to the masses, i truly am sorry, my goal is to not insult people, however if they start it, i figure why not. i mean, it is what it is right, sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me right? guess wrong, silly kindergarten sayings proven wrong i guess but anyways, i truly apologize to all those that ive offended or upset with my "words". Ok, so there we go, manned up, i wont use offensive language, wont mock others hometowns eventho they do it first, wont do any of that. I truly apologize.

Ok, so now since that's off my chest, i'd like to talk about something and thats "rebuilding", it seems that word is thrown out around here a lot. are we in a rebuild? i would say we are in year 3 of that, until we find a healthy qb, perhaps the word will always be used tho. But, im curious as to what people consider a rebuild?

IMO, our rebuild started when Joe Mack took over and i think he's done a good job, i think last year was a fluke, i think we probably over exceeded expectations and now this year, everyone expected us to dominate or something, even with like 12 starters out and 4 on the road to start. i guess thats realistic to think :S for sure. :roll:

IMO, mr Mack has found out some darn good talent, he has found us some exceptional american talent (garrett,simpson,mathews,denmark,carr,TJH,Turner,Vega,Hall,Mainor,Bowman,Sears,Suber,Washinton,Beasley, some other guys i cant recall who are with other teams, there was a time when we used to pick up other teams scraps, not so much anymore), He's found out some canadian talent (volny,woodson,greaves,swiston,watson,poblah,kohlert,gonna throw etienne in there(he's very young still,barely old enough to drink in the states),Thomas,Muamba,Palardy.) Something like 95 percent of the guys mr mack has drafted are on cfl rosters or practise rosters of either our team or others in the league, not too shabby considering he hasnt had many picks really (due to past regimes) )

I guess, what im saying is, joe mack and ken moll have done a tremendous job in finding us talent on both sides of the ball, the guys they have brought in are the guys who seem to be our best players, this year simpson,mathews,washington have been our best, no denying that is there?

So i guess i gotta ask, after mike kelly purged the team of its players,trading away our draft picks, taman too, trading away our picks for years, what did people expect realistically in year 3, lets say, for arguments sake, the grey cup run last year never happened, if it didnt happen and we say lost in the east final or east semis or something, like.. what would the consesus be? that we are on the right track probably right? i mean impressive that in year 2 they go to the cup, thats impressive, name another team in the league that has done that in year 2 of a rebuild.

I guess, i gotta ask, were peoples expectations too high or do people seriously believe that mack needs to go, i mean i find it hard to believe that people want mack fired, im not sure those people are fans or understand the game as if u fire mack, then truly, another rebuild, from the ground up, like joe mack and ken moll has done the last 2 seasons and 6 games have done, will truly happen.

do people want that? another rebuild? IMO, a rebuild truly starts when u bring i a new regime, thats when this one began, and we still havent found our qb, but man the guys brought people in for sure. What more do people expect really?

i guess if you fire mack, that grey cup drought some speak of, well, instead of it maybe ending this year(2 games out with 12 to go is not a write off by any means) or next year even, well, if u fire mack, next year probably becomes 3 or 4 years from now. I SAY let mack finish his job, he did just sign an extension in the offseason also so i mean, im pretty sure he isnt going anywhere and in this fans opinion and i hope others who truly are legit bomber fans views, i hope people arent serious when they say he needs to be fired.. Cuz u fire him and IT STARTS ALL OVER,back to year 1 of rebuild mode but with the same problems, no qb, no oline, those 2 take time and i think, i truly believe we have the right pieces in place to be succesful in the long run.

I guess im the type of fan who can deal with not winning this year or last year or the year b4, if it means, in a year or 2 from now, we are consistently getting to the playoffs and competing, i mean, i dunno. Maybe i am a wingnut lol, probably a wee bit actually but, i believe we gotta stick with macks plan as its the right way to go. develop from with in, thats what we are doing, ya we could have probably traded for burris(doubt it even) or ray(really doubt it actually) but i guess, why not allow your own guys to develope together and if guys chose to leave through free agency for a few extra bucks, well.. so be it, they can be replaced. :slight_smile:

after all, its not the name on the back of the jersey that really matters anyway, its the logo on the helmet :wink:

2

Thanks for this Killer. :thup: We're (mostly) fans of the same team on this board even when we don't agree on the details.

I go back and forth on the rebuild question. Papa and kasps have made some telling comments, particularly how in the 3 years of Mack and Lapo we've really had only one good stretch, the first half of last season. I think you're right that the Bombers played over their heads during that stretch, and I wonder how much of it was in tribute to Coach Harris, but it certainly skewed expectations. In my "blow it up" moods I look at going from 4-14, to a good half/bad half season with a somewhat lucky GC appearance (the Cats were a totally different team in their two playoff games, and we benefitted), to a 1-5 record now, and I don't see a lot to be encouraged about.

In my "go the course" moods I grant your point about some good talent coming in, and I look at the record of injuries and the distance we've come from Kelly's disaster, and maybe you're right, we need to have patience until this team gets healthy and gels, and Mack finds a few more pieces.

Cup half empty: we're the only team below .500, sitting at .167 thanks to Jyles.

Cup half full: we're only two games out of first place in the East.

But this is what the forums are for, trading opinions on football stuff, and at the end of the day it's just for fun. We don't have to live in Syria.

3

Two good posts, Killer and Ploen, but if we want to know what this team should do, all we have to do is listen to the 4 or 5 non-Bomber fans who consistently post on this forum. They seem to have all the answers about what this team has done wrong and how to correct it. I sure hope they post on other teams forums so they can help those teams too! It wouldn't be fair to not share that vast football knowledge. :roll:

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Well said Dan! :thup:

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Gosh Dan that’s so true. Some of them take the trouble to come in here over and over, radiating the wisdom that automatically comes from cheering for their team instead of ours, and it’s obvious from their words and tone (“Three Stooges” is particularly heartwarming and insightful as well as clever, don’t you think?) that they have nothing but comradely goodwill for the Bombers and their fans. I’m sorry I’ve never expressed my appreciation for those exemplary CFL aficionados. T-:roll:-s

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The latter few posts are a bit disappointing. I come to the Bomber forum because it's one of the livelier forums on this site, and because it's fun to talk football even with fans of rival teams. I don't pretend to have divine wisdom, or answers to what ails your team; I'm merely posting my opinions, just like all of you. I think it's pretty normal for there to be more conversation and debate when a team isn't doing well, regardless of whether you cheer for that team or not. When my Als are playing well, I don't have a lot to say in our forum, but when they aren't playing well, the debates can get pretty intense.

I also post here more right before or after we play Winnipeg, just because my focus is on my team's immediate opponent. I don't think it makes me a troll or a stooge. As long as you don't disrespect other members, you're all welcome to post in the Als forum if you wish. Football is football -- we may be fans of different teams, but it's a small league and we need every franchise to succeed in order to grow the game. It's never good for the CFL for any team to be 1-5.

Like Hfx, I think there's some great young talent on this Bomber team, but there are also some serious issues that need fixing. I hope the mere expression of that opinion doesn't make me a troll.

7

.....Getting back to the 'nitty gritty' of football...I would like to get this off my chest....What the heck happened to the promised changes to the Bombers offence.????I haven't seen it....Therein lies a BIG question mark for the Bomber faithful...I can appreciate the fact we have had changes on the o line that will take time to make this club better BUT there is a lot of talent on this club (offensive weapons) that have gone missing...Now they're either not being used properly (COACHING) or the players themselves have to look deep in the mirror regarding their individual play...In either case the paltry few points this team is putting on the scoreboard has to change dramatically orrrrrr we'll be looking at the number one draft pick overall in 2013...I hope the changes starts Thurs. :roll:

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D&P - I will give you that you have usually been respectful in regards to personal putdowns. At the same time you claim I look at things with my Bomber glasses on, you look at the same issues with your Al’s glasses on.

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Absolutely, we look at things with our respective fan goggles on, but that’s more of an outsider / insider thing. My perspective on the Bombers is going to be different from yours, because I don’t have the emotional investment in the team. It doesn’t automatically mean, though, that I’m putting down Winnipeg or happy when the franchise doesn’t succeed. I only cheer for the Bombers to lose if 1. They’re playing Montreal or 2. A win for them has direct, negative consequences for the Als (e.g. a Bomber win puts us out of the playoffs).

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You also definitly have a bias against them, due to your emotional investment.

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Huh? I don’t get that logic at all. I’ve been very, very critical of my own team this season. When it comes to assessing Winnipeg as a team, I don’t think I have any blatant bias. I like Tim Burke, an ex-Al coach, and Winnipeg’s defense was super-fun to watch when it was at its peak. Matthews is one of the best young receivers to break into the league in a while, and that Chad Simpson is a horse. I mean, I sure didn’t like watching him steamroll over 7 Als on the way to a 30+ yard screen play, but it was a helluva run from the standpoint of pure football.

I don’t quite understand how being critical of the Bombers as an Als fan means I have a bias, when I see Bomber fans being just as critical, if not more so, of their own team.

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Because it is virtually impossible for you to have an unbiased opinion about a rival team. Yes you can say you like this player or that, any one can say that.
What was your emotional feeling when Brink got cheap shotted? You probably don't even think it was a cheap shot. Point made?

13

You don’t think cheering for a team carries its own biases? We might have to agree to disagree on this issue.

What was your emotional feeling when Brink got cheap shotted? You probably don't even think it was a cheap shot. Point made?
It was a late hit that should have been a penalty, but wasn't. I can separate my desire to see my team win from what the correct call should have been on the field. I was glad to see Brink get up and shake it off. Nobody wants to see QBs carted off the field, even if they play for the other team.

By the by, we lost a good Canadian defensive lineman for 4-6 weeks because a Toronto O-lineman delivered an illegal spear that went uncalled in the game and unpenalized afterward. We get shafted sometimes too, you know. :wink:

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Was it a cheap shot? Your buddy HFX made a post on the Montreal forum (which I did not respond to on there because it is your board and you are free to make outlandish posts there without having fans of rival teams coming in and taking over...)
That Davis never intended on hitting Brink, that he tried to wrap his arms around him?? Clearly Montreal fans are not going to view things the same way as Winnipeg fans (or any rival) do.
Any play/call that could go either way you are automatically going to favour your team.

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Why do you keep conflating Hfx's opinions with mine? I don't know what constitutes a 'cheap shot'. I know it happened very quickly, and that was clearly, from my standpoint, an illegal helmet-to-helmet hit that should have been penalized. If you followed the convo in that thread, you'll know that I wasn't the only Als fan to agree that the ref missed the call on Davis.

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That I find tiresome. That poster has a penchant for repeating such epithets (“Chip” Lemon, Chip “Garbage”, “Three Stooges”, etc.) over and over.

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I imagine that depending on the outcome of the game tomorrow there will be a lot of people getting things of their chest.