OMG you do dream … I expect the best they might do is to substantially increase the bonus … “in addition to” would likely “double” the cost … plus, I expect the CFL will argue (self-servingly) that the playoffs are a TEAM effort and players should be compensated equally.
ANd that would open up even more complicated negotiations … for example, I can easily imagine a QB worth $360K (for ease of calculations, $20K/game) under normal conditions saying they want more for playoff games, or maybe even for each round of the playoffs (e.g., SF: $25K, F: $35K, GC: $45K).
I get you. Then at least there should be scaled per-round compensation for each player that is always better than a game cheque. I’m thinking specifically of the guys who make the least. They should do well out of the process. QBs already make a lot more money than most other players…
I watched the game on TV for the first time last night. A few things:
I’m super happy for Fajardo. He seems like a really good person and leader. Still not convinced that he is the QB of the future, but the man won us the Grey Cup. It was like he and the offence were a different team. He didn’t have happy feet, his drops were in the pocket, Stanback ran well. I’d say it all came together in term of the game, a stellar effort from the OL and a really good offensive plan. I don’t think Winnipeg’ expected us to throw as many deep shots as we did. Rolling Fajardo out too was smart and worked well. Why didn’t we do more of that this year? Maybe we were like a righty boxer that suddenly becomes a southpaw for the prize fight to confuse the opposition?
The one thing I will say is that I think Winnipeg’s age finally caught up with them in this game as the game wore on. I like O’Shea’s loyalty to his players but he made a mistake in dressing Bighill; who was clearly hurt. He couldn’t keep up with Speaker and that cost them a touchdown. Our D beat their ends with speed to harass Collaros. BLM had an interesting stat on Collaros being 8th ranked when he’s under pressure.
Not mentioned much but here’s two things sort of flying under the radar.
A poor game by Zema.
A very good game by the O line; Jefferson and Jeffcoat are the premier pair of DEs in the CFL, and other than one sack by Jefferson, our line kept them very very quiet.
The lowest paid players already do well … a minimum salary player playing three playoff games to win the Cup would only make $11,833 in “game cheques”, 2 games only $7,888.
Zema was quite a surprise … have to assume it was “big game jitters” because he is normally a brilliant kicker … can’t deny I was happy that Cote was not asked to make a big kick … although I am confident he would have made the 10 yarder at the end of the first half if asked.
I feel for Zema. He didn’t have a bad game punting by the numbers, but those two illegal kicks were not great. Fortunately, it didn’t cost us. Letcher had the fumble, which arguably should have been nullified due to no yards, but he also redeemed himself with some nice kick returns.
Some minor notes after rewatching a few highlights (never gets old!):
Talk about Fajardo as a field general. That Mack one-handed completion was a hot read with Cody changing the play at the line, then firing a strike just in the nick of time.
On the Philpot TD, someone (Snead, I think?) stayed in to throw a vital block on a blitzing Winnipeg defender on Cody’s blindside. It provided just that extra split second and angle for Cody to stand in the pocket and make the throw.
That Stubblefield sack at around 13:20 of the fourth quarter makes me smile every time. A DB beating his block one on one then laying a huge stick on a big QB like Collaros. You could hear that smack.
When I rewatch the games, I also am careful to watch all the blocking. Snead had more than one good block that game, and James Tuck did really well in the playoffs.
Agreed on all counts. I too am trying to figure out why we waited until the Grey Cup to do all these things on offence against the best team in the league with the whole season on the line.
Maybe they were trying to take it one step at a time for Fajardo so that everything crystallized at the right time? I know they started by working with him on checkdowns midway through the season and that aspect of his game improved a lot. It’s possible they had a sequence of development planned for him and it needed the whole season, including the Grey Cup, to see the light of day. If so … gotta credit them for being patient and sticking to the plan, even if everyone on the outside (myself included) was screaming for change.
The biggest thing this win does for us, besides the obvious value of a Grey Cup banner, is that it shows the team that the offence, when it wants to, can be every bit as potent as the other two units. We haven’t had that proof of concept all year long. Now we have it. The ultimate point of reference. I’m hoping that translates into offensive results next season.
ALLEGEDLY (my lawyers insisted I include that), CKGM morning man Ralph “How’s your bird” Lockwood once called Widger live/on-air when the Grey Cup was played in Vancouver (-3 hours) … the phone was answered by a woman … Ralph asked for Mike Widger and the woman was heard to say “Are you Mike Widger”.
