Absolute worst tackler in the CFL. Watch any return against that makes it that far and you will see.
Thinking back to Troy Westwood getting knocked unconscious or a Mike Renaud clothes line tackle reminds me of a time when stuff mattered and you did what you could.
All about the money now and tackling is not part of the job description.
Harulajhu was probably the best find of Kyle Walters career to date and then they went and messed that up too. Oh well.
They had Paradise (another 90% clutch guy) in addition to Liram. Let both go for some godforsaken reason. If member serves we also had Sergio Garcia (injured Hamilton kicker). Medlock is longest in practice reps but slightly shorter in real game conditions than Liram (54), Paradise (53) and Sergio (55). I'd put Medlock's outside number at 52. Last year Medlock's completion percentage was weaker than all three former Bomber kickers.
As for tackling - you have a good eye Joe - the guy disappears into the ether after punts or kickoffs, basically letting 11 other men handle the other team's returns. Westwood was not much of a tackler - but at least he'd get into a lane and run parallel to the returner, often engaging a long returner (or a speedy ref) in a test of speed. Westwood was actually a bit of a gamer his first 3 or 4 years - only after guys like that butcher (#78) in Toronto used to torment him to no end - did Troy ditch the acrobatics of pursuit and involve himself solely in foot races. Troy was all of 5'9" and 170 lbs. in his prime, had the big leg but wasn't much of a specimen. At 50 Troy has put on a few lbs. - he prolly tips the scales near 200 nowadays.
Medlock is just another example of Flubber O'Shea's LOYALTY/REWARDS program.
One of my favorite O'Shea moves of the past year was when he arranged to keep the streak alive with exemptions for tricks.
To waste time and make a big deal about calling the head of officials and explaining the play is beyond ridiculous imo. Just like Sam Hurl doing the job he is being asked to do. Gag me please.
It wasn't long after Medlock took care of the streak on his own. Flags lowered everywhere no doubt. Didn't bother Medlock. He's been yelled at before.
Working or playing for the Bombers is almost like being in the public sector except government requires some degree of accountability.
For all intents and purposes this is a government run team Joe. The stink of Asper & Seligner are still all over the property - Miller seems to be a permanent install; immune to firing and his old college bud Walters is also in that category. O'Shea now has a long-term guaranteed contract tucked into his desk drawer.
Lots of players & coaches running on contractual exemptions that don't define their successes or failures (like Hurl, Hall, Carmichael, JFG, etc.).
The team was staked to a 1/3 of a billion white elephant stadium without any of the board or management putting a penny of their own gum into the deal.
No taxes, no real estate fees, no overriding administrative fees to worry about.
Just football. And they're having trouble getting that right. Their drafts are the biggest joke in pro football. O'Shea deciding to go strange at the worst possible times go against his upright personality.
Attention to detail is not one of the organization's strongest traits.
Absolute lack of accountability& sanctions for lack of performance still governs the rotten undercore of this organization - even in a fairly new facility.
Don't see this changing anytime soon (ie. next 5 to 10 years)
Glad to see you are on the job Lyle. Patron Saint of Lost Causes is a tough role to fill.
Your knowledge of the inner workings is quite interesting. Chapter headed Investors Group Field is a real doozy.
A person can only do so much ranting and then it is just wait and see how it ends up.
I thought the Trioka was in big trouble two years back but they had the extensions ready and jumped all over the smoke and mirror win streak to add 3 more years. We will see how this year 2 works out.
I would be happy to just be treated with a little honesty and respect and believe it to be a much quicker route back to my wallet which is really all they want.
Could be a job for Idle no More.
.....Only kickers worth anything the last decade were/are ..Medlock,Halleluja,Garcia and Paredes, who for some inexplicable reason we let go to Cal. ...I don't think we'll be letting Meds go anytime soon UNLESS he wants to move on (retirement ..fa) Kickers of his quality don't come along that often and we've parted company with too many good ones in the recent past...We do have this kid from Quebec, Menard Briere who we drafted 4th. last year.. Great little punter and field goal kicker, who kicked the hell out of the pigskin at tc in 17' ....I think he's the future but for now we have to hang on to Medlock.
Can't justify any kicker of Medlock's calibre inhaling $200k per anum but to come close to justifying that outrageous kicker salary he must:
If JM continues hovering around the 80% mark (or less gawd forbid) he should be let go from his LOYALTY/REWARDS contract and someone else should be brought aboard.
Talking about kicking theory, looking like Mr. Serious and telling fans "it won't happen again" are simply not enough - the proof should be in the pudding!
......I figure we have one more shot at winning it all in 18' before the air starts leaving the balloon ...There's nobody else that I'm aware of that has Medlock's accuracy...I believe he gets a pass on a couple of shanks and also believe they're one off's and they're behind him.....However I have to agree on the big chunk of change he's absorbing and would've preferred to see him take a hair cut BUT...that doesn't seem to be what has transpired....More than likely because he knows there's not too many that would take his job...at least this year.
If Sergio has fully recovered from his serious leg injury he'd be a force at $110 to $120k - more sheer power than the age-declining Medlock and his accuracy was actually better before he went down. Trouble is Sergio is NOT a punter - so you'd have to bring in a canuck punter/backup place-kicker and give him $75 to $85k (min. wage plus) so you'd still be in the same financial doghouse as we currently are with Medlock.
I agree - keep Medlock in tow - if the excuses and his power outages start mounting (again) then cut ties early and go the canuck route (bank a bit of cap space). . . . .but 2018 is the last year of living dangerously, a real chance at advancing to at least a conference final before giving out to superior talent and coaching.
That's the problem we'll face down the road.
Other teams have superior scouting, superior coaching and superior talent. We're just the OFFICIAL LOYALTY/REWARDS program of the CFL.
Right now I'm seeing the bombers working mostly a stand-pat game - a flurry of signings of existing "talent" to show the not so informed public they're hard at work - but really no reach or pull in the NCAA / NFL rejects market.
I don't think there's a chance this team achieves 12-6 again, especially if Richie Hall is retained at DC. More likely anywhere from 7-11 to 10-8; Matt "The Magician" Nichols would have to have a wonderous MVP season to compensate for our garbage defense - so at this point I'm sputtering up an 8-10 record, outside possibility of crossing over.
If what you mean is that you can't see another super human, load the team on your back and go, year out of Andrew Harris beyond the coming season than I can relate.
Any chance of success for the Bombers revolves around Harris staying healthy and repeating last years performance if possible. Winnipeg was lucky to have had Harris come home. I give Miller, Walters, and OShea zero credit for his recruitment other than shaking the money tree real good for him. The guy doesn't quit ever and uses his head on every play. I believe he makes those around him better and would like to see him stay in the organization.
Nichols is lucky to have such an asset in his backfield.
Other than that you are seeing something I do not if you think the Bombers will be competitive this year. Finished 2017 in a spiral and haven't done anything yet except cater to the core group.
Back to Medlock I see him as more of a final piece of a championship team which maybe the Bombers thought they were when they originally signed him. As Thomas Jefferson said "the hunt for a scapegoat is the easiest expedition of all" and Lirim was that years guy. 2 years later and still the same results tells me he wasn't.
I do not see that Bomber team and see him as an expensive option that takes away from the opportunity to address more critical issues. I would rather spend the money for a good MLB and see if that doesn't make things better. I will be cheering for Menard - Briere if he does show up but it won't matter. The position is filled. Believe Menard - Briere to be a receiver as well which fits right in with our lineup.
Hoped at one point they would trade him to Edm but almost seems like he is tight enough with the Trioka to remain within the inner circle and move into a loyalty reward coaching position.
Probably a little too off topic for the thread and sorry about that. Enjoy the day
......Have to agree on arguably the best player in our line-up...Andrew Harris...Without him, the balloon I referred to earlier would deflate in one hulluva hurry....I have a strong suspicion that Rigmaiden is going to unearth a couple of diamonds for us, filling the positions that we are sorely lacking in...Keeping Hall could negate that however... Our D could actually regress further BUT we still have time to change that,IF our brain trust would remove the loyalty blinders.