Thanks for a wonderful season. Hearts and Spirits are broken tonight but your champs in my books. Hopefuly our leaders Brian,Ben and Anthony come back next season.
I could not agree more...It was disapointing but sitll a great season concidering most people said they would not even make the playoffs
All too true.
Our work is cut out for us clearly; our offence improved greatly this season; next season it's the defence's turn.
What happened today is that their defence shut down our offence more effectively than we shut down their offence.
Other than Labinjo, I think our personnel on defence is the equal if not better than theirs.
So that means it's all about the schemes, and clearly Chris Jones out-coached Tim Burke, particularly in terms of half time adjustments....I was sitting there during the half time show just knowing we were in deep doo-doo.
Actually I had a bad feeling after the first possession; we marched down the field smartly, but then 2 incomplete passes in the end zone, and all we got was a field goal; I sort of started thinking then that we might be in trouble in this one.
My first trip to Montreal............and my first Grey Cup live...........sad it had to end this way. Oh well, Mrs. MadJack had a great time shopping.............the screams you will hear emanating from Ontario in December will likely be me when the credit card bills come due.
montreal fans....
I, and other bomber fans, feel your pain. The dissapointment, the disbleif, to know you came so close, and yet you were so far away, and knowing you have to go through a whole 'nother offseason to try this all over again, and all other emotions.
Last year i had to bang my head into a peice of ice for a while to take the sting away from the loss, (i dont recommend it).
And there is another thread of people not want A. Calvillo? The bombers would happily take him. 
Trust me, it doesn't hurt as much in the morning, and welcome to the offseason!
MFL
To be honest it doesnt hurt now! Im sure there are those who are going to accuse me of not being a true fan but I have been saying it for years......I wanted them to win but the fact is win or lose, neither changes anything in my life
ok... but to those fans who really cared about the outcome, it may have hurt more last year becuz we were playing the riders, but thats just me, also the fact we probably would have won if we had our QB.
I am so proud to be an Als fan!
A season that was not meant to be, for most CFL followers. Montreal was projected to be 7th in the league, because we didn't have a QB or CFL coaching experience. Trestman was suppose to fail, but he delivered us vintage Calvillo to Cahoon connection. Vintage High Scoring Offence. The usual Eastern division championship. He brought the swag back to Montreal, and it was great to be a fan this season.
Anthony Calvillo was my favorite story of the season. Calgary fans don't see what's so outstanding about him this season compared to Burris, what stands out to me, is that every "know it all" fan on here said "Calvillo is done, Calvillo is too old, Calvillo isn't mobile, Calvillo's arm is weak, A.C this and A.C that.." and he responded by leading almost every passing category in the league. To me, that is what's most outstanding. The people said he was gonna fail, he ends up being #1 passer. That's outstanding.
It's always exciting to be at a Grey Cup game, but for your team to be in it, is that much special. The country was watching Calgary and Montreal. We lost, that's the truth. So did 6 other teams. Only 1 team can be champions, and Calgary definately earned they're ring, not only for being the better team tonight, but for being the better team all season.
This season is done, we can't change anything. Let's get ready for next season, where maybe we can steal a cup at McMahon stadium.
To conclude, I want to thank the Als players, coaches and organization for the season they gave us, and also thank all you guys who came on here, and discussed football. Whether it was negative or positive, agreeing or disagreeing, it was fun.
If anyone should know how it feels the next morning, it us Als fans. lol
Yeah..I came here this morning ready to dissect the game but you guys are right. It's not like anyone expected the Als the come this far at the beginning of the season. A real shame though as it would have been a great swan song for AC, Cahoon and Chiu.
However, keeping things in perspective here, the Als had a great season and I'm proud to be a fan.
not happy but not surprised "THE HOST TEAM NEVER WINS THE GREY CUP" , boring game won by a kicker (yawn)..
NUFF SAID
esks in '09 :rockin: :rockin: :rockin: :rockin: :rockin:
The pain is still too fresh. This game was there for the taking but we could not finish, we couldn't make adjustments on either side of the ball, and we made glaring mistakes (e.g. the interceptions) at the worst possible times.
The better team won yesterday. The loss wasn't a surprise to me. In tight games, quality asserts itself.
I'm proud of what this team has done, from Trestman down to every player. I know people are going to blame Calvillo for this one, and he does deserve his share of accountability, but I also feel that part of Trestman's learning curve in this league involves calling a more creative offensive game. We haven't been a good third-quarter team all year and Sunday really highlighted that. Trestman and Milanovich need to be more responsive to what's transpiring on the ground when making halftime adjustments. Trestman is a brilliant game-planner, but still needs to improve his ability to adjust and improvise. Calgary switched to zone in the second half and we had no answer.
On the defensive side of the ball, I commend this group for holding Calgary to only one touchdown, despite weak schemes that (as I feared) left Burris free to romp up the field without anyone assigned as a QB spy. Burris started the game with 9 straight completions, does that sound familiar? Ray started just as hot in the final game of the regular season. There is something wrong with our schemes, particularly on second and long. I watched Calgary erase second and longs with easy first downs all game long. We have massive problems accounting for the middle of the field on those plays. We vacate so quickly and so easily that if Burris isn't scampering up the field for a first down, he's finding Reynolds on a dump-off or screen that generates 10+ yards because there is no Alouette in sight! I have witnessed this problem the whole season and I have to hold Tim Burke accountable. The one time when we used Hunt as a QB spy on second and long, we forced a pick that led to our only major of the game. Then we forgot about protecting the middle of the field.
Going forward, our defense has got to play press coverage and man coverage more frequently. We also have to have the guts to go for the knockdown and the incompletion rather than always tackling the ball-carrier once he's made the catch. IMO we should also find a new defensive coordinator as Tim Burke has not been impressive in this capacity.
I'm proud of everything this team has accomplished, in a year when the prognosticators had us finishing last in the east. Kudos to everyone.
Still...had someone told me prior to the game that our 'D' was going to hold Calgary to one TD and 22 points total...I would have been very happy. So, as far as the defense goes, well, we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. 
However, I agree with 100% on the offense failing to make the half-time adjustments. That zone defense made AC look really bad. 1 point in the second half? Not going to win too many Gray Cups having a second half like that.
All in all though, the Als did better than I thought they would this season. Honestly, I did not see them representing the East this year come Grey Cup time. Congrats to the Stampeders on winning the big prize!
We've been there 6 times since 2000 (1-5)....I personally froze my @$$ off in Winter"Peg" in 2006, in the Endzone to see them lose & was on the flight back with the team on Monday morning. I'm still in shock...that one will hurt until the season starts in June ! :x
Chris Jones got the last laugh on us !!! 
Did he ever. There is no doubt in my mind that in the battle of the defensive coordinators, Chris Jones beat Tim Burke, and that was the ballgame. Both teams came in with high-powered offences, and Calgary's defence shut down our offence just that much better than our defence shut down their offence. Each team only got one TD, but their offence moved the ball enough to get 5 field goals, and we couldn't.
Yes it was a great season. Congrats to the Als and all their supporters. As far as I am concerned, I love First the CFL, and then the Als. If we all- and I mean fans of all the teams-keep reminding ourselves that we must love the CFL first, then it makes last night a great experience even if my Als lost.
I noticed that Calgary used the press defense, especially in the first half, and used it effectivly. Like Madjack, my worries began when the Als could not get a TD on their first offensive march. Our offensive team had little time on the field in the second half as Burris controlled the play . Calvillo, and the rest of the offense, did not have enough time on the field to even score a single touchdown.
Still, we have some great players- a good base in which to build in the off season. Trestman brought great coaching to our offensive team this year- Calvillo and the offensive line were very effective and, I hope all of these guys return in 09. Now we need another coach to provide better defensive thinking for next year.
Despite the loss, we have had some great football in 08.
If Trestman and Milanovich get better at making halftime adjustments, we fire Scott Squires and Tim Burke and hire capable coordinators at those positions (Stubler or Winnipeg's Greg Marshall would be great candidates for D.C.), I think we are in fantastic shape for 2009.
This is a great suggestion!
Tough loss you guys, we know how it feels. But Tretsman got you back there in his first year, there is much to be optimistic about.