I’m a tad uncertain as to why the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hadn’t been getting a ton of respect heading into their marquee Week 5 showdown with the BC Lions. Maybe it was a form of Blue Bomber fatigue, or perhaps it was the lack of “style points” in their first four wins. Whatever the case, Winnipeg served notice on Saturday night. They’re still on top of the mountain.
There isn’t anyone who was discounting the Bombers wins so lets leave the persecution drama at home shall we. There were many who had said that the Bombers had barely beaten Ottawa twice and should have lost to Toronto and their offense was not looking anything like it had last year.
Unless I’m grabbing the stats wrong the two running backs combined have ran for 273 yards over 5 games. That’s an average of 54.6 yards per game for the two running backs. In what world is this effective when compared to the numbers that Harris put up. I get trying to put a happy face on and pretend it wasn’t stupid to let Harris go but it was, get over it and admit it.
So much to unpack in this little paragraph. I know its the East but can all these writers stop acting like we need to give these professional sports teams a bloody 4-5 game handicap to compete against the West in terms of standings. 17-15 record is garbage and a 1-3 start is just a great indication that your team is headed down another craptastic year of winning only games against other Eastern teams and stumbling into the playoffs. As a Riders fan I remember a time when we used to fear the Alouettes. Stop gilding the lily and tell it like it is. The Alouettes are not the team they should be and if moving around players isn’t working then you need to start cutting the head off the snake.
The fact that you can write that, after week 5, only two Eastern teams have only won 2 games total and not be absolutely disgusted by the quality of football being played makes me wonder if you even like the sport or just the paycheck that cfl.ca sends your way?
…the two of them had a combined 170 yards in one game. That’s 100 yards less than the Winnipeg running game has produced in 5 games that you describe as having an “effective run game”…but the run game in SK is “coming along”. I’m curious how many yards per game they are going to need to get in order for the Rider’s running game to be effective…200?..300?..let me know when its good enough to get the glowing praise that apparently Winnipeg deserves.
You have made many comments discounting the Bomber wins…they didn’t deserve them, they looked bad, lack of this lack of that, yadda yadda yadda
The RB’s hadn’t looked great, but were much better last game. We are using 5 backs right now, so it is by committee. Harris is gone, Bomber fans have gotten over it, maybe you should too.
3&4) I’m not going to even comment on Montreal, because I’m not an expert of that team, and I’m not someone who thinks my opinion on things I don’t know matter.
Coming along can be seen as better than effective. Why are you so bitter that the Bombers have been getting more attention than your Riders? The Bombers have been the much better team over the past few years, so they get the credit. Stop acting like the little brother demanding respect, you’ll earn that with more wins.
Try to find something today that you enjoy, and stop shitting on everything.
With regards to the comments on the Montreal situation, this was all written on the wall before the season began. You have an immature GM, who nobody would hire as a coach. His only way back to coaching, and this is what he wants to do most of all, was to become a GM and take over the HC job, ASAP. Sure Montreal was 1-3. But for a missed field goal, they would have been 2-2, first in the East and the only team from the East to have beaten a Western oppenent, and a darm good one at that. With regard to penalties and undisciplined play, that is a moot point. At the time of Coach Jones' firing Montreal had a total of 29 penalties. The least penalized team (BC) had 19 and the worst offender, Sask, had 51. This was nitpicking, trying to justify Macicoa's desire to coach above all else. He has put himself before the team.
Oh ok sorry no you’re right those first 4 wins by the Bombers were dominant offensive displays with their running game being right where it was with Harris?
Not discounting their wins by pointing out that this article had a bunch of crappy writing. I get that Steinberg loves the Bombers and is hyping them up but complaining that people are somehow discounting their offense for not having “style points” is crap and you know it. Tell me honestly that in the game against the Argos that the offense was playing even remotely like they did last year. I never said they didn’t deserve to beat Toronto I said Toronto should have won as they played well enough to win but got some crappy bounces. As a Riders fan I’ve seen my team get some ridiculously stupid bounces to win games and lose games, it happens but doesn’t mean they played well enough to have won the game. Its ok to admit your team isn’t where it needs to be but self reflection is hard right?
I was bringing up how he was glowing about the Bombers RB’s being effective and was asking if 54 yards per game on average was effective when compared to 100+ that Harris was getting. Guess that’s an invalid argument and you’re right lets go blue keep up that amazing run game!
If the bombers had the record of the Al’s over the past 3 years would you be saying it was good enough?
I am a bit annoyed that the run game in SK isn’t getting any recognition, and hell neither is the run game in Calgary. And “coming along” is not seen as better than effective and hell getting 170 combined rushing yards is not “coming along”.
Oh and I 100% do enjoy calling out a stupid article like this. Its badly written and reads like a bullet list of points cfl.ca has handed out to its writer.
Oh I don’t disagree with the fact that Macicoa wanted Jones gone that was obvious. But I just don’t get how anyone can call 17-15 as a record “solid”. If you were crossing the road and got hit by a car 47% of the time…would you say you had a “solid” track record in crossing the road? The man is sporting a low D- record and we’re trying to say it was “solid”.
We have said many times this season that this team is not what it was lastyear. But guess what? They’re still top contenders, so they are right where they need to be right now. Still lots of time to figure stuff out.
Look man, you just come off as a spoiled brat, jealous of another teams success. I’ve said before you can enjoy your own team without having to put down other teams. Maybe you should worry less about the Bombers, it can’t be good for your health.
Ah the “spoiled brat” argument…good job on going after the personal insult its a great way to make your point.
Its a crap article and I asked you some specific questions in that reply that I guess are too hard to answer or, if you did, would show that maybe I have valid points in criticizing his writing.
And you say that the team isn’t where it needs to be or is as good as they were last year which is WHAT I POINTED OUT and apparently Steinberg is unable to figure out which is why I called out the article. The way Steinberg writes it the Bombers before the BC game deserved to be lauded as the best offense in the league and Jones had a great winning record. Do I deserve to complain about another writer of the cfl or tsn not giving the Riders any love, I feel I do as they played an impressive game on Saturday and got about a half a paragraph of “well they are improving” type of vibe, but I get how that justifies coming after me with a personal attack so yay team you for putting me in my place!
Oh I don’t think he should ever be the head coach but its kind of a who else would they have gotten on short notice? They are also going to use Calvio as the OC…I think …the article I read didn’t really say if he was calling the plays or was going to be the OC.
At the moment, we are not talking about Jones being the next Dave Dickenson or Micheal O'Shay, but he was and is the best option available currently. He turned the team around and given a bit more time I think he could have really built something solid. The players, to a man, love playing for him. He had the room. Not something I think we will be able to say about Maciocia. Cavillo's first go around as a coach did not go well. He learned a lot, I hope, in the University ranks, but I don't think he is quite ready yet for OC responsibilities. QB coach is enough for him to handle at the moment.
I get that but after two and…well almost a quarter years can say 17-15 is the record you want? Personally I don’t love smoke blown up my ass by writers who are trying desperately to sound relevant. Jones was never going to make it through the season without a winning record. It was the last year on his contract and he needed to be great at coaching this team in order to keep his job and he wasn’t. I don’t think Maciocia is going to do any better but he is what Montreal has right now so guess they are stuck with him.
My point more so then specifically being about Jones is that this is the common thread among a lot of these writers, giving Eastern teams and coaches in the East some sort of pass because they apparently don’t need to win. I’m a fan of all CFL football and hate watching a joke of a team take the field with a coach who apparently doesn’t care enough to do better. And the …I don’t know if you would call it an excuse but maybe argument that the Als are the only other team to win a game is so stupid it hurts. 2 games won by four teams over 5 weeks is pathetic and these writers need to start calling them out for it. I don’t care if it hurts the fans feelings because they know where they are at. All this well if not for this play or that play they would be 2-2 or the East would be at .500 is even more garbage. This article is a perfect example of rewarding, well shit not even mediocracy because that would be a massive improvement for some of these teams.
And before anyone says it no, i’m not trying to shit on Ottawa/Hamilton/Toronto/Montreal. I love this bloody game and want those teams to improve so that it stops being a free spot on the bingo card every time a western team plays an eastern one and so should fans of those teams. The next time a writer or pundit or commentator that gets paid for their opinion says “they are only one game out of first” about a team that is 0-4 I want someone to take a water bottle and spray them in the face like you would with a cat that is about to destroy some curtains.
Which pisses me off as the Cats are 100% the team I follow in the East. Not being able to finish off drives and losing games they should be able to win is aggravating but also hearing how they are “almost there” is stupid because they aren’t.
Ah well Matt, it is what it is. You make some valid points, vis a vis writers and pundits. However, but for a bounce here or a kick there, things would be different. They are not, but they very well could have been. Maciocia was going to coach Mtl, no matter Jones' record, which is sad, not only for Mtl but for the League. You have to admit, the Blue Bombers did not look all that good in their first three games. They should have been 1-3 but for Bede's missed field goal. I think that woke up the team as we saw in there domination of all facets of the game against BC. Strange things happen in sports. Hamilton is not a real 0-4 team, but it is what it is. Yes, the West has dominated the East for a few years now. Many thought, myself included, that the East was going to be quite dominant this year. That being said, it is what it is. Still a lot of Football to be played, so we will see how things continue to develop. I have to take exception with your comment about "a coach who apparently doesn't care enough to do better". Every coach wants to succeed and do better, you know that. If you were referring to Montreal, they have done immensely better since the time of Dan what's his name and Mike Sherman.
My point was that the Bombers had not looked great in the first three games but if you listen to Steinberg he’s upset that people are simply discounting the wins because, as he puts it, it lacked “style points”. Yeah the coaching comment might be a bit unfair but watching Eastern teams managing to find ways to lose in almost every game is frustrating.
