The real fun is just beginning

Winnipeg Blue Bombers
1

So, it is now official - the season has been written off, the Bombers are in next-year mode, and the airlift is in full swing. But I wonder just how much they are going to accomplish between now and next spring, at least with CFL veterans.

Here's why:

The disenchantment of Armstrong and Simpson is well-known.

Bryant wanted out since training camp, and has finally been dealt.

It was reported that Franklin (in his option year) was offered an extension and declined, citing displeasure with how he was being used, meaning he was gone after this season as well.

Clearly, there is a segment of the Bomber room unhappy. The question is, what ability will the Bombers have to re-sign their free agents, and attract new ones. If I'm a Bomber fan, I'm scared. I read the blog by Kamau Peterson last week, and that is about as direct a condemnation as I've ever seen by a player at another regime. And, if that represents the mindset of the average CFL player, look out come February.

Here are some of his thoughts:

"To ask a player during the working year to take a pay cut while he’s giving his all on the field, and hasn’t done anything to harm the club is about the most insulting thing that I can think of, which is probably why it isn’t done very often."

"It is a team’s treatment of these veteran players that can either aid or cripple them during the offseason recruiting of free agents, as well as enhance or deflate the team’s reputation with up and coming young players in the league."

"In such a small league, players take a keen notice as to the goings on of other players and the situations that they are put into. Much like a player’s reputation is difficult to repair once damaged, the same could be said for an organization that develops a reputation for wronging their players."

A rather damning indictment, I would say.

2

...tell you what Arte ....much as you would like to see this team flounder forever....the team will get back on track....and that begins with the new owner....We will have a superior facility and team in the not too distant future....count on it.. :wink:

3

Don't get me wrong....I have no desire for the Bombers, or any team, to flounder forever. Quite the contrary. I feel for the fans and their players.

What I am dead set against are the apologists who refuse to see or believe what is actually happening - choosing instead to rationalize everything that has happened as being somebody else's fault. I went through the early 80's in SK as a kid, who lived and died with the Riders, despite the circus that went on there year after year. I was too young to know what the real problem was. It took nearly 20 years to overcome that stigma, and I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

But my point is, it's starting to happen again...in Winnipeg.

4

I am not that sure that this team will get back on track so soon. I think artie is right. It will be very hard to sign free agents and all is not well. Kelly and Bauer have done a lot to hurt the reputation of the Bombers. You can see how far a friendship can go. To the point of wreckless behaviour. As reported in today’s Free Press. Bauer has now told Kelly not to speak to reporters. Bauer now has officially declared war on the Winnipeg media. The media is also reporting that Asper will miss his September deadline to have his mall filled with tenants. That is not good news. Even if Asper takes over it will take many years to fix the holes in the Bomber ship. Don’t forget. That Hildahl, Bauer, Kelly, the BODs and Asper are all friends. And that friendship is bad news.

5

...Bauer is gone after the transistion....he has said that....The new regime starts with Asper....Doug Brown and Milt will certainly be front and center with anything David does with the club (confirmed by a good source) you can be sure he'll surround himself with successful people...As far as the tenancy goes with the Asper venture....look for an announcement soon....you're in for a big surprise..For the long-term stay positve dawg....stay positive... :wink: :wink:

6

Brown and Stegall have been the collective face of your franchise for years papa. . . hang on to Brown please, don't let him follow Simpson out the door. . . and bring back Stegall in some capacity. . . heck when Asper takes over and (hopefully) cleans house, I'd seriously look at Milt as receivers' coach or even offensive coordinator if he were interested. . .

7

So much for its an internal issue, no one knows the locker room except the players and that they are all on the same page and supportive of each other.

8

Not sure I’m reading this correctly. . .

You say in the first part of your sentence that “no one knows the locker room except the players” . . . and then you tell us that the players are “all on the same page and supportive of each other.”

Seems inherently contradictory, unless you yourself happen to be a Blue Bomber player, on this board incognito. . .

9

I think the sentence makes sense this is the way im looking at it anyways

-No one knows if there on the same page and no one know if the presence in the locker room is good except those in it

10

sorry madjack, i could've been more clear. I was referencing quotes made by Kelly over the last couple of weeks 1. his infamous its an internal issue and its being taken care of internally, and 2. his recent repeated comments nobody in the public knows what goes on in the locker room and that the team is still united in what they are doing and the players are supportive of each other. With the recent trades its starting to come out how players internally are unhappy and want out and the locker room is not as happy as Kelly would have us believe.

Just watching even the player's posture and their comments on post game interviews says its all. Look at Doug Brown after yesterdays loss, shoulders slumped, embarrassed, and not even being able to take his eyes of the floor as he laments not just losing but not even being able to compete. Bishop is saying how he can tell the D knows the play they are going to run when he steps up to the line of scrimmage, Eric Wilson lauging at how they knew every play the bombers were going to run. Losing and not even competing, like Brown says, is going to really mess up this team for years to come, despite Kelly saying everything is fine in the locker room. Heck, even Kelly has stopped saying the loss was on him and not preparing the team properly and now is throwing QBs under the bus saying they're like a box of chocolates? I've sympathized with Kelly for a while, but these last few months are gonna test even the most die hard of us blue bloods.

11

Ah thanks wolverine, it's all clear to me now. . . sorry for being obtuse. . .

12

Milt didn't have to announce to the country that these players wanted out or denied offers from the Blue Bombers. But he did. Doesn't seem like a good situation when your freshly retired, HOFer is leaking that kind of stuff so soon after the deal was done. I know eventually it would have come out sooner than later, but IMO the way Milt put it out there, he's showing everyone what side of the line he's on when it comes to what's going on in Bomberland.

13

Can you provide a link to that story? I can’t find anything about Bauer tell Kelly not to speak to reporters. There were articles in the FP and Sun where reporters claimed Bauer ordered Kelly to talk to them, not to not talk to them.