J5V

Yeah, interesting, as so-called "history" and "truth" is rarely, if ever, the same thing. It's hard to know what to believe about anything any more.

Congrats Mike! Here is some helpful information you're going to need ...

QFT!

My first time there I found it odd to hear the gun shots coming across the river from Detroit. Had a Detroit cop give us directions back to the bridge once and he told us not to stop because we were in the wrong neighbourhood. Detroit is not a good place. BTW, with apologies to Steve Perry, there is no such place as "South Detroit" unless he actually meant Windsor. LOL!

He is closer to me now so, of course, he loves it. 😉

Why was he ever there then? Was he the very best we could do at the time, or what? Hecht playing safety for us for most of the season reminded me of Hurl playing MLB for us the entire season he was here. Just painfully, brutally, obviously a crap player that didn't belong here yet there he was. I don't know what changed to finally cause Hecht to be relieved of his duties but thank God he was. We don't win squat with him as our safety.

When we won the WSF I kept thinking about that time Bo said "We're going to show the Bombers who they are". Well, we showed Calgary who they were that game, an inferior team. I agree that winning that game gave us the confidence to believe we could beat anyone. For some reason, I knew we were going to win against the Riders. I agreed with many here that Sask had been lucky to find themselves hosting the West Final. As it turned out, this was the closest game of the three and it went right down to the last seconds but I wasn't surprised we won. We were the better team. Beating Hamilton in such convincing fashion was a surprise. I was expecting a much closer game and even though we won handily the score actually flattered Hamilton. We were completely dominant. Like you, I was more relieved than ecstatic to win the Grey Cup. You're right, those 29 years weighed heavy on me and to feel that weight come off the shoulders was cathartic and emotional. I felt as though the team had won just for me, for me and all the long suffering fans. Seeing Wade Miller and Richie Hall in tears was touching. I had the water works going myself. The Grey Cup win was my best Bomber win. Nothing tops winning a championship and to do it against a 15-3 team was spectacular.

Yeah, good to see you. Looking forward to 2020.

I liked the chat the few times I used it. Had some good laughs there.

Do you think Evans performance in the Grey Cup had something to do with it? Do the Cats figure that maybe with Masoli they win that game?

What's interesting about the off-season is that it becomes a battle of the GMs. You can bet that Huffer doesn't like the nice work that Walters has done in Winnipeg and will be looking to out-do his counterpart. Let the chess game begin.

and as fortunate as they were last year, and they really did have a lot of good fortune, it really was the worst of all possible years with their biggest nightmare coming true just when it seemed that it all was going to work out in their favour. The nightmare was cataclysmic and included losing at home in the playoffs in dramatic style, losing to us, their arch nemesis, and then having to sit and watch us win it all. You just know they were writhing in agony over there having gone from finishing in first in the West and daring to believe they were the best team in the CFL to being crushed mercilessly again and again and again. I almost feel sorry for them, kinda like the fly that has it's wings torn off. I'm sure death would have been preferable for many of them compared to watching us celebrate the Grey Cup victory by whipping a 15-3 team.

I agree with this 100%. Best thing for Streveler would be to get as far away from Lapo as possible. LOL. I have a feeling we are going to have a much more prolific offense this season. Also, Streveler isn't going anywhere. I'd be totally shocked to see him playing anywhere but Winnipeg.

I'm hoping beyond hope that this is the year that Chris Streveler gets truly unleashed upon the CFL with a host of great play-makers and an offensive coordinator that designs an offense around this young man's strengths.

Wow! Stewart looks to be the best of the bunch there to me but they all look great! I'm getting so excited to see what Walter's can do as he continues to build this team. With Lapo gone and the possibility of a more exciting offensive game plan along with some super talented receivers possibly making the team, and with our great offensive line, we could be in for a very exciting season. This is shaping up to be the most exciting off-season in many years and with the lure of another championship possible as this team peaks and continues to grow we could be in for some very good times.

I'm certainly hoping Santa has all kinds of Bomber swag for me under the tree. I know he's checked his list twice I know I've not been naughty but nice

Good point. I think both QBs benefited from a very good O-line in Winnipeg. They may not find as good an O-line anywhere else in the league. Guys like Bryant, Hardrick, and Neufeld were terrific late in the season for us. I'm not sure Lapo should be perceived as a person to keep a QB safe. His style of offensive play calling can contribute to getting a QB killed!

I'm already resigned to Collaros leaving and if Lapo wanted to take Nichols with him I'd be somewhat okay with that too. I do not want to see Streveler go anywhere as I believe he is a future star here and I'd be intrigued to see what Buck could do with Streveler as starter and McGuire as the backup. Under that scenario I expect to see us enter an era of very exciting, prolific, and high scoring football. If we can keep Mike O'Shea, Richie Hall, and the bulk of this defense, we could be looking at the start of a dynasty.

That's because Lapo was the coach here when Buck played but I always had the feeling that Pierce was more of a Streveler than a Nichols. LOL! Yeah, really good points. Those are the unknown things that make me somewhat nervous about Buck as an OC. Lapo is dead to me now. I hope his teams never win a single game against us. j/k

That so reminds me of ...

It's in Buck's nature to be a risk taker, that's how he played. I'd be intrigued to see how he'd blend what he learned from Lapo with his natural approach to offense. Could be dynamite!

Good luck to you, Paul, and thanks for all the hard work and the great memories. Hoping you every success in Ottawa except when you're playing us. 🙂

and a hell of a bargain at that price.

That's what Pierce is for and I suspect Buck will be given a larger role in the design and implementation of the offense next year. Agree with everything you've said here. BTW, during the Grey Cup game, I saw Streveler get chased out of the pocket, roll out to his right, and drop the ball into a spot near the sideline where Lawler was working his way back to Streveler and they made a perfect throw and catch to extend a drive. I then saw Streveler stand tall in the pocket and follow that up with a perfect 25 yard strike to Andrew Harris straight down the middle of the field that was an indefensible bang-bang play that was executed to perfection. All done on a bum leg. He is well on his way to becoming exactly the kind of QB you have described even with Lapo as his OC.

I saw at least two things that were different this year from last year. One, Richie Hall's defense became less predictable and more diverse as the season went on and, two, Mike O'Shea lost some of that rigid stubbornness that he is known for and handled his roster much better. It's Lapo's turn to make the adjustment.