Mike

Thanks a lot for the updates for those of us who can't make it.

I see you called me out there Mike regarding my tweets towards Korey Banks. I've seen many of your tweets on Twitter towards local media that is quite disrespectful, and you frame yourself as being a hero on here. In fact you mentioned several Winnipeg sports media have blocked you for your disrespectful comments towards them on twitter. Whatever you say.

Renaud, Brescacin and Stevenson all count against the training camp number as they've all been in training camps before. Kris Robertson is a non-counter since he was hurt before camp last year. Stephen Alli would be a non-counter if he showed up as a 2013 Draft Selection. I believe Sean Blake and Errol Brooks would be the other non-counters. Should be 8 + any Rifles players and a non-import QB. I thought they were non counters if they had not been on a 46 man roster ... but then I just looked and I missed an excerpt from the CBA. Thanks!

He had to file paperwork to become eligible for the draft, it wasn't automatic.

Any guess on cuts would be just that ... a guess. If I had to pick 7 guys, based on absolutely nothing ... I'd probably go with Jason Barnes, Kashawn Fraser, Jaymar Johnson, Dale Stevenson, Jesse Peterson and a couple of the defensive backs. But really, that's based off of about a half hour of watching them and reading between the lines on fan reports.

The way I see it is that these guys are football players and like you said, they're not the most well versed in labour negotiations. They're just hearing what they've been told from a fairly underwhelming players association. I totally agree that if the PA were to vote, the deal would pass.

That doesn't give fans like you a right to be disrespectful towards the players. I've been paying attention to your posts throughout the entire process of the pending lockout. You've been incredibly emotional the whole time, switching from one extreme "there will NEVER be a lockout!" to another "if there's a lockout, the CFL could be gone forever" and now you've moved on to disrespecting players by singling them out and calling them morons, douchebags, etc. For all the heat they've taken about things, I have yet to publically see a player call anybody else (fan, owner, whoever) a douchebag or a moron so why is it acceptable for you? The worst thing I've seen is Nick Moore's tweet about the good faith reporting to camp thing and even though I already don't much care for him and I don't really support his statement, I also don't think it warrants somebody calling him a douchebag. I think what I'd rather see than the fans turn their back at main camp is if you would actually be willing to go up to Korey Banks in person and call him a douchebag or a moron.

Some of the fans are dealing with this just as poorly as the players. Seriously. There was hardly anything wrong with what Banks said and here are some of the responses: "that's a slap in the face to the country and fans who provide you with employment" "if there's a problem with the exchange rate, I'm sure the AFL is hiring. They pay in USD" "then don't come up here and play. you and the league should keep your mouths shut. you're tarnishing our game. that's right our game!" "don't like exchange rate, find a job in the US. there's lots of players to replace you #ignorant" Like seriously. There's a difference between sharing your opinion and being disrespectful. All he's doing is sharing his opinion on the ongoing negotiations. Is he necessarily right? Not really, but that doesn't really matter. I'd rather they be misinformed than rude, like some of the fans are being in response. Obviously we all want a season, players and fans alike. Don't take it out on them if it isn't warranted.

The one thing that is unfortunate for Bilukidi is that he's got no PR eligibility left. He has to make a main roster.

They have to make at least 7 cuts before training camp starts on Sunday.

Can't support the Sun now that they're a pay site. What kind of BS is that.

He probably means the Grey Cup resulted in a $150 million economic impact for Sask. I doubt it. He told me a "trusted source" confirmed to him that each team made roughly 18m a year in profit. He's just a bozo

Some idiotic blogger from the US on Twitter is trying to tell me that Saskatchewan made a profit of nearly 150 million dollars .... during Grey Cup week. ... and that's why he is claiming the players are asking for more than a reasonable amount of money.

I'm having a hard time following your point. They traded for Brohm. So? They signed Marve too. There's obviously interest in both of them. And now you seem to be backing off your solid stance a bit. You're opening up to the possibility. That's good. But I'm just having a hard time seeing where you really stand.

Just to get this thing signed.... Beer for everyone else. Rum and Coke for me. What kind of beer?

I counter with 5.2M cap this year going up by $75K per year and forget about re-opening up the 'Tied to Revenue' talk in a couple of years. The TSN money isn't going up each year and other costs do go up each year, so the teams are going to have to raise additional revenue on their own to pay for the yearly increases. Rookies don't vote, so min salary raised to 50K with yearly 5% increases. 1K signing bonus per rookie and 6K for the vets cuz they vote. Any competent trainer can do the concussion tests and neurologist's cost money, so counter with a team doctor at every game. I'm not into beer so Rum and Cokes all round. *walks out*

Ever since the Mike Sellers era ended, we've never utlized our full back much, probably because we haven't found the necessary player (s). Any worth on the Bombers part to shore up that position more in efforts to utlize more? Or are the cupboards empty when it comes to that position? We tried out a fullback at the Florida mini camp, his name eludes me right now but he was a LSU alumni with NFL experience. Just doesn't seem to be much use for them anymore.

I'm not a big Nick Moore fan and stuff like this is why. He is one of those guys that I'll cheer for on the field but I don't have much use for off of it. It's like he's been diagnosed with Jovon Johnson Syndrome.

It's like the players don't seem to understand that the reason the CFL isn't bending on certain issues is because they hold value. Lower your monetary demands (which ARE ridiculous) and I'm sure the CFL will agree to some of the other requests (on field neurologist, # of practices, etc)

5.2m cap, raising to 5.7m over course of 5 yr term. Minimum salary of 55k raising to 62.5k over course of 5 yr term. 5k veteran bonus, 2.5k rookie bonus for showing up. Give them their independent neurologist, 5 padded practices every four weeks. Beers all around. Call it a day. There. I just did Molstad's job. Pay me.

Kirk Penton just pointed out .. at least they've moved on from revenue sharing. That IS a big step.

Bunch of idiots.

I bet the young players will be happy to vote for strike now knowing the veterans angled for a payday for themselves. The CFL should counter with something that speaks to the younger players/rookies etc and drive a wedge. Keep in mind for the purpose of this discussion, I'm pretty sure "veterans" means anyone who is not a first year player.

... and you thought Hackney was a large QB?

Thanks to all that posted reports yesterday. Practice goes at 2 PM today, looking forward to hearing from those in attendance.