Few Notes Before Tonight's Game

• Congrats to every party involved in making Mike McMahon look like Tee Martin the last two weeks. I hate this NFL bum, everything he says has this "I played in the NFL, I'm better then anyone in this league" feel to it. Now he can say, "I played in the CFL and I sucked!"
  
• Mixed feelings about those Argos 3rd jerseys from last night. They were OK but I think they will grow on me eventually. They are still better then the Alouettes 36th and 121st jerseys.

Anyways here are my thoughts on Tonight's Game:

• Congratulations to Chris Bauman, from my hometown, on getting his first career CFL start. I had his father, Dave, as a gym teacher throughout elementary and I wish him success in his debut. (Well, not too much...)
  
• Jesse Lumsden scares me. Hopefully we can limit him to under 100 yards and not major damage like last week. We have a good front seven but Lumsden is very good back so taking him out completely is out of the equation.
  
• That being said, Charley has to match Lumsden step-by-step tonight and I think he can. He is going to have big game tonight, I can feel it.
  
• Oh ya, and Go Milt! 138 is yours tonight man. Final Prediction: Bombers 31, Hamilton 18

One of Those Games

I can't take another one of these slow starts. 2 and out. 2 and out. 2 and out. BANG! End of the first half. Just when you think you've hit the turning point (Edwards fumble), you can't go out and blow an opportunity like that (Glenn getting sacked).

My point is, I don't think we can get away with a slow start again a real good CFL football team. I'm excited about this years Bombers team, I haven't seen a talented group wearing Blue and Gold for a while now but these slow starts are going to kill us. Then to top it off, Roberts goes down. I had a heart attack, he never goes down. Never. He had that look on his face, that blank look. I thought it was he knee, thank god he's fine. If I was a smoker, I'd be up to two packs a game watching the Bombers slow start.

Good teams catch breaks (Montreal's penalty on the two, forcing a field goal).

Good teams have defenses that come up in big situations. They held Montreal's offense to four field goals. Their leader (Simpson) made a huge play on a third-and-one situation to help win the game. Their defensive line came up big on the two point conversions. Good teams have good defenses (although that secondary is still fairly shaky).

Good teams don't turn the ball over (none). Good teams came through late (109 yard drive). Good teams have a huge playmaker that excites you every play and always has a big run and/or drive every night (Roberts). Good teams have great receiving corps (Most talented group in the CFL, of course I'm biased though.)

Good teams win these kind of games. We get the breaks. We have the talent. We have the big-play guys. We just need better starts and we could be a great team, not just a good one anymore.

What is with Pikula by the way, what does Taman see in him. All I see is a line-drive punter that kicks it far but doesn't allow the defense to come down and cover. I don't understand why we got rid of Fleming then we settle on this guy.

Few quick links:

www.blueandgold.ca It has some great pictures of the new proposed stadium. A must see for a Bomber fan.

Also, check this out. It is a thread on the Bombers message board about the god-awful Blue helmet and blue pants they used too wear. Anyways, it turned into a discussion about all the awful decisions the team has made over the years.

I'll be back in a few days to rant on the Blue Jays and how I've given up this season. If you don't watch them, think Bombers-Als MINUS the second half MULTIPLY the stress level by three and ADD seven-to-ten overpaid bums.

137

What a beautiful opening night. Touchdowns, overtime and Milt.

TSN showed a graphic showing Milt's touchdowns by quarter. The Turtle Man has like quadruple the amount of TD's in the 4th than he has in any other quarter and what a way to tie the record, to tie up the ball game with :31 seconds left on a miraculous catch in the back of the Commonwealth endzone.

That wasn't even Milt's best catch of the drive, that one goes to the 3rd down he converted by going up the ladder and despite coming down hard, managed to hang on. I swear, Glenn throws that to Brazzell, he would have dropped the ball 10 times. The whole recieving core played great last night. The newcomer, Terrence Edwards impressed me. He made some great catches, including the 2-and-19 catch and YAC which really gave the drive a new life.

Defense looked a little iffy but hey, it was opening night. Corey Jenkins really impressed me, he can be a guy that will play here for a while. He was overaggressive on a few plays but it was his first game. Big stand in overtime by the D-Line on Ebell. I thought Dougie Brown played a great game. That was all the D-Line trio did (Criss Angel made Nate Davis dissappear it seems.) How about that Canada penalty? Awful. Secondary though, ughhh. Thing is, Ray didn't play all that well. It could have been a lot worse. Favorite coverage of the night: Gaylor 63-yard touchdown. Gaylor was running a simple fly and (I think it was Fulbright) wasn't covered by the back playing zone UNTIL Gaylor passed him. And T.J. Acree? C'mon secondary. Juran Bolden's price just went up another 20 grand. He knows Taman's getting desperate already. Now that I recap and review, that defense sucked last night as a unit. Montreal ain't going to be so gentle boys, get together.

Poor Troy struggled a bit last night. I think the Blue might have to bring in a stronger legged guy to do the longer field goals. His misses were from all 45 plus, two of them 50 or longer. You can't really expect Troy to nail those this late in his career. He is still the guy.

How about Danny Mac and Rod Black doing the game? I think I'm going to send a complant to the CTRC. That was awful.

Spectacular game by Kevin Glenn. He matched Ray score by score. He made some big throws when he needed too. Still locking in on recievers but he played really well so I won't elaborate. He kept us in it that entire game.

Note to Kit Cartwright: There are more than two ways to run up the football. 1st-and-goal: Shotgun - run up the middle (short gain); 2-and-goal: singleback - up the gut (short gain); 3-and-goal: same play (barely a touchdown). Why not spring Charlie outside or off tackle for one play, like on second down? Espically when the defense is clustered like it is in goal line sets. Ain't no one going to catch Blink then. I was very dissapointed in our running game calling. King Charles however, amazing game as always with four scores. Still an honour to wear your jersey.

Anyways, got my tickets for next Thursday. Let's make history Milt, let's make history.

Be back in a few days with my NBA draft review, still can't believe I watched that.

Few Ramblings for the Sports World

Here's just a few things I want to run off:


1. Getting pretty excited about the Bomber game tommorow night. I have no idea which Bomber team will show up but hopefully it's not the one that looked awful in the two preseason game against the Tabbies. I think this is a game Winnipeg should win by at least seven but they are going to have to play good football. Let's just hope that Glenn stays healthy and our new #2 guy Dimwitthead won't have to play. I don't know what's going to happen quicker, Bombers releasing Dimwitt or Allen losing his starting job.

My over/under on Allen losing his starting job is 2.5 games. My prediction is he goes 10-21 with a touchdown and two picks tommorow after three quarters with the score tied at 17. Bishop will come in and go 8-8 with 565 yards and 3 scores and Toronto will win. Bishop will also get 128 yards on the ground on four carries as he single-handedly takes over. Pinball will give Allen one more game to start and that will be the deciding game for Allen's career. Even if Allen plays well, it will only be until about Week 6 until he comes down with Alzheimer's.


2. NBA draft tommorow night. I'm going to try and catch the first bit of the draft before the CFL doubleheader. I love anything involving NBA front office execs. It's like watching a bunch of Mike Milbury clones run basketball teams. This is why i'm so excited about the Raptors because they got one of only five or so guys that know what they are doing. Grunwald and Rob Babcock made the Raptors and atrocious and I really stopped watching basketball (still followed it in the paper) until I heard the hired Colangelo. I started to enjoy watching basketball again, even made the effort to watch a Raptor-Knicks game at the ACC and thoroughly enjoyed the game.

If i'm the Blazers tommorow night, I take Oden. I don't really see this guy being a bust. At worst, he turns into a 20-10 player. The sky's the limit for Durant but the bust potential is much bigger for him. Plus, Oden is a guy the Blazers can build around. Durant would be a great player but it's alot easier to build a team around a dominant center than a swingman.


3. I think the Jays are starting to turn the corner but it's a little too late I think. Wells in the leadoff spot is genius until Johnson gets back. It's shows that we are missing Johnson and Overbay. We got bats but no one that sets the table for them. Real impressed with the pitching lately though. I was listen to the McGowan no-no attempt on the radio and I've never been in a ball game like that for a long time. Oh, and Casey Jannsen for MVP.


4. Anyone watching that NHL free agency frenzy special on TSN for two hours on Sunday? Me either.


5. BREAKING NEWS - Floyd Mayweather is coming back after six weeks of retirement to fight* Ricky Hatton sometime in the fall. Did anyone see that coming at all????? I'll pay to watch this fight for 1. Hope that Mayweather Sr. will be giving post-fight interviews again. Love that balding-dreads and 2. HBO brings Larry Merchant back to analyze the fight. I missed Merchant in the Hatton-Castillo fight. I was about to call the De La Hoya-Mayweather fight a bust until I saw the Merchant-Senior interview. High comedy.

(*Squirm around like a friggin' bar of soap for twelve rounds, land three punchs and win. I hope if they do fight, Hatton takes the screws to him and knocks him on his ass. Love to hate this guy.)


Be back tommorow night with a Bomber recap and NBA draft recap.

The Defense: Season Preview Part Deux

A few things before I start:

1. Didn’t catch the Hamilton game Thursday but I didn’t need to watch to see what a stinker Brad Banks threw up. That was a performance that even would make even Mike Quinn or Tee Martin barf. I’m not going to do a total 180 from my last column because I said he has good potential and I still think he does. But this is his 4th year in the league, and if he hasn’t got a hang of it yet, let him go and try the next guy. I’d still keep him over Dimwittie.

(I started writing this before the Banks trade. I don’t really have an opinion on it. We trade a quarterback who has done nothing and clearly didn’t have a future here for another big, immobile quarterback who was great in college but has spent the last few years bouncing around from NFL camp to camp. The only thing it does is clear up cap space.)

2. No more chances for Brazzell either. Skill wise he was our best receiver out there last night (no Stegall or Armstrong) and he catches one ball for seven yards. Now, I didn’t watch the game and I don’t know how much he played but he should step up. I think Berry should make it clear to him that his job is on the line and it should be. I’m more frustrated with him then any other Bomber at this point.

3. Nice pick-up in getting Fleming. Gives us a non-import and a guy who’s punted the ball in the CFL before. Allows us one more import with that signing.

Alright, now the defensive breakdown:

Defensive Line: Boy, should this be good here. Walls and Canada on the ends and Brown with Davis in the middle. It doesn’t stop there though. The Blue have four quality back-ups competing for roster spots (Baggs, Haywood and Oosterhaus). The competition should be good for these guys, who will have too perform to keep their jobs. I’m lovin’ this position. Grade: A

Linebacker: As long as the Minister of Defense is plugging the holes in the middle, you can’t call this position a weakness. Kyries Hebert has been playing most of training camp at the weakside linebacker so he will most likely start the season at that position. Who will start at strong side? It’s very debatable. My candidate for the job is Toney Edison who came into camp as a safety but is right now listed on the depth chart at SLB. He has been a playmaker in camp so I’d let him show me what he can do to start the season. Grade: B+

Secondary: Four out of the five secondary positions are decided. Malbrough and Bean will start at corner. Malveaux and newcomer Davin Bush will start at halfback. Who will start at safety? Jason Nugent, whom we acquired from Edmonton in the Warner trade, would be my choice. Ian Logan and Greg Bearman are all adequate choice for the safety role. If this position is real weak, the Bombers can move Edison back to his home at safety and audition the strong side linebacker position to someone else. My feeling is that if they moved Edison from his natural position to linebacker, they must see someone who can do the job at safety. Let’s hope whomever it is can do the job. Grade: B+


Interesting schedule for the Blue this year. They will have a tough time in there first four games against Edmonton (twice) and Montreal (twice). Back to back games in Hamilton hopefully will produce good results and I say we head into Labour Day at 5-3 if we play ok (I mean that if we play well enough, we’ll have a better record but if we don’t play well enough, we’ll be sub-.500). I think we should be able to knock Toronto out of second place this year and we’ll run into Montreal in the Conference Final.
Let hope they’ll have a short trip from Montreal to Toronto.

Blue Bombers Season Preview: Part One

Well, training camp is finally here and it’s time for me to do my first ever Blue Bomber predictions, position by position. Today, I will do the offense and special teams and in my next article, I will do the defensive unit and the coaching staff and make a final verdict on how they will do this year. Anyways, here we go:


Quarterbacks: Kevin Glenn will return for his fourth year under center for the Bombers. He will most likely post another solid but unspectacular campaign at quarterback. He does get the job done but Taman should be looking for some good college talent at this position because I cannot see the Bombers winning the big game with Glenn at quarterback (hope he proves me wrong). He frightens me during big games because, no matter how good he’s playing, I’ll be waiting for him to throw it into quadruple coverage to Stegall down the middle. Hopefully he can prove me wrong because he can make that tough throw across his body or use his legs to make plays. Dinwiddie, Banks and the two new imports (Justin Holland and Matt Bohnet) will battle for the final two spots on the roster. Dinwiddie shouldn’t last here much longer (I hope). They should keep Banks around based on his potential to be a good CFL quarterback. Given some opportunities, Banks could become a CFL starting QB someday. The scouting report on Holland is “an athletic QB who can make plays on his feet and has a good arm but is very inconsistent and tends to lock into his primary receiver too often.” Hmmmm, sounds like a Bomber quarterback! Nothing in Bohnet’s past suggests that he a player we should be looking for.

So in conclusion, we do have a CFL starter-caliber signal caller with amazing potential (Glenn) but we have no depth behind him. We got an underachieving back up (Banks), a guy who won’t last another year (Dinwiddie) and two prospects who won’t last two years in the CFL (Bohnet and Holland) The grade reflects the depth at this position. Grade: B-

Running Backs: One word: Blink. As long as we have the three-time CFL leading rusher on our team, we will be fine at this position. The only question with Roberts with me has been: How much physical play can a 5’6”, 170 lbs running back take with Roberts’ workload before hurting himself badly? That question was answered when Taman went out and traded for Dominique Dorsey, a special-teams demon who will be used to spell Roberts on occasion. The reliable Scott Regimbald had left leaving an opening at the seldom-used fullback position. Grade: A+

Wide Receiver/Slotback: Milt Stegall will return for another season in Bomber Blue and him and Derrick Armstrong are the only receivers coming into camp with starting spots solidified. The wildly inconsistent Chris Brazzell will probably join Stegall as the other starting Slotback to make it three but if he continues to struggle to catch the ball, he won’t be around much longer. Non-Imports Jamie Stoddard, Arjei Franklin, Adam Eckert and newly acquired O’Neil Wilson will battle with vet Terrence Edwards for the other receiving spots. You’d have to think Stoddard and Wilson will play due to the import ratio while Franklin and the Winnipeg boy Eckert are on the bubble. AJ III might play a little more this year at receiver with Dorsey coming in to relieve AJ of some return duties. This should be an interesting battle in camp with lots of receivers battling for three-four spots but regardless who makes the team, this won’t be a great receiving crop with the exception of Stegall and Armstrong. Grade: B

Offensive Line: This is a definite area of improvement for the Bombers. Taman went and traded the Bombers first-rounder to acquire Alexandre Gauthier from Calgary who will start at left tackle and also signed former all-star Andrew Greene, who will man a guard position with Matt Sheridan taking the other. The reliable Obby Khan is also back and will start at center after a tremendous 06 campaign. Dan Goodspeed should play opposite of Gauthier at right tackle. Injury problems should not be a problem this year as the Blue has depth on the line with Val St. Germain, Aaron Fiacconi, Dominic Picard and Jermese Jones, some whom might be used as trade bait to shore up other areas. This should be an area of strength for new offensive coordinator Kit Cartwright this season. Grade: A-

Kicking: Troy Westwood and the ponytail are back for his trillionth year wearing Bomber Blue and even though his leg is slowing down a bit, he is still a reliable kicker who does the job well. The coaching staff brought in Chris Beckman from Tulane to push Troy for the punting duties, where he is still a bit erratic. Grade: B+

Returners: Incumbent AJ III had an explosive return last year in his return to the ‘Peg. The acquisition of Dorsey will only better this return and possibly allow AJ III to play some more offense this season. Two explosive returners equal one helluva return game. Grade: A


Please check back in a few days to check out my defensive preview and for me to make my final prediction on the Blue and Gold’s season.

First Entry

Hey everyone, my name is Brendan Macgranachan and your reading my sports blog. A good majority of my articles will be able my favorite sports team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers but like many sports fans, I love mostly every sport so I will occasionally talk about them as well.

I hope to make my first real blog post within the next few days about the Bombers, who are currently in training camp. I am going to do a season preview breaking down every position and making a final season prediction for the Blue and Gold, which will hopefully be with them playing in Toronto in November.

Please come back in a few days to check out my first post as I am going to break down the offense and special teams for the 2007 squad.