CFL - 2017 Season!
Strutz @ Tue Jun 06, 2017 5:43 pm
Pre-season gets underway tonight so it is time to get this thread started!
Strutz @ Mon Jun 12, 2017 1:09 am
Ok... one other person has voted so far... raydan I do believe! (since it was for Montreal)
I bought tickets today for the Lions home opener vs Edmonton. Looking so forward to it as I haven't been to a game for years!
Thanos @ Wed Jun 14, 2017 10:18 pm
RIP Donny. 
http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/new ... story.html
$1:
TORONTO — They called him "The Don," and with good reason.
A larger-than-life character with a sharp wit who thrived in the spotlight, Don Matthews took wicked pleasure in keeping people around him on edge with his abrasive, no-nonsense style.
The Hall of Famer, who died Wednesday at the age of 77, was one of the most prolific coaches in CFL history with 231 wins and 10 Grey Cup titles on his resume, including five won as a head coach.
But he was also a controversial figure who had a high-risk, high-reward philosophy.
Players loved suiting up for him because of his reputation for creating a winning atmosphere and protecting his athletes. During the regular season, Matthews' teams rarely hit during practice and he routinely allowed his players to participate in creating the weekly game plan.
Yet he maintained his distance. While known for being a "player's coach," he could also be ruthless when it came to making tough personnel decisions and wasn't afraid to bench a veteran or cut him outright if he wasn't producing.
"It's that balance and to do that you must be brilliant," said running back/slotback Mike (Pinball) Clemons, who won two Grey Cups over three seasons playing for Matthews in Toronto. "Some people try to be a player's coach but they let it go too far and the players run the roost.
"He was a player's coach but he was also the boss and everybody knew that."
Matthews was also brutally honest, a trait reporters covering his teams knew well as he would call them out publicly for asking what he deemed to be an inappropriate question.
But even the press corps respected him, voting Matthews the CFL's coach of the year five times.
The Argonauts said Matthews died Wednesday morning of pneumonia in Beaverton, Ore. He had announced in 2012 he was battling cancer.
In a statement, the CFL called Matthews "one of a kind."
"Upon hearing of the passing of Don Matthews, the Canadian Football League family is both deeply saddened by this loss and grateful for his many contributions to our league," the statement said.
Charismatic and brash with a sandpaper personality, Matthews was also a CFL winner from the beginning.
A former Marine from Amesbury, Mass., who eventually became a Canadian citizen, Matthews began his CFL coaching career as an assistant with the Edmonton Eskimos in 1977 before being promoted to defensive co-ordinator the following season. He helped the club win five straight Grey Cup titles from 1978 to '82 before being named the B.C. Lions head coach in 1983.
Matthews spent 22 seasons as a CFL head coach with B.C., Baltimore, Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal, reaching the Grey Cup nine times and winning a record five championships. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
A larger-than-life character with a sharp wit who thrived in the spotlight, Don Matthews took wicked pleasure in keeping people around him on edge with his abrasive, no-nonsense style.
The Hall of Famer, who died Wednesday at the age of 77, was one of the most prolific coaches in CFL history with 231 wins and 10 Grey Cup titles on his resume, including five won as a head coach.
But he was also a controversial figure who had a high-risk, high-reward philosophy.
Players loved suiting up for him because of his reputation for creating a winning atmosphere and protecting his athletes. During the regular season, Matthews' teams rarely hit during practice and he routinely allowed his players to participate in creating the weekly game plan.
Yet he maintained his distance. While known for being a "player's coach," he could also be ruthless when it came to making tough personnel decisions and wasn't afraid to bench a veteran or cut him outright if he wasn't producing.
"It's that balance and to do that you must be brilliant," said running back/slotback Mike (Pinball) Clemons, who won two Grey Cups over three seasons playing for Matthews in Toronto. "Some people try to be a player's coach but they let it go too far and the players run the roost.
"He was a player's coach but he was also the boss and everybody knew that."
Matthews was also brutally honest, a trait reporters covering his teams knew well as he would call them out publicly for asking what he deemed to be an inappropriate question.
But even the press corps respected him, voting Matthews the CFL's coach of the year five times.
The Argonauts said Matthews died Wednesday morning of pneumonia in Beaverton, Ore. He had announced in 2012 he was battling cancer.
In a statement, the CFL called Matthews "one of a kind."
"Upon hearing of the passing of Don Matthews, the Canadian Football League family is both deeply saddened by this loss and grateful for his many contributions to our league," the statement said.
Charismatic and brash with a sandpaper personality, Matthews was also a CFL winner from the beginning.
A former Marine from Amesbury, Mass., who eventually became a Canadian citizen, Matthews began his CFL coaching career as an assistant with the Edmonton Eskimos in 1977 before being promoted to defensive co-ordinator the following season. He helped the club win five straight Grey Cup titles from 1978 to '82 before being named the B.C. Lions head coach in 1983.
Matthews spent 22 seasons as a CFL head coach with B.C., Baltimore, Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal, reaching the Grey Cup nine times and winning a record five championships. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
Total W-231 L-133 T-1 %.633
11 Division Championships
Playoff W-19
Playoff L-13
5 Grey Cups
Hyack @ Thu Jun 15, 2017 2:27 pm
Full 2017 CFL Schedule
The BC Lions open their 2017 season at home, hosting the Edmonton Eskimos on Sat 24 June at 7:00pm PT.
CDN_PATRIOT @ Thu Jun 15, 2017 2:40 pm
ForTheW.jpg [ 115.37 KiB | Viewed 223 times ]
GO BOMBERS!!!!!!
-J.
Hyack @ Thu Jun 15, 2017 3:40 pm
ROAR YOU LIONS ROAR
Freakinoldguy @ Thu Jun 15, 2017 4:09 pm
I definitely voted with my heart and not my head. Barring a miracle we're likely a starting QB and 2 DB's away from being an honest threat to win the Cup. But hey, we're still tied for first place with the other 4 teams in the West so a person can dream. ![[cheer]](./images/smilies/icon_cheers.gif "Cheer"){kind=icon}
Mowich @ Sat Jun 17, 2017 9:58 am
Hyack Hyack:
ROAR YOU LIONS ROAR
They did indeed Hyack. Would that my Riders had half the talent at the QB position as your Lions. Jennings is amazing but I knew that last year watching him take over when Travis got injured. If the Lions keep playing the way they did last night, they will have a great season.
Mowich @ Sat Jun 17, 2017 10:20 am
Vanstone: It is time for Chris Jones to deliver
The pre-season of 2017 was a change of pace for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who typically save their meaningless games for October.
But now that the latest spasm of exhibition games is over, the Roughriders have an opportunity to make amends for two-plus years of rarely interrupted horror.
Many of the players who, er, contributed to Saskatchewan’s 10-35 tailspin are gone. So are the excuses.
This is Chris Jones’ team now.
The Roughriders’ second-year head coach, defensive co-ordinator, general manager and vice-president of football operations has built the roster as he sees fit.
Write off 2016 as a transitional year for the Roughriders, who severed ties with several veterans — most notably slotback Weston Dressler and defensive end John Chick — after Jones inherited a team that had posted a 3-15 record in 2015.
Last year, the Roughriders’ one remaining marquee veteran was Darian Durant, who quarterbacked the team to West Division titles in 2009, 2010 and 2013 and a home-field Grey Cup championship in the latter year.
Jones eventually sent him packing, too.
Now it is time to shed the losing label as well.
The Roughriders should be the CFL’s flagship franchise in every sense.
They have a pristine pigskin palace — a $278-million shrine to the Green and White — and an adoring fan base.
However, they have become the free space on the CFL’s bingo card. (For more free space, check out the commissioner’s office.)
For all the talk of the figurative 13th man, and of how Mosaic Stadium (pick a version) is a forbidding environment for opponents, it has become ridiculously easy to pull a victory out of the Queen City since mid-September of 2014. The key to the entire process is typically a successful landing at Regina International Airport.
Jones was brought to Regina, at considerable expense, only eight days after coaching and co-ordinating the Edmonton Eskimos to a Grey Cup victory in 2015.
Roughriders president-CEO Craig Reynolds handed Jones the keys to Saskatchewan’s football kingdom. He is the CFL’s unrivalled pace-setter in job descriptions.
Jones’ first major move as Mr. Everything was to hire player-personnel guru John Murphy away from the perennial powerhouse that is the Calgary Stampeders.
The twin hirings seemed like a coup for the Roughriders — a point that was repeatedly, perhaps excessively, made in this cherished space at the time.
After all, Reynolds had just landed the CFL’s hottest head-coaching commodity and a highly reputable personnel expert while, in theory, weakening divisional rivals.
Those moves were such a smashing success that the Roughriders of 2016 erupted for one victory in their first 11 games. We still await the release of the highlight DVD.
Along with the chronic losses, there were repeated, league-issued fines and other forms of controversy.
The Jones-led Roughriders did win four games in succession after the 1-10 start but, by then, it was strictly for show.
More:
http://leaderpost.com/sports/football/c ... to-deliver
I was against the hiring of Jones from the beginning as I did not and do not like his style of coaching. Seeing him drag my Riders good name in the mud last year and again this year has simply added to my ire at his hiring. Along with his inability to understand CFL rules - how many years has he been in the league now and he can't understand what is right and what is wrong - I spent a good portion of last year bitterly complaining about his lack of control over player's discipline. Any hope that he had a handle on that was dashed last night as I watched my Riders commit 18 stupid, senseless and costly penalties. In addition to that, he's stripped the team of valuable players he simply didn't like - guys who had a pretty darn good season with their new teams last year. Darian was the latest victim of Jones purge and from what I saw of him in the preseason with the Als, he too may prove to be better off with them then with my guys.
All the hype over the hiring of Vince is likely to come for naught as his injury may very well prevent him from playing a single game. Meanwhile, we have Kevin Glenn as our starter. I'm sorry but we've been there and done that with Kevin. I have nothing against the guy but with all the money my Riders bring in one might think they could do better than to hire a journeyman QB.
My heart marked the box for a Saskatchewan Grey Cup this year, but my brain tells me that I should wisen up.
Mowich @ Sun Jun 18, 2017 8:24 am
Vince Young cut from Riders. Also cut was Anthony Allen who joined the club on June 2 and carried the ball once.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatche ... rom-riders
Freakinoldguy @ Sun Jun 18, 2017 10:43 am
Mowich Mowich:
Vince Young cut from Riders. Also cut was Anthony Allen who joined the club on June 2 and carried the ball once.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatche ... rom-riders
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatche ... rom-riders
Vince Young was no surprise given his age and his injury but, Allen was a bit of surprise given that he had been a proven commodity especially after his 2014 campaign where he finished second to John Cornish in rushing with 969 yards and a 5.5 YPC average.
So, I guess we're probably going with LaFrance because of his nationality and either Cameron or Morris although, it'd be nice to see Thebaud step up and get a spot so we could have 2 national running backs.
Mowich @ Sun Jun 18, 2017 1:03 pm
Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:
Mowich Mowich:
Vince Young cut from Riders. Also cut was Anthony Allen who joined the club on June 2 and carried the ball once.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatche ... rom-riders
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatche ... rom-riders
Vince Young was no surprise given his age and his injury but, Allen was a bit of surprise given that he had been a proven commodity especially after his 2014 campaign where he finished second to John Cornish in rushing with 969 yards and a 5.5 YPC average.
So, I guess we're probably going with LaFrance because of his nationality and either Cameron or Morris although, it'd be nice to see Thebaud step up and get a spot so we could have 2 national running backs.
For the life of me I could not and still do not understand this whole Vince Young thing, Freakin'. From the very beginning, I heard little in the way of good news about him and then when he got injured so early, I was like.....well that was a waste of time and space.
Yep, when I read Anthony's tweet this morning, it was yet another in the long line of head-scratchers I've had since Jones was hired. To be perfectly honest, the scratches came along with a few choice words about the Rider's coach.
Freakinoldguy @ Sun Jun 18, 2017 8:20 pm
Mowich Mowich:
Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:
Mowich Mowich:
Vince Young cut from Riders. Also cut was Anthony Allen who joined the club on June 2 and carried the ball once.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatche ... rom-riders
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatche ... rom-riders
Vince Young was no surprise given his age and his injury but, Allen was a bit of surprise given that he had been a proven commodity especially after his 2014 campaign where he finished second to John Cornish in rushing with 969 yards and a 5.5 YPC average.
So, I guess we're probably going with LaFrance because of his nationality and either Cameron or Morris although, it'd be nice to see Thebaud step up and get a spot so we could have 2 national running backs.
For the life of me I could not and still do not understand this whole Vince Young thing, Freakin'. From the very beginning, I heard little in the way of good news about him and then when he got injured so early, I was like.....well that was a waste of time and space.
Yep, when I read Anthony's tweet this morning, it was yet another in the long line of head-scratchers I've had since Jones was hired. To be perfectly honest, the scratches came along with a few choice words about the Rider's coach.
I'm like you. I'm beginning to have serious doubts about Jones ability to recruit and keep talent.
My guess is that if the team doesn't show a vast improvement season this year the BOD's will can his ass because as the flagship of he CFL they can't have one mans weird decisions on player personnel dragging this team down any farther than it already was.
I almost miss Corey Chamblin, almost but not quite.
stratos @ Sun Jun 18, 2017 11:54 pm
V.Y. is a total head case who has never been able to get it together for a long stretch. Even being part of the Texas Admin. at UT he blew it with a DWI. Best for the football world if V.Y. just faded into the sunset and was never heard from again.
Mowich @ Thu Jun 22, 2017 8:00 am
stratos stratos:
V.Y. is a total head case who has never been able to get it together for a long stretch. Even being part of the Texas Admin. at UT he blew it with a DWI. Best for the football world if V.Y. just faded into the sunset and was never heard from again.
Too bad that he didn't fade long before Jones maybe the error of hiring him.