Official Game Day Thread - Winnipeg at Calgary, August 9, 2025

[markf]

Ya, work for the CFL or steal one of the sideline tablets     

It's a good point, though.  It would sure be nice to be able to stream or download just the all-24 camera for each game.  That would answer so many questions like "is Zach/Hogan dumb or is everyone blanketed?".

Exactly.

Seems to be available for the NFL.

More trouble to the cfl than what it's worth probably.

[TecnoGenius]

More trouble to the cfl than what it's worth probably.

The CFL: "We're not satisfied until you're not satisfied!"

[bunker]

Money.  Paying Hogan like $100-$200k vs Lapo @ $400k allows MOS+KW to take another pay raise.

Even if O'Shea and Walters were like that (and I don't think they are) I don't think Miller would let that fly. He has an idea of what O'Shea and Walters are worth, and he's not going to gut the rest of the coordinators and coaches to line their pockets.

[bunker]

You talk as though the time to spend the "extra $1M" is now.  The time to spend bigly was in FA.  We should have spent to the cap, plus the extra $400k (like HAM did), plus up to the "lose 2RDP" penalty zone ($200k?) of SMS overage.

Imagine what we could have had on our roster spending an extra $600k?!  Kenny, for one.  Snipe some top OL.  Some top DT.  And 1 or 2 top DBs.  The world was our oyster if you look at the FA25 page.

All it would have cost us is a 2RDP (which we get back by not playing DNA/DNS) and some non-SMS fine money (we're so loaded who cares).

Your plan was clearly better than Walters (and I'm not being sarcastic).

[Blueforlife]

You missed my point. I m not dreaming. EVERY team has at LEAST one if not 2 and sometimes 3 guys who are go to deep play maker threats, its a pre-requisite to creating an offense. No deep threat, means teams flood the box/short zone as they know you can't throw deep and hurt them.

We have adapted and have Brady now running 40 yard go routes out of the backfield. How smart is that long term?? Let's tire out your go to  work horse for the running game because nobody can get open on deep routes. Every team has someone who can hurt you. Demski can make a big play, but other than that we have Brady and Sterns who will chip in the odd 30-40 yard play, no game breaker 78 yard pass and run plays in our playbook. Wheatie ain't gonna hurt anyone., and everyone and their brother knows that. Sterns is strictly support role. Corcoran shouldn't see the field, he's too green. Clercius, is a check down Woly type reciever. You're not going to scare any defense with 7 yard quick slants with no YAC's. We need a play maker. D Mitchell is more a Bailey type reciever than a Lawler, we need a Hatcher, Hollins (who WAS available), Meyers, Emilus, Coxie type reciever. And until then, we'll be on the short end of the stick offensively as defenses don't have nothing to fear deep.

Wheatie can burn you deep just hasn't done it consistently (yet).  Schoen will open him up if he comes back.  Brady won't be a deep threat often, that was a rare occurrence.  Logan could catch a ball or two medium routes with his speed (maybe?).  Yeah I would love a top burner type guy too but they expensive and we will have to do it by committee imo this year.  If we get Wilson back it's a game changer.

[Pete]

The issue with hiring ogan is that we had an opportunity to bring in a fresh point of view. Its hard sometimes to adequately assess your weaknesses when everyone is seeing the same things day in day out


 

[Blue In BC]

You talk as though the time to spend the "extra $1M" is now.  The time to spend bigly was in FA.  We should have spent to the cap, plus the extra $400k (like HAM did), plus up to the "lose 2RDP" penalty zone ($200k?) of SMS overage.

Imagine what we could have had on our roster spending an extra $600k?!  Kenny, for one.  Snipe some top OL.  Some top DT.  And 1 or 2 top DBs.  The world was our oyster if you look at the FA25 page.

All it would have cost us is a 2RDP (which we get back by not playing DNA/DNS) and some non-SMS fine money (we're so loaded who cares).

The Lions went over the SMS in 2024 by $300K. How did that improve their 2024 season? How is it improving their 2025 season?

$300K is not $1M but since when has spending more money ensured a better team? The league has to approve contracts. If Rourke returning was a free agent, do you think they would have approved $1M from another team to get him to sign there?

Every team spends to the SMS. There is also the issue of profit and loss which is different than SMS limit. Only 3 teams recorded a profit but how they came up with that number is not clear. Privately owned teams and how they record profit and loss.

Regardless. SMS was intended to level the playing field. Your idea to screw with that idea but doing what is technically allowed ( by penalty ) is obscene.

More importantly in the days before SMS there were teams that did exactly what you said and still tanked.

[Blueforlife]

The issue with hiring ogan is that we had an opportunity to bring in a fresh point of view. Its hard sometimes to adequately assess your weaknesses when everyone is seeing the same things day in day out


 

Jackson is fresh.  Best of both worlds.  Consistency and new ideas.  I don't agree with your take here.

[bunker]

The Lions went over the SMS in 2024 by $300K. How did that improve their 2024 season? How is it improving their 2025 season?

$300K is not $1M but since when has spending more money ensured a better team? The league has to approve contracts. If Rourke returning was a free agent, do you think they would have approved $1M from another team to get him to sign there?

Every team spends to the SMS. There is also the issue of profit and loss which is different than SMS limit. Only 3 teams recorded a profit but how they came up with that number is not clear. Privately owned teams and how they record profit and loss.

Regardless. SMS was intended to level the playing field. Your idea to screw with that idea but doing what is technically allowed ( by penalty ) is obscene.

More importantly in the days before SMS there were teams that did exactly what you said and still tanked.

I know what you're saying here but I disagree. We don't host the cup very often. The fans and corporate sponsors have supported this team very strongly, and put a boat load of cash in the teams coffers. They should have planned to go over the cap by around 200,000, kept Lawler, gone after a couple of other high profile free agents (not the middle of the road talent like J Jones and Mitchell), and rolled the dice for the season. No guarantee it would work, but it definitely would have improved the team and improved our chances. The way they've structured it, the CFL really has something of a "soft cap" like the NBA, where if you go over, you pay a "luxury tax" (some money and draft picks). If they really wanted a hard cap, they would have structured it like the NHL, where there's no wiggle room (unless your Vegas or Tampa with LTIR lol).

BC was different, they brought in another QB at a crazy salary when they already had a good one in house, and created a controversy that ended up being subtraction by addition. I would have focused on this year, and worried less about next year. If this year is the beginning of the slide to mediocrity, I worry next year, we may fall off a cliff, as Collaros, Jefferson, Bryant and Neufeld all age another year.

[TecnoGenius]

The Lions went over the SMS in 2024 by $300K. How did that improve their 2024 season? How is it improving their 2025 season?

Just because BC did it "badly" does not mean we couldn't do it "right".  Because they overspent and failed doesn't mean all overspends will fail.

And they went over by even more because they gave Rourke the $200k MMM... Which I forgot about and would like to up my $600k idea to $800k, shaving $200k off Zach's SMS hit by giving it to him in MMM instead.

$300K is not $1M but since when has spending more money ensured a better team?

How about HAM.  They spent the $400k extra mostly on Kenny.  That has changed their entire game.  Kenny+slinger=wins.  How about CGY?  The splurged on VAJ and their D.

Money buys more talent.  Always has.  All things being equal Bombers would be better with more money spent and more talent.  If we had some real OL stars, some extra, real REC stars, some extra, real DB stars, and some real DT stars... would we be better?  Guaranteed.  2021 is proof of that.

Can you do it without money?  Yes, of course.  How?  Scouting, ELCs, drafting, and luck.  That was us in 2021.  That was MTL in 2023.

Our scouting, ELCs, drafting and luck are crap this year.  Buying talent could have made up for it.

Regardless. SMS was intended to level the playing field. Your idea to screw with that idea but doing what is technically allowed ( by penalty ) is obscene.

And yet here we are with HAM "cheating" by using the $400k extra they were given (and winning), and BC "cheating" with untold hundred-thousands on fake MMM.  And who knows who will go $100-$200k over SMS this year.  Maybe SSK, maybe CGY.

It's not obscene, it's what you have to do to compete.  We didn't spend MMM overages, we didn't spend the $400k extra SMS, we probably didn't even overspend the basic cap.  And so we are losing to all the teams that did, who clearly have better talent in almost every department.

In a home GC year.  Even our "culture" and FIFO and Mafia Magic may not be enough to overcome the bad "boy scout" choices this season.  And so we hope & pray for helicopter drops and NFL returnees and IR returnees.  For talent.  Because that's the only thing that will keep us from being one & done in the post season... should we make it there.

[TecnoGenius]

I would have focused on this year, and worried less about next year. If this year is the beginning of the slide to mediocrity, I worry next year, we may fall off a cliff

The funny thing is, we aren't that much worse than 2024.  We're really only Kenny & Ford away from being about the same.

The real problem is so many teams have massively improved: CGY, SSK, HAM.  Even OTT and EDM are better.  BC & MTL are about the same.  TOR will be great once Kelly returns.

We did a decent job maintaining our status quo, but the status quo isn't good enough to be a big winner this season.  Not with the new powerhouses.

Did we not anticipate and predict this?  Maybe not.  I for one wouldn't have predicted CGY & HAM would be world beaters so quickly.  (SSK was nearly there, so they aren't as surprising.)

Now that it's the clear status quo will not win out, I think it's more imperative than ever that we pick up whatever talent we can (couches, trades) if we want any hope of making it to our cup.  Just rolling with "what we have in house" won't cut it this time around.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

The issue with hiring ogan is that we had an opportunity to bring in a fresh point of view. Its hard sometimes to adequately assess your weaknesses when everyone is seeing the same things day in day out


 

Hogan is obviously inexperienced but Buck's offense struggled for much of last year too.

If you gave Hogan the Bombers team in 2021 his play calling would look a lot better. So did Buck's.

Personally, I think Buck saw the writing on the wall last year and jumped ship at the right time for him. Being our offensive coordinator is a significantly harder job than it was when Collaros was 33.

[blue_gold_84]

If I recall correctly Hogan said at the start of the year that the job would be done by committee -- meaning players and coaches alike. I assume what we're seeing is the result. I suspect in the second half of the season we may see Hogan take the reigns and actually do the job and leave the players to play. He should know by now what everyone's thoughts are and needs to decide on the correct course of action.

If that's actually the case, then I'm all the more concerned.

"Offense by committee" isn't working.

Hogan is obviously inexperienced but Buck's offense struggled for much of last year too.

If you gave Hogan the Bombers team in 2021 his play calling would look a lot better. So did Buck's.

Personally, I think Buck saw the writing on the wall last year and jumped ship at the right time for him. Being our offensive coordinator is a significantly harder job than it was when Collaros was 33.

He was offered a HC job with the Lions. He didn't jump ship.

And no, it's pure speculation Hogan would've fared as well as Pierce as a rookie OC in 2021. At least Pierce had a solid pro background when he was promoted.

[Blue In BC]

Just because BC did it "badly" does not mean we couldn't do it "right".  Because they overspent and failed doesn't mean all overspends will fail.

And they went over by even more because they gave Rourke the $200k MMM... Which I forgot about and would like to up my $600k idea to $800k, shaving $200k off Zach's SMS hit by giving it to him in MMM instead.

How about HAM.  They spent the $400k extra mostly on Kenny.  That has changed their entire game.  Kenny+slinger=wins.  How about CGY?  The splurged on VAJ and their D.

Money buys more talent.  Always has.  All things being equal Bombers would be better with more money spent and more talent.  If we had some real OL stars, some extra, real REC stars, some extra, real DB stars, and some real DT stars... would we be better?  Guaranteed.  2021 is proof of that.

Can you do it without money?  Yes, of course.  How?  Scouting, ELCs, drafting, and luck.  That was us in 2021.  That was MTL in 2023.

Our scouting, ELCs, drafting and luck are crap this year.  Buying talent could have made up for it.

And yet here we are with HAM "cheating" by using the $400k extra they were given (and winning), and BC "cheating" with untold hundred-thousands on fake MMM.  And who knows who will go $100-$200k over SMS this year.  Maybe SSK, maybe CGY.

It's not obscene, it's what you have to do to compete.  We didn't spend MMM overages, we didn't spend the $400k extra SMS, we probably didn't even overspend the basic cap.  And so we are losing to all the teams that did, who clearly have better talent in almost every department.

In a home GC year.  Even our "culture" and FIFO and Mafia Magic may not be enough to overcome the bad "boy scout" choices this season.  And so we hope & pray for helicopter drops and NFL returnees and IR returnees.  For talent.  Because that's the only thing that will keep us from being one & done in the post season... should we make it there.

We don't know if Hamilton knew about the extra $400K before anyone else. We don't know they will exceed the 2025 SMS by any amount.

We don't know that Mitchell will trip over Lawler in practice and both will be out for the season.

It was suggested that Edmonton was headed towards a massive overspend this year after signing all those free agents. How are they looking?

Yes I say it's an obscene idea. The Grey Cup is some team's home turf every season. Can you name a couple that have done what you have suggested and succeeded?

What is the largest amounts of exceeding the SMS since it came into being. Last year was the exception to the rule with BC. It had nothing to do with the game in Vancouver. It was a timing issue of Rourke and Betts returning from the NFL.

Yes it's a soft cap but it's about the spirit of the cap and trying to have parity.

Privately owned teams are in a much better position to do what you suggest than community owned teams.

So either you believe in parity or you don't.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

If that's actually the case, then I'm all the more concerned.

"Offense by committee" isn't working.

He was offered a HC job with the Lions. He didn't jump ship.

And no, it's pure speculation Hogan would've fared as well as Pierce as a rookie OC in 2021. At least Pierce had a solid pro background when he was promoted.

Buck interviewed for, and got the HC job with the Lions. I think from a career planning stage, he was ready to get going and it was probably pretty clear that he wasn't going to have the same success now and he had before in Winnipeg. Some coordinator jobs are easier than others and it largely depends on the personnel you're working with.

In Buck's best years, how many called runs got stopped in the backfield? Go back and watch games from 2021 and 2022 and now. There's a stark difference. That's not to say Hogan is off the hook, but you can't blame him exclusively. His quarterback made a living off of scrambling and keeping plays alive and now he can't do it anymore (at least he's nowhere near as effective as he was) and has a hard time playing from the pocket in a timing based offense. What would you call? There aren't a ton of right answers when we're playing good teams and the Calgary games prove it.