marty18
Prime Member
The AHL's Nova Scotia Voyagers
Posts: 96
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Post by marty18 on Jul 27, 2009 6:32:46 GMT -5
About Time!!!
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have recruited veteran Canadian Football League quarterback Michael Bishop to help breathe life into their comatose offence.
Bishop, the seven-year vet with both the Toronto and Saskatchewan, was to arrive Sunday and will be on the practice field Monday when the team returns to work following last Friday’s 19-5 loss to the Argos.
The club won’t officially announce his addition until the contract is formally registered with the league, likely by Monday, and won’t confirm whether he will start next Saturday in Toronto until they determine how quickly he picks up their offensive gameplan.
A source told The Free Press the Bombers also considered former CFL Most Outstanding Player Casey Printers, currently unemployed, while the names Quinn Gray, Brian Johnson and Marcus Crandell also came up.
The Bombers opted to go with Bishop, 33, because of his 11-1 run as a starter for the Argos in 2007 and his ability to fit in well with teammates.
Printers has a notorious rep, rightly or not, of rubbing people the wrong way; Gray has a family and is considering playing in the new United Football League, as is Johnson. Crandell is now on the coaching staff of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Bishop has one of the strongest arms in pro football, but has bounced around from the Argos to Saskatchewan - he was traded their last year for a draft pick – because critics say he often forces passes. The former Kansas State star - who finished second in 1998 Heisman Trophy voting to Ricky Williams - spent time in the NFL and the Arena League and has a career touchdown-to-interception ratio in the CFL of 51-56.
He started eight games for Saskatchewan last year, going 4-4 and including back-to-back wins over the Bombers in September, but was released after throwing three interceptions in a playoff loss to the B.C. Lions and as the Rider made the commitment to go with Darian Durant.
The Bombers offensive performance in Friday’s loss was one of the worst in eons as the team managed just three points offensively, the other two came when the Argos conceded a safety, and included starting QB Stefan LeFors as well as back-ups Bryan Randall and Richie Williams combining to throw for just 66 yards.
Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca
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Post by razorsedge on Jul 27, 2009 12:42:35 GMT -5
Kelly did build an awesome defence. And defence wins championships. Dinwiddie still sucks worse than LeFors btw. LeFors has nothing to show for himself, at least Dinwiddie could last a whole game without getting every QB involved. LeFors stats suck, he's trying but he sucks it's just that simple. Also having a great defense without any offense is the worst strategy ever, how do you expect to pick up any points? Yes defense wins championships only when supplementing a decent offense. Dinwiddie had his opportunity last season and went 1-3 without showing any improvement in those games. I'm not defending LeFors over Dinwiddie, I'm just saying Dinwiddie would not give our team any better chance of winning. His arm was just as weak if not weaker than LeFors'. Defence wins championships means, a team cannot win a championship without first having a strong defence. You can win with a great defence, and a mediocre offence, but not the other way around. I've only started following the Bombers a few seasons ago, but my understanding is their last 2 Grey cup championship teams were built that way.
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Post by Dcmac on Jul 27, 2009 16:28:01 GMT -5
Defence wins championships means, a team cannot win a championship without first having a strong defence. You can win with a great defence, and a mediocre offence, but not the other way around. The last 2 grey cups we won... 88 we were all around pretty average or below average, 90 we had a strong offense not a mediocre one.
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Post by Ric O. on Jul 27, 2009 22:59:31 GMT -5
LeFors has nothing to show for himself, at least Dinwiddie could last a whole game without getting every QB involved. LeFors stats suck, he's trying but he sucks it's just that simple. Also having a great defense without any offense is the worst strategy ever, how do you expect to pick up any points? Yes defense wins championships only when supplementing a decent offense. Dinwiddie had his opportunity last season and went 1-3 without showing any improvement in those games. I'm not defending LeFors over Dinwiddie, I'm just saying Dinwiddie would not give our team any better chance of winning. His arm was just as weak if not weaker than LeFors'. Defence wins championships means, a team cannot win a championship without first having a strong defence. You can win with a great defence, and a mediocre offence, but not the other way around. I've only started following the Bombers a few seasons ago, but my understanding is their last 2 Grey cup championship teams were built that way. I would disagree with your take on Dinwiddie, having watched almost every Bomber game in the last 10 years. The last game Dinwiddie was in was near the end of the season was when he had that severe ankle sprain. He was moving the team very well and played through the pain. Heart of a warrior. It was the injury that took him out, and he WAS improving. Maybe he was inconsistent but he showed flashes of being very good, as well as showing his lack of experience. He spent most of the time running for his life due to the marginal Offensive Line they had last year. Arm strength is a question mark but I'd say it was just adequate. He threw a few nice long-balls that I can recall. Based on what I've seen of both QB's, Dinwiddie is by far the better one. I'm not ready to write off Lefors yet, and he hasn't thrown many INTs (OR TDs!). Then again, hard to throw an interception when almost every pass is between 3 and 6 yards. But we'll agree to disagree.
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Post by ~Jiffy~ on Jul 28, 2009 11:10:43 GMT -5
BRAVO RIC-O! Finally someone that sees the truth! Really am sad he wasn't kept around... I was hoping LeFors would live up to the numbers he ran before.. but that didn't happen! Good Luck Bishop!!! PULL US OUT OF THE GUTTER
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Post by 22Neufeld28 on Jul 30, 2009 5:43:19 GMT -5
The last 2 grey cups we won... 88 we were all around pretty average or below average, 90 we had a strong offense not a mediocre one. If in 1990 they had strong offense,that would mean all other teams that year had superpower offense's.They became the first team to have the best record in the CFL (12-6) while being ranked dead last in offense that year.That team was built on deffense alone,with a little help from the offense when they needed it.
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Post by ~Jiffy~ on Jul 30, 2009 9:00:55 GMT -5
I AM SO EXCITED FOR SATURDAY! CAN"T WAIT TO SEE HOW IT ALL PULLS TOGETHER~ We have a huge party in St. Laurent every year... and I got my buddy to get some bomber flags and whatnot. We are dressing it up Saturday! SHould be so fun!
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Post by 22Neufeld28 on Aug 1, 2009 9:53:06 GMT -5
If Bishop,(who many BB fans thought wasnt good in the CFL) falls flat on his face,who will the fans want next to start.Is Sammy Garza still around I'm starting to hear more ppl say why did we get rid of Glenn,he was pretty good,ummmm its because everybody wanted him on the first train outta here,the problem with that was not understanding there was no QB in the CFL that could be a starter to take his place-DUH! Hopefully the D comes up big again today. And as far as Dinwiddie,I liked the guy,I still dont think he could be a starter in the CFL.And if he could be,some other team should have picked him up as a backup or third stringer by now.
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Post by gojetsgo15 on Aug 1, 2009 15:09:17 GMT -5
Big bombers win........."ping", goes the upright
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Post by Hobble on Aug 1, 2009 17:29:17 GMT -5
Well other than the 1st quarter, it wasn't very pretty, but a win is a win... Bishop should get better as he gets used to playing...
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Post by Ric O. on Aug 1, 2009 17:43:32 GMT -5
It was a very good start. We know the guy's got the physical ability on all fronts, especially that arm. Mentally, well I've never seen a guy as wildly inconsistent. Today was good though...didn't make any reckless passes. It was obvious and understandable that he just doesn't have game stamina yet. That'll take a couple of weeks.
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Post by razorsedge on Aug 1, 2009 21:52:00 GMT -5
I would disagree with your take on Dinwiddie, having watched almost every Bomber game in the last 10 years. The last game Dinwiddie was in was near the end of the season was when he had that severe ankle sprain. He was moving the team very well and played through the pain. Heart of a warrior. It was the injury that took him out, and he WAS improving. Try watching the games sober next time. Dinwiddie showed improvement? You mean in the last game of season that was meaningless against an Alouette team who sat their starters to rest before the playoffs? If Dinwiddie is so good, why isn't he lighting up the CFL with another team? He hasn't even been picked up for the practice roster on another team. Dinwiddie was horrible. Glenn is gone because the fans wanted it, and rightfully so. He's past his time and the team was rebuilt. Unfortunately the only thing on the team that hasn't improved is the quarterback. Bishop is decent enough to tie us over till we find a quarterback that has the potential to win us games for a few years.
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Post by Dcmac on Aug 2, 2009 1:24:25 GMT -5
BISHOP, BISHOP, BISHOP!!!
Razor, you realize Dinwiddie was around a 60% completion guy right? whats Lefors lately, 40 - 50%? lefors longest completion is 54 yards, Dinwiddies is a whopping 85 yarder.
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Post by 22Neufeld28 on Aug 2, 2009 4:46:32 GMT -5
I wish those guys @ TSN would quite talking about how we got all those turnovers and very points off of them yes we only scored 3 pts off them if i remember,but one INT came on the finale play of the half,2 more came at the goal line,stopping TO from getting 2 TD's more or less.Did they really expect the BB to drive the ball over a 100 yards.While it would be nice to score more pts of turnovers,i think it's more important to get the turnovers in your red zone and stop the other team from scoring. And if the D can keep giving up around 21 pts a game for most of the season,this will be a better year then the last one,just need to get the offense up to avg and win a few games from time to time.
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Post by razorsedge on Aug 2, 2009 10:35:02 GMT -5
BISHOP, BISHOP, BISHOP!!! Razor, you realize Dinwiddie was around a 60% completion guy right? whats Lefors lately, 40 - 50%? lefors longest completion is 54 yards, Dinwiddies is a whopping 85 yarder. I guess I'll re-type it. I'm not saying LeFors is better than Dinwiddie or defending LeFors over Dinwiddie. I just don't like when people say we should have kept Dinwiddie or we should bring him back. Good point Wpgthunder. We may not have gained points off of turnovers, but we stopped points against us with those turnovers. Result: we won. A full week of practice should help with Bishop's stamina. Cause he looked really good in the first quarter.
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Post by Ric O. on Aug 2, 2009 12:12:09 GMT -5
I would disagree with your take on Dinwiddie, having watched almost every Bomber game in the last 10 years. The last game Dinwiddie was in was near the end of the season was when he had that severe ankle sprain. He was moving the team very well and played through the pain. Heart of a warrior. It was the injury that took him out, and he WAS improving. Try watching the games sober next time. Dinwiddie showed improvement? You mean in the last game of season that was meaningless against an Alouette team who sat their starters to rest before the playoffs? If Dinwiddie is so good, why isn't he lighting up the CFL with another team? He hasn't even been picked up for the practice roster on another team. Dinwiddie was horrible. Glenn is gone because the fans wanted it, and rightfully so. He's past his time and the team was rebuilt. Unfortunately the only thing on the team that hasn't improved is the quarterback. Bishop is decent enough to tie us over till we find a quarterback that has the potential to win us games for a few years. No need to insult me Razor, especially after I said we can agree to disagree. I watch the games very objectively and from the standpoint that I hate to see them lose. If a guy totally sucks and shows nothing in the way of potential, I'd be the first to vote to run him out of town. I'm not saying Dinwiddie is the best QB ever to wear a Bomber uniform. I'm just saying he's only played a few games, usually under very unfavourable circumstances, and based on what I've seen, and I've seen all games SOBER, Dinwiddie was better than LeFors, Randall and Williams combined, and that's the reason I say they should have kept him. If the Bombers had 1. Ricky Ray, and 2. Jason Maas, I wouldn't be voting to keep Dinwiddie. But given the options, he was a good choice to at least be LeFors backup, if LeFors is as good as Mike Kelly thinks. Why hasn't Dinwiddie been picked up for a practice roster? I don't know...probably the same reason Bishop wasn't. Very few of these guys get picked up by other teams once one team has given up on them...especially if they have only a few games of experience. Most teams have their own starters and have their own QB prospects they've recruited and are high on. There are dozens graduating college every year and all teams want to give the guy they scouted a chance to at least hold a clip board. That's not unusual. Like they were saying on TSN the other night...Montreal was the only team to "take a chance" on a young inexperienced QB named Calvillo after Hamilton cut him, so what did all the other teams not see in him? That's just the way it is in the CFL. I'm not suggesting Dinwiddie is as good as Calvillo, but did you see Calvillo play for Hamilton? Honestly you would have said he was horrible too and few would have disagreed.
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Post by jjhmclean on Aug 2, 2009 16:16:44 GMT -5
Coach Kelly is right...........we take this all waaaay to seriously. The Blue are in transition........they will get better, and I like how the new coach carries himself with this team.
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Post by Ric O. on Aug 2, 2009 17:41:23 GMT -5
I don't think we're really taking it too seriously...just serious enough to care if they win or lose. But you're right, it's too soon to cut Kelly too. He should get at least a full season to see if he's head coach material. So far I've seen and heard things I like and things I don't like but overall I feel he's probably on the right track.
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Post by ~Jiffy~ on Aug 4, 2009 12:20:54 GMT -5
I think Kelly is on the right track... i have some questions regarding some of the decisions..but I think we will be ok. GO BISHOP!
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Post by Dcmac on Aug 8, 2009 23:38:31 GMT -5
What a heartbreaker tonight guys... all I can say is Serna, wicked FG and Bishop what a throw.
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