Calgary Stampeders 2012

[cannedice99 10]

Starting off, how do you see our chances this year? A lot has happened this off-season, with all the re-signings (Arjei Franklin, LaMarcus Coker, Landan Talley, J'Micheal Deane, Kevin Dixon, Drew Tate, Coach Huf); new signings (linebacker Danny Lansanah, quarterback Cam Sexton, running back Matt Walter from the U of C); people leaving (Henry Burris, Joffrey Reynolds); and new ownership structure.

Then we have the draft coming up on May 3. The Stamps have 9 picks in 6 rounds, which can only be a good thing (Flames paying attention?). Looks like we can have an embarrasment of riches.

Other plotlines:

Glenn vs. Tate, who's #1?

Is Reynolds replacable? Can Cornish take over effectively? Should we draft for #2 behind Cornish?

Can Maver win back his starting spot from Parades?

Will the new influence of the Flames impact the product on the field?

Important questions!

[senor_incendiarse 97]

Could be an interesting season, I definitely see playoffs and possibly a home game there. Just don't see BC falling off as they've kept most of that team together, but I don't think Saskatchewan or Edmonton did anything to improve in the offseason. As for your plotlines the only way I see Tate ousted is through injury, or if Tate plays well below expectations which I don't see, think Glenn is fine for a backup and he seems to be fine with that role. Cornish has imo already proven a capable starter, had the guy had the number of carries as Whittaker he would have run away with the rushing title, and as for drafting another running back it wouldn't be my first concern as they did sign a few guys during the offseason to compete and they have Coker who has shown some good and some bad but that speed is a great weapon. I think Maver should only be tried as a punter, Parades showed things that Maver never has main thing being distance. I don't think the ownership shift will impact anything on the field, its not uncommon to have owners own multiple teams, the difference between the two clubs is the Stamps player personnel has done a fair job while the Flames have made poor decisions and not all of them are directly related to ownership.

[cross16 652]

I think they'll do fine and agree that they should be in 2nd in the West. I see a fallback for Edmonton, althought Tilman has proven people wrong the past and I don't see a huge improvement from Sask this quickly.

I think the Stamps are in good shape provided they pick up a couple good import free agents on the DL. Their canadian depth is as good as any and I find it's really hard to be bad in the CFL if you've got great Canadian depth. I like Tate and he will start and he'll be fine IMO. It's the defence and specifically the pass rush that has to get better and thats where I hope they've picked up a an import or two that can help them out there becuase I think they'll need any pass rush specialit if they want to compete with BC.

Tate stats over Glen for sure. Tate will be given every opportunity IMO.

I don't think the Stamps miss Reynolds at all. Cornish is a better fit for the offence, helps the ratio, and Reynolds was slowing down. I think Croker fits at 2 with Walter seeing some time as a HB/FB like player. They won't get a number two in the draft it's too rare to get Cdn talent like that out of the draft.

Parades will place kick and Maver will punt.

[The_People1 1]

CFL just isn't a good football product to watch anymore. When NFL practice roster players are better and make more money than CFL starters, there's a real problem. It's time to reverse this trend. The league was great when they had guys like Doug Flutie and perennial NFL players. There's no such talent in the CFL anymore. They have to raise ticket prices and funnel the revenue down to the players so the league can attract higher quality players. Better players = better on-field product.

Rich teams should do some sort of revenue sharing to help out poor teams like Saskatchewan. What's team cap at? $2.2-mil or something? That's ridiculous. Star players making $30k a season? Pathetic. That HAS to at least triple and it has to start now. The league is dying a slow death.

[senor_incendiarse 97]

CFL just isn't a good football product to watch anymore. When NFL practice roster players are better and make more money than CFL starters, there's a real problem. It's time to reverse this trend. The league was great when they had guys like Doug Flutie and perennial NFL players. There's no such talent in the CFL anymore. They have to raise ticket prices and funnel the revenue down to the players so the league can attract higher quality players. Better players = better on-field product.

Rich teams should do some sort of revenue sharing to help out poor teams like Saskatchewan. What's team cap at? $2.2-mil or something? That's ridiculous. Star players making $30k a season? Pathetic. That HAS to at least triple and it has to start now. The league is dying a slow death.

I agree that the product hasn't been great the last few years, but I don't attribute it to the talent level. What has to be remembered with Flutie is that he got high money for being an elite CFL QB and during most of his tenure he wasn't generating much interest to go back to the NFL as he wasn't a productive player down there to begin with. The Argo's after they were bought by McNall, Gretzky, and Candy went all out to get Rocket Ismail but that wound up destroying that group, and really don't really see anybody else ditching the NFL for the CFL. The CFL has still provided great NFL players Cameron Wake and Brandon Browner are 2 that have shown to be great NFL players so far. The problem here I think in some peoples eyes is that they are defensive players and the CFL prides itself on offense.

The problem I find with the league now is that defenses have gotten better, points went down, leading to games being brutally officiated with an offensive bias. Last year I saw way too many borderline defensive PI's, many roughing the passers calls that shouldn't be called, never saw an offensive PI even though many should have, saw o-line men get away with some brutal holds and receivers jumping offsides seemed to only be called half the time. To me the league just seemed to think points are exciting and not realize that its how the points were scored that is. Just seemed to me there were too many penalty aided drives that led to points and to me that isn't exciting.

[The_People1 1]

I agree that the product hasn't been great the last few years, but I don't attribute it to the talent level.

The problem I find with the league now is that defenses have gotten better, points went down, leading to games being brutally officiated with an offensive bias.

I don't think it's refereeing at all. There are great football players on NFL practice rosters who make more money holding a clipboard on the sidelines than playing in the CFL. That has to change. The CFL has to start attracting better talent into their league (especially QBs).

[senor_incendiarse 97]

I don't think it's refereeing at all. There are great football players on NFL practice rosters who make more money holding a clipboard on the sidelines than playing in the CFL. That has to change. The CFL has to start attracting better talent into their league (especially QBs).

I don't know how great the practice roster players are, but not every player is right for the CFL. As for QB's kind of hard to bring in great QB as there aren't too many of them period. Last night was proof as a 2nd round talent went top 10 and a 27 year old went first round, that shows teams are desperate. There were 3 teams last year who became screwed when their QB went down (Colts, Chiefs and Bears) and in all 3 cases lost with QB's who likely shouldn't even be in that league. Now the case you might want to make is that maybe Curtis Painter, Tyler Palko and Caleb Hanie would be stars up here, but I don't agree, for one Palko was previously cut from the Als. Secondly, plenty of QB's in recent years have come up with NFL pedigrees only to be massive disappointments, Cleo Lemon, Chris Leak, Cody Pickett, Ken Dorsey, Spurgeon Wynn, Michael Bishop, Mike Mcmahon, Tee Martin, Akili Smith and so on.

If anything I think now its an easier time for the CFL since NFL Europe no longer exists the only real competition they have are the arena leagues and the UFL which is like 4 teams.

[cross16 652]

Man I could not disagree with you guys anymore, i think the CFL over the last few years has been as good as it's been in decades. The crop of Canadian talent that is in th league now, and continuing to come into the league, is the main reason why Canadians arn't just filler anymore. It's helping the import ratio, and without realy any competition the league is attarcting some great players.

Yes coaching is adjusting but I see nothing wrong with that. If you want to watch football jsut to see points scored then sure you are dissapointed, but if you want to watch good football there is zero doubt in my mind you're seeing the best quality of football the CFL has put out in years. I know people use to love the fact that CFL had crazy offenses and put up points, but I think people forget that a big reason why there was so many points being put up is defensive schemese were terrible, and there was blown coverage all over the place. Now to me, the competition level is so high that the chess match aspect of football is high. Officiating is an issue for sure, but to me to say tht the quality of football in the cfl is sliding is just flat out ridiculous.

[gsp393 42]

CFL just isn't a good football product to watch anymore. When NFL practice roster players are better and make more money than CFL starters, there's a real problem. It's time to reverse this trend. The league was great when they had guys like Doug Flutie and perennial NFL players. There's no such talent in the CFL anymore. They have to raise ticket prices and funnel the revenue down to the players so the league can attract higher quality players. Better players = better on-field product.

Rich teams should do some sort of revenue sharing to help out poor teams like Saskatchewan. What's team cap at? $2.2-mil or something? That's ridiculous. Star players making $30k a season? Pathetic. That HAS to at least triple and it has to start now. The league is dying a slow death.

whoa call me crazy but i cant disagree more. everyone thinks the cfl is talentless but it really isn't. the reason a lot of these players didnt make the nfl is because of size issues. the nfl is so focused on big that small players dont get a second look (flutie being the main example being a heisman winner who went undrafted because of size). true a lot of the smaller guys who don't make the nfl would rather get a real job or go to europe instead of being in the cfl but many of them turn to the cfl. recent examples of how the nfl really isnt that much better are ricky williams and cleo lemon.

the salary cap in 2011 was 4.3 million and starting qbs make upwards of 200k. ricky ray was the highest paid player in 09 at $460,000. the minimum salary is around $41,000 but more players make more. average probably closer to 70k.

the roughriders are actually one the cfls richest teams. they have a massive fan base and i have actually heard multiple times they sell more merchandise alone then all the rest of the teams together. if you ever go to sask you will see. any gas station has hat mugs flags all sort of junk. canadian tire in moose jaw summer 2010 for example had basically an aisle set up right at the front of the store full of all sorts of useless merch. anything from rider lawn chairs to a rider stamp for hot dog weiners (im not even joking). they are seriously considering adding an expansion team in saskatoon because there is such a demand for football there (thats all they got).

the whole league is clearly making a decent profit because there are ongoing conversations for expansion teams. there holding games in the maritimes now and apparently the big reason halifax or moncton doesnt have a team is because neither have a suitable stadium.

all in all the cfl is very profitable (hence why the flames bought in) and is making all attempt possible to expand. the nbc broadcast of game 7 stanley cup finals last year only had 8.5 million viewers where as the 98th grey cup had 7.6 million on tsn and rds. the cfl is actually doing a lot better then most think but its that sort of ignorance that a lot of canadians have towards it that kills it.

[another_one_bites_the_dust 64]

whoa call me crazy but i cant disagree more. everyone thinks the cfl is talentless but it really isn't. the reason a lot of these players didnt make the nfl is because of size issues. the nfl is so focused on big that small players dont get a second look (flutie being the main example being a heisman winner who went undrafted because of size). true a lot of the smaller guys who don't make the nfl would rather get a real job or go to europe instead of being in the cfl but many of them turn to the cfl. recent examples of how the nfl really isnt that much better are ricky williams and cleo lemon.

the salary cap in 2011 was 4.3 million and starting qbs make upwards of 200k. ricky ray was the highest paid player in 09 at $460,000. the minimum salary is around $41,000 but more players make more. average probably closer to 70k.

the roughriders are actually one the cfls richest teams. they have a massive fan base and i have actually heard multiple times they sell more merchandise alone then all the rest of the teams together. if you ever go to sask you will see. any gas station has hat mugs flags all sort of junk. canadian tire in moose jaw summer 2010 for example had basically an aisle set up right at the front of the store full of all sorts of useless merch. anything from rider lawn chairs to a rider stamp for hot dog weiners (im not even joking). they are seriously considering adding an expansion team in saskatoon because there is such a demand for football there (thats all they got).

the whole league is clearly making a decent profit because there are ongoing conversations for expansion teams. there holding games in the maritimes now and apparently the big reason halifax or moncton doesnt have a team is because neither have a suitable stadium.

all in all the cfl is very profitable (hence why the flames bought in) and is making all attempt possible to expand. the nbc broadcast of game 7 stanley cup finals last year only had 8.5 million viewers where as the 98th grey cup had 7.6 million on tsn and rds. the cfl is actually doing a lot better then most think but its that sort of ignorance that a lot of canadians have towards it that kills it.

Bang on with that statement. +1

Might be a small league, but it is pretty lucrative. The Riders' made 6.6 million in total net profit last year, which is actually 5.5 million more then the Flames. When you consider only 18 games in a season, that is pretty good. You can buy Riders' merchandise in Mexico and Florida, it's all around.

No where near the parity of that the NFL and CFL had in the 60's but it is still a good league. There are PLENTY of good NFL players that can't adjust to the Canadian game, just as many CFLers don't make it there.

On a side note......back on track with the topic....

SCREW YOU STAMPEDERS!!!!! We gave that one to you!!! lol.....I am still grieving over that loss. No lead is safe!!! WHAT A JOKE!!!!! It was like the Flames were playing the Blackhawks with a 6-1 lead after one period only to lose 7-6 in OT!!!!! Shocker!

But in all honesty, I think the Stamps have a tough time making the playoffs this year with Tate gone. Glenn is just too inconsistent. If they do make the playoffs, it wouldn't surprise me if they were a cross over team. All four in the West in, and maybe the Als and the Tigercats in the east?

[senor_incendiarse 97]

Bang on with that statement. +1

Might be a small league, but it is pretty lucrative. The Riders' made 6.6 million in total net profit last year, which is actually 5.5 million more then the Flames. When you consider only 18 games in a season, that is pretty good. You can buy Riders' merchandise in Mexico and Florida, it's all around.

No where near the parity of that the NFL and CFL had in the 60's but it is still a good league. There are PLENTY of good NFL players that can't adjust to the Canadian game, just as many CFLers don't make it there.

On a side note......back on track with the topic....

SCREW YOU STAMPEDERS!!!!! We gave that one to you!!! lol.....I am still grieving over that loss. No lead is safe!!! WHAT A JOKE!!!!! It was like the Flames were playing the Blackhawks with a 6-1 lead after one period only to lose 7-6 in OT!!!!! Shocker!

But in all honesty, I think the Stamps have a tough time making the playoffs this year with Tate gone. Glenn is just too inconsistent. If they do make the playoffs, it wouldn't surprise me if they were a cross over team. All four in the West in, and maybe the Als and the Tigercats in the east?

Well I don't know if the Riders gave that one away, but I thought if you took away the dumb penalties on the Stamps part, many of which kept Rider drives alive or killed Stamps drives, a few bad drops by Cornish and Forzani, and one bad run allowed. Without those the Stamps were imo clearly the better team, Glenn was very good, Lewis was a beast, and Hughes was great too (could have drawn a few holding calls I thinks). If anything I think it was Stamps mistakes that allowed the Riders to gain a big lead, and even allow them a chance in overtime.

As for Glenn he may be inconsistent, he may make bad throws at bad times, but I honestly can't think of any qb in the league that is in a league above the rest (only cause it seems Calvillo may be reaching his end). In this league right now I'd say defence, running and special teams is winning games more often than great qb's. I'd rather have Glenn over Durant. I think the Stamps need to work on the run game. Cornish hasn't been very good but has had little to work with as the blocking hasn't been good at all, also need to work on getting runs to the outside especially with Coker, with his speed he could be magic in open spaces, but he's not as tough to bring down as Cornish so its a waste to try and run him up the middle if the oline can't make holes.

[Guest happycat]

The Flames must make it to the Grey cup.

[gsp393 42]

So hypothetical question. If Tate isn't ready to come back until the playoffs, and Glenn continues to impress and win who do we go with in the playoffs? The rusty inexperienced but obviously better Tate, or do we go with Glenn who hasn't played in many but still more playoff games then Tate and has been on his game lately but still a lesser qb?

[Guest happycat]

2012 100th Aniversary of the Grey Cup..... Semi finals Calgary vs the Rider nation..I will definatly be watching this tomorrow....

[another_one_bites_the_dust 64]

2012 100th Aniversary of the Grey Cup..... Semi finals Calgary vs the Rider nation..I will definatly be watching this tomorrow....

BYE BYE STAMPS!!!!!!!

[Guest happycat]

Well of course The Riders are saying bye bye..... they lost. So they must go away. ahahahahahahahaahahah Good game though. Man that was an exciting one.

[mike_jones 18]

The Calgary Stampeder's win! What a finish! Amazing!

The Grey Cup is ours!

[Guest happycat]

shhhhh the same rule of angering the Puck Goddess by premature proclimations of victory apply here.... but what a finish... I actually needed that "Clear!!!!" heart attack machine.... last catch and touch down was a total hail Mary Providence from God.

[mike_jones 18]

LOL, it was a close game, but the Stamps prevailed in the end.

Hard fought game, the outcome was deserving!

Bring on the Lions!

[Carty 1,335]

BYE BYE STAMPS!!!!!!!

Maybe your coach should have come up with a better pre-game plan than ``Hit em in the mouth, Hit em in the mouth, Hit em in the mouth, Hit em in the mouth``...

[DL44 265]

What's with the gong show that is the stampeders?

Radio dude hopes the Sask crashes killing 4 players..

Drew concussion controversy..

Then locker room material stating the lions were in prayer meetings hoping Sask won..

Then good old Twitter joke gone bad by Lewis -again- re needing a white girl named Nicole after buying OJ's gloves...

Just extra douche in the locker room Gatorade this fall?

[Carty 1,335]

FORE!!!

[Guest happycat]

I was thinking about that too Carty. Lol.... But neverless, had we not make that hail mary play with like 50 seconds left on the clock. that would have been a disaster. Losing with one point... That would have been freaky.

[DL44 265]

Vicki Hall ‏@vickihallch

Nik Lewis: "I can't apologize every day of my life." http://tinyurl.com/b49jslh #Stamps #CFL

Vicki Hall ‏@vickihallch

Lewis: "Well, TSN did call me the sixth funniest athlete of all time. I try to use my comedic rights, and I guess I went a little too far."

[senor_incendiarse 97]

What's with the gong show that is the stampeders?

Radio dude hopes the Sask crashes killing 4 players..

Drew concussion controversy..

Then locker room material stating the lions were in prayer meetings hoping Sask won..

Then good old Twitter joke gone bad by Lewis -again- re needing a white girl named Nicole after buying OJ's gloves...

Just extra douche in the locker room Gatorade this fall?

For starters Boomers comments should have no reflection on the the teams image and it's unfortunate that it does. He is just a radio host who works for a station that doesn't even cover Stamps games. Also a Bomber fan at heart as most who have listened to him over the years would know. Unfortunately that is never mentioned in when the subject is brought up.

The Tate thing definitely reflects bad, but its an issue that I don't see ever going away unless they make a rule that any player hit in the head has to be evaluated after. Should have thought before doing his interview for sure.

As for locker room material, that's just football nothing new and I'm sure there will be stuff said back and forth in the coming days. There are a couple Leo's who are well known trash talkers too.

As for Lewis, yeah it was another dumb thing he did. Par for the course that every now and then he does that, still love him as a player though all heart and a leader. Not like he's the only one who did something dumb on twitter. In case you forgot http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Lions+Khalif+Mitchell+China+comments+stir+online+criticism/7404402/story.html