As a Winnipeg sports fan, I can remember the term "Lame Duck" with utter disdain. In October 1995, The Winnipeg Jets, a team that I loved to the point of crying for on occasion, entered their last season in Winnipeg, and due to the fact it was clear that Richard Burke and Dr. Steven Gluckstern would move the team after that season, everyone referred to that season as "Lame Duck Season". The Jets, led by Keith Tkachuk, Alexie Zhamnov, Teemu Selanne for half of the year, a rookie named Doan, a goalie named Khabby, and a slew of players with under appreciated value went on to defy the odds, and qualify for the playoffs. To me, though as sad as it was, and remains a scar for me to this day, that was a fitting end to a hockey franchise that was never the best in the league, or even top half of the league, but they were an identity for Winnipeggers. Just making the playoffs was a success in my mind.
Since the departure of the Jets, Winnipeggers have embraced The Winnipeg Blue Bombers as their team. There have been tough times, IE The Jeff Reinbold era, or the losing of two Grey Cup games, that we were probably good enough to win, or Jim Daley's tenure where the team just seemed to have no hope. But for those low points, we had Milt Stegall, who will go down as probably the most beloved athlete this City has ever seen in modern times. There was Khari Jones who recorded back to back record setting seasons. There was an atmosphere at Canad Inns Stadium that made you proud to say "These are the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and they are MY Team". Now fewer and fewer Winnipeggers want to admit that, and whether you thank Mike Kelly, or Lyle Bauer, or Michael Bishop, or a fluke that made this team a laughing stock, its a reality of the current situation.
Since last weeks blog, I've had a few stones thrown at me. Some accuse me of not being a true blue Bomber fan, asking how many games I've been to, to see the team. Some have said that nobody should care about my opinion, because it's just so negative, and nobody needs more negative. To those people I say, you are not "true blue Bomber fans" you are strictly fans of Mike Kelly. And it doesn't make you a better a fan if you go to 9 games and see 6 losses that are painful to watch, you are enabling this franchise to stay the course. If you can't look at this season and admit this guy is a failure, you don't want what is best for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, you want what is best for Lyle Bauer and Mike Kelly. And to those fans I wish you luck, but you will be left heart broken with the results. Google Mike Kelly, he hasn't had good results or even pretty good results anywhere else.
The Bombers have become Winnipeg's newest "Lame Duck Franchise". Its true. David Asper's offer to buy the team has not met a deadline, blamed on the Global recession, and will now have a 6 month extension to secure the funds needed. I personally hope Asper comes through, because he is more than capable of making the Bombers the most well managed franchise in the league, without Lyle Bauer. But as of today, it's anything but a definite. So the team remains community owned, and as long as it does Lyle Bauer will remain club President, with absolutely no fear of accountability from the Board of Directors. Here in lies the problems. The team supposedly cannot afford to make a change at Head Coach, or General Manager even if it wants to. They owe Doug Berry money through next season after firing him on the first year of a three year contract extension. Mike Kelly is the third highest paid football coach in the CFL, behind Wally Buono and John Huffnagel, and his contract carries through the next two seasons after this one. On a side note, I wish that Mike Kelly could deliver even a fraction of the results of Buono and Huffnagel, but it's clear he can't and won't.
So here we are. In dire need of a new and qualified direction for the CFL team. Last week I suggested if we could quote Cher, and Turn Back Time, everything would be better. I was WRONG. Taman is gone, and Bomber fans need to move on. Dave Ritchie is older, and still lovable as a hard ass players coach, that won't build a winner. Khari is a nice guy, but not a solution. And honestly, there won't be an effort to solve this problem, the Community based ownership will not fire Lyle Bauer, and Lyle will not fire Mike Kelly. If he were going to, it would have happened right now. At the end of the season The Bombers won't make the playoffs. In the off-season, The Bombers WILL lose out on every important free agent, whether that free agent be currently on the Bomber roster, or be on the Bombers wish list. Milt Stegall, an ICON in Winnipeg I might add, glanced over the problem yesterday on the TSN broadcast, when he said both Romby Bryant and Arjei Franklin were happy to leave Winnipeg. I think if they quietly asked every member of the Bombers, they'd all agree a change of scenery would be welcomed. Thanks Mike Kelly, you did this. You are the only person who thinks you are a football genius, oops forgot, Lyle Bauer thinks that too. You two didn't contribute to building an East Division power house, you built a complete Lame Duck Franchise that cannot be fixed in the next three years. Nobody, and I repeat NOBODY wants to play for you. Hell, I doubt if Bob Irving wants to interview you at this point.
The Mike Kelly era will be the cherry on the cupcake of the Lyle Bauer era of The Winnipeg Blue Bombers. And just to review, FAILURE!
So a correction from last week, where I said it would be as simple as Taman-Ritchie-Khari, I was WRONG. Those moves would contribute to the Lame Duck status of The Bombers.
Last season, Hamilton put Charlie Taaffe, a far more likable guy than Mike Kelly out of his misery late in the season. They promoted the Offensive Coordinator, Marcel Bellefeuille and they are a team moving in the right direction. I wish Lyle Bauer had the foresight to take a page out of Bob O'Billivich's playbook.
So my newest prediction, Bombers will finish 6-12. That's right, they will win 3 more games this season. The off-season will be spent talking about the few bright spots and the improvement noticed after the Banjo Bowl. Ya that's right, Jim Bender tried to say Winnipeg ran with Montreal yesterday, I guess the beer must have been flowing in the press box in Percival Molson Stadium yesterday. Mike Kelly will coach the team next season. They will suck. David Asper will continue to strive to secure this team, and that will amount to the level of hope that the "Fair Weathered" Bomber fans have.
Was it just me, or did Casey Bramlet do as well as a Quarterback as Mike Kelly has proven to do as a Head Coach?
It's sad. Just sad. I'd rather be a "Fair Weathered Blue Bomber" fan, then ever be mistaken as a "Mike Kelly Loyalist" fan.
So who would make a better coach for this team? Tom Higgins? Danny Barrett? Cortez? The Montreal OC? Does it really matter, it's idle speculation of a turn of events that won't happen. We're stuck with Mike Kelly, so we better learn to live with it.
Those Winnipeggers who want a new identity, try the Goldeyes. My friend Jeff Wallace will help point you in the right direction when it comes to merchandise and tickets.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
10 Years That Changed Local Wrestling
Let me say before I even get started on this blog, some of what I'm saying is a shameless put over, and I don't even believe it myself. So I will read every single one of the blog comments that carve me up, and chuckle that you take this blog and yours truly, Mike Davidson even more seriously than I do at times. So fire away and hit me with your best shot.
10 Years in the Making
Jeff Wallace, aka "The Mecca" Shane Madison and I have decided to have a weekend celebration to commemorate the 10 year milestone of knowing each other. This weekend is scheduled from October 16th to the 19th, in Winnipeg, and will be a ceremony of drinking excessively, going to the bar and playing "spot that jobber", and recognizing ourselves for our contributions over the last 10 years and our influence over local wrestling.
The year was 1999, the month October and one of our favorite, if not the favorite promoter Wayne Stanton was promoting River City Wrestling with weekly events at Bumpers Bar on Ellice in Winnipeg, and bi-weekly events at the historic (by local wrestling terms) Chalmers Community Centre. That's right, 6 events per month. A rookie crew, that consisted of Overkill, Johnny Malibu, Big O, Moses Luke, Ronnie Attitude, Mistress Mona Lott, veteran leader Adam Knight, Chris Parys, Plumber Lou Dooley (later known as Carver Gleason), Silverstreak 2000, and a rotating door at booker than included Dave Levinsky, myself and whoever Wayne wanted to elevate to that job on any given week literally. Business was not taking off the way we hoped.
Enter the graduates of Cyrus The Virus
Wayne told me one weekend, that he had booked the two top graduates of Cyrus' training academy to debut at Bumpers this Monday. He referenced "Playboy" Will Damon and Donnie Dicaprio. He could have told me their names were Rod Shithead and Paul Fucknuts, because I wasn't familiar with them, and was told they would be getting a match against each other so that we could gauge if they were any good. Believing that we needed some new blood to the promotion, I was happy to hear that Rod and Paul were coming in.
So around roles Monday night, and the locker room full of locals (the only thing worse than a room full of locals is a room full of rookie locals), and Rod and Paul arrive for the match, and they bring two guys with them. Jeff Wallace, who would in 2000 become Shane Madison, came into the locker room, which was just a regular hotel room with about 15 people crammed in to get into their spandex wrestling gear (as Wallace will point out, those that actually wore wrestling gear), he introduced himself to me as the booker, seeming very polite, he told me he had just finished training in Windsor under Scotty Libido, Scott D'Amore, Professor Maxwell, and Sabu. I thought to myself with so many trainers that must have been a complete wrestling University, as most people in Winnipeg did 20 hours with Vance Nevada or Stan Saxon (not his choice to debut talent that fast) and were quickly debuting on local shows.
So back to the story, gauging Wallace to have a more impressive physique than the entire locker room, I took him and the other Cyrus trainee, JC Derksen, and said you two guys can wrestle each other as well. I walked over to Big O and Moses Luke, two guys with opposite physical appearances, yet equally unimpressive, and said that I was going to have to cancel a match, and that they would be used in other roles tonight. Like two complete stooges they went running and crying to promote Wayne Stanton, crying that they had been bumped off the card with all that entitlement that they felt. Let me be honest, it's not like I bumped Ric Flair for Lance Von Erich, I considered the move to be an upgrade with an infusion of new blood that might catch on (boy was I wrong that JC Derksen would ever catch on, 10 years later and he's still shitty even in a jobber role).
Following the local stooging, the hotel/locker room quickly had an angry bang at the door. Enter promoter Wayne Stanton, in a trademark burst of angry energy, "You don't bump our guys for Don's trainees. You got me? This is why I think you aren't ready to be a booker. Make sure Owen and Peter (Big O and Moses Luke) are booked." And I did, in a match I hoped would be a complete throw and complete demoralize them for being stooges.
Jeff Wallace had an impressive debut. If I remember it correctly, I let them decide a finish, and Wallace actually laid down for Derksen, probably because the victory meant a hell of lot more for Derksen's shallow existence and pride than Wallace's.
Now the moment of gratification. During the main-event of the night, which likely included Adam Knight vs. Overkill or something of that nature, I went to talk with Wayne. "Well (sucking back noise that Wayne makes which has become a trademark of all imitations of him), I guess you were right putting that Jeff Wallace in the ring, he clearly looked better than the entire crew." He continued, "I think you should probably work with him next week, the people are really behind you as a heel, and you can try and get him over as a babyface."
And that's what we did, working a program of about 4 or 5 matches, that resulted in an infamous "Brass Knuckles in a Box Match" which drew an impressive late night Monday crowd of 100+. Wallace and I became fast friends, and over the next 10 years Wallace would prove to have much influence in my career and the sculpting of Winnipeg Wrestling. Here are many of the ways:
-Wrestlers going to the gym, tanning and owning gear
-TRCW hiring me as booker, and business shifting up for the company and us over taking the long existing CWF as number one Locally.
-After being fired in TRCW, Wallace influenced John Nguyen into hiring me to start a wrestling company that Andrew Shallcross would name Pembina Championship Wrestling. I influenced Nguyen to hire Andrew, and many have threatened to kick me in the nuts for years for that over-sight.
-Wallace would later introduce me to Jeff Dyck, and AWE was born, and quickly became available on Pay Per View throughout Canada, and ran a season of TV on The Fight Network.
-Well still in TRCW, Wallace would work a very hot main-event program vs. TJ Bratt, drawing record setting business. In PCW he would main-event with Will Damon and then Mike Davidson, and then Chi Chi Cruz, to cement his legacy as the top drawing main-event wrestler on a local scale in history.
-A journalistic reputation that has drawn comparison's to Dave Meltzer in his ability to not sugar coat the local wrestling scene.
-An infinite wisdom and definite influence over the young stars of local wrestling today, Danny Duggan, AJ Sanchez, Don Douglas.
-A kind and genuine ambassador for local wrestling, which included interaction with youth (ask Jordan Garber), venues (Cary Paul at Coyotes), and media (especially Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer).
So 10 years has led to this. A party to celebrate 10 years of making the local wrestling business better. It will kick off on October 16, carrying through the entire weekend. Details will follow, but one thing is known, if you know Jeff or myself, it will be at least multiple nights of drinking and telling stories, and sharing some real good memories. That in itself is worthy of attendance. Consider this an open invitation, if you've worked with us, for us, against us, or haven't worked a single match well in your life, you are encouraged to attend.
Check out the Facebook Event page and ensure your attendance to this monumental occasion.
10 Years in the Making
Jeff Wallace, aka "The Mecca" Shane Madison and I have decided to have a weekend celebration to commemorate the 10 year milestone of knowing each other. This weekend is scheduled from October 16th to the 19th, in Winnipeg, and will be a ceremony of drinking excessively, going to the bar and playing "spot that jobber", and recognizing ourselves for our contributions over the last 10 years and our influence over local wrestling.
The year was 1999, the month October and one of our favorite, if not the favorite promoter Wayne Stanton was promoting River City Wrestling with weekly events at Bumpers Bar on Ellice in Winnipeg, and bi-weekly events at the historic (by local wrestling terms) Chalmers Community Centre. That's right, 6 events per month. A rookie crew, that consisted of Overkill, Johnny Malibu, Big O, Moses Luke, Ronnie Attitude, Mistress Mona Lott, veteran leader Adam Knight, Chris Parys, Plumber Lou Dooley (later known as Carver Gleason), Silverstreak 2000, and a rotating door at booker than included Dave Levinsky, myself and whoever Wayne wanted to elevate to that job on any given week literally. Business was not taking off the way we hoped.
Enter the graduates of Cyrus The Virus
Wayne told me one weekend, that he had booked the two top graduates of Cyrus' training academy to debut at Bumpers this Monday. He referenced "Playboy" Will Damon and Donnie Dicaprio. He could have told me their names were Rod Shithead and Paul Fucknuts, because I wasn't familiar with them, and was told they would be getting a match against each other so that we could gauge if they were any good. Believing that we needed some new blood to the promotion, I was happy to hear that Rod and Paul were coming in.
So around roles Monday night, and the locker room full of locals (the only thing worse than a room full of locals is a room full of rookie locals), and Rod and Paul arrive for the match, and they bring two guys with them. Jeff Wallace, who would in 2000 become Shane Madison, came into the locker room, which was just a regular hotel room with about 15 people crammed in to get into their spandex wrestling gear (as Wallace will point out, those that actually wore wrestling gear), he introduced himself to me as the booker, seeming very polite, he told me he had just finished training in Windsor under Scotty Libido, Scott D'Amore, Professor Maxwell, and Sabu. I thought to myself with so many trainers that must have been a complete wrestling University, as most people in Winnipeg did 20 hours with Vance Nevada or Stan Saxon (not his choice to debut talent that fast) and were quickly debuting on local shows.
So back to the story, gauging Wallace to have a more impressive physique than the entire locker room, I took him and the other Cyrus trainee, JC Derksen, and said you two guys can wrestle each other as well. I walked over to Big O and Moses Luke, two guys with opposite physical appearances, yet equally unimpressive, and said that I was going to have to cancel a match, and that they would be used in other roles tonight. Like two complete stooges they went running and crying to promote Wayne Stanton, crying that they had been bumped off the card with all that entitlement that they felt. Let me be honest, it's not like I bumped Ric Flair for Lance Von Erich, I considered the move to be an upgrade with an infusion of new blood that might catch on (boy was I wrong that JC Derksen would ever catch on, 10 years later and he's still shitty even in a jobber role).
Following the local stooging, the hotel/locker room quickly had an angry bang at the door. Enter promoter Wayne Stanton, in a trademark burst of angry energy, "You don't bump our guys for Don's trainees. You got me? This is why I think you aren't ready to be a booker. Make sure Owen and Peter (Big O and Moses Luke) are booked." And I did, in a match I hoped would be a complete throw and complete demoralize them for being stooges.
Jeff Wallace had an impressive debut. If I remember it correctly, I let them decide a finish, and Wallace actually laid down for Derksen, probably because the victory meant a hell of lot more for Derksen's shallow existence and pride than Wallace's.
Now the moment of gratification. During the main-event of the night, which likely included Adam Knight vs. Overkill or something of that nature, I went to talk with Wayne. "Well (sucking back noise that Wayne makes which has become a trademark of all imitations of him), I guess you were right putting that Jeff Wallace in the ring, he clearly looked better than the entire crew." He continued, "I think you should probably work with him next week, the people are really behind you as a heel, and you can try and get him over as a babyface."
And that's what we did, working a program of about 4 or 5 matches, that resulted in an infamous "Brass Knuckles in a Box Match" which drew an impressive late night Monday crowd of 100+. Wallace and I became fast friends, and over the next 10 years Wallace would prove to have much influence in my career and the sculpting of Winnipeg Wrestling. Here are many of the ways:
-Wrestlers going to the gym, tanning and owning gear
-TRCW hiring me as booker, and business shifting up for the company and us over taking the long existing CWF as number one Locally.
-After being fired in TRCW, Wallace influenced John Nguyen into hiring me to start a wrestling company that Andrew Shallcross would name Pembina Championship Wrestling. I influenced Nguyen to hire Andrew, and many have threatened to kick me in the nuts for years for that over-sight.
-Wallace would later introduce me to Jeff Dyck, and AWE was born, and quickly became available on Pay Per View throughout Canada, and ran a season of TV on The Fight Network.
-Well still in TRCW, Wallace would work a very hot main-event program vs. TJ Bratt, drawing record setting business. In PCW he would main-event with Will Damon and then Mike Davidson, and then Chi Chi Cruz, to cement his legacy as the top drawing main-event wrestler on a local scale in history.
-A journalistic reputation that has drawn comparison's to Dave Meltzer in his ability to not sugar coat the local wrestling scene.
-An infinite wisdom and definite influence over the young stars of local wrestling today, Danny Duggan, AJ Sanchez, Don Douglas.
-A kind and genuine ambassador for local wrestling, which included interaction with youth (ask Jordan Garber), venues (Cary Paul at Coyotes), and media (especially Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer).
So 10 years has led to this. A party to celebrate 10 years of making the local wrestling business better. It will kick off on October 16, carrying through the entire weekend. Details will follow, but one thing is known, if you know Jeff or myself, it will be at least multiple nights of drinking and telling stories, and sharing some real good memories. That in itself is worthy of attendance. Consider this an open invitation, if you've worked with us, for us, against us, or haven't worked a single match well in your life, you are encouraged to attend.
Check out the Facebook Event page and ensure your attendance to this monumental occasion.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
In a Perfect Blue and Gold World
Well, wasn't the Banjo Bowl something? I personally consider it a vindication of my opinion on Mike Kelly, and yes, that makes me a "fair weathered" fan. There is only one thing I'd love more than seeing Doug Brown hoist the Grey Cup this year. And that would be Mike Kelly getting fired. And Lyle Bauer for that matter too.
Way back in 2004, Lyle Bauer made the decision to fire Dave Ritchie as Head Coach. It was Dave Ritchie who began the process in 1999 to turn the Winnipeg Blue Bombers around, and Bauer was brought in in 2000, and is widely credited with turning the Blue Bombers Financial books around. This would never have happened if Ritchie, and Brendan Taman had not come to town and did the difficult task of rebuilding a team to respectability that had just completed the tumultuous Reinbold era (to Reinbold's credit, lose or lose, because there was very very few wins, the fans wanted to like this guy, unlike the current coach). In his questionable wisdom, Bauer seemed to push Taman into hiring Jim Daley who was a dismal failure (although it's been speculated that his first choice Jim Barker got cold feet and stayed in Calgary to the shock of Bauer). After Daley, the belief was the team needed an Offensive guy to put an exciting product on the field, and Doug Berry nudged out the more qualified and far more likable Greg Marshall, who agreed to serve as Defensive Coordinator. And despite being Winnipeg's biggest asshole (though Mike Kelly has dwarfed him in that department), Berry had 3 successful seasons all in the playoffs, as Head Coach. So naturally we fire him, and to review last season's brain cramp, hired the 9-9 Edmonton Eskimos' RECEIVERS Coach Mike Kelly.
Mike Kelly has been an even bigger failure than Jeff Reinbold. Remember he inherited a team that won 6 of 8 games last season to not only qualify for the CFL playoffs, but to host a Playoff game (a major accomplishment for the bottom line of the publicly owned franchise). He didn't need to rebuild. What he needed to do was to correct some of the public relations disasters of the Berry tenure. Work with Taman to tweak the roster (something Brendan did very well late last season to turn the ship around and get us to the post season). More than anything, he just had to smile, and passionately promise that the Blue Bombers are his passion, and he's excited to bring the Grey Cup back to Winnipeg.
Instead, what did he do? He puffed out his chest, and shamelessly tooted his own horn at all costs. I'm sure we all remember his bold and critical statement "Nobody touches the quarterbacks but me!". Ironic that the position that is more problematic for the Bombers than anything is QB. But I sympathize for Michael Bishop who has been a capable QB in the CFL, if you've got a gawd awful playbook, even Doug Flutie might look average. Another thing that the bald prick did, was openly tell the media that Kevin Glenn was less than impressive in his impression of the QB depth chart that existed last off-season. Not sure if you've ever played poker, but I don't see the bluff in telling the league that you don't like your starting QB, leaves you with very limited options to trade the guy. So naturally, the team was forced to cut a guy who probably could have brought something back in return if Kelly had sang his praises. I used to sell cars, if I told people that this particular SUV isn't up to the standards of the lot, but I will still sell it to you, most customers would think I had shit for brains (funny, that's what most "fair weathered" fans think of Mike Kelly). So there goes Kevin Glenn to Hamilton, where he started as backup, came off the bench and played exceptionally well, and now is showing some dynamic chemistry with Arland Bruce (apparently Adam Rita called Mike Kelly to inquire if Kelly was interested in Bruce, and Kelly didn't want the attitude that came with the most athletically gifted receiver in the CFL, after all Winnipeg only has room for one outrageous ego, and he's gotta be bald and have a goofy mustache). I could go on and on with the failures of Mike Kelly, Derrick Armstrong, Barrin Simpson, etc, I don't need to rub salt on the wounds of the true Bomber fans who aren't into fair weather. Those fans sit there and live in complete and utter denial. The Dave Petrishen's and Julie Kozak's and Kim Babij's (all of which I love and respect dearly) who sit by the TV or in the stands and believe a miracle will happen and Mike Kelly will wake up tomorrow with a game plan that exceeds those of Wally Buono and John Huffnagel, or Mark Trestman.
Wake up people, Mike Kelly is a FAILURE PERIOD.
Now when you have a very strong opinion, people will say, "Ok wise ass, what would you do, if the Bombers asked you for advice?". And as a fair weathered fan, let me weigh in, on what I would do with the power to run The Winnipeg Football Club. If only in that position one day here's what I would attempt to accomplish.
-Fire Mike Kelly. Not even politely. The press release would read, "The Winnipeg Football Club is pleased to announced the termination of Mike Kelly effective immediately".
-Sever all ties with Lyle Bauer. For every economic step forward the Club has made, he's personally guided the on-field product backwards.
-Hire Brendan Taman as President and General Manager. For 10 years this man did his job in a way that inspired the fan base to believe. He had exceptional media skills (I believe Mike Kelly negatively referred to him as "media darling", funny what happens when you have professional and people skills).
-Encourage Brendan Taman to hire Dave Ritchie as Head Coach with a one to two year term, depending on Ritchie's desire, and assuming he'd come out of retirement. Even if Ritchie is out of touch with aspects of the game, he's like everybody's Grandpa, forgivable, and through a rebuilding phase, would be the perfect guy to sit on the sidelines and groom a successor. He's also very shrewd with the media, and can accomplish wonderful things.
-Hire Khari Jones as Assistant Head Coach, and Offensive Coordinator, and name him as Dave Ritchie's eventual successor. Jones is an icon in Winnipeg, who was appreciated for his two record setting seasons, and his gigantic smile and appreciation for the City. Jones is currently the Ti-Cats QB coach, and they have vastly improved at that position, and Jones deserves the credit. Mike "Pinball" Clemons admitted he wasn't a great football coach, despite a Grey Cup ring, but he was an institution in Toronto, and history will remember his era as Argos head coach favorably.
-Sign Doug Brown to a contract that makes him a Bomber for life. End this ridiculous crap, where fan favorites are being disrespected by under qualified Football coaches.
If I accomplished anyone of those jobs, I'd go to bed that day, feeling like I just slayed a lion, and put the organization on the right track.
This year should not have been a "rebuilding" year for the Blue and Gold, it should have been a year where we aggressively battled Montreal for supremacy in the East. We're currently battling Toronto for the laughing stock of the CFL. Next year and the year following will undoubtedly now be rebuilding years, tough years, years impossible to bring the best free agents to town. Years where you lose an aging vet who wants to hoist a grey cup before they have no years of pro football left. Taman and Ritchie were successful 1o years ago, so I'm sending the SOS back to them.
That's my two cents as a FAIR WEATHERED Blue Bomber fan. And I hate to tell you Mike Kelly loyalists, I just showed you that a good fan, thinks with reason, and not with blind faith.
Way back in 2004, Lyle Bauer made the decision to fire Dave Ritchie as Head Coach. It was Dave Ritchie who began the process in 1999 to turn the Winnipeg Blue Bombers around, and Bauer was brought in in 2000, and is widely credited with turning the Blue Bombers Financial books around. This would never have happened if Ritchie, and Brendan Taman had not come to town and did the difficult task of rebuilding a team to respectability that had just completed the tumultuous Reinbold era (to Reinbold's credit, lose or lose, because there was very very few wins, the fans wanted to like this guy, unlike the current coach). In his questionable wisdom, Bauer seemed to push Taman into hiring Jim Daley who was a dismal failure (although it's been speculated that his first choice Jim Barker got cold feet and stayed in Calgary to the shock of Bauer). After Daley, the belief was the team needed an Offensive guy to put an exciting product on the field, and Doug Berry nudged out the more qualified and far more likable Greg Marshall, who agreed to serve as Defensive Coordinator. And despite being Winnipeg's biggest asshole (though Mike Kelly has dwarfed him in that department), Berry had 3 successful seasons all in the playoffs, as Head Coach. So naturally we fire him, and to review last season's brain cramp, hired the 9-9 Edmonton Eskimos' RECEIVERS Coach Mike Kelly.
Mike Kelly has been an even bigger failure than Jeff Reinbold. Remember he inherited a team that won 6 of 8 games last season to not only qualify for the CFL playoffs, but to host a Playoff game (a major accomplishment for the bottom line of the publicly owned franchise). He didn't need to rebuild. What he needed to do was to correct some of the public relations disasters of the Berry tenure. Work with Taman to tweak the roster (something Brendan did very well late last season to turn the ship around and get us to the post season). More than anything, he just had to smile, and passionately promise that the Blue Bombers are his passion, and he's excited to bring the Grey Cup back to Winnipeg.
Instead, what did he do? He puffed out his chest, and shamelessly tooted his own horn at all costs. I'm sure we all remember his bold and critical statement "Nobody touches the quarterbacks but me!". Ironic that the position that is more problematic for the Bombers than anything is QB. But I sympathize for Michael Bishop who has been a capable QB in the CFL, if you've got a gawd awful playbook, even Doug Flutie might look average. Another thing that the bald prick did, was openly tell the media that Kevin Glenn was less than impressive in his impression of the QB depth chart that existed last off-season. Not sure if you've ever played poker, but I don't see the bluff in telling the league that you don't like your starting QB, leaves you with very limited options to trade the guy. So naturally, the team was forced to cut a guy who probably could have brought something back in return if Kelly had sang his praises. I used to sell cars, if I told people that this particular SUV isn't up to the standards of the lot, but I will still sell it to you, most customers would think I had shit for brains (funny, that's what most "fair weathered" fans think of Mike Kelly). So there goes Kevin Glenn to Hamilton, where he started as backup, came off the bench and played exceptionally well, and now is showing some dynamic chemistry with Arland Bruce (apparently Adam Rita called Mike Kelly to inquire if Kelly was interested in Bruce, and Kelly didn't want the attitude that came with the most athletically gifted receiver in the CFL, after all Winnipeg only has room for one outrageous ego, and he's gotta be bald and have a goofy mustache). I could go on and on with the failures of Mike Kelly, Derrick Armstrong, Barrin Simpson, etc, I don't need to rub salt on the wounds of the true Bomber fans who aren't into fair weather. Those fans sit there and live in complete and utter denial. The Dave Petrishen's and Julie Kozak's and Kim Babij's (all of which I love and respect dearly) who sit by the TV or in the stands and believe a miracle will happen and Mike Kelly will wake up tomorrow with a game plan that exceeds those of Wally Buono and John Huffnagel, or Mark Trestman.
Wake up people, Mike Kelly is a FAILURE PERIOD.
Now when you have a very strong opinion, people will say, "Ok wise ass, what would you do, if the Bombers asked you for advice?". And as a fair weathered fan, let me weigh in, on what I would do with the power to run The Winnipeg Football Club. If only in that position one day here's what I would attempt to accomplish.
-Fire Mike Kelly. Not even politely. The press release would read, "The Winnipeg Football Club is pleased to announced the termination of Mike Kelly effective immediately".
-Sever all ties with Lyle Bauer. For every economic step forward the Club has made, he's personally guided the on-field product backwards.
-Hire Brendan Taman as President and General Manager. For 10 years this man did his job in a way that inspired the fan base to believe. He had exceptional media skills (I believe Mike Kelly negatively referred to him as "media darling", funny what happens when you have professional and people skills).
-Encourage Brendan Taman to hire Dave Ritchie as Head Coach with a one to two year term, depending on Ritchie's desire, and assuming he'd come out of retirement. Even if Ritchie is out of touch with aspects of the game, he's like everybody's Grandpa, forgivable, and through a rebuilding phase, would be the perfect guy to sit on the sidelines and groom a successor. He's also very shrewd with the media, and can accomplish wonderful things.
-Hire Khari Jones as Assistant Head Coach, and Offensive Coordinator, and name him as Dave Ritchie's eventual successor. Jones is an icon in Winnipeg, who was appreciated for his two record setting seasons, and his gigantic smile and appreciation for the City. Jones is currently the Ti-Cats QB coach, and they have vastly improved at that position, and Jones deserves the credit. Mike "Pinball" Clemons admitted he wasn't a great football coach, despite a Grey Cup ring, but he was an institution in Toronto, and history will remember his era as Argos head coach favorably.
-Sign Doug Brown to a contract that makes him a Bomber for life. End this ridiculous crap, where fan favorites are being disrespected by under qualified Football coaches.
If I accomplished anyone of those jobs, I'd go to bed that day, feeling like I just slayed a lion, and put the organization on the right track.
This year should not have been a "rebuilding" year for the Blue and Gold, it should have been a year where we aggressively battled Montreal for supremacy in the East. We're currently battling Toronto for the laughing stock of the CFL. Next year and the year following will undoubtedly now be rebuilding years, tough years, years impossible to bring the best free agents to town. Years where you lose an aging vet who wants to hoist a grey cup before they have no years of pro football left. Taman and Ritchie were successful 1o years ago, so I'm sending the SOS back to them.
That's my two cents as a FAIR WEATHERED Blue Bomber fan. And I hate to tell you Mike Kelly loyalists, I just showed you that a good fan, thinks with reason, and not with blind faith.
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