2023-2024 off-season

[bone]

I'd be shocked if Katz wanted to buy the Elks

If it gets his hooks into Commonwealth Stadium in any capacity, he most certainly would as more acts are going into there every year it seems.

[Hugoagogo]

[Esks4ever]

I'd be shocked if Katz wanted to buy the Elks

I'd be as well. However with his Oilers purchase used a stepping stone for his Downtown District - He could buy them cheap - make a stadium - there is still a bunch o land there he could use for a small stadium ( unless theres plans already) and have the Elks part of the ice district complex ( how cool would that be if we where still called The Eskimos - talk about fitting in lol) or if he has any other district dreams he could add the Elks and a small new stadium as a center piece..

I dont see it happening - but he is a weird cat so who knows....

[Esks4ever]

If it gets his hooks into Commonwealth Stadium in any capacity, he most certainly would as more acts are going into there every year it seems.

you'd think hed outright buy CW and the Elks ? Not enough open land for a ice district 2.0 lol

[Childress]

Lawler compares the Bombers to the Elks:

“So many things (were different), from the coaching to the preparation to the attention to detail,” Lawler remarked during his Grey Cup media day availability in Hamilton. “Chris Jones is a fiery guy. He believes in the true motto of pro football: if you don’t do your job, you’re gonna be gone. I believe Coach O’Shea values the team unit, brotherhood, and family, and when he’s coaching, he just brings a different component than my man Chris Jones.”

“This is a team, there’s no Is. In Edmonton, there were a lot of individuals and a lot of guys that didn’t really come together,” he told 3DownNation. “A lot of guys that didn’t love their teammates as much as guys love their teammates here. It’s kind of hard to do that when your roster is always moving week after week.”

“Do I like them both? Yes, I do. Both coaching styles are very unique and ones that I could get used to,” the receiver explained.

“I tell guys this: if Chris Jones would have gotten me at the beginning of my CFL career, I’d probably be a Chris Jones guy because I was the fieriest dude coming in, chip on my shoulder. But by the grace of God, he landed me here in this organization with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Coach O’Shea took me under his wing, let alone all the locker room and the guys that he mentors, too. It was very crucial to my development as a football player but also as a young man.”

Lawler is trying not to be critical of Jones, but I don't think he was successful.

[Sectionq]

Jones's record since coming back to Edmonton hasn't been very good so clearly he's not doing something right.

[Esks4ever]

I like Jones values "brotherhood" how many times have we heard players would go through walls for him? IMO he is/was under intense pressure here being GM/HC and to fix a losing club quickly that there was massive turn over in players.

I agree lots of individuals on the Elks.. but once the group he likes is found it'll be a team. Its hard for a team to gel when the roster is a massive turn over.

IMO if he was just HC/DC we'd see a more "gelled" team. Too many Hats = less brotherhood

[Childress]

I think Jones has a dozen guys that are his guys that he takes care of and they love him. The rest of the team are completely expendable and he is always looking for the next player to replace them.

Good teams commit to players at some point and work at making them better and better. As far back as when Jones was in Calgary, he had 6 new starters every year on defense and most of them didn't last the season.

[bone]

I think Jones has a dozen guys that are his guys that he takes care of and they love him. The rest of the team are completely expendable and he is always looking for the next player to replace them.

Good teams commit to players at some point and work at making them better and better. As far back as when Jones was in Calgary, he had 6 new starters every year on defense and most of them didn't last the season.

Reading those quotes, I think the difference boils down to Jones' style is the type that creates players that will go through a wall for their coaches. O'Shea's creates players that will go through a wall for their teammates. Both can be very effective at generating championships, but one is likely more generate long term sustained success.

That said, even the first can also create longer term success once you have a collection of players all on the same page starting out at a young enough age to develop a core that will become dominant long term, but the second allows alot more contributions early on from a new player. In a league as nomadic as the CFL, I think I'd rather have the latter instead of the former as it's damn near impossible to keep a large core together for more than a couple years in the CFL.

[Sectionq]

Reading those quotes, I think the difference boils down to Jones' style is the type that creates players that will go through a wall for their coaches. O'Shea's creates players that will go through a wall for their teammates. Both can be very effective at generating championships, but one is likely more generate long term sustained success.

That said, even the first can also create longer term success once you have a collection of players all on the same page starting out at a young enough age to develop a core that will become dominant long term, but the second allows alot more contributions early on from a new player. In a league as nomadic as the CFL, I think I'd rather have the latter instead of the former as it's damn near impossible to keep a large core together for more than a couple years in the CFL.

Is there really a debate as to which style works better? The Bombers are going to their 4th straight Grey Cup. Might have been 5 but Covid cancelled 2020. The Bombers have a pretty good chance to win their 3rd Cup in the last 4 championship games.

I would think creating a team atmosphere where all the players are together and playing for one another is the way to do it vs creating a team that focuses on the individual trying to impress the coach. A player can fly around trying to make individual plays to look good for the coach but leave your teammates out to dry. IMO, it's pretty hard to argue with the Bombers results.

[Hugoagogo]

Reading those quotes, I think the difference boils down to Jones' style is the type that creates players that will go through a wall for their coaches. O'Shea's creates players that will go through a wall for their teammates. Both can be very effective at generating championships, but one is likely more generate long term sustained success.

Yes, history has shown this. I'm more concerned about GM Jones than I am Coach Jones. I think part of O'Shea's success is he's not the guy negotiating contracts with the players.

[Looner]

Is there really a debate as to which style works better? The Bombers are going to their 4th straight Grey Cup. Might have been 5 but Covid cancelled 2020. The Bombers have a pretty good chance to win their 3rd Cup in the last 4 championship games.

I would think creating a team atmosphere where all the players are together and playing for one another is the way to do it vs creating a team that focuses on the individual trying to impress the coach. A player can fly around trying to make individual plays to look good for the coach but leave your teammates out to dry. IMO, it's pretty hard to argue with the Bombers results.

As of today there is no debate but look at O'Sheas first 2 years as a coach in Winnipeg and he went 7-11 in 2014 followed by 5-13 in 2015 and then started the 2016 season with a 1-4 record and people were calling for his head. Luckily for the Bombers fans they stuck with him and the rest is history.

Year 3 for CJ is a HUGE year. Its where we'll see the results of continuity in the ops side start to pay off or it'll become clear that the opposite is true.

[adb]

Who knows what other groups or individuals could be interested. I'm sure there'd be several as you don't have be a gigantic entity to be a CFL owner, so look at the owners of some of the largest Alberta based companies. Actually, I could have seen Victor Cui as an owner before this all went down.

However, if OEG is interested, I doubt there'd be anyone that could compete with a bid from OEG.

I guess the team's poor financial status is having consequences... https://3downnation.com/2023/11/23/e...hip-structure/

[Hugoagogo]

[Sectionq]

I am glad that the team is finally taking an actual look at how they are doing things including ownership. Whatever they are doing, is not working and hasn't been working for years. Business side, they have had challenges for a while. From ticket pricing, to food, to the game experience, to how they have handled former staffers, interaction with fans, etc. The team has pissed off a lot of people in a variety of ways that have drove fans away. They haven't been bringing in the right people to run the team which trickles down to the football ops who aren't bringing in the right coaches or the right players, which results in a poor on field product that further drives people away.

We have all talked about the BOG for years. How they aren't doing a good job and are making bad decisions for years. They need to do something different and a private owner is going to do things differently because that person has their own money on the line. Status quo won't be accepted. People involved with football ops are going to be asked questions when things aren't going well. A good example is this year. The team was lousy last year and lost 9 games in a row. They were BAD from game 1. The offensive scheme was BAD from game 1 and was even bad in the preseason. The QB play was really bad from game 1 and into the preseason. Yet Jones and McAdoo were allowed to do the same thing, play the same QB, over and over again for 9 games in a row. The board said nothing. Why didn't they try something else after you lose 4, 5, 6 games in a row and can't do anything? So maybe a private owner is calling Jones in and asking him questions after you lose your 5th game in a row with nothing happening and no improvement in sight.

A private owner at times might be willing to write a cheque when needed to fix a problem.