West Final

[WestCoastJoe]

Turnng into a bit of a stomping. The energy of youth -- Jones.

Wally wants another Cup? I guess 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 did not happen. We are still a contender, in an alternate universe.

[Larry Key]

I find it really interesting that 2 of Edmonton's offensive line are BC Lions castoffs, Justin Sorenson and Andrew Jones. Did the Lions do the wrong thing drafting those guys or did they bail on them too soon? Or did they need a different organization to fine tune them to be starters?

Just wondering.....

Who knows...but we sure don't have a great record in developing Canadian offensive lineman.

You would think this game would be a defensive battle with the two best defenses and two best defensive minds in the CFL lin Jones and Stubler. Yet Jones defense has given up over 250 yards in the first half. Calgary has given up just under 200 yards but too many points.

Two very good offensive game plans are enabling both offences to move the football...impressive yardage by Calgary with a makeshift line. The Calgary turnover that led to an Emonton td. is the difference maker right now.

Nobody wants to come to the left coast with Buono running the show.

[Blitz]

Two of the best defenses in the CFL and its an offensive fireworks show! But the again, they both have well coached offences too.

[Blitz]

Wow, Calgary scores a touchdown and is ready to go for the onside kick when they are called for an offensive lineman hands to the face call......and its game over.

Too bad about the penalty....it would have made it a really exciting ending.

Another excellent playoff game. Congrats to Edmonton. Ed Hervey had brought in good players and let Jones coach. Hufnagel ends his career as HC of Calgary and did an outstanding job.

Edmonton and Ottawa in the Grey Cup!!

[SammyGreene]

Eskimos 45 points today. Lions ZERO offensive touchdowns in 3 games versus Calgary this season. Absolutely brutal.

[PigSkin_53]

When I told you lionbackers Wally made a grave mistake letting Reilly go from second string roster , and you all said look at him, he is no better off the our vaunted Lulay, injured as well...what does it matter if we still had him or not?

I submitted to you then that Buono's judgment was flawed, and even more compromised now than then...something must be done to deal with the cancer that eats away at the heart of the Lions soul, and his name is Pasquale.

We must cut out that cancer that consumes our team now!

[Robbie]

This will be the Eskimos first trip to the Grey Cup in 10 years so understandably, there are rather hungry and they decided to hoist their trophy.


Incidentally, the last time there was a West Division Trophy presentation in Commonwealth Stadium was also the last time the older version was presented, in 2003.

[Sir Purrcival]

When I told you lionbackers Wally made a grave mistake letting Reilly go from second string roster , and you all said look at him, he is no better off the our vaunted Lulay, injured as well...what does it matter if we still had him or not?

I submitted to you then that Buono's judgment was flawed, and even more compromised now than then...something must be done to deal with the cancer that eats away at the heart of the Lions soul, and his name is Pasquale.

We must cut out that cancer that consumes our team now!

What is done is done. It was going to be a tough job to sign both of them. No one could have known just how bad Lulay was going to get hurt subsequently and he had won us a Grey Cup not too long before. I'm not much of a Buono fan either but I am going to cut him some slack on that one. Bear in mind that Reilly hasn't exactly been injury free in his time with the Esks. Lulay has just as much heart as Reilly does IMO so in the end it looks mostly like we should have zigged instead of zagged. A 50-50 shot. Many of us currently feel that our problems run much deeper than QB; I'm not sure it would have made a difference who we kept as pivot. We have been breaking QB's as fast as we have made them here for a lot of years. Had Reilly stayed, he would have most likely been the next in a long list of abused QB's who languished behind a substandard Oline.

[sj-roc]

When I told you lionbackers Wally made a grave mistake letting Reilly go from second string roster , and you all said look at him, he is no better off the our vaunted Lulay, injured as well...what does it matter if we still had him or not?

I submitted to you then that Buono's judgment was flawed, and even more compromised now than then...something must be done to deal with the cancer that eats away at the heart of the Lions soul, and his name is Pasquale.

We must cut out that cancer that consumes our team now!

What is done is done. It was going to be a tough job to sign both of them. No one could have known just how bad Lulay was going to get hurt subsequently and he had won us a Grey Cup not too long before. I'm not much of a Buono fan either but I am going to cut him some slack on that one. Bear in mind that Reilly hasn't exactly been injury free in his time with the Esks. Lulay has just as much heart as Reilly does IMO so in the end it looks mostly like we should have zigged instead of zagged. A 50-50 shot. Many of us currently feel that our problems run much deeper than QB; I'm not sure it would have made a difference who we kept as pivot. We have been breaking QB's as fast as we have made them here for a lot of years. Had Reilly stayed, he would have most likely been the next in a long list of abused QB's who languished behind a substandard Oline.

Besides, who's say Jennings doesn't go on to play for us for years to come, which is something we might have missed out on had Reilly stayed. We might have ended up jettisoning him in favour of Reilly and a few years later play the same guessing game. At the same time, time will tell if Jennings's fate is any different from his oft-injured predecessors.

[TheLionKing]

When I told you lionbackers Wally made a grave mistake letting Reilly go from second string roster , and you all said look at him, he is no better off the our vaunted Lulay, injured as well...what does it matter if we still had him or not?

I submitted to you then that Buono's judgment was flawed, and even more compromised now than then...something must be done to deal with the cancer that eats away at the heart of the Lions soul, and his name is Pasquale.

We must cut out that cancer that consumes our team now!

There are a lot of posters that wants Buono but unfortunately Braley has given him a job for life and Skulsky neither has the will nor the guts to fire Buono. Anybody else not named Buono would have been fired long time ago for the Lions decline.

[SammyGreene]

As a Lions fan you have to come out of yesterday's Western Final feeling pretty discouraged.

Eskimos are now 26-10 in two seasons under Chris Jones. He may come across as arrogant at times but the CFL's version of Jerry Glanville has brought a level of swagger to that team too. They have gone soaring past the Lions. 45 points and over 400 yards of offence against a team the Lions couldn't muster even one offensive touchdown in fricken 12 quarters of football, even in a meaning nothing exhibition type game.

A little more salt in the wound was provided by Mike Reilly. He said he wasn't not at all surprised at Calgary's late comeback attempt and has the world of respect for them. Then concluded his interview by saying a matter of factly these two teams will be meeting in next year's Western Final too.

Meanwhile the Lions have regressed each of the last 4 seasons and have been dominated in their last two playoff games.

[Sir Purrcival]

Everything has a cycle to it. Hopefully, we are near the bottom of our journey. It really does underscore how important it is to have the right leadership in place. Wally Buono has done some great things for this team over the years but what is happening now is eerily familiar to what happened to him in Calgary. He was of course struggling with a management that was over it's head I know but it also seemed as though Buono's act and style had gotten stale. A number of disappointing finishes to seasons where the Stamps were expected to take it all and failed. Excuses and evasions were the order of the day. Sometimes, things need to change to stay fresh. Buono wouldn't be beyond helping other teams in this league (Sask, Bombers for ex.) but a fresh approach seems to be required here. Too many players both past and present that feel like they are basically chess pieces that are at the whim of one person and who can be sacrificed at anytime as soon as their usefulness begins to wane.

[WestCoastJoe]

As a Lions fan you have to come out of yesterday's Western Final feeling pretty discouraged.

Eskimos are now 26-10 in two seasons under Chris Jones. He may come across as arrogant at times but the CFL's version of Jerry Glanville has brought a level of swagger to that team too. They have gone soaring past the Lions. 45 points and over 400 yards of offence against a team the Lions couldn't muster even one offensive touchdown in fricken 12 quarters of football, even in a meaning nothing exhibition type game.

A little more salt in the wound was provided by Mike Reilly. He said he wasn't not at all surprised at Calgary's late comeback attempt and has the world of respect for them. Then concluded his interview by saying a matter of factly these two teams will be meeting in next year's Western Final too.

Meanwhile the Lions have regressed each of the last 4 seasons and have been dominated in their last two playoff games.

The writing on the wall seems clear, to some anyway. Others might still dream of another Grey Cup.

This fan does not really like Chris Jones' style or manner, but he seems to be one helluva coach.

Other side of the coin is Rick Campbell. Almost seems innocuous, but is apparently one helluva coach also.

[TheLionKing]

Everything has a cycle to it. Hopefully, we are near the bottom of our journey. It really does underscore how important it is to have the right leadership in place. Wally Buono has done some great things for this team over the years but what is happening now is eerily familiar to what happened to him in Calgary. He was of course struggling with a management that was over it's head I know but it also seemed as though Buono's act and style had gotten stale. A number of disappointing finishes to seasons where the Stamps were expected to take it all and failed. Excuses and evasions were the order of the day. Sometimes, things need to change to stay fresh. Buono wouldn't be beyond helping other teams in this league (Sask, Bombers for ex.) but a fresh approach seems to be required here. Too many players both past and present that feel like they are basically chess pieces that are at the whim of one person and who can be sacrificed at anytime as soon as their usefulness begins to wane.

I don't see us as hitting the bottom yet as long as the current management team is still in place.

[David]

Watching both Finals, it really hit home how far we still have to go to get to the Final 4. I didn't see those teams' QB run for their life, have punts blocked, take brain-locked penalties at key moments, drop linebackers into coverage. I did see some sophisticated offensive formations, some interesting risk on 3rd and short (from Edmonton) out of punt formation, screen passes to the running back, and effective blitzing techniques.

While we can definitely improve in a few areas, there isn't a massive chasm talent-wise between those teams and ours. It's coaching and systems that appear to be plaguing our BC Lions. It's 2015, not 1998. Teams have racheted up their coaching levels and "X's" and "O's" several notches.

Rest assured, our situation won't improve with Wally on the sidelines either if that is indeed the plan. Hell, he doesn't even wear a headset!


DH