2024 Season Week 1

[SammyGreene]

Does it get any better than the Bombers getting their ass kicked at home by the defending champs?

Collaros didn’t take a snap in the pre-season and it’s been evident. Cant say enough how much Darnell Sankey means to the Als defence. Monster game for Tyson Philpot wearing his dad’s #6.

[David]

In addition to some WD40, Bombers sorely need some speed at receiver. They all seem to be possession guys. Als jumping routes all night. Schoen, Walitarsky, etc.

The arrogance to hold starters back all preseason when the West is going to be super tight this year. The ass-kicking is kind of what they deserved.


DH

[Toppy Vann]

Great news for BC.

Montreal came to play and Noel Thorpe's DEF doesn't seem to have lost a step but the same can't be said for the Bombers - at least in this game.
They had a chip on their shoulders I think as they won the GC and had to play away for their first game. BUT they look like the real deal. Jason Maas and Danny Macocia have done a good job and it looks like Maas is not going unhinged as he's fiery but I'm sure realizes a coach out of control isn't making good decisions nor keeping the culture right.

It sure looks questionable that the Bombers didn't have those big guns working at game speed in TC and Collaros' passes seemed off. Were some hurt, I don't know.

Wally was mentioned last night as wanting to move on a year earlier rather than a year late. BUT, I don't think that is the Bombers problem yet. They'll be better.

Cody Fajardo just might be that QB who having won a GC elevates his game to greater consistency.

Darnell Sankey was apparently convinced to since last year with the Als due to Shawn Lemon. For the league's sake I'm hoping Lemon gets let off as that was a long time ago in football years and I'd like the Commissioner to stop talking about it as it gives the story legs.

I'm a huge Tyson Philpot fan and IIRC Jim Barker said with Austin Mack gone, Philpot will get an elevated role.
Now he just needs to work on slowing down his interview replies.

[Toppy Vann]

Is this an issue or ....?

No other pro league is doing this.

You can look at Castillo whining or letting chipped ball psych him out but he's apparently not alone in believing it affects the ball in flight.

We know that pitchers in baseball loading a ball or shaving down a side of it changed the flight of a ball in a mere 60' 6" in pro baseball.

Sean Whyte, who was named a CFL all-star with the B.C. Lions last season, took to social media to provide his explanation for the problem with how the chipped balls fly.

“It’s like having a wheel imbalance,” Whyte wrote. “As the wheel rotates, it tumbles if not balanced. They added a chip to just beside the laces. As the ball rotates, it loses its centre of gravity due to the weight of the chip. Pretty obvious the ball won’t travel correctly.”

https://3downnation.com/2024/06/07/serg ... s-defence/

[don corleone]

Is this an issue or ....?

No other pro league is doing this.

You can look at Castillo whining or letting chipped ball psych him out but he's apparently not alone in believing it affects the ball in flight.

Coming from the guy who took personal leave to go home during camp rather than stick around and figure out the new ball it bears less merit imo. Could be there was an emergency at home but none the less the time away seems to have impacted his game. Cote for Montreal seemed to do okay.

Makes me laugh Bomber fans are now calling for Stubblefield to be suspended. Hearing Lawler may be out as well. Terrible challenge by O'Shea unless he thought he was going to get the call as the replay clearly showed no infringement. I expect them to have a tough time with Ottawa next week.

[maxlion]

I would defer to those more knowledgeable than me as to whether the chips could have any measurable effect on field goal efficiency. However, someone on riderfans posted that the balls used for field goals last night did not have chips. If true, that would be a bit embarrassing for Castillo!

[Hambone]

Is this an issue or ....?

No other pro league is doing this.

You can look at Castillo whining or letting chipped ball psych him out but he's apparently not alone in believing it affects the ball in flight.

We know that pitchers in baseball loading a ball or shaving down a side of it changed the flight of a ball in a mere 60' 6" in pro baseball.

Sean Whyte, who was named a CFL all-star with the B.C. Lions last season, took to social media to provide his explanation for the problem with how the chipped balls fly.

“It’s like having a wheel imbalance,” Whyte wrote. “As the wheel rotates, it tumbles if not balanced. They added a chip to just beside the laces. As the ball rotates, it loses its centre of gravity due to the weight of the chip. Pretty obvious the ball won’t travel correctly.”

https://3downnation.com/2024/06/07/serg ... s-defence/

Apparently the USFL was using balls with chips then stopped. The NFL has been using a specific set of footballs for kicking, nicknamed K-balls, since 1999. The reason they instituted that was because kickers would get their hands on the game balls and go thru great lengths to soften them up for kicking. While regular game balls might be stored by the home team the K-balls get shipped directly into the hands of the game officials 2 hours 15 minutes prior to kickoff.

https://www.sportscasting.com/how-is-th ... rst-place/

In Castillo's comments he said the chips had no effect on thrown balls and spiralling punts as they are spinning in a spiral, He claims it's in end over end kicks that the chip has an effect as the chip is a bit offset from the laces which as we all know the kicker wants facing away from them i.e. directly on the other side of the ball from where their foot makes contact. One would think if the laces being offset from that position didn't make a difference the kicker wouldn't care how the ball was placed as long as they weren't kicking the laces. Any placekick is going to rotate end over end as opposed to spiral. As Castillo alluded to Aussie kickers can also be impacted as Aussie punters tend to drop the ball nose pointed down on an angle creating an end over end rotation. Anybody who has watched Aussie footy knows this is the way they kick the ball down there. This as opposed to North American punters who like to drop it flat to get a spiral effect.

I have no idea how much these microchips weigh but I suppose using Whyte's example if a two or three ounce weight on a tire and rim weighing 50 pounds can make a noticeable difference on how it spins or rotates how much weight would it take for a microchip offset from the laces to impact the end over end trajectory of a 14 to 15 ounce football?

[David]

A rather sloppy affair Friday night in Calgary in which the Tiger-Cats fell to the Stamps, 32-24. BLM's return to the Stampede City was, in my opinion, "wildly uneven." He would pass for 300 yards, but only had 77 yards in the first half. Yes, there were some egregious drops by the Hamilton receivers (Tim White had a poor outing) but some balls that sailed high, particularly in the first half.

I thought Jake Maier was very sharp, moving his feet and throwing accurately downfield. That said, Hamilton's pass rush was quite weak and their pass coverages were abysmal. Their Oline looks to be strong, opening holes for ex-Lion James Butler, who had a monster night with 119 rushing yards on 13 carries.

An announced crowd of 19,741 took in the contest.


DH

[Hambone]

A rather sloppy affair Friday night in Calgary in which the Tiger-Cats fell to the Stamps, 32-24. BLM's return to the Stampede City was, in my opinion, "wildly uneven." He would pass for 300 yards, but only had 77 yards in the first half. Yes, there were some egregious drops by the Hamilton receivers (Tim White had a poor outing) but some balls that sailed high, particularly in the first half.

I thought Jake Maier was very sharp, moving his feet and throwing accurately downfield. That said, Hamilton's pass rush was quite weak and their pass coverages were abysmal. Their Oline looks to be strong, opening holes for ex-Lion James Butler, who had a monster night with 119 rushing yards on 13 carries.

An announced crowd of 19,741 took in the contest.


DH

I thought after getting off to a slow start BLM settled down to look much closer to the old BLM than the one of the past 2 or 3 years. He followed up an 8 for 15 first half by completing 19 of 23 in the 2nd half. He showed no problems making all the throws, showed good pocket presence making good decisions to either throw the ball away, scramble to buy more time or take off down field with it. They didn't get the W but the Ticats must feel very encouraged by Bo's overall performance.

His first half numbers could have been quite a bit better if not for some drops. White dropped a nicely delivered ball behind coverage for what should have been a sure 47 yard TD. Squires had a drop on a 35 yard attempt down to Stamps 5. Despite having to climb the ladder the ball still hit him right in the hands head high. They say you're supposed to look the ball right into your hands. If not for Squires' face mask that one would have hit him right between the eyes. Kiondre Smith also flat out dropped a perfectly delivered ball on a crossing route with lots of room for more YAC yards. Those 3 drops alone could have added close to another 100 yards to Bo's total of 300 and pushed his completion percentage up from 71.0% to 78.9%.

[B.C.FAN]

Bo overthrew a few receivers but key drops cost the Ticats the game. Tim White is usually reliable but I don’t know if the Ticats have enough other quality receivers to contend.

[SammyGreene]

I thought Jake Maier was very sharp, moving his feet and throwing accurately downfield. That said, Hamilton's pass rush was quite weak and their pass coverages were abysmal. Their Oline looks to be strong, opening holes for ex-Lion James Butler, who had a monster night with 119 rushing yards on 13 carries.

An announced crowd of 19,741 took in the contest.


DH

By a couple of months over Dru Brown, Meier is still the youngest starting QB in the league at 27 and Dickenson obviously hoping his patience sticking with him will pay off. Meier is something like 2-12 against the Bombers and the Lions since taking over the starting reins in 2022. Both wins were against B.C. after they had already all but locked up 2nd place.

But he will have something to prove next Saturday in what will be a short week for the Lions.

[don corleone]

Bo overthrew a few receivers but key drops cost the Ticats the game. Tim White is usually reliable but I don’t know if the Ticats have enough other quality receivers to contend.

I thought Steven Dunbar looked solid although not highly targeted.

[TheLionKing]

Saskatchewan erased a 13 point deficit by outscoring Edmonton 21-3 in the 4th quarter to win their season opener 29-21

[Hambone]

By a couple of months over Dru Brown, Meier is still the youngest starting QB in the league at 27 and Dickenson obviously hoping his patience sticking with him will pay off.

For now, at least until Kelly gets reinstated, Cameron Dukes holds that distinction at 25.

[Hambone]

Saskatchewan erased a 13 point deficit by outscoring Edmonton 21-3 in the 4th quarter to win their season opener 29-21

Once again EE managed to self-destruct late in a game vs the Riders. After staking themselves a 21-8 lead a minute and a half into the 4th they proceeded to cough up 2 fumbles and an interception and missed a FG in their next 4 possessions. Riders would score 3 TDs off the 3 turnovers.