A year after the big Ray deal, Thanks Again Edmonton..we love you!!!!

[1argoholic]

I'd personally like to thank Edmonton today which is the one year anniversary of the Ricky Ray trade. Fans might be mad at Tillman but many thought Ricky was done and being paid to much at the time. We in Toronto understand what a great qb can do for a team and that they are very hard to come by. Once again Edmonton, THANKS!!!!!! Look at the bright side, you'll have a solid kicker in Shaw for 20 years.

[ArgoRavi]

I'd personally like to thank Edmonton today which is the one year anniversary of the Ricky Ray trade. Fans might be mad at Tillman but many thought Ricky was done and being paid to much at the time. We in Toronto understand what a great qb can do for a team and that they are very hard to come by. Once again Edmonton, THANKS!!!!!! Look at the bright side, you'll have a solid kicker in Shaw for 20 years.

You should post this over on esksfans.com.

[294life]

and get banned after one post. lol.

[1argoholic]

That would be funny. I tried to get a Thank You Edmonton chant going at Grey Cup.

[294life]

only the posters on esksfans had the smarts to know the real value of Ricky Ray to their credit. As you said a lot of folk probably thought like Tillman that Ray was past his prime but I credit Milo for getting him adjusted to his Trestman style offence. Kackert is a free agent but as a journalist mentioned he's better off staying in toronto as he would be most productive with that style of offence.

[1argoholic]

Plus I'm hoping to get that Kack Attack tee shirt for Christmas so he better stay.

[hugoagogo]

Looking back, there were two things key in making this trade happen; 1. Eric Tillman's ego being so huge that he wanted to prove he could trade a franchise player and not miss a beat (what a dumbarse); 2. Barker having the insight to realize that Tillman was going to trade Ray one way or another. Barker got amazing value in this trade and played the trade perfectly.

Yes, most Esks fans knew this was a bad deal any way you slice it. It was painful to see our hall of fame QB leave the Green & Gold after he took a pay cut to show his loyalty to the club. I'm happy the Argos won the Cup this year. Happy for the fans, happy for Ray, happy for Jason Barnes & Maurice Mann - really happy for Jason Maas (that was another outstanding team guy who got screwed by ET).

Enjoy the off season guys - it will be interesting to see how mgmt. tweaks things for 2013. And we'll all be gunning for you starting in July :)

[294life]

In spite of Ray's absence, esks could have finished 12-6 this year. The loss in Winnipeg, the labor day back to backs , the home loss to BC. A lot of close games while with Ray the Argos finished only 2 games better in a weaker division. Obviously the esks were on the losing end of the deal but I wouldn't say it was by that much. Had Sherritt been healthy in east semi it might have been a closer game.

[hugoagogo]

Obviously the esks were on the losing end of the deal but I wouldn't say it was by that much.
If you want to trade Ray back to us for Shaw, Jyles and a pick - give us a call. We wouldn't hesitate.

[294life]

If you want to trade Ray back to us for Shaw, Jyles and a pick - give us a call. We wouldn't hesitate.

oh too late, looks like you're keeping Shaw. missed it by.....that much. :D

[1argoholic]

The bright light for Edmonton will be a kicker you should have for years. The guys a solid athlete and one day he'll boot a Grey Cup winning field goal just as Kauric did. That Grey Cup that I've put out of my mind.

[doubleblue]

I see Hervey really took the high road when talking about the past year in Edmonton. lol He really threw Tillman under the Bus so to speak. Probably half of it was to sound like he was agreeing with the ticket holders and appease them. Talking tough. We will see how good he is at bringing top level talent. I always though Paul Jones was Edmonton's best recruitor over the years, and he's still there. So maybe Hervey will ride on his coat tails as far as finding the next Ricky Ray etc. for Edmonton.

[ArgoGabe22]

FYI Paul Jones publicy said he did want the job right after ET was fired.

[Ballstothewall]

I'd personally like to thank Edmonton today which is the one year anniversary of the Ricky Ray trade. Fans might be mad at Tillman but many thought Ricky was done and being paid to much at the time. We in Toronto understand what a great qb can do for a team and that they are very hard to come by. Once again Edmonton, THANKS!!!!!! Look at the bright side, you'll have a solid kicker in Shaw for 20 years.

Mark, i hear you have been to all 100 Grey Cups, if this is true, your holding up pretty good

[1argoholic]

hahaha. I forgot about that. One guy walked up to me at Grey Cup and asked me how many I'd been to and I said 100. haha.

[Invader]

I don't think Tillman is as bad as most everyone is saying...he's being made out to be some egotistical carpet-bagger, which I don't think is the case. He knows the CFL as well as anybody. If Jyles would have played half decently and earned close to his $250,000 salary the Argos signed him to (including a reported $100k signing bonus), the trade would have been much fairer.

I bet Tillman bounces back, perhaps even with the Ticats now that they've cleared the deck?

[1argoholic]

I agree with Invader and all of the bs comments flying his way about that incident that was dropped are insane.
I said to my wife last week that while still in Mississauga my back went out really bad. My Dr had me on two meds that knocked me out for 24 hours. After all that's seems to be all Doctors know how to do. Anyhow if a young lady walked into our room at the time I would have have no clue who the heck it was whether it was my wife or not. I've talked to Eric many times during his stint in TO and he nothing but a very laid back nice guy. I don't buy the bs about him.

[paulwoods13]

I don't think Tillman is as bad as most everyone is saying...he's being made out to be some egotistical carpet-bagger, which I don't think is the case. He knows the CFL as well as anybody. If Jyles would have played half decently and earned close to his $250,000 salary the Argos signed him to (including a reported $100k signing bonus), the trade would have been much fairer.

Which part do you not agree with - egotistical or carpetbagger (or both)? IMO the guy has had the biggest ego in Cdn football for many years. All of his media interviews: "Let me be perfectly frank," "Speaking truthfully," etc. Always needed to make it sound as if he was in the know and doing the reporter and all of us a favour by imparting his wisdom.

As for the deal being OK if Jyles had played half decently, you could say that about any one-sided trade. Maybe the Gretzky trade would have looked OK if Jimmy Carson didn't turn out to be such a stiff. Did you (or anyone) actually think there was any chance of Jyles playing half decently? After six or seven years in the league, and a couple of longish stints as a starter, it's clear that Jyles is what he is -- a nice guy who can scramble effectively on occasion but cannot make a good decision in the pocket to save his life, and is wildly erratic with his passes.

[ArgoRavi]

If you want to trade Ray back to us for Shaw, Jyles and a pick - give us a call. We wouldn't hesitate.

294life is a Montreal fan. Of course he would like to trade Ray back to you guys. :)

[OV Argo]

Tillspin is an egomaniac clown IMO and vastly over-rated as a CFL GM; newsflash - ALL CFL teams find good new talent every season - it's not something Tillman can lay claim to as some sort of expert there.

Won't be at all surprised though, to see some clueless and desperate CFL team hire this moron again; maybe the Ticats are thinking of it - would look good on them IMO. Good ole boys recycling - gotta love it, or at least have a good laugh at it. Als rehiring that moron Powderkeg Berry after firing a dofus like Reinebold; Cortez fired after one season, etc. etc. - look for more such brilliant CFL "thinking" this off-season - a football genius like LaPolice soon to get the call probably.

[ArgoGabe22]

a football genius like LaPolice soon to get the call probably.

Not sure if you're sarcastic or serious with this one OV. I always thought LaPo was a good coach who didn't deserve being fired.

[OV Argo]

Not sure if you're sarcastic or serious with this one OV. I always thought LaPo was a good coach who didn't deserve being fired.

I'll have to disagree with you on that one; LaPo IMO = typical, same old , limited CFL "thinker" - the CFL is only run one basic way to these types IMO = eg. same basic look on offence, same old roster thinking with limited use for NI talent.