Argofans

paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 19, 2025 5:25 pm Not only have Magri and Russell not been replaced, but Murphy's recruiting has to be questioned. Of the new players brought into camp this year from outside the CFL, who impressed other than Slywka? And as good as Pinball is at creating a vision and enabling motivating and encourage others to work to realize that vision, can we really afford to have that work paid for out of the the ops cap budget? Is his salary (and Dinwiddie's) a major reason why the football dept has been so stripped down? Is there any reason to believe the next head coach's salary will be low enough to allow for the addition of new scouts and personnel people, and for hiring of the right assistant coaches (cf. the Monson fiasco)? We all love Pinball -- he's the greatest Argonaut of all time, by a zillion miles -- but are we hamstrung by his current place and role in the mgmt structure?

paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 18, 2025 9:54 pm You mean like what the Argos had in 2021-22-23? Those were the days, my friend. We thought they'd never end.

paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 19, 2025 5:25 pm Not only have Magri and Russell not been replaced, but Murphy's recruiting has to be questioned. Of the new players brought into camp this year from outside the CFL, who impressed other than Slywka?

RichK wrote: ↑Thu Nov 20, 2025 1:50 am

paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 19, 2025 5:25 pm Not only have Magri and Russell not been replaced, but Murphy's recruiting has to be questioned. Of the new players brought into camp this year from outside the CFL, who impressed other than Slywka?

Jake Herslow. Chop Williams. Aaron Casey. Max Duggan. Maybe I’m more easily impressed.

The crazy thing is if our starting QB hadn’t broken his leg, the Argos would’ve gone at least 11-7 and NOBODY would be talking about how incompetent management and hostile ownership was killing the team.

shatto wrote: ↑Wed Nov 19, 2025 5:06 pm Pinball's strength is in his ability to create a vision, to enable, motivate and encourage others to work to realize that vision. Yes, that is more of a role that a CEO or president plays but that is what he does exceedingly well. He is also the face of the Argos and creates good relationships with the media, fans and politicians. Murphy is in effect carrying the role of GM.

Where the Argos really need help is in scouting and recruiting. It is obvious many of the players brought in last year were not up to the task. The draft was underwhelming. It appears the team has never truly replaced those who did this job in the past.

RB957 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 20, 2025 1:44 pm

shatto wrote: ↑Wed Nov 19, 2025 5:06 pm Pinball's strength is in his ability to create a vision, to enable, motivate and encourage others to work to realize that vision. Yes, that is more of a role that a CEO or president plays but that is what he does exceedingly well. He is also the face of the Argos and creates good relationships with the media, fans and politicians. Murphy is in effect carrying the role of GM.

Where the Argos really need help is in scouting and recruiting. It is obvious many of the players brought in last year were not up to the task. The draft was underwhelming. It appears the team has never truly replaced those who did this job in the past.

With respect to the bolded line, I always believed in this as well. But if we are being really honest, what has all that "good will, rah-rah motivation" accomplished as far as growing the fan base? We have seen marginal increases in attendance, at best. For one second I am not putting all that on Pinball's shoulders, but when you are talking about the scarcity of resources... would it be better to focus at least some of that money on real marketing. Please don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Pinball, and he may be the greatest Argo ever, but the ship is starting to spring major leaks, and his smiling good nature aren't enough to fix them.

paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 20, 2025 9:36 am

RichK wrote: ↑Thu Nov 20, 2025 1:50 am

paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 19, 2025 5:25 pm Not only have Magri and Russell not been replaced, but Murphy's recruiting has to be questioned. Of the new players brought into camp this year from outside the CFL, who impressed other than Slywka?

Jake Herslow. Chop Williams. Aaron Casey. Max Duggan. Maybe I’m more easily impressed.

The crazy thing is if our starting QB hadn’t broken his leg, the Argos would’ve gone at least 11-7 and NOBODY would be talking about how incompetent management and hostile ownership was killing the team.

Herslow was already here, so I'm not crediting him as part of this year's recruiting class. I agree I missed on Casey. Williams and Duggan didn't play nearly enough for me to be impressed (or depressed). As for your second point, it's overly optimistic in my view. The o-line, d-line and (lack of) running game don't strike me as being 11-7 calibre, no matter who was at QB, but maybe I'm not as easily impressed.

paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 20, 2025 9:36 am

RichK wrote: ↑Thu Nov 20, 2025 1:50 am

paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 19, 2025 5:25 pm Not only have Magri and Russell not been replaced, but Murphy's recruiting has to be questioned. Of the new players brought into camp this year from outside the CFL, who impressed other than Slywka?

Jake Herslow. Chop Williams. Aaron Casey. Max Duggan. Maybe I’m more easily impressed.

The crazy thing is if our starting QB hadn’t broken his leg, the Argos would’ve gone at least 11-7 and NOBODY would be talking about how incompetent management and hostile ownership was killing the team.

Herslow was already here, so I'm not crediting him as part of this year's recruiting class. I agree I missed on Casey. Williams and Duggan didn't play nearly enough for me to be impressed (or depressed). As for your second point, it's overly optimistic in my view. The o-line, d-line and (lack of) running game don't strike me as being 11-7 calibre, no matter who was at QB, but maybe I'm not as easily impressed.

ArgoRavi wrote: ↑Thu Nov 20, 2025 4:12 pmThe impact of Kelly’s absence for the Argos was similar to that of Davis Alexander for the Alouettes. It's amazing how different Montreal's o-line, running game, and defence were when Alexander was in the lineup as opposed to when he wasn't. And, yes, Arbuckle did a solid job but Kelly is simply an elite QB who possesses a skillset that Arbuckle doesn't. There's no doubt in my mind that the Argos would have been no worse than 10-8 if Kelly had been able to play even half of the season.

paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 21, 2025 8:30 am

ArgoRavi wrote: ↑Thu Nov 20, 2025 4:12 pmThe impact of Kelly’s absence for the Argos was similar to that of Davis Alexander for the Alouettes. It's amazing how different Montreal's o-line, running game, and defence were when Alexander was in the lineup as opposed to when he wasn't. And, yes, Arbuckle did a solid job but Kelly is simply an elite QB who possesses a skillset that Arbuckle doesn't. There's no doubt in my mind that the Argos would have been no worse than 10-8 if Kelly had been able to play even half of the season.

I think there's a bit of a logical fallacy in your final sentence, Ravi. The Argos won five games without him, so in theory they could have won five more with him. But he likely wouldn't have dressed only for nine of the games they lost. If he'd recuperated enough to come back for the second half of the season, the Argos would have had to go 8-1 over those nine games to get to 10-8. That wasn't going to happen even if Doug Flutie in his prime played those nine games.