Argofans offline?

[Coast Mountain Lion]

Just got this when I tried to load their page. Maybe they haven't paid their host?

http://www.argofans.com/cgi-sys/suspend ... -Blue-Room

[bluto]

The original site was set up by a fella who isn't about anymore... so the current admin is dealing with the host.

[Toppy Vann]

In a bit of a surprising move Mcleod Bethel-Thompson signed in the USFL for family and football reasons in a lengthy letter to CFL fans:

Now on to 2023. What is the hardest part of playing football? The time you sacrifice with loved ones. My amazing partner Chinaka, daughter Aziza, and my whole family have given me space to partake in the insanity it requires to pursue perfection. It is time I stay closer to home and chase my dream with family by my side.

https://3downnation.com/2023/02/22/mcle ... portunity/

[Dusty]

In a bit of a surprising move Mcleod Bethel-Thompson signed in the USFL for family and football reasons in a lengthy letter to CFL fans:

Now on to 2023. What is the hardest part of playing football? The time you sacrifice with loved ones. My amazing partner Chinaka, daughter Aziza, and my whole family have given me space to partake in the insanity it requires to pursue perfection. It is time I stay closer to home and chase my dream with family by my side.

https://3downnation.com/2023/02/22/mcle ... portunity/

In the 3 Down article, they state he says "...I do not want this decision to be in any way seen as a dismissal of the XFL..." In the actual tweets from MBT, he says "...I do not want this decision to be in any way seen as a dismissal of the CFL...."

Interesting substitution from 3 Down Nation...... hmmmmmm.

[B.C.FAN]

MBT made it clear that he enjoyed playing in the CFL but was considering finishing his career in the U.S. to be closer to family. I thought his parting message was a nice tribute to the CFL.

[David]

I think MBT will be one in a growing list of ex-CFLers who are huge advocates for the CFL game down south. Alex Singleton is always singing its praises. I knew MBT was enjoying his time up here in November when he made a passionate plea for the league to get its act together in the marketing dep't, taking a swipe at Ambrosie in the process.


DH

[Belize City Lion]

Some people are questioning MBT giving up more money in the CFL to sign a USFL contract, but I think it's worthwile gamble. MBT is not an NFL rookie (he played part of 1 season for San Francisco) so he's not subject to the NFL rookie contract minimum and contract length (4 years). So teams don't have to be concerned about offering a 4 year deal to a 34-year old, and there is no floor or ceiling on what he could get in the NFL.

There are 3 teirs of NFL backup QB:
-Draft picks that got big contract extentions but didn't live up to expectations. Some of those guys are making anywhere from $3M-$7M per year.
-Journeymen that provide good insurance, but likely won't ever be eltie NFL Qbs. The slot in around $1M-$2M per season.
-Draft picks still on their rookie contract (years 1-3). They get around $750K until they can renegotiate in year 3 of their 5 year rookie contract.

MBT would land in the second teir. He's had success in the CFL. He certainly got a lot of looksees early in his career despite going undrafted. The USFL will be heavily scouted by NFL clubs. If he makes an impression he could be looking at earning anywhere from $1M-$2M USD per season for the next two years. The NFL QB pool is not that deep and with relatively low mileage on his body he might be able to extend his career until age 37 or 38, still commanding a much higher salary that he could have earned in the CFL (CAD$400K in 2022).

[Toppy Vann]

In what should be called "Can you believe this?" Chad Kelly who hopes to be the QB starter with a team where the HC Ryan Dinwiddie is clear that all positions including QB must be competed has really opened his mouth far wider than justified.

This article is a must read as it's jam packed with how great he is and who says so.
I don't want to post more than I did below as it's not cool to do this to 3down but here's a taster:




Argos’ QB Chad Kelly believes back-to-back Grey Cup wins will secure him NFL opportunity
By 3Down Staff -April 7, 2023

The Big Dumb Claim:

“You’ve gotta just win right now. And if I go out and do what I was meant to do — which is to play football at a high level and score touchdowns and win games — if we go back-to-back championships, they can’t really hold you back from the NFL,” Kelly said.

The Softener:

“But that doesn’t necessarily mean that I don’t want to be back in the CFL as well. It’s a great game.”

However, the nephew of Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly has spent much of the offseason lobbying for another shot at the NFL, deeming himself to be better than half of the league’s current starters.

NFL teams are simply unwilling to rock the boat by acquiring a player of his reputation, information he has gleaned from a reliable source — former CFL quarterback and coach Marcus Brady, who is now a senior offensive assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles.

https://3downnation.com/2023/04/07/argo ... portunity/


======
Q&A: Who was the last QB who talked like this and who is now just a football footnote?

Hint: on Twitter this failed CFL QB is now retweeting Texas A& M football's ranking of the top 5 best ever A&M players of all time.
Actually not quite true. This former QB is just retweeting the part of the list with his name and ranking on it.

Screw those other 4 dudes LOL

https://clutchpoints.com/5-greatest-tex ... ime-ranked

[Toppy Vann]

If there is one quote this off-season that in a trivia game as to who says it the most, I'd get it in a milli-second as every signing or talk of players including Chad Kelly gets Ryan Dinwiddie saying this:

“He’s got a lot of experience, played in the NFL and did some good things there. He’s got experience in two leagues, but we feel good about our younger guys as well. He’s gonna have to earn his roster spot.”

Reading 3 Down Nation and listening to an interview or two, I almost feel that Dinwiddie says this too much rather than leave players guessing but Dinwiddie said this about Chad Kelly if MBT left and after MBT said he is leaving due to the wife's job. You gotta win the job.

NFL veteran Dontrelle Inman will need to ‘earn’ his roster spot in return to Argos: Ryan Dinwiddie[/quote

My point is that I've never heard players talk like Chad Kelly who's now old enough to know better who actually end up backing it up and are successful in football.

Argos made it clear that they wanted MBT back even though Dinwiddie is personal buddies with MBT and his wife and for sure knew he 99.9% for sure that MBT was not coming back much earlier than announced.

https://3downnation.com/2023/04/07/nfl- ... dinwiddie/

Contrast the darkish cloud approach of Dinwiddie with the Lions on the Nathan Rourke situation. If the Lions were thinking of, or actually kicking tires, they sure didn't let Vernon Adams think he's not coming back as #1 with Rourke heading to the NFL.

Maybe it is just a contrast in style but my sense of Argos and Dinwiddie is that he'd not be happy to know how strong his maybe starter's desire is to go south. Dinwiddie is no Dave Dickinson who wasn't worried that Bo Levi was out kicking tires or when he was saying things publicly.

Bo was established.

Chad Kelly other than some sporadic chances just had a helluva performance when MBT couldn't finish the Grey Cup game. Now, he can duplicate that consistently, he'll be challenging for MOP next year. Now I'd advise a lower-key approach.

I think Kelly could play but like Manziel who talked too much, it strikes me that these are guys living on a past and don't see the giant hill they're about to face as a real obstacle. I mean for Kelly, winning the Argo job and winning football games. Then go all out exit.

[B.C.FAN]

Confidence? Arrogance? There’s not much difference. That attitude is the norm with players who grow up dreaming of NFL glory, including Nathan Rourke.

Wally Buono once expressed a preference for signing 26-year-old American players who had exhausted their NFL dreams and could become reliable CFL starters. Kelly is 29. Clearly his dream hasn’t died. At least he is eager to play out his CFL contract and try to prove himself.

[Toppy Vann]

Confidence? Arrogance? There’s not much difference. That attitude is the norm with players who grow up dreaming of NFL glory, including Nathan Rourke.

Wally Buono once expressed a preference for signing 26-year-old American players who had exhausted their NFL dreams and could become reliable CFL starters. Kelly is 29. Clearly his dream hasn’t died. At least he is eager to play out his CFL contract and try to prove himself.

I also agree, with that idea with the emphasis on "exhausted their NFL dreams" or at least they stop talking about it in public.

Listening to how players talk is essential to see if they're motivated to win a role in the CFL or do they see this as a temporary stopover. Here I see a balance.
Rourke was driven here in part to go NFL, but didn't look too far down the road. If he were like Chad Kelly, he might have been interviewing like him when Reilly was the starter how as to how someone told him he should be a starter in the CFL. LOL

I think I get what you are saying BC Fan. It's all about how we view these terms.

I don't see confidence and arrogance on the same continuum BUT if I understand your take, there are lots of examples of football players who are highly skilled and use arrogance (an enhanced self-image) as a personal motivational tool and to intimidate opponents! Especially DEF players and some REC and OL.

In these cases, the question is what came first? My sense is that the player's success is a pre-condition to being able to publicly demonstrate arrogance and trash talk.

I'm thinking a player like Richard Sherman - a top CB in the NFL as an example. While he may have had a tinge or a lot of arrogance growing up, his play allowed him to become that arrogant persona who intimidated opponents and went over great in interviews in football.

I see Rourke with a dream who is supporting it with confidence in his hard-earned skills but a person not driven as much by ego. He lets his work do the talking and only revealed his full thinking after becoming a FA.

Burnham to me never showed much ego. He let his performance do the talking.
Rourke, likewise I think.

Chad Kelly in the podcast is less grounded in the reality of his situation (as I heard/read his comments) yet he's got the skills to be successful.
He's less of a good self-manager of his talk, actions, emotions etc.
Self-management wraps in a number of 8 -9 personality characteristics that predict potential and performance.


Having seen highly skilled players with little ego in the game (Rourke, Burnham etc) versus those big ego guys who are built differently, the latter it seems do less poorly in uphill climbs like where Rourke is now.

I see Chad Kelly as in the big ego danger zone.

All fantasy as I have never met either player - just watched or read.

[Toppy Vann]

Confidence? Arrogance? There’s not much difference. That attitude is the norm with players who grow up dreaming of NFL glory, including Nathan Rourke.

Wally Buono once expressed a preference for signing 26-year-old American players who had exhausted their NFL dreams and could become reliable CFL starters. Kelly is 29. Clearly his dream hasn’t died. At least he is eager to play out his CFL contract and try to prove himself.

BC Fan, ironically, this morning I saw on Linkedin an article on overconfidence featuring Daniel Kahneman which led me to this article where I'd agree that overconfidence and arrogance combine in organizational life both in getting jobs, promotions etc.

Many athletes who take on that arrogant persona use it beyond sports and it works for them as it's a persona, not faking like a bad leader in business could do.

Football you still have to be able to play but in business it can be fake it until you make it.

Resume inflation and being a great interviewer get jobs over those less outwardly confident where firms over rely on resumes and interviews.
You can go take a top firm and google their name and "top interview questions" and often it gives the Q's and the best answers.

I'm a witness in a NY lawsuit where I have reported this fake guy who lands VP HR jobs now in top firms. He blocks me on Linkedin but an HR VP in the Silicon Valley from BC updates me and I report this guy. My Hong Kong firm did only references for a search firm who didn't want us to verify anything. All fake.
Since 2014, I have reported this dude 5 times suggesting they might want to check if this is the same faker I know.

Overconfidence (outside of football where they still have to be able to perform) is proven to work for people:

“Our studies found that overconfidence helped people attain social status.

People who believed they were better than others, even when they weren’t, were given a higher place in the social ladder. And the motive to attain higher social status thus spurred overconfidence,”

These “alphas” of the group have more clout and prestige than other members. Anderson says these research findings are important because they help shed light on a longstanding puzzle: why overconfidence is so common, in spite of its risks.

His findings suggest that falsely believing one is better than others has profound social benefits for the individual.

I've seen this as well as their eventual downfall:

Moreover, these findings suggest one reason why in organizational settings, incompetent people are so often promoted over their more competent peers.

https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/why- ... al-status/