Practice Report 20070723

[WestCoastJoe]

Monday morning 11:00 am

All the buzz today, of course, is about the new Lions' QB, Gino Guidugli. The pronunciation, according to Wally B, is Guh-doog-lee. Gino, being a nice Italian boy, and Wally also, I expect Wally knows the correct pronunciation.

Lots of media attention today. Lowell Ullrich and Mike Beamish in attendance.

Practice is on the Field Turf today. It is a beautiful surface, soft and very much like a real grass field.

A lot of concern about healthy issues today. Dave D not at practice, but people have confidence in the QBs available. Buck is the starter for Calgary. Jarious is ready as always. It will be a crash course for big Gino to get a few plays under his belt in case he is called on.

Joe Smith looks fine.

Buck looks very good, although he is not 100% physically.

Lots of work for Ian Smart and Lyle Green, ready to step in for big Joe.

Jamie Baresi putting the receivers through all the drills: quick reaction, find the ball over the shoulder, a good variety of drills.

Otis Floyd running gently on the sideline at practice. That is more than he could do last week.

Wally is loose today, chatting with onlookers, chatting with the players in stretching time (Gino G, Rob Murphy).

Impressions of Gino:
He is big (we knew that already).
He throws a very nice ball, tight spiral.
He has a "live arm," as they say.
He is accurate.
He seems calm and cool, especially considering all that is being crammed into his head in a very short time.
He does very well in his reps throwing the ball, finds and throws to his receivers quickly.
He gets more than reps than would be expected for his first practice, and handles it well.

Special team work first thing. A bit of a surprise. Paul McCallum's kicks looking very strong. Bret Anderson away, no doubt attending to fireman duties or family stuff.

Javy Glatt doing some extra running on the sideline during quiet time, wanting to be ready again if there is a pool for an INT touchdown.

Clermont looking very focussed, great hands, agile and strong.

The team looks very focussed for Calgary, not surprising since Calgary's good game against Toronto.

Bobby Ackles at practice for a long time. Got a chance to see his Cup ring. Braley must have spent
about a million dollars on those rings.

Dave Ritchie working the D, probably assigning a spy on Burris who is dangerous on the scramble.

By the end of practice, a rather huge media srcum has developed. First in is Buck Pierce, then Wally.

[Rammer]

Excellent, almost as good as being there WCJ, thanks.

Was Guidugli stepping up into his throws, or was he flat footed? Foot work can look alot better in practice, as the live bullets aren't around. It is interesting to see a QB forced to throw off balance, as that happens throughout a game and their ability to adapt while on the run as well makes me weed out some, but generally in preseason action.

[WestCoastJoe]

Thanks, Rammer.

Yeah, Gino steps into his throws well enough. He doesn't need a big windup. His arm is strong. He put the ball in good places where only the receiver could get it. He threw well on the long stuff and the shorter routes. I was favorably impressed.

Buck was talking to him a lot, and, of course, so was Stef Kruck. Kruck worked him a bit extra after practice with Nicolson and Mock. Then he headed into the locker room.

I think Mike B had him lined up for an interview later.

[No Ordinary Joe]

Thanks for the review, good job! I might try to make it down there sometime this week. I need to get the Geroy autograph for my Dad that I promised him.

[Shi Zi Mi]

He sounds like a right handed Doug Nussmeier......