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Blitz wrote:They needed to both be gone. I wrote that last week. Chap waited too long but I guess he thought he might change them.
I think the trade deadline may have had something to do with the timing.. They probably had hoped to get some form of asset in return for these guys via trade prior to the deadline which was mid last week. With the deadline passing part way through the practice week they likely sucked it up for last week's game then cut the cord.
I didn't consider that they were trying to trade them. That they were trying makes very good sense. That no team wanted them does also.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
I agree with Wally on a number of things in this article. A good read. He indirectly calls out Maas for not wearing the mic. He says the picking up the audibles is a non-starter and provides reasons. He responds to the Command Center fumble call on Harris.
VANCOUVER — There is no crying in football.
Well, hardly any.
That is one reason Wally Buono is taking the high road in the wake of the fairly obvious — to all but those in the CFL’s command centre — fumble that wasn’t: the Andrew Harris “oops” near his own goal-line in the dying seconds that might have handed the B.C. Lions the game in Winnipeg this past weekend.
Another reason the Lions’ boss is biting his tongue is the CFL is at a strangely sensitive time in its periodically perilous existence right now and a league lifer like Buono isn’t going to pile on when squawking isn’t going to do his football team or the CFL any good.
“My thing is, I’ve been in the CFL 44 years. You gotta stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about the league,” Buono said Tuesday.
“I can’t speak for anybody else. My philosophy is sometimes you gotta be a team player. It’s not always just about you. As an organization, we’ve tried to do that.”
Contrast that view to, say, the Edmonton Eskimos, who were part of a league-wide agreement to have the coach and quarterbacks wear live microphones for TSN audio and then, at the last minute, took the mikes off for Monday’s game against the Montreal Alouettes, who continued to wear theirs. Edmonton won 40-20, which might have been the score in any case.
Still: High road, low road. “For the CFL to prosper, we have to do innovative things. Because right now our attendance is being affected,” said Buono. “We’re a gate-driven league. We have to attract more fans. We have to attract the next generation of fans. We’re losing ’em. So don’t cry about it if you’re not willing to do anything about it.”
The idea that some actual valuable intelligence might be gained from listening to the quarterbacks’ play calls and coaches’ sideline exhortations — intelligence a rival might use against them in the future, let alone in real time — is fanciful at best. Even when facing the same team a week later, as the Lions will do Friday night at home to the Blue Bombers.
“Don Matthews couldn’t beat the B.C. Lions. Why? Because every time we played them we changed our signals,” Buono said. “So next time, you don’t think we can change our live colour, our audibles?
“I listened to it. For a football guy, it’s actually not informative at all. The audibles are never like the terminology. And if they are, you’re not very smart.”
“I don’t think anybody’s been super gung-ho about it,” said veteran quarterback Travis Lulay, “but the biggest thing is I think even the players realize it’s an opportunity to let the fans into the experience a little bit, so that’s kind of overcome the paranoia that we all have about protecting our terminology.
“I know in Edmonton’s case, they operate almost 100 per cent no-huddle, so I definitely understand. As a player, if I hear (Eskimos head coach Jason) Maas and Reilly didn’t want to do it, so be it. I’m not going, ‘Well, that’s not fair.'”
What makes the notion of stealing secrets from the audio feed so absurd is everybody already knows everybody else in the CFL and oftentimes coaches move to another team and don’t bother to change the terminology.
Dave Dickenson was the quarterback under Jacques Chapdelaine’s offence in B.C. Now, Dickenson’s coaching Calgary and Chapdelaine’s in Montreal. Geroy Simon played under Chapdelaine in Saskatchewan and knows the hand signals probably still being used. Lulay himself heard a play called by Chapdelaine and knew exactly where the ball was going to be thrown. The coaching merry-go-round often drops its passengers at three or four stops in the league.
But hearing a play called on TV and being able to change a defence on the fly in real time, even if the play doesn’t have multiple options (which many do), are two very different things with a 20-second play clock.
So it’s much ado about very little.
I’ve been in the CFL 44 years. You gotta stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about the league
Then there’s the third reason Buono isn’t crying about the no-fumble call in Winnipeg: because he knows two or three of his star players made half-hearted blocks while failing to get a first down inside the Bombers’ five yard-line just before they were stopped and turned the ball over on downs.
But if most everyone who saw it knows the league probably blew the call, then aren’t there a lot of positives to take out of the perceived robbery in a game they nearly won after trailing 24-3? “We’re not in the moral victory business. We’re in the wins and losses business,” Buono said.
And if B.C. fans are feeling particularly aggrieved?
“In Winnipeg, we couldn’t use audibles, couldn’t use the cadence, couldn’t communicate. There was too much noise,” he said. “I don’t want this to come out wrong, but as our crowds have diminished, we have won less and less at home.
“So let our fans come to the game then and make life as uncomfortable for Winnipeg as their fans made it for us. Make a difference in the game.”
He asked nicely. He was making a smoothie at the time in the office blender, so it was hard to tell if he was crying, but I don’t think so.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
BC and Winnipeg are both now 10-6. BC now has a home-and-home with Saskatchewan and Winnipeg now has a home-and-home with the very hungry Ottawa REDBLACKS.
The Montreal Alouettes snapped Calgary's 16-game unbeaten streak, beating the Stamps 17-8 in Calgary's final game of the regular season. So Calgary lost the first game of the season to the Lions, the last game to the Als and went 15-0-1 in between, with the only blemish being an OT tie in Ottawa. They now must wait three weeks before hosting the West Final. It's not a good way to go into the playoffs. If they come out flat or rusty, it could be disappointing end to their season.
As a Lions fan, I couldn't be happier with the result. Calgary is beatable and Montreal fans have to be encouraged with the way the team has responded to Jacques Chapdelaine. I hope he has the "interim" tag removed from his job title. I think he is an asset to the organization on and off the field.
B.C.FAN wrote:The Montreal Alouettes snapped Calgary's 16-game unbeaten streak, beating the Stamps 17-8 in Calgary's final game of the regular season. So Calgary lost the first game of the season to the Lions, the last game to the Als and went 15-0-1 in between, with the only blemish being an OT tie in Ottawa. They now must wait three weeks before hosting the West Final. It's not a good way to go into the playoffs. If they come out flat or rusty, it could be disappointing end to their season.
As a Lions fan, I couldn't be happier with the result. Calgary is beatable and Montreal fans have to be encouraged with the way the team has responded to Jacques Chapdelaine. I hope he has the "interim" tag removed from his job title. I think he is an asset to the organization on and off the field.
How many other starters did DD rest along with Mitchell?
B.C.FAN wrote:As a Lions fan, I couldn't be happier with the result. Calgary is beatable and Montreal fans have to be encouraged with the way the team has responded to Jacques Chapdelaine. I hope he has the "interim" tag removed from his job title. I think he is an asset to the organization on and off the field.
Completely agree. This fan is very happy for Jacques. Not surprised either. From time to time, I have speculated that he might be better suited to HC than assistant. He had much success as an OC. Successful stint as HC at Laval also. Early yet, but good signs.
I hope the Alouettes extend his HC contract.
He knows the Xs and Os. He has had player buy in previously, most prominently by Geroy Simon. He must be getting buy in by the Alouettes. Best move? Cutting Carter and Stafford.
Always friendly with the fans.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.
Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.
Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
B.C.FAN wrote:The Montreal Alouettes snapped Calgary's 16-game unbeaten streak, beating the Stamps 17-8 in Calgary's final game of the regular season. So Calgary lost the first game of the season to the Lions, the last game to the Als and went 15-0-1 in between, with the only blemish being an OT tie in Ottawa. They now must wait three weeks before hosting the West Final. It's not a good way to go into the playoffs. If they come out flat or rusty, it could be disappointing end to their season.
As a Lions fan, I couldn't be happier with the result. Calgary is beatable and Montreal fans have to be encouraged with the way the team has responded to Jacques Chapdelaine. I hope he has the "interim" tag removed from his job title. I think he is an asset to the organization on and off the field.
I'm happy for him. Tough situation he inherited. I thought Chap was a very innovative and effective coordinator in his last three season with our Loos. A Grey Cup winning offence in 2011, best offence in the CFL in 2012, and while there were struggles in 2013, with Lulay's injury and also playing DeMarco for 6 games and Buck for one game, Chap had the offence ready for the playoffs. I didn't want him to leave at the end of 2013 nor did I want to see our Leos let him go. It was a mutual decision that Chap left.
He moved away from the Calgary spread in 2011, as much as he could anyway, and he was a completely different coordinator once he did.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
Commissioner Orridge was in attendence at the farewell luncheon held in honour of the Farewell Game but didn't speak to those there. Carm Carteri (Rod Pedersen's sidekick) apparently was giving him crap for not giving a speech but Orridge did come prepared with some final words. However, the Riderville braintrust asked him to NOT speak....
Christ people....give it a rest already.
As for Jones.....he was quite liberal in throwing his players under the bus in his post game media scrum. But I thought his game planning was entirely based in pre-season mode. So whatever momentum the Riders gained during their win streak seems to have been pissed away....
Glad to see it is not just the Lion's braintrust that gets brain farts....
Alputt wrote:I've come to the conclusion I dislike Jason Maas. It's a microphone. You are in the entertainment business. Get over yourself.
the "entertainment" is the play on the field. This mic nonsense is for the birds. Just increases the lack of respect I have had for many years for those running the league. I am not a JM fan, but I like what he did today. More power to him.
Alputt wrote:I've come to the conclusion I dislike Jason Maas. It's a microphone. You are in the entertainment business. Get over yourself.
the "entertainment" is the play on the field. This mic nonsense is for the birds. Just increases the lack of respect I have had for many years for those running the league. I am not a JM fan, but I like what he did today. More power to him.
I personally don't care for the "Mic'd Up" experiment, doesn't add much to the game. It may be silly however they decided as a league to try it out and all the other teams complied. Maas comes off as unsportsmanlike in my opinion.
Alputt wrote:I've come to the conclusion I dislike Jason Maas. It's a microphone. You are in the entertainment business. Get over yourself.
the "entertainment" is the play on the field. This mic nonsense is for the birds. Just increases the lack of respect I have had for many years for those running the league. I am not a JM fan, but I like what he did today. More power to him.
I personally don't care for the "Mic'd Up" experiment, doesn't add much to the game. It may be silly however they decided as a league to try it out and all the other teams complied. Maas comes off as unsportsmanlike in my opinion.
I agree with Alputt, Maas needs to suck it up and act like a man not a stubborn, petulant child.
Alputt wrote:I've come to the conclusion I dislike Jason Maas. It's a microphone. You are in the entertainment business. Get over yourself.
the "entertainment" is the play on the field. This mic nonsense is for the birds. Just increases the lack of respect I have had for many years for those running the league. I am not a JM fan, but I like what he did today. More power to him.
I personally don't care for the "Mic'd Up" experiment, doesn't add much to the game. It may be silly however they decided as a league to try it out and all the other teams complied. Maas comes off as unsportsmanlike in my opinion.
or the only coach with the balls to actively challenge the stupidity
I am going to go out on a limb and say Darian Durant will NOT be with the Riders next season. Currently they are miles apart in negotiations with the Riders apparently wanting to restructure Durant's contract even further and make it incentive heavy. It would appear that Jones wants to start transitioning Durant into a Lulay-esque mentor role to work with whomever the Riders decide is their QB of the future.
Durant on the other hand thinks his already reduced contract needs to reflect a starting QB's salary.
What has me pessimistic is the fact Durant didn't join his team on this trip west. Now Chris Jones strikes me as a Machiavellian kind of guy and the way he handled the QBs this game (but in particular the Mosiac farewell) he seems to be sending Durant a message. He has shown he is not shy about tearing everything down to start all over.
A team like the Argos might be very happy to step up to the plate and make a play for Durant.
CardiacKid wrote:I am going to go out on a limb and say Darian Durant will NOT be with the Riders next season. Currently they are miles apart in negotiations with the Riders apparently wanting to restructure Durant's contract even further and make it incentive heavy. It would appear that Jones wants to start transitioning Durant into a Lulay-esque mentor role to work with whomever the Riders decide is their QB of the future.
Durant on the other hand thinks his already reduced contract needs to reflect a starting QB's salary.
What has me pessimistic is the fact Durant didn't join his team on this trip west. Now Chris Jones strikes me as a Machiavellian kind of guy and the way he handled the QBs this game (but in particular the Mosiac farewell) he seems to be sending Durant a message. He has shown he is not shy about tearing everything down to start all over.
A team like the Argos might be very happy to step up to the plate and make a play for Durant.
Re the Mosaic farewell, agreed.
Re Durant possibly not back next year, agreed.
Re Jones being Machiavellian, agreed. Arrogant, and pretty much deliberately offensive. Offending other coaches, the league, Rider fans. This fan did not like his not shaking hands after games in 2015.
Re Jones tearing down the house, agreed.
............
This CFL fan thought he would do better in Regina than what has transpired. Not unhappy to see his failure thus far. There seems to be resignation on riderfans, but I did not see much criticism of his work, having only read the last game day thread..
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.
Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.
Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
