Joe "Spaceman" Smith??? LOL

[lion24]

Is Joe being accused of being flakey?? :lol:


http://www.cfl.ca/index.php?module=news ... &nid=19365

[MacNews]

Like the time after one home game earlier this season when he had to be taken off on a stretcher, only to be walking around locker room minutes later. Or even last week, when Smith took exactly four practice reps with the first unit then called it a day.

"That's Joe. He comes in last week and has that Little Richard hairdo," Buono said.

Like the players who work for him, Buono tolerates it now because of league-leading 817 rushing yards. Buono once thought of cutting ex-Calgary quarterback Jeff Garcia because of a relaxed practice attitude and the coach Saturday recalled the time he benched Smith after his CFL regular season debut last season when he gained one yard on three carries.

I think Buono has mellowed a bit in the past couple years, which I guess is a result of the added experience.

[Bosco]

Players can be "flakey" all they wish...as long as they're productive. If the team isn't winning, or if the player stops producing, that flakiness becomes far less endearing. Right now, Joe can afford to be a little flakey.

[pinkfreud]

Is Joe being accused of being flakey?? :lol:


http://www.cfl.ca/index.php?module=news ... &nid=19365

I don't understand how his behavior is eccentric. He changes his hairstyle? Does a cleanse? Plays his guitar? Rushes off to visit his fiance? Sounds like he knows how to get the job done and have other interests in his life. What a ridiculous article.

[lion24]

Is Joe being accused of being flakey?? :lol:


http://www.cfl.ca/index.php?module=news ... &nid=19365

I don't understand how his behavior is eccentric. He changes his hairstyle? Does a cleanse? Plays his guitar? Rushes off to visit his fiance? Sounds like he knows how to get the job done and have other interests in his life. What a ridiculous article.

That is true; really all that is being said is he doesn't live, eat and breathe football 24 hours a day. As Bosco said I think the Lions will put up with the so called "flakiness" if he keeps playing like he is.

[smphantom]

Those that have seen Joe Smith in street clothes can attest to the fact that physically he doesn't look like a pro football player. His personality is also very laid back and unassuming, but he certainly gets the job done on the field.

[Blitz]

I don't understand how his behavior is eccentric. He changes his hairstyle? Does a cleanse? Plays his guitar? Rushes off to visit his fiance? Sounds like he knows how to get the job done and have other interests in his life. What a ridiculous article.

I believe Ullrich, who wrote this article is the best in the business. He not only really knows his football, does investigative reporting that others don't do (ie: the article on Mitchell) and usually writes great 'player interest' stories. However, I thought he definitely missed on this one!

Joe Smith jumps on a couple of planes after games because he is dealing with deaths in the family. He's quiet and perhaps not stereotypical but I don't view him as strange. Playing a guitar, changing his hairstyle, etc. are not unusual. Perhaps the body cleanse is for a football player but I'm sure, if one dug around they would find something a little unusual about every player.

As for Joe Smith asking to leave the game with a few minutes left to catch a flight to see his fiance....that is unusual but he's also had to deal with a couple of deaths and didn't get the opportunity at the break to see her so it's an unusual request in what has been an unusual year for Joe Smith. He certainly ran the football 'unusual' in the second quarter and most of the game against the Als....that is the only unusual I really care about.

Joe Smith brought an umbrella to training camp last season. That stood out but Wally saw a guy who was prepared and when it really rained he looked smart. I just don't think Joe Smith gives a *poop* about what others would think in certain areas....he's confident enough to be his own man. If he wasn't he never would have asked Wally to catch an early plane...I doubt most players would have.

However, his teammates like him and respect him so that's good enough for me!!

[pinkfreud]

Oh, well no offense to Lowell. I like his writing too. I thought it came from Toronto because it was on the CFL.ca site. I do think Joe shows more strength in doing his own thing than doing what's expected all the time. As a matter of fact this article has increased my admiration for him big time.

[David]

I agree Blitz. I think Lowell was trying to paint a picture of Joe in his article and used the fact that he was changing into street clothes while the game was still being played as an example of his eccentricity, but I don't think he should have 'gone there.' Joe's been through a lot of upset dealing with deaths in the family. He had already asked for - and received permission from Wally - to catch a late flight to Houston. It's not like he was flying to Maui for an extended long weekend.

Not as egregious as Marty York writing that we haven't heard much from the Argos' Keith Pelley because of their poor record lately (when in actual fact he's been mourning a death in the family), but Lowell probably should have left the late night flight well alone.

DH 8)

[No Ordinary Joe]

Has anybody here ever had the chance to talk to Joe at any of the practices or at camp or another function? I don't recall ever hearing him do an interview.

[LFITQ]

Has anybody here ever had the chance to talk to Joe at any of the practices or at camp or another function? I don't recall ever hearing him do an interview.

Probably because he wouldn't be a good interview. The reporter would probably have to actually ask open-ended questions and their homework. If they did the usual bit of lazy reporting that seems so rampant these days, all they would get out of Joe are simple one-word responses. It's much easier to get someone who likes to talk to you to do an interview. And then there are probably those players they know that like to talk too much to give the lazy journalist the tidbit they need to make up some fantastic story that they can then twist and manipulate into something that it wasn't supposed to be.

[WestCoastJoe]

Sometimes (oftentimes) reporters try too hard for an interesting angle in a story. If a star player does something different, or behaves differently, they turn it into a story.

It is not exactly a "nice" thing to do a player. It affects their reputation and how others perceive them.

Even if someone now thinks Joe Smith is a "bit of a flake," that is stereotyping and not necessarily flattering. How many people would like to be thought of as a flake?

In any case, I doubt if Joe Smith gives a rat's ass. As others have said, he is not your everyday football player. He doesn't act loud and rambunctious. He wears glasses under his helmet on practice days. He looks scholarly, etc. Blah Blah Blah

So it is a cheap way to get a story and a reaction from people. Most people are concerned about what others think of them and it affects their behaviour accordingly. It does tend to force most people to fit into the cookie cutter mold of what others expect, and that is unfortunate.

Joe Smith has the courage to go his own way. In all the practices I have observed closely, and that is quite a few, I saw that the players have the greatest respect for Joe Smith. He is very quiet and says hardly a word.

The thing I have commented on is that he is like Clark Kent / Superman. In an emergency, quiet guy wearing glasses goes into the booth, and out comes SuperJoe. There is that contrast. Quietness and then explosive action.

[WestCoastJoe]

Has anybody here ever had the chance to talk to Joe at any of the practices or at camp or another function? I don't recall ever hearing him do an interview.

Yes, he is very polite and responsive to players and fans.

When he seems to be showing some aches and pains (which is frequently since he takes a lot of punishment in a game), if you ask: "Are you good to go in the game, Joe?" or "Are you 100% today, Joe?" he answers: "Always."

[Soundy]

I dunno, I thought the article came across as kind of tongue-in-cheek and just trying to make Joe look a little more "interesting" - if, as LFITQ points out, he doesn't make a "good interview" because he's more on the subdued side personally, then maybe it's just more of an attempt to add a little "colour" to the person, not to put him down or make him look "strange".

While I don't know LU "the person", I really get the feel from his writing over the years and what I've heard said about him here and elsewhere, that he wouldn't publish something that might be construed as embarassing to the player unless the player thought it was okay. I wouldn't be surprised if he ran the piece past Joe before submitting it, and Joe got a good chuckle out of it before giving the go-head.

Now someone like Carl Kidd... a "person-behind-the-player" piece like that would just be extraneous, because he put everything he was out there on the field and right smack in front of the cameras every game.

[No Ordinary Joe]

Joe's going to be on BMac and Rintoul this morning. Actually, he's going to be on in a couple of minutes, but I'm sure you can listen on the podcast later on for those of you lucky enough to still be in bed.