Sometimes, luck counts as much as skill

[joe kapp22]

The Scene:

Less than 40 seconds to go Stamps ball on BC's 25 yd line, Stamps down by 5 pts.

What happened:

Areji Franklin had slipped behind the Secondary and was open in the endzone, rookie CFLer Dave Hyland had bitten on a Henry Burris pump fake allowing Burris to hit Franklin right on the hands. The back peddling Franklin wind milled his feet in an attempt to stay in bounds and dropped the ball making it third down.

Football can be a game of luck just as much as skill or scheme or strategy, if Franklin catches that ball, the Lions playoff chances drop, he dropped the pass instead leading to a Burris interception down at the 3 yd line by Amp Reddick on the very next play.

Funny old game isn't it?

[bbking]

Exactly what I was thinking.

Its good to be lucky and lucky to be good.

When lucks works in your favour is it just good fortune or are the Gods evening things up.

Lets hope it continues in our favour.

[Blue In BC]

I was a bit surprised that the Stamps went for 3 longer type passes. Even though they could have had completions, they could have gone shorter with the time left on the clock.

Hindsight is 20 / 20 but it still surprised me with their play selection. OTOH, Franklin was wide open and should have made the reception for the TD.

Lots of plays last night which could have easily not been big an impact as they were. 3 defensive TD's was unusual but good plays by those that made them.

[Game Day, Baby!]

Actually, there was another play between the dropped pass by Franklin on the blown assignment by wonder-kid Hyland and the INT by Reddick. It was a TD saving pass knock down against Nik Lewis by your favourite player. Guess you missed that one.

[joe kapp22]

I was a bit surprised that the Stamps went for 3 longer type passes. Even though they could have had completions, they could have gone shorter with the time left on the clock.

Hindsight is 20 / 20 but it still surprised me with their play selection. OTOH, Franklin was wide open and should have made the reception for the TD.

Lots of plays last night which could have easily not been big an impact as they were. 3 defensive TD's was unusual but good plays by those that made them.

The pass to Lewis that Amp picked off was designed to pick up the first down or maybe he could power it into the endzone.

I believe it was Nik Lewis, but I'm not 100% on that one.

[joe kapp22]

Actually, there was another play between the dropped pass by Franklin on the blown assignment by wonder-kid Hyland and the INT by Reddick. It was a TD saving pass knock down against Nik Lewis by your favourite player. Guess you missed that one.

Actually, no, I did not overlook that play, I do not consider a solid hit knocking the ball loose as "luck", that was simply a good play by Tad Crawford.

Another example of simple luck would be Cote's fumble on a screen pass bouncing perfectly to Jon Cornish, none of the Defenders knew Cote had fumbled, Cornish happened to see the ball come out, the ball bounced up to him and he tried to run with it.

[B.C.FAN]

The Lions haven't had enough breaks this year. They've been the ones dropping passes or getting bad breaks, going 2-7 in close games and 0-2 in overtime. The law of averages should be on their side the rest of the way.

[TheLionKing]

Seems like the most difficult catches are the ones that the receiver is wide open.

[WestCoastJoe]

Seems like the most difficult catches are the ones that the receiver is wide open.

Too much time to think. Gotta keep the brain out of it, as with a lot of sports. Franklin froze. He got out of the flow of the game.

As the immortal baseball philosopher said when asked what he thought about when hitting answered: "You can't think and hit at the same time."

Re luck ...

Stuff happens. Tends to balance out between teams. Lions have had their share of bad luck.

I think people and teams tend to make their own breaks over time.

This Lions team is a Buono team, not unlike any of his teams from the past. If there is a difference, as reflected in the wins and losses, it is that the league has become a tougher gig with the arrival of Hufnagel and Trestman. And now we see teams adjusting to that. Montreal got smoked by Hamilton. We've beaten the Stampeders twice in a row, in their house. Even old dogs can learn new tricks. Wally Buono is a survivor. We're seeing his team reflect that now.