Report: Lions willing to listen to offers for Joe Smith

[Big Time]

Not really sure why anyone would offer anything of substance to Joe since if they wait, he'll either get cut or likely be gone in the offseason. The Lions are really not dealing from a position of strength here.

[Hambone]

See, that's the thing: why would you just suddenly move Joe for the sake of moving him because Logan is working better *right now*? If Logan hits a slump in a couple games... then what do you do for an RB? Give Ian Smart double-duty? Unless there's some pressing need to make a hole in the roster, or a really good offer comes along for a trade, I can't see TRYING to move Joe Smith at this point in the season.

BINGO! I think we have a winner. I don't hold a lot of credence in some media reports when it comes to trade rumours. Many an NHL trade rumour is conjured up simply because two GMs happen to be in the same building at the same time. Similarly all it takes is a team to have two seemingly capable running backs on the team with the team only able to dress one at a time. To some bloggers that equals somebody has to go. In the case of BC a rumour of Logan being shopped around doesn't grab nearly as much attention for the network in question as a rumour that Smith is being shopped around. Whether really is substance to it or not we don't know, but it's an instant story.

If somebody wants to pursue trade talks with Buono re: Smith or anyone else I'm sure he will entertain them if he feels the end result is BC is a better football team.

[Hambone]

CKNW reporting the Lions have put Smith on waivers — likely the first step towards his release.

Much like the Argos did with Bishop, this will test the waters to see if anyone is interested to select him off of waivers, if so, Wally snaps him back up and trys to work out a trade for him. If anyone does select Joe Smith on waivers, the contract shouldn't be a problem for them to work with. Of course this could end being a poker game for one team, counting on no one responding and hoping to pick him up as a FA.

According to Adam Rita all teams do that every week. This may not be the first time this year Smith and several other Leos have been placed on waivers.

[Tighthead]

I heard LU on the radio today saying he thinks Smith is done. He is usually pretty astute in these matters. The fact that Wally is letting it be known that they have made an offer to Mike Bell seems to be more of the public shaming of Smith.

Wally hates players negotiating through the media, but doesn't mind using it for his own benefit.

[Hambone]

I'm just guessing here, but I'd think Wally would have seen a couple of game tapes of Logan's NCAA play before bringing him on board. I'm also guessing most here haven't. Seeing as it's possible (even if not probable) that Logan didn't have to block a lot at that level, and seeing Wally would actually have a better idea than anyone here, I would tend to give his words a bit more weight than any idle speculation as to their veracity.

Coming from an NCAA program coupled with his stature I suspect blocking was not a big part of his responsibilities. I think it's quite safe to assume that South Dakota, like almost every NCAA school, regularly employed a fullback to block for Logan and get the occaional touch. If it got to 3rd and long passing situations Logan was likely the guy pulled to leave the fullback in for pass protection. He would've had to pick up a blitzing DB or LB occasionally but I don't think he'd have been accustomed to being in a single back set where he is the only guy other than the OL who might be called on to block. I would think blocking is not part of Logan's standard skillset, but that doesn't mean he can't learn. Having said that I did chuckle the other night when he tried a half-assed block attempt on some charging Eskimo interior lineman. If you can imagine a cop trying to set up a roadblock with a Smart car to stop a fully loaded semi bearing down you know what I mean.

[ziggy]

CKNW reporting the Lions have put Smith on waivers — likely the first step towards his release.

Much like the Argos did with Bishop, this will test the waters to see if anyone is interested to select him off of waivers, if so, Wally snaps him back up and trys to work out a trade for him. If anyone does select Joe Smith on waivers, the contract shouldn't be a problem for them to work with. Of course this could end being a poker game for one team, counting on no one responding and hoping to pick him up as a FA.

Man there has to be some real problems behind the scenes here that no one is talking about, attitude maybe? Rushing leader to a pawn in a trade game, doesn't make sense to me!

[Soundy]

Having said that I did chuckle the other night when he tried a half-assed block attempt on some charging Eskimo interior lineman. If you can imagine a cop trying to set up a roadblock with a Smart car to stop a fully loaded semi bearing down you know what I mean.

Now there's a hilarious mental image

[TheLionKing]

One of the radio stations interviewed Logan couple of weeks back and one of the questions posed to him was what he needs to work on. His response was blocking. He didn't do much of it while in college.

[PigSkin_53]

I think Wally is playing a most dangerous game and in the process destroying his own credibility.

Wally has said himself that he was thinking of retiring in a couple, more years that was over two seasons ago.

I went on record last season saying I thought the right thing to do was for Wally to give the reigns of the team to his old friend Dave Ritchie and move upstairs, and focus on being General Manager or move on to President now that Bobbie has gone.

But the more I see the more I'm sure Wally has lost the good judgment that once made him the winingest coach in the CFL.

It started in 2004 when he decided to start a rusty Dave Dickinson over Casey Printers and shut him out of any chance to
play in that Championship, and then promised him a starting job at top dollar that off season, risking alienating DD who was still under contract for another year.

Then and against his better judgment offered a new contract to Dickenson to keep him on even thought we already had our two future qbs we have today. When DD went down to his third concussion in as many years he failed to put him on the nine game disabled list wasting revenues which we might have spent bring in some help we sorely needed at the time.

Then in the Western Final last season knowing full well that Jarious is a notorious slow starter he pulls Jackson in the second half bringing in an again rusty Dickinson, who was himself as ineffectual as JJ had been in the first half.

Fast forward to the return of Jacque Chapdelaine who having left Wally in the soup and without a offensive coordinator late in the off season of 2006, who then proceeded to bomb badly in Edmonton brings him back into the fold after he said there was not position for him, makes one by getting rid of Barresi and demoting Kruck, to torch an offensive system that netted us 14 wins, 3 losses, and 1 tie so we can regress back to predictability and mediocrity.

Now he wants to blow off Joe Smith immediately after inking him to a new deal not less than six months ago.

Go figure!

Wally looks more like a coach who has been gradually losing control for some time now, and has reached the point of lack of credibility, who should have seriously left at the top of his game instead of the path he is now headed in .

[Don Miller]

Wally knows what he is doing. I think the Lions are tired of Smith's attitude and demeanour. He is a strange dude to be sure. I don't think he wants to play football as much as some other guys. Logan is the real deal and hungry to make his mark. Joe has been put on recallable waivers. wally is testing the waters to see if Winnipeg or someone else is interested. I think Wally is sending a message to the team, come to play and be team player on and off the field!

[firstdown45]

I trust Wally's judgement here. He knows what's going on.

Smith doesn't go to Ackles Tribute but instead goes shopping.

He doesn't show up at the game but instead goes gardening or hiking up Mt. Cheam.

He smiles during interviews like he doesn't care. What the hell is going on?

Geroy's injured but he still had his butt on the sidelines making whatever committment he can even if it's just vocal support.

It's not the big things in life; it's the little details.

One for one trade up. Smith for Printers. It has to happen.

[Blitz]

I think Wally is playing a most dangerous game and in the process destroying his own credibility.

Wally has said himself that he was thinking of retiring in a couple, more years that was over two seasons ago.

I went on record last season saying I thought the right thing to do was for Wally to give the reigns of the team to his old friend Dave Ritchie and move upstairs, and focus on being General Manager or move on to President now that Bobbie has gone.

But the more I see the more I'm sure Wally has lost the good judgment that once made him the winingest coach in the CFL.

It started in 2004 when he decided to start a rusty Dave Dickinson over Casey Printers and shut him out of any chance to
play in that Championship, and then promised him a starting job at top dollar that off season, risking alienating DD who was still under contract for another year.

Then and against his better judgment offered a new contract to Dickenson to keep him on even thought we already had our two future qbs we have today. When DD went down to his third concussion in as many years he failed to put him on the nine game disabled list wasting revenues which we might have spent bring in some help we sorely needed at the time.

Then in the Western Final last season knowing full well that Jarious is a notorious slow starter he pulls Jackson in the second half bringing in an again rusty Dickinson, who was himself as ineffectual as JJ had been in the first half.

Fast forward to the return of Jacque Chapdelaine who having left Wally in the soup and without a offensive coordinator late in the off season of 2006, who then proceeded to bomb badly in Edmonton brings him back into the fold after he said there was not position for him, makes one by getting rid of Barresi and demoting Kruck, to torch an offensive system that netted us 14 wins, 3 losses, and 1 tie so we can regress back to predictability and mediocrity.

Now he wants to blow off Joe Smith immediately after inking him to a new deal not less than six months ago.

Go figure!

Wally looks more like a coach who has been gradually losing control for some time now, and has reached the point of lack of credibility, who should have seriously left at the top of his game instead of the path he is now headed in .

For long time Leo fans, who experienced many more years of 'drought' than sipping water, neverless champagne, Wally is close to a Messiah. However, like every player, a coach will eventually have to face the music too. Is Wally close to being ready to stroll into the sunset or take a walk in the snow. Certainly not yet and when the time comes, it's unlikely he'll be pushed but make his own decision.

We're all aware of Wally's regular season success and lack of success in the playoffs, overall, espcially based upon that regular season success. Most are just happy that we have won a lot more games than we''ve lost. A big part of that has been the building of a model organization. However, Wally didn't do that alone and Bobby Ackles and Bob O'Billovich played a big role in that success as well.

There is no question that Wally and Company have made a lot more right decisions than wrong ones. That doesn't mean mistakes haven't been made. There is no question that, outside of Dickenson loyalists, most feel he made a mistake in going with a rusty Dickenson three times in the playoffs, in 2004, 2005, and the majority of the WDF in 2007 and came up empty. That can't just be laid on Dickenson but the decision to do so so each time didn't get the desired result. He badly underestimated our offensive line talent in 2005, going with an obviously seriously challenged Mantyka due to injury from the previous season and we ended up playing an aging center in Mo Elonowibi at left tackle at the end of that season.

The entire starting quarterback fiasco between Dickenson and Printers, which was a headache enough, was made a whole lot worse with Wally throwing gasoline on the fire, dithering, and offering the job to Printers at the end of 2005 and losing him to the NFL, while alienating Dickenson. Moving Phillips to nickel, while moving Washington to halfback was very questionable as his continuation of playing Glatt in the middle. He wanted to trade Jarious Jackson at the beginning of last season so he doesn't always get the quarterback decision right. Wally's decison to keep the west train continuously running from Calgary hit a major snag in Duncan O'Mahoney and he stuck with him way too long and it hurt us.

However, Wally has made a lot of good calls as well. His decision to cut veterans in Carter, Bo Lewis, Sam Young, and Antonio Warren weren't always popular at the time but were the right decisions. His hiring of Dave Ritchie, an old coaching friend, to coordinate our defense was a tremendous move. He made the right move in dropping Dickenson this off-season even though he was popular. He should have made the move the previous season and got something valuable for Dickenson but waited a season too long. His decision to start Jarious after Game 1 this season was also the right decision, even though Buck was more popular. Jarious isn't every Lionbacker's cup of tea at quarterback but we're 13-4 with Jarious. It isn't often pretty but we win with him at quarterback. It's also given Buck the time to get his game back without the pressure of playing with a lot of rust and a shoulder that wasn't back to 100%

The key to Wally's success has been to create an organization by surrounding himself with dedicated staff and making some very good calls on talent while having high expectations. He's not a great game day coach and players don't always like him but he wins and players and fans want to win as thier first priority. The talent in the league is catching up with our Leos, new coaches like Trestman and Hufnagel are ready to challenge, and the losses of Ackles and O'Billovich leave a big hole. Trestman has taken an offence that was seventh in the league last season and turned it into the league's best offence in almost every category. A big question will be whether we can continue to win, with old schemes, while other CFL teams innovate and their talent catches up.

This season will determine, in many ways, if Wally can remain at the top of his profession in the CFL or whether we'll be bypassed.

[Soundy]

One for one trade up. Smith for Printers. It has to happen.

Can I have the number of your crack dealer? I've been looking for a new supplier, it's been a while since I've had some really good stuff. You obviously have the hookup.

[Sir Purrcival]

For those who think that Wally may be washed up.

The person is a human being, not a clairvoyant. There are some decisions in this business that are always going to go bad and look really dumb in hindsight. Wally makes mistakes but he also makes a lot of good decisions too. The latter outweigh the former far and away. As for the Joe Smith situation. With Rolly Lumballa waiting in the wings, it is quite possible that Wally is feeling relatively secure in the heavyweight running category. I like Joe Smith and enjoy his running style but I would be lying if I didn't say some of his attitude issues have gone beyond cute and campy to borderline silly and disrespectful. There is one very simple truth about this game at this level. If you want to play, you better have it as your primary focus and be prepared to show that. Of late, there have been a number of things that make you question whether that is true of Joe Smith. In some ways, he is becoming the CFL version of Ricky Williams. Laid back and this game don't go together very well in the long run. If Joe Smith is in trouble with this team, then he need look no farther than the mirror to see where the trouble has started. Wally wouldn't care if he ate beer and pretezels 24/7 so long as he shows up for games and plays at a high level. It is always a matter of "What have you done for me lately". Unfortunately, it hasn't been as much as many of us has hoped. Whether it is his fault or not is immaterial. You constantly have to prove yourself to stay on top. You can' coast or even appear to coast.

[SammyGreene]

With Rolly Lumballa waiting in the wings, it is quite possible that Wally is feeling relatively secure in the heavyweight running category.

Excellent point SP and I think the emergence of Lambala is a big part of the equation here. Mike Beamish wrote a great article last week how Lambala has dropped 25 lbs since training camp after being used primarily as a blocking FB and a TE in his senior year at Idaho. He still is a huge load at 6-2 245 lbs and punished Javy Glatt during one drill last week.
http://www.canada.com/globaltv/bc/story ... b971dcd8a4
Lambala was considered the best RB and one of the top prospects of a very deep ’08 draft class — to the point where the Lions grabbed him with the 11th overall pick even with Green and Bengwe onboard. Now he has slimmed down and is ready for a more significant role.

Wally could see Lambala as a great compliment to Logan to take care of the short yardage situations while developing a promising young Canadian at the same time.