A .500 +/- Team for the foreseeable future

That's the best we can expect. The main problem is not the coaching staff, although it is a serious problem . The CEO is the problem as to why we are nothing more than a .500 team and will continue to be under current administration. For the TigerCats to become successful they must have as the CEO a person who is football savy , can assess talent both players and coaches and know how to run a professional sports organization. Just take a look at the number of coaches we have had under Scott Mitchels tenure,and it continues , Kent Austin is at best a +/- .500 coach check his Cornell University /TigerCat stats. I am Strong fan and supporterand have been since the Tigers and Wildcats merged and became The Hamilton TigerCats (think it was 1954) :cowboy:

Seriously now! You are blaming Scott Mitchel… just because! Last time I looked, Scott hadn’t given up an interception or a fumble or a safety or sack! Get real! The team is just simply not all together YET. Work in progress getting there. Patience!

And the most idiotic first post on this site belongs to...

Why not blame the owner - after all, he DID hire Mitchell. Oh, that's right, without Bob Young, there would be no team in Hamilton, no Tim Horton's Field, no message board on which to make a fool of yourself, etc...

Yea… Its going to be very tough to watch every team in the league kick our A$$ this year. :thup:

Having been around as long as Rollingt, since the Tiger-Cats first took the field (it was actually 1950), I think we longest-"serving" fans may be more frustrated, than most, with our team here in the 21st century. For 10, 20, 30-year fans, just making the playoffs, playing in a few Grey Cups and winning 1 may have been quite exciting. But, it's a long stretch from the kind of team we old guys grew up with and dream of seeing once more. With 67 past seasons, a quick comparison of the team's first 33 years with the most recent 33:
Finished first in the East -- 15 times vs. 4 times
Finished last in the East -- 3 times vs. 10 times
Grey Cup appearances -- 12 vs. 8
Grey Cup championships -- 6 vs. 2
Also, in the team's greatest era, 9 of those 12 trips to the Cup, and 4 of the 6 victories, occurred in a period of just 11 consecutive seasons ('57 - '67).

In Scott Mitchell's 10 seasons here the team has finished first once, fourth three times, and played in 2 Grey Cup games.
In the 3 full seasons, prior to hiring Mitchell, the Bob Young owned TiCats finished 3rd once, and 4th twice.

Several major decisions made, over this past decade, by the club's ownership, executive and football management, I believe, are collectively to blame for our disappointment in today's team. Not just those of any one individual.

Frustrated today, are we Sig? While I don’t agree with the poster, his answer reflects the current trend in business to place all blame or honour on the shoulders of the CEO. And it IS true that ultimately the likely success or failure of an enterprise can be laid at his/her doorstep (to the extent there is control of all hiring decisions, etc.) but it is far too simplistic analysis. Yet it’s common so I don’t want to beat up on the poster.

Of course, my opinion here may be self-serving as I just stepped down from leadership of a small institution and I hated the feeling that it all depended on me. Now - for a while - I’m an unemployed bum. Actually feels good.

As a seasons ticket holder for 41 years I think I've seen the worst of this franchise..and only as a kid remember some of those glory years....this is nowhere near the worst. This is a game....people need to remember that....it's not life and death.
I hate losing as much as the next guy...but when we do, it's done. No amount of pointing fingers will change how this team is managed from Bob Young down.
As someone earlier said.....we should be extremely thankful there is still a team to cheer for in Hamilton.
Do the critics remember the Harold Ballard years and when he pulled up trucks to empty out all the team equipment from IWS?
I want a winning team as bad as anyone but time to chill a bit :smiley:
The only criticism that team management pays attention to is related to the in-game experience. If people have fun in the stadium even if we lose, they'll come back.

But on the flip side of that, if the team has a reputation for losing, very few non-fans will be willing to come out to a game. And that’s the people the team needs to attract - the ones who aren’t already coming out and buying tickets.

So yes, a good in-game experience may keep people going to the games, but without new fans replacing those who end up leaving (moving out of the region, financial hardship, “aging out”), your ticket sales - and revenue - will start to fall. And eventually, a losing team will eventually lose even its core fans. You just have to look at what happened to the Ottawa Rough Riders.

Sadly, a .500 record ain't so bad - can often get an Eastern Conference team into the playoffs. Heck, we have had years where a team below .500 has made it. Getting tougher as Western Conference teams beat up on us here in the East and all finish above .500, but that only displaces the third place Eastern team.

I've been a fan since '57, and the famous Ray "Bibbles" Bawel trip. One thing I have noticed about quoting the past records and the past glories - only us old f*rts care. For the younger fans, it is about what is happening now, and what is going on around them. Spend the game in the concourses and the lounges with your friends. Anything exciting happens, someone will text me or it will be on one of the TV screens :smiley: !

I think everything you say here is fair and true, Palmer. But, we oldies don’t only care about those past glories. Like the young, we also care about “what is happening now,” at least when it’s about our team. That should make it unanimous – young and old, we’re all disappointed and concerned right now. I’d take .500, with a :smiley: this year. All they’ll need to do is go 9-3 after getting back from AB.

I guess you can put me in the "Old Fart" category as well. Season tickets since the early nineties and a fan for 50 plus years. I would be happy to see a team that plays old fashioned smash mouth football. Run the ball down the opponents yap and make them sorry they showed up to play at THF. I hope Austin understands the importance of a balanced attack
instead of chucking the ball on every down. Glory days..........................

Well, call me an “old fart too”, but I’m not pleased where we are today…AND I think without an “attitude adjustment” on Coach Austin, I won’t be happy with the results of this team.
I’ve never met the guy, I’ve questioned a lot of his actions but chucked it up to him knowing more than me, but I don’t care for his “attitude” and I think it’s got something to do with what is happening with the team.

I’ve been a fan since 1974, & I’m sick & tired of seeing other teams turn their program around within a couple of years, while we’re here posting about the same crap that never seems to get fixed with the team.

I had to wait 12 years to see the Cats win the Cup, then another 13 years after that. I’m sick of waiting. This team should be a perennial powerhouse instead of a perennial pushover.

Here Here

Ive been a fan my whole life and started attending games in the late 70s The team has had a losing culture the whole time except for a year here and there

I too am tired of waiting for the team to a consistent winner which I’m starting to think will never happen. They are almost always the doormats of the CFL!

"I too am tired of waiting for the team to a consistent winner which I'm starting to think will never happen. They are almost always the doormats of the CFL!"

I have to agree. For a league with only 9 teams the odds of winning a grey cup should be lets just say every 7-9 years . The fact that it has been 1999, almost 18 years since the Ti Cats have won should speak VOLUMES to the higher ups. I am not going to blame it all on one thing or another I know it is a combination of many things but until something changes (who knows where and what that will have to be ) the Ti Cats will always be known as the door mats of the CFL.