Brown's article on Labatte's reasons for leaving.

Just seems this organization is totally dysfuctional. Turns out ,Labatte wanted to stay and his girlfriend loved it here and were looking for real estate. Only we could F### that up. They wanted to play him at center, where he would be less effective as opposed to being a all star at his current position :roll: :roll:
The article is in the Freepress.

How is it on the organization when Labatte didn't say anything? Are they supposed to be mind readers?

saw the article and thought, weird how now that lapolice isnt there, labatte would mention it. Tells me its more lapolice and oline coach del monaco who wanted him to be center. Think if anything, this is on labatte for not saying that he wants to play guard only and lapo and the offensive line coach more than anyone. I somehow highly doubt it was MACK who wanted him to play center, just highly highly doubt that. I know people are trying to for some reason still pile it on the gm and the organization but this article, the timing of it coming out after lapolice was gone, well tells me it was more lapos decision than anyone elses. Think its common sense to decipher that the coaches particularly lapo and del monaco where the ones who wanted him to be center.. i guess the other interesting part of that article is..mentioning that greaves wasnt ready at the time, well... if labatte would have moved to center that means greaves would be guard regardless.

Well how many people when they are in a tough situation at work just move on to another company ? i've done it many people do it. What is he supposed to do ? You never win going up against a coach and once he signs there is nothing he can do about it.

And from the coaching staff's perspective if they are going to pay the big bucks they probably wanted him to take on the extra responsabilities so they could slot in a younger guy at guard where he hs less responsabilities. So nobody did anything wrong here. Just wasn't a good fit for Labatte.

…Labattes girlfiend was pregnant…He had visions of home and the jolly green giants dancing in his head…Mack went out of his way to re-sign him even to the point of trying to get sponsorship for his car racing hobby…What the Bombers got in return was a drawn-out reply (one that ended up costing us a shot at Picard because napkinboy in Regina had already penned him) and a ‘sorry see ya later’…The whole thing stunk…I don;t know where the fault really lies…I do know that Labatte didn’t improve his situation much :lol: …I think his new club is one game ahead of us in the win column…Enjoy Regina Brendan :lol:

Have you read Doug Brown’s article ? Anyway your my favorite “funny guy” :thup:
If I was as positive as you Papa I’d be a millionaire ! And I’d buy you a fur coat :thup: an Emu :lol:

…sometimes I don’t dig Doug so I don’t read all of his stuff…I like him on the panel…I’d like to see him part of the Bombers coaching or management…Who knows :wink: maybe in the future…

I think he hasn’t found that middle ground yet between being himself and being the media guy. Its like there is Two Doug.

The timing of saying well 100% the reason for leaving is they wanted me to play center. You'd think most vet guys will either step up and say "anything for the team" or say "I don't agree, I'm not interested in a position switch from guard" rather than walk away without saying anything, then months later say this is why. I can understand apprehension on his part of getting a fat contract then having to bear the brunt of fan anger if he didn't play well, but if he didn't speak up at the time how could anyone know that was his line of thinking. Maybe he needs a bit more of Hefney in him. Just a bit.

He told his position coach straight up. But he wasn’t prepared to put him on the spot in front of Lapolice. They put him in front of a “fait accompli” and he did what a guy who is not interested in changing position did. Give them lip service.

Reminds me of another great guard: Scott Flory who was smoked the same way with the Riders and changed his mind. At least Brandon didn’t sign two contracts LOL ! Can you imagine the nuthouse between those two teams. Man that would have been a show !

Not all great players are interested in extra responsabilities or changing a position they have spend 10 or more years mastering.

You have no idea what he said to DelMonaco in October. Going by what was said in the article Labatte was probably pretty wishy-washy about it (“I just told them I was the spare donut tire at the centre spot,” said LaBatte. “I can limp you over to the gas station, but I’m not a long-term solution for you at that spot.” - doesn’t sound “straight up” to me).

He could have said something. He could have made it a condition of his deal that he play guard. Instead he kept his mouth shut. And if he couldn’t bring himself to say it then he could have had his agent say it for him. This is all on Labatte as far as I’m concerned.

Why do you always shoot people’s posts down ? Did you even read the article ?

but he was too good of a teammate and player to complain or say anything about it, outside of what [b]he initially told his coach, Pat DelMonaco, and his linemates."I just told them I was the spare donut tire at the centre spot," said LaBatte. "I can limp you over to the gas station, but I'm not a long-term solution for you at that spot.[/b] But they thought I had the potential to be."
If a player tells me this. He does not want to play the position. Unless DelMonte is a complete knob, he would know what Brandon was telling him.

Doug Brown was on the radio tonight and he played with Labatte last year and knows the situation. This is on the Bombers, why take a all star and put him in a position where he will never excel?!

Interesting that this stuff comes out now. With the army of reporters looking for their moment of glory in Winnipeg, they sure missed a hell of an opportuniy.

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=404063

Glen Suitor makes some interesting points:

[i]Mack said that this was not a snap judgment and after discussing the two aforementioned reasons for his decision, paused almost to reflect and said "when I broke down the film and talent level, I saw players playing extremely hard, with a lot of heart. I talked to them repeatedly and asked them; do you think your fellow teammates care? They always said yes, yet we were not producing results that would equate to what I was seeing on the field and what the players were saying and that gave me great pause."

Winnipeg Free Press reporter Paul Wiecek on Sunday also quoted "unnamed sources that indicated that Mack had been querying players directly and had been advised almost without exception, that LaPolice had lost the room."

All of which is likely why, whether you like this decision or not, you can't figure out why there is such a bad smell hanging over it.

First it seems like a bit of a contradiction to suggest that players are not responding to the head coaches message and then turn around and say, "when I watched film I saw players playing extremely hard, with a lot of heart." Isn't playing with a lack of heart and effort the sign that a coach has lost the room?
What is more disturbing is what we don't know, and may never know, about what the players were actually saying about their head coach when Joe Mack "talked to them repeatedly."

If what was reported in the Free Press is true, and players under the umbrella of anonymity where throwing their head coach under the bus, well then you have found the source of that smell. [/i]

Very disappointing to hear this was the reason he walked.

Once again, everyone was convinced that it was somehow Mack's fault that he left, and now we know the truth. Makes you wonder how many others were driven off by this kind of nonsense.

I would think Odell Willis is a strong candidate… Remember Mack saying he was cryptic…

But think about it. What is the alternative. “Locker room is a mess and so and so don’t care” or I don’t really care anymore, you either have made yourself a pariah or writen your ticket to the Riders. Interviewing the players during such a tough stretch might not be a reliable tool. Makes sense on the outside but its like if you torture someone enough they always tell you what you want to hear. I mean just the fact that Mack is interviewing players in anonymity kind of points the players to know the coach is sitting on a keg and the GM is asking you for a match. If Buchko went to Lapolice and asked him if he felt Mack had given him all the tools he wanted. I think the coach would know that Buchko is concerned about.

If a coach said we’re going to try you at this position and you respond by saying you think you won’t be good, do you really think the coach is going to say “oh okay” and leave it at that or might he give you reassurance that they think you will be really good at the position and to give it a try? And maybe DelMonaco did listen to him and that’s why Khan was put back in after 3 games but then Lapo decided during the off-season to try it again.

No matter how you slice it, Labatte should have said something during negotiations if he really wanted to stay in Winnipeg.

How does anyone know whether he would have excelled at the position or not? He played 3 games. With experience it’s possible he could have become an all-star at that position too.

I’m not a long-term solution for you at that spot