The Ti-Cats are a disappointment once again. News, this is not. I have read many theories and remedies on this list what is wrong and how to fix it. Many of them make some sense from a fans perspective.
Some of the theories involve the coaches. Some insist some of our star players are the problem. Our recruiting and lack of talent at several positions are common theories too.
I don’t pretend to know if our management, coaches and players are capable or not capable. At times everything has seems suspect and terribly wrong.
The problem isn’t new this year – we’ve suffered for way to long. One of the constants the past 5 years however is change. We have had many changes in President, GM, Coaches, QB, and just about every other position on the team. Every couple of games there is panic and more change. None of the changes have been so effective that they have made any improvement in the Cat’s win-loss record. So we have made a lot of ineffective change in the past five years.
As a result the players are not playing together, we have young, talented, inexperienced players at some positions, inadequate players at others, the coaches look ineffective, and well since we have all these problems, let’s bring Obie into it and question his ability too. If Obie doesn’t have it, certainly our President Mitchell doesn’t either. He hired Obie. I’m not going to the ownership level hopefully he has learned his job is to watch and not influence the decisions of the people he hired to make them. Oops, I guess I just brought him into it too.
I am afraid that at the end of this season we will have change again. We will fire the GM, Coach, or whoever this year’s fall guy turns out to be. Maybe these decisions will be right; maybe they will be wrong but the changes will guarantee another year of inexperienced players, and coaches who appear ineffective and another dismal losing record next year while we wait for the team to gel. I can’t take that another year of this kind of crap.
I hope if we make any major change at the GM or coaching level, the decision is made without fans, or outsiders influence. It needs to be made by persons who can evaluate what happened, and what worked and what didn’t. The decision maker can then decide who has the talent we need and what we have to part ways with. Obie and Taaffe shouldn’t be automatic fall guys but if either one can’t do their job, they should be let go. Otherwise they should be allowed to continue their work next year. Maybe this team needs a few more puzzle pieces, not another year where we start over and lose any continuity we have built up. I believe we are on the right path and need to build on it. But I am just a fan who isn’t qualified to make a lot of these decisions. I do know, we can’t continue making changes for changes sake. If we make change I hope we aren’t throwing darts and firing whoever it hits.
There is a good example for us in Edmonton. For the past two years Danny Maciocia has been on the hot seat for Edmonton missing the playoffs. My personal opinion was he had to be let go last year. Many expected him to be fired at the end of last year. But Edmonton management stuck with him and Edmonton is playing like a contender this year and their coaching is looking much more effective now. They built on their base rather than starting over again. I believe the biggest cause of our dismal record for the past five years is too much change and a total loss of any continuity from season to season. This isn’t a way to build a football team.