I Hate The Feeling That I Have.....

Well, I wrote a post like this last year and I was so hoping that I wouldn't have to write one again.

First, I'm confused. I know a bit about football, I kn ow a lot about management, and I just don't understand. I know that it takes time to gel; I know that we've had some bad calls; I know that we're 'close'... but we just lost #5 and a loss next week pretty well buries us 1/3 of the way into the season. How can this happen again?

Second, I'm angry... but it's a strange and resigned dispassionate anger. Part of me has given up. Yes, I know that there's some hope if we win next week but right now I don't WANT to think about the possibility of winning. To think about it - to hope for it and speculate on it - opens me up to the possibility of getting hurt really badly... AGAIN. Part of me is feeling that if I give up now that the hurt won't be so bad.

Third, I'm cynical. I'm still a fan, I still bleed black and gold, but just like in politics, fashion, or music, there are eras that just turn one off. You hold on until something good comes along. I had high hopes for this era but right now it's starting to look like shag rugs. They looked cool at first but got dirty quickly and soon were a mess.

I still have my season seats, I'm still following the team, but the caring is close to leaking away until the next off-season.

Please Cats- make me sorry that I'll miss next weeks game. Make me care. Please.

Someone go to Mark's house and check on him ok?... bust the door down if you have to.... :lol:

Well expressed.

I'm with you Mark.

Good post.

well said......you are not alone

You have to say they played not bad but I am with you about how they run this team!This should of never happened! The ticats are 4 years in rebuilding this team!I was there before bob young and I will be afterwards!His Legacy is whats at stake!

I feel pretty much exactly the same my friend… these are hard times for us Cat faithful.

My heart aches right now and I don’t know what to do. We simply need more effort from the players and I don’t know why they continue to be so close yet so far.

We need every single player giving it 110% because thats what we loyal fans give and we deserve it in return.

I think the team shows improvement every week. If we could run a few stunts and put some pressure on the QB our DB's might look better.

Overall our DB's just can't handle the one one one match ups and the line is not putting the pressure on the QB.

I have noticed though when we do get the coverage we need, the officials throw out the flag and call interference. Most cases marginal at best.

Well, it's the next day and time for reflection. Do I still feel the same way. Yup.

I'm not boycotting.
I'm not screaming.
I'm not in a panic.
I'm also taking charge of myself 'cause I can't do it for the team.
I'm going to distance myself emotionally for a while.

"Go Cats Go, Oski Wee Wee," he said quietly.

Mark

I went through the same thing with the Leafs and distanced myself. I’ve never gone back (because they never started to win). I hope this doesn’t turn ou to be true of the Cats.

An Argo-Cat fan

Mark: I believe you are expressing the emotions of all, if not, most of us. I can completely empathize with you and I keep telling myself that better days are ahead.

At the beginning of this season, I really didn't expect the team to make the playoffs, but with two pre season wins against Winnipeg and a lot of media hype, I mistakenly got excited to the point that I thought that 2nd place in the east was a possibility. Actually, 2nd place in the east remains a possibility, but realisticly, a very remote one.

Being 0 and 5 at this stage has left me rather numb and embarrassed. I've been trying to sell the game to some relatives and friends, some of whom were former season ticket holders, but they're all having a good laugh right now at my expense. Thats okay! I have strong shoulders and like yourself, I will, not too optimisticly, and very skepticly, stand behind my team as we fight our way through the worst era in our history.

Perhaps things will change in another life . . . I really don't know. but regardlessly, I would very timidly say, oskie wee wee.

Hang in there, Mark. Good things are ahead; perhaps for our grandchildren.

Having been a Hamilton fan in the past I can say that it's just not the losing that hurts it's the continual bull about "how good this team is" that is bantered around prior to the season starting. We all heard about the infamous "five year program" and yet this team isn't any better than four years back. Players that have been crititcized by this GM and cut or traded by him could have been a terrific nucleas for the team yet he thinks that nobody knows football as well as he does. It's too bad Hamilton Fans that you must have such a person as your GM.

Good post I feel the same way.......???? 2007 Ticats????

Mark,

At least you dont have to drive around with Tiger-Cat licence plates. I get indigestion every time I go to open the trunk.

Mark, well said. I think a lot of us feel the same way.
For me, it's not the losses themselves that cause the problem. It's the vast difference between the expectations and the subsequent realities.

Consider...We all say the team is improving, and they are. BUT, every other team is getting better too. No team spends the whole season without getting better.

We see Jesse have a great game against Vancouver, and we correctly look for strong performances from him. BUT, the very next game, Winnipeg is ready for him, and while they don't stop him, he doesn't have the same impact as the week before.

Now we have seen Bauman, and we feel we have a strong receiver for the future. BUT Winnipeg attached no great importance to a rookie playing his first CFL game. In his next game our opponents will give him a little more respect.

We see what we consider outstanding contributors like Setta, Moreno, and others, and we expect more from them than they are able to show. And because the TEAM lets us down, we feel cheated.

Bottom line... We have very good individuals. We do not yet have a TEAM.
That's Taaffe's job, and I hope he can mould them pretty quickly. But, we should not expect this to happen any time soon. It just isn't that easy when there is no pre-existing core around which to build.
Don't cry that we should have kept a large core from last year's team as a nucleus. They did nothing, and would only have perpetuated their losing ways.

BTW, I have license plates 04TC07, and it doesn't bother me at all when I open the trunk.

My sympathies to you Mark.

A good way to deal with it
is to not wallow in it.

That is what I try to do.

P.S.

Wilf is right we have some good individuals,
too many to mention here in one post.

The problem is most of them are inexperienced.

All a coach can do with inexperienced players is
assess them at practice to see if they're ready.

A good example of that is our receivers.

He has started some of them, and if they produce
they earn more playing time, if not they sit out
and learn at practice or they get cut and replaced.

If we had a core of veteran starters
we may have won some games but we don't

and that's just the way it is.

Whether I, or other fans like it or not,
Marcel has stripped down this team

and WE ARE completely STARTING OVER!

This is not the 4th year of rebuilding
in any way. IT IS Desjardin's FIRST year.

He did what he felt he had to do,

partly to deal with the salary cap

and partly to change the attitude
and culture of the team.

This team is simply loaded with talent but the problem is that its more on the raw side vs. the molded/wise side that you need to execute and win.

But with Maas.. he is no rookie and the one play where he really let us down is when he blew that throw to Curry in the red zone. Curry was so open that if the ball got to him he practically could have walked in for a TD. That kind of pathetic non-execution will never win games.