Gawd knows, most of us love and respect the legendary Tiger-Cat Angelo Mosca. That's almost a given.
However, should he be counseling our players like this with advice and instruction that should be coming from his coaches and in private? And then repeat it to the media ?
It just struck me a little funny is all. (I know Angelo means well)
Quote:
[b][i]"Mosca, now 72, laments that players like Jimenez are vilified for their toughness and take-no-prisoners approach to winning. It was, it goes without saying, different in his day.
“I said ‘don’t change for anybody’ because once you start changing the way you play to satisfy referees, you’ll be less effective,? Mosca said. “I assured him that his coaches and his teammates don’t mind the way he’s playing,?[/i][/b]
Yes, it is the management’s issue to take up with him ( Mr. Mosca) if it’s a problem.
However, when a story is printed in a newspaper, it invites opinion on the content. And unless we are all sheep, certain things strike people in various ways and in turn, sparks debate (hopefully healthy and respectful debate of course 8) .
Mosca spoke to the players, Covington spoke to the players, geeez they all look up to these guys and I don't thing it does any harm, if anything, it will motivate them more. "Coaching", I don't think that's what they are doing, just offering sage advice from all their experience. IMO
Thought it was a great read. To be honest, if a player doesn't get into a controversy every once in a while like Jimenez did, I say maybe they aren't playing on the edge quite enough.
I'm guessing that members of the team get a lot of unsolicited advice from people who aren't their coaches - from neighbours to cab drivers to the lady at the check-out line. (Sometimes even from anonyomous participants on internet chat boards.) Hopefully they're all mature enough to figure out who they should actually listen to, and who should get polite nods.
("I know the play called for me to run a curl route, coach, but Big Ang told me I should be going deep more often!")
I know where you're coming from but so long as what these "legends" tell the players isn't counter to what the coaches tell them, then I see no problem.
Angelo Mosca, former CFL player is just a fan. He therefore has a right to give Jiminez any kind of advice he wants.
Its up to Jiminez to decide for himself whether or not said advice is worth listening to.
I think that when it comes to home town football, Angie's heart is always in the right place and isn't trying to
take the law into his own hands. (My personal take on the situation)
On another note, my personal observation of Jiminez' play since his illegal hit has been "unaggressive."
I'm sure that Angelo is seeing the same thing. Since the reprimand and fine, Jiminez is playing very
cautiously. I'd like to see him play with some of that old aggression , bearing in mind that there is a fine
line between aggressive football and cheap shot, penalty ravaged football. I think he needs to get back
a little of his killer instinct without being stupid. He has great capabilities if he can avoid dumb penalties,
but we haven't seen much of that since his infamous incident.
Mosca and Willie Fleming? I like big Ang and his spirited play. If you notice back in Ang's time, no one went to centre field after the game for a group hug. I see nothing wrong with Ang offering sound advice.
First of all, to suggest that Angelo Mosca is just a fan is ridiculous…He is a CFL Hall Of Famer and a Living Legend! What is even more ridiculous is to suggest that a fan has “the right” to give a professional athlete any kind of advice on how he should play! Mosca has earned the right to give whatever advice he wants while most fans have not! Fans are perfectly entitled to their opinions, which as we have all seen can be terribly misguided, but should stick to giving advice in their own areas of expertise! I, for one, have not seen Jimenez play any differently since the block and believe he can only play one way.
Not only that, Coach Sal has been at practice before giving some tips to the O-line in the past while being a radio analyst by trade.
Could you imagine this convo?
Sandro: “Hi Paul, I’d like you to give me some tips on how to kick the ball here at the stadium with the cross winds we get.”
Ozzie: “Glad to be here! First you…”
[Obie’s Underling #5 jumps in between the kickers to opine]
Underling: “Sorry, can’t coach up the players!”
Ozzie: “But I…”
Underling: “Nope, can’t. Dave Easley’s head might explode.”
Sandro: “I invited…”
Underling: “Don’t care. Unless he has an official “Hello my name is Guest Coach” sticker available at the Tiger-Cat Store (wait six weeks for delivery), he cannot speak…”
If Marcel invited GROVER COVINGTON to speak to the team, you can infer that input from Hall of Famers is never frowned upon!
http://ticats.ca/video/index/id/15397
What your coach says is what you implement. To suggest that you have to be on the payroll with a headset as essential fashion accessory to legitimately give an opinion on some aspect of playing the game to a player...ugh.
