Lions need to look at Tiger Cats' recent history and learn

The worst nightmare for the Lions and the fans would be to repeat what happened to Hamilton from 2002 through 2008.

In 2001 the Ti-Cats won 11 of their games. In 2002 they won only 7. In 2003 the wheels fell off completely. They won only a single game all year. ONE GAME! I remember watching some of those games and I was embarrassed for the Ti-Cats and felt sorry for them because they were really trying. Some of the games they should have won. Other times they just shot themselves in the foot. Yep. That was 1 win/ 17 losses in 2003. How does a team win only one game in a season when just two years earlier it won 11 of 18 games and then after winning only one game in 2003 come back and win 9 games in 2004?

From 2005 through and including the 2008 season the Hamilton Ti-Cats won only 15 of 72 games. Another way of saying it is that they lost 57 of 72 games over that period. Wow!

They only won 3 games in 2007 and in 2008.

I'm getting a little nervous looking at the Lions' performance during the past couple of years with only 8 wins a season and barely squeaking into the playoffs. In each year they got off to a miserable start just like this year but somehow were able to put things together. Will they do it again. Wally must be pulling out his hair by now.

Are we a better team than in 2009 and 2010 in a year when we will be hosting the Grey Cup Game in a state of the art newly renovated stadium? Oh my goodness, I surely hope so but I'm beginning to wonder. Certain bread and butter players are not getting any younger. Others are green and learning the ropes. The way things are looking it appears like it is the Lions' turn to be cellar dwellers. Hopefully Wally and company will have the last word on that!

Lions are doomed for the next 3 to 4 seasons unless they fire this whole incompetent staff–

-Head coaches in PRO FOOTBALL wear HEAD sets and have a play sheet in their hands- Wally has no idea what is going on-
-The GM is important, look at 2 teams who are recruiting the best, Eric Tillman and Jim Popp- They have connections in the states to bring in good players-
I’m sorry its crystal clear Buono has no connections in the states and thus employs other teams washed up players such as Davis Sanchez, Kamau Peterson, Jerome Dennis, Jajuan Armour, Jamal Robertson, Derick Armstrong–

-Lions are a SEMI PRO team, they are so small and skinny, look at the new corner Travis Williams #1 they brought in, he couldnt tackle or cover at all- Hamilton was burning him all game long-

-Jarious Jackson comes on for a 2nd and 1 short yardage at the goal line- The scene is nothing short of complete CONFUSION- Wally is yelling, Marc washington is screaming and Jarious is looking wondering whats going on? LIONS are forced to take a TIMEOUT-

Since Bob Ackles has passed Wally has not brought in even 1 quality player on this team- Arcenaux is a terrible pickup as a player who plays 1 year is NOT GOOD FOR A REBUILDING TEAM WALLY- Maybe if we are a contendor for the Grey Cup and needed 1 player for a season it would work–
Word of advice for Wally- Pick up players who HAVE ALREADY TRIED out for the NFL, not players who are about to TRY out for the NFL–

  • You can see it on the sidelines- bc is confused, and all we hear is WINNINGEST COACH OF ALL TIME-
    Well folks get your head out of the sand and realize he will be the LOSINGEST COACH OF ALL TIME ALSO-

Wally and his staff along with BENEVIDES are incompetent- They have amassed a SEMI PRO team in terms of SIZE and physicality–
If they can everyone and sacrifice this season and then rebuild the entire team much like EDMONTON did next year they will be better and in 2 years they will be CONTENDORS–

Go down to MIAMI Florida and Texas and advertise OPEN TRYOUTS for CFL team- I am sure you can find an entire secondary that is better than what you have now–

If you want to know where COACHING comes into play its here-- CLOSE GAMES- When is the last time the Lions have won a CLOSE GAME? they completely get outcoached outschemed late in games and lose all close games

I see the eternal optimist GG is back with a sparkling inside analysis of the Lions' problems. Makes you wonder how they ever won a single game with Wally as GM/coach. Might as well just forfeit the rest of the season.

If only Wally would wear a headset we'd be 4-0 or at least 3-1 by now.

For the One in a million chance that somebody from the BC lions is reading this forum I will share the recipe on how to rebuild a team correctly--

  • You must cut all Import veterans making over 100 K a year- That means good bye to Jamal Robertson, Geroy Simon, and any other veteran making over 100 K-
  • Assemble good canadian talent and scout the canadian talent and get the best canadian players available- Dont trade away potential star CANADIAN running backs like Jerome Messam away for nothing and trade a Canadian kicker Sean Whyte as when Mcalum retires we once again will have no kicker-
  • Build DEPTH at positions so that you can have AREAS of strength- Even if you are losing build a very STRONG D line or linebacker core or Secondary- Lions dont have one SINGLE unit with any depth- Injuries hit in secondary and they are in dissaray--

-Get some real scouts who can get the best and most motivated american players from the states- The Destroyers a UFL team had over 350 free agents come out and try out for their team and the UFL season is suspended and they still got that many players to show up--
This proves there is a large pool of hungry players to draw from-

  • The entire CFL is turning to HUGE receivers, look at Montreal, Hamiton, and you need to bring in players who can play vs bigger and physical teams- Lions need to look at BENCH PRESS REPS and overall strength- You can see it in the TACKLING, they are just not strong enough to make the plays or willing to take the HITS-

That is how you rebuild a team- Its clear that Wally has no plan to rebuild the team? His plan was to take every washed up player from other teams, stick in a rookie QB and dont run the ball and RUSH 3 guys on defense and give the other QB time to go through 4 to 5 reads and make an easy completion- Then after the game BLAME players even though he is the GM and responsible for recruiting these same midgets that he seems to be falling in love with on defense-

The Lions will FOLD- you heard it here first- I have seen the Ottawa Roughriders fold twice and I saw every home game from both the Ottawa teams folding and this is EXACTLY how they folded with Crappy and incompetent Leaders in MANAGEMENT ROLES and with SUB PAR players who were not CFL calibre players--

Oh sorry I forgot WALLY is the winningest coach in the CFL right? Well he is also tied with RON LANCASTER now as the LOSINGEST COACH in CFL history also- Bring in a Head coach who WEARS a HEADSET and knows the score in the game and the down and distance- Wally might as well show up in Winnipeg with POM POMS because he is nothing more than a GLORIFIED cheerleader by not wearing a head set-

GG: there are email addys for;
Dennis Skulsky - President & CEO
George Chayka - Vice President, Business
Neil McEvoy - Player Personnel Coordinator & Assistant to GM
Or even fax: 905-607-7934 - Attention David Braley

Gridiron Guru while I agree with some of the things you have said I believe you are a fool for thinking we should release Geroy Simon. You want to release a veteran reciever and have a bunch of young ones? Some of our import veterans are actually good players.

Now I am a giant advocate for having Canadians actually start but there are just not a lot of Canadians with the ability and coaching that some American players have. I would love to see Canadian players play but they must have the ability.

What is your deal with our recievers. After the game Geroy and Shawn Gore were 1st and 3rd respectively in recieving yardage and Akeem Foster is tied for 1st or 2nd in the league in recieving touchdowns and Kamau Peterson and Paris Jackson are competant recievers.

About Jerome Messam he was clearly doing something illegal and some veteran players wanted him gone. Why risk breaking your locker room for a guy who obviously hadn't cleaned up his act until he realized Edmonton was his last chance.

I will agree that we need better scouting. The day Bobby Ackles died Wally has had trouble finding new talent. I will also agree that we need more depth on defense ecspecially the defensive line and we need to retool the secondary and release players like Ryan Philips and Davis Sanchez. I highly disagree with you that the Lions will fold because people want to be in the new BC place thats why they were still able to sell a good amount of seasons tickets.

It's only been three bad seasons and Wally will not coach forever. I do realize it is a shame that David Braley is more in tune with the argonauts then us but if it wasn't for him there would be no BC Lions. So suck it up for a year or two more every team has a rebuilding period. Sound the alarm if we go 0-18 until stop complaining and thinking you have all the answers because no one does.

I think losing Obie has hurt the Lions as he seems to have been a big factor in getting us key signings. Him and Danny McManus I think have a lot of connections in the states.

GG presents blanket statements that NO GM or coach would accept as a rational methodology for building or fixing a team and makes huge assumption about salaries, players, scouts and coaches that implies an inside knowledge that obviously doesn't exist.

  • Ditch every vet over $100k - yeh right, what an absurb qualifier.
  • I'd say there is some excellent Canadian talent, at least on offence; they need a bit more development, but they are good. There are even some good ones on defence, but the talent problem seems to be aging vets in the secondary (import and non-import). Jerome Messam is gone because he was an undisciplined, locker-room disrupter - a deadly force on an intensely team-game like football. You could see his lack of discipline starting to rear its ugly head in the last game.
  • Depth and scouting. You seem to assume the Lions haven't and don't already do what you suggest.
  • BIG receivers - how about Weston Dressler. Big or small, as long as they get open and hang onto the ball. Again, assumptions about SINGLE characters of player that would make a magic difference; simply not the way it works and not the way any other team selects players either.
  • The Lions will fold??? OK, now the insanity is starting to show through.
  • And again with the headset as the magic fix.

What a crock.

Hmm Ditch vets over 100K is absurd? Well paying aging 35 year old plus vets that kind of salary is only worth it on a CONTENDING team–

Hmm Edmonton who did they cut in their off season? 2 IMPORT VETS making over 100 k each in arguably their best player on defense in MAURICE Lloyd and Kelly Campbell on offense–

I know Geroy has had a great career, perhaps one of the best, but at this point in his career he is getting older and lacks the physical strength to compete with the stronger younger dbs- He has dropped the game tying convert vs Calgary and an easy touchdown late vs Hamilton and then another late pass in the Hamilton game- That is 3 drops late in the games-
Geroy at this point is a solid #2 or #3 option as a receiver-

I can assure you that the BC Lions scouting is far far far behind all other CFL teams. This is from information I have received from my connections–

You want a DB who is better and likely available ? BRADLEY ROBINSON DEFENSIVE BACK- LIONS should get in touch with him and bring this man in. He is more athletic than any BC player on the entire team. He is not super tall at 5’9 and I have been a prooponent of taller DB’s however he has a NBA calibre VERTICAL leap and athletic ability- He was with Edmonton and never really had a chance to show his stuff-

My sources have confirmed that Jarret PAYTON is training and in excellent shape and willing to come back to the CFL unless the NFL picks him up which is likely doubtfull. Payton had 900 yards rushing and 10 tds in his first season with Montreal.

Also Milt COLLINS of CGY is a backup now and could be acquired from CGY for a draft pick which i think is smart- Collins is a physical safety- He played in the SEC at Mississipi and is a bigtime hitter and has good range- He was so versatile that they started him at HALFBACK last season- That is the kind of versatility BC needs- We get a TALL MUSCULAR guy like Milt Collins to shore up the back end and deliver some crushing hits-

For the poster that ridiculed my statement about losing the team consider this–

Fans will not tolerate losing- its real simple,team starts to lose and gets embarrassed on the field- Fans stop going, interest drops, already on team 1040 their pregame lions coverage is 1.5 hours? Is that some kind of joke?
2 or 3 losing seasons in which the team stops winning will reduce interest in a BIG MARKET filled with other PRO teams and many outside interests to do. Eventually the fan base will draw near the 15,000 mark and at that point the team will FOLD and all we will hear is well we have the Winningest coach of all time-
Bad management can RUIN a team- Dont believe me? Look at hamilton from 2002-2008? Look at Ottawa Roughriders with owner Lonnie Gliberman?
Look at owner David Braley who happens to be one of the worst BUSINESS OWNERS even though he is a great AMBASSADOR for the CFL and a very nice man.

Is it any coincidence that in a 8 team league- 1 Owner owns 2 teams and has 1 win combined with 7 losses? What are the odds of that? It is no coincidence> Braley is not holding anyone ACCOUNTABLE–

It all starts with Poor management from the TOP and TRICKLES down to the players–

I want to know why Wally is not on the phone with Calgary acquiring a YOUNG player like MILT COLLINS? Or does Wally only want the 34 year old slow and washed up players from other teams?

I am hand delivering you names of players that are MUCH BETTER than the current edition of the BC Lions –

I am going to send an EMAIL to the Lions regarding the players I have written about above. The beauty of the players I mentioned is that ROBSINSON is only 26 years old - He played at Middle Tennesse Blue Raiders-

Milt Collins is only 26 years old also- He has good size at 6'1 with long arms-

Payton is 30 years old but keeps himself in phenomenal shape- The Payton signing would be good as his TRAINING regime alone and strong character would BRING a winning attitude to the team- Jarret Payton learned a lot from his father and is a very humble nice young man- HE trains like an animal with weights and at least would encourage others like Sanchez, Marsh, Phillips, banks to do a few bench presses to get stronger-

Wally bring in 1 of these guys, they will instantly make your team YOUNGER, faster and more ATHLETIC-

Don't be surprised if you see 1 of these guys brought in by the Lions soon- I am going to fax a letter to owner Braley advising him of these 3 players who all have CFl experience and could help the Lions-

Gridiron~

Several of your suggests seem compelling and for the most part you've done some research and your remarks are appreciated. You withdrew your off the cuff comment about boycotting home games because you realized how nonsensical it was. There are two other comments that I disagree with you about:

I do not believe the Lions are going to fold BUT this does not mean it cannot happen. I think you mentioned you were once a rabid fan of the Ottawa Rough Riders. The Ottawa Rough Riders team was one of the oldest and longest lived sports teams in North America and yet they still ended up folding- not once but twice! If it can happen to them it can happen to the Lions but I think you are being premature in your concerns. Read my comments about Hamilton's woes during the past several seasons. 57 losses in 72 games over a handful of seasons and they did not fold. They bent but they did not fold. Now they are back on track and looking good. The Lions are going through their share of issues of late but every team goes through this at one time or another.

Hopefully they will put things together before too many more games are played and hopefully they'll have a few games under the win column.

You make some reasonable comments. Just stay away from lame brain comments like Buono is betting against his own team etc. Stuff like that doesn't belong here.

By the way you might want to call head office and offer your suggestions to Wally personally. A couple of seasons ago I had an issue with something the Lions were doing. A day or two later I got a call from head office. It was Wally himself! We had a great conversation.

Thanks Beaglehound for the comments- I am trying my best to get the team back on track---

I just emailed BC lions scouting director Neil Mcevoy my email with Bradley Robinson and Milt Collins availability.

For those who have 5 seconds to spare and want to see a highlight of BRADLEY ROBINSON- Go to YOUTUBE and type in Bradley Robinson- Select Bradley Robinson big hit vs Louisville-

Tell me honestly when you were watching the highlight have you seen a player with better closing speed? I cant believe he made that tackle before the end zone.

I have scouted a lot of players and Brad has NBA jumping ability and NBA quickness- He has played in the CFL and as a rookie at 23 handled Paris Jackson one on one and intercepted a deep ball with one arm outjumping the taller Paris Jackson-

These are the ATHLETES we need in our secondary- Imagine going to the game and having this KID as our WIDESIDE corner, good luck Qbs trying to throw vs this kid-

Bring this kid up here, he has TALENT--

...you assume Collins can be had for as little as a draft pick...big assumption...and tell me, with the stampeders placement in the western standings being shaky at best, why would Hufnagel desire to improve the ancient secondary of your team? (in 500 words or less and with minimal CAPS LOCK please if that's possible)...

I don't assume Collins could be had for as little as a draft pick. Perhaps a combination of draft picks or other players of concern for Calgary such as one of our younger receivers?

I do agree that trading Collins can be an issue to a Western team, but Huffnagel is smart and builds depth throughout the draft- It may be a case of having 3 safeties on your team?

Morley is #1- Fraser is Canadian and young? #2- Collins is an import and has not performed as a defensive back.

I do not know off hand who Huffnagel wants from our team or if he wants draft picks or if he is not interested in trading Milt Collins--

I am encouraging BC to make a phone call to Huffnagel and see if he is interested in trading him as Huffnagel will always make moves to improve his team. I dont think he fears BC and its not as if Milt Collins is going to make Bc into a league powerhouse.

...doesn't hurt to call I guess...

So you want to get rid of our young recievers who actually are pretty damn good and second you really think Calgary needs reciever help? They have Romby Bryant, Kenyon Rambo and Nik Lewis who are still good players not to mention Johnny Forzani and Anthony Parker who are both young and Canadian. Please stop capitalizing words and trying to make ill advised trades and I can't wait to see your name for coaching candidates one day because you seem to know a fix for everything.