Q & A with Obie

Vancouver Sun

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Q: Buck Pierce, Ryan Phillips, Chris Wilson, Joe Smith,
Cameron Wake, Jason Jimenez, LaVar Glover ...

the list of players you've recruited from
free agent and pro camps is impressive.

But they don't just fall into your lap, do they?

click here

P.S.

You sure have to be doggedly determined
to land Americans prospects with NFL dreams

and convince them that they are
best suited to the CFL game.

You not only have to recognize talent
but you have to stay in constant contact
to finally get them to Training Camp.

The most revealing part to me is the enthusiasm he seems to have in the raising of his two year old grandson. At 67.
This man has heart not just for football...but more importantly for things in life that really matter.
If he becomes our new GM I think he would be a heck of a good influence on the young players. Obie. McCarthy. We could do a heck of a lot worse.

and I had to post mine on Workopolis, helps to know newspaper people I guess, good work getting that article up Obie!

This Tells me the Man Know CFL Talent.
Please Bring him in.

hire obie ,he is a good guy all around.family man and great football knowledge.plus he would be a great community guy on top of everything else.

The BC lions weren't built in a day.
But the Bombers were. We need someone
like B.T. who is a mover, wastes no time. Because to keep up with our
Ticat Tradition we need a Grey Cup
by 2009.
So I pass on OBIE. :thdn:

Then Better Be a Bomber Fan…
Cause Obie is Coming

And Grey Cup is not!!!

He sure knows our CFL game, and what is required to be a winner!

Taman has been the GM for the Bombers for like 9 years. Not one grey cup.

Also, the bombers are a REALLY old team (I think the average age is like 33)

Yes, I would have agree that the revisionist history at play here has to be addressed. The Bombers are on the upswing, but it has been a two-year phenomenon.

Taman was hired by Dave Ritchie in 1999. He served as VP of player personnel before assuming his GM duties on November 19, 2003.

[url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2003/11/19/taman031119.html]http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2003/11/ ... 31119.html[/url]

Bombers records since 1999 (source cfl.ca):

1999 6-12 (4th East)
2000 7-10-1 (3rd East)
2001 14-4 (1st East) (lost GC to Calgary 27-19 in Mtl)
2002 12-6 (2nd West)
2003 11-7 (2nd West)
2004 7-11 (4th West) << as GM
2005 5-13 (5th West) << as GM
2006 9-9 (3rd West) << as GM
2007 10-7-1 (2nd East) << as GM (lost in GC to Saskatchewan 23-19 in T.O.)

81-79-2 since 1999
31-40-1 since Nov. 2003 WITH TAMAN AS GM

  • 2 Grey Cup appearances with Taman, one (2001) while serving in player personnel, one (2007) as GM – both losses
  • missed playoffs the first two years as Bomber GM

This is the man who brought The Whizzenator (Onterrio Smith) to the CFL. For every hire/pickup that has clearly worked (Berry as HC, Glenn as QB, Simpson at MLB), there have also been some headscratchers. People may remember that pre-Kryies Hebert, the Bombers were playing converted receivers at safety because they couldn’t lure Anders Hedberg or Bobby Hull’s toupee circa 1977 out of retirement to do a better job.

So let’s have a sense of perpective on what Taman is about. Decent GM in general, but not in the Buono-Popp-Rita stratum yet.

I would put Obie’s capacity to unearth talent against Taman’s any day of the week. Period.

Finally re Taman – and even more to the point – the Cats do not have permission to talk to Taman. Unless he walks from the Bombers on the assumption Mitchell would hire him, he’s not going anywhere. I would love a lot of hires of guys under contract around North America, but there is such a thing as tampering. LOL If the Cats weren’t 3-15 and had some leverage in “trading” for his services, that would be another matter.

Some people are under the mistaken assumption that the Cats GM post is some plum job that people are scrambling over themselves for. LOL

We have a relatively short list because football-wise people with better options are looking at Hamilton as a dysfunctional football environment in general. Those are the facts. You need to find a person with the opportunity, credentials, and bearing who can bring a seachange to the perception of ineptitude and begin to attract front office and on-field talent to qualitatively transform the situation.

Ron Lancaster was the catalyst for this in 1998, I would argue.

We need EXPERIENCE at this point above all. Someone who has a clue. Someone who will clearly express the need to his selection as head coach that on-the-job training time on the Ticat sideline at the head coach and coordinator positions is not on anymore. For a long time. :wink:

Obie is 67. Ralph Sazio was 59 when he assumed the presidency of the Double Blue in 1981 and hired Obie soon thereafter to turn that laughingstock around. Frankly, I’m more concerned with the age of the protege within the new Ticat regime that Obie can groom over the next number of years than whether Obie can operate a tape machine and break down film without some imagined nurse being summoned to wake him up. Seriously, people. :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

Not into ageism past the fact that after 45, it IS hard to be heavyweight champ (kudos to George Foreman for raising that bar).

Has anyone not gotten the fact that successful NFL teams tend to have GMs who put their teeth in before heading out to work? LOL Since when did age dictate success? It is the MAN, not the number of dog years, that is the issue here. Having said that, longevity in football operations terms as a bringer of wisdom is a more important barometer of success than best-before dates pegged by scribes and armchair GMs, all things considered.

Oski Wee Wee,

Thanks for the educating me and the masses
about what Taman has and hasn't done, Osk.

Now I know why I had a funny feeling
about Scott Mitchell being influenced
to hire him because of their friendship.

He is really not that inexperienced as G.M.

Also, you are bang on with what you said
about age being a factor with G.M.s

Congrats Oski, that is one of the better posts I have seen in some time. You make good points.

Finally re Taman -- and even more to the point -- the Cats do not have permission to talk to Taman. Unless he walks from the Bombers on the assumption Mitchell would hire him, he's not going anywhere. I would love a lot of hires of guys under contract around North America, but there is such a thing as tampering. LOL If the Cats weren't 3-15 and had some leverage in "trading" for his services, that would be another matter.

Some people are under the mistaken assumption that the Cats GM post is some plum job that people are scrambling over themselves for. LOL


Tampering means nothing in the CFL. Do remember it was Taman who sign Simpson at 12:01am on the first day of FA.

I am also sure that many people would be interested in the job with the security of Bob as the owner.

Great Post Russ… :thup:

Keep in mind that “tampering” with a player who is a FA candidate is one thing, trying to raid a front office is quite another.

Most GMs know the going market value of a given player or position, so knocking one out of the ballpark PDQ when a player becomes available isn’t rocket science – case in point, Casey Printers.

Not sure what if any behind-the-scenes communication was happening between Taman and Simpson’s representation, but experienced agents do have the lay of the land at hand when they conjure up an asking price. Simpson was a prize catch for Winnipeg and kudos go to Taman for striking while the iron is hot.

I am not suggesting that front office poaching doesn’t happen (Exhibit A, Ralph Sazio, 1981), it’s just that there tends to be less opportunity for movement for coordinators and position coaches in particular because of the “only if you’re possibly promoted” convention governs most cases where permission to talk is formally provided. Some have had to jump only after resigning first.

Oski Wee Wee,