Where's Obie?

I cannot recall the last time I heard, or read, a word from Bob O'Billovich -- quoted in the press, or here on ticats.ca, or on Ti-Cats-TV. Today, we've got the team owner and the team president, both vocal, prompted by the fans' comments on the coach. President Mitchell is quoted as saying "Coach Bellefeuille is part of the solution, not part of the problem." Owner Young has started a couple of threads here with humour to deflect the fans' feelings. Although an owner would be best not to, one certainly has the right to voice an opinion on his coach. A team president simply should not. In an ideal situation, the only management superior to a Head Coach who should be publicly voicing an opinion on that coach's performance is the General Manager. Where's Obie?

Discussing the pros and cons of the head coach is not usually done by management and I think that it is unlikely that Bob O'Bilovich will be drawn into such a discussion. However, that said, I'd love to be a fly on the wall when they do meet to discuss the plight of this team.

Fans, on the otherhand certainly have a right to their opinion(s). I really believe that the parts are all here, but the coaches are not getting results from some key players. I don't pretend to have the answers regarding stratagies on both sides of the ball; however, it's plain to see that there is a lack of execution both mentally and physically on the part of the players. This could be because of the lack of repetition, study of the playbook, confusion due to complicated schemes, apathy, and any number of reasons. The coaches need to impress upon the players the need to execute thoroughly. This is not happening!
I think Coach Bellefeuille needs to stand up to the players and get in their faces if need be. Players like Jemeniz and Knowlton who made some glaring errors in the last game need to be called off the field and told in no uncertain terms that their performance is not acceptable and that they will be fined and that they can take a seat for a quarter of the game. An example needs to be set that the coaches will not accept sub-standard execution.

Thanks for being the first of over 50 readers to respond to my question, cashandcarry. You say a lot in our first sentence and I hope that explains why we haven't heard from Obie. However, I don't think so.

Correctly myself, and just to be clear – the last word in the first sentence above should be “your,” not “our.”

I just got to spend a couple of hours today with Marcel, Obie, and Scott. (The fun bit of being Caretaker :wink:)

I can reliably report that they are working hard together to build a Grey-Cup-winning Tiger-Cat Football club.

Cheers, Bob.

I heard that Obie moonlights as the Loch Ness Monster.

So that might explain some of it.

Just give him tree-fitty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cn7xfBpZ3M [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qcbgclG4_A&feature=related]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qcbgclG ... re=related[/url] :D

I’m sure they are doing the best they can, however heading towards a third 9-9, doesn’t seem to be going that way.

Dan

I didn’t say “this year”. Although hope springs eternal.

Caretaker wrote:

I didn't say "this year". Although hope springs eternal.
But I want one nowwww Bob!! :cry: (just being my usual impatient whining infantile self) :P

If there is anything I’ve learned in life (which most will attest isn’t much) is that you never know what may occur at any given moment.
The 1986 team was denounced by media/critics alike yet laid down such an impressive Cup beating that shocked even the most ardent TiCat fans. Myself included.

I was pleasantly surprised then, and am hoping we can grab the underdog win again.

BTW, who else besides me has their Kevin Glenn bobblehead on their mantle?

Obie was effectively muzzled after he made some comments to the media early in the season that stirred the pot a little.

Muzzled by whom? … and you know this because you …? Please tell us more Mr. Insider

Just turn on CHCH and you will see him in commercials everyday! I do not believe Obie is the type to discuss his management decisions in the press other than player deals. That is good business sense.

Common knowledge from Drew Edward’s blog report.

The accidental #Ticats quarterback controversy #CFL

Ticats general manager Bob O’Billovich has been around the CFL long time and has said that this Hamilton gig is his last rodeo. To say that he is old school doesn’t quite do it justice: Obie built the school, then taught there for a long time.

Which is why when you stick your tape recorder in Obie’s mug and ask him a question, more often than not, he answers it. He doesn’t play politics or worry about his future or think about the “right” thing to say. He just answers the damn question.

As a journalist, this is a good thing. Straight answers are often hard to come by in this business and those that give them are often portrayed as trouble makers or malcontents. Canned quotes - given at 110 per cent - are much more palatable.

But sometimes Obie’s honesty upsets the apple cart, though that’s not usually his intent. In addition to not caring about his future and his penchant toward honesty, Bob is surprisingly naive about what we in the media are inclined to do with his words. He just doesn’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about it, I don’t think.

So when he told Steve Milton yesterday that “he might like to see Quinton Porter get just a little more action” (those are Steve’s words not Obie’s) he likely did not intend to start yet another round of Kevin vs. Quinton. Nor was he trying to undermine his coach. He was just being honest. And Steve, reading the situation like the pro he is, tried his best to put into the proper context. It was part, but not the focus, of his column.

It didn’t work.

Today, the QB controversy story was back in vogue, with TSN and others digging right in. The Ticats decided not to make O’Billovich available today.

I’ll have a little notebook item which I’ll post here shortly but I’m not going chapter and verse on this issue again. I understand why it’s a story but I’m increasingly resolved to only write another QB controversy story when there actually is one or when circumstances dictate I have to.

O’Billovich’s comments weren’t intended as a shot at KG or a hint to his coach: you’re just going to have to trust me on that. It was just Obie being Obie, for better and for worse.

Obie is now longing for the green green grass of retirement. :frowning:

I'm not even going to touch that one, speaking of reading between the lines here on the qb situation with the Cats. :?

Obie has made the team better.

The coach now needs to do the same.

I agree. And, would have agreed much earlier had you made this post on June 30th, 2011 or 2010.