Why do we have Sandro?

And Sandro picked the corner on a convert yesterday; and further out and that one would have missed. Kickers miss on occasion, due to any number of factors: bad snap, bad hold, wind, field conditions.

I am not saying that Palardy is wonderful. What I am saying is that a rookie such as Palardy could make most, if not all, of what Sandro is being called on to do. And based on his salary, more is expected of Sandro. He was hired because he was a “hardly ever miss” kicker, but he is not performing at that level yet for some reason. The coaches obviously know this, or they’d be putting him in for those longer attempts.

And what was he asked to do? He certainly wasn’t asked to kick a long field goal to take the lead. Which gets back to the heading on this thread, why do we have Sandro, when a lower-paid kicker could perform the same task he’s being asked to do?

IT's because Sandro has been fairly inconsistant while he has been a Ti-Cat.
Thigpen should be utilized more though..

Oh for the love of God…OK, yes, I get it…Sandro has struggled this year kicking at a 74% average thus far compared to his career 83% average…But just how much do you think he is getting paid compared to what a “lower-paid” kicker would be paid?! This is the CFL, not the NFL/NBA/MLB!!! Following your logic, why don’t we just get a “lower-paid” QB who throws crucial interceptions at crucial times?! Or a “lower-paid” RB who fumbles at crucial times?! Or a “lower-paid” DB who gets burned deep?! Hey, we could change the team name to the Hamilton “lower-paid” Cats! We would still be 6-7 according to your plan and save a little money to boot (No pun intended)!

Not quite what I was getting at. Maybe I should rephrase. I think it would be a good thing if we had a kicker who the coaches had confidence in. Enough confidence that they would at least think about letting him try a long field goal. The coaches seem to have confidence in their other players, letting them do what they need to do. But lately when it comes time to kick a field goal, if it’s more that 35 yards, they tend to go more with the punt. And that’s just wrong.

Obie signed Sandro because he was known to be an accurate kicker, one who could make the tough field goals when it counted. But now, based on his performance so far this year, the coaches won’t put him in on those tough ones for fear that he’ll miss. You’re right, I don’t know how much he’s being paid, And I know it’s not on the same scale as an NFL player. But I’m guessing that he’s one of the highest-paid kickers in the league.

I know this will sound bad, but I really hope that he has an undisclosed injury. Because if he does, he will be better once it heals, and we’ll have the guy that Obie signed. And I hope he gets better soon (in more ways that one).

OK, I’ll bite again…You are correct regarding the reason Obie signed Sandro. You are also most likely correct that the coaches may not have 100% confidence in him based on his performance thus far (Again, I don’t know who on this team warrants 100% confidence right now, but I digress). HOWEVER, the field goal attempts last game (Or should I say non attempts?) you are referring to would have been in the 52 yard range…A tall order for ANY kicker and NOT high percentage plays! When down by 8 with lots of time, the conventional and SMART coaching decision is to punt the ball, pin them deep, get a defensive stop, get the ball back, score a touchdown and a 2 point convert…And low and behold, that’s EXACTLY what happened, minus the 2 point convert of course. Now, if down by 2 or 3 with less than a minute left, you go for the 52 yard FG. I cannot recall any game in which a FG shorter than mid-high 40 yards was not attempted in favour of a punt. He most likely is one of the highest paid kickers in the league and, despite his problems, he made the only game winning type FG opportunity he had this season against Calgary only to have the D blow it! But, despite all this, if you just want to blame Sandro for all the team’s troubles go right ahead, it’s certainly your prerogative and you may not be alone…I mean we are part of the same fan base that blamed and booed a legend like Ozzy into retirement! I however, will just try to keep things in their proper perspective, that’s all.

Fair assessment, although I was thinking more of the punt with the score 30-28. Somehow in my mind at the time, both would have been mid-40 yarders, but you’re right, they both would have been over 50. So I agree now that given the score and time left in the game, punting was probably the better option in both cases.

And looking at the stats of the other kickers in the league, his average isn’t that much different than most of them.

Thanks for the correction. I’m back on-side.

And don’t get me wrong. I never said he was the only problem with the team. Far from it. This last game? An injury-riddled secondary playing like a sieve, a twitchy d-line that after a few offside calls couldn’t get consistent pressure on the QB, receivers dropping easy catches (one in particular by Bruce - right off the chest), a couple of interceptions and a fumble (they happen). On the positive, Cobb had a nice game (aside from the one stripped ball), and Bauman looks like he may have stepped it up finally.