Saturday, April 10, 2004

Pivot-al deciisons to make in Steeltown.

Danny Mac will get the start this year in Hamilton, the 38 year old McManus getting the vote of confidence from coach Greg Marshall as the team gets ready to head for training camp next month. Marshall who will be making his CFL head coaching debut, is willing to let McManus take the helm again this year and try and reverse last years 1-17 nightmare season.

But the Ti-Cats aren’t going to waste all of McManus’ experience; the plan is to bring in some new blood to eventually take over the job from McManus as his years wind down in the CFL. Coming to training camp with high expectations will be James McPherson of Wake Forest and the returning David Corley Jr. The Ti-Cats are also working to phones to try and get one more QB prospect into camp by the end of May. Saskatchewan the most frequent recipient of GM Ron Lancaster‘s phone calls, as they Green Riders sit with a bountiful harvest of QB’s under contract.

One of the reasons’s that Marshall is willing to go with Danny Mac for one more year is the improvement in his receiver corps this year. Last year McManus must have been trying to find follicles to pull out after his passes were dropped time and time again. The thinking in Hamilton is that with the likes of D.J. flick, Mike Morealle and possibly Edmonton’s Jason Tucker running the pass routes, McManus may find his stats improving greatly this year.

With six weeks to go before training camp, the terrible atmosphere of last year is getting washed away like a grimy Hamilton snow bank. The positive vibes coming out of Ivor Wynne might be the biggest change of all in the Cats lineup, the anticipation for the New Year growing daily. You get the feeling that the coaches and players wish they could strap on the pads and get to the two a days as soon as possible

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