“His preference is to commit to an organization and a winner” Jason Medlock, agent for Casey Printers yesterday on what he and Printers were looking for in an employer.
Well we guess in the end, winning isn’t quite as important as cash...
The sweepstakes for the services of Casey Printers have come to an end and the Hamilton Tiger Cats provided the most attractive package for the QB and his agent.
Using Mr. Medlock’s parameters above, it would seem that winning became a secondary issue when it came to the numbers on the contract. Because if any one team this year is a poster child for winless, it would be the Cats. However, we won’t begrudge Mr. Printers that chance to make some money, and money he will make, a veritable fortune by CFL standards as reports from Hamilton have it that Casey cashes in at 400,000 a year for a three year deal.
Ticat GM Marcel Desjardins already has Printers penciled in as the starting quarterback on the Cats, moving Jason Maas and the still shell shocked Timmy Chang down the depth charts. One would suspect that Maas will soon be shopped around, as the Cats look to reduce their salary load, Chang who didn’t look very good in his CFL debut on Labour Day will most likely be allowed to get back to learning the ropes in the CFL as an understudy to Printers.
Team Printers had entertained offers from apparently a number of teams with Montreal, Winnipeg, Toronto and Calgary the most often mentioned teams that were on the Printers watch. A situation which should do wonders for team morale in those locations, as they all head into the stretch drive of the CFL season.
Only BC’s Wally Buono seemed to handle the hysteria over the return of Printers well, having vivid memories of the last time that Casey was in the Lions camp and how that divided the team on the eve of a Grey Cup appearance. It’s interesting to note that despite BC’s QB situation, (the starter gone for perhaps the season and the number two still out for a few more weeks) Buono decided to stick with Jarious Jackson and wait for Buck Pierce to return, rather than entertain the Printers option.
In the end though, it seems like the best move for the Ti Cats, a team that has just been woeful this year so far. For whatever reason, Jason Maas just hasn’t panned out in Hamilton, it’s not all his fault mind you, over the last three years the Cats have been a most dysfunctional operation in the front office with frequent changes of direction and personnel. It’s hard to blame a QB when there hasn’t been much in the way of continuity over the years as far as the football side of the team goes. Every step forward seemed to be followed by two or three back as the Cats tried to find their way in the CFL east.
However, in the CFL the Quarterback is the key to any team’s success and in that regard the Maas years haven’t worked out all that well. Dropped passes by receivers, too many fumbles, too many penalties and for too long an under utilization of the marquee running back Jesse Lumsden, left the Ti Cats attack as a mess. The calls for Timmy Chang, were more a case of desperation from the fans weary of watching a much loved team fall apart time and time again.
Last week they threw Mr. Chang to the Labour Day wolves from Toronto and they chewed him up. He looked tentative, nervous and probably had the worst two quarters of football since he picked up a ball back in the minor football days. By the end of his thirty minutes he looked completely bewildered and in way over his head. It was a merciful substitution of Jason Mass that probably had more to do with saving the psyche of Chang than to win a football game.
Maas had moderate success on Labour Day, until those now familiar problems popped up again, dropped TD passes and untimely fumbles sealed the Cats fate and perhaps that of Maas last week.
They opened the vault (by CFL standards) for Printers today and no doubt they will have a crash course on the Ti Cat offense thus far (give the ball to Jesse if he’s healthy) sending him off to Toronto for the rematch this weekend with the Argos. The former CFL Player of the year will bring a new dimension to the Ti Cat attack, a strong arm and a past knowledge of the CFL game combined with his NFL tutorials of the last few years should help make the Cats more competitive.
But if you’re a Cats fan, don’t make plans for the Grey Cup just yet. It takes baby steps to turn around a franchise in a downward spiral; beating the Argos this weekend however is not beyond reach and would surely make Printers an instant hero should the Cats and he get it together in time for kick off!
Well we guess in the end, winning isn’t quite as important as cash...
The sweepstakes for the services of Casey Printers have come to an end and the Hamilton Tiger Cats provided the most attractive package for the QB and his agent.
Using Mr. Medlock’s parameters above, it would seem that winning became a secondary issue when it came to the numbers on the contract. Because if any one team this year is a poster child for winless, it would be the Cats. However, we won’t begrudge Mr. Printers that chance to make some money, and money he will make, a veritable fortune by CFL standards as reports from Hamilton have it that Casey cashes in at 400,000 a year for a three year deal.
Ticat GM Marcel Desjardins already has Printers penciled in as the starting quarterback on the Cats, moving Jason Maas and the still shell shocked Timmy Chang down the depth charts. One would suspect that Maas will soon be shopped around, as the Cats look to reduce their salary load, Chang who didn’t look very good in his CFL debut on Labour Day will most likely be allowed to get back to learning the ropes in the CFL as an understudy to Printers.
Team Printers had entertained offers from apparently a number of teams with Montreal, Winnipeg, Toronto and Calgary the most often mentioned teams that were on the Printers watch. A situation which should do wonders for team morale in those locations, as they all head into the stretch drive of the CFL season.
Only BC’s Wally Buono seemed to handle the hysteria over the return of Printers well, having vivid memories of the last time that Casey was in the Lions camp and how that divided the team on the eve of a Grey Cup appearance. It’s interesting to note that despite BC’s QB situation, (the starter gone for perhaps the season and the number two still out for a few more weeks) Buono decided to stick with Jarious Jackson and wait for Buck Pierce to return, rather than entertain the Printers option.
In the end though, it seems like the best move for the Ti Cats, a team that has just been woeful this year so far. For whatever reason, Jason Maas just hasn’t panned out in Hamilton, it’s not all his fault mind you, over the last three years the Cats have been a most dysfunctional operation in the front office with frequent changes of direction and personnel. It’s hard to blame a QB when there hasn’t been much in the way of continuity over the years as far as the football side of the team goes. Every step forward seemed to be followed by two or three back as the Cats tried to find their way in the CFL east.
However, in the CFL the Quarterback is the key to any team’s success and in that regard the Maas years haven’t worked out all that well. Dropped passes by receivers, too many fumbles, too many penalties and for too long an under utilization of the marquee running back Jesse Lumsden, left the Ti Cats attack as a mess. The calls for Timmy Chang, were more a case of desperation from the fans weary of watching a much loved team fall apart time and time again.
Last week they threw Mr. Chang to the Labour Day wolves from Toronto and they chewed him up. He looked tentative, nervous and probably had the worst two quarters of football since he picked up a ball back in the minor football days. By the end of his thirty minutes he looked completely bewildered and in way over his head. It was a merciful substitution of Jason Mass that probably had more to do with saving the psyche of Chang than to win a football game.
Maas had moderate success on Labour Day, until those now familiar problems popped up again, dropped TD passes and untimely fumbles sealed the Cats fate and perhaps that of Maas last week.
They opened the vault (by CFL standards) for Printers today and no doubt they will have a crash course on the Ti Cat offense thus far (give the ball to Jesse if he’s healthy) sending him off to Toronto for the rematch this weekend with the Argos. The former CFL Player of the year will bring a new dimension to the Ti Cat attack, a strong arm and a past knowledge of the CFL game combined with his NFL tutorials of the last few years should help make the Cats more competitive.
But if you’re a Cats fan, don’t make plans for the Grey Cup just yet. It takes baby steps to turn around a franchise in a downward spiral; beating the Argos this weekend however is not beyond reach and would surely make Printers an instant hero should the Cats and he get it together in time for kick off!
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