Not to be left behind by their neighbours to the west, the Toronto Argonauts stole some of the headlines away from the Hamilton Tiger Cats.
The Argos pushed the Cats off to the sides of the sports pages with their announcement of the departure of head coach Rich Stubler, and the arrival of one of the most famous names in Canadian Football, Don Matthews as the new head coach of the double blue.
The Don, who has been in semi retirement for close to two years now, takes over an Argo team that has struggled to find itself all season long, from the inability to really decide on a starting quarterback until the departure of Michael Bishop a few weeks ago to the complete collapse of a once fearful defence, this years Argonauts have been a bit of a disaster.
Stubler who was promoted after Pinball Clemons stepped up into the management offices in the off season, was supposed to be the tie that bound these Argos from one era to a new one.
Instead, from the early going, it seemed that there were too many off field generals and the perceived undercutting of the trench warfare boss in Stubler. His Argonauts never seemed to grasp the concepts that he was trying to get them to execute on the field, game after game of frustration saw the Argos show a remarkable inability to produce points or stop the other team from scoring theirs.
David Naylor outlines a rather dysfunctional Argonaut middle management corps, with more than a few clashes between Stubler and his coaches and questions of confidence that seemed to sprout from the upper reaches of Argoland as the season continued on along its troublesome path.
Last Sunday’s evisceration at the hands of the Montreal Alouettes apparently became too much to bear for Adam Rita, who was left to make the final call on the fate of Stubler, a decision that was made on Monday apparently, with the introduction of the Don made Tuesday to the Toronto media, considering his past experiences with the media, we would imagine that must have been an interesting press conference.
The return of Matthews will raise a number of questions, one if his health is up to the rigors of a CFL playoff drive and two, if he still has that ability to gain the most from his players, or if it’s a moment from the past, best left to the record books.
The Argos pushed the Cats off to the sides of the sports pages with their announcement of the departure of head coach Rich Stubler, and the arrival of one of the most famous names in Canadian Football, Don Matthews as the new head coach of the double blue.
The Don, who has been in semi retirement for close to two years now, takes over an Argo team that has struggled to find itself all season long, from the inability to really decide on a starting quarterback until the departure of Michael Bishop a few weeks ago to the complete collapse of a once fearful defence, this years Argonauts have been a bit of a disaster.
Stubler who was promoted after Pinball Clemons stepped up into the management offices in the off season, was supposed to be the tie that bound these Argos from one era to a new one.
Instead, from the early going, it seemed that there were too many off field generals and the perceived undercutting of the trench warfare boss in Stubler. His Argonauts never seemed to grasp the concepts that he was trying to get them to execute on the field, game after game of frustration saw the Argos show a remarkable inability to produce points or stop the other team from scoring theirs.
David Naylor outlines a rather dysfunctional Argonaut middle management corps, with more than a few clashes between Stubler and his coaches and questions of confidence that seemed to sprout from the upper reaches of Argoland as the season continued on along its troublesome path.
Last Sunday’s evisceration at the hands of the Montreal Alouettes apparently became too much to bear for Adam Rita, who was left to make the final call on the fate of Stubler, a decision that was made on Monday apparently, with the introduction of the Don made Tuesday to the Toronto media, considering his past experiences with the media, we would imagine that must have been an interesting press conference.
The return of Matthews will raise a number of questions, one if his health is up to the rigors of a CFL playoff drive and two, if he still has that ability to gain the most from his players, or if it’s a moment from the past, best left to the record books.
As if on cue as well, the return of the Argo Airlift has begun, with nine new Argonauts reporting for duty as the team picks and chooses from those that were removed off of the rosters of the NFL teams now into their regular season. Much like years of the past, in Argoland everything old is new again.
This is retro weekend this weekend in Toronto, as the Blue Bombers, the third of the three basket cases of the CFL East will be in town wearing retro jerseys, with retro prices at the ball park of 19.50 for 67 dollar tickets, providing they are purchased by last Friday.
When you think about it, there is surely no better time to bring in a retro coach!
This is retro weekend this weekend in Toronto, as the Blue Bombers, the third of the three basket cases of the CFL East will be in town wearing retro jerseys, with retro prices at the ball park of 19.50 for 67 dollar tickets, providing they are purchased by last Friday.
When you think about it, there is surely no better time to bring in a retro coach!
Globe and Mail-- Too little, too late for Stubler
Globe and Mail-- Only in Canada, eh?
National Post-- Matthews returning to coach Argos
National Post-- Stubler doomed from the start
National Post-- Matthews’ comeback surprises Alouettes
Toronto Star-- Don Matthews, at 69, replaces Stubler as Argo coach
Toronto Star-- So much for stability
Toronto Sun-- Argos dump Stubler for Don Matthews
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