Road Worriers

Wally Buono must wonder if his team suffers from a severe case of homesickness, the Lions have yet to win on the road since September of 2005. It makes for a trend that will result in a record that will cause them no shortage of grief, by the end of 2006 if it isn’t remedied soon.

The Lions who roar while under the Dome at BC Place, meow once they land in a different city. It’s a situation that has Buono concerned, but not panic stricken just yet. However it wasn’t without suggestion that changes were going to come and Tuesday those changes began to arrive.

Buono made one key move Tuesday to turn the Lions fortunes around a bit with a roster move that should have some Lions sit up and take notice. Sam Young a CFL all star in his first season was cut by the Lions, replaced by Brandon Payne a standout in NCAA football and a possible answer the Leos defensive woes. Young who was left off the travel roster for Edmonton last week, found himself on the outside today after the Lions decided that his effort had not improved over the last three weeks to warrant any more time to improve.

Payne brings some good reviews from his college days with him winner of the Jim Thorpe trophy for his defensive play, a reputation that should help out the Lions secondary a fair amount, cutting down on the frequent big plays deep that have been costly to the Lions this year.

With the quarter back controversy of last year behind them, many thought the Lions would be the dominant team of the CFL West this year. But they’ve had troubles getting untracked this year, the game two weeks ago against Calgary was more than indicative of the troubles the Lions face.

By half time the Leos were so significantly ahead of the Stamps that Buono and his coaches felt it fine to replace him with back up for the night Jurius Jackson, however Jackson stumbled with his shot at QB, the Stamps battled back and it took the re-insertion of Dickenson into the game to secure a victory. Buono’s dilemma is simple, his defence seems to be incapable of holding the lead and his back ups don’t yet have the talent to come in and salt away the victory.

If he wants to find success on the road he needs to address those two concerns as soon as possible, perhaps Tuesday with the Payne signing he has begun that process.