First off let me just say that the quality of football knowledge and intelligence on this site is unparalleled in my experience. The comments on this thread are amongst the most insightful remarks I have ever heard regarding football. Rammer, Cro, Blitz, David, TLK, Dano, it goes on and on...any of this information could be released into the media and would be better than what's out there.
But it was Joe's comments that were beyond brilliant. He encapsulated what is wrong with this franchise and it all stems from a sure fire HOF coach, Wally Buono. Here was the most telling line...
In any case, Wally owns this mess, in my opinion. He made the hire. He gave the extension of the contract. He did not do a continent-wide search for the best candidate. He did not seek outstanding credentials, wide-ranging experience, nor an outstanding record of success. He chose his protégé.
As Blitz and Joe have told us before, Wally has thrived in the CFL because of the system he has created. It has been built by creating a winning culture, which has meant ZERO TOLERANCE for continued mistakes or failures. Wally has been RUTHLESS towards players and even coaches throughout his amazing run as a CFL coach and now GM. But NOT with certain people. Benevides, Dorazio and McMann have followed Wally around with varying degrees of success. They have been UNTOUCHABLE in comparison to how EVERYONE ELSE has been treated, including the two smartest coaches on last year's team, Jacques Chapdelaine and Rich Stubler.
WALLY OWNS THIS MESS...Wally also owns his great success and failures before this season. So, why have Wally's teams won so many games? Again, a system based on a winning culture, which means no tolerance for failure. Scouts, Asst. Coaches, players, heck even the team mascot. BUT this system has NEVER been built upon X's and O's. Wally has had smart Asst Coaches, but not exclusively. Wally has won consistently over time because he has spent the time and money to FIND TALENT and give them a chance...which has led to unceremoniously dumping HOF players like Alan Pitts and Jason Clermont...heart and soul type players that have meant everything to the franchise...and he has never been wrong. Pitts and Clermont were "dumped" when they needed to be. I was heartbroken when Wally dealt Clermont (my favourite Lion), but I understood. Its a BUSINESS! But the dumping of Stuber and Chapdelaine and the extension of MB (while protecting McMann and Dorazio) was just PLAIN DUMB. Not reckless or cavalier...DUMB! And what makes smart people like Wally (and everyone here who has met Wally knows just how shrewd he is) do STUPID things? Strong personal BELIEFS. Beliefs are what define each of us...we are NOTHING MORE OR LESS than our beliefs. Modern Biology has now discovered that genetics play essentially a ZERO role in who we are, only how we look. Cancer cells have been taken from patients, placed into a petrie dish and then surrounded by nothing more than loving words, chants from Tibetan Monks and beautiful Music and these cells have HEALED THEMSELVES OUTSIDE OF THE HUMAN BODY! There is only ONE conclusion to draw from this, that nature is purrfect and we *frig* it up by believing in FEAR instead of LOVE...and that's why our world looks and acts like it does.
Wally has beliefs (you can speculate on your own what they are) that tie him to this "inner circle" of people who are EXEMPT from his WINNING AT ALL COSTS CULTURE...it has consequences. The CFL has grown up. It is no longer the playground league to the North of the NFL. John Hufnagel began this movement...he was exposed to it as the OC of the Giants in a league where the difference between winning and losing some games came down to understanding the tendencies of the opposition's back up corner on 3rd and short...it is THAT PRECISE in the NFL. ALL TEAMS now have video coaches who do nothing more than watch film, enter data into a computer and the computer programs spit out tendencies on each player under every possible situation. Therefore the coordinators use this detailed information to create their OFF and DEF systems and their play calling sheets. As Cro identified it is NO LONGER "here's what I do, try and stop me"...each week is a different game plan based upon each team's TENDENCY WEAKNESSES under EVERY POSSIBLE SCENARIO!
WE DON'T DO THIS, not a single coach on our team coaches this way, including Mark Washington who can be badly out coached in any week if the opposing team is READY to show their strategy on how to beat his pass first, run second defence. Most teams simply hold back these answers until they HAVE TO use them, i.e. a playoff game. The CFL is no longer a league where your talent advantage and self confidence will get it done week in and week out. Teams WATCH FILM and expose weaknesses/tendencies. X's and O's are now VERY IMPORTANT, which is why Wally has always had such a poor record in hosting so many playoff games. Teams KNOW what Wally was going to do, it was a constant, thus they could bank on players being in a certain spot or doing certain things and game plan to that. Wally should never have lost a single playoff game with Doug Flutie as his QB, but he did, more times than not. But you take the Doug Fluties, the Alan Pitts, the Cameron Wake's and the Geroy Simon's away from Wally, and we no longer are hosting playoff games!
By Wally staying on as HC (as the league was catching up to him) he missed on Hufnagel, Chris Jones, Mike O'Shea, Scott Milanvich, Kent Austin, Dave Dickenson even Rich Campbell. Corey Chambliss knows what he is doing in SSK, when Campbell gets players over the next couple of seasons, OTT will win and MTL is now loaded with smart Asst Coaches guided by Higgins. Make no mistake, the longer Wally stays with "gut" and "instinct" coaches stuck with ONE WAY philosophies, this is only going to get WORSE, not even close to better. Look at not only our HC, but our 3 Coordinators: Jones, McMann and Washington...NONE of them have given us any hope that they can adapt and adjust to what the opposition is doing, they just keep doing the same thing in the face of success/failure...Einstein called this INSANITY! Washington has done a good job at keeping his defence productive but with a huge cost...a lack of turnovers and Time of Possession...plus he just feeds opposition with ideas on how to exploit us come playoff time...and Washington's defence will get worse on cold, wintery days where FINESSE is so important to his system.
We need a MASSIVE overall where the new Coach is given Carte Blanche on coaching decisions. The good news? We are NOT suffering from a lack of talent. I truly believe that our talent and depth are the best in the league (not by a mile, but right at or near the top). Mark Trestmann will NOT survive the year in Chicago if this continues, and its not his fault. That ego laden, over-hyped talent is at war with itself. If fired, the best he could do would be a Coordinator position in either the NFL or College...and he might prefer that, who knows. But if Wally went out and made it very lucrative for Trestman to come here, he just might...he would be inheriting a TON of talent AND depth in a weather controlled stadium. If not we need to find a bright football mind with philosophies based upon ATTACK! But, a simple change in coaching, if its the right guy, could have an effect GREATER than Jones in EDM! Ticket sales will go right back up, along with Corporate sponsors with a guy like Marc Trestman in charge.
If Wally waits ONE MORE SEASON to change, this thing will EXPLODE in his face. Mark my words, there now isn't a team in the CFL with a weak coaching staff, EXCEPT the Lions!
or cool shades or Benny glases 
(Benny loves his cool shades), crazy comments, 
benny juggling the lineup again 
benny teasing us with hope 
Benny chewing out his coordinators 
benny tryign to do the same thing again and expecting a different result 
or 
for crapping the bed again...all kinds of imaginative ratings to use for this crazy, underwhelming, frustrating season.
