Skip to content

Why was Casey Printers passed by?

Sky-busting is a lost art. Sky-busting is a tactic where optimistic bird hunters attempt to blow Daffy out of the sky when he and his buddies are airborne and likely out of range. Every now and then, a duck will fly within range, but it is mostly a noise-making gesture.
Jim Sutherland mug/no hat/sept 10/randy
Array

Sky-busting is a lost art. Sky-busting is a tactic where optimistic bird hunters attempt to blow Daffy out of the sky when he and his buddies are airborne and likely out of range. Every now and then, a duck will fly within range, but it is mostly a noise-making gesture.

Let’s do a little sky-busting in a football column and see if it is simply a noise-making gesture or on target about a random selection of CFL topics.

How in the name of Toronto Argonauts did seven CFL teams pass up a chance to sign quarterback Casey Printers until a few weeks ago?

I can understand why Hamilton did not invite him back after last season because that was a relationship that was as doomed as any of George Costanza’s from Seinfeld.

But Printers was clearly worth another look and a little time-out may be a great thing for this talented but self-absorbed athlete. The guy possesses a Doug Flutie quality in which one guy can determine the outcome in the ultimate team game. The problem was that Printers lost sight of his team and Flutie always respected his fellow team members.

Maybe now is the time for Printers to become a complete player and buy into the team concept. The league can always use a man of his immense talent if not his immense attitude, but unemployment may have cured him.

What’s happened to Montreal? They turned Michael Bishop into a temporary superstar last weekend with a terrifying look at a post-apocalyptic world in which quarterback Anthony Calvillo did not play.

The result was a bleak and depressing environment that put enormous pressure on the Alouette defence.

They responded by folding like a cheap suitcase.

Be careful Montreal. . . a few more losses and you might lose that fair-weather fan base and your dubious consecutive sellout record in your tiny stadium.

Edmonton is in real trouble. The fans have started to climb all over quarterback Ricky Ray, but he is a victim of battered quarterback syndrome.

The Eskimo offensive line has provided very poor protection for Ray and he has absorbed more pain and punishment than legally allowed by the Geneva Convention statutes.

Ray has lost confidence in himself and his receivers as the Eskimos implemented a new offensive scheme in the middle of a season and the result is a Titanic-crashes-into-Hindenburg disaster.

Calgary should intimidate teams if Romby Bryant continues to add another threat to the vertical game for Hank and his gang, but they are still in a dogfight for first no matter what happens this weekend.

The gunfight will end on a frozen Taylor (I never voted for Mosaic) Field in the last regular season game for both teams.

Winnipeg and Hamilton share the unlikely prospect of a playoff game appearance at home despite the fact that both teams have to win their final two games to have a .500 season. Talk about setting the bar low, even a world limbo champion couldn’t get under that underachievement target.

Lots of variables still exist even after 16 games in an eight-team league and that is truly part of the CFL’s appeal for me — the unexpected and unpredictable.

Jim Sutherland is a local freelance writer whose column on the CFL appears on Tuesdays and Fridays. He can be reached at mystarcollectorcar.com