FIRST & GOAL

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/09/2009 (5853 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

1 SO Casey Printers is finally back in a CFL uniform, returning this week to the B.C. Lions. Well, this is simply a fantastically juicy story for a couple-three of reasons:

❚ First, since leaving the Lions for the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and then crashing and burning in his days as a Hamilton Tiger-Cat, the former CFL Most Outstanding Player (2004) has had his skill set questioned, his leader­ship panned and has been dubbed a cancer. Try getting those stains out of a resume.

"Unfortunately, I’ve gained a pretty bad rap over the years, people think­ing I’m a me guy," Printers told The Vancouver Sun. "I’ve always tried to support the other guy. So whatever quarterback is playing will get my utmost respect."

❚ Second, how will Printers’ return affect the Lions clubhouse? Cur­rent starter Buck Pierce gets an ‘A’ for being gritty and is 18-11-1 as a starter, but is hardly durable. Printers didn’t handle sharing time with Dave Dickenson previously and how will that scenario unfold now?

"As of right now, I still have a job," Pierce told Vancouver reporters.

"They call my number and I’m going to play and I’m going to do everything to the best of my ability. Am I worried or anything like that? No. I’ve done a lot, overcame lots and I’m happy."

❚ And third, given the fact the Bomb­ers passed on Printers after a free­agent camp — they apparently didn’t like how he was ‘bossing around’ some of the receivers in attendance — how will it look on a quarterback-starved franchise IF the former star regains his game? Our in-depth analytical answer: not good.

2 MONTREAL Alouettes linebacker Shea Emry may find himself called on the carpet by CFL headquar­ters this week for his hit on Bomber receiver Terrence Edwards in Sun­day’s win over Winnipeg, but he won’t change his game or worry about what that kind of shot will do to his reputa­tion.

"So be it, I’m a middle linebacker," Emry told my compadre at The Montreal Gazette, Herb Zurkowsky.

"It’s one of those things that happens in football. He was coming across the middle, there was no intent to injure.

He got knocked out. It happens every game. I’m glad he’s walking around.

He was looking back at the quarter­back. As soon as the quarterback looked that way, I turned downhill and I eliminated the route.

"I don’t think I hit him that hard.

Maybe he wasn’t wearing a mouth guard."

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Emry did send a text to Bomber receiver Aaron Hargreaves, a former college teammate from their days at UBC, to wish Edwards well. As for Mike Kelly’s analogy that the hit on Edwards was like a ‘Mike Tyson hook’ Emry said: "That’s a metaphor to explain what happened. In football people get caught. It’s happened to me. You want to be as physical as you can, but you want them to be able to walk off the field."

3 REALLY cool moment last Satur­day when B.C. boss Wally Buono became the CFL’s all-time winning­est coach. It was touching to see his immediate reaction on TSN post-game — he broke into tears when mentioning his mother — but yours truly also cringed when the man he passed, Don Matthews, was interviewed during the game. Good on The Don for be­ing there and he spoke graciously of Buono. But, not surprisingly, he also took a subtle shot when he suggested he and Buono had accomplished the feat in different ways, what with Mat­thews apparently taking over some teams in some dire straits. Granted, Matthews was parachuted into situa­tions in Edmonton and Saskatchewan that were far from ideal, but he also had Doug Flutie for two years in Toronto, was boss in Montreal with Anthony Calvillo and coached the Baltimore Stallions, a team that was allowed to dress an entire roster of Americans.

4 A note arrived in our inbox Wed­nesday morning from Ray Wrubel, the agent for Arjei Franklin, who want­ed to clarify a few points. Wrubel said the Bombers first approached Franklin about an extension before the season, but it included a pay cut; Franklin wanted to re-sign with Winnipeg and has NOT discussed wanting to play in Ontario next season as rumoured and has never asked for a trade.

5 AND, finally, Bomber fans will be interested to know that Romby Bryant — traded to the Calgary Stam­peders on Sunday — did interviews upon his arrival in southern Alberta.

That’s surprising to a lot of folks, es­pecially those in the Winnipeg media, as Bryant refused to do interviews locally. For the record, we never held the refusal against Bryant, knowing he was shy and uncomfortable speak­ing to the press. But the fact that the Stamps had him address the media speaks of their aggressive approach to dealing with the matter. And if that sounds like a shot at the Bombers for their handling of it over the last two years, well, it is.