Joseph? Blue should pass

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/02/2010 (5948 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kerry Joseph, no doubt, will present a quandary of sorts for the boys running the Winnipeg Blue Bombers these days.

Sign him and inject some instant offence into a club that may or may not be just a little oomph short of running with the heavies. Or stay patient, prepare to duck some heat from the folks in the stands and the press box, and wait for a day down the road for that coveted walk in the sun.

Sometimes taking the easy route in the short term can impair a sports franchise in its search for stability and long-term competitiveness. But the temptation to chuck Joseph into a locker-room that many believed was just a quarterback away from contention last season has to be huge for a first-year head coach hoping to make his mark and validate his bump to the big chair.

Add the fact Joseph had his finest season and won a Grey Cup with said rookie coach back when he was an offensive co-ordinator with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. This is a little like sending a teenage boy into a hot tub with Megan Fox and telling him not to look.

Without question, head coach Paul LaPolice will want to sign the veteran quarterback released by the Toronto Argonauts on Sunday. Vice-president of football operations and guardian of the big picture, Joe Mack, will likely have some reservations. And in the background with his calculator in hand, assistant GM and salary cap book-keeper Ross Hodgkinson will be preaching caution and budget restraint.

The decision for us is real simple, but for a fan base that hasn’t witnessed a Grey Cup parade since 1990, there will be nothing easy about this decision. If Joseph can’t deliver a Grey Cup, then signing him is a mistake. Putting together a winning record and making the playoffs would be much better than last season and Joseph could potentially play a role in that sort of turnaround. But at some point sacrifices have to be made if ultimate victory, and not just a nice run of the race, is the goal.

Lots of Minnesota Vikings fans will say signing Brett Favre and getting as close as they did to the Super Bowl this season was worth it. OK, fine. But the Vikings were clearly a team ready to make the leap from middle of the pack to elite and Favre was just what they needed to make that move. And if he didn’t check out late in the NFC final, Vikes fans might be pounding their chests and recounting their Super Bowl victory right now instead of moping around in their ice shacks.

Are the Bombers that close and is Joseph that good? No and no.

At 36, gone are the days when Joseph was thought to be the next Tracy Ham. He doesn’t run like he once did and he’s never been an overly effective pocket passer.

LaPolice got more out of him than any coach ever has in 2007 when the two combined to win a Grey Cup, with Joseph winning league MVP honours.

Joseph threw for 4,002 yards with 24 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. He also ran for 737 yards and eight touchdowns. But the Riders dealt him to Toronto that off-season and he’s done little since but make headlines for spats with coaches.

Grooming a young quarterback and building a team around him might take a couple of years and involve some difficult steps along the way that few are interested in enduring right now.

We get it. Last year sucked. So did the year before. But will getting a little better and losing to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Division semifinal get you over the hump? What about beating the Cats and then losing to the Montreal Alouettes in the East final? Will that salve your wounds? Too easy and not enough loot in the pot, we say.

Certainly, LaPolice will believe he can turn back the clock with Joseph and maybe he can. But does he really want to risk his first season on that hunch? LaPolice is in a good position. The first-year man can survey the minefield and pick his way slowly. At this stage, no one knows what to expect and there’s going to be a period of, ‘give him a chance.’

Sign Joseph and that phase is over. Immediately. People will see it as a move aimed at contending. And maybe it could turn out that way.

For a franchise that spent most of last season taking one punch in the face after another, we see it as too risky. Pull back on the reins and save some juice for the backstretch. Don’t blow it all getting out of the gate.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca