Buono completely baffled

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/07/2009 (5920 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Five story lines that jumped out while observing the past week of Canadian Football League action:

1 Small confession here: Unlike so many who saw the warning signs, yours truly didn’t figure the road to Wally Buono’s coronation as the CFL’s all-time winningest coach would come with this many potholes.

Buono has 228 career wins — just three shy of all-time leader Don Matthews — and we believed that despite a ton of changes he’d wave his magic wand and make his B.C. Lions dominant again.

But the Lions have been horrid to start this season at 1-3 and last Friday’s 48-10 loss to the Calgary Stampeders was the worst in his seven years as the Leos’ boss.

“If I told you I understood why these things occur, I’d be lying to you. How can you sit and watch that and not be frustrated?” Buono told The Province in Vancouver.

“When someone’s sick, you nurse them back to health. We have to do more now as coaches than we have done. We need to spoon-feed more this week to give (the players) some semblance of hope.”

One thing is certain: If the Lions fall to 1-4 with a loss in Hamilton this week, you can bet Buono will be forced to continue what has already been a significant roster overhaul.

2 Here’s our two cents on the Bombers’ offensive woes and the fallout from last week’s horrific performance that has new QB Michael Bishop in town. We saw some shotgun formation — which head coach Mike Kelly said back in training camp was for flag football — and there may be a few more wrinkles to the attack this weekend in Toronto.

But the Bishop arrival, and likely the impending demotion of Stefan LeFors, hammers home this point: Kelly still believes in his system, even if it means throwing his hand-picked QB under the bus.

All of which raises this question: If the offensive struggles continue, would the head coach fire himself as offensive co-ordinator, or will the roster be chopped into more bits? We’ll take bets on the latter.

3It’s hard to know what to think about the discussions in Regina on new stadium options that include a dome.

A consultant’s report presented a few options, including a minor, stop-gap facelift of Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field ($1 million-$6 million), a $109-million major redevelopment of the facility, a new outdoor stadium that would cost $190 million or the recommendation of the construction of a $350-million dome that would seat 38,000 and be expanded to 50,000 and put to use all year.

We give the folks in the Saskatchewan capital two thumbs up for thinking big about — as the consultants suggested — “a generational opportunity” for residents.

And don’t laugh — the economy there has been growing so steadily this isn’t as far-fetched as some may think.

Finally, if they get the thumbs-up and finances in place in Regina, doesn’t that put pressure on David Asper & Co. to consider the same here?

1Nothing against Arkee Whitlock, the import back who — despite a nightmarish performance in his debut in Montreal — continues to get the majority of work, but we’d love to see what McCarty could do with 15-20 carries and a half-dozen catches.

5 Finally, what would our little Huddle page be like this season without some sort of reference to Arland Bruce III? Word out of Toronto is Bruce III will return to the Argos today — this despite calling out head coach Bart Andrus and creating another circus sideshow before their win in Winnipeg. What does this say about Andrus and the Argos, other than what some would say is an obvious hypocrisy? First, it speaks of Bruce III’s talent that he is able to get away with what he did and be welcomed back. But it also tells you how desperate the Argos are to win and make an impact in their market — and doing so becomes that much more difficult without the talented receiver in the lineup.

Excuse us if we think this has ticking time bomb written all over it.