Bert Faibish
Ticats.ca
After making the playoffs last season and exceeding expectations, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats were expected to be a serious contender for the Grey Cup in 2010. Unfortunately, after getting off to a very rocky start before turning it around and earning second place in the East, the team fell to Toronto 16-13 last weekend in the Eastern Semi-Final.
Disappointing is an accurate description for the end of the season, but what shouldn’t be lost is the many positives and personal achievements that fans were witness to this season.
Since Danny McManus hung up his cleats the quarterback position has been a revolving door in Hamilton. Kevin Glenn represents the kind of stability and leadership that this team has been in search of, for the better part of a decade.
Statistically there was only one quarterback in the league who threw for more yards in 2010 and no quarterback in the storied history of the Black and Gold has thrown more touchdown passes.
At 31, Glenn is in (or entering) the prime of his career and as good as he was this season, he has the potential to get even better.
The team has a mixture of youth and veteran leadership at the wide receiver position with guys and the team came within 4 yards of having the first trio of 1,000 yard receivers in its history.
On defence Otis Floyd showed he can still perform at the highest level and Markeith Knowlton finally received the recognition he deserved after being named the East’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player.
The acquisition of Stevie Baggs turned out to be very successful and will surely leave fans salivating at the thought of having the rush-end in the fold for an entire 18-game season. Both Garrett McIntyre and Justin Hickman proved that their rookie campaigns were no flukes and could be fixtures on the defensive line for a long time to come.
Basically the danger of focusing on the disappointment and hurt from one game, albeit an important one, is losing sight of the strides that this team has made.
One of coach Bellefeuille’s favourite quotes is, “don’t mistake progress for excellence” or basically, don’t be lured into complacency by success.
The coaches and players know that they have to work to do in order to reach their ultimate goal, but it’s important to appreciate the kind of quality football team they already have in place.
If the lessons that the Ticats have learned during the last two seasons can be put to use on the field next year, it may just be the East Final that Ivor Wynne hosts next season, with only a short bus ride to the site of 2011 Grey Cup.
