Ticats Mid-Season Report

We have now reached the halfway point of the season. All teams have played nine of their eighteen games, and for the Ticats, who have played ten, the season is more than half over.

Actually, for the Ticats, this season was over long ago. Their minds are already on a golf course in Southern Florida...or so I assume, since their minds are nowhere near the field on game day. The latest nauseating effort in Regina proves that.

Rather than subject myself to repetitive stress disorder by typing the exact same things about this latest game as I have about their past few outings, I’ve decided to review the season so far...not the Tiger-cats’ season, but my own. To show how I, and thousands of others like me, fell for the false hope provided by this team, here is a countdown of the top five misguided statements I’ve made this year.

5. “The offence will get better as the weeks go on” (Week two) In all fairness, this was a safe assumption to make. All units tend to improve the more they play together. Who knew that the Tiger-cat offence would actually find a way to get worse?

4. “...there will be no Winnipegs or Hamiltons (and sadly, no Ottawas) who will provide their opponents with an easy two points.” (Pre-season) Well, there are no Ottawas, and Winnipeg is no pushover. In fact, nearly every team has proven themselves capable of winning. But while Hamilton’s opponents are all but guaranteed two points in the standings, the Tiger-cats are lucky to get two points on the scoreboard.

3. “They have the most improved offence in the CFL” (Pre-season) Of course, I was going only by the personnel changes. The team brought in a number of star players, so of course they were going to be better. Right?

2. “We all knew that the Tiger-cat offence would take time to come together, and they appear to have done that.” (Week six) As recently as a few weeks ago, I was still optimistic, and still believed that these players were too good not to be great as a team. I believe I was the last holdout in that faith.

And my number one misguided statement: 
1. “[Greg] Marshall’s job is not on the line” (Week two) Two weeks later, he was out of work. Should he have been fired? Judging by the play of the Cats since, he was not the problem. In fact, he may have been the reason they were as good as they were, 0-4 record and all. Their 2-4 record since the coaching change has included some embarrassing losses.

So after faithfully renewing my season tickets during an off-season of blockbuster moves which filled Ticat fans with hope, this season has decomposed into a smelly, rotten carcass, which nothing short of a miracle can resurrect. Once again we appear poised to finish in last place. Once again we will miss the playoffs. Once again we will be subjected to an off-season of roster moves, and promises of better things to come.

And once again I will believe the hype, and faithfully renew my season tickets.

Because that’s what fans do.