Eskimos Report

It is getting increasingly tougher to not only watch what is happening with the Eskimos this season, but also to sit down and write about it afterwards. The problem is not in telling it like it is right now (we stink). The problem is coming up with something new to write each week.

Aside from the obvious from that game on Monday, more bad penalties at the wrong time and a lousy gameplan that resulted in a non existent running game once again the Eskimos were dominated all day long in the trenches. If you can't win some battles there, you may as well resign yourself to kind of result we saw.

After the game Danny Maciocia again was lamenting in the media about the fact that he lost 3 starters to retirement and that was compounded by losing Dan Comiskey to concussion symptoms before the game. What can you do about that he asks. I'll tell you Danny. You make the O-line your number one priority in the off-season. You knew going in that you were losing 3 starters yet there were no major signings in the free agent market. You acquired Tim Bakker that's true, but one is not enough. There were free agents available to be signed, but the Eskimos sat idle. Were they banking on the fact that Kevin Lefsrud might change his mind and they would have him back by the end of July? I think so, but when he broke his wrist on the farm that went out the window.

You did nothing of consequence in either the dispersal draft or the college draft. Of the two selected, only one remains with the team on the developmental roster. Instead you chose to go with players that could not unseat the veterans last season and would likely have not done it again this year except that there were no veterans left to unseat. Sandy Annunziata probably could have been brought back once he got the idea no one wanted to pay his outrageous salary request, but you didn't even try.

Now, of course, I know that you don't have all the control over who is brought in Danny, but someone has to take the heat and you look like you could use a tan. What were you left with? Putting a brave face on a very inexperienced line and trying to convince fans that you were happy with their play and development. Well here we are, 10 weeks into a disastrous season, are you still happy with their play? Are you still going to continue the Patrick Kabongo experiment. I'm guessing you will.

The fact of the matter on Monday and for that matter for a lot of the season is that we just are not good enough up front. Call it rebuilding if you want, I call it an excuse. Ricky Ray cannot play on his back. Troy Davis cannot run through holes that do not exist (like you're ever going to call his number anyway). I'm not sure if this ship can be righted or not, but you need your hogs to start doing their jobs now or it will never happen.

Friday you come home to what is usually your largest crowd of the season. For your sake I hope you can get these dogs to step up or it could also be the toughest crowd of the season to play in front of.

Cheers