In Casey's Defense

Last season the Hamilton Tiger-Cats hosted the BC Lions in the East Division Semi-Final. The starting Quarterback for those Lions was none other than former Ti-Cat "saviour" Casey Printers. Very few players get the blood of Cats fans boiling like Casey Printers. As long as you don't spurn the Tabbies for the Boatmen (*cough* Mike O'Shea *cough*) you are usually afforded a decent reaction or no reaction at all. Hell, even some ship jumpers like Mike Morreale and Joe Montford still get a hero's welcome when they step foot on the Ivor Wynne turf.

Not Printers. And he didn't even go to the enemy. He went back to BC!

It seems as if Printers's failures while wearing the Black & Gold are hard to forget for the Ti-Cat faithful. While I will readily admit that Casey's one-and-a-half seasons could hardly be considered a success, I don't place the blame squarely on him. Yes, he came to town with a big chip on his shoulder and claimed he would "save" the team. Yes, his play, to put it bluntly, sucked. Yes, the team was terrible. Printers can take a lot of blame for what happened when he got here.

But not all of it.

Go back and check out the Ti-Cat team roster from 2007 and 2008. Hardly a murderers' row of elite talent. Pat Woodcock? Brock Ralph? Scott Mitchell? Please! And those are just the Wide Receivers. If Printers had Bruce and Stala and McDaniel and Cobb, just imagine what he could have accomplished.

Sure, when he got here he acted like a jerk and basically turned the entire locker room against him, but he is not to be completely blamed for the terrible seasons the Cats endured during his tenure here. The team was bad before he got here and improved when he left. But you have to look at all the other changes that happened to accurately conclude why the Tabbies went from worst in the CFL to playoff contender. Above all, the hiring of a competent General Manager in Bob O'Billovich, who has put a plan together to improve the team.

I'd love to put all the blame on Casey Printers for the years of ineptitude that I, as a Tiger-Cat fan, was forced to endure. Do you have any idea what it's like rooting for the Cats while living in Toronto? Not easy, my friend. I will also freely admit to being a part of the "Screw You, Casey!" contingent during last season's playoff game. Deep down, however, I knew he wasn't the reason we sucked. I believe that the other fans at Ivor Wynne that day knew it as well. But perhaps they wanted to believe that Printers was the final piece to the puzzle and are just disappointed in themselves for believing it. Perhaps for those fans the wound that Casey's stay left is just too new. Soon enough, though, Printers's stay will be forgotten, and we will all go back to hating that turncoat Adriano Belli, and all will be right with the world.