Sunday 18 November 2012

Go Get Yours, Kevin Glenn

I have never made it a secret about being a big Kevin Glenn fan. I have been ridiculed, insulted and laughed at for being a staunch Kevin Glenn defender. And while I still wish he was a Tiger-Cat, I couldn't be happier for his success this season in Calgary.

And now that he has led the Stamps to the Grey Cup, I will finally get so see him get the Grey Cup ring he should have won five years ago.

Sorry Rider fans, but a Glenn-led Bomber squad would have beaten Saskatchewan. But Glenn had his arm broken in Toronto against the Argos in the East Final and missed the Grey Cup. So Glenn will get his ring at the scene of the crime and against the team that robbed him back in 2007.

While I wish he would have been able to do it in Hamilton, I will still be happy for Kevin Glenn when he finally hoists the Grey Cup next week in Toronto. Some Ti-Cat fans might find it bittersweet, but I'll just find it sweet.

There are a number of ex-Cats that I will be happy for, but I will be happiest for Glenn. Discarded by both Winnipeg and Hamilton because he was deemed unable to win the big one; benched for Drew Tate just last week, despite leading Calgary for most of the season. But an injury to Tate put Glenn back in charge of the Stampeder offense and all he did was throw for 303 yards and three touchdowns in a win over BC in the West Final.

Aside from Argo fans, I have to think that everyone will be cheering for Calgary because of Glenn. Glenn will get the monkey off his back next week and perhaps he will finally get the respect he has long deserved.

Kevin Glenn, go get yours.

6 comments:

  1. I know that you like Kevin Glenn, you have made that pretty clear.

    But from an outsider, Glenn really has only 2 great years, 2007 and 2012.

    He has never been able to string 2 or 3 great seasons together and can never seem to string 5 or 6 great games together. He will play well in 2 games in a row, then look lost the next 2.

    I know you don't like looking at records but he really is an average QB. He's had some success but he's also had some struggles.

    I feel the Cats have made a major upgrade with Burris. The pure passing stats don't lie.

    Glenn could win the Grey Cup and then be back on the bench next year. Does Winnipeg or Edmonton take a chance on him next year? Veteran guys who has won a little bit.

    It's okay to cheer for Glenn like you do, but you do go a little bit overboard on the fandom.

    When comparing him to the rest of the starting QBs in the league, I would only take Glenn over Edmonton and Winnipeg. It would be a toss up with Durrant in SSK. Glenn is probably the 5th or 6th best QB in this league of 8.

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    1. So Glenn's "great years" just coincide with his Grey Cup appearances? Guess Henry Burris has only had one great season. Tracy Ham only had one great season. Sam Etcheverry and Dieter Brock never had a great season. See why that logic doesn't make sense? Also, if you argue that any of those players did have more than one great season, then go look up Kevin Glenn's 2010 season. If that doesn't count as a great statistical season, please tell me what does? And if it doesn't because the team finished 9-9 and lost in the playoffs, then this season for Burris doesn't count either.

      Pretty much everything you said about Glenn (plays great, then doesn't; can't string greatness together) describes Henry Burris. Both QBs are remarkably similar, except Burris has his championship. If Glenn gets his, the conversation changes. All of a sudden, this QB that no one wants will have as many rings as Burris, Tracy Ham and Joe Kapp, and more than Dieter Brock and Sam Etcheverry. Some mediocre bum he is.

      Stats are nice, and they tell part of the story, but they are no more a catch-all than wins are. Funny thing is, fans used the lack of wins to discredit Glenn before and now, like your point about Burris' "pure passing stats" proving he's better, they use stats over wins. Funny how that works out. Since you can't use one thing to disrespect Glenn, you have to change the rules in order to STILL disrespect him. So which is it: goes Glenn not win or are his stats no good? That's why it is folly to base your full argument on just one category.

      And what happens next year is irrelevant. The year after winning in 1991, the Argos let Matt Dunnigan walk. Damon Allen was discarded by how may teams in his career, and he won four Grey Cups? Kerry Joseph was traded in 2008 after winning it all in 2007. Each year is a self-contained entity; no one can predict what happens the year after.

      Glenn's got his team in the Grey Cup. Pretty sure winning a championship is why they play the game. Glenn has that shot next week; only one other quarterback can make that claim. Feel free to minimize Glenn like so many others have. Glenn tends to be a polarizing figure. But if he wins his championship in six days, there will be a lot of crow eating. The knock has always been that he can't win; should be win next week, what will the haters say then?

      P.S.: This may make me sound like an ass, but if you have a problem with who I choose to root for, you don't have to read what I write. Feel free to completely ignore me. No one is making you take the time to read this.

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  2. At the end of the day, you can't use both wins and QB stats to make your point when it's convenient for you.

    Over the past couple years, you have made the argument that wins/losses shouldn't be a barrometer. So let's throw that out.

    If you look at pure #s, Burris is much better than Glenn. If the Cats had won a few more games, Burris would have been MVP.

    Even when Burris was off this year, he was still putting up 20+ points.

    The Cats team with Glenn this year would not have won 6 games.

    You can choose to root for who you want. I actually like Kevin Glenn but wouldn't really want him as a starter for my team. At the end of the day he is an average QB. Use whatever stats you want but he doesn't lead the league in yards, TDs, etc. and his overall record hovers around .500.

    Burris consistently puts up big #s, has an over .500 winning %.

    The Cats made the right move in getting rid of Glenn. It's too bad they lost too many guys on defense.

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    1. Incorrect. I've always maintained that you can't just use wins as a determining factor in judging a quarterback. QB wins don't show the whole story. There are many things that go into judging QB's play, but relying on wins as the sole determiner is faulty.

      "If the Cats had won a few more games..." Thing is, they didn't. They didn't because they didn't have a defense. They didn't have a defense because they spent their money on offense (Fantuz, Burris, Giguère, etc.) instead of focusing on the lines and the secondary. Bringing in linemen and DBs doesn’t move the needle, but bringing in a new QB sure does.

      This Cats team may not have won six games with Glenn, but this team wouldn't have had the same roster makeup with Glenn. You can't just pluck one person out and keep everything else the same. Burris lured Giguère to Hamilton, for one; Fantuz is probably still wearing green if Glenn wasn't traded; Tim Burke is probably the head coach, not George Cortez (reuniting with Burris was a big factor in Cortez agreeing to come here). Those things need to be taken into account. Maybe the defense is better with a defensive-minded head coach and the offense isn't as good (and who would the OC have been with Cortez not the head coach). We don’t know what a Glenn-led 2012 Tiger-Cats team would have accomplished. We do know what a Burris-led team did and what a Glenn-led Stamps did. Anything other than that is just conjecture.

      "[T]oo bad they lost too many guys on defense." What guys? Aside from Hickman, the rest of the team was pretty much the same. Anyone else they lost they allowed to leave. It wasn't too bad they lost them, it was their decision. Besides, it’s not like the defense was great last year. Not as bad as this year’s group, but not much better than mediocre.

      At the end of the day, Calgary is playing for a championship and Hamilton is not. All the Glenn bashers wanted to say was that he couldn't lead a team to a championship. No one cared about his numbers, including a great 2010 where he had over 5,000 passing yards and 33 TDs, it as all about how he wasn't good enough to take a team to a title. Well, in six days, that will be moot if the Stamps win. It's already been proven, twice actually, that he CAN get a team to a title game. Now he just has to win it (and he didn't get the chance last time). In six days, we'll have our answer and all those that like to spout off about ".500 QB" this and "can't win big games" that will have to keep their mouths firmly shut if Glenn does get his ring with the Stamps.

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  3. I'll second the hope Glenn gets that Cup win. He's never been anyone's sought-after game-changing leader, but has put together a good career including several great years (balanced with disappointments, no different than so many others). Yeah, he has his pouty moments but he's a class act.

    I know it was probably with purpose that you avoided using the word "if" in your post. But earning a Cup ring is far from a foregone conclusion.

    As much as it pains me to say it being a staunch Ticat fan and anti-Argo, this Toronto team is peaking and doing just enough to win, and like in 2004 their coach has them believing. The Stampeders may be superior in many ways, but the Argonauts are a scary team to face right now and this game could go either way.

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    1. I did avoid "if" on purpose, but I realize that it's not a given that Calgary wins. Toronto has played great the last two weeks and I can't (and won't) deny that. Game could either way, and I'm not giving either team the edge. Consider this a positive post after so many months of negativity about the Ti-Cats. I really hope Glenn gets his championship.

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