Vaughn throws Maas under the bus.............
I lost the remaining respect I had left for TV.
Shameless move, Vaughn
Dan Barnes
The Edmonton Journal
Monday, January 22, 2007
Talking a good game isn't the same as playing one, of course. And in truth, what they're equally willing to do is throw a teammate underneath the wheels if there is even the slightest chance of career advancement.
Today's example is veteran Canadian Football League receiver Terry Vaughn, late of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
"Last year, our offensive play-calling was pretty horrendous and the quarterback wasn't good," he told the Montreal Gazette, in a shameless attempt to land a job with the Alouettes and squeeze one more relatively lucrative year out of a body that has clearly gone south and should stay in Arizona.
"That affected everyone. Looking at the numbers, you couldn't tell if anyone was productive," he said.
Oh, we could tell. We knew it in September when Vaughn stumbled into Commonwealth Stadium with just 51 catches and 544 yards and only four games to go. Hamilton's interim head coach Ron Lancaster knew it then too, and practically bit his tongue in half, trying not to lie and not to cut up his own player too badly.
"He's like everyone else, Father Time catches up with you," said Lancaster. "He's on the downside of his career, no question. But he's still a good enough player."
But he wasn't the great Terry Vaughn, whose performances were so often above reproach, and pointing fingers at teammates is an utterly reprehensible attempt to alter that reality.
Sure, the Ticats had their coaching troubles and quarterback Jason Maas struggled more often than he ever had as an Eskimo. But Vaughn and Maas are supposed to be friends and even if Vaughn was totally blameless it would still be out of line to throw a buddy under the bus. The fact is, Vaughn was a step slower than usual, unable to gain those trademark yards after the catch.
So his tongue is now officially sharper than his skills. He has always spewed a mix of brutal honesty and self-serving
denial and at this point in his career, the end, it's not an attractive way to ride off into the sunset and Hall of Fame.
But that's the essence of Vaughn, a man still motivated by his trademark swagger. The former Stampeder, Eskimo, Alouette and Ticat said if he's going to play one more year he still wants and deserves a six-figure deal, even in the CFL's new
reality, which is governed by a $4.05-million salary cap. Forget last year. It wasn't his fault.
"I've got a family to take care of and I'm not going to waste my time for chump change," he told the Gazette.
Chump change sounds like the perfect remuneration for anybody who would turn on his friends and teammates.
© The Edmonton Journal 2007
Shameless move, Vaughn
Dan Barnes
The Edmonton Journal
Monday, January 22, 2007
Talking a good game isn't the same as playing one, of course. And in truth, what they're equally willing to do is throw a teammate underneath the wheels if there is even the slightest chance of career advancement.
Today's example is veteran Canadian Football League receiver Terry Vaughn, late of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
"Last year, our offensive play-calling was pretty horrendous and the quarterback wasn't good," he told the Montreal Gazette, in a shameless attempt to land a job with the Alouettes and squeeze one more relatively lucrative year out of a body that has clearly gone south and should stay in Arizona.
"That affected everyone. Looking at the numbers, you couldn't tell if anyone was productive," he said.
Oh, we could tell. We knew it in September when Vaughn stumbled into Commonwealth Stadium with just 51 catches and 544 yards and only four games to go. Hamilton's interim head coach Ron Lancaster knew it then too, and practically bit his tongue in half, trying not to lie and not to cut up his own player too badly.
"He's like everyone else, Father Time catches up with you," said Lancaster. "He's on the downside of his career, no question. But he's still a good enough player."
But he wasn't the great Terry Vaughn, whose performances were so often above reproach, and pointing fingers at teammates is an utterly reprehensible attempt to alter that reality.
Sure, the Ticats had their coaching troubles and quarterback Jason Maas struggled more often than he ever had as an Eskimo. But Vaughn and Maas are supposed to be friends and even if Vaughn was totally blameless it would still be out of line to throw a buddy under the bus. The fact is, Vaughn was a step slower than usual, unable to gain those trademark yards after the catch.
So his tongue is now officially sharper than his skills. He has always spewed a mix of brutal honesty and self-serving
denial and at this point in his career, the end, it's not an attractive way to ride off into the sunset and Hall of Fame.
But that's the essence of Vaughn, a man still motivated by his trademark swagger. The former Stampeder, Eskimo, Alouette and Ticat said if he's going to play one more year he still wants and deserves a six-figure deal, even in the CFL's new
reality, which is governed by a $4.05-million salary cap. Forget last year. It wasn't his fault.
"I've got a family to take care of and I'm not going to waste my time for chump change," he told the Gazette.
Chump change sounds like the perfect remuneration for anybody who would turn on his friends and teammates.
© The Edmonton Journal 2007
Who would be stupid enough to give you 100k+....
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