Game day EJ Articles
A yearning to burn Bombers
Esks Hervey, Tucker vow to make amends for last week's errors
Vicki Hall
The Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON - Ed Hervey was in a vile mood last Friday after being struck by an uncharacteristic case of the dropsies in Montreal.
One week later, the fiery wideout is still agitated -- not that fans of the Edmonton Eskimos should be concerned. Quite the contrary, really, as history shows that Hervey becomes even more dangerous when he's angry, irritated or downright crotchety.
"I tend to play better when I'm upset," Hervey declared this week in the Eskimos dressing room. "I was very upset this whole weekend. No one ever likes to play badly -- especially me. I hate it. I hate losing.
"I have a lot of pride. There's a fire inside of me that burns to be a great competitor. I'll bounce back."
Slotback Jason Tucker also had a rare off-night with a couple of untimely drops during Edmonton's 32-29 loss to the Alouettes. They'll both be looking to rebound tonight as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers come calling for a 7 p.m. date at Commonwealth Stadium.
"Jason is Jason," said head coach Danny Maciocia. "He's the least of my concerns, and so is Ed Hervey. Those two guys -- I couldn't pick two other receivers who I'd rather line up with. That's how I feel about them."
Tucker and Hervey are two of the top pass catchers in the land . Hervey is second on the CFL receiving list with 254 yards. Tucker is fifth with 207 yards and three touchdowns on just nine catches.
So how did they both end up struggling on the same night?
"Hey, we're human," Tucker said, shrugging his shoulders in his locker stall in the Eskimos dressing room. "Everybody has bad days. We just can't look back at it. We've got to move forward and learn from it."
Judging by practice this week, the lessons have already been learned as the Eskimos prepare to move forward in tonight's clash with the Bombers.
In team drills, both Tucker and Hervey nabbed passes in double coverage. They ran crisp routes and held on to the ball even under duress -- not that Donny Brady was surprised.
"When great players have not such a good game, they're going to show everybody," he said. "It happens. Some days it rains when you don't want to it to rain. You just have to deal with it and move on.
"Those guys obviously still have the confidence they can go out there and perform. They're professionals."
While both receivers had plays they'd like to have back against Montreal,
Hervey took the bulk of the bad press as his first mistake changed the momentum of the game.
With the Eskimos leading 14-0, a wide-open Hervey dropped a pass near the Edmonton bench to bring up third down.
Disaster followed as Sean Fleming booted a 42-yard field goal wide and Ezra Landry returned it 125 yards for a touchdown.
"I think it would be somewhat disappointing if people didn't talk about Ed Hervey dropping a pass," Hervey said.
"It just shows that I've done an excellent job over the years at being consistent. So when you miss that one opportunity, it becomes big news.
"It doesn't bother me what people say about it. You don't really care what's written or said about you as long as you know what the guys in the locker-room feel about you and the coaching staff feels about you.
"I know I'm going to the play well for the rest of the season," Hervey continued. "And yes, I probably will drop another pass. But is it going to make me break down in tears when everybody is pointing the finger at me? No. Not a chance."
Esks Hervey, Tucker vow to make amends for last week's errors
Vicki Hall
The Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON - Ed Hervey was in a vile mood last Friday after being struck by an uncharacteristic case of the dropsies in Montreal.
One week later, the fiery wideout is still agitated -- not that fans of the Edmonton Eskimos should be concerned. Quite the contrary, really, as history shows that Hervey becomes even more dangerous when he's angry, irritated or downright crotchety.
"I tend to play better when I'm upset," Hervey declared this week in the Eskimos dressing room. "I was very upset this whole weekend. No one ever likes to play badly -- especially me. I hate it. I hate losing.
"I have a lot of pride. There's a fire inside of me that burns to be a great competitor. I'll bounce back."
Slotback Jason Tucker also had a rare off-night with a couple of untimely drops during Edmonton's 32-29 loss to the Alouettes. They'll both be looking to rebound tonight as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers come calling for a 7 p.m. date at Commonwealth Stadium.
"Jason is Jason," said head coach Danny Maciocia. "He's the least of my concerns, and so is Ed Hervey. Those two guys -- I couldn't pick two other receivers who I'd rather line up with. That's how I feel about them."
Tucker and Hervey are two of the top pass catchers in the land . Hervey is second on the CFL receiving list with 254 yards. Tucker is fifth with 207 yards and three touchdowns on just nine catches.
So how did they both end up struggling on the same night?
"Hey, we're human," Tucker said, shrugging his shoulders in his locker stall in the Eskimos dressing room. "Everybody has bad days. We just can't look back at it. We've got to move forward and learn from it."
Judging by practice this week, the lessons have already been learned as the Eskimos prepare to move forward in tonight's clash with the Bombers.
In team drills, both Tucker and Hervey nabbed passes in double coverage. They ran crisp routes and held on to the ball even under duress -- not that Donny Brady was surprised.
"When great players have not such a good game, they're going to show everybody," he said. "It happens. Some days it rains when you don't want to it to rain. You just have to deal with it and move on.
"Those guys obviously still have the confidence they can go out there and perform. They're professionals."
While both receivers had plays they'd like to have back against Montreal,
Hervey took the bulk of the bad press as his first mistake changed the momentum of the game.
With the Eskimos leading 14-0, a wide-open Hervey dropped a pass near the Edmonton bench to bring up third down.
Disaster followed as Sean Fleming booted a 42-yard field goal wide and Ezra Landry returned it 125 yards for a touchdown.
"I think it would be somewhat disappointing if people didn't talk about Ed Hervey dropping a pass," Hervey said.
"It just shows that I've done an excellent job over the years at being consistent. So when you miss that one opportunity, it becomes big news.
"It doesn't bother me what people say about it. You don't really care what's written or said about you as long as you know what the guys in the locker-room feel about you and the coaching staff feels about you.
"I know I'm going to the play well for the rest of the season," Hervey continued. "And yes, I probably will drop another pass. But is it going to make me break down in tears when everybody is pointing the finger at me? No. Not a chance."
What, are they staying at the Super-8 or something? Looks like the Bombers are sparing no expense for their players!
. Now if we could only get him on this forum...
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