A trip down Memory Lane...my ode to JM [LONG]
There's no way I can let this day go down without starting my own JM thread. My favorite player is no longer a part of this organization and that saddens me. But I'm happy for Jason and I know he'll do all of his fans proud in Hamilton. So I decided I would share a few memories that I have of him in an Esks uniform.
The year was 2001. I had just recently moved from Bonnyville (where I grew up) to Edmonton for school. I purchased season tickets for the first time way up in the 75th row. That was about all I could afford at the time, but it was well worth it.
Nealon Greene was at Quarterback. I knew very little of Jason Maas except that he was pretty much #3 on the depth chart. Did he get any playing time during the preseason that year? I don't remember. Anyway, I was actually a Greene fan. I thought with time he could develop into a decent Quarterback (I guess I'm not always right). I remember one loud-mouthed A-hole in our section who would never shut up about how bad Higgins was and how bad the officiating was (was that you Nanookster?) and he would go on and on about how we had better QB's on our bench than Nealon.
I remember the first time Jason got a chance. I don't remember who it was against, but it was at Commonwealth and we went deep a couple times and IIRC, completed them. It really opened my eyes. I hadn't really seen that before from Greene. I was like "wow, this guy can get it done!" The game where I came to fully believe he was better than Greene was actually a road game though. It was August 11, and there was no TV coverage. I was stuck listening to Hallsy and by half-time, the Lions were up big. They were up by over 20 points I do believe. Jason Maas finally came in and the final score was 42-39 for BC. He almost won. That was the day Angelus became JM's biggest fan.
Perhaps the darkest game playing memory we all have of Jason came on the Labour Day rematch of 2001. I wish I could find a game summary of this one to help me out, but I can't. So I'll rely on what I remember. The Esks were down by five I think with limited time left. Jason had a long field to work with but wasted no time in hitting Quincy Jackson deep for a TD. Commonwealth was rocking! The Esks (which I believed to be a good idea) went for two to make it a 3 point game. I don't need to tell you all what happened...I'm sure you remember...but I just remember standing there in utter shock. The place was deathly quiet. It was just a horrible horrible night.
So the season went on. By the end of the season, Maas was the starting QB and the Esks nominee for MOP. He finished with over 3600 yards and over 20 TD's in about two-thirds of a season (maybe less?). Among CFL starters, he finished with the highest QB efficiency rating at 95.5. Not bad at all!
2002 started with a bang. Jason came out firing and had amassed almost 800 yards by the third game of the season. I could not be more excited about what the season would hold with him at QB. He was great in 2001, but he was going to make that look like child's play! I firmly believed he was well on his way to establishing himself as the premier QB in the CFL. And that's when disaster struck. The Esks went into Regina and lost the game...but more importantly, they lost their starting QB to a shoulder injury.
He missed pretty much the entire season. I remember signing up with the old Sportsnet forums as "Maas is the Man" and having heated debates with many Esks fans about who the better QB was (wow, not a lot has changed I guess
). That was where I had my first run-ins with Frito's Fan who was steadfast in her belief that Ricky Ray was the second coming of Jesus. I remember that late in the year, JM was given a start against the Winnipeg Bluebombers. Ray had played well to that point, but if Jason came out and had a whale of a game, he could easily claim back the starter's role he had lost due to injury. I remember making proclomations on Sportsnet about him coming out and playing great and proving me right. Unfortunately, he did not play well and I was wrong. In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have been playing because of his back (which he had surgery on in the off-season).
So the playoffs came and went. We almost won the Grey Cup with Ricky at the helm and Maas was relegated to a backup role for 2003. Two bright points stick out in 2003. On Labour Day, Maas temporarily relieved and injured Ray to try one deep pass which the reciever should have caught (I don't remember who that receiver was) and then later in the season when he had a relief appearance against the Argos and scored a rushing TD. I missed that game because I was at a wedding in BC but esksfans.com member Stamphater was nice enough to send me a copy of the game. It was a great moment for JM supporters and I still have that game on tape.
So Ricky left, and people around the league were predicting an Esks meltdown. "Maas can't play football, he gets too emotional" seemed to be the primary argument against us. But 2004 was the year that I may just remember the most of any season I've seen thus far. Jason started all 18 games and proved he is an elite QB in this league. Unfortunately he didn't have the league's best defence playing with him and ended with a 9-9 record. Yet another knock against him. But during that season, he threw for over 5000 yards and in a game against the Bombers, broke the league record for most consecutive pass completions (perhaps some of you remember my "happy dance" thread after that game). He lost his second playoff game that year, and the complaints against him continued.
Jason was good enough to start in this league. He was good enough to win in this league. I secretly hoped Ray would have a good career down south. But that was not to be. Ricky returned, and Maas was once again relegated to a backup role. His team player attitude and classiness has been reported at length and I don't have anything to add to that.
Wow, this is longer than I thought it'd be.
I'll wrap it up by saying the first time I found out he was an avid hunter, I was a little bit taken a back. I have some pretty strong views on hunting as a sport, and although I don't know the intentions behind Jason and his hunting experiences, I decided I will ignore what he does in his personal life and focus on what he does on the field. As a fan, that's all that should matter to me.
So Jason, I wish you well in your future endeavours. You will always be second-guessed until you win a playoff game from start to finish, but I know in my heart you are a true warrior and ultimately, a winner. It's a dark day in Edmonton, even darker than Labour Day rematch 2001, and you will be missed. I will be in the stands, wearing my #12 Esks Jersey when the Cats come to Commonwealth, standing and applauding when you enter onto the field. You deserve a shot to lead a team to the Grey Cup, and I have no doubts that Hamilton has now joined Toronto and Montreal as the beasts of the East. Congratulations Jason.
The year was 2001. I had just recently moved from Bonnyville (where I grew up) to Edmonton for school. I purchased season tickets for the first time way up in the 75th row. That was about all I could afford at the time, but it was well worth it.
Nealon Greene was at Quarterback. I knew very little of Jason Maas except that he was pretty much #3 on the depth chart. Did he get any playing time during the preseason that year? I don't remember. Anyway, I was actually a Greene fan. I thought with time he could develop into a decent Quarterback (I guess I'm not always right). I remember one loud-mouthed A-hole in our section who would never shut up about how bad Higgins was and how bad the officiating was (was that you Nanookster?) and he would go on and on about how we had better QB's on our bench than Nealon.
I remember the first time Jason got a chance. I don't remember who it was against, but it was at Commonwealth and we went deep a couple times and IIRC, completed them. It really opened my eyes. I hadn't really seen that before from Greene. I was like "wow, this guy can get it done!" The game where I came to fully believe he was better than Greene was actually a road game though. It was August 11, and there was no TV coverage. I was stuck listening to Hallsy and by half-time, the Lions were up big. They were up by over 20 points I do believe. Jason Maas finally came in and the final score was 42-39 for BC. He almost won. That was the day Angelus became JM's biggest fan.
Perhaps the darkest game playing memory we all have of Jason came on the Labour Day rematch of 2001. I wish I could find a game summary of this one to help me out, but I can't. So I'll rely on what I remember. The Esks were down by five I think with limited time left. Jason had a long field to work with but wasted no time in hitting Quincy Jackson deep for a TD. Commonwealth was rocking! The Esks (which I believed to be a good idea) went for two to make it a 3 point game. I don't need to tell you all what happened...I'm sure you remember...but I just remember standing there in utter shock. The place was deathly quiet. It was just a horrible horrible night.
So the season went on. By the end of the season, Maas was the starting QB and the Esks nominee for MOP. He finished with over 3600 yards and over 20 TD's in about two-thirds of a season (maybe less?). Among CFL starters, he finished with the highest QB efficiency rating at 95.5. Not bad at all!
2002 started with a bang. Jason came out firing and had amassed almost 800 yards by the third game of the season. I could not be more excited about what the season would hold with him at QB. He was great in 2001, but he was going to make that look like child's play! I firmly believed he was well on his way to establishing himself as the premier QB in the CFL. And that's when disaster struck. The Esks went into Regina and lost the game...but more importantly, they lost their starting QB to a shoulder injury.
He missed pretty much the entire season. I remember signing up with the old Sportsnet forums as "Maas is the Man" and having heated debates with many Esks fans about who the better QB was (wow, not a lot has changed I guess
). That was where I had my first run-ins with Frito's Fan who was steadfast in her belief that Ricky Ray was the second coming of Jesus. I remember that late in the year, JM was given a start against the Winnipeg Bluebombers. Ray had played well to that point, but if Jason came out and had a whale of a game, he could easily claim back the starter's role he had lost due to injury. I remember making proclomations on Sportsnet about him coming out and playing great and proving me right. Unfortunately, he did not play well and I was wrong. In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have been playing because of his back (which he had surgery on in the off-season). So the playoffs came and went. We almost won the Grey Cup with Ricky at the helm and Maas was relegated to a backup role for 2003. Two bright points stick out in 2003. On Labour Day, Maas temporarily relieved and injured Ray to try one deep pass which the reciever should have caught (I don't remember who that receiver was) and then later in the season when he had a relief appearance against the Argos and scored a rushing TD. I missed that game because I was at a wedding in BC but esksfans.com member Stamphater was nice enough to send me a copy of the game. It was a great moment for JM supporters and I still have that game on tape.
So Ricky left, and people around the league were predicting an Esks meltdown. "Maas can't play football, he gets too emotional" seemed to be the primary argument against us. But 2004 was the year that I may just remember the most of any season I've seen thus far. Jason started all 18 games and proved he is an elite QB in this league. Unfortunately he didn't have the league's best defence playing with him and ended with a 9-9 record. Yet another knock against him. But during that season, he threw for over 5000 yards and in a game against the Bombers, broke the league record for most consecutive pass completions (perhaps some of you remember my "happy dance" thread after that game). He lost his second playoff game that year, and the complaints against him continued.
Jason was good enough to start in this league. He was good enough to win in this league. I secretly hoped Ray would have a good career down south. But that was not to be. Ricky returned, and Maas was once again relegated to a backup role. His team player attitude and classiness has been reported at length and I don't have anything to add to that.
Wow, this is longer than I thought it'd be.
I'll wrap it up by saying the first time I found out he was an avid hunter, I was a little bit taken a back. I have some pretty strong views on hunting as a sport, and although I don't know the intentions behind Jason and his hunting experiences, I decided I will ignore what he does in his personal life and focus on what he does on the field. As a fan, that's all that should matter to me.
So Jason, I wish you well in your future endeavours. You will always be second-guessed until you win a playoff game from start to finish, but I know in my heart you are a true warrior and ultimately, a winner. It's a dark day in Edmonton, even darker than Labour Day rematch 2001, and you will be missed. I will be in the stands, wearing my #12 Esks Jersey when the Cats come to Commonwealth, standing and applauding when you enter onto the field. You deserve a shot to lead a team to the Grey Cup, and I have no doubts that Hamilton has now joined Toronto and Montreal as the beasts of the East. Congratulations Jason.
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