Kicking the tires

Goddamn kickers. When will they learn?

Word comes down yesterday that the backup punter for Northern Colorado, Mitch Cozad, is alleged to have stabbed the team’s starting punter, Rafael Mendoza.

College kickers stabbing one another? Are you kidding me?

Division I-AA kickers stabbing one another? That’s even more insane.

Wasn’t all this kicker nonsense bad enough when Mike Vanderjagt called Peyton Manning out a couple years ago?

How about the feud between Todd Sauerbrun and one of the Gramaticas which ended in Sauerbrun claiming he’d rather forfeit his Pro Bowl selection than play alongside the Gramatica in Hawaii?

Or my all-time favourite news item regarding kickers, Sauerbrun popped for steroids?

What in God’s name is wrong with you people? Other than Adam Vinatieri, does any kicker ever have the right to say or do anything?

Well, if nothing else, thanks for the blog idea, Mitch. But the rest of you, try to stay within yourselves and behave, OK?

Good God.

Item two: Jesse Lumsden.

Those who follow CFL or CIS (Canadian university) football already know this name. He’s the guy everyone assumed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats wasted a first overall pick on. We’ll finally get the chance to find out, as he’s reportedly signed a long-term deal in Hamilton after he was cut by the Washington Redskins a few weeks ago.

The Tiger-Cats are 2-10 this season, and were officially eliminated from the playoffs last Saturday when they lost 11-9 to the Toronto Argos.

A similar situation happened last season.

Just as the Cats’ season was wrapping up, Lumsden was cut by the Seattle Seahawks, and came back to Hamilton to run back some punts and convert some second-and-short situations.

With two NFL training camps worth of experience, and two training camps worth of learning and grooming, he may be ready to dominate the CFL the way scouts assumed he would after his CIS career ended.

Or, he’ll be the next item on a long list of errors Hamilton’s front office has made over the last few seasons.