Burke Unhappy With Work Of Veterans

[voodoochylde]

Original Story Here

 

ASK Tim Burke a question and he will always give you a full and honest answer.

 

Thursday afternoon was no different as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach didn't sugar-coat his dismay when he was asked by reporters what he thought of his team losing 24-6 at home Wednesday to a Toronto Argonauts club that had left almost all their starters from last year's Grey Cup champion squad at home.

 

"It is a little bit disconcerting that that happened and that's what I told the guys last night," said Burke, who played most of his starters Wednesday.

 

"I thought that was the disconcerting part -- that we didn't show better against their backups."

 

Continued at link...

 

 

[Mike]

I really don't like Tim Burke.

 

His veterans hardly played at all (I missed the first 5 minutes of the game and don't think I saw more than a couple of reps from a handful of starters the rest of the way), the worst performing veteran of all is the one he coddles the most and he continues to hang them out to dry as a "motivational tool"

 

His player analysis in the media has a LONG way to go.

[iso_55]

Burke reminds me of Crotchety Cal, Curmudgeonly Cal or Kindly Cal, depending on what day it was & what mood he was in....

[Brandon]

Mike are you a hater?

[Mike]

Mike are you a hater?

 

I don't hate Burke, I just think he's quickly proving himself to be a very good defensive coordinator.

[Logan007]

I really don't like Tim Burke.

 

His veterans hardly played at all (I missed the first 5 minutes of the game and don't think I saw more than a couple of reps from a handful of starters the rest of the way), the worst performing veteran of all is the one he coddles the most and he continues to hang them out to dry as a "motivational tool"

 

His player analysis in the media has a LONG way to go.

I just posted this morning on our bombers site along the same lines as this regarding Tim.  I'm not a fan.  If he proves me wrong I'll eat my words, but the way he speaks he reminds me of someone having dementia or something.  Maybe he's just not a good public speaker, but he doesn't inspire me at all, and it doesn't seem like he inspires his players either.  I think we have good players on our team but the coaching staff leaves me wanting.

[Mike]

I just posted this morning on our bombers site along the same lines as this regarding Tim.  I'm not a fan.  If he proves me wrong I'll eat my words, but the way he speaks he reminds me of someone having dementia or something.  Maybe he's just not a good public speaker, but he doesn't inspire me at all, and it doesn't seem like he inspires his players either.  I think we have good players on our team but the coaching staff leaves me wanting.

 

I can't even count on one hand how many times Burke has said something about his players that annoyed me to no end.

 

"Joey Elliott is a turnover machine"

"Demond Washington will never return kicks for us again if I have my way"

"We probably wouldn't keep Buck if he wasn't such a nice guy"

 

I can't remember exactly what he said about Renaud after the Banjo Bowl but I wasn't impressed with that either. Or how he criticizes the veterans during training camp while he coddles Buck.

 

I really didn't like how he openly admitted he coaches with a "cheat sheet" to help him make decisions either. Fair enough, but telling people who don't know any better is going to make you sound stupid.

 

Couple his propensity to be overly critical of his players with how he basically just brushed over his own mistake in last year's Banjo Bowl instead of calling himself a "poor decision making machine" (would have more respect for him if he spoke about his own performance the same way he speaks about his players) and I'm just SO over listening to Burke talk.

[MOBomberFan]

I can't even count on one hand how many times Burke has said something about his players that annoyed me to no end.

 

"Joey Elliott is a turnover machine"

        I like him, but to this point, he was a turnover machine more than he was a TD machine.

"Demond Washington will never return kicks for us again if I have my way"

        Dumb. Maybe something like 'he better shape up or he'll be replaced' would sound nicer.

"We probably wouldn't keep Buck if he wasn't such a nice guy"

        Context goes a long way, buddy. If this is an excerpt from one of his pressers before mini-camp they discussed how on  

        field AND off field actions all add up to 1 portrait of a player. His leadership, community involvement, and demonstrable

        dedication to the comunity has to count for something. That's what being a 'nice guy' has to do with it.

 

I can't remember exactly what he said about Renaud after the Banjo Bowl but I wasn't impressed with that either. Or how he criticizes the veterans during training camp while he coddles Buck.

       Oh, was that a clean punt in the Banjo Bowl? That punt   was way worse than the call itself. If Renaud didn't shank that  

       kick we wouldn't be talking about this and Burke would have been a hero for winning the Banjo Bowl after that

      shellacking the week prior.

 

I really didn't like how he openly admitted he coaches with a "cheat sheet" to help him make decisions either. Fair enough, but telling people who don't know any better is going to make you sound stupid.

     Both Mack and Burke don't give two shits what the fan thinks, that's not their job. Every coach everywhere tries to plan  

     ahead, and has gone through those 'what is this happens, what if that happens' hypothetical scenarios. If a cheat-sheet

     helps, all the better

 

Couple his propensity to be overly critical of his players with how he basically just brushed over his own mistake in last year's Banjo Bowl instead of calling himself a "poor decision making machine" (would have more respect for him if he spoke about his own performance the same way he speaks about his players) and I'm just SO over listening to Burke talk. I seem to recall Burke owning up to this and saying if he could go back he'd make a different call. Guy was learning the ropes, and we can thank the rest of the coaching staff for not saying 'Hey, Tim, maybe we go for the FG?' Lookin at you, Walters.

 

Guys, it's not like he's saying anything other people aren't already saying. I agree, Buck is an accident waiting to happen, but we simply do not have a better answer at QB, I don't know what you guys expect him to do, short of handing the reins the Hall/Goltz, crossing his fingers, and wishing really really hard for one of them to be a gamer.

 

As for the vets that did play... did they do anything worth cheering about? I sure didn't see it.

 

Burke may have a long way to go when it comes to public speaking, but it's nowhere near the stupidity or volatility of Mike Kelly, and way more interesting to listen to than LoPolices formulaic 'we need to improve, we need to practice hard, we need to stick to the plan' responses.

 

Just my opinion. Tim Burke was our HC-in-waiting since the day we hired him away from MTL, let's try to give him a few weeks of regular season games with his system in place before we start pining for a new HC (not saying that's what you're doing, but that would be the logical next step). Edited to make my responses a little clearer.

[Mike]

Of course Elliott was a turnover machine. But what coach would honestly think it's a good idea to use those words? "He needs to protect the ball better" says the same thing and it's much more appropriate.

 

As for context on the Buck comment, it was in direct response to a question that basically asked if they would be going back to Buck again if he wasn't such a nice guy. I don't give a flying **** how nice of a guy Buck Pierce is. If he's such a nice guy, stick him in the community permanently. He's a **** quarterback.

 

I'm glad Burke owned up to his mistake. My point is that he calls his players names and over-criticizes them but when it comes to his own performance, he chalks it up to "oh well, better luck next time"

 

As far as what I expect him to do? That's exactly what I expect him to do. Prepare those two kids as much as he can, because quite honestly, it's no different than handing the reins to Buck, crossing his fingers and wishing really really hard for a miracle that keeps him upright. At least Goltz/Hall have upside and the ability to inspire promise. All Buck does is inspire me to drink.

[MOBomberFan]

As far as what I expect him to do? That's exactly what I expect him to do. Prepare those two kids as much as he can, because quite honestly, it's no different than handing the reins to Buck, crossing his fingers and wishing really really hard for a miracle that keeps him upright. At least Goltz/Hall have upside and the ability to inspire promise. All Buck does is inspire me to drink.

Can't argue with that!

 

My big issue is there's no way to be sure Hall or Goltz can win the games that Buck can. I'm on record saying that if I were Joe Mack, Buck Pierce would be a water boy, but that's contingent on having a viable backup. We may have that already, we may not, but riding Buck til he falls apart is better than throwing either of these guys to the wolves without the need to do so, first.

[voodoochylde]

Can't argue with that!

 

My big issue is there's no way to be sure Hall or Goltz can win the games that Buck can. I'm on record saying that if I were Joe Mack, Buck Pierce would be a water boy, but that's contingent on having a viable backup. We may have that already, we may not, but riding Buck til he falls apart is better than throwing either of these guys to the wolves without the need to do so, first.

 

If nothing else, it's a confidence management thing.  Sticking a relatively inexperienced guy out there to flounder .. in front of our rabid .. desperate for a championship fanbase .. is a sure fire way to kill whatever mojo that guy's got.

[Mike]

If nothing else, it's a confidence management thing.  Sticking a relatively inexperienced guy out there to flounder .. in front of our rabid .. desperate for a championship fanbase .. is a sure fire way to kill whatever mojo that guy's got.

 

Fair enough.

[Noeller]

Personally I like the old school crotchety coach. Worked for Murphy and worked for Ritchie. I'll wait and see what happens with the W/L through the season before passing judgement...

[voodoochylde]

Personally I like the old school crotchety coach. Worked for Murphy and worked for Ritchie. I'll wait and see what happens with the W/L through the season before passing judgement...

 

I said it even with Kelly .. I personally could care less what the head coach says or does .. if his approach leads to more wins than losses .. he can throat punch Bob Irving for all I care.

 

(I know I know .. Knuckles .. sacred cow .. and all that).

[Noeller]

Old school crotchety coach doesn't = Lunatic who tries to single-handedly ruin the franchise.

[17to85]

I want to like Burke a lot because I love the upfront attitude... but there's some red flags popped up last year and we shall have to see if he's got that sorted out this year or not. 

[Logan007]

I want to like Burke a lot because I love the upfront attitude... but there's some red flags popped up last year and we shall have to see if he's got that sorted out this year or not. 

YES!  This exactly.

[Noeller]

If nothing else, it's a confidence management thing.  Sticking a relatively inexperienced guy out there to flounder .. in front of our rabid .. desperate for a championship fanbase .. is a sure fire way to kill whatever mojo that guy's got.

Yeah, I agree with this. I always go back to how the Pittsburgh Penguins mind-f***ed Fleury by riding him too soon, and the kid's never been the same because of it. I'm not a fan of just throwing a newbie to the wolves. You can make the case that Hall has probably got enough experience that he could step right in, but I'd still rather leave PIerce till one of those guys has enough reps to take over completely.  For the record, I would have been more than comfortable starting the season with Elliott under centre this year, as I really felt he had accumulated those necessary reps.

[rebusrankin]

If your QB can't handle a blitz, might be time to move on.

[Noeller]

If your QB can't handle a blitz, might be time to move on.

Who says it's the QB that can't handle the blitz...?

[JuranBoldenRules]

Ritchie had his players back though, almost to a fault.  Not so sure with Burke.  Just for the relationship between two people the way he is apt to pop off and blame in the media is bad, but as a professional coach it is something he needs to fix.  Keep it behind closed doors and 1 on 1 as much as possible.  I'm sure the majority of people wouldn't be happy with the negative parts of their performance evaluation being publicized by their boss repeatedly.

[Atomic]

Yes, how terrible.  Let's look at the offending quote again.

 

"It is a little bit disconcerting that that happened and that's what I told the guys last night," said Burke, who played most of his starters Wednesday.

"I thought that was the disconcerting part -- that we didn't show better against their backups."

 

 

Can you believe that?!?!  Wow what a big jerk.  Can't believe he would drag his players through the mud like that.  How awful.

[17to85]

Yes, how terrible.  Let's look at the offending quote again.

 

 

Can you believe that?!?!  Wow what a big jerk.  Can't believe he would drag his players through the mud like that.  How awful.

yeah well if that was the only quote to be concerned about throughout his time here then maybe it'd be easy to blow it off, but it isn't.

[Mike]

That quote doesn't bother me but the idea that he's complaining about our starters when they were in the game for all of five minutes is a bit ridiculous, in my opinion.

[Brandon]

Mike what are these red flags you speak of? (I don't disagree but I think it would be good to recap on them!)

I don't mind Burke's approach, my only concern similar to LaPo is that the lockeroom does not really respect him and with this young team we may have guys being unmotivated (i.e. playing way below their normal level).