Stampeders fans are hoping to see more great games out of Henry Burris and less inconsistency.
You wonder about the discord between the Calgary Stampeders fans and quarterback Henry Burris and where it is headed.
Burris, the reigning Most Outstanding Player of the Year in the Canadian Football League, is on pace for his best season statistically with 2,594 passing yards currently, putting him on target to surpass his personal-best total of 5,093 in 2008. He also has 14 touchdown passes to go with seven interceptions.
But he is just coming off a game on Monday at home in which the fans booed him mercilessly, something that clearly bothered him. Going into the Labour Day game against Edmonton, Burris had put together three impressive outings, throwing for seven touchdowns, zero interceptions and an average of 350 passing yards per game.
And then he had one of those so-called "Bad Hank Days" -- games in which Burris is struggling. He completed only 13 of 23 passes for 132 yards and tossed two interceptions and only one touchdown. Add in a fumble on each of this three rushing attempts and it surely had to be Burris's worst game of his career. He was removed from the contest because he simply didn't have it that day and there was no sense leaving him in there because the game was out of hand.
The fans gave him the gears, to which he gestured in a manner indicating he wasn't impressed with their reaction. Mind you, he didn't flip them the bird, but he was clearly perturbed.
The one knock against Burris is inconsistency, which is what created the "Good Hank, Bad Hank" expression. Burris is one of the best quarterbacks of his era, but his subpar games immediately trot out the "Bad Hank" label.
Maybe fans in Calgary have been spoiled by the team's success in the last 20 years and the litany of great quarterbacks who have played for the team and led them to Grey Cups and/or won Most Outstanding Player Awards. The list includes Doug Flutie, Jeff Garcia, Dave Dickenson and now Burris.
He began his career with the team in 1998 and rejoined it in 2005. Burris led the Stamps to a Grey Cup win in 2008, a season in which he was runner-up to Montreal's Anthony Calvillo as the Most Outstanding Player in the CFL. That bothered Burris, but he received a measure of revenge when he led his team to victory over the Als in the Grey Cup and was voted the game's Most Valuable Player.
The Stamps have had great seasons since, but haven't made it back to the Cup, and there was a feeling going into this year that the team realized it simply couldn't just be great in the regular season; it had to win a Grey Cup.
That may yet happen this year. The Stamps are tied with Edmonton atop the West with a 6-3 record. The two teams play Friday night in Edmonton in the back half of their Labour Day Series. The Stamps are 4-0 on the road this year, compared to 2-3 at home. In their last three seasons, they had a home record of 20-7 and have finished first in the West in two of those three years.
You think back to Doug Flutie and his great years in Calgary and how the team only won one Grey Cup in his four seasons. Yes, he did well personally, but there were some Stamps fans who were critical of his play, in particular when Garcia did well as a backup to him.
The Stamps have a talented, young quarterback in 28-year-old Drew Tate, who is in his third season with Calgary. He re-signed with the team in the off-season rather than seek free agency, the feeling being he liked the organization and knew he was being groomed to replace Burris at some point.
That's not to suggest it will happen after this season, but if the Stamps fail to win the Cup, it will be considered a disappointing season and changes will be made. Burris, 36, may factor into that.
Anything is possible. And with the Toronto Argonauts playing host to the 2012 Grey Cup, they will need a marquee quarterback unless somehow Steven Jyles, who makes his team debut on Saturday, lights it up and claims the job.
It is the Argo way to acquire a proven quarterback, either by trade or free agency, to market to the fans: Kerry Joseph, Damon Allen and Flutie, to name three. Toronto doesn't develop quarterbacks as much as it shops for ones with proven credentials.
There had been a rumour in the off-season that the Argos were interested in either Burris or Edmonton's Ricky Ray. Burris has pride and he'll be looking to put behind Monday's game with a big effort Friday night and for the remaining eight games after that, and then in the playoffs.
There are still plenty of games to be played, and Burris is a candidate at this point for the Most Outstanding Player Award for 2011. He still has time to make the Stamps' fans cheer for him instead of jeer.
