Wally: Passing The Buck

The British Columbia Lions host the Saskatchewan RoughRiders tonight with at least two Lions on the uncomfortable hot seat and enduring the wrath of fans and media all week long.
Wally Buono, the elder statesman of CFL coaches, but so far this year on the wrong end of a 1 - 4 start and Buck Pearce, Wally's choice of quarterback and a guy who apparently has his coaches undying support.
The media has been crying the game has passed Wally by. His methods are outdated etc etc etc. Of course much of that, all of that is bogus. Wally just didn't wake up one morning and become a bad coach.
It reminds of years ago when I did play by play for the Regina Pats. In 1974 Coach Bob Turner took the Pats to a Memorial Cup championship. Many of his players graduated to the NHL that year and in 1975 the Pats went through an unbelievable 36 game winless streak and Turner was fired mid season. How do you go from championship coach to bum of the year overnight.
You don't and in BC, its not Wally's fault. Have his players under performed or have other teams that they have faced so far this season just performed better? But the old story in sports is, if the players don't perform, its usually the coach that walks the plank. If the Lions lose tonight, despite the "Save Wally" campaign the venerable old coach will likely be gone.
Meantime the media's wrath has been directed at Buck Pearce. Someone in the media has even done some math:
In professional football, a quarterback rating of 158.3 is perfect, 107.2 is considered exceptional and 72.0 is regarded as not very good.
So who should be the starting quarterback for the B.C. Lions Friday against the Saskatchewan Roughriders —Jarious Jackson, with a passer rating of 107.2, or Buck Pierce at a lowly 72.0?
Apparently math was never Wally's subject. Buck Pearce, with his lowly 72% rating gets the nod from Wally to start at quarterback and the fans and media, well they are not happy. I would point to who ever in the media figured out those ratings that they are somewhat misleading. If a receiver happens to drop a perfectly thrown ball, that counts against the quarterbacks average and its likely, I would suggest, that a veteran coach like Wally is well aware of that.
Meantime the Riders go into the game with a defense that Stevie Baggs says is ready to dominate. But its also a defense that goes into the game without Scott Schultz who announced his retirement this week.
After the Riders surprising comeback win, its difficult to predict against this team but somehow I look for the Lions, at home to right the ship against Saskatchewan. Wally and Buck just have to much to lose to let this one slip away,