unhappy with Pre's performance

[argonaut11xx]

He was terrible...we NEVER should have brought this OLD leg back...

The Argo's were right when we traded him to Edmonton YEARS...ago...

He was the biggest reason we didnt win in Edmonton yesterday...(and he was average at BEST last year)

Sadly too many Argo fan's HERE, and generally.... are sentimental towards this LOUSY kicker...we need talent, not memories...(yes Pre' was good MANY years ago..but so was Zenon Andrushison)

Hell if memories would win Grey Cup's Condredge would still be our QB...nice guys like NOEL -do not win football games- (we need talent)

We need a REAL kicker, Shaw made Prefonatine look like an OLD geezer with no leg last night..(and thats what Pre' is...and old geezer with no leg)

aside from a QB..the kicker is HUGE in this league...sadly we have a guy who belongs in an old folks home..not on a football field...

[argonaut11xx]

oh yea..he did look FAT, and out of shape last night also...

They say TV add's 10 pounds....ask him about the other 20 or so....

The Argo's looked awesome...we WILL win...if we can get a kicker.....

Even Edmonton's former "goon" hockey player turned punter out did our short fat guy...in punting...

Maybe Noel can start hosting Canada's version of "Pre vs Food"....

[argonaut11xx]

3rdly...

"Pre"

must stand for PRE-HISTORTIC cause thats how he played last night...PRE blew the game for us, both punting, and kicking

[paulwoods13]

So having missed two of FG tries last night, Pre is not only clearly over the hill but has been for several years, eh? Yeah, his 83% success rate since the start of 2009 clearly proves that. Oh, but I forgot, his success rate dropped all the way to 82.2% last year!

At the risk of feeding yet another troll, would you (a) like to nullify the Ricky Ray trade and still have Steven Jyles and Grant Shaw? And (b) wager as to who has a better FG percentage at season's end, between Prefontaine and Shaw? Because I will happily take that bet.

BTW, Prefontaine also does another job Shaw that can't do, freeing up a roster spot for a non-kicker. But I guess that's just another good "memory."

[paulwoods13]

oh yea..he did look FAT, and out of shape last night also...

They say TV add's 10 pounds....ask him about the other 20 or so....

The Argo's looked awesome...we WILL win...if we can get a kicker.....

Even Edmonton's former "goon" hockey player turned punter out did our short fat guy...in punting...

Maybe Noel can start hosting Canada's version of "Pre vs Food"....

Mods, how is this one stacking up against Rule No. 2?

2. Player attacks are not tolerated. This includes players, coaches, and other people involved with the team. Criticism is acceptable, insults are not. You don't have to like a certain player, but you do have to show respect. Wishing or suggesting severe violence or injury to any player or coach will not be tolerated.

[1argoholic]

Give the guy a break he moved to BC where we are still waiting for spring never mind summer. It tends to make one crazy. Just read my posts. haha.
I think Pre will come around.

[argonaut11xx]

ok "MODS" , and Paulwoods....


after all the "fat" comments" about our former coach and current GM..that were considered "ok"...

this will only prove my point that "PRE"...our chunky kicker has a different standard becuase he is a "fan fav"..especially on here... (if my comments are deleted)

well, on the field he is not GOOD enough for the Argo's to win a GREY CUP..which is our goal, as fans, players,et all...

hell...in my pic from 2009, with Pinball(as my avatar).... im as fat as PRE is NOW...so save me from myself...(oops im skinnier now..haha)

BOTTOW line is..NOEL is not good enough for the ARGO's this season...we need a TOP level Kicker/Punter...and he isnt,(anymore)

[argonaut11xx]

Give the guy a break he moved to BC where we are still waiting for spring never mind summer. It tends to make one crazy. Just read my posts. haha.
I think Pre will come around.

OH crap...now that i live in BC does that mean i can be not so good at my job, but still kept on , just because im cute?....

I'd rather LOSE my job, than be a LOSER at my job....

just saying...he was the BIGGEST reason we lost...(a 21 yd punt??..come on)

hehehe

[1argoholic]

I love Pre but he tends to be going through the motions now. He used to boom punts. We have Alix on the pr so if Pre continues to play like yesterday than maybe they give the rookie a shot. We can't lose games because of missed fieldgoals and poor punts. I don't think he's washed up yet.

[tc23]

Go on the CFL Argos forum, some interesting comments about Pre !!

[Argocister]

Pre definitely had an off game and I would have liked to keep Shaw but if the Ray trade needed it..... I'll go with Ray. Shaw was not at an 82% success rate when he was holding the fort, so let's see what happen with Pre's abililties by mid season. Pre will get to top form. There's only one way to go and that's up from here.
Alix is not ready to take over yet, in accuracy nor in strength, so let him improve.

[Stevoman]

We need a REAL kicker, Shaw made Prefonatine look like an OLD geezer with no leg last night..(and thats what Pre' is...and old geezer with no leg)

aside from a QB..the kicker is HUGE in this league...sadly we have a guy who belongs in an old folks home..not on a football field...[/QUOTE]


I don't know man. After Shaw's game in Edmonton last year I didn't have much faith in him. He did well last night but hasn't proved himself as a consistent kicker in this league. Prefontaine has. Shaw has much more upside because of youth but I'm still confident in Pre and doubt he'll have another game as bad as last night.

[Ballstothewall]

ok "MODS" , and Paulwoods....


after all the "fat" comments" about our former coach and current GM..that were considered "ok"...

this will only prove my point that "PRE"...our chunky kicker has a different standard because he is a "fan fav"..especially on here... (if my comments are deleted)

well, on the field he is not GOOD enough for the Argo's to win a GREY CUP..which is our goal, as fans, players,et all...

hell...in my pic from 2009, with Pinball(as my avatar).... im as fat as PRE is NOW...so save me from myself...(oops im skinnier now..haha)

BOTTOW line is..NOEL is not good enough for the ARGO's this season...we need a TOP level Kicker/Punter...and he isnt,(anymore)

I don't think Pre is washed up at all. Willing to put that down to a bad game, everyone has them from time to time. However i do agree with you about, God forbid you have a independent thought on here about some of the fans favourites, being on the down side of their playing days or not putting in a full effort at practice (don't know if thats true about Pre, but rumours are abound about him

[AngeloV]

Anyone else want to start a "The Sky is falling" thread?

[argolio]

This thread sucks.

[1argoholic]

Pre has had bad games before and bounces back.

[jerrym]

Pre has saved the Argos so many times, I'm willing to give him a pass. Yes, at 38, he's getting up and could be losing it but remember McCallum is 42 and last year set a record with 30 field goals in a row and had a 94.3% completion rate, even though there has been times when he has looked far from great in the past. Knowing Pre competitive nature, I think the odds are he will be back. In fact his field goal percentage has been remarkably consistent over the last three years (82.2 to85.7%), well above his career average of 72.6% (http://www.cfl.ca/roster/show?id=3047).

[KCargosfan]

Anyone else want to start a "The Sky is falling" thread?

We're going 0-18. You heard it here first. :)

[1argoholic]

How crap would a CFL team have to be to go 0-18?

[LLB997]

Critisizing is cool, But unloading on Pre like the 3 first posts are ridiculous.

[bluto]

the OP is within the Code of Conduct in my opinion.

it isn't an insult to say that a professional athlete looks out of shape. i didn't think he looked fat but waited for anyone else to refute the post.

for the most part i think this is a kneejerk reaction to a bad game that is (when you view his recent seasons' performances) uncharacteristic of #1's play. i wouldn't bet a twoney against him using this bad game as motivation to go on a long streak of made kicks.

the OP thinks he was exposing a bad player (which is his right)... i just think he was exposing a bad poster (which is my right)

[paulwoods13]

the OP is within the Code of Conduct in my opinion.

it isn't an insult to say that a professional athlete looks out of shape. i didn't think he looked fat but waited for anyone else to refute the post.

for the most part i think this is a kneejerk reaction to a bad game that is (when you view his recent seasons' performances) uncharacteristic of #1's play. i wouldn't bet a twoney against him using this bad game as motivation to go on a long streak of made kicks.

the OP thinks he was exposing a bad player (which is his right)... i just think he was exposing a bad poster (which is my right)

Thanks, Bluto. I appreciate and accept that judgment.

[ArgoRavi]

How crap would a CFL team have to be to go 0-18?

Hamilton went 1-17 back in '03 and they were probably as bad of a CFL team as I have ever seen. Their only win that year was in OT over Saskatchewan.

[gilthethrill]

Granted, I was miffed that Pre missed those two easy FG's in Edmonton, but to read the title of this thread makes me shake my head. Had Pre made those attempts & the Argos would have won, would he look fat then? I saw him at Fan Day a week ago, the man is in top shape, as always.

For those who think Grant Shaw will not have games like Pre did, well, he will sooner or later. I only hope he stays in profootball as long as Pre has.

[AngeloV]

Granted, I was miffed that Pre missed those two easy FG's in Edmonton, but to read the title of this thread makes me shake my head. Had Pre made those attempts & the Argos would have won, would he look fat then? I saw him at Fan Day a week ago, the man is in top shape, as always.

For those who think Grant Shaw will not have games like Pre did, well, he will sooner or later. I only hope he stays in profootball as long as Pre has.

This is just the result of a poster taking this loss way to personally. Classless comments always come in in these instances.

[Fungi]

Damn...just when I thought Argonut might come back....How negative is this.
I saw Geroy drop a pass once. They should have gotten rid of him.LOL

[argonaut11xx]

Noel lost the game for us..period...

the penalties, Ricky, all the other things that might have been disappointing will all fix themselves...

Our "PRE-historic" kicker however will not get any younger, or IMPROVE at this stage of his career....

as for the "classless comment"...whatever ...some folks on here are WAY to touchy...

[Mulder]

Noel lost the game for us..period...

the penalties, Ricky, all the other things that might have been disappointing will all fix themselves...

Our "PRE-historic" kicker however will no get any younger, or IMPROVE at this stage of his career....

as for the "classless comment"...whatever ...some folks on here are WAY to touchy...

The amount of penalties we took lost us the game.
Chad's drop in the endzone lost us the game. It should have been caught. It was right in the numbers, tipped or not.
We had a TD called back because of penalties.

If we took even half the amount of penalties, we would have won this game and probably by a margin of 7+

I want TD's instead of field goals.

[doubleblue]

Maybe Pre misses Eiben as his holder. I don't know if Jackson has held for a lefty before. Medlock always said the Kevin Eiben was the best holder he has ever had. It may take a while for Pre and Jackson to get their timing now.

Milanovich didn't seem to worried about it.

[1argoholic]

It was a combination of plenty of frustrating things that lost the game. Pre's two misses, pentalties and one that brought back 6 points and a dropped td. Not sure if the d guy got a finger on that.

[Midnight Blue]

Interesting comments all around, but all I can say is, when the Grey Cup game is at 28-28, with 7 seconds remaining, who would you like to be kicking the field-goal for our side?

There can be only one.

A hard-nosed Frenchman, who still, thinks he can tackle like a Linebacker (and he can).


Noel Prefontaine.


Salut !

[Wobbler]

Love the new thread title.

[1argoholic]

Plus we have another Frenchman waiting in the wings if Pre continues his struggles. I think he'll be fine and maybe even win the game for us on Sat.

[argonaut11xx]

Stick a fork in him...he is done...

sometime's i hate it when im right....

The Alix kid doesnt appear to be much better, but who knows, ...

The special teams as a whole have been a HUGE disappointment, but missing field goals sucks, ...especially when they get returned for touchdowns...which has happened too often.

[RoRoYoBoat]

You put the guy on the nine game and you see how much work he puts into getting his head and his game on straight and you evaluate from there and make the decision. He's talented but some have questionned his work ethics (Area51) and he's clearly not kicking well. He will have to earn the trust of his coach again.

[1argoholic]

If a fieldgoal is missed and the returner is takled at the two yard line then no bid deal. If fact great all in all but when your goiving up td's every game it really kills you. I think Pre must be playing injured. They obviously had Alix signed for a reason and dressed last night for a reason. Just wish they'd let fans in on what's going on. You can understand Pre missing those if he has hamstring issues or something. Then you have to wonder why they are dressing him until he's healthy.

[ArgoGabe22]

some have questionned his work ethics (Area51)

Would love to hear more. I would like to know what Area said in regard to his work ethic and where he got his opinion from. Going to practice and seeing the kickers do nothing while the offence plays defence is normal.

[RoRoYoBoat]

Can't vouch for the accuracy, just what I've read.



Would love to hear more. I would like to know what Area said in regard to his work ethic and where he got his opinion from. Going to practice and seeing the kickers do nothing while the offence plays defence is normal.


Special teams was a complete destruction for Toronto last week. Missed FG from 20yds...missed FG from 30yds...illegal shanked kick out of bounds...too many men on the field penalty. I haven't heard if Noel Prefontaine had any 9:30am tee off times this week, but the weather in Toronto has been beautiful so I have to wonder if he's spent more time practicing his golf game or making FGs from inside 30yds.



Was that really a shocker? It's not as if Prefontaine never missed any chip shot FGs or never had any brutal punts last year. And when you skip out of training camp every day to go golfing instead of practicing with the rest of the team, it's going to take a few games of lousy kicking before he's got his technique down.


went to an argos practice years ago, and can vouch that pre spends more time hitting golf balls at practice than he spends kicking FG's.
it's very true, sadly.

if pre made the FG's that he should have, the argos win that game.


How do you know he's on the golf course? Are you stalking him?



Friend of mine works at the course where Prefontaine likes to play.

[RoRoYoBoat]

Noel lost the game for us..period...

the penalties, Ricky, all the other things that might have been disappointing will all fix themselves...

Our "PRE-historic" kicker however will not get any younger, or IMPROVE at this stage of his career....

as for the "classless comment"...whatever ...some folks on here are WAY to touchy...

I don't agree with that. Paul McCallum went through the same thing as Noel is right now at the same age. Fans in Saskatchewan wanted him gone so bad they had manure trucks dumped on his lawn and eggs thrown at his wife !

An athlete that's had the success Noel has sometimes has to make adjustments if he wants to extend his career. I still think Noel can be a premier kicker for years to come but he will have to make some changes and placing him on the nine game is probably the best thing for him at this point. They may just decide to cut him as well and use the money elsewhere.

[1argoholic]

I do know that Pre loves golf. An old buddy of mine used to put on golf promos and gave me a whack of great stuff about 12 years back. He gave me a pair of Ray Ban golf glasses and I remember Pre liking them and really wanting them. But just because he likes golf doesn't mean he doesn't practice kicking.

[argolio]

I don't know if Pre actually ever did any golfing during an Argo practice, but I've never seen that.

[RoRoYoBoat]

Its a bunch of things. Athletes at Pre's age have a lot of muscle mass but start to lose flexibility. coordination becomes more challenging, reaction time needs tweeking. then you add kids, wealth and interests in this case Golf and you have to make adjustments. Maybe you put away the golf clubs and take up Hot Yoga and Ping Pong...

[argolio]

Its a bunch of things. Athletes at Pre's age have a lot of muscle mass but start to lose flexibility. coordination becomes more challenging, reaction time needs tweeking. then you add kids, wealth and interests in this case Golf and you have to make adjustments. Maybe you put away the golf clubs and take up Hot Yoga and Ping Pong...No doubt he's at a crossroad right now. Either he adjusts (assuming the Argos give him time) or he'll be gone.

[Fungi]

No...he's injured...nudge,nudge,wink, wink. C'mon coach. A kicker who can't kick? ...injured or not... should not be on a team who might host the 100th Grey Cup. OK...I'll admit I have extremely high hopes this season.

[paulwoods13]

I have not seen the game yet, but regardless of what transpired, a guy who has done as much to win games for the Argos as Pre has deserves to be at the very least kept around until it can be determined with certainty that he has "lost it." I'm not saying he has to be the kicker on Wednesday, but if he is truly injured -- and I recall a hellacious helmet-to-helmet hit he threw last week that may very well have concussed him -- he deserves to at least go on the injured list and not be cut outright as some people seem to think is appropriate.

[Fungi]

I have not read anything concerning getting rid of pre. Only replacing or backing him up.

[1argoholic]

Pre hasn't forgotten how to kick. Look at McCallum and the year he had last year. I think he must be injured. Well they obviously felt as coaches that Pre still had it a few weeks back. If they had concerns why didn't they bring in three or four guys to push him in camp.

[Fungi]

I don't think he's dead yet. But there's no reason why you couldn't give him a kick in the but.

[ArgoGabe22]

Living 5 min away from UTM I've been to many practices since 2005 and never once see Pre golf before, during or after practice. Maybe he goes to course during the afternoon which is fine, what do you want him hitting FGs in Vanderjagts backyard? Surprised Area 51 didnt call Rob Murphy a drunk, alcoholic for going to a pub in the evenings during game week. FYI the practices I've been to in the past 3 weeks, Pre is the last one to leave because he does extra kicking afterwards. That's why I wanted to know what Area refered too because from what I could see Pre is doing everything you expect a professional to do.

[Wobbler]

Today's comments by Milanovich (http://www.argonauts.ca/video/index/id/76155) indicate that Prefontaine has had a hip issue that was detected in the pre-season. More information will be available tomorrow, but he'll almost certainly be out this week.

[Wobbler]

I have not seen the game yet, but regardless of what transpired, a guy who has done as much to win games for the Argos as Pre has deserves to be at the very least kept around until it can be determined with certainty that he has "lost it." I'm not saying he has to be the kicker on Wednesday, but if he is truly injured -- and I recall a hellacious helmet-to-helmet hit he threw last week that may very well have concussed him -- he deserves to at least go on the injured list and not be cut outright as some people seem to think is appropriate.
Yes... but it seems that those who criticised his early season performance may have been at least partly right. I think that should be acknowledged.

[1argoholic]

Now why in the heck is Pre kicking with a hip injury and not taking the time to rehab it? Now he's made to look like an old washed up kicker to many on here. I can relate being a much older landscape contractor who has worked by himself since 1988. I've been layed up with back, knee, wrist....and now elbow issues at times over the years but I always bounce back. I actually did my biggest most difficult job ever at 48 and just turning 49. If I can slug rock and make raised rock beds and the like Pre will still be able to kick once he takes time to heal his hip. I got faith unless it's something very serious and he has to retire and become our kicking coach.

[paulwoods13]

I have not read anything concerning getting rid of pre. Only replacing or backing him up.

Check out the other thread "Kicker for hire."

[paulwoods13]

Yes... but it seems that those who criticised his early season performance may have been at least partly right. I think that should be acknowledged.

I'm not sure if you're asking me specifically to acknowledge it, but if so, as I wrote above, I have not seen the game yet. All I saw was highlights of two huge returns by Williams, on the second of which it appeared to me Prefontaine could not run very well, which lends credence to the hip injury. I obviously don't like the fact he has missed some makeable FGs this season, but every kicker goes through slumps from time to time. I don't believe that a performance over three weeks is automatically indicative of someone having "lost it." It is our bad fortune that on two of his misses, the guys on the field could not tackle the returner but Pre has only one-12th of the responsibility for that. I can't comment on his punting this week because I haven't seen the game.

[1argoholic]

His first punt just cleared the line and seemed to travel at 10 feet at it's highest point. It was horrible.

[jerrym]

For those criticizing Pre's effort, the hip injury provides an at least partial answer to why this has occurred. To those saying he has been selfish in not taking himself out of the game(s) and training camp, deciding when a player (himself or a coach) should play or not when not 100% is often tricky. No doubt some would have criticized him if he had taken himself out for not sucking it up. Pre has always given 100% as shown by the fact that no kicker anywhere puts a greater effort into tackling on returns, something not expected of kickers. While, at his age, this could signal the end of his career, I hope for the best and remind people that Paul McCallum was considered down and out several times in his career and last year established a new field goal accuracy record in the CFL.