Day two of Ticat training camp and the weather was still cool but the rain held off.
A few notes:
• there were three CFL officials on the field today calling penalties during drills and team sessions, including Hamilton native and CFL referee Dave Foxcroft. The CFL is paying the officials to attend training camps across the league and there will be crews here at Mac throughout the week.
• the Ticats have signed defensive end Paul Hazel who appeared in four NFL games with the New York Giants last season and 13 games with the Cleveland Browns in 2013.
• the first-team offensive and defensive units were unchanged with one exception: receiver Tiquan Underwood took first team reps in place of Brandon Banks. Given his role as the feature return man, Banks won’t be an every down offensive player. Underwood, for his part, looked good making several acrobatic catches in the team sessions.
• Jeremiah Masoli took second string reps at quarterback for the second straight day.
• players who didn’t practice fully today: DB Brandon Stewart, DE Arnaud Gascon-Nadon, DT Evan Gill, WR Giovanni Aprile.
• John “Coach Sal” Salavantis will be the colour commentator for the Ticats radio broadcasts on TSN 1150 this season. With Rick Zamperin staying at CHML, the search is on for a new play-by-play man.
• for the pre-season game next Monday, TSN broadcasters Rod Black and Chris Shultz will be the radio crew, with Coach Sal also playing a role. That’s a one-time deal, allowing Black and Shultz to get some work in, given that TSN TV is only broadcasting three pre-season games (none of them featuring the Ticats.)
