Jim Barker is a very patient man.
He arrived as head coach and football guru of the Toronto Argonauts this season with no tough act to follow. The Argos were dead awful in 2009, and his predecessor, Bart Andrus, belongs in any conversation about the worst coaches in CFL history.
Though the situation wasn't quite as dire as the 3-15 record suggested - Barker inherited a defence that was excellent, and largely intact - he understood from Day 1 that this was more than a simple surface renovation, and believed that it could be accomplished only by staying the course.
That was especially the case with his quarterback. After making the radical decision to head into training camp without a potential starter who had played even a single regular-season down in the league, he gave the job to former Miami Dolphin Cleo Lemon, and from that moment on has been unwavering in his support.
There were times Sunday - plenty of them, as the Argos squeaked out an ugly 17-13 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at the Rogers Centre - when the Toronto faithful could be excused for feeling not quite so loyal.
Lemon was, by and large, dreadful, as even his coach admitted. At halftime, the Argos trailed 6-0, and a whole lot of quarterbacks with much more complete CFL résumés would have started the third quarter watching from the bench.
"I think he took a couple of steps back today," Barker said. "He didn't play well at all."
But the only way Lemon was coming out of the game was if his banged-up fingers prevented him from properly gripping the football. That apparently not being the case, he marched right back out with the Toronto offence after the break - but not before a spectacular 80-yard punt-return touchdown from Chad Owens had turned the tide of the game.
That has been the Toronto formula this year: play tough, smart defence, make big plays on special teams, ride running back Cory Boyd for all he's worth (at least when he's healthy - he didn't play yesterday because of post-concussion issues) and hope that Lemon's contribution is more positive than negative. In a league in which quarterbacking has traditionally been paramount, it's an unusual approach to say the least.
Or at least unusual everywhere but Toronto. Though it hasn't been by design, trying to win without great pivot play has pretty much been the Argo way since Doug Flutie left for Buffalo, and the truth is they did win a Grey Cup in 2004 employing essentially that formula. (Yes, Damon Allen was the quarterback of that team, but that year he was nothing special.)
Sunday, even those fans who could be heard heckling and booing Lemon when he struggled to get the job done (part of a sparse crowd on a perfect autumn afternoon, with the roof open), can't be completely dissatisfied with the results. The Argos' only offensive touchdown of the day, a lovely fourth-quarter strike from Lemon to Jeremaine Copeland in the back of the end zone - was enough to seal the victory, and at 6-5 the Argos now seem like a near lock to make the playoffs, tied with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for second place in the east, six points clear of the Bombers with the tiebreaker sealed in their favour.
Meanwhile, the view from Winnipeg is suddenly bleak, and the emotion no doubt heavy with disbelief. How could the team that clobbered Saskatchewan a week ago in the Banjo Bowl come out so flat? How could an offence that scored two touchdowns on long pitch-and-catch plays between Steven Jyles and Terrence Edwards, look so impotent the rest of the time? Who was asleep at the switch, allowing the Argos to successfully execute a fake punt on third and 16? What was with that crucial third-and-two gamble late in the fourth quarter, deep in Toronto territory, ignoring Fred Reid and handing the ball instead to little-used Canadian running back Andre Sadeghian, who was stuffed - effectively ending the game?
How is it that a team that has scored almost exactly the same number of points that it has allowed this season is 3-8, with the crossover now its only real chance left to make the playoffs?
Being the best bad team in the CFL isn't much consolation now.
Toronto is the worst good team - or at least the worst team with a winning record - which sure feels a whole lot different, and Barker will tell you the Argos are still a work in progress.
The payoff may not come this season, but he is more than willing to wait.
Though it hasn't been by design, trying to win without great pivot play has pretty much been the Argo way since Doug Flutie left for Buffalo.