FLORY SPEAKS, COHON REACTS ON CKRM
After this morning’s salvo from CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon (see post below), CFLPA President Scott Flory and Marwan Hage spoke at a hastily-arranged news conference at a Toronto hotel on Wednesday. Here are some quotes/notes:
SCOTT FLORY
– Within an hour or two we have 20 players here supporting us. It’s unfortunate it’s come to this. It’s not about the money. It’s about supporting a structure that everyone supports. The Commissioner has not been in one negotiating meeting with us. I want to make that clear. This was an orchestrated attack and we feel ambushed about what happened today.
– None one of what would have happened today (in negotiations) would have changed what was in that letter. We are not trying to disrupt this league. We have all negotiated in good faith. We know this affects a lot of people. Our players understand that.
– We do not know when we’ll meet again. The meetings ended abruptly this morning and then we got the email from Commissioner.
MARWAN HAGE
– I’d like to thank everyone for showing up on a very important day. It’s very unfortunate what happened today. We negotiate in good faith and are always open to talk. As much as we disagree with the league’s opinion, we respect they have a job to do. Our position is to not close the door. Our position is to play football this year.
– The way the CFL is going about this, they’re creating a culture that it’s not about the players. It’s about the owners and coaches. We’re the ones on the field, putting everything on the line and the risk. We ask the fans and media seek the truth before forming an opinion against us. We have paid our dues to this league and have ridden the wave up and down. We’re asking for a fair share. If they lose money, we’re willing to lose money with them.
—
COHON REACTION
CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon’s first interview after Flory’s conference call was with 620 CKRM’s SportsCage! He told me Flory’s claim regarding his missing CBA meetings “isn’t factual” and that he was at the very first one. Regarding the Players Association feeling “ambushed today”, Cohon said this:
“Maybe what people should consider is that when we got our counter-proposal from them, five minutes later it was on TSN.ca,” Cohon fumed. “I’m not sure whether they’re publicly going out and doing that but clearly there are members of their organization that are sharing information.
“We did the appropriate thing under labour relations and under labour rules that we are allowed to go to speak to the members once we come to an impasse.”
The full one-on-one interview with Cohon is available on our Wednesday podcast at www.sportscage.ca.
There is no way the players are willing to lose money with the owners.
Cohon should at least have the decency to show up to the negotiations, that should be priority #1 one would think. The players also need to realize this league is still fragile and one team in the tank makes for a completely different financial situation and stability for the entire league. That being said there has to be some middleground and I'm confiedent they'll eventually find it, although I have serious doubts it will be prior to the start of the season.
12% salary increase seems not good enough???
Hmmmm…
Scott Flory has had one position from day one Strike Strike Strike… I too would not negotiate against such a defeated position.
Kel in Victoria
>> If they lose money, we're willing to lose money with them <<
Ok… What about all the money that has been lost to date. Does the Players Union and the players actually think that should be forgotten about and everything new starts today?
Sorry… Im not liking Scott's position in all of this. It reminds me of bully tactics.
I wonder if Scott Flory will sign an agreement contract and then renege the next day???
Let's not put it past him!
Listening to the CFLPA you can definitely tell the press conference was put together without thought. They said things to try to gain back public support from the leagues morning release, yet they later stated things that contradicted their original stance. It’s not about the money says Flory, but we want our fair share says Hage, and the league should be embarrassed by what they pay the players says the CFLPA lawyer. The players proposal would raise the salary cap to avg $6.5M/yr over the life of the deal (Madani’s numbers on Tim&Sid interview) and yet they also want to… Read more »
What a gong show. How on earth can the players share in the losses. If the losses go into the millions where is the players deep pockets. You are destroying the CFL Scott Flory….and now Marwin Hage as well. Two retirees with nothing to gain. There is a heck of a deal on the table from the league. Stop being a fool.
If they lose money, we're willing to lose money with them How does that make any sense…….so you go arm and arm to the bottom of the ocean together? The players have been making money all these years……maybe not as much as they would like but they have been making something. The owners have not been making anything in many cases and in fact have had losses…….no new owner is going to be a sugardaddy like Braley….they need to show that teams can not only pay for stadium improvements but also can generate some sort of a profit so they… Read more »
Two retired players negotiating for the rest of the guys and they have nothing to lose.
The players should not feel bad about going over the head of Scott Flory and then accepting the offer from the CFL. After all, if Scott Flory simply does not 'tet it', then why would you want to follow his lead anyway. Flory's career as a player is over, but your 3-5 year average career is on – right now – you want to sacrifice one of those years just so you can bolster Flory's craziness, then that is your choice. The players would not be setting a precedent by not accepting the advise of their lead negotiator; in this… Read more »
Most of these guys couldn't survive without a couple of pay checks. The owners will sweeten it up a bit to say perhaps a 15% increase. Most wage earners won't have too much sympathy at someone getting a double digit pay raise. This is not the NFL and it's time for the membership to negotiate a fair and reasonable contract. If the players miss a couple games pay, they will never catch up with what they lost even if they got a 20% increase. Odds are like the NHL they will end up taking the same thing or less. Like… Read more »
Reading most of the blog comments here and elsewhere it is showing that there are many fans trying to understand the issues……good for the CFL…..people are caring…..but if I was a player now I would want to crawl into a hole……the strategy of asking for the moon and insisting on the stars being included is just crazy and shows a total lack of understanding how this business is run. If the players do not throw in the towel and get on with preseason everything will be lost and what are we to do in Saskatchewan with our Stadium…..you were treated… Read more »
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS1jCfg7Qxc
How do u not understand the fact that the players are willing to lose money with the owners. The amount they recieve annually gradually rises, but if the league goes backwards in profits then the players are willing to take a loss at the equal percentage they would have made if profits continued to grow. Where is the problem? and why dont they just give 1 million extra to each team and keep 1.7 from each. This would be more in the middle but would also allow the owners/league to keep more of the money in their pockets to help… Read more »
Is the world ending? How are people including myself agreeing with Obama? I want to take a shower after writing that, but I have to give it to him. Obama is right about the supply and demand and these guys have no place to go. Flory should have hired Obama to run the CFLPA.
@Keith, Frankly you have no clue about what you're talking about. This b.s about losing money with the players are you serious? David Braley has "lost" how many millions and is keeping Toronto afloat until they can get into a new facility. You think David Braley or Bob Young can keep a straight face thinking, "Yeah let's lose money with the entry level guy making $46K, and while we're in this for decades compared to an average career of 3 years." – that's a non starter. This is now about ego. Scott Flory is not vested in this. He retired… Read more »
I am wondering: if League play is disrupted and "part of" or "all of" the season is not played, will the respective Teams refund our money paid for games that will not be played in the 2014 Season? We (Family) have over $7,000 of Season Tickets, and no way will I let the Team keep MY money until next season. Rod, will you raise that issue with the Teams when you happen to be talking with them….
How do u not understand the fact that the players are willing to lose money with the owners. The amount they recieve annually gradually rises, but if the league goes backwards in profits then the players are willing to take a loss at the equal percentage they would have made if profits continued to grow. Where is the problem? The problem is the players don’t want a % of the profits, they want a % of the revenue. 3 teams lost money last year with a $4.4M salary cap. A % of revenue means the players will always make their… Read more »
I don't want to pile on, but when I watch Scott Flory operate this I can only think of Charlie Murphy from the Chappelle Show. He had that skit about his true life dealings with Rick James and it was so funny and ludicrous and all true. Rick said, "well Charlie wanted to run with the big dogs and every now and then I'd have to go upside his head." – This is exactly what Mark Cohon is doing to Scott Flory and somewhere Mike Morreale is laughing about it. Hey another life lesson. While some of you guys who… Read more »
Obama. How do you see it going down?
The dusts settles from today. A quiet meeting next Monday, and a deal signed Tuesday with a few more $$ from the deal MC talked about today?
Russ from Saskatoon