OUT OF THE TUNNEL: A TOUGH WEEK FOR THE CFL

The B.C. Lions have been the CFL’s most mystifying team on and off the field. With the work of Bob Ackles and Wally Buono, the Lions have had a lot of success on the field but that has waned over the past ten years. The last time the Lions were in the Grey Cup, they won the championship in front of their own fans in 2011. Since then, there has been some really rough seasons as Buono slowly stepped away and finally retired.

On the administrative side it was much worse. They were mired in a lot of old school thinking when it comes to marketing, ticket sales and the modern way a team communicates with their fans via social media and digital video. 

The Lions front office looked more like a large Canadian junior hockey league staff you would see in Saskatoon or Windsor. Bare bones but enough to get the team on the field. Because of this they have seen attendance plummet and the Canucks gain even more of a foothold, the Whitecaps (even with their own troubles) surpassed them in the sports market and most importantly the Seattle Seahawks took over the football landscape on the lower mainland.

But as the league is in peril as they try to figure out a return to the field and other member football clubs have burned through their savings and still running with significant staffs, David Braley may have left the Lions in the best spot of any CFL team.

In a separate Dave Naylor interview with TSN 1040 in Vancouver (great write-up on 3DownNation) he stated that Braley left enough money to keep the Lions afloat for the next few years. With that and a paper thin staff the B.C. Lions may be in the best position to have a successful return to the field in 2021.

Also whomever buys the team will have a club that is starting at square one with zero debt and a clean slate to build from instead of having to buy a team and spending a pile of money cleaning house and having to take a few steps back before going forward.

So even in his passing Braley left his beloved CFL team in a good spot.

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Let’s have some fun.

Last week, the NFL had its second annual National Tight End Day (or week). It wasn’t really the NFL but more from the mind the San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and tight end George Kittle.

This was more in the ilk of the ‘punters are people too’ initiative and just as fun with tight ends across the NFL taking part with the money raised going to the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital.

We have always had a soft spot in our heart for the position. It’s also a position that hasn’t really been a part of the CFL for over 50 years. There were Hall of Fame tight ends like Tommy Joe Coffey and Peter Dalla Riva but they still weren’t tight ends in the American style of the position. They still lined up a hair off the line of scrimmage and were not mainline blockers. 

The 70’s and 80’s saw the emergence of the giant Canadian slotbacks who were more like the smaller pass-catching tight ends that we see in the NFL. Examples of this is the Saskatchewan Roughriders Ray Elgaard (who was originally a tight end when he entered the league) and Nick Arakgi.

A line of scrimmage tight end that could block and be a great pass catcher would be an incredible twist on CFL offences that haven’t changed in the past 20 years. It could take advantage of the smaller linebackers that are now in the league and exploit the middle of the field.

We love us some Patrick Lavoie and Spencer Moore but with USports offences (other than a few in Quebec) not employing offences with a tight end position and very few Canadians playing the position and so many inside slotbacks still pouring into the league we will probably never see a true blue successful tight end in the CFL and that makes us just a little sad.

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Canadian to Watch in the NCAA

Bruno Labelle (Sr.)
Tight end – Cincinnati
6’4” 250
Montreal, Quebec
High school – Collège Montmorency (Cégep)

Since we were talking about tight ends, let’s go with one that is in the CFL scouting bureau’s top 20 prospects to watch for the upcoming 2021 CFL draft, Bruno Labelle.

The senior is a key part of an undefeated Cincinnati Bearcat team that is currently undefeated and looking for the G5 spot in the New Year’s six bowl games. Used more often as a blocker in the Bearcat offence, Labelle has already tied a career high in a season with seven catches for 47 yards and a touchdown.

Labelle was named American Athletic Conference all academic team in 2019.

(RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF/PHOTO: Kelly Bates)