OUT OF THE TUNNEL: AN AUGUST RANT
BY: RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF
I don’t know about the rest of you CFL fans but I think you’ll agree when we say we are done with the potential of a 2020 CFL season. It has nothing to do with the football but rather because of the people involved, on both sides. This whole process in trying to figure out how to get a product on the field in 2020 stinks and the stench is death and decay.
Yet again, the CFL delayed an official announcement on Friday on whether or not there will be a season this year. We have all been patient but the frustration is real and it’s to the point that we just want to move on and prepare for a potential 2021 season. We say potential because who knows if fans will be allowed back without a vaccine?
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the house of cards that the CFL has operated in for years. Now the problems have come home to roost and both sides are to blame.
Edmonton defensive lineman Almondo Sewell summed it up best on Twitter which was well documented on 3DownNation. He blames both the CFL and CFLPA for the awful predicament the league is in.
Let’s begin with the League. The CFL was not prepared in any way for an emergency although we admit that almost no one could be prepared for something this dramatic.
Commissioner Randy Ambrosie is a good figurehead for a league that is healthy, or at least when it appears that way from the outside. As this continues, the CFL needs some good “wartime” leadership to ensure its survival.
It feels like they can’t put a decent plan in place and it began right from the start with the debacle of their first attempt at asking the federal government for a bailout.
The CFL then put forward a plan to play that severely punishes the players who already put their bodies on the line week after week and asks them to take even more chances in a shortened season.
There is no way that any player in his right mind would leave his home and family (and for many, head to another country) and put his body through a condensed football for just 33 per cent of his salary. The CFLPA objected and that’s why the deadline has been pushed back again.
One thing the League has missed is having a position that deals strictly with government relations. The need for a bureaucrat is glaringly obvious right now. There doesn’t seem to be anyone in place who knows the ins and outs of Ottawa and how to play the red tape game.
This position would not just help in dealing with the feds but also help each individual team in their relations with their provincial governments (think stadium negotiations and other financial opportunities).
It’s not just the fault of Randy Ambrosie but he has stumbled and it sure feels like he has been wading through the muck solo.
This might be a ‘one voice’ representing the CFL and its nine governors but there needs to be an Art Rooney II or a Jerry Jones … someone who is a true leader within nine Type A personalities. In the NFL, it’s not Roger Goodell who runs the show; it’s Jones and a handful of other high ranking owners. This is what Canadian football needs right now.
Finally, a note to Randy Ambrosie. The house is on fire, so bury the CFL international experiment. The message to the Finnish football league was blasted by the fans and media of the CFL and deservedly so. The first thing that needs to be put in a rocket and blasted off the planet is this international push.
Now to the players side.
The CFLPA has been exposed for what they always have been; a group of individuals split in half. The “haves” who are the majority of Canadian players and quarterbacks and the “have-nots” who are the majority of the American players that fill the rosters. Many of those don’t have the experience to understand the ins and outs of the CFL or just don’t care and simply want to play professional football.
It was a tremendous step having a veteran American player in Solomon Elimimian as President as he has gone through being a have-not player in the beginning of his career to now being a player that has accumulated the time and high-level play that garners him a tidy sum per year to play football.
Watching the Twitter banter between players you can tell there is a lack of communication and no united front. This has been the problem within this union for years.
The majority of the time we side with the players and with these being the darkest days for the CFL, it could be the best time for the CFLPA to step up and be the true leaders of this league. They need to come together as one and make it a true players league.
This would be the healthiest step the League could take. The current collection of governors and this Commissioner seem unable to get the job done so give the players a true seat at the table. But first the players need to get their own house in order.
That means stop flirting with the potential of a 2020 season and start preparing now for 2021. There needs to be an incredible plan in place to restart this great league and everyone needs to help.
The League, governors, players, all levels of government and even us the media need to all pitch in to bring the CFL back next spring, with or without fans in the stands.
Let’s work on what can be a tremendous comeback for the CFL in 2021.
This may well be the lowest point in the history of the Canadian Football League but from the ashes could rise a rejuvenated league that could benefit all sides and put a tremendous product on the field for the fans who are starving for it. CFL and CFLPA we hope you’re paying attention and you don’t miss this opportunity to strengthen and save Canadian football for years to come.
(RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF)
