THE MONDAY MORNING GOALIE FOR DAYTONA HOMES
A simple Tweet from Calgary Sun football writer Scott Mitchell (@SUNMitchell) raised a red flag Friday afternoon.
Mitchell, who’s attacked the CFL like a dog on a bone (in a GOOD way) since taking over from Stampeders beat writer Ian Busby, has been closely following the league’s collective bargaining agreement situation. Since the CFL and CFLPA were set to meet in Calgary late last week, I was closely watching Scott’s reports but didn’t expect this:
“I’m told CFL CBA talks in Calgary were cancelled today because sides were ‘too far apart’ after Day 1,” Mitchell wrote on Twitter Friday afternoon.
That set off alarm bells for this CFL broadcaster/blogger just before Friday’s SportsCage but in truth, the breaking news barely set off a ripple.
Perhaps it’s because of the nation’s current fascination with the NHL’s post-Olympic happenings, but Mitchell’s Tweet was only retweeted eight times. If a tree falls in the forest?
In Saturday’s Calgary Sun, Mitchell did his best to dig deeper into the break-off in talks but ran into a deadend. CFL President Michael Copeland said in an email that the league would have no comment on the talks. So much for that.
A Google News search for “CFL Work Stoppage” over the weekend turned up only one news article but it was a dandy. The Vancouver Province’s Lowell Ulrich penned a feature on Lions kicker Paul McCallum which shed some light on CFL players’ thoughts on the expiring CBA.
Here’s a snippet from the article:
• “And the 44-year-old (McCallum) is hoping the union will take a harder stance in this round of discussions, mindful of the concessions given by players prior to a five-year, $160-million television rights deal, which starts this season. And to help, McCallum says he will run for a position on the CFLPA executive board.
“When there’s been bad times owners have come to the players to take pay cuts. In the good times we should also reap the benefits,” he said.
Never a union to push the league into a work stoppage, the CFLPA made a mammoth concession during the last round of talks in 2010 by agreeing to scrap a clause that guaranteed players a percentage of gross revenue.
Players are expected to ask for an increase in the $45,000 minimum wage and for a 46-man active roster, for starters. Some agents are also pushing to scrap the option-year clause, which effectively ties a player to a team for two seasons, and to abolish the negotiation list, which limits entry-level player movement.
“Those two are the most important issues they got because it would give players a bigger piece of the freeagency pie,” one insider said.
You can read the full article here:
http://www.mrtimes.com/sports/maple-ridge-realtor-paul-mccallum-right-at-home-in-b-c-place-1.865891
So are we headed to the first work stoppage in the CFL since the 1970’s? CFL insiders are skeptical. “Doubt it,” one national reporter told me via text. “Could be a delay in camp starting maybe?”
Veteran CFL players would rejoice with that news, but they’d be the only ones.
Truthfully I thought the national media would be all over this one, never missing the chance to fear monger. However maybe it’s just that; a non-story. No one seems too worried that the 2014 schedule won’t kickoff on Canada Day weekend.
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POTSHOTS
– TSN’s Farhan Lalji reports there are only two CFL teams serious about acquiring quarterback Kevin Glenn from Ottawa and they are the BC Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Reports out of Winnipeg on the weekend suggested REDBLACKS GM Marcel Desjardins was seeking a package which includes the Bombers’ #2 overall pick in this spring’s draft. However Desjardins scoffed at that notion. Either way, it appears the Saskatchewan Roughriders are out of the running. GM Brendan Taman tells me their discussions with Ottawa were never that deep.
– Rider great Scott Schultz feels this is for the best. He said on Friday’s SportsCage that acquiring Kevin Glenn would ignite an instant quarterback controversy here in the Wheat Province.
– Blue Bomber play-by-play man Bob Irving says that team still has two assistant coaches to hire and that includes along the offensive line. He said the club is still waiting to hear from the nomadic Bob Wylie. Gosh am I glad we have Doug Malone here.
– Sportsnet’s Arash Madani reports Saskatoon product, and Argonauts veteran long-snapper, Chad Rempel has worked out for Tampa Bay and Chicago in the NFL. That would be great if Saskatchewan could place another player in the NFL.
– Weston Dressler will be on the field with the Kansas City Chiefs for the first time on April 15 when the Chiefs open OTA’s (Organized Team Activities).
– It must be March. News is so slow in the CFL that they’re discussing changing the Eskimos’ name in Edmonton because it’s offensive. The story is here:
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/touch/story.html?id=9594146&cid=dlvr.it-twitter-edmontonjournal
– Congratulations to Alberta’s Kevin Koe for capturing the Tim Horton’s Brier with a 10-5 victory over BC’s John Morris Sunday evening. Kudos especially to Pat Simmons, the Moose Javian who captured his first Brier since leaving Saskatchewan to join Koe’s team. But the empty seats all week long at ISC in Kamloops had to be a concern. Total attendance was 65,005, making it the worst attended Brier since Chicoutimi in 1988.
– How does Saskatchewan turn into a curling powerhouse rather than a province threatened to join the relegation tournament and not be in the Brier at all?
– NHL GM’s are set to meet in Florida with overtime being a hot topic on the agenda. They’re looking at switching overtime to a five-minute four-on-four situation followed by a five-minute three-on-three period. Detroit coach Mike Babcock figures they could settle overtime a lot sooner by swapping ends for the first extra period. He things the “long change” would radically alter outcomes. Since the shootout was instituted nine seasons ago, 13.3% of games went to the derby.
– TSN’s Bob MacKenzie reported over the weekend that CBC’s George Stroumboulopoulos will be the new host of Hockey Night In Canada. Ron McLean is expected to take on a lesser role. The Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons first reported this over a week ago. Simmons also said Paul Romanuk will be hired as Rogers’ #2 play-by-play man nationally.
– There are rumblings out of Winnipeg that Investors Group Field will host an NHL outdoor classic game next season.
– Calgary Flames Assistant Equipment Manager Corey Osmak worked his 1000th pro game Saturday night in the Flames’ 2-1 loss at Vancouver. “Ozzie” was the Regina Pats’ equipment manager a decade ago.
– Canada is 2-0 in the sledge hockey competition at the Paralympics in Sochi after a 4-0 win over Norway on Sunday. Canada’s assistant coach is our own Curtis Hunt.
– I enjoyed every second of Mike Modano’s 20-minute jersey retirement speech in Dallas Saturday night. Who woulda thought Modano would get the most emotional when mentioning long time Stars and P.A. Raiders assistant coach Rick Wilson? Wilson, who still holds several Prince Albert high school track and field records, put Modano up in P.A. when he was a brace-faced teenager in the 1980’s. Modano mentioned former coach Dave Tippett as well, proving the strong ties between the Raiders and Stars organizations.
– The Stanley Cup had a busy weekend. Friday it was in Calgary for the Joe Nieuwenduk jersey retirement and on Saturday it was in Dallas with Modano. Phil Pritchard is the Stanley Cup custodian and he lives in Burlington, Ontario, just down the street from Grey Cup custodian Mark Denobile! They regularly meet and discuss the Cups’ travels.
– There is a distinct Melfort flavour to the 2014 SJHL Hall of Fame induction class which was announced last week. It includes: Kevin Dickie, Brad Meier, Willie Mitchell, Brian Munz, Mark Odnokon, Rick Schultz, Neil Shewchuk, Leonard Strandberg and the 1995-96 Melfort Mustangs team. The event will be held July 25 in Melfort. Congrats to all and especially broadcasters Munz and Shewchuk! It’s nice to see announcers recognized for their efforts.
– Congratulations also to the Kootenay Ice who clinched a playoff spot Friday night for the 16th consecutive season. Talk about a spoiled fanbase! How soon before the team moves to Winnipeg?
– The Regina Pats have three games left and sit on 38 wins. It says here they’ll hit 40 and clinch the pennant. They host the P.A. Raiders Wednesday before closing out the regular season with a home-and-home set against the Brandon Wheat Kings beginning Friday in Regina. The SportsCage will be on hand Friday evening, handing out prizes for Fan Appreciation Night in the Brandt Centre. These guys:
– That billboard went up last week at the corner of Saskatchewan Drive and Elphinstone Street. Thanks for the nice comments!
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THAT’S ALL. SEE YOU IN THE CAGE!
RP
@sportscage
I guess maybe we take for granted the CFL and CFLPA will just figure it out and everything will be good. Both sides don't want a stoppage, they've worked so hard to get the league to where it is.
Strombo on CBC HNIC is the biggest joke and sadest announcement for the game. This leftist, violence in sports needing to end advocate is the biggest blow hard you could find. Rogers is going to ruin how hockey is viewed in this country and sadly we won't know how good we have had it its gone.
Ron McLean is fantastic, knows the game and is a great moderator for the panel discussions.
Sad day for Canada's game.
No surprise about the Brier attendance, it was a smaller venue.
If you only have it in Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Saskatoon, you're going to lose popularity in places like BC, Ontario and the Maritimes.
Therefore, the CCA has to bite the bullet every few years and head to a province where attendance might be less. Otherwise, the game will be worse off.
Nonsense. A smaller venue should be packed. Hardly anyone in the seats all week.
GO STROMBO!
Ending violence in hockey is a bad thing? Since when?
Just using terms like "blow hard" makes you sound like an idiot AND the exact definition of a bully in sport.
I think you would be surprised how many want violence to end in hockey (and Rod, a poll on your little blogspot will not give any sort of real answer to this question).
Strombo would be an excellent moderator and he definitly knows the game! WOOP WOOP!
Strombo is a horrible choice…and you sir are an ass WOOP WOOP!!
Difficult to compete at the Brier if you are not doing it for a living like some of the Teams… Plus the player movement (part-time) from one Province to another and creating an all-star Team…. it has gotten to the point where only 2-3 teams have a legitimate shot at winning the event each year –
Great MMG as usual Roddy. See you next Month!
I second this huge and would sign a petition against it ! "Strombo on CBC HNIC is the biggest joke and sadest announcement for the game. This leftist, violence in sports needing to end advocate is the biggest blow hard you could find. Rogers is going to ruin how hockey is viewed in this country and sadly we won't know how good we have had it its gone.
Ron McLean is fantastic, knows the game and is a great moderator for the panel discussions.
Sad day for Canada's game. "
Count me in as another hockey fan that thinks not having Ron as the face of hockey is a bad idea. He's the best in the business and has been for many years. Maybe Strombo will host HNIC on week nights and Ron will do it on weekends. I guarantee that Grapes would never have agreed to stick around if Ron wasn't in on the deal too. Some might think that they don't get along but in real life they are best friends. Both Don and Ron said it in Ron's book.
Rex
Those names were great when the SJHL was in its prime. The league now compared to the league then is a joke. The quality of play is down because the better players go elsewhere and this year they changed their playoff format and divisional structure and you see two of the furthest matchups possible for first round. Bill Chow has been an epic fail in his tenure.
Ken
George Stroumboulopoulos on HNIC!? That’s a complete joke.
One of two things will happen.
1) Cherry will eat Stroumbo alive on air and Sportsnet will have to bring McLean back in
2) Cherry will become so discombobulated he will walk out on Sportsnet
McLean ref’d hockey so he has some hockey knowledge, has Stroumbo done anything above trade hockey cards?
A couple things: I watch HNIC regardless, and when I go through my NHL On Ice Package, I question myself as to why I do it.I am a Maple Leafs fan so it's probably ingrained in me as to why. There are better Broadcasters out there for the panel discussion along with hosting. When Ron McLean took over for Dave Hodge, Ron McLean was a Weatherman from Red Deer. Strombo is exactly what that show needs to blow the dust off of it, and skew it to a younger audience. People get threatened by Strombo because he simply asks the… Read more »
Hey, Don Cherry has been on George's CBC show, and they get along famous.
ZERO chance of a CFL work stoppage. The bulk of the league is made up of under paid Americans that would rather collect the cheque they have than strike and not get paid at all.
Of course Obama supports the Strombo move.
Sending the same team multiple years is the key. Having a different team every year hurts. Look at Ontario for example, Howard got beat out at provincials and the guy that made it here was barely in the hunt. All the teams that were in the hunt had multiple brier appearances. SK had some brier experience, but it was only half the team, and only one of them at the position they played this week. As for how do you send the same team, well we need to 1. keep our teams together longer 2. keep the parachuting curlers out.… Read more »
Hiring Strombo seems to be an attempt to secure more of the yute for their audience. As an old geezer, I want to stick with Ron and Don.
Ronny K. from Montmartre.
Any word on when the Pats first two home games for the playoffs might be??
Hi Rod, I'm a big fan of you and your blog but I think you are the one that is fear mongering and trying to pump up your post about concerns over CFL / CFLPA being far apart. It's way too early to voice any concern. Both sides are also well aware of the events of the 90s when the life of the CFL was hanging by a thread when they over spent on salaries with a relatively lucrative TV contract then were in a big jam when the next TV contract renewal was peanuts. No guarantees the money will… Read more »
So the two sides are so uncertain and confused that the mere mention of the facts in this blog will send them into a labour dispute which could be avoided if we all keep quiet??????
I have hated Strombo since he was a producer/host on Fan590 in Toronto. He used to be an arrogant POS that ran down the CFL every chance he got. On his shows, he would only talk about the NFL and how Toronto needed its own team after they got rid of the Argos. I refuse to watch his show on CBC, even if he has a guest on that I really want to see. He is a self-righteous know-it-all. I must admit to some schadenfreude when his two attempts at penetrating the American market were complete disasters and the worst-rated… Read more »
Here's hoping the Pats hit 41 wins!
From all of us Red Deer Rebel fans!
Cary from RD