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Saturday, November 7, 2009 02:43 PM

Bombers' coach still has sense of humour

Fans may be divided in thier like or dislike of Winnipeg head coach Mike Kelly. But you've got to like his ability to use his sense of humour.

Kelly was asked this week about the play of quarterback Michael Bishop, who is coming off a disappointing performance last week agaist Montreal.

That would be the same game after which Kelly exploded on-air with the team's radio rights holder when it was suggested his team may have lacked focus in losing 48-13 to the Alouettes.

"[Bishop's] going to be fine," Kelly said. "To be quite honest with you -- I'm going to give you some inside stuff -- I told him that both of us, for the next month, are going to be taking a breath. Him before the game, to go out and play under-control, take-care-of-the-football ... and me, right after the game, before I talk to the media. And then we're all going to be fine."

Kelly isn't everyone's cup of tea but you can't say he's a bore.

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Thursday, November 5, 2009 02:18 PM

Argos QB plays second fiddle to his sister online

Rookie Argo quarterback Stephen Reaves likely won't draw a huge crowd to his first CFL start Saturday against Montreal. That might change if he invites his sister to the game.

Reaves's sister is Layla Kiffin, the rather popular wife of former Oakland Raider and current University of Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin.

Football fans of the male gender are a simple lot, it seems. They get excited by a big catch, a thunderous hit or a hot woman. And in the online world, sites such as deadspin.com have made her a phenomena in a slightly obsessive way.

For instance, when Lane Kiffin replaced Phil Fulmer as head coach at Tennessee last winter was big news. But it was reported that within an hour of Kiffin's introductory news conference -- at which Layla was present with her husband -- the most searched term on Google Trends was "Lane Kiffin's wife". Number three was "Layla Kiffin."

And last week, the University of Tennessee public relations director had to shoot down a rumour that the mother of three would be posing for the upcoming Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.

Perhaps if the Argos can't do any better than one win at home every 15 months, their quarterback's sister could at least show up to a few games next season.

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Wednesday, November 4, 2009 03:28 PM

Buono helps Printers find his game again

Consider the play of B.C.'s Casey Printers the latest example of the fine work done by Lions head coach Wally Buono when it comes to devloping quarterbacks in the CFL.

Printers, of course, came out of nowhere to win the league's Most Outstanding Player Award in 2004 with the Lions but never enjoyed much success either in the NFL with Kansas City - where he never got on the field in a game that mattered - or Hamilton where he looked lost and unhappy much of the time.

But back in B.C. with Buono, Printers' resurgence - two consecutive 300-yard passing games - has been impressive to say the least.

Buono says Printers is back in his comfort zone, familiar with the terminology, the system, the coaches and some of the personnel.

The emergence of Printers is a bit of a twist on Buono's tried and true formula of developing quarterbacks in which he prefers his own guys as opposed to those who've been groomed in different systems.

Most of Buono's quarterbacks have identical resumes - zero or very limited time in the NFL or with other CFL teams -- a description that fits Jeff Garcia, Dave Dickenson, Henry Burris, Buck Pierce, Jarious Jackson (although he did start some games for the Denver Broncos) and Travis Lulay.

The lone exception was Doug Flutie, and perhaps with good reason.

Bouno says with Printers, it's not a matter of having to undo things as it would be with most veteran quarterbacks coming from another team. It's just a matter of reminding him what he did to be successful in the first place.

The proof is in the results.

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Tuesday, November 3, 2009 09:54 AM

Braley next owner of Argos?

Interesting tidbit from the Vancouver Sun on the weekend where CFL commissioner Mark Cohon didn't exactly throw cold water on the notion that Lions owner David Braley could also become owner of the Toronto Argonauts.

There is speculation around the CFL that's exactly what will occur after the season. Argo co-owners David Cynamon and Howard Sokolowski are considering their options and one of them is said to be selling out to Braley who has loaned money to the pair to help finance the team's operations at various times during the past six years.

"In other sports, it has happened," said Cohon, addressing the issue of whether one owner could own two teams. "Major League Soccer, for example. From the lens of the fan, we would want to to make sure there's a clear delineation of the football operations. There's no question of integrity here."

Cohon appears to be keeping the league's options wide open in this regard. And he's right, it has happened in other leagues. But most of those - such as the early days of the National Lacrosse League or Major League Soccer - have been leagues in their infancy. As well, when you've only got eight teams, there's something uncomfortable about one guy controlling 25 per cent of the franchises.

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Monday, November 2, 2009 01:01 PM

Kelly makes headlines again

So Winnipeg head coach Mike Kelly makes headlines again.

This time for using a curse word during a live interview - with the team's rightsholder no less! - after his team got spanked by Montreal on Sunday.

The Bombers issued a statement Monday in which Kelly apologized for the remark but then went on to justify his decision to curse on the air and then abruptly end his interview with Bob Irving.

What Irving apparently asked was whether the Bombers lost focus against Montreal because they were looking ahead to the following week's showdown with Hamilton?

Fair question, absolutely. And the kind of thing that gets asked all the time in sports.

It's also the kind of question that leaves all kinds of room for Kelly to deflect it.

But he couldn't until it was too late, and he issued this quote within the Bombers statement.

"I could not concur nor accept the assertions made by the interviewers that our players were ‘unfocused’ and looking towards our next contest. As the Coach of these men I know the professionalism and dedication which they commit in their preparation for each and every game. This group leaves it all on the field week in and week out, regardless of the outcome.”

That would have been a perfect response for the question when asked, of course.

Sure Mike Kelly was frustrated by his team's performance and sure he may have thought the question was pointing in the direction of him not preparing his team well enough.

Being able to respond appropriately is part of the skill set every head coach has to have.

We all have frustrating days at work.

But there are lots and lots of jobs in the world where when you have one of those, no one is going to be standing there with a microphone asking you about it. If Kelly can't take fair questions after a disappointing defeat, he needs to go find one of them.

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Saturday, October 31, 2009 10:29 PM

Hold the Canadian Bacon

When you cover football for a living in Canada, it’s almost inevitable that every few years you’ll be asked to write about the absence of Canadian quarterbacks in the CFL.

And with Danny Brannagan and Mike Faulds both setting all-time passing CIS records last weekend, the time was right to do it again.

What’s interesting about this debate is that for the longest time it was a battle between Canadians on the outside of the CFL saying Canadian quarterbacks are good enough to play, and American coaches within the CFL refusing to give them a chance.

But that debate fundamentally changed once CFL teams hired three coaches who aren’t just Canadians, they are former CIS head coaches Jim Daley, Greg Marshall and Marcel Bellefeuille.

So would the flood gates open up, would we finally see a Canadian quarterbacks in the CFL? Nope. Not one of these three men employed a Canadian quarterback.

How come?

Well, it turns out the debate never really was about Canadian voices versus American voices. It was the voices of those who’s employment doesn’t depend on Canadian quarterbacks being successful at the professional level versus the voices of those whose does.

And it turns out that when people have their employment on the line -- whether they are Canadian or American head coaches -- they aren't willing to go with Canadian quarterbacks. We can only assume that it's because they believe they're not good enough. Because when Daley, Bellefeuille and Marshall got their opportunities, they all made the exact same call that all those American coaches did before them.

Which leads us to the unhappy conclusion that the absence of Canadian quarterbacks isn’t about prejudice or bias, it’s that players who come from the CIS level simply are not pro-ready.

As Marshall told me the other day in the story I wrote, if there had been one who could play at the professional level when he was coaching Hamilton, he’d have signed him.

But there wasn’t.

And as Bellefeuille told me this week, there isn’t today either.

Which isn’t to suggest that if a team signed a CIS quarterback and worked on his development for a few years he couldn’t make it. But there’s no incentive for a CFL team do to that. They’d rather find the most pro-ready guy there is and develop him because even that could take a few years.

Developing a quarterback in a league with no off-season workouts and with 4.5 hour practice days means taking away precious time from your starters and backups. And no coach wants to do that, especially for a player who may never be good enough to make it.

The truth about Canadian quarterbacks is that there is a bias. But it’s not against them, it’s for them.

A few years back when a CFL team signed a Canadian quarterback, I asked the GM why they signed him. The GM told me “because he’s Canadian we wanted to give him a shot.” So I asked the GM if this guy had been from Pennsylvania would they have signed him? “Not a chance,” he said.

In other words, being Canadian was the only reason this guy even got signed, although unfortunately, he didn't make it.

One last point on Canadian quarterbacks. Those with far more football knowledge than me tell me that CIS football is about the same quality as mid-level Division III NCAA. (Before the football nationalist crowd goes crazy and starts sending me hate mail, take the time to see how many Division III players there are in the NFL and you’ll see it’s more than the CIS has.)

So if CFL teams start signing quarterbacks from NCAA Division III schools, then I’ll believe there’s a bias against Canadian quarterbacks. But they don’t. They don’t sign Division III guys (albeit Hamilton has one on its practice roster right now) and they hardly ever sign Division II guys.

Almost every CFL quarterback who’s achieved any level of success has come from either NCAA Division IA or IAA schools, including every starter in the league right now.

Calvillo – Division IA

Glenn – Division IAA

Joseph – Division IAA

Bishop – Division IA

Ray – Division IAA

Burris – Division IA

Durant – Division IA

Printers – Division IA

Does that mean there will never be a CIS quarterback come along who makes it in the CFL? No, it doesn't. But that player would have to be an exceptional, exceptional player. Fans love to point to Russ Jackson. But I'm 42 and I only remember Russ Jackson as a coach and commentator. So I'm starting to think that something that happens once every half century might be the exception, not the rule.

When American quarterbacks from Division III start popping up all over the CFL, then I’ll believe there’s a conspiracy against Canadian quarterbacks. Until then, I’ll keep believing that coaches -- whether they are American or Canadian -- are just going with the best players they can find.

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Friday, October 30, 2009 08:56 AM

CFL schedule makers get it right

For a change, the CFL and its schedule-makers seem to by totally in sync during the final two weeks of the season.

One of the challenges with an eight-team league that plays an 18-game regular season is that the final few weeks of the schedule can wind up lacking drama, leaving fans with a "get on with it" feeling about the playoffs.

Not so this season.

All four games this weekend have playoff implications.

And it's likely that three of the four during next weekend's final slate of games - including showdowns featuring Hamilton at Winnipeg and Calgary at Saskatchewan - will matter.

The lone exception? Next week's battle between Montreal and Toronto, where the home-and-cooled-out Alouettes visit the Argos in what will be the merciful end to a dreary Argo season.

Speeking of the Argos ... Though no shortage of questions surround the Toronto franchise, the biggest football matter is who's gonna play quarterback next season?

And that's something that probably needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. CFL quarterbacks aren't just essential for success on the field, they are the players around whom marketing campaigns are built in the off-season. (Although granted, the Argos may have issues regarding ownership, management and coaching to sort out first)

We pretty much know Kerry Joseph won't be back after two uncomfortable years in Toronto.

Cody Pickett may be back, but you can't sell a guy who has one CFL win on his resume over two seasons as the starter.

Third-stringer Stephen Reaves has never thrown a pass in a live CFL game, so presumably he's not the answer next season either.

The Argos have had lots of turnover in coaching and managment over the past 35 years but something that that has remained consistent is the the inability to groom and develop quarterbacks.

While other teams have been stockpiling young quarterbacks -- Saskatchewan has five on its roster, practice roster or injured list this season -- the Argos went with just three, but were the only team not to dress a third-string quarterback for most of the season.

Usually when Toronto is in a quarterback quandry, the Argos simply go out and buy or trade for one on another team.

Just a sample of quarterbacks the Argos have brought in from other teams to solve their void at the game's most important position: Condredge Holloway, Matt Dunigan, Kent Austin, Tracy Ham, Kerwin Bell, Doug Flutie, Damon Allen and of course Joseph.

Some have worked out well and some have not.

But the matter of just who takes the first snap under centre for Toronto next season is very interesting, indeed.

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009 06:14 PM

Durant's been dandy for Roughriders

The emergence and play of Darian Durant has to be one of the more compelling stories this CFL season.

At the start of the year I was in Saskatchewan and had a chance to talk to Durant who was clearly feeling uneasy about the Roughriders stockpiling quarterbacks behind him. Although he's had some rough moments this season, the guy is clearly a winner.

And I'm hearing that the players on that team absolutely love him, which is no small factor worth considering when it comes to a quarterback's ability to lead his teammates and make them believe.

Forgot to note this in my blog when it happened last week ... but it was interesting to see that Saskatchewan receiver Andy Fantuz is delaying signing a new contract with the Roughriders so he can take a shot at the NFL this offseason.

Back in August I'd reported that Fantuz had one eye on the NFL and was going to take his shot instead of sign a new deal with Saskatchewan, a notion that Fantuz denied at the time and which earned me a few hate e-mails from readers in Saskatchewan who accused me of making up the whole thing.

Just for background, one of the things I did before reporting Fantuz's interest in the NFL last summer was call a well-respected CFL GM and asked whether he thought that was realistic. His response surprised me because he was adamant that Andy could play there.

Bad news for Rider fans I suppose. But good news that if Fantuz's NFL dreams don't work out, he's committed to staying in Saskatchewan.

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009 09:14 AM

Could Trestman follow in Levy's footsteps?

Came across a great column by CBS's Clark Judge, touting Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman as a suitable candidate for an NFL job.

According to Judge, there isn't much buzz about Trestman returning to the NFL any time soon. But then again, we're still a couple of months away from the time when at least a half-dozen NFL head coaching jobs will open up.

Of course, it's not like Trestman is unproven in the NFL, having served as the Raiders offensive co-ordinator during the 2002 season when quarterback Rich Gannon was named MVP.

But the question was always whether Trestman was head-coaching material.

There are lots of things that are different about the NFL and CFL, but I'm thinking that the qualities to lead, communicate and getting your players to buy in are the same whether there are three downs or four. So if that's the issue on Trestman, consider the defence rested.

Judge made the point in his column that Marv Levy, one of the most successul NFL head coaches of all time, had come from the CFL.

Though Levy had coached in Kansas City from 1978-82, following his time on the sideline with the Als, he was back working in Montreal's front office when the Buffalo Bills came calling midway through the 1986 season.

Which had me thinking this: If the Bills are looking for a new head coach after this season to replace Dick Jauron (surely), wouldn't a team that has not finished above 25th in offence during any of the past three seasons (soon to be four) be smart to look to Montreal for its next head coach and hire Trestman?

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Friday, October 23, 2009 12:45 PM

Just stating the facts, folks

Interesting that a couple of things I’ve written the past two days have been judged by some as decidedly anti-CFL.

The first was about how several CFL people were telling me how concerned they are by the lack of Canadian talent to fill out 20 roster spots at this time of year, once the injury bugs bites.

This was viewed by many as saying there are no good Canadian players, which of course there are. It's just an issue of quantity not quality. (It was amusing how may people wrote to me or posted messages certain that one of the unnamed CFL people complaining about Canadian talent was Argos GM Adam Rita. I won’t get into confirming or denying who I spoke to about this, but it wasn’t one official from one team).

The fact is, the issue I wrote about is absolutely real. In fact, I had a CFL executive write to me to say he was upset with my item because he thinks teams should be doing something about the problem, not complaining about it or looking for the quota to be cut. But this same executive agreed the problem exists and his team is facing it right now as well.

Are there solutions that could help to better cultivate the talent in this country? It would seem there should be since there’s no doubt that more and better football is being played in this country than 20 years ago. And yet the same complaints resonate from the CFL about not having enough good Canadians.

It's a story that requires more digging because the problem isn't just in the head of one or two lazy general managers.

The second story that touched a nerve was the one about the lack of returns for touchdowns in the CFL, including a span of 58 games and roughly 640 kickoffs without one being brought back for a score. This was interpreted as an attack on the CFL even though the story was high in its praise for cover teams, both in terms of the way they are coached and the athletes who participate on them. Nowhere did the article suggest there was anything wrong with the returners in the CFL. Yet some readers insisted this was a story drummed up to make the CFL look bad.

Part of sports reporting is looking for trends in the games. Some are good for the game and some are not. The bottom line is when you go four months, and more than 600 kickoffs without one being brought back for a score, you've got yourself a trend. And my job is to try and explain it, which I attempted to do without casting any negativity on the players and coaches in the CFL. The story is about how the advantage has swung to cover teams over return teams in the CFL. That is a completely legitimate story. No apologies from me on that one.

Back to the ratio topic for a minute. It seems nothing stirs debate in the CFL like a discussion of the Canadian quota. Over the years, I've gone back and forth on it with my own opinion. At one time I was an abolishionist who wanted to see the best players play. Right now I believe it’s probably necessary to have a quota because of the way the game is being marketed as a piece of Canadiana. And it makes the league unique, gives it some local flavour and forces teams to cultivate homegrown talent.

But I also understand those who hate it.

Now, since the quota topic creates such interest, here’s another way to look at it.

Below I've posted an article sent to me by Patrick Johnson, a former Eskimo and Argo receiver who played for several years in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001. Pat’s a smart guy who retired from football after Argo training camp in 2008, happy and healthy. But he – and a whole lot of American players – didn’t like the CFL’s quota for Canadians. A lot of readers will surely get angry about the way he sees it. But try to remember, he’s merely expressing what a great number of American players feel when they come to the CFL. He’s just willing to be honest about it. Most never talk about it because they know their opinions won’t be popular. Below is his take.

Affirmative Action in the CFL

By Patrick Johnson

I am used to getting what I want the old-fashioned way, through hard work and dedication. I don’t believe I was ever given anything in life that I didn’t deserve or that I did not earn on my own. When I arrived to play in the CFL in 2007, I was thrilled to be in a new league, with unlimited possibilities. Would I just play two seasons there, post big numbers and going back home down south to finish my career? Or would I stay up and play for more years like so many other individuals have done? After playing in this league, and being subject to the “numbers” game, I am now questioning the CFL and what it stands for.

Track and field was the biggest and most beneficial aspect of my sporting career because it taught me this: You have YOUR lane and you run YOUR race. You either win the race, or come in second or worse. You train your butt off, go into competition, and let the chips fall where they may. Throughout my football career and especially professionally, I was able to deal with the competitive aspect of having multiple people that play my position compete for a few spots on the roster. What bothers me about the CFL is that only half of the players on the rosters usually have to compete for roster spots, while in most cases the Canadian players have very little competition to face … if any.

I know that the CFL stands for “Canadian Football League”, but what I failed to realize was that it traditionally is meant for natural-born Canadian players. Initially I thought the CFL brand stood for the style of play, such as rules, dimensions of field, number of players and all of that. It disturbs me to realize that this is not the case. The CFL practises Affirmative Action in regards with its players, and that sends a negative image to many others who view it.

Imagine if the National Football League had a mandate that required half the team to be natural born Americans. While that might be unnecessary, it also would be un-American. After training camp, usually the best guy for the job more than likely will earn it. This is what makes it very attractable to its many viewers. The NFL does have Canadians on their rosters league wide and should have more. I believe that the NFL’s efforts to become more globalized will help further this notion. I can say with total certainty that Canadians who grow up playing Canadian rules football from a young age and throughout college definitely have an advantage over American players who come up here to play.

So why the need for the quota? If I was a business owner, I would hate to be mandated to hire a person because of their race, colour, or creed to satisfy a quota. What if that person wasn’t the best and most qualified for the job? If I was forced to hire him/her, I would be doing the company a disservice because I’m making a move that is affecting the company’s bottom line in a negative way.

I have a problem with the way the CFL is marketing itself with the slogan “This is OUR league”. What exactly does that tagline mean? Does it mean that this league is only for Canadians? Does it mean that they are anti -anyone else that wants to watch? Is there an effort to push the American players out? This needs to be clarified in my opinion and is seen as insulting to the many CFL fans south of the border. What about the Americans who have helped build this league into what it is today like Damon Allen, Doug Flutie, Pinball Clemons and more? What does that say to them or about them? I believe this is just a knee-Jerk reaction to the widespread perception that the NFL is coming to Toronto, which some CFL conservatives deem as a threat to the CFL as we know it. I believe that it definitely is. However, I believe that if the NFL does come here it will force the CFL to finally be competitive in all aspects. Some of the rules would have to change as far as the mandated quota of Canadian players and such.

But competition brings out the good in all things. During my tenure in the CFL, I was blessed to have been in the presence of great football players such as wide receiver Andre Talbot, who definitely is as good as many receivers playing. What’s the problem with that?

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