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2010 Grey Cup Rundown

Published on November 27, 2010 8:23 PM by dbo.

This year's Grey Cup has been relatively quiet. I mean that from a big announcement or news aspect. There has still be plenty of coverage of the standard fare and the media trying to create some controversy. Here are some links for posterity of a few things I thought worthy and interesting.

State of the League

Mark Cohon gave his state of the league address Friday. The initial coverage was summed up in a few paragraphs, since expanded. Later Cohon answered questions from fans in the Fans' State of the League.

There was very little news here. The league is strong. TV ratings are up. Demographics are shifting younger. The consensus is the league is solid without any crisis on the horizon.

Cohon gave a rundown of the stadium situation across the league, with no real news here either. Though the media question and answer period was not recorded, it appears little besides officiating was raised as an issue. Contrast with last year when the CBA and David Braley's ownership position were under scrutiny. Cohon did a good job handling fan questions, some very tough to answer in that forum. I think many fans feel better for having the opportunity to ask their question of the top dog even when the league is not directly responsible.

A CBC article on Friday tried to create controversy over Montreal holding the territorial rights to the province of Quebec, requiring their permission for a Quebec City expansion team. This was never secret information. It is outlined in Section IV of the CFL Constitution. By the same token, BC has approval over any new franchise in the province of British Columbia, including Victoria. There is no story here until a franchise has voiced its opinion to veto expansion into Quebec City or another jurisdiction.

There may have been an expectation that the league would make some announcements at Grey Cup: a multi-year commitment to Moncton, a 2013 Grey Cup site, or an expansion draft format for Ottawa. It appears the latter was agreed upon during the board of governors meeting, but a formal announcement is delayed. This keeps the focus on the activities and big game this week and allows those announcements to make headlines in the the off-season.

Ottawa Expansion Draft

Matthew Sekeres broke the story that an expansion draft format was to be ratified by the board of governors Saturday that allowed existing teams to protect only one quarterback. David Naylor later expanded on the story, confirming the approval to be announced next week with more details on the format.

It sounds like a fair format, though my thought was one second-string quarterback selection would be a breakthrough, so two is shocking. It is interesting that David Braley, if the reports are true, was still the last holdout to oppose the format. I think I understand Braley's perspective of making Ottawa build their own team, but I also know that a competitive and strong Ottawa makes for a strong league and helps Braley's bottom line in both BC and Toronto.

The Rest of the Rundown

• Hotel-gate, as it has become known, became a story for the media to latch on to. The league responded appropriately. Unfortunate as it is, crying league favouritism for one team is a strong accusation. If the Alouettes had concerns of the awarding of locker rooms and hotels previously, they should have made it known to the league privately. If they came to Edmonton with the expectation of being the home team since they were the road team last year, then they were mistaken. I do wonder what the league thought they were getting into when they gave the Commissioner's Award to 'Rider Nation, 100th year or not.
• Rule change may break Canadian QB drought It will be interesting to see how quickly this can be done. It is obvious this is the way to go. Mandating Canadian QB's on each team will create jobs for Canadian QB's, but many will not be qualified. The league needs to start by letting those with promise get a shot and a few years to develop.
• Bud Steen is set to end his career by officiating the 2010 Grey Cup game. He answered questions in a one-on-one on CFL.ca.
• Terry Jones reminisces of Grey Cups old.
• Cold weather and bare arms
• Saskatchewan's wacky kickers It is these stories and personalities that make the CFL what it is and so enjoyable.

This article is categorized under Grey Cup and tagged with expansion-draft and state-of-the-league.

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