Training camp is over .... adjustments have been made  and its time for the opening kickoff

Anybody change their minds on how preseason changed their expectations for this year .... Montreal thrashing Ottawa changed mine .... cutting Willy raise my hopes for the Argos .... Edmonton looks stronger than I first thought and Regina even worse

For the first time in years I am forecasting Winnipeg finishes first in the league  .. just an optimistic hunch .... I forecast these final standings:

Winnipeg

Calgary

Vancouver

Edmonton

Ottawa

Montreal

Toronto

Hamilton

Regina

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=who+is+Art+Briles

I had no idea that a google for lazy people existed

19 minutes ago, iHeart said:

I had no idea that a google for lazy people existed

it's not google for lazy people, it's a site for passive aggressive sarcastic pricks who want to show people how easy it is to find information on their own.

Edited August 29, 20178 yr by 17to85

Monday, August 28, 2017 — TORONTO (August 28, 2017) -- The Canadian Football League (CFL) and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have released the following statement:

Art Briles will no longer be joining the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a coach. We came to this decision this evening following a lengthy discussion between the league and the Hamilton organization. We wish Mr. Briles all the best in his future endeavours.

Randy! Randy! 

Randy for Commissioner!

A firestorm of anxiety and never ending finger pointing has been averted. Earlier today a cross country shytestorm wind blew through all the provinces like the unpredictable winds at Tim Horton's field on this hiring controversy, but to the delight of all, the CFL, although wind blown, comes out on the right end of this decision.

Nevermind Diversity is Strength, how about the strength shown in leadership today?

Well done!

I like Ambroise. Know why he's been so good? Dude is from Winnipeg.

Ok for Ambroise.    But what the blue hell,  was Hamilton thinking, here?

48 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

Monday, August 28, 2017 — TORONTO (August 28, 2017) -- The Canadian Football League (CFL) and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have released the following statement:

Art Briles will no longer be joining the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a coach. We came to this decision this evening following a lengthy discussion between the league and the Hamilton organization. We wish Mr. Briles all the best in his future endeavours.

Randy! Randy! 

Randy for Commissioner!

A firestorm of anxiety and never ending finger pointing has been averted. Earlier today a cross country shytestorm wind blew through all the provinces like the unpredictable winds at Tim Horton's field on this hiring controversy, but to the delight of all, the CFL, although wind blown, comes out on the right end of this decision.

Nevermind Diversity is Strength, how about the strength shown in leadership today?

Well done!

Most outstanding commissioner. 

Ambroise knew about the signing in advance and let it happen. It took trending on twitter and not in a good way to make him change his mind. 

That's the part that still irks me. They were all OK with it until word got out and the **** hit the fan. 

Props to them for eventually making the right decision, but dear god where was the forethought? Did they think no one would remember who the guy is?

46 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

I like Ambroise. Know why he's been so good? Dude is from Winnipeg.

That's funny, because the league was fine with Hamilton's hiring decision.  Then they flip flopped when they realized how angry people became.

This is bad for the commish, not a strong leadership move.  

7 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Ambroise knew about the signing in advance and let it happen. It took trending on twitter and not in a good way to make him change his mind. 

When is the last time the league stepped in and prevented a hiring? I cant recall it ever happening. I would expect its a rubber stamp type thing and they didnt really look at it much. My self not following the news didnt know any thing about this case till i saw it reported.

Also, he would have had to have a meeting with the BOG and agree on a plan of action. For all we know the wheels on this started turning as soon as the tigersnots decided to make this move. 

In the end, the league did the right thing and this creep wasnt in the league. A wins a win. 

28 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

That's the part that still irks me. They were all OK with it until word got out and the **** hit the fan. 

Props to them for eventually making the right decision, but dear god where was the forethought? Did they think no one would remember who the guy is?

Exactly this.... I really want to like Ambrosie but I'm really frustrated that it took a social media **** storm to make things right. This was ****** from jump street and everyone knew or SHOULD KNOW better... 

I'm a pretty big proponent of giving people second chances and opportunities.

 

I have very little patience for the manufactured indignity social media provides on a daily basis.

 

And even with that as my baseline, everything about this felt wrong.  Some second chances need to be earned.  No penance, no contrition, seemingly no acknowledgement that this was a thing that happened and a mistake needs to be owned.  Nothing other than avoiding the spotlight for a relatively short period of time.  A wrongful dismissal suit?  As in, he feels he is partly a victim in all of this?

 

Sometimes a person has to step up and admit that of the many ways a terrible situation could be handled, he picked a bad one motivated solely out of self-interest, and made that terrible situation even worse.  The bigger the stage, the more necessary it is to step up.  He hasn't, even though all he'd be doing is admitting he is human and flawed like the rest of us.  I hope he finds a path to walk where he has the opportunity to earn his second chance.  The first step on that path isn't going to be having an old friend gift you a job in the CFL.

30 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

When is the last time the league stepped in and prevented a hiring? I cant recall it ever happening. I would expect its a rubber stamp type thing and they didnt really look at it much. My self not following the news didnt know any thing about this case till i saw it reported.

Also, he would have had to have a meeting with the BOG and agree on a plan of action. For all we know the wheels on this started turning as soon as the tigersnots decided to make this move. 

In the end, the league did the right thing and this creep wasnt in the league. A wins a win. 

Ask Justin Cox formerly of the riders. CFL made a statement saying basically nobody can sign him. 

41 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Ambroise knew about the signing in advance and let it happen. It took trending on twitter and not in a good way to make him change his mind. 

just going to say that as Scott Mitchell said the CFL okayed the hire. That is disturbing. 

Here is the quote from Scott Mitchell on how the CFL "knew" about  Art Briles...

Question - Was the league aware of the hiring of Art Briles before you announced it?

Answer - "They were." "I spoke to the league about it as a potential concept and had a good discussion about it, a good deliberation about it."

At the end of the day, it comes down to whether a person deserves a second chance. In no way, shape or form can you diminish the clearly institutional, horrific issues that went on at Baylor. But Art was exonerated by his own university, he certainly had nothing to do with no criminal discussions or proceedings. That doesn’t excuse what went on there by any stretch or the horrific experiences that some young women went through. But as an organization we have to decide whether we’re going to give people a second chance and judge them for their own character, morality, and ethics. I can tell you there wasn’t one single person that we spoke to who knows Art Briles that didn’t think he deserved an opportunity to work in football.

I don't know. This does not sound like an endorsement to me.  Potential concept? A good deliberation? What does that even mean?

I mean, this didn't hang around for awhile. This was cut off. The CFL ended it. That's what we're talking about.

 

When the CFL is getting into the campaigns to end violence against women and domestic violence and then quickly took the moral high ground with the diversity is strength campaign you can't wade into that **** storm, just can not do it. 

I am all for second chances to people who want to earn them, but the timing of this second chance, no way. CFL is bigger than the Ticats or this guy. 

To be fair, saying that you discussed it as a potential concept, had a good discussion  and a good deliberation doesn't mean they signed off on it or said that it was ok. I mean, it appears the CFL gave the ok and then pulled back due to the firestorm but maybe not.

1 minute ago, 17to85 said:

When the CFL is getting into the campaigns to end violence against women and domestic violence and then quickly took the moral high ground with the diversity is strength campaign you can't wade into that **** storm, just can not do it. 

I am all for second chances to people who want to earn them, but the timing of this second chance, no way. CFL is bigger than the Ticats or this guy. 

Yeah, the CFL stated the DIS campaign as a cute way to make $$$ off of what happened in Charlottesville. At least that is what I believe. They even ran a story on CNN about it 2 weeks ago & Ambrosie was interviewed admitting the CFL decided to move up the campaign from the fall because of what happened in the US. Our Commish was quite smug about the campaign obviously proud it garnered attention in the US & around the world on CNN.

I don't know how many of you saw that particular interview but he sounded to me like he was lecturing people in the US over what happened.  I thought they were on a slippery slope with that campaign as they could be set up for a fall over something unforeseen like the Briles hiring. I think the CFL shouldn't try to be the moral compass of sport in this country. They should do what they do best. Just play football. No other sports league has a marketing campaign like this. It nearly blew up on the CFL. 

Hey if they want to be all about good morals then I am totally for that, but you gotta be consistent with it. 

But Canada is different than the US. We promote diversity .. We accept it... 

Diversity is strength. Who cares when they started it.. Its the truth. Its what makes Canada and the CFL great. 

 

 

1 hour ago, do or die said:

Ok for Ambroise.    But what the blue hell,  was Hamilton thinking, here?

No kidding... why does it take the fans and probably the sponsors to scream and shout for Hamilton to realize this was a bad idea?    

I understand being desperate... but this is ridiculous?

Also Reinbold looks like a genius escaping from that mess...  I wonder if they approach LaPo to coach them next season?

The CFL doesn't have authority to "ok" coaching hires, only players. So despite the "discussions" that the Ticats alluded to, the league and commissioner couldn't actually tell them not to hire him. Today, the commissioner drove to Hamilton and compelled the Ticats not to. So this wasn't a matter of flip-flopping. It is definitely worth commending the league for doing the right thing, especially when, at the end of the day, Hamilton could have still hired him.

More info in the video here (not jut the article): http://www.tsn.ca/1.841002.1503980147

 

 

It's especially stupid because it's a desperation hire anyways.  The guy has no idea about Canadian football, no CFL experience.  The Ticats are following the script for a horrible team.  Even with June Jones coming in midseason.

I feel that if it were someone with a history in Canada and the CFL the "second chance" idea might have some merit, but when you're hiring a NCAA coach midseason it makes zero sense.