Jeffrey Orridge to Step Down Prior to Start of 2017 Season

Good day Canadian football fans! No, really. It's a good day for CFL fans. This morning the league issued a statement that Jeffrey L. Orridge will step down from his position as CFL commissioner on June 30th, 2017. 

The news deserves and will receive much comment and speculation from fans and analysts around the league. I'm way too negative regarding his tenure as the CFL top-dog to do so in a fair and just manner. Lucky for me, and you, my good friend Mark Stephen has nailed both and has graciously allowed me to quote his opinions on the topic. Here's his analysis:

"So that was quick. After barely two years on the job, Jeffrey Orridge is leaving as CFL Commissioner. Officially, he resigns. Unofficially, he just wasn't meshing with the board and it was time to move on.

There had been quiet rumblings about his situation almost from the start. However, with the wildly successful CFL Week in Regina, I thought those questions had been addressed and he would proceed on the job.

A few thoughts.

First, Orridge, his predecessors and his successors will always have a difficult task. Entering a board meeting, you are dealing with a group of people who all believe they are the most important people in the room. Tough crowd.

Orridge was off to a slow start with few accomplishments in 2015 and a poor performance at the State of the League news conference at they Grey Cup in Winnipeg. It should be noted the board wanted him to address the issue of attracting younger fans. The league, under his direction, set out a more aggressive social media policy and redesigned the logo. I could live without the logo change, but Orridge was following his mandate.

In 2016, he pushed through some player safety rule changes and more comprehensive drug testing policy. However, he seemed slow to react to a player lawsuit over CTE. This issue is the big cloud on the league's horizon.

Part of Orridge's issue was the fact, he was not the big persona of his predecessor, Mark Cohon. Orridge, in my dealings with him, is a pleasant and soft-spoken individual. However, Cohon just seemed to be everywhere all the time, meeting with fans. This is not a knocked on Orridge, but a reflection on Cohon setting the bar very high.

Orridge seemed to be fitting into his position and the recent CFL Week in Regina may well have been his high point.

However, there was always a feeling he just didn't fit in to the football culture. Maybe it was time for a break."

Stephen, a veteran sports broadcaster from Calgary, goes on to speculate about who may be next in line.

"Now the speculation game begins. Who is in line for the opportunity to succeed Jeffrey Orridge as CFL Commissioner?

First, if offered, I would take it! But, just in case they don't see the merits of my candidacy, here are some others thoughts.

One name that just jumps off the page for me, is Glen Grunwald. Grunwald is currently Athletics Director at McMaster University in Hamilton, but has a very deep and varied athletics career.

By virtue of being at McMaster, he has been exposed to a high-level USport football program, so has some familiarity with the sport. However, most of his sports experiences comes in basketball. He has been a high-level executive with three NBA teams, including the Raptors (during his time with the Raptors he became a Canadian citizen). That means Grunwald has extensive professional sports experience, combined with insight to Canadian Football League.

Prior to taking the position with McMaster, he was head of the Toronto Board of Trade. (He took this posting after being fired by the New York Knicks. Compared to the dysfunctional Knicks, the CFL Board of Governors looks like a playground squabble). Head of the Board of Trade in Toronto means Grunwald met many of the country most influential business leaders.

Plus, he has a law degree from Northwestern University, a trait that would help navigate some thorny issues that will face the league.

I have never met the man, so have no idea of his interest in this position. However, his resume screams an interview.

Others that have been suggested include Toronto legend Pinball Clemons, former Stampeder and current TSN analyst Duane Forde plus current CFL V-P Glenn Johnson. I am sure all would have their strengths but they should be approached only after Grunwald is vetted."

I couldn't agree more with the analysis and his suggestions. What do you think fans? Let us know in the comments!

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The Saskatchewan Roughriders Don't Have the Luxury of Time

If there wasn't already enough pressure to keep pace with the other eight CFL clubs who seemingly improve year-after-year, the Saskatchewan Roughriders don't have the luxury of time and it's a lot of their own doing. "Time for what?", you ask. After consecutive losing seasons without a playoff birth, the Riders need to make the playoffs in 2017 for this season to be considered a success.

We have all seen beautiful, shiny, new Mosaic Stadium by now. When the sun is on the horizon, it casts its beautiful profile and our prairie pride over a few older venues around the league. Yeah, Dave Dickenson, I just went there. If the Riders were looking to keep a low profile, they've really shot themselves in the foot with the new state of the art facilities. The CFL media, and the league community in-general, all had a teaser with CFL Week in March. The upgrades that the league scribes and analysts enjoy when they visit Regina now, compared to in the past, is something they hope will extend to the on-field product to make their storyline that much easier to compose. How hard was it watching the 2013 Winnipeg Blue Bombers open Investors Group Field with a 3-15 season after a year of costly delays? Another example is last year when the narrative could have read success at BMO Field for the re-born Toronto Argonauts. Instead the story was empty seats and a then record high of optimism was lost by the organization. The Ottawa Redblacks only won two games at TD Place Stadium in it's inaugural year, but the optimism wasn't lost on the brand new franchise.

Then there's of course all the ironic luxury worked into the stadium design that should allow the players to be their best selves throughout the season. Mosaic Stadium will work for the Riders, but only if they don't let it work against them which is apparently fairly easy to do by losing the majority of their games. First impressions mean a lot and the Riders would do themselves a huge favour winning the majority of their home games in 2017.

To go with the new ballpark, athletic facilities, and offices the Riders have had to recruit, sign, and acquire some players to overcome the potential sting of another losing season. Have they ever. Where do I even start with the again monster list of high-profile signings this offseason? I suppose the light has shined none brighter than on former third-overall pick in the NFL draft and 2x Pro Bowler, Vince Young. His signing brings an entirely new dimension to the media coverage that will be involved with the CFL, but particularly the Riders, should he make the football team. Bo Levi Mitchell can go right ahead and be flippantly optimistic about facing one of his idles. Maybe he's got a method to his madness though and hopes that any media circus in Regina that could arise would be a negative thing for a west division rival? It's not just Vince Young either. It's new players all over the depth-chart in Kevin Glenn, Duron Carter, Kienan LaFrance, Derek Dennis, Bakari Grant, Glenn Love, Chad Owens, Eddie Steele, and Ryan White. That's replaced almost a quarter of the roster with guys that have been in a position where they have won. That's happening right now, so can they win together with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2017? Attached to a pretty strong core of players assembled in 2016, the first of Chris Jones seasons as chief cook and bottle washer of the Riders, anybody can feel pretty optimistic about that happening. Mind you, there are eight other teams also looking to hold their heads under water. These players and any to be added before the season have got to integrate well and prove that they were good acquisitions for the club. The pressure only builds with the outstanding additions the club has made.

The time could be sooner than later for changes off the field if the Riders don't breed some sustainable success soon. I'd hate to think in retrospect that folks like me gave guys like Jones and fourth-year President/CEO Craig Reynolds too little time to prove they can turn the trick, but you can't wait too long either. While they have a luxury stadium and some luxurious new players, it's time that is not their luxury. Win or people will and should start screaming for changes up at the top.

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