The CFL and its players are going into overtime in their collective bargaining talks.
After spending more than 12 hours in meetings together and separately Wednesday, the two sides agreed to reconvene Thursday at an airport hotel.
"It has been a long day of meetings," CFL commissioner Mark Cohon said. "We’re going to resume (Thursday) morning, which is a good thing."
It’s certainly a far cry from what happened the last time the CFL and its players met. On May 21, they gathered for roughly 10 minutes as the league informed the CFL Players’ Association it was rejecting its latest offer before going public with the details of its last proposal to the union.
But there was no quick end to Wednesday’s session. The league and players held multiple face-to-face sessions but also spent a lot of time separately, with a conciliation officer being seen going from one party to the other.
It was the first time that news of a conciliation officer being involved in talks surfaced. Also, Cohon attended the sessions with the CFL’s bargaining unit, which also consisted of chief operation officer Michael Copeland, Saskatchewan Roughriders president Jim Hopson, Calgary Stampeders president Ken King, and CFL legal counsel Steve Shamie.
The CFLPA’s negotiating team was made up of president Scott Flory, vice-presidents Marwan Hage and Jeff Keeping, treasurer Brian Ramsay and legal counsel Ed Molstad.
The CFL’s current collective bargaining agreement expires at midnight ET on Thursday. Flory has said the players won’t suit up under the terms of the existing deal, meaning the two sides would either have to reach a new contract or at least be close for training camps to open on time Sunday.
The league and players met Wednesday morning but spent the bulk of the afternoon apart before resuming face-to-face talks later in the evening. That session ended after roughly an hour, with the CFL committee leaving for an alternate location. At one point, the conciliation officer and Shamie both could be seen walking towards the union’s meeting room, but the league lawyer left shortly afterwards.
Revenue sharing is the main stumbling block in the negotiations, with the players wanting it back to help determine the salary cap each year. The CFLPA had revenue sharing in previous agreements but gave it up in the last deal signed before the 2010 season.
Cohon has said the league won’t agree to revenue sharing because it doesn’t have sufficient revenues and profits for the model to work effectively.
After decades of financial woes, the CFL is enjoying economic prosperity.
It has a new contract extension with athletic apparel giant Reebok. One of its teams (Winnipeg) moved into a new stadium last season and another (Hamilton) is scheduled to do so this year, the same time expansion Ottawa will return and play at a refurbished facility.
And with attendance continuing to rise and corporate sponsorships remaining strong, the CFL is buoyed by a lucrative five-year television agreement with TSN, reportedly worth an average of $42 million annually, that kicks in this season.
That deal alone will reportedly net clubs an extra $2.7 million each this season.
There has been one players’ strike since the formation of the CFLPA in 1965. It came in ’74 and lasted three weeks during training camp before a three-year agreement was signed with no regular-season games lost.
The ’14 regular season is scheduled to open June 26.
The league has offered to boost the average player salary by 12 per cent this season to $92,917 with a further increase over the following five years. The salary cap would increase by nine per cent from $4.4 million to $4.8 million per team while the average salary would go up $5,000 to $50,000 with a further increase to $55,000 over the following five years.
The salary cap would also rise by $100,000 per team if the CFL receives more television revenue from TSN under a renegotiated broadcast agreement for each remaining year of the collective bargaining agreement.
The CFLPA, which contends the average player stipend is just under $72,000, is asking for a $6.24-million cap, with a $5.84-million minimum. The ’15 cap would be determined from the gross average revenue of seven clubs — excluding the top and lowest-grossing franchises.
The proposal also requested 55 per cent of gross revenues from TV rights, pay TV rights, radio, Internet and any other form of broadcast or telecast of CFL games, 45 per cent of revenues from sponsorship and licensing and 40 per cent of tickets to pre-season and regular-season games, including the sale of luxury boxes, licenses and any other revenue related to the public attending at games.
(Canadian Press)
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Riders Add And Subtract From Roster
The
Saskatchewan Roughriders announced today that import defensive linemen Markus
White and Robert Eddins and import receiver Devin Aromashodu have signed with
the team. As per club policy financial details of the contracts were not
released.
White (6’4 – 264) joins the Riders after spending the last three seasons in the NFL. The 26-year-old was originally selected by the Washington Redskins in the 7th round (224th overall) in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Florida native played three regular season games with the Redskins over two seasons before signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers early in the 2012 season. He attended 2013 training camp with the Bucs appearing in two preseason games.
Before going pro, White spent three seasons at Florida State registering 125 defensive tackles and 11.5 quarterback sacks in 38 career collegiate games.
Eddins (6’3 – 246) signs with the Green and White after spending parts of two seasons with the Buffalo Bills. The Detroit native spent the 2011 season on the Bills practice roster after originally signing with the team in July as an undrafted free agent. He attended 2012 training camp with the Bills seeing action in four preseason games.
Prior to the NFL, the 25-year-old spent four seasons at Ball State where he registered 167 defensive tackles, 17 quarterback sacks and seven forced fumbles in 46 career collegiate games.
Aromashodu (6’3 – 201) joins the Riders after spending seven seasons in the NFL. The 30-year old Auburn product has played 61 career regular season games recording 78 receptions for 1,193 yards and five touchdowns. He was originally selected Miami Dolphins in the seventh round (223rd overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft. The Miami native also went on to spend time with the Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears.
·
The Riders also announced import defensive back Woodny Turenne and import linebacker Xavier Adibi
have been released while import defensive back Prince Miller has
retired.
Riders Sign 2014 Draft Class
The
Saskatchewan Roughriders announced today they have signed six of their 2014
Canadian Draft selections. Receiver Alex Pierzchalski, kicker John Mark,
receiver Kristopher Bastien, defensive back Matt Webster, offensive lineman
Kyle Paterson and linebacker Travis Bent have all agreed to contracts.
Financial details of the signings were not released.
Pierzchalski
(6’5
– 220) was selected in the second round (18th overall) out of the
University of Toronto where he registered 149
receptions for 1,617 yards and 13 touchdowns in 32 career collegiate
games.
Mark (6’0 – 175) was taken in the third round with the 20th
overall pick. In eight 2013 regular season games with the University of
Calgary, Mark made 15 of 17 field goals (88%) and added 62 punts for 2,600
yards (41.9 yard average) including a 63 yard long.
Bastien (6’2 –
205) was taken with the Riders second pick in the third round, 26th
overall. The Concordia University product recorded 37 receptions for 592 yards
and six touchdowns in eight 2013 games.
Webster (5’11 –
175) signs with the Riders after being selected in the fifth round (39th
overall) out of Queen’s University. Last season Webster had 16.5 defensive
tackles and two interceptions in just four regular season
games.
Paterson (6’3 –
284) joins the Green and White after being picked in the fifthe round (45th
overall) from the University of Regina. The Weyburn, SK product has played 20
games for the Rams through four seasons.
Bent (6’0 –
220) was selected in the sixth round (54th overall) from Concordia
University. Last season Bent played eight games registering 29 defensive
tackles, five tackles for loss, one fumble recovery and one
interception.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Hoping For The Best
By Herb Zurkowsky-Montreal Gazette
A cautiously optimistic Scott Flory will enter the next round of labour negotiations with the Canadian Football League Wednesday morning in Toronto, not certain what to expect.
But Flory, the president of the league’s players’ association, remains adamant the union’s proposal is fair and equitable. And, the former Alouettes’ guard stressed, the players don’t want to be dictated to — which is what he claimed occurred last week, when league representatives stormed out of their meeting after only 10 minutes, followed by CFL commissioner Mark Cohon making the league’s proposals public.
“We’re talking about a system that very fruitfully exists already in sports in North America. It worked very well in all the major professional leagues — and it’ll work in the CFL, just on a smaller scale,” Flory told The Gazette. “When you’re talking percentages, it doesn’t matter the dollar value. It’s just percentages.
“Guys just want to be fairly compensated,” Flory added. “We’re not asking for the world. We’re not asking to destroy the league or the franchises. That’s not what this is about.”
The stumbling block continues to be the players’ insistence that a salary cap must be tied to revenues. Cohon, meanwhile, said that won’t occur, suggesting the league would return to the “dark ages” under such a system.
The union wants the salary cap to begin at $6.24-million. Under its proposal, the cap would consist of 35 per cent of revenues, excluding the new five-year, $210-million television contract. In other leagues, the cap’s approximately 50 per cent of total gross revenue. With each team receiving an additional $2.7-million, based on that TV deal, each team still would be left with a distribution of approximately $1 million, Flory said.
The CFL, in turn, has proposed the cap be raised $400,000 initially, to $4.8-million, followed by annual increases of $50,000 over five years.
“For anyone to say what we’re proposing, initially, is somehow over the top ... setting the league back to the dark ages, as it was characterized by the commissioner, is ridiculous,” Flory said.
Prior to the last collective bargaining agreement, signed in 2010, there was a provision calling for 56 per cent of defined gross revenue to be paid to the players. But the league never generated enough revenues, so the provision never was exercised. The CFL has had its share of financial hardships so Stu Laird, the P.A. president at the time, agreed to have the clause removed.
Now, with new stadiums in Winnipeg and Hamilton, a ninth franchise in Ottawa — not to mention the television windfall — the union’s insisting the cap be tied to revenues.
“The players have made concessions in the past,” Flory stressed.
The CBA’s set to expire Thursday at midnight. Veterans are scheduled to begin training camp workouts Sunday morning, although the players have taken a strike vote, the results of which could be released shortly. No one seems clear whether teams can conduct camp practises — or even play exhibition games, if necessary — with rookies.
Nonetheless, the clock almost has reached midnight and there might not be sufficient time for a resolution by Sunday. Flory refused to speculate what might occur this weekend.
A cautiously optimistic Scott Flory will enter the next round of labour negotiations with the Canadian Football League Wednesday morning in Toronto, not certain what to expect.
But Flory, the president of the league’s players’ association, remains adamant the union’s proposal is fair and equitable. And, the former Alouettes’ guard stressed, the players don’t want to be dictated to — which is what he claimed occurred last week, when league representatives stormed out of their meeting after only 10 minutes, followed by CFL commissioner Mark Cohon making the league’s proposals public.
“We’re talking about a system that very fruitfully exists already in sports in North America. It worked very well in all the major professional leagues — and it’ll work in the CFL, just on a smaller scale,” Flory told The Gazette. “When you’re talking percentages, it doesn’t matter the dollar value. It’s just percentages.
“Guys just want to be fairly compensated,” Flory added. “We’re not asking for the world. We’re not asking to destroy the league or the franchises. That’s not what this is about.”
The stumbling block continues to be the players’ insistence that a salary cap must be tied to revenues. Cohon, meanwhile, said that won’t occur, suggesting the league would return to the “dark ages” under such a system.
The union wants the salary cap to begin at $6.24-million. Under its proposal, the cap would consist of 35 per cent of revenues, excluding the new five-year, $210-million television contract. In other leagues, the cap’s approximately 50 per cent of total gross revenue. With each team receiving an additional $2.7-million, based on that TV deal, each team still would be left with a distribution of approximately $1 million, Flory said.
The CFL, in turn, has proposed the cap be raised $400,000 initially, to $4.8-million, followed by annual increases of $50,000 over five years.
“For anyone to say what we’re proposing, initially, is somehow over the top ... setting the league back to the dark ages, as it was characterized by the commissioner, is ridiculous,” Flory said.
Prior to the last collective bargaining agreement, signed in 2010, there was a provision calling for 56 per cent of defined gross revenue to be paid to the players. But the league never generated enough revenues, so the provision never was exercised. The CFL has had its share of financial hardships so Stu Laird, the P.A. president at the time, agreed to have the clause removed.
Now, with new stadiums in Winnipeg and Hamilton, a ninth franchise in Ottawa — not to mention the television windfall — the union’s insisting the cap be tied to revenues.
“The players have made concessions in the past,” Flory stressed.
The CBA’s set to expire Thursday at midnight. Veterans are scheduled to begin training camp workouts Sunday morning, although the players have taken a strike vote, the results of which could be released shortly. No one seems clear whether teams can conduct camp practises — or even play exhibition games, if necessary — with rookies.
Nonetheless, the clock almost has reached midnight and there might not be sufficient time for a resolution by Sunday. Flory refused to speculate what might occur this weekend.
He also sounded dubious that any veterans would cross the picket line and participate in scheduled workouts.
“From all indications from our membership, through our team reps and executives, our membership has never been more engaged or more united,” Flory said.
Veteran players receive weekly cheques throughout camp, the amount based on their years of experience. But most will start feeling the financial pinch in late June, should the impasse remain unresolved, when they start missing regular-season game cheques.
Flory said contingency plans are in place, intimating the executive has discussed the likelihood of distributing some form of strike pay.
It was Flory who reached out to Cohon after last week’s talks broke off, he said. What occurs now will depend on whether both sides are willing to budge and compromise their beliefs.
“Whatever that system is and how it’s administered, is all up for negotiation,” Flory said. “This is negotiating. There’s going to be movement on both sides. We have to find a common ground that works for both parties.
“It’s unfortunate they walked away last Wednesday.”
“From all indications from our membership, through our team reps and executives, our membership has never been more engaged or more united,” Flory said.
Veteran players receive weekly cheques throughout camp, the amount based on their years of experience. But most will start feeling the financial pinch in late June, should the impasse remain unresolved, when they start missing regular-season game cheques.
Flory said contingency plans are in place, intimating the executive has discussed the likelihood of distributing some form of strike pay.
It was Flory who reached out to Cohon after last week’s talks broke off, he said. What occurs now will depend on whether both sides are willing to budge and compromise their beliefs.
“Whatever that system is and how it’s administered, is all up for negotiation,” Flory said. “This is negotiating. There’s going to be movement on both sides. We have to find a common ground that works for both parties.
“It’s unfortunate they walked away last Wednesday.”
Its A Beautiful Day!!!
The Saskatchewan Roughriders and
620 CKRM, a Harvard Radio Station, are proud to announce an extension of their
radio broadcast rights agreement which began in 1983. As per team policy,
terms were not disclosed.
“We
are delighted to extend our partnership with the Saskatchewan Roughrider
Football Club,” said Cam Cowie Vice President and COO Harvard Broadcasting.
“With the extension, CKRM will continue to be the football clubs trusted voice
to Rider Nation, over the air in Saskatchewan on 620am and around the world via
live stream on 620CKRM.com and direct on the Rider App.”
“Our entire broadcast team led by Rod Pedersen (16th season) and Carm Carteri (26th season) is dedicated to delivering an informative, professional and engaging game day experience second only to being in Mosaic Stadium,” Cowie continued. “Harvard’s commitment to Rider Nation and the football club goes well beyond the game day broadcasts with CKRM’s SportsCage - the daily Source for all things Green & White”.
“We are ecstatic to continue our partnership with Harvard Radio’s 620 CKRM,” Riders President and CEO Jim Hopson noted. “Rod and Carm are two of the best in the business and have become a staple on Rider Game Day.”
2014
will mark the 31st year and 32nd season that 620 CKRM has
been the flagship station of the Rider Radio Network which includes affiliates
GX94 Yorkton and 600 CJWW Saskatoon.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Riders Add Two To Plaza Of Honor
Today
the Saskatchewan Roughrider Plaza of Honor Committee announced two new members
will be inducted into the Plaza of Honor. This year Chris Szarka and Omarr
Morgan will have their names forever etched into Saskatchewan Roughrider
history.
Besides
being Saskatchewan’s most prestigious sporting dinner, the Plaza of Honor
Dinner has contributed over $6 million to the Saskatchewan Roughrider Football
Club.
The
Plaza of Honor Dinner presented by SaskTel has inducted 116 individuals who
have made major contributions to the proud tradition of the Saskatchewan
Roughrider Football Club. The club has also inducted the 1966, 1989 and 2007
Grey Cup championship teams.
The
cairn honouring the Plaza of Honor Inductees is situated outside the main gates
on the west side of Mosaic Stadium. The Plaza of Honor cairn is sponsored by
SaskTel, SASK SPORT INC. and the City of Regina.
This
year’s dinner is set for Friday, September 19th at the Credit Union
Eventplex – Evraz Place. To accommodate a much larger audience, the event will
once again take place in the Eventplex and will allow patrons
a spacious opportunity with a large reception area throughout the evening to
meet and greet friends and associates.
CHRIS SZARKA
Eastern Illinois
#33
Fullback
1997-2010
- Born
in Vancouver, BC in 1975
- Played
14 seasons in the CFL – all with the Roughriders
- Played
his college football at Eastern Illinois
- Originally
selected in the 2nd round (13th overall) of the 1997
Canadian Draft
- Played
226 regular season games
- Played
in 15 playoff games and four Grey Cups
- Won
the Grey Cup with Saskatchewan in 2007
- Named
the Riders Most Outstanding Canadian in 2002 and 2003
- Named
the West Divisions Most Outstanding Canadian in 2003
- Finished
his CFL career with 423 carries for 1,703 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns
while adding 98 receptions for 1,308 yards and five touchdowns
- Was
known as the ‘Canuck Truck’
OMARR MORGAN
Brigham Young
#1
Defensive Back
2000-2010
- Born
in Hollywood, CA in 1976
- Played
11 CFL seasons; ten with the Roughriders
- Played
collegiately at Brigham Young University
- Originally
signed with the Riders as a free agent in June 1999
- Signed
with the St. Louis Rams in April, 1998
- Played
192 career regular seasons games … 176 with the Riders
- Played
in 12 playoff games
- Played
in two Grey Cups (2009, 2010)
- Was
named a West Division All-Star in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005
- Was
named a CFL All-Star three times (2002, 2003, 2005)
- Finished
his CFL career with 608 defensive tackles, 37 special teams tackles, 62
pass knockdowns, 27 interceptions – two returned for touchdowns, and 11
fumble recoveries – three of which were returned for touchdowns.
Something To "Mitch" About
If you are a Riders fan and you haven't gotten this, go out and get one. If you are a Riders fan from outside of this fine province, order one and get someone to get one for you and send it to you a-s-a-p. If you have already witnessed it, I'm sure you were impressed just like me at the 70 minute documentary.
I don't want to spoil it for all of those who haven't seen it, but the Riders video team and the organization themselves should be very proud of this production. If you have seen the highly successful and popular "America's Game" done by NFL films, this rivals it in many ways.
It brings back a lot of great memories of not only the season, but the Grey Cup festival and many other things. My favourite part is when head coach Corey Chamblin makes a comment about the crowd on Grey Cup Sunday and how it was more than a home game.
--
This still takes a while to get used to, but at least that helmet has an arrowhead on it and not a horse. That would be wrong! As someone said to me this weekend. the NFL and the Chiefs may have to give discounts on people from this province ordering Dressler jerseys because there will be many if he makes the team. Hell, I'm buying one and Mrs. Scruffy says she wants one too. Actually, Mrs. Scruffy doesn't want one because she wants to keep using the green 7 jersey she has now with hopes Weston will return. She's just being selfish.
-----
The UFC experience made a stop in Regina this weekend and by all accounts it was extremely busy in downtown Regina as UFC fans stopped in to see a variety of things. Business kept me from being in attendance as much as I wanted it to, but Reginans and Saskatchewan proved we love the UFC and we want to see it live in our province soon. If Saskatchewan's Mitch Clarke can be on that card somehow, it would be that much better. There is no doubt Credit Union Centre would be the first locale to stage a UFC card whether it be a pay-per view or a fight night, but one has to think a big event would come here once the new facility at Evraz Place opens.
Speaking of UFC, I didn't get a chance to catch UFC 173 Saturday night, but TJ Dillashaw defeating Renae Barao has to be one of the bigger upsets in the history of the sport. Barao hadn't lost in a decade and I don't think anyone was giving Dillashaw a chance to win the belt.
--
I don't think he is going to author a Cinderella story, but has Dustin Tokarski showed enough in limited time under the spotlight to garner a starting job somewhere in the NHL. You can't tell me he isn't better than what a lot of teams have----Calgary and Winnipeg come to mind right off the bat. Someone needs to ask Steve Yzerman why he got rid of the Watson native in the first place.
--
Dan Carcillo gets 10 games for what didn't look to be extremely physical contact with the linesman, yet the NHL gives Brandon Prust gives two games for a big-time cheap shot that breaks the jaw of another player. Where is the justice in that? People wonder why the NHL disciplinarians don't get a lot of respect. Prust should have gotten a minimum 5 if not more and I don't care if he is a so called first offender.
----
Does it matter to you that Canada hasn't won gold at the World Hockey Championships in a long time. It doesn't bother me since we don't send our "A" team. When that starts to happen and we don't produce, call me!
----
TSN will have its last national hockey broadcast on tonight when Chris Cuthbert calls the Hawks-Kings game. The rest of the series will be on CBC and with the Stanley Cup being on CBC, the end of an era happens as the NHL on TSN comes to an end as we know it. I hope to god the people at Rogers have some kind of clue as to what they are going to do because as it stands now, the TSN presentation is still miles better than what we get on a nightly basis from Sportsnet.
----
Congrats to the Edmonton Oil Kings. Its great having the Memorial Cup back in what I biasedly believe is the best major junior and developmental hockey league in the world.
----
I will say it at the end of this Memorial Cup and every other one until it happens. The tournament needs to expand. If the RBC Cup, the Western Canadian Junior A championship. the Telus Cup and the Esso Cup can have a five team tournament, then figure out a way to make the Memorial Cup a five team tournament.
----
The debate is heavy when it comes to the CFL labour dispute and where the blame lies. I think right now the majority of people I have spoken with are blaming the players for being too greedy. I just want a deal to get struck so that we have football. If we don't, I think it hurts the league for a long time. It won't here where we will come back to the game much like fans of the Winnipeg Jets and Canadian hockey fans in general came back after the NHL lockout, but the CFL isn't the NHL.
----
There might be one good thing if there is no CFL season-----it will mean no Humpty's ads!!
----
Its good to see some other CFL teams get on the food bandwagon and start selling products bearing the likeness of their hometown football players. The Edmonton Eskimos announced Mike Reilly potato chips this week. I have to assume when you open up the bag, the chips are all pounded into dust much the way Reilly was in 2013. There is also Corn-ish flakes cereal in Calgary. Let the comments on that start.
------
While I understand the excitement the Toronto Blue Jays are creating as we hit the end of May, may I just remind you there are 111 games to be played yet. Make no doubt about it, Toronto is playing probably the best baseball out of any team right now, but there is a lonnnnnnng ways to go and the Jays still need to make some moves to create some noise. One of those moves is finding a way to get another starting pitcher and if that pitcher isn't Cubs righthander Jeff Samardzija then GM Alex Anthopoulos will have some explaining to do. Anthopoulos let Ervin Santana get away from him before the season started and he can't afford to let a glorious opportunity get away.
-----
I end this one with a line from WOLF 104.9 morning man Ballsy. His quip in the station the other day "Jordan Eberle won "Sticks on Rose" last year which is the only thing he has won with a hockey stick in his hands over the past few years. Sadly, I can't argue that statement.
That's all I got. Its going to be a great week!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)