Courtesy Andrew Bucholz of
yahoo.caOne of the key issues raised this morning at the state of the league address given by CFL commissioner Mark Cohon this morning was complaints made by several Alouettes players about favouritism, which made headlines from Edmonton to Toronto to Montreal [French].
Here's what Etienne Boulay had to say:
"It seems like a slap in the face to me, I'd be crazy to think otherwise. It's obvious that they've put Saskatchewan in the five-star hotel where they have a nice fitness room. ... They have proper meeting rooms. They put us in a little hotel with inadequate meeting rooms. There is no pool, no whirlpool, no way to have ice baths."
And Mathieu Proulx:
"It seems like the league wants to create problems by imposing all sorts of somewhat bizarre things (on us). It's clear they want Saskatchewan to win the (Grey Cup) game. ... I'm making a shocking statement, but I don't care because I've seen this going on since I've been in the CFL. ... It's even worse this year than last year. Once again, we are in the inferior hotel, there is no workout room in our hotel; we don't have an ice bath or a pool. We have the small visiting dressing room and we're not allowed to use the weight room (at Commonwealth)."
The complaints, originally made on Montreal's CKAC and quickly gaining notoriety as "Hotelgate" (credit to Bruce Arthur), were a hot topic at Cohon's press conference and were raised in the very first question, from a Radio-Canada reporter:
"Alouettes players have been critical of the facilities they've been using so far this week," he said. "How do you explain the fact that the league gave the Grey Cup to a city where the facilities might not be where some players would like them to be?"
Cohon said he wouldn't respond to that, but talked about the Alouettes' organization instead.
"I heard some of those comments from players that I'm not going to dignify with a response, but there are a couple of things I'd like to step back and talk about that are important," he said. "The Als are a class act. If you look at our franchises across this country, and the success our franchises have had the Als are at the top; selling out every game, rebuilding football in Quebec from 3,000 kids playing to 40,000 kids playing. I don't think in any way this will affect their performance on the field because they are such a class organization."
He said he doesn't think the situation's going to be a big deal.
"It really comes down to availability and what's available at the time," Cohon said. "It's unfortunate, but as I said, in talking to Coach Trestman about this yesterday, we had a very good conversation about this, and in no way will it impact the Als in terms of their performance on Sunday."
Cohon also took umbrage at the suggestion that Edmonton's facilities were inferior or that the league was somehow biased against the Alouettes.
"Regarding Edmonton, Edmonton is a city like no other that's putting on an amazing festival," he said. When we go and book our hotels, we go and book the best possible hotels. Just so you know for your own information, when we're in the West, the West is always the home team and when we're in the East, the East finalist is always the home team. We look for the best hotels. If the Tiger-Cats were in or the Argonauts were in, that would be the hotel they'd stay in."
Proulx and Boulay's comments focused on conditions at their hotel, the Chateau Lacombe, where the media lunch was held yesterday. The Riders are staying at the Sutton Place Hotel, which has hosted most of the league events, including this morning's state of the league address.
There was no easily perceptible difference between the two hotels from my time at each, but the Alouettes' concerns apparently centre around pool/gym access. According to hotels.ca, the Chateau Lacombe (which has a 7.4 rating overall and a 69 per cent recommend rating) does have fitness facilities, but how extensive they are isn't specified. By contrast, the Sutton Place has an 8.0 rating and a 89 per cent recommend rating. It mentions a sauna and spa tub, plus discounted access to a nearby fitness centre (which the Riders are apparently using), so there might be something to the Als' complaint that Saskatchewan has a nicer hotel.
Similarly, they do have a point on the locker rooms. The Riders are using the Eskimos' room, which was newly renovated earlier this year (and featured by the league this summer). It includes massive hot and cold tubs, more equipment storage and more room overall; it's reasonable to expect the visitors' locker rooms the Alouettes are using aren't as nice.
However, concluding that this shows league bias in favour of Saskatchewan is just wrong. For one thing, locker rooms are assigned based on which conference is hosting the Grey Cup. The 2007 and 2008 editions saw Toronto and Montreal host the game, so Winnipeg and the Alouettes got the home locker rooms.
The 2009 and 2010 editions were in Calgary and Edmonton, so Saskatchewan received the home locker room both times. That's not bias, that's established precedent. The hotel situation is more questionable, but I find it hard to believe that's out of intent on the league's part. Perhaps there wasn't anything with more fitness facilities available, or perhaps the league just didn't investigate the setup thoroughly. Either scenario seems far more likely than the CFL setting out to sabotage one of its teams.
It's understandable why there might be a perception of bias in favour of the Riders, though. After all, they continually drive TV ratings and merchandise sales, and Saskatchewan fans were honoured with the Commissioner's Award Thursday night.
That subject also came up at the press conference today, with one journalist asking "What does giving a trophy to Riders fans say to the other fans around the league?"
"When you look at our fans, we have the greatest fans in this country," Cohon responded. "Rider Nation, they're celebrating 100 years, but when you look at their fan base, 10 of the 18 games with over a million viewers were games the Saskatchewan Roughriders were in. When you look at visiting teams filling up stadiums, they fill our stadiums. They're about half of our licensing business, so they ooze pride, and that pride actually helps the entire league. In no way are we saying that they're better than other fans. I love walking out there and spending time with Lions' fans and Als' fans. It's recognizing people who have had a profound impact on our game and celebrating that."
Another journalist asked "How beneficial is it to the league's bottom line to have the Riders in the Grey Cup?" Cohon's response focused on the merchandising and TV ratings aspects, saying "When the Riders are in, the numbers are big."
It's not hard to see how another team could look at that and conclude bias. However, it's important to remember that the league doesn't have any reason to favour a team in this game.
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Tuesday's Sports Cage on 620 CKRM was sponsored by Kal Tire. In hour one we replayed interviews from 'locker clean out' day at Mosaic Stadium and talked about the future of coach Miller. My co-host for the program was Duke Meyers of Global TV Regina. In hour two we were joined by Alouettes scout Alan Ford and the voice of the Pats Dan Plaster. Our Dash Tours Ultimate NHL Experience contestant for the day was Regina's Chris Hubbard. Click on the links below to download the audio!
