Do fan mobs run the CFL? No, not that mob, the mob that is the individual fan bases wrapped up in social and traditional media. As commissioner Jeffrey Orridge starts his second season he has complex issues to deal with. The main one is how best to attract a younger demographic through the use of social media, while also tamping down the negativity that can swirl around certain issues.
Jones and Maas Coaching Promotions
Chris Jones and Jason Maas both took coaching promotions with other teams while having a year left on their contracts. The Jones to Regina story broke on the eve of the Grey Cup and was leaked by Saskatchewan president Craig Reynolds’ office to a TV personality who was more than happy to pander to the Rider fan base. Edmonton took the high road with Hervey, stating the Eskimos would not hold anyone back from being promoted.
Could the Eskimos have enforced the year left on Jones’s contract? Maybe, but that would not have done anyone any good. Esks general manager Ed Hervey was, as a member of the general manager’s fraternity, enforcing the long-honoured Code of Conduct between general managers, a gentlemen’s understanding that general managers don’t hold coaches back if they are getting a promotion and no compensation is given.
The Eskimos fan mob reacted and the Twitterverse blew a gasket with many wanting compensation. Thankfully Hervey, as well as Eskimos president and CEO Len Rhodes, took the high road, letting the fervor pass.
A few months later the Eskimos replaced Jones at head coach with former Eskimo Jason Maas, a similar transaction seeing as Maas had a year left on his contract as offensive coordinator with the Redblacks. Shortly after Maas was hired as the new Eskimos head coach, the Ottawa Redblacks owner, president and CFL governor leaked the news via local media that Ottawa was seeking compensation for Maas.
Fan Mobs vs League Committees
Unlike in the Reynolds media leak, the Redblacks have a head of football operations in general manager Marcel Desjardins. As the story evolved in the media, it was Hunt making statements pandering to the mob on how he didn’t feel respected in the exchange with the Eskimos and there needed to be a CFL policy on coach movement. However, where were Desjardins and Hervey in all of this? Moreover, why did it escalate so quickly, and why was it being played out in the media?
As a president and CFL governor, Hunt should have worked behind closed doors to change league policy by getting on or in front of the CFL rules committee to present his case for a coaching movement policy. His involvement, as non-football operations personnel, circumvents and undermines football operations people like Desjardins, and in turn shows a lack of leadership. Pandering to the mob to incite change outside of the normal process lacks common sense.
In late March, Eskimos CEO Rhodes spoke to the media on the topic. He essentially said that they were confident in their position and that no wrongdoing had occurred. This facilitated the CFL getting involved by installing mediation, and then commissioner Orridge put out a statement via various media outlets that in effect said no compensation would be granted and the matter was closed.
The Twitterverse once again erupted with the electronic rolling of eyes and questions about why it took so long. Common sense is not so common in the great unwashed masses of social media. The answer was due process and the fact that commissioner Orridge was actually putting thought and effort in research, understanding and preparing a response to a complex issue. Hunt acknowledged this, and was gracious in his post-decision statements.
Contain Polarization
While transparency is a good thing, exposing internal CFL squabbles over a difference in opinion in the public eye lacks professionalism and makes the CFL look bush league. Even worse, pandering to a mob through any form of media to gain support for a specific position is petty and lacks intelligence. I have nothing against plumbers or steelworkers, but does anyone really want Jake the plumber from Regina or Hal the Steelworker from Hamilton making CFL policy?
Fans are not qualified, and don’t have the temperament to reason out a response to complex issues. They should just be fans, enjoy the games, live or die with each play, cheer loudly for their defence and have a few laughs with their buddies while doing so.
There is a reason why the teams hire a CFL commissioner, and it’s not to take a straw poll and implement policy by the whims of what fan base mob yells the loudest. While one can be all for using social media to attract new fans, it has to be used positively and commissioner Orridge’s office must convince the CFL franchises to not stir up negativity this way.
Some might say polarization is good as it creates rivalries and that means more eyes on the television and bums in the seats. But it is not uncommon for fights to occur at games, as they did between Riders and Eskimos fans last pre-season; polarizing fan bases can be the powder in the keg with a few wobbly pops being the fuse. A positive message would lead to the alternative, more of what we see at Grey Cup where fans from across the league come together to celebrate the game.
The Firm
Across the pond in Europe, football firms have long violent and destructive history of overzealous supporters finding reasons to initiate conflicts with long-standing rivals. If the CFL is not careful, the mobs that roam the internet could become something much more than over opinionated zealots.
By far the biggest group of zealots that many in the media and at the league office fear is the Rider Nation. Not to paint the nation with one brush, but there are elements that take Rider Pride way too far. In the last few days on social media long time Rider play-by-play man Rod Pedersen did some homer pandering of his own and pitched the idea that the Riders will win the West in 2016. Not a big deal, except rather than posting his ideas on his blog and going in depth as to his reasoning, he sent it out into the twitterverse for reaction. Of course he had the typical Rider fan base thumbs up reaction, but what he didn’t expect is that Mike Reilly would call him out on Twitter for an opinion that seems to disrespect the 2015 champion Eskimos. While both were cautious to not go too far, the Rider fan mob took open shots at Reilly and the Eskimos fan mob did the same to Pedersen.
This may all be forgotten as we go through the draft and into camp, but as the CFL marches into a new era of social media usage there needs to be a media policy to control the message before things get out of hand and someone gets seriously hurt as a result of this nonsense.
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