Gass Suspended

[Dion]

Arbitrator lives in Edmonton and is a huge Eskioms fan.

Go figure!

[Flames in 07]

Cue the CFL duelling banjo music.

Even the most staunch CFL fan must sit here sometimes and say 'this league is so bush'.

[Cerebral]

If nothing else, it should make for a good Labour Day game. I'm really looking for to it, it should be fun.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Yup.

The CFL has for a couple decades if not longer has routinely worked hard to solidify the league itself as a 3 ring circus. Good athletes, game is usually interesting to watch, albeit extremely simple ... but a circus league none the less.

That said there is no good excuse to look THAT bad?

Everyone keeps talking about how they build up such a great roster year after year ... someone said earlier that Jim will sacrifice chemistry for talent every day of the week. The last 2 games played out perfectly to that comment.

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Wow, that in a nutshell is why the CFL is bad.

Damon throws a clean pick and the ref blows it down because it goes over the WR's head.

Rinky Dink.

Edit: and then they make up a P.I. call to justify the whistle. yikes. ... and then on the next play they call another phantom P.I. ... on a ball that was over thrown by 15 yards?!?!?. Wow. How can they expect anyone to take this garbage seriously.

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Serious? ok, I'll stick with the NFL then where football is still a contact sport.

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

what a joke, they might as well play duelling banjos in the background whenever someone talks about the CFL. The integrity of the game is gone when people make decisions to NOT play by the rules because by screwing them they make more money.

Let me guess those two teams probably are NOT any of Edmonton, Montreal and Vancouver.

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Cue the CFL duelling banjo music.

Even the most staunch CFL fan must sit here sometimes and say 'this league is so bush'.

C'mon man, you know your football and I enjoy your posts in NFL threads, but why do you insist on crapping on so many CFL threads?

We get it, you don't like CFL.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by Dion

Arbitrator lives in Edmonton and is a huge Eskioms fan.

Go figure!

It was Chief Justice Wachowich of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta.

[FlamesKickAss]

HAHA Stupid CFL. What a joke

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by Cerebral

If nothing else, it should make for a good Labour Day game. I'm really looking for to it, it should be fun.

Agreed, a little extra emotion for the big game isn't a bad thing.

But from a bigger picture perspective its stuff like this that really does make the CFL look bush league. And prevents casual fans like me from returning to be hardcore fans like I once was. The optics of a season ticket holding, self-professed Esikmos fan lifting the suspension of an Eskimo player are just horrible. Awful.

[CaptainCrunch]

Why are any of you surprised, when the Esks snap thier fingers and open thier cheque books things happen.

I'm sure that any lawyer here would agree that allowing a long time Eskimos season ticket holder to arbitrate this case should raise all kinds of ethical red lights.

His decision dosen't even make sense when he compares Dickenson's incident to Gass' incidence. Dickenson removed his own helmet and flung it out of frustration. Gass pulled off an opponents helmet during a fight and flung it, thats a much more dangerous play and suspension worthy.

Hopefully Gass can afford to pay the $500 fine, but it might put a dent in his steroid budget.

[octothorp]

I want to know how this judge got selected as the arbitrator. Was he appointed by the league head-office? By the BoG? By the Eskimos? Would the same judge be used if the offending player was from a different team? If this was held in a court of law and a judge turned out to have any sort of vested interested in a company involved in a case, he would have no choice but to recuse himself.

I remember people on the hockey forum complaining that some judges involved in contract arbitration hearings had no real knowledge of the game. Honestly, that's a lot better than having judges who are admitted fans of the game.

Perhaps he did set aside his bias to come to this decision. Perhaps a second arbitrator would reach the same conclusion. Doesn't really matter, as the optics here are just horrible.

[troutman]

The arbitrator probably made the right decision (a one game suspension for a helmet toss is far in excess of what has been ordered in previous incidents).

However, it is a conflict of interest for a Eskimo season ticket holder to hear this case. He should have to disqualify himself immediately from any hearing involving the Eskimos. A Judge can't hear a case that he has an interest in.

[looooob]

in response to the above 2 posts, per an article by Dan Barnes that ran in todays Herald apparently this judge
1. was the only one available on emergency basis
2. states that he often makes decisions that go against the Eskimos

have no idea whether there is data to support point 2

I agree he may well have made the decision most consistent with previous rulings (no clue whether that makes it right, but consistency is important) but the optics are bad

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by looooob

1. was the only one available on emergency basis

Emergency basis? How is a CFLer appealing his 1 game suspension (for the 2nd time) an emergency? Its not like the guy was on death row waiting for a last minute call from the governor.

[Kerplunk]

What a whiner. Gass should man up and take the suspension. Tossing your own helmet is one thing, tossing one from the other team is another.

Maciocia should help send the message that this behavior is not acceptable and bench him for a game, but that won't happen either.

[browna]

An absolute joke. Uncle Hughie has his hands all over this one.

Anyone with respect for the league and respect for themselves as a man should take their punishment handed out to them, certainly in a 1 game situation.

That's alright, karma will get Gass eventually.

[Cerebral]

I refuse to believe you guys actually think that Hugh paid off an Alberta court official to have this appeal overturned. I know Edmonton and Calgary are huge rivals but the idea that the Eskimos are actually buying decisions now at the provincial court level is just somewhat preposterous in my view.

Heck, the judge exmplained himself today and his explanation made a lot of sense if you take the time to read it. The penalty for throwing a helmet has been somewhat arbitrarily decided on in the past but a suspension has generally been handed down when the helmet strikes someone else while a fine was levied when the helmet didn't hit anyone (a la the Dickenson scenario from last year).

Keep in mind both the CFL and the CFLPA agreed with the choice of arbitrator, it's not like Hugh showed up and picked him out of a crowd. Likewise, as Barnes mentioned, this exact same individual has apparently ruled against the Eskimos in the past.

[Cerebral]

Originally Posted by browna

Anyone with respect for the league and respect for themselves as a man should take their punishment handed out to them, certainly in a 1 game situation.

You should try checking the facts before insulting Gass's character. As has been stated numerous times, the CFLPA was largely pushing for the appeal along with Gass. Likewise, Gass won the appeal - how is he any more of a man for accepting a suspension that was apparently unjustified?

[calgaryrocks]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

C'mon man, you know your football and I enjoy your posts in NFL threads, but why do you insist on crapping on so many CFL threads?

We get it, you don't like CFL.

yeah its become quite obvious, he must just show up to diss the cfl. and whe he gets questioned he doesnt respond but later he does the same thing again in another thread. just quit it "flames in 07"

[OzSome]

Eskimos sure have a lot of pull in this league. The refs favour them and now Gass won't be suspended anymore.