The CFL team report cards are out based on what the players have said. A basis for discussion and some fun I would think. I wouldn’t recommend taking anything too seriously as the exercise was far from scientific. There were no controls for the experiment nor do we know how many players participated or how the responses were weighed or graded. At best maybe it provides some general information and discussion fodder.
A more in depth look from #DownNation containing a chart of all ratings:
Beat me to it…I deleted my post and just added some hot takes on here.
Bomber Hot Takes:
“I believe we have very poor travel out of Winnipeg for away games,” a survey respondent said. "We are placed in a very small transport plane with limited seating and very little leg room.
“We are fed cookies and goldfish (crackers) and chips. It is very uncomfortable and everybody I know on the team dreads the away games.”
Toronto Hot Takes:
“When told that I needed a surgery, there was little to no effort in getting a doctor to co-ordinate a surgery date,” cited one respondent.
Added another: “We’re lucky if we get one pair of cleats here. It shouldn’t be a hassle to ask for a new pair of gloves or cleats. I buy a couple pairs of cleats every season and never get reimbursed for this.”
Montreal Hot Takes:
“On game day there is a small room provided for families,” a player told the survey. “However it is tucked away with no amenities or even TVs to watch the game.”
Added another: “I feel compromised when I’m injured and I always have to utilize a second opinion. I also have to go to another location to complete treatments because we do not have any modalities outside of a 20-year-old ultra sound machine.”
Edmonton Hot Take:
“Need better food for practice and after the game,” a player told the survey. “Cold pizza isn’t good enough.”
Illuminating. Pulls back the curtain on individual team operations.
Was surprised to see such high marks for training camps (especially Toronto). Montreal used to go down to Florida for theirs yet get a C- here.
Also, was not aware BC was such a poorly run organization. Crappy grades almost across the board.
Calgary and Edmonton’s struggles have been well known for a while now.
Hopefully they add the facilities to next years survey. That was the only thing missing
I’m wondering if the “equipment” category was meant to cover “facilities”?
Like I said, this was far from a scientific survey and I we don’t know what each category included, unless someone can find more particulars somewhere or they release further particulars.
They said they left facilities out of this years version because of the age of some teams facilities.
For me that’s a prime reason to include them because if I’m a player, that’s right after what money the team is offering in order of importance if I’m a player. I’ll eat the cold pizza in exchange for proper dressing room/gym/meeting space.
I cannot agree more, for that simple reality that the facilities are excluded from this exercise speaks to far more that has not been addressed.
Excluding facilities from this exercise is akin to staging a fight, but informing the fighters that in addition to all other restrictions, now there can be no strikes at all to the head, thus making the “fight” any more a less realistic spectacle as hardly a real fight.
This is quite interesting in the sense that the players can voice their concerns about certain areas, but honestly there’s not a lot that can be done without the cash in the league to do so.
Most of the improvements that can be done will be along the fringes and duty of care to the players and their families (communicating and treating them with respect).
Family Treatment - Its quite telling that half the teams got Bs and half the teams got Ds. Not locking up family inside a small room during games would seem like a very easy thing to fix
Travel - I doubt there will ever be A just due to working across this vast mostly uninhabited country
Nutrition/Diet - there’s no endless budget for avocados like in the NHL but I expect better than cookies, goldfish crackers and chips
Medical Staff - Again you’re competing with the NHL. It’s not comparable. Toronto’s MLSE might give the Argos a privilege other cities may not have
Players and agents talk. The players get a pretty good glimpse into other teams’ facilities on their road trips. It’s interesting to the fans to hear some of the comments but I believe the players have an idea of what type of amenities they’re walking into when they sign. Food, training, travel arrangements maybe not as much. I think the overall purpose is to put more pressure on the teams to all up their game so it’s more equal across the board. Calgary might not be able to offer a first class gym but could improve in other areas to make it more attractive to sign there.
This interview with Dyakowski is posted over in the Cats forum but will give more insight into the process. I believe there was more work put into it then we might think.
