Well this is slightly Alouettes related in the fact that he beat out Marcel Desjardins for the Esks GM job, and he stated that he will attend this Sundays game against the Als and has invited Danny Maciocia as his guest. I listened to the press conference announcing his hiring and it was pretty melodramatic, with Tillman breaking down several times. Im all for everyone getting a second chance in life, but hate to think what he will have to put up with patrolling the sidelines in places like Hamilton and Winnipeg. But you cant take away from the fact that he knows how to build championship calibre teams. His No. 1 priority he said was to build Canadian talent, something which Maciocia never understood, ironic considering his Canadian background. Tillmans hiring at this point in the season makes sense in that he can evaluate the team, and it also creates incentive for the Esks players to perform well, knowing they are under the microscope of the GM who has their future in his hands. So Sunday`s game might not be a walk in the park for the Als.
Seeing these two losers together makes me appreciate the guys we have in Montreal that much more. Bet you Maciocia leaves the kids at home 
S'il ne fait aucune doute que Tillman est un des excellents cerveaux du football canadien, il demeure que la charge qu'il va occuper comporte une dimension publique.
Est-il concevable qu'un gars qui a plaidé coupable à des accusations aussi graves que celles qui pesaient contre lui puisse si rapidement réintégrer un poste aussi en vue dans le public? Dans la province championne de la loi et l'ordre, il y a là un côté hypocrite qui sonne faux.
Tillman a dit en conférence de presse que sa conduite avait été le résultat d'effets secondaires de ses médicaments. C'était une défense parfaitement valable à faire valoir au tribunal, ou au moins pour bénéficier d'un doute raisonnable, et pourtant, il a préféré plaider coupable et avoir un dossier criminel. C'est donc que son explication n'était pas suffisante pour établir un doute raisonnable pour un juge ou un jury, mais devrait être acceptable pour le public afin de le pardonner de ses gestes graves?
Que Tillman ait une deuxième chance éventuellement, peut-être, mais il me semble que le respect le plus élémentaire de sa victime commanderait qu'il montre d'abord qu'il s'est réellement affranchi de ses tentations.
Si Tillman n'avait pas occupé le poste le plus populaire de la Saskatchewan, je ne crois pas qu'il aurait eu droit à un traitement aussi clément. Il aurait été derrière les barreaux, comme Guy Cloutier.
LeStaf, I have to say that in most cases I fully agree with your post (or at the very least highly respect your point of view), but on this one I simple can't come to terms. By know means should you take this a plea to try and change your point of view on Tillman, as you have made some pretty strong statements in a couple of post, I just thought it would be good to get a couple (or at least one depending on how you count them) of key points clarified as I feel that maybe you have been mis-informed or do not have all of the information on this particular situation.
Despite his guilty plea Tillman does not have a criminal record. The charge that crown brought against him did not carry with it a criminal record or any possibility of jail time. All though the way that Tillman conducted himself to bring upon the charges, is not in any way excusable, it also should be kept in perspective. This particular case deals more so with a lapse of judgment leading to an inappropriate gesture (whether the defense of medication is valid or not is different debate), and not to any sort of physical assault on another human. This case should not in anyway, shape, or form, EVER be compared with Guy Cloutier.
As for the idea that if he was not at the helm of the provinces football team and held in such high regard in the province of Saskatchewan that he would be behind bars, I would dispute that and in fact ague that the very opposite is true. If he did not have such a public persona in Regina I would venture to guess that not only would he not have gone to trial, but that charges would not have even been brought upon him.
For what it is worth, my view on this, is that what Tillman has already gone through, in terms of having to face both his family and that of young lady that pressed charges (which from all reports her family had tried to work with Regina police to have to charges revoked) and an entire province of football fans, along with losing his job and lively hood, is plenty in terms of a punishment. I do, however, think that there is a certain amount of irony in all this, given that Tillman has demanded such a high level of personal and professional conduct from the players and individuals within any organisation that he has been a part of.
Maybe all this does change your view of the situation, however, I did feel that strongly about throwing in my 2 Cents before others may jump to conclusions that Guy Cloutier and Eric Tillman were two of the same suit.
Lets talk some football!
I agree, one is a sexual predator the other a sexual deviant
All humans have "feet of clay", i.e. they are subject to bad behaviour, in some cases criminally bad.
Professional athletes, and everyone associated with them, are in the public eye. A run-in with the law, therefore, will always make headlines and the bigger the fish, the bigger the headline. Eric Tillman was not accused of a misdemeanour, he was accused of a very heinous crime to which he pleaded guilty. True, we do not know all of the details of the case, but the fact remains that things like this tarnish the reputation of the individual, the organization/team he represents, the CFL, and pro sports in general.
Il est vrai que Tillman n'a pas de dossier criminel. C'est sans doute l'entente qu'il a conclue avec la Couronne. Je plaide coupable, mais je suis absous sans condition. Et le juge lui a courtoisement accordée. Je conçois que certaines zones grises existent dans son dossier mais je doute que les faits graves qui lui sont reprochés ne soient pas arrivés, et ainsi, sa réintégration rapide au sommet d'une équipe pose encore certaines questions.
Disons simplement que si Tillman récidive, qui sera à blâmer pour l'impact que cela aura sur les Eskimos et la ligue? Une période de probation avant de se retrouver au sommet d'une équipe de la LCF aurait été à propos.
Maintenant, puisqu'il est en poste à Edmonton, il y a maintenant un sérieux espoir que les choses vont s'améliorer pour les Eskimos, parce que Tillman est, à mon humble avis, la deuxième meilleure tête de football dans la ligue (la meilleure étant Jim Popp, dans mon esprit). Certains pourraient préférer Hufnagel à Tillman pour ce classement et ça serait défendable. Mais le cumul des succès de Tillman me fait pencher de son côté pour l'instant.
Contrairement à Toronto l'an dernier, où toute l'attaque était à repenser, il y a de bons éléments offensifs à Edmonton, à commencer par Ricky Ray, qui est un quart meilleur que son équipe en général, et plusieurs autre joueurs (Stamps, Whitlock, Lloyd, Bertrand, Campbell, Talbot, Glatt, Préfontaine, Hill, pour ne nommer que ceux-là). C'est autour des qualités de Ray qu'ils devront bâtir l'attaque, donc une bonne ligne offensive pour permettre à Ray de mettre en valeur ses qualités de passeur, et un peu plus de profondeur contre la passe.
Tillman n'hésitera pas à remettre en cause toute l'équipe de recrutement des Eskimos. C'est là que Maciocia a failli, et c'est là que Tillman est le plus fort.
Un beau revirement en perspective, côté football.