First off, Joe Paopao will be inducted to the Lion's Wall of Fame tonight in B.C.......congratulations are in order.....
but what's this other news that came out today?....
here's a snippet:
[i]However, according to league president Jim Rion, the ruling stems from a game Halton played in Essex on June 30. Essex drubbed the Invictas 73-0 during a televised game. After the loss, Halton head coach and former CFL coach Joe Paopao allegedly instructed his staff not to shake hands with the Essex staff.
"The shaking of the hands is the biggest part. It's definitely unsportsmanlike, that's for sure. And that's not what the league is about," OVFL president and Guelph resident Rion said. "I mean, (Paopao) goes to a TV game without enough players and then complains when he gets beat up.
"After that, it just became a safety issue."
The league mandates a team dress at least 30 players for games.[/i]
Joe wasnt even supposed to be coach. He just wanted to help, then the coach quits and he gets talked into taking over a really lousy team that is struggling just to field enough players from game to game. Joe has had little control, little time for preparation, little to work with. He is doing a favor. This is not the pros where each team has a duty to score as much as possible for a full 60 minutes. This is mid teens. After a 40 something to nothing half time lead, the other coach either kept his starters in til the end, or put them back in to score more near the end. This is enough of a slap in the face to upset even guys like Joe. He also did not know that there was actually a rule about shaking hands. He also chose to be suspended rather than having each member of the team pay a $100 fine.
Sounds like the league is a mess. Paopao's team shouldn't be allowed in next season if they cannot field a team but to single out the replacement coach for treatment like this is beyond moronic
I thought Paopao was given a bum rap in Hamilton, the scapegoat for a lot of the ills. But who knows with a different head coach, a healthy QB we might have been praising him now.
I thought he ran some exciting offence in Ottawa.