Riders close practices to Fans due to Message Boards

So Apparently the Riders have decided to close practices to Non-media for days 2 and 3 of the week.

http://lockerz.com/s/220219774

which message boards?

what info?

WOW, Head Coach is Paranoid already !!

Paranoia will Destroya !!

Most likely posters at RiderFans were posting a little too much detail on plays being worked on instead of just the usual “so and so was with the first team” or “so and so was injured” type of stuff.

Just took a look at RiderFans and apparently someone had been posting plays (including trick plays) that were being worked on in the practice reports at RiderFans. That crosses the line. It also looks like Chamblin has a lot of support there for the decision.

I read the stuff, and it wasn’t really that they posted the full play, they posted something along the lines of they were running sweeps with Bagg and Dressler. (since this was already posted on riderfans.com I don’t think I am saying anything new here) It wasn’t ground breaking stuff.
It does seem a little paranoid, but he does have a point. I hope they change the policy though as I know a lot of fans go who don’t post anything.

I believe the post on riderfans was edited afterward to remove that reference, as well as some others. :wink: :stuck_out_tongue:

I can see the point, but perhaps a better option would have been to do a hand out on the things the organisation would prefer fans kept to themselves.

Isn’t that pretty much a perfect list of things that other teams would want to know about? I mean if people get a note that says “today we’re doing a super secret trick play, don’t tell Winnipeg!”, sooner or later someone’s going to be offered a couple of free beers at the pub to tell them all about it.

....apparently someone noticed a guy resembling this fella in the stands
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g190/papazoola/th_kelly-leaves.jpg

lol, if you go to rider fans, they are actually saying it was a guy by the name of "heels" who they say is a bomber fan in disguise. LOL. for sure right, makes sense cuz i mean, the bombers play the riders twice all year. LOL.

The really strange part is coaches on other teams calling chamblin up to say.. hey i was trolling your fan site and found someone divulging your plays to us and the rest of the league.. i mean, really? do people really think it went down like that? IMO, i find that hard to believe. why would coaches call him up and tell him.. It just doesnt make sense.

I went to a couple Alouettes practices last season
A local TV crew was there
The team was extremely strict about when they could film and when they couldn’t
Leaving a very small window, basically during stretching and post-practise

I imagine it’s the same with other teams as well

I myself had to sit on a number of “trick” plays
One especially…which involved holder (and backup QB) Ricky Santos throwng an endzone pass to (linebacker) Chip Cox on a faked field goal. They never ran that play in the regular season. But I imagine they would have been pretty miffed if I’d reported seeing it and ruined all the work (and thought) they put into it.

It would seem the Riders are simply adjusting to the changing face of media and how people get news, sports or otherwise.
I wouldn’t be surprised if teams get folks to sign “non-disclosure” agreements before attending practise.
Considering the exposure of blogs nowadays, and the fact that so many coaches and players tweet and such…it won’t be long before all sports become more conscious of and restrictive towards these media and those who abuse them.

I mean a general list :roll:

For example, “don’t mention play specifics” or “don’t mention that we are substituting certain players in some schemes”, that type thing. Or just say its better to leave things very summarised, like “so and so was catching well today, layer out for a very nice grab, was extremely accurate, etc”

Clearly I’m not thinking they will say “at 10:08 we will be practising our super secret new trick play, shhhh”.