Riders fined

Do you know how much they were fined R&W? If it was 5,000 the precedent was set… I heard that Winnipeg wanted to do a workout with some vets and new recruits in 2010… so its only the Riders who do these kinds of things… so for any Winnipeg fans to say the Riders are “cheating” are hypocritical…

You forget to mention that they fired Mike Kelly and 3 years later is still unemployed as a coach.

…no, I don’t, probably something…maybe they had to watch video’s from the federik years or something…

This was a stupid thing to allow happen. But as fas people bringing up exceeding the SMS, that isn’t cheating.

Meaningless point… and has nothing to do with the topic… the fact remains that Calgary did it first some years ago, Winnipeg tried it, and then the Riders… so its not unprecedented… the way some are carrying on here, one would think that the Riders are the “Evil Empire”… but for years (and I don’t care if it was before the SMS) Edmonton “cheated” with taxi squads… but the CFL was just as powerless then (as it is now) to stop it… don’t be surprised if the rules are changed to allow for 2 workouts during the off season…

There is a pattern. Riders have been fined more times than all other seven teams combined in the last five years.

You have a source to back up that claim? My guess would be no… :roll:

$5,000 is a joke. Breaking the rules, regardless of how minor the rule is, should be a much bigger fine than that. However, as long as the benefit of doing outweighs the penalty people are going to keep doing it.

Your right. Fine should have been 50k and the three players that participated in the free agent camp should be barred from playing during the two pre-season games.

You would punish the players???

I don’t agree with punishing the players either. To me you punish the team by levying heavy fines, and for repeated infractions, taking away draft picks. Let’s say 50k per player who participates in one of these illegal camps.

I don’t see it as punishment. The players are not paid for pre-season games so they don’t lose wages, union can’t complain that there is a financial hit and it is a good remedy to offset the avantage the team took or tried to take against the other clubs.

Just how I would have liked it done… As it stands now there is no deterrent to doing it, same as the ridiculous fine levied at the Argos for signing a coach under contract. If anything these fines entice teams to keep running their own show.

Perhaps it's a small fine because it's a small infraction. This does not warrant 4 pages of discussion.

when MIke keppy was the coach of the bombers, didnt he do something similar? sorry i dont have a source, was hoping maybe Blue blood or someone would remember. he didnt get fined though to my recelection.

He wanted to and the league told him he could not do it.

Playing in a preseason game is a way to win a job. You can’t take that away from a player especially when he is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

There are some great players out of work right now, Cobourne, Reynolds, Baggs. Careers can be short. How about all of the average players out there who earn their spot every June? EVERY JUNE. That is NOT an exaggeration. Contracts aren’t guaranteed at all.

Let’s take Jerome Dennis. Good player, hardly an all-star. Could start this year somewhere or get cut and never seen again, or anywhere in between. He NEEDS to impress his coaching staff. So the coaches ask him (this is TOTALLY HYPOTHETICAL example, not accusing anyone at all) to participate in an illegal workout. If he says no, Jerome knows it’s a big strike against him getting a job. So he participates. So the Lions get caught, and Dennis is barred from preseason which is also a big strike against him getting a job. So he’s damned if he does and damned if he don’t. And there are probably 200 Jerome Dennises across this league during training camp and preseason.

That is horribly unfair to do to the player. You don’t see that as a punishment? I would never dream of putting a player in such a no-win situation regarding his career. No way. The whole rule in the first place is to PROTECT the players and ensure them a proper off season.

I had posted a link and comment in page 2 or 3

Your link was about Mike Kelly, not MIke Keppy - that’s probably why he missed it. :wink:

I don’t think Goodspeed and Durant are fighting for their job. There were three veterans at the camp. Three strategic choices to do one on one. They brought their 3 best guys at the given position to go up against prospects. This was no mistake.

would that be Wal-mart?