...Mike Kelly wanted to hold a work-out with our qbs. for 09...LeFors, Dinwiddie and Randall....The players agreement says no dice.....Whats wrong with that picture...These guys were all volunteering their time....and we're quoted as saying they were looking forward in getting to know Kelly and his plans....Whats wrong with this picture....One arguement was that the players association were afraid of injuries....for cripes sake....A qb. could get injured in a weight-room...walking off a bus.... or any number of off-season activities....Another reason was that other clubs may not want to do this...As far as i can see that's their choice....I hope they review this clause in the players agreement....Meanwhile the Bombers say they will honour it...(if they don't they could face fines) Sometimes i think this league agrees to things that are regressive...not progressive....As a fan i want to see my club perform at its highest level....to do otherwise is NOT impressing me... :thdn:
You know papa, I looked at both sides of coin on this one. At first, I was angry that the CFL would not allow three willing players partake in a team workout that would only better the team. It's voluntary and if the guys get hurt, it wasn't like they were snowboarding without the teams knowledge, they were injured in basically a practice.
But I see the CFLPA's point here. You start allowing coaches to schedule voluntary workouts and the become less voluntary and more voluntary in the NFL-like sense. Players need off-seasons for many things but some players, they need the off-season to work and to support themselves. If they can't go to their team's 'voluntary' workouts, they are going to get pushed back on the food chain.
I know it seems dumb at first, but the PA is protecting all of its players on this one.
I have zero problem with this clause. Without it, training becomes an arms race, and unlike the NFL, these guys don't get paid the big bucks and thus don't have the luxury of millions to sit on if injury occurs. If someone gets injured during one of these 'suggested' practices, it's a serious blow to his livelihood. Certain CFL players are also forced to work second jobs in the offseason.
Every other team does fine with the current clause. I don't see why we should scrap it because Winnipeg has voluntarily put itself in a position where it has a rookie head coach taking over a squad of unproven QBs. Why should the rules change because the Bombers hired Mike Kelly and cut Kevin Glenn?
But in this case its QB’s we are talking about where they are making 80k plus and quite frankly if they can’t live off that there’s a problem so there is no need to work extra… so you take a couple week’s off your fast food joint that you work at for the winter. honestly it boils down to do you wanna keep this summer job where you make anywhere from 80k - 150k+ for about 5-6 months depending on if you make playoffs or do you wanna go out and find a job where you’d prolly work twice as hard to get paid that salary.
I don’t know about any of you but when a sport is close to your heart like football is to these guys and there whole dream was to make it pro, your whole life revolves around that game so you don’t care if your holiday gets cut short if it prolongs your career and your playing the game you love.
I get what the PA is saying. It may be 'voluntary' at first, but eventually it will become 'voluntary, but don't expect a starting job if you don't show up'.
Gameday is mandatory. Practices are mandatory. Training Camp is mandatory.
But in the offseason, nothing should be mandatory.
And while these workouts aren't 'mandatory', let's face it, they kind of are.
There's also the injury factor.
And every team has to abide by it, so it's equal all around.
....good one ...hftx.....although i think he looks little more like KoJack (Telly Savalas)....lol
I can agree with the position of the cflpa..IF this becomes a mandatory requirement in the off-season....In this case i don't agree....Telly wanted to get to know his guys...basically...kick the tires so to speak...He doesn't have the luxury (also the argos) that the other clubs do in knowing what he actually has..(except for Lefors)...I think he wanted to do a comparison of talent on his club...not knowing what Dinwiddie or Randall can actually do ...except from tapes...I think this rule should be looked at and changed....IF any other club does not want to participate ...their choice......The Wpg. qbs. were all for it....now i guess Kelly will have to wait till t.c. to have his qbs. demonstrate their stuff.....how ridiculous....Just my take.. :roll:
Nothing should be mandatory in the offseason. If you think it wouldn't become mandatory, just look at the NFL. Players would feel tacit pressure to attend voluntary camps, and suddenly you have a situation where you are basically asking your employees to work for free, you know, voluntarily.
I repeat: the PA should not be punished because the Bombers hired a rookie head coach who then proceeded to cut the established starting QB. Kelly wants to get a jump on the season? Well, too bad. He can work within the rules set out by the CFL like anyone else. I didn't see Trestman, Miller, or Hufnagel trying to do an end-run around the rules in their respective first seasons as head coaches.
Essentially, it comes down to this:
Whom does this rule affect right now?
No one but the Bombers.
Why does it affect them?
Due to circumstances within the Bombers' control. Nobody put a gun to their heads and forced them to cut Glenn. Nobody forced them to go into the season with three unproven quarterbacks under a new head coach. These were decisions that the Bombers themselves made.
So tell me why the rulebook needs to be rewritten to accommodate one team's self-imposed situation?
I am quickly losing confidence in Kelly's big mouth. Moron.
Kelly doesn’t even know basic rules and regulations.
What a clown show!
And that’s no different then any other club who has to hire a new coach from out of their organization. It happens. He’ll see it all in training camp anyway.
Maybe if Charlie Taaffe did a mini-camp in the '07 offseason, the Ticats would have had better success, but he didn’t because that’s the rules.
Same for every team. No matter who your coach is or how new your coach is.
…seems Higgins was oblivious of the clause as well… guess he’s a clown as well…he tried the same thing a couple of years ago with a pre-season camp…and was told it was a no-go…I think Kelly is testing the waters or trying to initiate a change here…We’ll see :roll:
repeat…there was nothing mandatory about this camp in FLA.,that Kelly was setting up… ‘its just another way to get free work out of a player’…c;mon …this is the guys career ain’t it…and they were all (qbs.) looking forward to it…Just because Trestman didn’t go that route…doesn’t mean someone else coming along shouldn’t challenge the rule…This could be the impetus needed to scrap this clause…We’ll see 
…Here’s another one for you discipline…One of the qbs. destined for that camp was rumoured to be Casey Printers…Now there’s one for you to chew on…I love it… :rockin: :thup:
wrong …it also effects the Argos and all of their ‘new’ personnell…I’m sure they’d love to get introduced to their people…
Why should the rest of the league pay for decisions your Bombers made on their own?
If you didn't want to be in this situation, you shouldn't have hired a rookie head coach and gone into camp with three untested QBs. Them's the breaks.
Frankly, your personnel issues are not my problem. Or any other team's problem. The league intervenes in uncontrollable situations, like injuries and so forth. Not to bail out a team for decisions it made without any outside arm-twisting concerning its personnel and coaching staff.
Kelly's upset? Too frickin bad. He can get his QBs into his system when camp starts just like everyone else.
And the problem with 'suggested' workouts is that they can very quickly become mandatory in practice without being mandatory on paper. Players could be 'encouraged' to attend these practices and tacitly downgraded if they don't. It would be especially difficult for players who don't make QB-type money who do have to work extra jobs in the off-season.
…HOW …please tell me …does the rest of the league ‘suffer’ from Bomber decisions…ludicrous…that’s your opinion…others might see it differently
Frankly i don’t care how you operate in your balli-wick either…this is an issue brought up by Kelly …Bauer and the Bombers…regarding a CFL issue…if it changes…it’ll be non-mandatory…
Kelly is holding a qb. camp in FLA…There won’t be any signed CFL players attending…Upset…i think not :lol:
I get the feeling disciplineandpunish, that you’re starting to over-react a bit…Could it be you’re getting a little unnerved, at seeing the Bombers becoming innovative and building a strong contender for 09…methinks thou prosteth too much :lol:
maybe not officially, but c’mon let’s be real.
And of course the qb’s are going to say they were looking forward to it. What else are they going to say? They want to make an impression on their new coach.
Thank you discipline! What I’ve been trying to say all along, but couldn’t phrase it well enough. You said it perfectly!
Tempest, meet teapot.