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Oh wait. They’re not joking. Eskimos linebacker Agustin Barrenechea has been fined by the CFL for his illegal hit on Bombers QB Kevin Glenn Friday night. You know, the helmet on helmet, late hit? The type of hit that people around football would love to never see again? The very same one, and instead of a suspension, we get an “undisclosed fine.” Weak.
I, and clearly I’m not alone, have a problem with this on so many levels. Lets start with the hit itself. Without labelling the player, the hit was dirty and unneccesary. Linebackers and D linemen know that the quarterback is off limits as soon as he’s thrown the ball, so it was dumb in that regard. But even if he had hit him late, which we see all the time, this isn’t a huge topic. Roughing the passer call is levied, and we move on. But the fact that he deliberately (can’t really argue that) went helmet-on-helmet with Glenn makes it even worse. So, the hit was dirty, no question. It needed to be disciplined, and to me, at least 1 game suspension was appropriate.
But the CFL turtled once again, and Commissioner Cohon again showed why this league is a joke in so many ways. You can’t really blame Cohon either…he is about as handcuffed as humanly possible in this situation. You know there is some language in that Collective Bargaining Agreement that makes it really hard for Cohon to hand out the punishment deserved in this situation.
And, really, what does it matter? Even if Cohon DID sack up and throw down a 1 or 2 game suspension, it would just get overturned wouldn’t it? Do AJ Gass or Jason Jimenez ring any bells? There is a track record in this league that says…”if you break the rules, we’ll suspend you, you’ll appeal and play during the process, and then an independent arbitrator will overturn the suspension altogether.” So Cohon is in a lose-lose…suspend him, it gets overturned, you take flak for the CFL’s rules. Don’t suspend him, fine him instead, and you take flak for being weak.
It just sends such a brutal message to fans…and such an undesirable one to players. It’s the same message…do something dirty (jeopardize Anthony Garguilo’s career, throw a helmet, drive your helmet into someone else’s), and don’t pay the price for it. The CFL is made up of almost all awesome dudes, which is a damn good thing…because there is no culpability in the league, and if it weren’t for the honor and sportsmanship in the CFL, it could be a real problem. But you can’t fall back on that! Regardless of how much sportsmanship there is in the CFL, there has to be accountability! Players cannot do dirty things and not get away with it. And I’m sorry, but an “undisclosed fine” on a late, dirty, helmet-to-helmet hit is basically the same as getting away with it.
Pat,
Well a sports fan should be angry, I think your anger in misplaced.
First off to lump this into a traditional dump on the CFL is wrong.
The blame for this belongs to the Players’ Association which allegedly represents the player’s interests. Blame like this falls to most Players’ Associations across professional sports. Where was the NHLPA for Greg Moore when they were there for Bertuzzi? Where was the CFLPA for Anthony Gargiulo when they were there for Jiminez?
The CFL is bound by a CBA with the CFLPA that has no real teeth in dealing out punishment. Unless the players want to protect themselves from themselves, this will never change.
You know the league wanted to be able to do more about this incident, especially with a rematch coming up on Saturday. It’s up to the players to show some respect for each other on the field. If they can’t do that on the field, then they need to show the respect for each other bu allowing the rules to be put in place that punish players for what they do on the field.
PS: Thanks for the comment Dan. I absoloutely agree with you in that the Commissioner’s hands were tied, and the fact that the CFLPA needs to step up and take some responsibility. But I don’t think the CFL is without blame here. 2 reasons for that…first, I think Cohon et al have to push the PA to sit down at the bargaining table again and fix some of the language in the CBA. Second, regardless of the process, I still believe Cohon needs to levy a suspension, regardless of whether it’s going to be overturned. It just screams “easy way out” to me.
- Dan J. Rudiak