of shooting. Emelin was legitimately struck in the mouth are

The CFL Board of Governors is currently putting together a search committee to find a replacement for outgoing commissioner Mark Cohon. If you believe the word on the street, the number-one criterion for the new league leader will be a strong corporate presence in Toronto, a guy who knows his way around an office and who can broker the deal that finally gets the Argos into BMO Field. Cohon may be able to put a bow on his tenure by solving the Argos’ problem before he leaves and, in doing so, would cement his legacy as perhaps the game’s best-ever commissioner. Regardless of whether or not he’s able to get it done, it is time that the league office hires a commissioner who is a football guy first. Cohon took the league to a new level of success by initially controlling the message that was coming out of the head office in Toronto. He then was able to shift the focus to the field, where it should be, so that he could take care of some of the game’s biggest items on the agenda. Under his leadership, we saw the return of football to the nation’s capital, acelebration of the 100th Grey Cup game that was second to none, a new game-changing television contract and the improvement, or redevelopment of almost all the stadiums in our country. Cohon’s legacy will be that he took care of the big things, and has build a foundation for the league that should carry it for decades to come. Now it is time to take care of all the football-related small things that may have been overlooked while Ottawa was being added and stadiums were being built. You hear it all the time from coaches - if you take care of the little details, the fundamentals, the rest will take care of itself. The following are starting points, some bigger than others, but all football-related and all important to the growth of the game, and thoughts as to some of the items that should move to the top of the agenda and why a football guy in the commissioner’s chair would help get them done. Now is the time that the league explores and develops a pension for coaches. Regardless of nationality, a coach who has dedicated his life to our great game and invested between seven and 10 years in the CFL should be rewarded for that dedication and loyalty. The new commissioner needs to reward the guys who say goodbye to their families in May and don’t see them again until end of November with a small nest egg once they retire. Who better for commissioner than a former player or coach to understand the importance of rewarding our coaching lifers? It is time to support our officials more by increasing the budget in this area. That is not to say that the league office is currently neglecting the refs, but it’s time to start investing on improving, rather than just talking about improving, officiating. The game’s officials are men of integrity who do a fantastic job with what is perhaps the toughest sport on the planet to officiate. It’s time they were paid accordingly. Head refs should not have to hold down another job in the offseason. They should be paid enough that they can be working on their game 12 months of the year. The new commissioner needs to sell to the board on just how important that investment is and how it will pay off. It is time to rewrite the league’s media policy and put rules in place that every team will adhere to or will be fined. There is currently a media policy in the league; it just lacks consistency. A press conference before a game in Toronto looks very different than one in Calgary. Those conferences should be held at the stadium or a professional venue and should include the home and visiting teams back to back. Currently, the visiting team, at times, will do their media availability at a hotel lobby or do it at the stadium but hours after the home team is long gone. Depth charts need to be accurate and in the hands of the media two days before games. so that stories can be written about the stars of the game. It is time to better legislate the practice policy whereby, teams get one closed practice per week. Then, during the open practices, cameras can roll for a lot longer than a few minutes while the guys stretch and any and all players are available to the media on those days. Injury updates need to become mandatory with consistent language. A commissioner with a football background can communicate with coaches and players why this new policy is so important. Also, he would not for a minute be persuaded into thinking that switching a couple of guys on a depth chart to mislead the media, intentionally or not, actually helps you win. It is time to work on improving protocol with regards to player discipline. Kevin McDonald at the league office is currently in charge of that and does an excellent job, but this area can be improved upon, as well. We need to speed up the process and it is time for full disclosure, whereby all rulings are put on video and uploaded to the CFL website explaining the major decisions and why they were made. The new commissioner needs a football background to best facilitate improvement in this area. Also, the current rules committee process is very good, but it goes without saying that adding a commissioner with a football background would be beneficial. Mark Cohon was able to negotiate a new CBA with the CFLPA, which is excellent, but now the question is, are the two sides currently working on the next deal? Why wait for a few months before the current agreement expires? The time is right now to start working on the trust level and relationship between the league and its most important asset, the players. If the next commissioner is a football guy, finding that level of trust becomes that much easier. The new commissioner needs to have watched enough football on television to be able to work together with TSN to continue to improve on the overall presentation of the game. We can all improve, and that includes TV, and a commissioner who has been involved with the game his whole life will be able to work with television to improve the product. A commissioner who, at one time, played the game or coached will have watched enough of the game on TV to be able to work with the network from a position of experience. The time is now to start investing in a much bigger way in amateur football in our country and start to work towards improving the working relationship between amateur and high school football presidents and leaders and the CFL commissioner. It’s time to initiate flag or touch football into the physical education curriculum of every school in Canada. In PE, kids are asked to learn almost every sport available, as well as square dancing and yoga, so why not add touch or flag football to that agenda? A commissioner with a football background would understand how to implement initiatives like that in a safe way. There are still some big projects on the agenda when it comes to growing the Canadian Football League, like the Argos at BMO and expansion into the Maritimes. It would also be naive to think that developing a pension plan for coaches is a small project or that any new idea, no matter how small, wouldn’t come with a price tag. A corporate mogul in Toronto would be will prepared to work on those big projects and to balance budgets; however, BMO is close and, if common sense prevails, will happen. And expansion to the Maritimes is possible, but at least five to 10 years away. The next commissioner needs a background in football. He needs to roll up his sleeves and spend the next five to 10 years improving the on-field product and everything surrounding it. He needs to have the respect of the coaches, GMs and players because he was once in the same trench, trying to find a way to win a football game, just like they are now. He needs to have watched enough football on TV and been involved in the game at the highest levels, to know the dynamic in a locker room, what is fair access and what isn’t, and what football fans like when they watch the game, both in the stadiums and on television. He needs to unite all the stakeholders in the game from minor flag football for ten year olds to our high schools and our outstanding college programs. Corporate expertise can be hired when needed and, in fact, there is already a great corporate presence in the league office right now in Michael Copeland. He has tremendous experience in the boardroom, has worked with the governor and is well equipped to broker the BMO deal. An accountant is needed anyway to handle salary cap regulations and balancing budgets and should be hired. However, the next commissioner needs to be a football guy. Wholesale Blue Jackets Jerseys . This is the final meeting of the season between these teams.? The Capitals were 5-4 winners in a shootout Oct. Cheap Columbus Blue Jackets Jerseys . This week they discuss the Philadelphia 76ers, Gregg Popovich, Royal and Ancient Golf Club and Bill Belichick. http://www.cheapbluejacketsjerseys.com/ . His stated reason for abruptly resigning as head coach of Canadas Olympic womens hockey team was he felt there were doubts about his ability to coach the team to Olympic gold in February. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . - Maxence Parrot of Bromont, Que. Cheap Blue Jackets Jerseys China .com) - The San Francisco Giants delivered plenty of big hits to tie the World Series.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hey Kerry, I was watching the NBC coverage of Sundays Canadiens-Rangers game, and Mike Milbury and Ed Olczyk went off on the Canadiens for over-selling and embellishing to sell calls. In the third period, Carl Hagelin hit Alexei Emelin with a high stick and Emelin went down like a ton of bricks. Embellishment? Probably, but it didnt change the fact that it was a high stick. Did the sell by Emelin negate the high stick and the official basically said, "play on?" Or was this just a missed call? Morgan,New York, NY Morgan: I believe the play that you are referring to occurred with 8:24 remaining in the third period and the score tied at two. Carl Hagelin attempted a dump-in shot from the centre red line. Alexei Emelin lowered his posture to execute an active stick sweep check and contacted the puck as Hegelin was in the act of shooting. Emelin was legitimately struck in the mouth area with the blade of Haglins stick on the follow-through of an attempted shot. Emelins reaction to rotate his body away from the stick contact, then fall and grab his mouth was reasonable and not an effort to embellish and draw a foul. A player is permitted accidental contact on an opponent if committed in a normal windup or follow through of a shooting motion. No penalty was warranted to Hagelin on this play. I concur with Mike Milbury and Eddie Os analysis with regard to obvious embellishment committed by PK Subban and Tomas Plekanec in the second period of Sunday nights game. Even though the stick of Rick Nash did catch Subban in the face the upward launch with both legs was not a natural reaction or fall from being struck in that manner. Plekanecs theatrical performance was the absolute worst when he threw his head back and grabbed at his face after the flat blade of Brian Boyles stick slapped nothing but shoulder pad! Even though Boyles stick did not quite fit the criteria of a "high stick (above the height of the opponents shoulders) it was used in a careless manner and could certainly result in a slashing pennalty.dddddddddddd Plekanecs embellishment was also worthy of a penalty that should have resulted in an on-ice numerical strength of four aside. Given Plekanecs blatant overreaction it could even been deemed a stand alone embellishment penalty if the ref wanted to send a clear message but I doubt he would receive much support. Power plays and special teams can often be the difference in these games as we have seen. Once the referees are fooled into calling a penalty or fail to respond to efforts of embellishment on a play the floodgates can open up without so much as a splash on the frozen pond. In the first round of these current playoffs there were six diving/embellishment penalties assessed. None were a stand alone diving penalty but deemed to be embellishment that was committed following the initial infraction. The first two embellishment penalties were assessed in Game 2 against Mats Zuccarello and Derek Dorsett of the Rangers in their 4-2 loss to the Flyers. The Rangers management was not impressed with those penalty calls and expressed their displeasure to the series supervisor. I wonder if the Ranger brass is singing the same tune after Sunday night. Since joining TSN in January of 2011 I have stated on numerous occasions the need to clean up the unmanly act of diving. When uncalled, embellishment rewards cheaters. I am often asked how the ref can call both an initial penalty and a dive; isnt it one or the other? In reality, embellishment is most often committed after a player has been legitimately fouled. When that occurs both illegal acts should be penalized. Three years ago I suggested that a double minor penalty be assessed to the diver when he was legitimately fouled and the referee was calling a minor penalty. It would take some guts for the refs to impose a strict standard on a call like this but the game would be better for it. The referees also have to know their calls would receive the full support of management. Until players that embellish are penalized by the referees and held accountable by the League with published fines and suspensions as prescribed in rule 64.3, this illegal act will continue to plague the game. Its time for everyone involved to man-up. 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