The Canadian Football League has a big problem its American counterpart, the NFL, shares, which is bad officiating. Unlike the NFL, where the league acknowledges bad calls after the game, the CFL seems hell-bent on refusing to admit mistakes were made by their officials. If you’re interested in betting on the CFL, check out our betting wagers for CFL games.
When it comes to public relations, the CFL already had a bad rap, but last week, the league took bad PR to a whole new level, turning something that would have been great publicity to the league into scorn from fans.
Last week, in a game between the Toronto Blue Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Ryan Lankford of the Blue Bombers ran back the opening kickoff for a 105 yard touchdown. Later in the game, Toronto’s Martese Jackson ran a kickoff back for a 109 yard touchdown. However, the referees decided to call back the touchdown on a questionable flag.
If this were any other game, it wouldn’t have made headlines because officials blow calls all the time. However, this wasn’t just any other game.
Karen Kuldys, a Winnipeg A&W employee, became a household name in Canada and the United States because the kick return that was called back in that game cost her a chance of winning $1 million.
Kuldys had entered the Safeway/Sobeys $1,000,000 Touchdown to Win contest, which required two kickoff returns for touchdowns to win $1 million. Had the refs allowed the kickoff to stand, Kuldys would be $1 million richer and the CFL would be basking in the glow of the positive public relations the story would have received.
Even after the officiating screw up, the CFL could have attempted to salvage some good PR if new commissioner Randy Ambrosie had stepped in.
Ambrosie could have fixed the situation by asking each team to contribute $111,111, which would have been enough to give Kuldys the $1 million she would have won.
Instead of stepping in and trying to make things right, Ambrosie essentially patronized her and make the CFL look cheap and weak in the process. While CFL franchises don’t make as much money as NFL teams, having each franchise contribute $111,111 isn’t too much to ask considering how much the teams make.
Instead, Ambrosie, who works on behalf of the owners, decided to give Kuldys 500,000 rewards miles from Air Canada and other gifts not even close in value to the $1 million she would have won.
Now, a week after the fiasco, the CFL looks worse than it did just a few days ago.
Since it’s pretty clear the CFL and the owners won’t do right by Kuldys, the least they can do now is to try and fix the officiating problems that have plagued the league for some time.
The flag that lead to the kickoff return being called back shouldn’t have been thrown in the first place because it occurred behind the play and Miller was falling down before he was touched. Plays like this occur way too often in the CFL and is something that needs to be addressed.
As commissioner, Ambrosie needs to let the refs know that they aren’t the stars of the game and fans don’t pay good money to watch them throw unnecessary flags. If the refs can’t abide by the rules, it might be time for the league to look in to refs that are actually capable of doing what they are paid to do.
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