When pitted against the NFL in terms of marketing, financials or professionalism, the CFL does not always come out on top in the court of public opinion.
But when it comes to the strength of our respective player associations in reference to our dispute-resolution provisions, the CFLPA has something the NFL players' union would absolutely kill for: the right to appeal grievances between itself, the league, and the member clubs by submitting them to an independent arbitrator.
Historically, this process has been quite favourable to the CFLPA, but when looking at the decision made by the independent arbitrator in the instance of the CFL vs. Jason Jimenez -- whereby Jason was initially suspended for a game by the league for a controversial block that was recently overturned -- I'm starting to wonder whether this is the ideal process now that it has left the victim, Anthony Garguilo of the Calgary Stampeders, less than satisfied with the outcome of the decision.
For the most part, the arbitration system appears to be a very fair and reasonable way to resolve disputes between labour and management and the member clubs in the CFL. All parties have a right to make their argument, support it with evidence and witnesses and have judgment passed on their dispute by an impartial authority. But in order to be an 'independent arbitrator' the legislation specifically forbids this party from having any association with the CFL, the CFLPA or the member clubs, which is fine and dandy except for those disputes that may require more seasoned or experienced football intuition in rendering a decision.
When looking at the overturning of the Jason Jimenez suspension, a story by Lowell Ullrich in the VancouverProvince reported that the arbitrator in this case premised his ruling to overturn on the sworn testimony of Jason, which remained consistent throughout the entire procedure.
"Under persistent cross-examination by counsel for the league, the player never wavered in the consistency of his version of the incident, namely that his leg buckled and that he stumbled and fell without any intent to block or otherwise come into contact with Mr. Garguilo." Jason testified that because of a car accident earlier that day and the medication he subsequently took, he did not have his wits about him, and during the play in question, fell unintentionally into the back of the leg of Anthony.
To an arbitrator without any ties or background in professional football, that would seem like the most plausible explanation for the incident occurring, especially when given under oath and in the absence of conclusive video evidence. But to someone immersed in the game of professional football, such as myself and Anthony Garguilo, both of whom are defensive lineman who have spent years in the trenches opposing offensive linemen, I can say with absolute certainty I have never seen an offensive lineman accidentally fall into the back of the legs of someone who has already run by them. In fact, in most cases, if an offensive lineman is beaten by a defensive player who is running unimpeded towards the quarterback, diving from behind at his legs or ankles to clip them is often a last-ditch and very illegal attempt at completing their block and sparing their quarterback from a sack or hit.
This is a behaviour most any defensive lineman would recognize, many offensive linemen would admit to, and very much part of the football culture that an 'independent arbitrator' would have no idea about as he/she is by rule unfamiliar with the players and the league. I'm not saying Jason lied under oath in his hearing but it took the overturning of a decision in this case to make me wonder whether that neutrality wielded by the arbitrator can sometimes be a detriment to the process.
On the one hand, the system of arbitration prevents a league and member-club dictatorship and abuse of power over the players without checks and balances. But at the same time, ideally, shouldn't the commissioner of the league have the interests of every party at stake and the integrity of the game in mind when he makes these decisions and hands down such discipline? While it's always great to be as fair as possible when it comes to disciplinary matters in football, what happens when that process takes away from the rights of Anthony Garguilo -- who to this day maintains that he thought the action toward him was deliberate and intentional?
Doug Brown, always a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Free Press.
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