Use of ‘n-word’ ticks off LaPolice

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This article was published 25/06/2011 (5189 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On a night when a nation received unprecedented access to the language of football coaches and quarterbacks, it was a single word uttered by a Winnipeg Blue Bombers player who was not even among the participants being miked by TSN Thursday night that attracted the most attention Friday.

Bombers defensive back Arrington Hicks was flagged for objectionable conduct in the critical final moments of the Bombers 30-23 loss to the Toronto Argonauts at Canad Inns Stadium Thursday night, a game that was broadcast live across Canada by TSN.

Hicks’ offence? He allegedly referred to a Toronto player by the “n-word” following an Argos punt with just 1:43 remaining in the game. Hicks is African-American.

All of which would almost certainly have remained one of those heat-of-battle secrets — except that Bombers field boss Paul LaPolice, also wearing a TSN microphone during the game, was overheard scolding Hicks immediately afterward for using the n-word.

That immediately set the Twitter-verse atwitter and the plot thickened even further late Friday when Hicks was among the 12 players the Bombers cut in the lead-up to today’s league deadline for teams to submit their 46-man roster and seven-man practice roster.

LaPolice, who only reluctantly agreed to wear TSN’s microphone, was asked if the player’s conduct on Thursday night led to Hicks’ departure on Friday.

“No. Guys make mistakes, and that’s OK,” LaPolice told reporters after the cuts were announced. “We’re looking at a body of work for them. And understand that some of these guys we cut today may still come back.”

That last comment seemed to suggest that perhaps the Bombers might find room on the practice roster today for Hicks, a 22-year-old Orlando native out of Eastern Michigan.

The n-word is on a short list of words that the CFL warns players will draw an immediate flag. The penalty pushed the Bombers back 10 yards as they took to the field with the game tied 23-23. That Bombers drive went nowhere and the Argos won the game four plays later when third-string Argos running back Chad Kackert busted a 73-yard touchdown run to give Toronto the victory.

“I know we taught all our players in training camp — the third day of training camp we went through it with the officials when they were here — that is something we do not do, you cannot do,” said LaPolice. “(Hicks) heard it from me because we’ve gone over this and we’ve learned it and he got us a (10)-yard penalty when we needed to drive the length of the field.”

In fairness to Hicks, it does appear to be a bit of a moving target when it comes to what teams and the league will permit in terms of the use of the n-word by CFL players. For instance, several African-American players — including at least one on the Bombers — routinely use a variation of the n-word on their personal Twitter accounts, substituting the -er suffix with an -ah suffix.

“I don’t think I said anything out of line,” LaPolice continued. “I just reacted to the moment. I don’t know why they didn’t bleep me out. I certainly wouldn’t say the word, but I wanted to make sure (Hicks) understood that is something we don’t condone.” The Bombers declined to make Hicks available for an interview Friday night.

For the first time ever, TSN had both head coaches and both starting quarterbacks wear microphones during the game Thursday night, providing football viewers an intimacy not unlike viewers have long enjoyed on TSN’s curling broadcasts.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Walking papers

THE Blue Bombers brought down the axe Friday afternoon, cutting a dozen players as the club gets poised to begin the regular season next Friday in Hamilton against the Tiger-Cats.

And the cutting isn’t done yet. Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice has trimmed his roster from 71 players to 59 with the cuts, but still needs to get down to 53 — a 46-man regular-season roster, plus a seven-man practice roster — by the league deadline of 2 p.m. today.

“This is not a fun day for coaches,” LaPolice said Thursday. “You control a lot of people’s livelihoods. But that’s what you sign up for. If you treat people fairly and you’re honest with them, hopefully they handle it well.”

LaPolice said there were some challenging decisions.. “The overall talent is better on this team than it was one year ago today. There’s some tougher decisions.”

Following a 30-23 loss at Canad Inns Stadium Thursday night to the Toronto Argonauts, the Bombers did not practise Friday and LaPolice said they will not practise again until Monday.

Three Bombers players were injured in Thursday night’s game: DB Johnny Sears (ankle); LB Clint Kent (ankle); DT Deji Oduwole (undisclosed).

Here’s the list of players cut Friday:

Import offensive tackle Marlon Winn

Non-import offensive lineman Matt Morencie

Non-import wide receiver David McKoy

Non-import wide receiver Josh Bishop

Import wide receiver Alex Watson

Import wide receiver Damian Sherman

Import linebacker Rico McCoy

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Non-import defensive lineman Shawn Mayne

Import defensive end Kenny Mainor

Import defensive end Bryant Turner

Import defensive back Arrington Hicks

Non-import kicker Rene Paredes