the resurrection of side deals: teams trying to cheat cap?

[cromartie]

My thanks to the Cleveland Clinic.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
What is Munchausen syndrome by proxy?
Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSP), a type of factitious disorder, is a mental illness in which a person acts as if a football team he or she is caring for has a physical or mental illness when the team is not really sick. People with MSP assume the role of a sick football team directly or indirectly by producing or lying about illness in another person under their care, usually a small market sports team perceived as having fewer revenue opportunities than their larger market counterparts. However, cases have been reported of adult victims of MSP. (The term "by proxy" means "through a substitute.")

People with MSP have an inner need for their team to be seen as ill or injured. It is not done to achieve a concrete benefit, such as financial gain. People with MSP are even willing to have the football team undergo multiple underachieving seasons with poor GMs and coaches in order to get the sympathy and special attention given to people who are truly ill and their families. Factitious disorders are considered mental illnesses because they are associated with severe emotional difficulties.

In political circles, we call this "Beautiful Loser Syndrome."

[DerekDD]

My thanks to the Cleveland Clinic.

usually a small market sports team perceived as having fewer revenue opportunities than their larger market counterparts.

cromartie, the "small market "riders as you call them generated a league record in revenues last year of $23 million. i can guarantee you the lions weren't even close to that.

[Solar Max]

It seems that some fans can't make up their minds about BC. It's either

"Lions fans don't care and that is why they can't fill their stadium"

or

"The Lions are a bunch of dirty cheaters with piped in crowd noise, illegal side deals, an Owner that runs the league etc."

The way I see it, if number 1 is true then what would be the point of number 2? We obviously don't care enough about the team to anyone to consider throwing good money into an illegal side deal. Same goes for corporate sponsorship. What company is going to try and capitalize on the fame of a player in a sport that nobody cares about? Clearly, there aren't a lot of illegal sponsorship deals for Water Polo (just an example so Water Polo enthusiasts, don't get yourselves in a knot.) so if we truly didn't care about football, then the same should hold true.

So finger pointers, which is it? You can't have it both ways and you have failed to prove either in any case.

I like this one better, because it causes more upset stomachs in the tin foil hat crowd:

"The Lions are a bunch of dirty cheaters with piped in crowd noise, illegal side deals, an Owner that runs the league etc."

If you look at this objectively, it is actually a huge compliment to a team and it's fan base. To see that so much angst, venom and vile intention is aimed at the team that DIDN'T win a Grey Cup, while theirs did, shows a level of hatred and fear unknown since the days of the Evil Empire in Edmonton.

Eskimos fans never got the venom after seeing another team win a GC, though, which makes it even more flattering that the Rider faithful have chosen the Lions as the new source of all of their problems.

As Eskimos fans say, they may hate, because judging by those that come here from a certain other site, there is no doubt that they fear.

Long live the New Empire.

[Zarquon]

cromartie, the "small market "riders as you call them generated a league record in revenues last year of $23 million. i can guarantee you the lions weren't even close to that.

It was a Rider record not a league record I believe. Also with that much in Revenue but only $1.7 million dollar profit you have to wonder if maybe there were some Rider side deals going on.

[DerekDD]

cromartie, the "small market "riders as you call them generated a league record in revenues last year of $23 million. i can guarantee you the lions weren't even close to that.

It was a Rider record not a league record I believe. Also with that much in Revenue but only $1.7 million dollar profit you have to wonder if maybe there were some Rider side deals going on.

you're wrong. it is a league record for revenues. i also have a copy of the annual report by the riders made available to shareholders. its incredibly comprehensive.

the team made far more than the announced $1.7 million profit with the large bulk of it hidden in and added to the cash on hand line, which increased by more than $5 million over the span of one year. this is done to minimize the perception of profits not being as great as they are to justify further increases in ticket pricing.

the actual profit was around $7 million and need i point it it is a year in which the riders did not host a grey cup.

[Solar Max]

the team made far more than the announced $1.7 million profit with the large bulk of it hidden in and added to the cash on hand line, which increased by more than $5 million over the span of one year. this is done to minimize the perception of profits not being as great as they are to justify further increases in ticket pricing.

the actual profit was around $7 million and need i point it it is a year in which the riders did not host a grey cup.

"Dirty rotten cheatin', money hidin', lyin' Riders," says Derek DD.

How's it feel, Triple D? 8)

[ziggy]

cromartie, the "small market "riders as you call them generated a league record in revenues last year of $23 million. i can guarantee you the lions weren't even close to that.

It was a Rider record not a league record I believe. Also with that much in Revenue but only $1.7 million dollar profit you have to wonder if maybe there were some Rider side deals going on.

you're wrong. it is a league record for revenues. i also have a copy of the annual report by the riders made available to shareholders. its incredibly comprehensive.

the team made far more than the announced $1.7 million profit with the large bulk of it hidden in and added to the cash on hand line, which increased by more than $5 million over the span of one year. this is done to minimize the perception of profits not being as great as they are to justify further increases in ticket pricing.

the actual profit was around $7 million and need i point it it is a year in which the riders did not host a grey cup.

How do you it was a league record or what the Lions revenue actually was? If the privately owned teams are smart enough to cook the books and hide all their side deals maybe they are astute enough to hide their profits? Part of the SMS debate seemed to revolve around private teams not opening their books whereas the community teams had to be upfront.
Can't have it both ways!

[B.C.FAN]

you're wrong. it is a league record for revenues. i also have a copy of the annual report by the riders made available to shareholders. its incredibly comprehensive.

the team made far more than the announced $1.7 million profit with the large bulk of it hidden in and added to the cash on hand line, which increased by more than $5 million over the span of one year. this is done to minimize the perception of profits not being as great as they are to justify further increases in ticket pricing.

the actual profit was around $7 million and need i point it it is a year in which the riders did not host a grey cup.

It's not nice to fool auditors and misrepresent financial records. What do the Rider statements say the team spent on player salaries?

[Hambone]

the team made far more than the announced $1.7 million profit with the large bulk of it hidden in and added to the cash on hand line, which increased by more than $5 million over the span of one year. this is done to minimize the perception of profits not being as great as they are to justify further increases in ticket pricing.

the actual profit was around $7 million and need i point it it is a year in which the riders did not host a grey cup.

"Dirty rotten cheatin', money hidin', lyin' Riders," says Derek DD.

How's it feel, Triple D? 8)

It all makes purrfect sense to me. After the Grey Cup win everybody in Saskatchewan had to buy a 2007 GC Champion parka. And they aren't cheap offshore products either. They have to last 20 years.

[Solar Max]

It all makes purrfect sense to me. After the Grey Cup win everybody in Saskatchewan had to buy a 2007 GC Champion parka. And they aren't cheap offshore products either. They have to last 20 years.

You have a point. Luckily, most of us here do not share the negative view of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, 2007 Grey Cup Champions, that DerekDD does.

They are a great club, and need not have their name dragged through the mud as he has done in this thread.

[DerekDD]

It all makes purrfect sense to me. After the Grey Cup win everybody in Saskatchewan had to buy a 2007 GC Champion parka. And they aren't cheap offshore products either. They have to last 20 years.

You have a point. Luckily, most of us here do not share the negative view of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, 2007 Grey Cup Champions, that DerekDD does.

They are a great club, and need not have their name dragged through the mud as he has done in this thread.

yes indeed they are a great club. thanks for the compliment for the 2007 grey cup champs solar max. as far as having their name dragged in mud by me, i think thats only you that for some strange and vague reason sees it that way. i find it quite amusing that you somehow seem to think i have a negative view of the roughriders as they are my team and are the grey cup champs after all. i think you are saying these types of things to be provocative only.

[Solar Max]

yes indeed they are a great club. thanks for the compliment for the 2007 grey cup champs solar max. as far as having their name dragged in mud by me, i think thats only you that for some strange and vague reason sees it that way. i find it quite amusing that you somehow seem to think i have a negative view of the roughriders as they are my team and are the grey cup champs after all. i think you are saying these types of things to be provocative only.

I was just reading your words DDD, where you showed us the depths of the treachery imposed on the fans by the club, if that is indeed what did occur.

We thank you for your candor, but a tip for you: sometimes it is best NOT to air dirty laundry in public, or at least at the site of those you hate most.

Best of luck to the 'Riders defending the Grey Cup in 2008.

[DerekDD]

yes indeed they are a great club. thanks for the compliment for the 2007 grey cup champs solar max. as far as having their name dragged in mud by me, i think thats only you that for some strange and vague reason sees it that way. i find it quite amusing that you somehow seem to think i have a negative view of the roughriders as they are my team and are the grey cup champs after all. i think you are saying these types of things to be provocative only.

I was just reading your words DDD, where you showed us the depths of the treachery imposed on the fans by the club, if that is indeed what did occur.

We thank you for your candor, but a tip for you: sometimes it is best NOT to air dirty laundry in public, or at least at the site of those you hate most.

Best of luck to the 'Riders defending the Grey Cup in 2008.

i'll take that wish of good luck from you. as far as airing dirty laundry, its not dirty laundry as you say. its from the riders annual general meeting in which all shareholders can attend as the team is public. anyone with a semblance of accounting knowlege can see how the team built up its war chest this past year due to the major profit it made in 2007 and it has every right to add to this rainy day fund.

the team doesn't have the deep pockets like david braley has who is rumoured to have lost over $10 million during the dark days of the lions. he absorbed those heavy losses and for those of us who love the cfl, we are eternally grateful to him because if the lions folded, the league would be in big big trouble.

its amazing really that the riders true profit for 2007 was $7 million, almost as much as braley lost in those dark years of the lions. it was a banner year for the team and i am personally proud of the massive profit they posted. i can rest easier knowing they have this war chest in case of future rainy days. the eskimos also have a war chest of over $15 million and lions fans can also rest assured that, despite the team not having a war chest like this, that you have an owner with deep pockets like braley to keep the team going.

[Solar Max]

Good post.

I think you might try to step outside your 'Rider fanhood, and see how a fan of another team might read what you posted above, though. You basically said that your team does all the things that that your fans screamed about for years, and that you're proud of it. It was not flattering to the 'Riders, if you aren't a 'Rider fan.

Regardless, you cannot cry "Poor us!" anymore, given the view into the soul of the Riders that you provided.

I hope that there will be a HARD Salary Cap instead of a "Luxury Tax", that will allow disadvantaged teams like BC and Toronto to compete with the high spending, over the Cap teams like Saskatchewan and Montreal.

Maybe someday.

[DerekDD]

Good post.

I think you might try to step outside your 'Rider fanhood, and see how a fan of another team might read what you posted above, though. You basically said that your team does all the things that that your fans screamed about for years, and that you're proud of it. It was not flattering to the 'Riders, if you aren't a 'Rider fan.

no i didnt solar max. the riders don't have side deals. the only thing i alluded to was the accounting methods used to minimize the reporting of the riders profits for 2007 because a) the year was so outstanding revenues-wise and b) the riders wanted to dramatically increase their rainy day fund and after near bankrupcies, who can blame them?

the facts and figures, including total expenditures and expenses, are completely transparent and available to all shareholders, down to the penny. nothing is hidden whatsoever and all is available to the public shareholders who freely share this info with other non-shareholders. one even becomes aware of how much the riders made in merchandise sales, more than the rest of the league combined according to riders president jim hopson.

Regardless, you cannot cry "Poor us!" anymore, given the view into the soul of the Riders that you provided.

you are exactly right on that. the riders are not a poor sister in the cfl anymore, thats for sure. the $5 million injection into the rainy day fund grants credence to that. and in 2008, each team will make almost a million dollars more each off the new tsn deal so thats great news for all cfl teams and fans. as far as david braley is concerned, i think the terrible days are behind him for the lions. i am just afraid, and i've heard murmurs about this, that he may be willing to sell the lions in the future, and i'd hate to see the lions revert back to the days of dumb ownership that is not solid.

whats good for the riders and the lions is good for the cfl as a whole.