The CFL's New Commissioner is....

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Rammer
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BREAKING NEWS - AM 770, Calgary

The CFL has named Jeffrey Orridge, former head of the CBC's Olympic coverage, the new commissioner of the league. He replaces Mark Cohon.
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Rammer
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Orridge

The ex-CBC executive director of sports lands the job for the CFL's top job. He is an interesting selection, hope he guides the CFL into the next era of marketing, which has always been the Commissioner's primary job since the 70's.
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B.C.FAN
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Congratulations to Jeffrey Orridge and thanks to Mark Cohon for excellent leadership.

Orridge seems to have the right focus on enhancing fan experience and recognizing that the Argos' situation is the league's top priority. On that front, David Braley had some encouraging words about making progress toward a deal to play at BMO Field.
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I guess. I don't know if an affiliation with CBC sports is necessarily a ringing endorsement. Over the years, that portion of CBC has been trashed and thrashed until is really a non-entity in the sports scene. The loss of HNIC was pretty much the killing blow.
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Toppy Vann
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Glad to see the exit of Cohon whose basically only claim to fame is trashing the players' union brilliantly.

There has not been a lot of progress other than Ottawa back in the CFL. TSN lifted the coverage quality and has provided great telecasts.

Not sure of this guy's potential to market and GROW the fan base in actually attending games. He can't be worse than Cohon.
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Wonder how much input David Braley had in the hiring of the new Comish
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http://www.thestar.com/sports/football/ ... ridge.html
Four things to know about new CFL Commissioner Jeffrey Orridge

The Canadian Football League has named its new commissioner, former CBC Sports executive director Jeffrey Orridge.

New CFL Commisioner Jeffrey Orridge has more than 20 years of experience in sports management.

David Cooper / Toronto Star Order this photo

New CFL Commisioner Jeffrey Orridge has more than 20 years of experience in sports management.

By: Thestar.com Published on Tue Mar 17 2015

Jeffrey Orridge has been appointed the new commissioner of the Canadian Football League.

Orridge previously served as executive director of CBC Sports and general manager for the Olympics on CBC.

“I believe we are living in an age of seemingly limitless possibilities, and the opportunities ahead for the Canadian Football League are second to none,” Orridge said at a press conference Tuesday.

He will replace Mark Cohon, who served eight years as commissioner before leaving the post in January.

1. Born in New York

Orridge was born and raised in New York. His father worked as an assistant dispatcher for the New York City Transit Authority, and his mother was a social worker and registered nurse.

2. Education and athletics

In his youth, he competed in track and field and played basketball before tearing his ACL.

Orridge attended Amherst College, where he obtained an undergraduate degree in psychology, and later graduated from Harvard Law School.

3. Career in sports

Before joining CBC, Orridge was the chief operating officer at Right to Play, an international organization that promotes the power of sports and games for children in disadvantaged countries.

He also held positions at Mattel, Warner Bros., Reebok, and USA Basketball, where he served as head of business and legal affairs from 1991-1994.

4. Toronto-based

Orridge has lived in Toronto with his family since 2007. According to the CFL, he is about to become a Canadian citizen.

He will assume his new duties as CFL commissioner on April 29.
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WestCoastJoe
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I did not mind Cohon. It seems to me he was Commissioner during one of the bright times in the CFL. I thought he did a good job.

Best wishes to the new guy. Grow the league.
According to the CFL, he is about to become a Canadian citizen.
:thup:
Orridge has lived in Toronto with his family since 2007.
If he truly understands the Toronto sports market, that would be a big plus.

Infatuation with the Leafs???

NFL envy???

Centre of the Universe perspective???

Save the Argos. Get a stadium deal.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl-5 ... 20934.html

(link includes a 2-min video from Orridge's presser)
Why the CFL chose Jeffrey Orridge as its new commissioner
Andrew Bucholtz

After a five-month search, the Canadian Football League has found its new commissioner - current CBC executive director of sports Jeffrey Orridge.

CFL board of governors chair Jim Lawson introduced Orridge (who officially starts his new job April 29) to media at a press conference in Toronto on Tuesday. Orridge has a Harvard Law degree and has spent over 20 years in a wide variety of brand-building positions, many of them sports-focused. His CBC job had him overseeing rights acquisitions, partnerships, digital opportunities and more, and he previously held major roles at Right to Play, Mattel, Warner Brothers, Reebok and USA Basketball. Lawson said the CFL received tons of well-qualified applications, but Orridge's breadth of experience stood out.

"I think it's a real credit to the Canadian Football League and where it is today that we can attract such quality candidates," Lawson said. "We stuck to our job spec more than anything in terms of leadership, sports, media experience."

Orridge certainly has that. At the CBC, he helped land media rights to huge events such at the Olympics (2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020), and he also managed to find a creative way to keep the cash-strapped broadcaster's Hockey Night In Canada brand via sublicensing from Rogers. Both the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the 2014 FIFA World Cup were huge successes for CBC under his direction in profitability, broadcast reach and the digital realm.

Orridge's sports and business experience goes well beyond that, though; he was the COO and head of global business development for Right to Play, the vice-president of corporate strategic planning for Mattel, the director of sport licensing for Warner Brothers, the director of global sports marketing for Reebok and the assistant executive director of USA Basketball. That's a remarkable and varied resume, and it's one that should serve him well in this new role. It's a role he should have for a while, too; Lawson said this was a long and deliberate search, and one designed to put in a commissioner who will be there for the forseeable future.

"We took our time and we wanted to make sure we get it right," he said. "It's certainly our intention that this is a long runway."

Lawson said Orridge's experience in reaching younger generations (at CBC, amongst many other things, he oversaw the hugely popular Olympics app and the digital Olympics coverage) was particularly vital to the board's choice.

"It's a very competitive sports and entertainment world," Lawson said. "We need to move the needle we need to reach out to that next generation. ...This was the skillset the board of governors thought would do that."
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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He has held some good positions but I'd like to see a more detailed resume with dates, etc before I'd automatically say this is guy is the saviour and the guy who can do something about Toronto's fan base as that 'flagship' location is a league embarrassment and must be hard for good coaches and players. Good credentials and a guy who is about to become a Canadian citizen. Is Toronto to the CFL what LA is to the NFL??? Fans get their football via TV?

There are many (met these guys) who have held senior roles but keep moving around such that they never stay long enough to actually achieve anything or get caught out and get themselves fired as they are always on the way to becoming something else.

What the CFL needs though is a real marketing push to grow the game and bring in more fans and expand successfully.

The TSN broadcasts and coverage have improved to be as good as any pro sport coverage despite pockets of criticism of one world class broadcaster and as this has happened it's made it less of a requirement to go to games.

Is it my sense that the traditional Friday night double headers were not there last year like in other years? That is great for a weekend start but if you stay home you could see two games - although you have to record the first one if you are still at work.
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Toppy Vann wrote: The TSN broadcasts and coverage have improved to be as good as any pro sport coverage despite pockets of criticism of one world class broadcaster and as this has happened it's made it less of a requirement to go to games.
"world class broadcaster"

LOL ... Thanks for the chuckle, Toppy.

World Class for Rod Black, huh?

He seems to have gotten better over time. But he still repeats stuff, over and over, as if he is not sure he made his point. Meanwhile some viewers are screaming that they already got it, and it was a painfully obvious point. Predictable announcer. Does not offer much insight, it seems to me. Play by play is OK. Stick with the play by play, Rod.

The other guys are fine. Cuthbert and Suitor "suit" me best.

Just IMO ...
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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The new Commissioner has to be both fan and player friendly for my liking. A tough one with the owners though but the players are key to the product and trouncing them like the last guy did was wrong.

This guy will have to address injuries too as this movement is growing.



WCJ... I knew I'd get a reaction...lol... Suitor is good too but there are times he gets overly happy with the big hits or decries a big hit penalty.

At my age - maybe I need Black to repeat things lol....

I like his depth of knowledge of players and stories abt these guys and how he gets the human interest story into each game. More time than radio guys as they have to broadcast the play whereas on TV it shows itself and they can do the other stories.

Honestly though I find Cuthbert a good announcer but his voice not as easy to listen to. I prefer Black. But what I do think is that is the fan who started this anti-Black rant movement that has built up on forums is like the guy who starts rumours that X has died and this stuff goes on and on for years as people hear this.

I'd love to have Ball (now gone) and Guilio do CFL broadcasts. Farhan did a good game once but he got hammered by some fans.

There was a rumour at my company that a manager (good looking younger guy) was caught by cameras in the parkade of the office having sex with a blonde woman. There were 6 nice looking blonde women (2 of them worked for me) that were named as being in that car. That story was laughed off by everyone in high places as it wasn't true but it was incredible how it would surface over the years as a FACT. When one of the women came to me with 'did you hear...' I had to tell her that HER NAME was also being circulated depending on who got the story.

Origin - this manager fired the niece of another employee who confronted this manager. The manager felt the guy was going to get even somehow and this story got going. I traced it back to the confronter's department as who my staff heard it from. It should have been investigated but they felt it would go away. I even had a new CEO some years later ask me about it and this person came from the outside and that was 10 years later!

It is like the time I asked the NV public health inspectors if a certain Chinese restaurant served cat as I swore I heard it was in the local paper. The head of this laughed and said NO - but that the rumours were so strong they gave these places letters saying they have never been found to serve cat as chicken. I still see this same thing on FB for a NV group - once...lol.

I bet Black is respected in his industry as someone more than just a voice but a guy who has contributed to the success of the CFL.
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Toppy Vann wrote:The new Commissioner has to be both fan and player friendly for my liking. A tough one with the owners though but the players are key to the product and trouncing them like the last guy did was wrong.

This guy will have to address injuries too as this movement is growing.



WCJ... I knew I'd get a reaction...lol... Suitor is good too but there are times he gets overly happy with the big hits or decries a big hit penalty.

At my age - maybe I need Black to repeat things lol....

I like his depth of knowledge of players and stories abt these guys and how he gets the human interest story into each game. More time than radio guys as they have to broadcast the play whereas on TV it shows itself and they can do the other stories.

Honestly though I find Cuthbert a good announcer but his voice not as easy to listen to. I prefer Black. But what I do think is that is the fan who started this anti-Black rant movement that has built up on forums is like the guy who starts rumours that X has died and this stuff goes on and on for years as people hear this.

I'd love to have Ball (now gone) and Guilio do CFL broadcasts. Farhan did a good game once but he got hammered by some fans.

There was a rumour at my company that a manager (good looking younger guy) was caught by cameras in the parkade of the office having sex with a blonde woman. There were 6 nice looking blonde women (2 of them worked for me) that were named as being in that car. That story was laughed off by everyone in high places as it wasn't true but it was incredible how it would surface over the years as a FACT. When one of the women came to me with 'did you hear...' I had to tell her that HER NAME was also being circulated depending on who got the story.

Origin - this manager fired the niece of another employee who confronted this manager. The manager felt the guy was going to get even somehow and this story got going. I traced it back to the confronter's department as who my staff heard it from. It should have been investigated but they felt it would go away. I even had a new CEO some years later ask me about it and this person came from the outside and that was 10 years later!

It is like the time I asked the NV public health inspectors if a certain Chinese restaurant served cat as I swore I heard it was in the local paper. The head of this laughed and said NO - but that the rumours were so strong they gave these places letters saying they have never been found to serve cat as chicken. I still see this same thing on FB for a NV group - once...lol.

I bet Black is respected in his industry as someone more than just a voice but a guy who has contributed to the success of the CFL.
So is what you are saying is that the former commissioner Cohan was not really following the exact wishes of the owners but instead, on his own went out and got a tough deal with the players? If this is true then I must be following a different league.
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Here's a half-hour video of Tuesday's Orridge introduction presser from the league's youtube channel:



I've cued it up to skip past the 4-1/2 minutes of a silent, empty dais (probably should have had an editor axe this; I think they simply broadcast it live on yt and just left it as is once it wrapped) and there seems to be audio problems with the podium speaker near the beginning that get fixed quickly.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun writes — with gratuitous snark at times IMHO — about the Commish's roots in New York:

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/03/17/cf ... n-new-york


By Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun
First posted: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 11:15 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 11:22 PM EDT

Jeffrey Orridge grew up just a J5V throw away from Shea Stadium, a few more blocks to Arthur Ashe Stadium, everywhere he turned there was sports almost him.

His mom taught him how to play baseball and basketball and she used to walk him to Mets games, he remembers, especially on opening day.

He used to watch football on television with his dad and he did have something of a original childhood: He grew fascinated by the CFL.

“The CFL made a huge impact on me growing up,” he said.

OK, maybe that’s a stretch.

This is his first day as commissioner of the league. He needed something to tell, something to sell. He lived in New York when Tom Seaver was pitching for the Mets, when Catfish Hunter was pitching for the Yankees, Walt Frazier was dribbling the ball for the Knicks and Rod Gilbert was scoring for the Rangers.

Who grows up fascinated by the CFL? But then he tells the story.

He was watching television one afternoon with his father and his father said to him: “This is why I love Canada, Jeffrey.”

They were watching Warren Moon play quarterback for the Edmonton Eskimos.

They were watching an American play quarterback on American television in a Canadian league, because America didn’t want Warren Moon because he happened to be the wrong colour.

“My father said, this is why I love Canada, and I didn’t quite understand what he was saying. He said, if you’re qualified and you’re capable, you’ll get the opportunity in Canada and to me, Canada was always that land of opportunity. That resonated with me when I was growing up.

“That’s why the CFL has always held a special place in my heart and to me what Canada was all about was opportunity, access and fairness.”

And now the league that gave opportunity to the black quarterback before anyone else would has given opportunity to the first black commissioner of big-time professional sport in North America.

There is a symmetry of sorts in all of this: The place where Condredge Holloway and Moon and Chuck Ealey came to play is now the place where the graduate of Harvard law, Orridge, from Queen’s New York via Wall Street, USA Basketball, Right To Play, and the CBC, finds himself the almost overqualified, if not historical, CFL boss.

And the history isn’t lost on the 13th commissioner.

“I’m really proud of who I am,” said Orridge, who left his upper management at CBC to replace Mark Cohon.

“I’m particularly proud of where I’ve come from and my background and my heritage. I’m really, extraordinarily proud of all the people who’ve come before me and made the sacrifices that have allowed me to actually be here today. I’m fully cognizant of that and I embrace it.

“And it’s a remarkable thing that we’ve come this far but it really has been on the shoulder of everybody else who has come before me whether they were African Americans, African Canadians, or others who have.

“I don’t think of myself as a black sports executive. I don’t consider myself the black commissioner. I consider myself the 13th commissioner of the CFL with an obligation and a responsibility to carry on and build on my 12 predecessors and all their work.”

As for his 12 predecessors, there’s a few he probably could do without.

There’s a few we all could do without.

Typical of anyone on the first day of a new job. He can’t wait to work with that great group of men, those who own CFL franchises.

One of those men, David Braley, who owns two of the nine teams, wasn’t at the press conference to introduce Orridge Tuesday. I didn’t have the heart to tell Orridge that this fine group of owners punted the overly aggressive Mike Lysko without giving him a chance, punted Tom Wright all the way to the UFC and semi-punted Mark Cohon out of office.

They are all a wonderful bunch on your first day in office. It’s the second day in the CFL you have to worry about.

For his part, Orridge doesn’t look or sound worried. In fact, he sounds like something of a power-point presentation. He is a marketing buzz phrase waiting to happen.

He talks about fishing where the fish are. He talks about maintaining fan-first focus.

He talks about FOMO — which translates to the anti-Argo problem.

Fear of Missing Out.

He established some kind of CFL record for most catchphrases in an opening press conference.

“The CFL, to me, is that connective tissue,” he said. “The power of sport is truly embodied in the CFL.”

As commissioner, he wants to engage, attract and distribute content.

And just after that, he said Canada was open, engaging, welcome.

He forgot to mention, really, really cold.

Orridge has lived in Toronto for eight years and if anything is a master of timing.

He is leaving CBC just before the ill-fated Pan-Am Games are about to begin.

Timing, you know, is everything.

And this is a great time to become CFL boss.

“Without people being engaged, you don’t have a league,” he said.

“You don’t have teams, you don’t have a business.”

He does that have going for him.

On Day 1, other commissioners had to worry about having a league.

Jeffrey Orridge has a different CFL: That, like him, is precedent setting and historical, too.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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