Wright Out? -- Warning: Marty York Article
| Wright to a vote |  |
| The door to the commissioner's office in the CFL must be revolving, for as quick as you're in people want you out. Despite what generally appears to be a first-rate job done by Tom Wright during his first two years, there are those at high levels of the Canadian Football League who are hoping like heck his days as commissioner are coming to an end. The league's board of governors will soon take a vote to determine whether Wright should be allowed to enter the third year of his contract -- an option year. Under league rules, Wright won't be kept on unless seven of the nine governors vote in favour of retaining him. Sources have told Sportsnet two owners, at least, are opposed to retaining Wright -- the B.C. Lions' David Braley, who vehemently opposed the hiring of Wright in the first place, and the Montreal Alouettes' Bob Wetenhall. A third owner, Bob Young of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, has told league colleagues privately that he's undecided, but let me point out -- no matter what he might be saying publicly (and he did not return calls to me this week) -- he's a close friend of Braley and is only in the CFL because of Braley's influence. Braley is on record as saying he's not leading a charge against Wright, but other CFL governors say he has privately lobbied to them hard about the idea of replacing the commish. It's difficult to believe this could be happening in the CFL when you think about the turmoil the league experienced after dumping both of Wright's predecessors -- Mike Lysko and John Tory. Under Wright, the CFL's image has improved considerably and the financial picture has probably never been better than it is now. But Wright's detractors don't like his leadership qualities and aren't wild about his determination to impose a hard salary cap. Ottawa Renegades president Brad Watters thinks the criticisms of Wright are ridiculous and plans to vote in favour of keeping him. "Your information is accurate," Watters told me, "and this is a concern for many of us. There are those who are against him (Wright) , for sure. This could be an ugly situation." Wright, always a class act, told me Thursday he's unfazed by the talk about his contract. "I'm not even thinking about my contract," the commissioner said in an interview. "I'm focusing on league business, not on my contract." My hunch: Sanity prevails and Wright is allowed to enter the third year of his contract. Braley, however, gets his way in the CFL more often than not. Stay tuned. Ottawa on the block The Renegades, incidentally, could be sold soon. Co-owners Randy Gillies and Bill Smith have been unable to reach a buyout agreement for six months now, and so they're exploring the possibility of selling to outside interests. "Any scenario is possible with our ownership situation right now," Watters said. "It's common knowledge that (Gillies and Smith) have been unable to buy each other out for the past six months. They're still talking about that but, yes, we are at the same time looking for outside investors. We'll just have to see how this all plays out." Price of Printers In B.C., Braley's Lions plan to exceed the salary cap again with two six-figure quarterbacks. MVP Casey Printers, who made only $52,000 last season, has asked the club to raise his salary to between $150,000 and $200,000 for the 2005 season and then to more than $300,000 per for 2006 and 2007. The Lions are mulling over Printers's proposal. Negotiations continue. Burris of interest to Stamps And look for the Calgary Stampeders to go after quarterback Henry Burris, who will become a free agent next week. Negotiations between Burris and the Saskatchewan Roughriders are not going well. Sources say Burris wants to be paid the same type of money that the Lions' Dave Dickenson and the Montreal Alouettes' Anthony Calvillo collect -- that is, more than $400,000 a year. The Stamps would rather have Burris than Khari Jones. Covet thy imports Burris will be one of the more coveted players on the CFL free-agent market, but maybe not the most coveted. Those who will rival him include three first-rate import receivers -- Travis Moore, Jeremaine Copeland and Ed Hervey. And let's not forget linebacker Kevin Eiben, a Canadian. |
) means the ultimate failure of franchises and maybe even the league. 
I feel for Saskatchewanians (Saskatchewanites?); if you like hockey, you used to have to cheer for Edmonton, Calgary or Winnipeg; three cities you hated in the summer and fall. 
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