The already shaky status of Tom Wright as Commissioner of the CFL seems to be wobbling more than ever today. Earlier Friday, reports came out that Wright had been told that his contract would not be renewed and the 2006 season would be his last as head of the eight team loop.
By late Friday Wright was refusing to comment on unsubstantiated rumours from un-named sources speculating on his fate. What is known is that Wright as no fans in two key CFL cities Montreal and Vancouver, both of the owners in those locations have been less than impressed with his handling of a number of issues and were thought to be behind the current speculation on his fate.
Wright was seemingly asleep at the switch when the Ottawa Renegades franchise blew up two months before the start of this season, he was out of the country as the Gliebermen clan turned the keys over to the league and took their leave of Canadian football for the second time. Many felt that Wright should have been on top of that situation as early as last year when rumblings came out about a lack of progress in planning for the Renegades 2006 season.
Recently Wright seemed to be caught flat footed again as the Ricky Williams saga dragged out over the month of May, two teams namely the Alouettes and the Tiger Cats were outspoken in their feelings regarding Williams signing on with the Argos while still under a contract with the Miami Dolphins.
Perhaps his lack of a clear decision on that issue and who knows how many others, caused the league’s Board of Governors to inform him his contract won’t be renewed. Mind you this is a Board of Governors that seems to interfere far too much in the daily governance of the league by its commissioners, surely one of the most thankless jobs in the country.
Akin to herding cats, keeping the eight (sometimes nine) different styles of management and mercurial egos pulling together would test surely the sageness of a Solomon. The CFL is becoming known as a graveyard for senior executives as they seem to go through Commissioners at an alarming rate. Perhaps as Wright ponders his options for an anticipated answer to the board on Tuesday, he can exact a nice little exit package to just walk away from his responsibilities, inquisitors and detractors.
One thing is certain, there’s been no expression of great support coming from those same governors, no dismissal of the rumours nor offering up of the proverbial vote of confidence. Once again the CFL manages to find a negative just as a positive is about to take place. With the regular season set to start next week, Canadians were once again thinking football. Now while they read the boxes cores of the action on the field, they can check out the business and obituary sections to see if the Commissioner is a living entity or yet another CFL corpse.
The above posting first appeared on my Twelve men on the field blog, my occassional foray into the world of Canadian football.
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