Should Rhodes be Fired?

[glenvb]

thats a good idea..... better yet would be BRING BACK THE NATURAL GRASS!!! But who are we kidding. If Rhodes is here he doesn't give 2 ****s about on field improvements. if there's a way to improve his concert series, like a dome, he'll do that.

Maybe if a rapper slips and injures himself during a concert.

[Nanookster]

I imagine he was pretty proud to show off all those empty seats in a “sold-out” building and his lovely Disney princess halftime artist. (Though in fairness she did a decent job despite how I hate her style of music.

I vocally said something to my daughter and he thought it was directed at him, I only noticed after I said it. I said something I saw was cheesy. Good to see him looking like a leader of a great organization, he was in jeans and an Eskimo jersey.

The guy is a 100% mouth breather, at the Breakfast I don’t think he closed his mouth once.

Very sad so many seats were empty, $750 worth were empty in the three seats in front of me.

[writfiler]

I vocally said something to my daughter and he thought it was directed at him, I only noticed after I said it. I said something I saw was cheesy. Good to see him looking like a leader of a great organization, he was in jeans and an Eskimo jersey.

The guy is a 100% mouth breather, at the Breakfast I don’t think he closed his mouth once.

Very sad so many seats were empty, $750 worth were empty in the three seats in front of me.

To be fair, all or damn near all, of the tix were sold. The empty seats were as a result of the buyer(s) deciding not to come for various reasons. That’s hardly the fault of the Rhodent & his henchmen.....

[Smartie123]

Not sure if this is on here somewhere. In case it isn’t....

During his speech when he won the Hugh Campbell award in Thursday evening, Wally said something to the effect of this:

~Football is about winning. They pay you to win. They don’t pay you for the experience.~

It was good stuff.

- - - Updated - - -

I vocally said something to my daughter and he thought it was directed at him, I only noticed after I said it. I said something I saw was cheesy. Good to see him looking like a leader of a great organization, he was in jeans and an Eskimo jersey.

The guy is a 100% mouth breather, at the Breakfast I don’t think he closed his mouth once.

Very sad so many seats were empty, $750 worth were empty in the three seats in front of me.

I don’t like Len either, but in all fairness, there are many medical reasons why people are “mouth breathers.”

[Eskie54]

Not sure if this is on here somewhere. In case it isn’t....

During his speech when he won the Hugh Campbell award in Thursday evening, Wally said something to the effect of this:

~Football is about winning. They pay you to win. They don’t pay you for the experience.~

It was good stuff.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm sure every professional sports organization believes winning is what it is all about except the BOG and president of the Edmonton Eskimos. Sad times for fans going forward as long as the philosophy of not winning is okay with management. Professional sports is not like the way kids are treated today where everyone who competes gets a trophy no matter what. Rhodes must have been the kid who never legitimately won a trophy based on achievement.

[boydo]

Not sure if this is on here somewhere. In case it isn’t....

During his speech when he won the Hugh Campbell award in Thursday evening, Wally said something to the effect of this:

~Football is about winning. They pay you to win. They don’t pay you for the experience.~

It was good stuff.

- - - Updated - - -



I don’t like Len either, but in all fairness, there are many medical reasons why people are “mouth breathers.”

Yeah...I'm a mouth breather!! Stupid broken nose and enlarged adenoids...

[Foxhound]

You are correct. Len is not part of football operations. It would have no impact on the cap for football administration.

Fire him anyway! Here his main revenue generating property, the Eskimos football team, failed ignobly to even make the playoffs due to his head office decisions in a year where the Grey Cup Game was to be played at Commonwealth and somehow he still has a job?

[wilkie]

We will get grass in 2025 and 2026 if Edmonton hosts World Cup games. As per FIFA the grass needs to be in a year in advance.
The turf in CW is FIFA approved and is the most advanced there is but the fiber structure is for soccer(lays down more)which is different structure than football(more upright). This added to the field being more slippery than other turf fields that are football specific installations.
The EDSA indoor soccer fields are carpet with underlay and would not be able to survive outside or football.

[boydo]

We will get grass in 2025 and 2026 if Edmonton hosts World Cup games. As per FIFA the grass needs to be in a year in advance.
The turf in CW is FIFA approved and is the most advanced there is but the fiber structure is for soccer(lays down more)which is different structure than football(more upright). This added to the field being more slippery than other turf fields that are football specific installations.
The EDSA indoor soccer fields are carpet with underlay and would not be able to survive outside or football.

Stupid soccer screwing things up again...

[Diesel]

We will get grass in 2025 and 2026 if Edmonton hosts World Cup games. As per FIFA the grass needs to be in a year in advance.
The turf in CW is FIFA approved and is the most advanced there is but the fiber structure is for soccer(lays down more)which is different structure than football(more upright). This added to the field being more slippery than other turf fields that are football specific installations.
The EDSA indoor soccer fields are carpet with underlay and would not be able to survive outside or football.

Wilkie knows his grass...

via GIPHY

[bone]

To be fair, all or damn near all, of the tix were sold. The empty seats were as a result of the buyer(s) deciding not to come for various reasons. That’s hardly the fault of the Rhodent & his henchmen.....

I'm not considering the ones in clusters of two or three seats together, but there were several areas where there were at least 20+ seats together and unused. That looked fishy to me in a "sold out" building.

[boydo]

There were two full rows in front of us empty and lots of empty seats around the upper deck. I've said it before but maybe...just maybe if the game was a little earlier in the day (even an hour or so) and wasn't so f'ing expensive there would have been more people? Just spitballin here.

[Hugoagogo]

There were two full rows in front of us empty and lots of empty seats around the upper deck. I've said it before but maybe...just maybe if the game was a little earlier in the day (even an hour or so) and wasn't so f'ing expensive there would have been more people? Just spitballin here.

Agree with the earlier start, but TSN wants it prime time in Ontario, and TSN does run this league.

[Esks1975]

I have to wonder how many more viewers they attract to the game because it is in "prime time". Starting the game at 1:30 would have been fine with me.

[Deathsdoorstep]

Agree with the earlier start, but TSN wants it prime time in Ontario, and TSN does run this league.

You are correct. But TSN can't do math. No matter when you air it, there's still nobody watching in Toronto. Having a better hour would get them more viewers overall.

[glenvb]

You are correct. But TSN can't do math. No matter when you air it, there's still nobody watching in Toronto. Having a better hour would get them more viewers overall.

If you don't keep the Toronto market in the CFL game, TSN will lose interest in the league. Gotta keep at it, and find a way to make it work.

I'm regularly astonished by their NHL coverage. Yesterday five Canadian NHL teams played. Yet the top two stories were about the Leafs on their day off, and the three columns were all about the Leafs.

[ben_the_eskimo]

You are correct. But TSN can't do math. No matter when you air it, there's still nobody watching in Toronto. Having a better hour would get them more viewers overall.

I’d have to try and dig up the article, but I seem to remember that the TV ratings for the CFL on TSN are quite strong in Toronto actually.

[adb]

This x1000!

For all the talk in the pregame show about how CW is a world class facility, the field condition fiasco was an atrocity. I'd way rather take the money being spent on that useless dome and install a state of the art heated field system to ensure this embarrassment never happens again. That's two of our last three Grey Cups now where field conditions have been unacceptable. If GB can pull it off with real grass, that's what I want at CW.

If Rhodent really is on his way out, this waste of a dome might be his last middle finger to Eskimo fans before he goes down.

Well approving those ugly rider (wretch) shade of green seats at CW was another one of his low points...why we didn't go with the Eskimos uni color scheme exclusively for the seats still baffles me to this day and irks me whenever I'm at a game especially if were playing the stubblejumpers...agree that the temporary dome would be a waste and the heated field would be a great idea. Perhaps somebody could float that thought to the Esks organization and if LR is outta there then whoever takes over might consider it and kibosh this moronic dome idea.

[gizmo fan 2]

I've said it before but maybe...just maybe if the game was a little earlier in the day (even an hour or so) and wasn't so f'ing expensive there would have been more people? Just spitballin here.

The game time for GC has always been 4pm Mountain (6 eastern) as far back as I can remember and no matter where it's held. Not to say that couldn't be changed ever, but they've had that time slot for years. At least it wasn't at 6pm (8 eastern) - would've been a bunch colder.

And, while in a vacuum tickets are certainly more expensive than our regular seats...we got off WAY cheaper than pretty much any other recent GC. For regular Grey Cup (non-club/luxury) seats:

Edmonton - tops $325, worst sideline $205, lowest $99
Ottawa - tops $525, worst sideline $300, lowest $85
Toronto (originally) - tops $699, worst sideline $299, lowest $169
Winnipeg - tops $499, worst sideline $299-$399 (depending on if you want to count end zones or not), lowest $175
Vancouver - tops $350, worst sideline $250-$350 (depending on end zones), lowest $150
Regina - tops $399, worst sideline $299, lowest $179

So compared to the last five GC's, we're nearly $170 cheaper than the average for our best seats, almost $100 cheaper than anywhere for a decent sideline seat, and are well under most of the cheapest seats (and our cheap seats have backs!). Add in that taxes are more in every other jurisdiction and the savings are even bigger. Not sure what more is supposed to be done there. I'm in favour of firing Rhodes as much as anyone, but the GC pricing is one thing I think the team and the league did fine on.

[Esks1975]

My seats in the lower second balcony at about the 40 yard line at IGF in 2015 were $299. My seats in Section Q were $281.

I didn't know you were so young giz fan. For example the 1977 and 1981 Grey Cups had a 1:30 eastern start time.

[Smartie123]

Well approving those ugly rider (wretch) shade of green seats at CW was another one of his low points...why we didn't go with the Eskimos uni color scheme exclusively for the seats still baffles me to this day and irks me whenever I'm at a game especially if were playing the stubblejumpers...agree that the temporary dome would be a waste and the heated field would be a great idea. Perhaps somebody could float that thought to the Esks organization and if LR is outta there then whoever takes over might consider it and kibosh this moronic dome idea.

That was Rick Lelacheur, actually.

[boydo]

That was Rick Lelacheur, actually.

Yeah well...it's still Len's fault! Nyah!

[Danrek]

The game time for GC has always been 4pm Mountain (6 eastern) as far back as I can remember and no matter where it's held. Not to say that couldn't be changed ever, but they've had that time slot for years. At least it wasn't at 6pm (8 eastern) - would've been a bunch colder.

And, while in a vacuum tickets are certainly more expensive than our regular seats...we got off WAY cheaper than pretty much any other recent GC. For regular Grey Cup (non-club/luxury) seats:

Edmonton - tops $325, worst sideline $205, lowest $99

You're dead wrong on your prices.

My, now cancelled, season seats were row 46, section Y... sure they were covered but they are on the 10 yard and my "valued" season ticket holder price was over $300 per seat.

When I got the renewal last year I called immediately, got them to remove it from my renewal. When Len said season seat prices for the Grey Cup being $99 - $299 he was doing what he did best... Lied through his teeth. Killed my season seats this year.

Some of my family did have tickets in Section S, first 10 rows, their season seat price was well well well above your so-called tops of $325

They sold them through Kijiji on the Saturday before the game for $70 each.

They are not renewing their seats this year either.

It was stupid expensive and probably the reason it wasn't even called a paper sellout until the day of the game.

[gizmo fan 2]

My seats in the lower second balcony at about the 40 yard line at IGF in 2015 were $299. My seats in Section Q were $281.

I didn't know you were so young giz fan. For example the 1977 and 1981 Grey Cups had a 1:30 eastern start time.

WPG offered heavy discounts to ST holders - up to $100 in most areas. I used the off-the-street sticker prices for the comparison.

Yeah, I've only been alive for 5 of our cups, and really aware of 4 of them. My first major Esks memory was everybody in my grade 2 class bringing in the "CHAMPIONS" front page of the Journal for show-and-tell after the 1993 cup win.

[gizmo fan 2]

You're dead wrong on your prices.

My, now cancelled, season seats were row 46, section Y... sure they were covered but they are on the 10 yard and my "valued" season ticket holder price was over $300 per seat.

When I got the renewal last year I called immediately, got them to remove it from my renewal. When Len said season seat prices for the Grey Cup being $99 - $299 he was doing what he did best... Lied through his teeth. Killed my season seats this year.

Some of my family did have tickets in Section S, first 10 rows, their season seat price was well well well above your so-called tops of $325

They sold them through Kijiji on the Saturday before the game for $70 each.

They are not renewing their seats this year either.

It was stupid expensive and probably the reason it wasn't even called a paper sellout until the day of the game.

I used the off-the-street sticker prices for the comparison, as shown on this map:

2018_GreyCup_Map_Wide_v2.jpg

So all the covered seats and every seat in the first 55-60 rows (wherever the dividing line is) between the 30 yard lines (ish) were in the highest price category. And I'd argue we're better off than most others there too, as in other stadiums (e.g. BC) had every single seat between the 5 yard lines in their highest category.

I wouldn't be surprised if Ticketmaster fees and taxes kicked every ticket up a bit from that, but they would apply to every other game on there too, so the comparison still holds. And we do have a tax advantage.

[adb]

That was Rick Lelacheur, actually.

Man what the heck was he thinking. Makes no sense to me. IIRC there was a comment about that ugly shade of green when combined with the team colors giving it the appearance of motion but I just don't buy it. Pisses me off to this day every time I see it.

[Diesel]

Rhoden't push for a coaches cap just cost us our head of canadian scouting Rob Ralph. Nice job peckerhead

[Smartie123]

Rhoden't push for a coaches cap just cost us our head of canadian scouting Rob Ralph. Nice job peckerhead

....and let’s not forget that he pushed for that to justify how he handled the situation with his previous GM.

[Sectionq]

Rhoden't push for a coaches cap just cost us our head of canadian scouting Rob Ralph. Nice job peckerhead

The Pres of one of the richest teams in the CFL pushed for the coaches cap? You have to be f-ing kidding me. What a joke. This guy just gets worse and worse

[Hugoagogo]

A respectful thank you for exemplary & lengthy service would be nice. Far easier than making a 1st down or making the playoffs. https://t.co/OJBbYtUm2u

— Dave Jamieson (@jamieson1260) December 10, 2018

I think we all know the reason why Matthew. This thread title answers your question.