Spying allegations ‘ridiculous,’ says Austin

HAMILTON The ‘P’ in pro football might as well stand for paranoia.

Nary a day goes by without CFL coaches worrying about inside information getting leaked to the opposition they’re about to face.

Some handle it better than others and most times it’s kept in the background. But leading into this week’s slate of games, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats were publicly accused of spying by Saskatchewan Roughriders general manager and head coach Chris Jones.

On Tuesday, Jones announced he will begin closing off one day of practice a week to fans and media, while suggesting the Ticats had to have been tipped off on a special-teams play during their July 8 game and the advantage came from someone watching a Roughriders practice.

“Oh, Chris ... ” Ticats head coach Kent Austin said Wednesday. “That’s, quite frankly, absurd. I mean, God forbid that we actually prepared our players as coaches. Maybe that has something to do with it.

“Or maybe they’re just looking for a reason to close their practice.”

Like, for instance, the Calgary Stampeders, who face the Roughriders Saturday amid concerns of “green spies” by head coach Dave Dickenson, who also closed a practice this week.

Which begs the question: how much of a problem has spying become in the CFL?

“I couldn’t tell you, honestly. I heard about it this morning when I walked in,” said Austin, whose squad fell 37-20 to the Roughriders in that Week 3 matchup. “It didn’t turn out too well for us except for that play. So if we were doing that, I need to fire the scouts.

“It’s ridiculous. I don’t police our stadium. You’re running so many things during the week and you have to change things come game time because of the complexity of the game that’s playing out? That’s overblown, I think.”

THREE FOR THREE

It’s a fine line between winning and losing for the unbeaten Eskimos. One that’s been separated by an average of three points a game to start the season.

That’s a combined nine points in their three games.

“I don’t care if you win by three points,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “A win’s a win. It’s not easy to win in professional sports. Period.

“They don’t give you any extra points in the standings for winning by 30 or 40.”