Rise of Ambrosie, and Rose’s fall from grace — again
CFL replay rule gets overhaul; response to allegations worsens Charlie Hustle’s rep
BULLS OF THE WEEK
The Los Angeles Dodgers continue their record-setting tear in the National League of Major League Baseball. Winning another 10 in a row — and a ridiculous 40 of 46 — before an unusual loss Wednesday night put them at 7632 and playing .704 baseball going into the weekend.
Despite their stranglehold on the NL West and the best record in MLB, the Dodgers showed they’re in this business to win by acquiring Yu Darvish, Tony Cingrani and Tony Watson at the trade deadline on Monday.
It was also a bullish week for baseball lovers in Montreal as Tim Raines was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., last Sunday. “Rock” joined former Expos Gary Carter and Andre Dawson in that wing of the hall reserved for the tri-colour red, white and blue hats synonymous with the predecessor franchise of today’s Washington Nationals.
Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is among those inducted this week into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. You may quibble with his self-appointment and performance as general manager of the Cowboys — the world’s richest sports franchise at US$4.2 billion — but no one can deny his business savvy given the 40-fold increase in the team’s value since he bought them for US$118 million in 1989.
Imagine how different the NFL — and the world, for that matter — might look today if U.S. President Donald Trump had bought the Cowboys instead of Jones, the Republican and oil and gas magnate who changed the trajectory of the league by bringing Fox Sports to the table of TV negotiations in December of 1993.
Yet no one has been more bullish in the business of sport this week than Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie. He took decisive action by revamping the CFL’s beleaguered video replay rule, changing it mid-season to limit coaches’ challenges to just one per game.
Given that the league’s very integrity was under increasing scrutiny every time the command centre was brought in, it was the right play for the CFL, its product, its television partners at TSN and RDS, and — most importantly — its fans.
BEARS OF THE WEEK
It’s been a disappointing week for Andre De Grasse, whose Grade 2 hamstring strain is keeping him out of the IAAF World Track and Field Championships and another head-to-head showdown with the legendary Usain Bolt in the Jamaican’s final 100-metre dash.
It’s been another poor week for the CFL East, where first place is possible without even playing .500 football.
We’re not even at the midway mark of the 2017 season, but it looks like the CFL playoffs will feature four teams from the West and only two from the “CFL Least” for the 10th time in 21 years and fifth time in seven years.
Yet nobody had a worse week than Pete Rose, whose legal response to allegations of statutory rape sickened even those who believed he should be cleared for the Baseball Hall of Fame after being ruled ineligible with a lifetime ban in 1989. Rose has not set his reputational bar very high over the years, but his stock fell badly this week even by his own poor standards. The Sport Market on TSN 1040 rates and debates the bulls and bears of sport business. Join Tom Mayenknecht Saturday from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. for a behind-the-scenes look at the sport business stories that matter most to fans.
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