Alouettes irked by Eskimos’ decision

Refusal to take part in Live Mic draws criticism

Not everyone was happy with the Edmonton Eskimos’ decision to opt out of Monday’s Live Mic broadcast.

At the front of that line, or at least right behind league broadcaster TSN, was their opponent, the Montreal Alouettes

“My understanding, and I took part in a conference call with people from the league, it seemed like it was fairly close to being a mandate for us,” said Alouettes head coach Jacques Chapdelaine, who agreed to the intrusion of the microphones on him and quarterback Rakeem Cato despite it being just his second game as a CFL head coach. “I understand the contractual obligation we have with TSN as an official broadcaster for our league. If I’d known people had that freedom of choice — let’s call it that — maybe we would have done the same thing.

“Or maybe it would have been good to say they decided not to do this. Do you want to change your mind? That wasn’t communicated to us also.” After all, fair is fair. “You could say from a playing field, maybe it wasn’t entirely level on both sides,” Chapdelaine said. “What TSN is trying to do with our league is a very progressive idea. I think it can put our league in a very positive light. Those types of decisions and action unfortunately go against that opportunity to make our league look better. Right now, my final judgment or decision is not mine. It belongs to people at a higher level than I am.

“I’d hope as a league we can be more on the same page and be a little more professional about all those things.”