Just two years into his tenure, Jeffrey Orridge "is out" as CFL Commissioner, and the league's release on the split "hints at a conflict" between Orridge and the league BOD, according to Morgan Campbell of the TORONTO STAR. Orridge will "remain on the job until June 30." Orridge, who took the job in March '15, "became the first black commissioner of a mainstream North American pro sports league." As commissioner he "stressed further diversity, participating in Toronto’s Pride Parade, while the league worked with LGBTQ sports advocacy group You Can Play on an apparel line, and hosted an LGBTQ-themed party during Grey Cup week." But Orridge "appeared less than progressive during a state-of-the-CFL news conference [during] Grey Cup week, when he refused to admit a relationship between football and degenerative brain diseases like CTE." Campbell notes the CFL "isn’t discussing details about how and when they’ll find a successor" (TORONTO STAR, 4/13). The CP's Dan Ralph wrote Orridge's tenure was a "short but tumultuous one," and his departure is a "bombshell" (CP, 4/12).
NO EASY TASK: The CP's Ralph noted the CFL will "look to appoint its seventh commissioner since Michael Lysko took office Nov. 1, 2000." When Orridge took the job, he faced a "steep learning curve." During his first year on the job, Orridge "often struggled to find answers when asked about league matters by reporters." While he "seemed more comfortable in his post last year, he still churned up controversy." CFL Chair Jim Lawson "admitted the commissioner's job is difficult but doesn't feel the CFL erred in hiring Orridge." He said of the commissioner role, "It is a very complex job in a league that has many complex issues and not always a huge amount of resources or investment capital to deal with." Ralph noted the next commissioner will have some "major issues to address, most notably negotiating a new CBA, which expires" after the '18 season. The league's broadcast agreement with TSN, "reportedly worth more than" C$40M annually, runs through '21. Lawson: "We need to say, 'What do we want this person to do?' We've got two, three, four big things on the horizon in the next two, three, four years here and someone is going to have to come in and get up to speed on these things and be able to handle them" (CP, 4/12).
NEVER ON SOLID GROUND: In Winnipeg, Jeff Hamilton writes what was "most shocking about the announcement was the timing." With less than three months before the start of the '17 season, it "seemed hardly the time for the CFL to dismiss its top executive." But "anyone who had heard the whispers and absorbed the ongoing criticism of Orridge that began shortly after" he took over "could have guessed that it was only a matter of time." Orridge "stumbled out of the gate, squandering his chance at a solid first impression with team front offices and fans." He had "damaged his reputation early, one that he just couldn’t shake and every time he tried it seemed to only make things worse" (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 4/13). POSTMEDIA NEWS' Tim Baines wrote when Orridge "spoke into microphones and recording devices being pushed into his face, the words often came off as robotic, forced." There was a "nervousness" which "came across as awkward." Baines: "In the eyes of the board of governors, Orridge had too many shortcomings." While he did deliver a league-wide drug testing program in addition to his diversity efforts, the Harvard-educated Orridge just "wasn’t really a 'CFL guy.'” He was an American who "moved to Canada, a guy who critics said didn’t get the uniqueness of the game the way the people around it or its fans did" (POSTMEDIA NEWS, 4/12).
LONG TIME COMING? SPORTSNET.ca's Arash Madani wrote the "only thing surprising about" Orridge’s exit is that it "took this long to happen." His press conferences "were painful." In each of his State of the League addresses during Grey Cup week, he was "lost in the wilderness, seemingly unaware of the real issues facing his office." The CFL is in "desperate need of direction, vision and leadership from someone holding its most important position." Now "six weeks away from training camps opening across the country, they are without someone providing that, yet again" (SPORTSNET.ca, 4/12). In Winnipeg, Paul Friesen writes Orridge was "in over his head not long after he was hired." He also "fumbled big social issues, publicly." Friesen: "One thing is certain: he wasn't prepared for the job" (WINNIPEG SUN, 4/13).
