I’m not going to blame our Western semi-final loss on Sunday on the officiating. Winnipeg controlled the line of scrimmage when it counted and deserve full marks for the win. Having said that, I do want to talk about the officiating. We were at the game and, by the way, boy was it cold. I know you have to be tough to be a football player but you have to be tough to be a fan if it’s minus 12 not counting the wind. But I digress. I saw the late-game hit to the head on Brandon Bridge that knocked him senseless. No flag, no call, and not even a review from the replay officials sitting snug and warm in a studio in Toronto. I don’t know if they were playing cards or passing around the pizza or what but one would have to be blind not to see that hit to the head was illegal and downright dangerous. It could have broken Bridge’s neck. Something needs to be done to upgrade officiating in the Canadian Football League. I was told by a CFL inside source who knows what the officials in the league are paid that they are not paid very much. Maybe that’s part of the problem because the old saying goes; you get what you pay for. As the Commissioner and his top brass review the non-call and non-review on this obvious infraction, just like they had to do for the non-call and non-review on the hit on Collaros, maybe they should do a review of how CFL officials are paid and trained.
That’s Coffeetalk. I’m Vic Dubois.