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In the case of Rogers Sportsnet, I doubt that it would make any difference when the Lions announced this appointment as Rogers had made its disdain for the CFL quite clear.B.C.FAN wrote:The timing of the press conference certainly didn't help give it national exposure. TSN had a two-minute segment 31 minutes into Friday night SportsCentre featuring mostly old clips of Tedford playing QB for the Stamps in the '80s. I sat through a full hour of Sportsnet's national show without seeing anything about the signing.
I watched it but feel very nauseous now.TheLionKing wrote:I couldn't watch the video. Absolutely terrible. Poor filming and poor audio.
Couldn't agree more. Skulsky's audio was so bad because he wasn't mic'd up. Wally and Tedford both had lapel mics, meaning the plan was for them to be talking at the podium. Skulsky charged in there as Wally was clearly introducing Tedford. So strange.cromartie wrote:There is good and bad here.
The Bad:
Whoever did that raw camera work should be fired. You are the club's in house videographer get a bleeping tripod, setup in a prime spot and have it setup pre-press conference for FSM's sake! The lack of internal website professionalism in presentation is completely unacceptable.
I've really grown tired of Skulsky making an a** of himself at press conferences. This is a football operations press conference to introduce a head coach. No one wants to see you hand out gifts and flowers. Could someone, please sit Skulsky down and explain to him that his role is to interact with the business community, make sound, long term business decisions in the best interests on the franchise, enhance the overall value of the franchise for the owner and enhance the profile of the franchise. Wally is the face of the franchise. You are the executor of the business operations portion of it. No one comes to these to see you. Get off the camera, button up your suit and get to a Toastmasters class.
What his role isn't is to bigfoot his own GM and new Head Coach by putting on a display of Christmas time generosity. Exactly zero members of the media are going to care that you're handing out flowers. You are wasting time and embarrassing yourself and the club. Do it off camera.
*deep breath*
Get the press conferences out of the locker room. While we're all aware that backdrops have their limits, it really looks chintzy when a cameraman zooms out (who shouldn't be zooming out) to find that you're doing this in a cramped lockerroom. Either use a concourse or a conference room for these things.
From the day he took the job he reminds me of the High Talker on Seinfeld.Honour Dewalt wrote:If Skulsky didn't have this cute pudgy look and friendly cartoon voice, more people would be on his case for the job he does around here.
I agree that Wally got very, very lucky and it took all the stars to align right for Tedford to be interested in our B.C. Lions. And it took a reporter to tell Wally that Tedford could be available...its not as if Tedford was initially on his radar screen, not that I can fault Wally for that...a Tedford would not normally be available.Call it craphouse luck or whatever. There was an inordinate number of stars the just happened to cross at the right time for this one to happen. Tedford seems to be exactly the sort of candidate the Lions needed at this point in time. And at the precise time BC needed someone like Telford he just happened to be available. This time last year fugget about it. Ditto for this time next year. Tack on the wife being Canadian and past history with the CFL and Wally and the puzzle pieces just fit perfectly. Without the little health issue he also may never have come available. Remove any one of those little factors and there is no chance this hiring happens. Hambone
The problem there as I already mentioned was that whether by poor planning or otherwise they spoke out of order. Skulsky as team president should have spoken before GM Wally who could then hand off to JT. That's how the Canucks did it when they introduced new HC Willie Desjardins last summer: Team President Trevor Linden spoke first, followed by GM Jim Benning who ceded to WD. All three of them sat together at a dais with Desjardins in the centre in front of the team-and-sponsor-logo-festooned backdrop and remained there for the duration.Honour Dewalt wrote:Couldn't agree more. Skulsky's audio was so bad because he wasn't mic'd up. Wally and Tedford both had lapel mics, meaning the plan was for them to be talking at the podium. Skulsky charged in there as Wally was clearly introducing Tedford. So strange.
Willes: B.C. Lions New Head Coach One of the Brightest, Most Innovative Minds in the Game
By Ed Willes, The Province December 19, 2014
he issue, of course, isn't the man's resume because in hiring Jeff Tedford, the B.C. Lions landed a coach who was in demand by virtually every big-time U.S. college program which had a vacancy -- and a few that didn't.
The issue, come to think of it, isn't even if Tedford will jump at the first eight-figure offer that will come his way because he's been there, done that and has the buyout from Cal to prove it.
No, as much as it requires a suspension of belief, you have to take Tedford and the Lions at their word when they say the new coach is all in for the Leos and the CFL because he wasn't limited in his opportunities. The only relevant question, in fact, is the same question that's asked of every new coach: Can Tedford be the difference-maker; can he liberate the considerable talent within the Lions' lineup and create the team that was supposed to be?
The Lions' owner David Braley and GM Wally Buono are confident that's the case. It remains to be seen if the rest of the province will be as easy a sell.
"I don't want to toot my own horn," said Buono on Friday before, of course, he proceeded to toot his own horn. "But I went to Calgary and a lot happened. I came here and a lot happened. John Hufnagel went to Calgary and a lot happened. Marc Trestman (in Montreal), you can go on and on.
"The point is leadership starts at the top. You look at Jeff's style. You look at his background. I'm going to say, yes, he can make a difference. You hate to put the onus on him but when you listen to him talk, when you see him address people, you see the quality of the individual."
This morning, the Lions wake up with the prettiest girl at the dance and even if there's some confusion why Tedford would chose the Leos over most of the known football universe, the new man says there's no great mystery behind his decision.
Yes, he had options and, yes, he could have made more money elsewhere. But when you're 53, you have two stents in your heart and you've already spent the better part of two decades in the meat-grinder of big-time college ball, your life starts to become about something else and, in the Lions and Vancouver, Tedford saw a lot of answers.
His wife Donna, for starters, is from Calgary. Both their sons were born in Canada and Tedford has roots in the CFL as a player and a coach. He has a relationship with Buono which goes back to 1989 when they were assistants under the unusual Lary Kuharich in Calgary and both men have remained tight over the years. Tedford has also seen his longtime friend and colleague Hufnagel build something of substance in Calgary over the last seven years.
Add it all up and maybe the decision isn't as curious as others would make it out to be.
"I wouldn't be moving my family 3,000 miles if I didn't feel pretty good about this," Tedford said. "Trust me, I've put a lot of thought into this. It's not a stepping stone for me because I don't feel a stepping stone is necessary. This is about the quality of life and the relationship I have with Wally."
And Buono was reading from the same script.
"Jeff isn't BSing when he says he's all in," said the GM. "He said, 'Wally, if I wanted the NFL, I've turned down head coaching jobs.'
"His agent said, 'I'm turning people down because Jeff doesn't want to talk to them.' This is what I'm saying. This is a tremendous coup for the CFL. This will make our league better because he'll make everyone better."
Tedford, in fact, ticks every imaginable box for the Lions and in his first public appearance with the team, he presented as the man who was advertised; a man who's a leader. But can he effect the kind of seismic change this team appeared to need at the conclusion of this past season, especially when he hasn't seen the inside of a CFL game in over two decades?
"It's a big deal if you're not going to come in and do the work," Buono said. "Here, (Hufnagel's) comment to me was if you get Jeff it's a great hire. He'll be up to speed in a month.
"This is what always excited me about him coming in and bringing in an offensive philosophy. I'm hoping he can bring in an offence that has the sophistication you see in the NFL, where you have guys on the line of scrimmage and going. When I talked to him this is what we talked about. I've always believed in this, we should be uptempo."
Tedford has already had at least one in-depth meeting with Travis Lulay and you have to know the oft-injured quarterback is as excited about this hire as Buono. The same can be said for Andrew Harris, Manny Arceneaux, Ernest Jackson and Courtney Taylor because, beginning at Fresno State in '92, running through Oregon from '98 to 2001 and culminated with 10 years at Cal, Tedford established himself as one of the brightest, most innovative offensive minds in the game.
He now has the immense CFL canvas to practice his craft and, as Buono said, that creates the potential for something truly special; something that will capture the imagination of this team's dwindling fan base
But wasn't that the point of the exercise all along?
By Ed Willes, The Province December 19, 2014
Yes, Wally was tooting his own horn. Well, he can crow about this hiring, even with help from on high. As noted by a few, Wally pulled a rabbit out of the hat with this development. The perfectly ripe plum fell from the tree. Aside from the surprisingly available Jeff Tedford the pickings for new Head Coach were not all that promising. Some re-cycled guys. Some guys without deep resumes. So the Lord was good to Wally, and us."I don't want to toot my own horn," said Buono on Friday before, of course, he proceeded to toot his own horn. "But I went to Calgary and a lot happened. I came here and a lot happened. John Hufnagel went to Calgary and a lot happened. Marc Trestman (in Montreal), you can go on and on.
That is for sure. Tedford is soft-spoken. But he communicates strongly. His character is evident."The point is leadership starts at the top. You look at Jeff's style. You look at his background. I'm going to say, yes, he can make a difference. You hate to put the onus on him but when you listen to him talk, when you see him address people, you see the quality of the individual."
We don't know if the results are going to be spectacular. But we are out of the doldrums. We have an inspirational new leader. Qualified beyond reasonable hopes. An offensive master mind. A quarterback developer. So good for what has ailed us."I wouldn't be moving my family 3,000 miles if I didn't feel pretty good about this," Tedford said. "Trust me, I've put a lot of thought into this. It's not a stepping stone for me because I don't feel a stepping stone is necessary. This is about the quality of life and the relationship I have with Wally."
And Buono was reading from the same script.
"Jeff isn't BSing when he says he's all in," said the GM. "He said, 'Wally, if I wanted the NFL, I've turned down head coaching jobs.'
"His agent said, 'I'm turning people down because Jeff doesn't want to talk to them.' This is what I'm saying. This is a tremendous coup for the CFL. This will make our league better because he'll make everyone better."
I listened live on TSN1040 radio (because, what else, the Lions' live streaming wasn't working; at least not for me) and Skulsky actually came through loud and clear, so I think it was just part and parcel of that embarrassing clip that actually shouldn't be on their site - at least not until it's edited to remove the really amateur parts.Honour Dewalt wrote:Couldn't agree more. Skulsky's audio was so bad because he wasn't mic'd up. Wally and Tedford both had lapel mics, meaning the plan was for them to be talking at the podium. Skulsky charged in there as Wally was clearly introducing Tedford. So strange.
I think some are being too harsh on the Lions here.B.C.FAN wrote:Kudos to TSN 1040 for covering the press conference live. I know they've done that with the Canucks, usually in the noon hour, but this was unusual coverage for the Lions, especially for the popular afternoon drive-time slot. As mentioned above, the audio quality was good on radio.
Nice to see Braley opening up his pocket book for one of his teams.Blitz wrote:I'm also sure it took Braley to be involved, in terms of opening up the pocket book to pay Tedford more money than they would ordinarily pay a HC.