Grey Cup week is unlike any other during the CFL season.
A handful of reporters every day at practice turns into a relative swarm of media from across the country — even if that swarm is shrinking yearly.
One of the week’s biggest events is the media day sessions during which players from both teams are subjected to the torture of answering questions from people like me and my colleagues at 3DownNation.
The event has changed over the years from an informal sitdown over a meal to a social media playpen to the more structured player booths we see now.
Here’s the good, the bad, and the dumb of the 111th Grey Cup media day.
The Good
Even though it’s the biggest game of the season, you’d never guess it talking to the players on media day.
It’s an environment that allows the players to open up and relax. No one may be more relaxed heading into this year’s Grey Cup than Winnipeg kicker Sergio Castillo.
“My thing is just making memories, man. We get to play a game of football, we get to travel to this beautiful city, another week of hanging out with the boys,” he said. “I’m so in the moment right now. The last two years, I’ve just been where my two feet are at, which is so hard to do. I’ve been trying to accomplish that for 32 years.”
Most of the time when reporters get to talk to players, it’s after practice when they’re looking to get off the field, clean up, and head to a meeting, get some treatment, or go home. The environment isn’t optimal for getting the best out of anyone.
For logistical reasons, I get why this is the common practice, but there’s room for more events like this. The now-defunct CFL Week was another great example of players being able to let their guards down and show some of their personality.
For a league that’s looking to market its players better, those same players also need more opportunities to show the world who they are.
The Bad
Grey Cup week is not only a chance for reporters to talk about Sunday’s game but also to address issues from across the league.
There’s been no shortage of topics surrounding the Toronto Argonauts this year, ranging from the Chad Kelly sexual harassment scandal to Rogers buying out Bell’s share of MLSE, the corporate entity that owns the team.
Rightly or wrongly, many of the bigger picture issues have now fallen to general manager Michael Clemons, as the team is currently without a president. The gregarious executive wasn’t too interested in discussing anything besides football-related activities.
Clemons said that to date, he hadn’t met with anyone at Rogers. As for the Kelly situation, Pinball was pretty tightlipped, arguing that this wasn’t the time to have these discussions, only serving up general talking points of progress the team has purportedly made regarding the treatment of female staff.
While Clemons and (assumedly) the CFL would like for all of this to go away, there’s still an ongoing conversation to be had whether they like it or not. What has the organization learned? What have they changed? These are important questions that deserve real, honest answers.
The Dumb
Every season, a fresh batch of Americans make their way into the CFL with hopes of keeping their professional football dreams alive following either their collegiate career or stops in the NFL that didn’t work out for one reason or another.
We often hear about how those players adjust to the Canadian game with the wider field, extra players, the waggle, and more. What about off of the field? For some of these players, their move north means leaving the United States for the first time.
“I would have to say it was paying for stuff on my (PlayStation 5),” said Toronto receiver Makai Polk, who was named the team’s Most Outstanding Rookie after surpassing 1,000 yards. “I got my PS5 back home and it doesn’t accept my Canadian card. I had to do a whole little process where I send money back to myself and that takes days or I got to pay someone else.”
As a fellow gamer — though increasingly less so as I creep closer and closer to the age of 40 — the struggle is certainly understandable. It’s always annoying when after a stressful day and all you want to do is sit down and play some games, the console doesn’t work.
Polk, the self-professed best gamer on the Argonauts, claims to be good at just about any video game you put in front of him. Unsurprisingly, he enjoys playing College Football 25 and Madden, but his absolute favourite is the NBA2K series.
“I got about eight players, it’s called ‘My Career.’ You can make a player and stuff like that at a bunch of different positions. My favourite team is the Lakers, if I’m playing as a normal team.”
Another Dumb
If you want to motivate the media and players to come to your event, put out some food.
Upon arrival on Wednesday morning, the Argonauts were excited to see a wide spread of food as they entered the Vancouver Convention Centre. One problem: that spread was for the media.
A few players were already loading up their plates before they were told they had their own spread at the end of the hall. The Blue Bombers weren’t as hungry when they arrived in the afternoon but a few players were still eyeing it up.
The relationship between the players and the media isn’t always sunshine and rainbows but it’s important to remember that we’re more alike than we are different, especially when it comes to the desire to stuff our faces.
The post The good, the bad, and the dumb of Grey Cup media day appeared first on 3DownNation.
