Friday Round Up: Chamblin Extends

In an offseason that saw everyone leaving it was nice to see that we at least wouldn't have a repeat of '07 when it came to coaches. This time our Grey Cup winning Coach of the Year is staying put. Yesterday Corey Chamblin inked a 4 year extension. (somewhere in there is a joke a Chamblin being black and having a big extension but for the life of me I can't find it... I might be losing my touch).

Chamblin has come a long way in his 2 short years here. In 2012 he was unproven, younger than a few players and surrounded by question marks. He showed his lack of experience more than once in his rookie year. But he got us back to the playoffs and headed in the right direction. We didn't have to wait long for our gamble on the young coach to pay off. Sure he had a roster a lot of coaches would kill for but history is riddled with all-star teams on paper that never lived up to the hype. Under his direction the came together, weathered a terrible mid-season stretch and a multiple assault charges and did what he was brought here to do... win us a cup. Given how much I noticed him grow as a coach in year 2, I'm excited to see how much more he will develop once his hairs start to turn Grey and reaches the age that most of his peers started their coaching careers as assistants. Locking down a young proven coach with more upside yet to come is a no brainer. He has set the bar high early for himself but he is a driven guy and I have a feeling he could be the first Rider head coach to win a second Cup.

In other Rider news, apparently today they will announce what company will build the new stadium. I just want them to hurry up and get a shovel in the ground. I'm still hesitant to get excited until construction actually starts and quite frankly as long as we didn't hire a mob construction group or the  group that did the stadium in Winnipeg I think we'll be fine. Looking forward to some pictures of the design.

One final bit of CFL news is the overreaction to the breakdowns in negotiations between the CFL and the Players Association on a new deal. Yes talks broke down but I'm not worried. Rule 1 of negotiation: Never accept the first offer. Rule 2: You won't get what you don't ask for so aim high. Rule 3: In the CFL both sides could not withstand a work stoppage without going bankrupt. The players are smart enough to know that the massive new TV deal should lead to more money for them. So do the owners but they also have only recently discovered this elusive thing called financial stability and aren't keen on throwing it all away just yet. A deal will get done that is good for both sides eventually. Don't worry.

In the off chance there is a strike or lockout I would like to preemtively claim "Replacements 2: Shane Falco Goes To Canada" as a movie concept. Patent pending.