OTTAWA—Randy Ambrosie was standing on the edge. It was a two-tiered stage and the chair he declined to use was close enough that during the entirety of his first address as commissioner on the state of the Canadian Football League, Ambrosie had to be mindful of where he stood.Which is about right. Ambrosie was only hired in July, and already everybody loves him, or near enough. He has intellect and good instincts, and is smart enough to appear more unvarnished than he actually is. He was a CFL offensive lineman, he has a strong financial and executive background, and he’s from Winnipeg, rather than snooty ol’ Toronto. If the CFL wanted an ideal commissioner and Randy Ambrosie didn’t exist, it would have to invent him. Which only means he faces stakes that are higher than those of his disappointing predecessor, Jeffrey Orridge. Even before his hour-long session with reporters, it was clear the 54-year-old Ambrosie wants to be a consequential commissioner. He said he wanted to make this league’s audience “two, three times bigger.” As chairman of the board Jim Lawson puts it, “He wants to make a difference.”And maybe he can. Ambrosie was prepared and spoke without notes; he gave long answers that veered into filibusters, but unlike Orridge he didn’t come across as the least knowledgeable person in the room. This being Ottawa, he took a selfie in front of the audience, “while we still like each other.” But the job comes with minefields you can’t just joke away, and Ambrosie knows that. He has inherited a league with more stability than ever. New or refurbished stadiums in Regina, Ottawa, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Toronto and even Vancouver; the actual possibility of a 10th team in Halifax, which with a credible ownership group and vaguely encouraging government only requires a business plan and the money for a football stadium. This isn’t 1996, where reporters sat in Hamilton hot ...
|
