John Murphy suspended indefinitely

[Argo57]

Frank Z sure is harping on the Collaros trade isn’t he? A real shame that Murphy is being let go. No shortage of good young Canadian front office guys to consider. Spencer Zimmerman is another that comes to mind.

No shortage of possibilities for sure, an interesting off season already albeit for all the wrong reasons.

[paulwoods13]

We need someone who is not only a great talent scout and also a skilful contract negotiator and trading partner. Pinball's focus needs to be on the bigger picture and not the nuts and bolts of putting a team together. If he were to be elevated to a Ujiri-Shanahan-type role, that would be fine with me. It would not bode well for Manning, of course. Chris Shewfelt is no doubt ready to run the business side of the operation if Manning were to go back to soccer full-time.

Chris Rossetti, assistant director of pro scouting with the Dolphins. Former director of player personnel for Argos. Ready for a GM job? Maybe.

One way or another, we cannot lose Vince Magri. We have seen too many other good Canadian personnel guys (Rossetti, Zimmerman, Goveia) lured elsewhere. Magri's record the past three drafts is tremendous. Nicastro, Hoyte and Hagerty this year, with Doxtator and Vilain hopefully coming later. Brissett, Churchill, Cassar, Acheampong, Giffen and Pellerin last year, with Baker still to come. Richards, Smith, Boateng and Gittens in 2019 (as well as O'Connor, whom I wish we had not cut loose). By my count that is three guaranteed starters (Nicastro, Acheampong and Gittens) plus at least half a dozen guys who have played and will play regularly in the future.

[paulwoods13]

The trade didn’t bother me at all when the Argos did it, the team was a complete mess and getting draft capital back made a lot of sense.
You are correct, hindsight makes everyone a genius.

For the record, I did not bring up the Collaros trade as a shot at Murphy but simply to point out that he made some excellent moves (like Bede) and some not-excellent moves (like Darby and Collaros). The latter of course looks far worse in hindsight than it did at the time, altho I think I posted before Collaros left that I was hoping he would be kept around when he got healthy. And TBH I expected that to happen; what I didn't expect was that the guy who acquired him would be fired soon after.

[Shatto]

Paul has suggested some potential changes which would enable the team to operated more effectively. Moving Pinball to president and allowing Manning to focus on the soccer side of the operation, would be an excellent first step. As suggested the team needs someone who can focus on the bigger picture and and bring some credibility to the operation of the team. He would become even more the face of the team. With Pinball given ultimate authority, perhaps we will avoid a repeat of some of the recent chaos which has surrounded the team recently.

There are some excellent young Canadian individuals who could move up in the front office. A number of them have already been mentioned.

[Antwon]

So 3DownNation is reporting Murphy is gone. And they have the video, which I do not condone his actions. But FFS maybe they should show the video of the AssHat Ticat fans throwing shit at the players. Or the guy involved with Murphy kicking another guy in the head.
What a bunch of spineless b!tches!

[ArgoRavi]

So 3DownNation is reporting Murphy is gone. And they have the video, which I do not condone his actions. But FFS maybe they should show the video of the AssHat Ticat fans throwing shit at the players. Or the guy involved with Murphy kicking another guy in the head.
What a bunch of spineless b!tches!

I think the alleged homophobic slur is what did Murphy in. Tough to come back from that.

[AngeloV]

I think the alleged homophobic slur is what did Murphy in. Tough to come back from that.

True. There was no way MLSE would retain anyone after making a prejudiced slur such as that.

[jerrym]

Sad to see this happen to Murphy when he helped rebuild this team after two disastrous seasons. But heh, I'm prejudiced. My last name is Murphy and my father's name was John.

[ArgoGabe22]

So 3DownNation is reporting Murphy is gone. And they have the video, which I do not condone his actions. But FFS maybe they should show the video of the AssHat Ticat fans throwing shit at the players. Or the guy involved with Murphy kicking another guy in the head.
What a bunch of spineless b!tches!

He's at least passionate about the team and willing to defend his players. A shame he said what he said, and I'm not defending his use of the word, but I hate this era of everything being filmed.

[jerrym]

I want to make it clear that I do condone what he said in any but if this a first time offence, I feel a public apology and a clear warning that a repeat of such an incident would end his CFL career.

[gilthethrill]

I want to make it clear that I do condone what he said in any but if this a first time offence, I feel a public apology and a clear warning that a repeat of such an incident would end his CFL career.

What Murphy said was in the heat of the moment and I am sure he regrets it immensely. I believe in 2nd chances. Seeing Winnipegs Kenny Lawler on the field after his Impaired Driving charge earlier this season shows the CFL believes in 2nd chances to a certain extent anyway.

[Jon Gonzo]

We need to stop cancelling people for making mistakes. He was dead wrong, let it be a learning experience, and give him a 2nd chance. If we have stopped with the idea that rehabilitation works, then no one gets a 2nd chance and criminals can rot in jail forever. Cancel em all!

Not everyone finds their jobs back, especially in middle age. Mental health and families suffer. Could he have begged for forgiveness and made an impassioned public apology along with public appearances to detail what he has learned?

I say we are a better society when we follow the latter and not the former.

People make mistakes, after all we are all human.

[Argo57]

We need to stop cancelling people for making mistakes. He was dead wrong, let it be a learning experience, and give him a 2nd chance. If we have stopped with the idea that rehabilitation works, then no one gets a 2nd chance and criminals can rot in jail forever. Cancel em all!

Not everyone finds their jobs back, especially in middle age. Mental health and families suffer. Could he have begged for forgiveness and made an impassioned public apology along with public appearances to detail what he has learned?

I say we are a better society when we follow the latter and not the former.

People make mistakes, after all we are all human.

Well said Gonzo!👍

[Will]

The dismissal hasn't been made official yet by the team. I assume the Grey Cup moratorium is over?

[Rich]

Nobody in their right mind would have traded Collaros if they had known he was going to return to form.

No GM in their right mind would engage in a physical altercation with drunken fans of the opposing team. Such unbelievably bad judgement. Forget the slur. Imagine insisting your players show self-discipline on the field while you yourself show none on your way to the fvcking dressing room. A terrible embarrassment for this grand old franchise and IMO this clown can’t leave town fast enough.

[paulwoods13]

No GM in their right mind would engage in a physical altercation with drunken fans of the opposing team. Such unbelievably bad judgement. Forget the slur. Imagine insisting your players show self-discipline on the field while you yourself show none on your way to the fvcking dressing room. A terrible embarrassment for this grand old franchise and IMO this clown can’t leave town fast enough.

I'm not defending Murphy's actions, but few people who get embroiled in altercations like that one are in their right mind. When someone does something that is sufficient to make you take a swing at them or hurl a vile slur at them, you are beyond operating in a rational, thinking manner. Anger has outweighed restraint. It is possible to not let anger take over, even under extreme provocation, but everyone has a different boiling point. The GM's boiling point was apparently such that he couldn't restrain himself from acting inappropriately.

[argotom]

Well said Gonzo!

Agreed, there is no way he should have been fired for something that he did not start regardless of the unfortunate comment.

[Rich]

I'm not defending Murphy's actions, but few people who get embroiled in altercations like that one are in their right mind. When someone does something that is sufficient to make you take a swing at them or hurl a vile slur at them, you are beyond operating in a rational, thinking manner. Anger has outweighed restraint. It is possible to not let anger take over, even under extreme provocation, but everyone has a different boiling point. The GM's boiling point was apparently such that he couldn't restrain himself from acting inappropriately.

So you are saying that his actions were wrong but he should be forgiven because he has anger issues?

[shayman]

Well, he's out now. Perhaps it wasn't just this incident, perhaps this was just the last straw.

[paulwoods13]

So you are saying that his actions were wrong but he should be forgiven because he has anger issues?

Not even close, and I am disappointed you would read it that way. I'm saying that anyone who does what he did is not in his right mind. That doesn't mean there are no consequences for acting inappropriately out of anger.

For the record, since it apparently was not clear, good riddance to Murphy.

But any human being -- including you and me -- can be driven out of their right mind if they get angry enough. Some have higher boiling points than others, but everyone has a boiling point.