King David

The Globe and Mail gave huge page A3 play, complete with six photos, to the outburst by CanWest Global Communications vice-chair David Asper after last weekend's Winnipeg Blue Bombers game.

"He just wanted to know what was going on and why we sucked," said Blue Bomber linebacker Lamar McGriggs.

"He wasn't belittling me. I was trying to calm him down before he got to our head man."

Mr. Asper followed the team to the locker room where, according to other players, he continued to berate them and their coaches. One player said Mr. Asper grabbed head coach Jim Daley.

Wade Miller, a fullback, eventually pulled Mr. Asper into an equipment room, according to witnesses. They were followed by Lyle Bauer, the team's president and chief executive officer, who eventually escorted Mr. Asper out of the clubhouse.

Mr. Asper and Mr. Bauer were then caught on film, continuing their heated exchange, as they walked a short distance to the team's office where the confrontation appeared to end.

Although he was entitled to view the game at a VIP box, Mr. Asper on several occasions used his director's pass to gain access to the sidelines, where he could talk to players, coaches and referees.

On a number of occasions he was observed taunting opposing players and questioning calls from referees.

"He's a great guy," Mr. McGriggs said. "It's just that his antics during the game, he's very emotional about the Blue Bombers."

Bomber chairman Ken Hildahl said Mr. Asper contacted him on Sunday to advise him that he was resigning from the board for personal and business reasons.

The Globe, which competes with the National Post, of which Asper is chair, seemed to take inordinate glee in reporting the dust-up and subsequent bust-up. It even brought up last year's $405K wrongful dismissal lawsuit against Asper by Patricia Hickey, the former Post society page reporter/photographer. In her statement of claim, she alleged that he

"made an obscene and lewd gesture by unzipping the fly of his pants, sticking his finger out of his pants towards [her]."

But, as the Globe reports:

The status of the lawsuit is unknown and neither the reporter nor Mr. Asper was available to comment.

Winnipeg Free Press columnist Randy Turner, also took a whack (sub. req'd) albeit a more sympathetic one, and on page one no less.

Do you know the difference between David Asper and the average Bombers fanatic? A few million bucks, for the most part.

Asper has influence (until he resigned this week, he was a member of the board of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers). He's got loads of cash. He's a prominent member of one of this city's most respected families. For lack of a better term, the Aspers are Winnipeg royalty, only with more cash.

So when David Asper makes a fool of himself in public, it's kind of like Prince Harry getting into a fight in a London nightclub. See Photos Page 3!!! Everybody's got to know everything, right?

Personally, I don't really care. Of course, Asper was way out of line. How do we know he was out of control? Because he grabbed CEO Lyle Bauer by the arm while he was screaming at him, that's why. Trust me, nobody does that when they're rational.

It was the same with going after head coach Jim Daley in the locker-room. That's just plain stupid.

<SNIP>

This column wouldn't be written at all if that was just some other anonymous Bombers director in the crosshairs. But that's just the price of wealth and notoriety.

So while I can't tell you what Asper is thinking today, I can probably hazard a guess: He's embarrassed. He probably sees the guy caught on tape confronting Bauer and is ashamed. He reads about his ranting in the locker-room and feels sick.

After all, we're talking about the ultimate Bomber fan here. And the players and staff love him, because it's like having Richie Rich as your biggest supporter. Swank parties at his luxurious house and the works.

That's probably why a few of the Bombers' veterans escorted Asper out of the locker-room. To save him from himself.

I'm guessing this story won't be appearing on either Global TV or in any CanWest paper.

UPPITY DATE: I ''guessed'' wrong, according to Colby Cosh who posts a comment below. I should have checked beyond Google and the Dow-Jones data base, neither of which show a mention of the story by a CanWest paper.

Here, for example, is how the Montreal Gazette (sub. req'd) played it.

Asper, credited with helping navigate the CFL team through some rocky financial straits, resigned after the Bombers lost 19-17 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday. Video footage aired by CKY-TV showed Asper, who appeared to be upset and shouting, walking beside team president Lyle Bauer toward the Bomber offices following the game. CKY and the Winnipeg Sun reported that Asper also got involved in "heated confrontations" with some players. Asper, executive vice-president of the Winnipeg-based multimedia giant, which owns The Gazette, would not comment on the incident.

Give me 10 yards -- or whatever the appropriate gridiron penalty metaphor is -- for not combing through Canada.com.

BOMBSHELL: A reader, who prefers anonymity it seems, writes:

It seems to me what the Blue Bombers should do is put a helmet on David Asper and turn him loose on the field during one of his rants. They might win a few more games.

Comments

[Colby Cosh]

That's the great thing about "guessing"; it saves you the trouble of "checking". I don't want to come off as a corporate homer here, but there are stories about David Asper's outburst in today's Gazette and Citizen, and it's mentioned briefly in the Vancouver Sun.

[Dwight Williams]

Interesting suggestion from "Anonymous" about Mr. Asper putting on the Blue Bomber uniform and joining the team on the field. At least then, he could be personally certain that everything to help the Bombers that could be done was being done.

As a transplanted Roughrider fan, though, I'd be somewhat opposed to the idea for the obvious reason: what if Mr. Asper made a competent football player?

[Tuli]

Am I wrong to be thinking Aspergers?

JMHO

Tuli