CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon Sits Down with TSN’s Brian Williams for Candid Interview, this Friday on TSN

Brian
Williams’s in-depth and timely interviews with key CFL newsmakers returns this
season in what has become a weekly staple element of the Wendy’s CFL on TSN
telecasts. Williams starts at the top this season for his first candid
discussion, as he sits down with new CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon, who talks
about his vision for the league and the new challenges that await him.
The interview airs during TSN’s pre-game show on Friday Night Football:
Saskatchewan @

Montreal,
this Friday (June 29) at 7 p.m. ET.

During the
interview, Cohon also discusses why he accepted the job, the goals he seeks to
accomplish during his term, and how he plans to work with the league’s owners.

“You’ve
got to be the guardian of the league. You’ve got to be prepared to stand
up and make tough decisions, and I think that’s a big element of this
job…It’s about living and breathing what the league stands for,” says
Cohon. “I think it’s pretty clear that on tough decisions you have
to be principled and do what’s right for the league, and I’ve learned that from
guys like [NBA Commissioner] David Stern.”

Stern, Cohon’s
former boss and someone he considers a mentor from his days working at the NBA,
also sits down with Williams to discuss Cohon’s business acumen. The NBA
Commissioner also provides further insight into what CFL owners, players and
fans can expect from Cohon.

“I
think he’s smart, I think he’s hard working, I think he is personable because
he gets along with people. But he’s not afraid to make a decision that is
going to be unpopular. He is not afraid to push back,” says Stern.

Williams
also speaks with Cohon’s predecessor, Tom Wright, as well as Hamilton
Tiger-Cats’ owner Bob Young.

“The
commissioner of the CFL, I would argue, is one of the toughest jobs on the
planet,” says Young. “I was not unhappy with our previous
commissioners. It was that we had to raise our game, we had to get even
better than we were, and that’s what I think Mark gives us the opportunity to
do.”

All of
Brian Williams’s interviews this season will be available on TSN Broadband at www.TSN.ca.

The 2007
CFL season gets underway tomorrow (Thursday, June 28) with an opening night
doubleheader on TSN and TSN Broadband, featuring B.C. @ Toronto at 6:30 p.m. ET
(also on TSN HD) immediately followed by Winnipeg @ Edmonton. All 50 of
TSN’s games this season will be available for the first time ever on TSN
Broadband with an unprecedented 35 match-ups available in High Definition on
TSN HD.