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Laval QB Alex Skinner, in wake of Vanier Cup win, charged in connection with summer bar fight

Neate Sager

Well, the name of the game is protect the quarterback. The tentacles of the powerful Laval Rouge et Or university football program reach pretty far in Quebec City, which is leading people to arch an eyebrow at why it took until the first business day following the end of football season to bring charges against three players, including No. 1 quarterback Alex Skinner, in connection with a "spat inside a bar on June 28 led to a fight in the parking lot."

The 21-year-old Skinner and the other accused, 23-year-old running back Michel Savard and 26-year-old wide receiver Artchill Monney, will have their day in court. The circumstances of every case are unique and everyone is entitled to due process. The contrast between the speediness of the prosecutors in this incident and in the saga of another CIS star quarterback who got into off-field trouble seems rather obvious. The normally circumspect Globe & Mail's web headline notes the players were charged "only after Vanier Cup victory." But the explanation is that there were "unusual delays and complications."

Laval says it would not have sanctioned the players if charges had been laid during the season.

Here's the lowdown on the Laval trio, from Catherine Bouchard:

The Laval Rouge et Or's second straight Vanier Cup championship has been marred by criminal charges against three players for assaults that allegedly occurred five months ago.

The charges were laid just two days after the team won its record eighth CIS national football title, a 25-14 over the Calgary Dinos in the Vanier Cup game on Laval's home turf.

Ottawa-born quarterback Alex Skinner, 21, Quebec City running back Michel Savard, 23, and 26-year-old wide receiver Archill Monney of Paris face charges of assault and assault causing bodily harm.

A spat inside a bar on June 28 led to a fight in the parking lot.

QMI Agency has learned that an off-duty policeman suffered a serious jaw injury. Two women were also injured. (QMI Agency)

Who's to say why there was a five-month lag, especially when a police officer was seriously injured?

Instead, one should merely point out an irony. During the 2011 season, a major university football story involved McMaster's star QB Kyle Quinlan being suspended during the season after getting into a bar fight. The incident occurred Sept. 10 and Quinlan was charged and then suspended by McMaster. If it wasn't a fully principled decision — and some of the redemption stories that followed were a bit hyperbolic — at least McMaster faced it somewhat head-on. Quinlan was reinstated after three games before returning to lead the Marauders to the national title over none other than Laval.

Athletes regularly continue performing while they have a case before the courts; three members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders did so during the Grey Cup on Sunday.

Few would care if eight-time Vanier Cup champion Laval, a program whose sheer scope rivals that of a program in the NCAA's second-highest tier, the Football Championship Subdivision, had done so last Saturday. To reiterate, that would have been its decision ("A player has to be found guilty for there to be a sanction").

However, victims' rights should include prosecutors being much snappier at deciding whether charges are warranted. That's why it looks bad and ends up reflecting on Laval and why people smell conspiracy, fair or not.

From Tu Thanh Ha:

Officials say unusual delays and complications explain why the charges stemming from the summer bar fight were not laid until after the team won its second straight Vanier Cup.

Well-financed and with crowds packing their home games, the Rouge and Or are highly popular in Quebec City. In the absence of a major professional team, the team, a powerhouse of Canadian university football, and the Capitales, a minor-league baseball franchise, monopolize the attention of fans.

A spokesman for Quebec City police, Constable Pierre Poirier, said his force only concluded its investigation a month ago because of the number of witnesses who had to be questioned and because of delays prompted by people being away on summer vacations.

Constable Poirier said the file was handed to Crown prosecutors on Sept. 25.

René Verret, a spokesman for the provincial office of criminal and penal prosecutions, said the file was then transferred from Quebec City to the Crown office in another city, Saguenay, because the alleged victim was an off-duty police officer who would have been known to local Crown attorneys.

On the week of Nov. 4, the Saguenay office assigned two different prosecutors because there were mutual allegations, the football players having also accused the police officer of having attacked them. (Globe & Mail)

Whatever the reason for the delay, it puts a damper on Laval's championship.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.