But he has said that.
Jan. 22 letter to fans-
Here at the CFL, we’re watching closely the pace of the virus, and the progress of the vaccination efforts. And they will ultimately affect our ability to get our great players back on the field and our wonderful fans back in the stands. We’re in constant communication with medical experts. We’re working to be ready when public health officials give us the green light.
But we are determined to play.
Feb . 18-
We’re going to play a full season. But we’re also going to have the ability to be flexible and that’s the other side of this. You have to be adaptable and flexible according to whatever circumstances come our way. We are still very hopeful that the vaccine rollout will accelerate. We hang on the announcements being made by government officials and health care officials. We are listening and watching and talking with great intensity to all levels of government to get their take on the status of the vaccine rollout because we do know that it’s going to play a major role in getting all of us back to a more normal existence.
Feb. 20-
Right now, June 10 we will kick-off, that’s our plan. We’re looking at every possible scenario that we can be flexible if necessary to make a season happen.
Is it possible that there’s a few weeks of the season where we maybe don’t have fans? That’s a scenario that we’re talking about and then maybe after that governments will start to allow larger gatherings and we get 25-30 per cent of our stadiums filling up.
We’re talking about playing in our stadiums, we’re talking about playing in our stadiums with a smaller group of fans and then we’re hoping that as the season goes along, people are vaccinated and they are desperately wanting CFL football.
Mar. 13-
What we’re working on today is that we’re going to do everything we can to get back on the field.
That is our focus. We want to play a 2021 season, want to get our players back on the field. We want to get our fans back in the stands. We’re obviously watching the vaccine rollout very carefully. We’re talking with public health officials about health and safety protocols.
There are only so many ways to say “we are set to go but are at the mercy of the health authorities and how the vaccines go and how the lockdowns evolve. Would an update every week that says “we are no more certain today than 7 days ago” be better? And remember that in the last week of January we had over 200 cases in a day, 2 weeks later it was down to 50, then over 100 a week later, and so on. From 50 cases a week ago to 179 a couple of days ago. This virus is so unpredictable, no guaranteed message that is given today will be sure to hold water next week. So why make promises about 6 weeks in the future when so much can change between now and then. Announcing weekly that you are jumping from Plan A to B back to A to C and so forth when plan A is still over a month away is a waste of time and breath.
And last thought, being blunt and saying “We have a plan and are good to go, but the Government has been dragging its heels on approving our return to play protocols” is not the way to get them onside. Part of the quiet is a political game. Ambrosie got burned last year when his plea for Government bailout money went public. And when you are trying to court new business investors to increase your revenues, giving a doom and gloom approach to the fans for the sake of full transparency is not going to woo those businesses to invest in your brand.
