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I got a feeling that attendance will be up once we are back to normal. People have spent the last year in their houses people will want to get out and do stuff again.

I can honestly say that when the Jets left Winnipeg in 1996, I stopped watching hockey. Totally & completely. I was angry & carried that anger for years after. I never switched allegiance to the Flames. In those 15 years I never watched one NHL game from start to finish. I didn't give a ****. And the Coyotes could go screw themselves. When the Jets came back in 2011, I started watching & caring again.

I will say this: I'm less angry/upset/depressed about this situation than I was yesterday. Just let me have some Winnipeg Blue Bombers football, whatever that looks like, and get back to some semblance of normal

Active cases finally got adjusted and fell under 1000, yes numbers in the North have gone up but those should start falling in the coming week, numbers in the Winnipeg area considering that restrictions have eased a bit and in dining is slowly happen is about as good as can be expected number wise, week by week more and more are getting vaccinated and while we may never fully eradicate this virus we are well on the way to controlling it and treating it.

It's shame that the Bombers lost all that momentum from winning the Grey Cup. We were looking and big bump in attendance and earnings and now the CFL is hoping The Rock can save the league.

The CFL is accessible. I can go buy a car from Harris or get financial advice from Bighill. My son could throw the ball with Nichols. I can see Bryant at Costco. I can get a job with Millers help. I love Shawarma Khan's. I get that some of this won't change. The economics of the league will mean that the players will need to maintain other jobs, other businesses, etc. But, the fact that Harris was Pirate and Demksi was a Raider (🤢) means something to me. I love when we sign locals. I hope it means something to my kids.

West Virginia just plucking it's Banjo and flashing it's tooth The whole country is a fly-over country.

I just don't agree with that statement. Jets are 5-1-1 in OT this year, and are one of the most dynamic 3-on-3 teams in the format.

My MLA is the leader of the Liberal Party, Dougald Lamont. I've found him to be an excellent MLA and the party platform in general seems to be intelligent and progressive. As a plus, Pallister hates him and retorts to every issue Lamont raises with a jab at the federal Libs. Unfortunately with our voting system it is very hard for the Libs to gain traction provincially. One side wants anything but the NDP, the other anything but the Conservatives. Its hard to make any headway when both sides are afraid to split the vote. The last election was the first time I ever voted provincially for the Liberals and I was only willing to vote for them because they had a legitimate shot at winning my riding.

Kentucky: “Hold my beer”. Alabama: “B*tch, please. Lifetime achievement award here”

IF this is an 'expansion' then the ratio will have to go, just like it did during the US expansion all those years ago. The US labour laws won't accept X number of foreigners. Canadian teams with ratio rules would be at a huge disadvantage, so the ratio would have to go in Canada too. Field size isn't as big a deal to me as it is to many others. If the US stadiums can't fit a CFL sized field, then that would be something I'd be willing to give up to save the CFL. I wouldn't even care if different fields were different sizes. Basically, as close to the CFL size as possible and I'm happy. What I don't want to give up is the 3 downs for 10 yards, the 2 point conversions, the 'halo' instead of the 'wave the arms, don't hit me', the Kick Off rules, etc. Those are the things that make the CFL different and special to me.

Well, so many people on social media seem against this but my question is, where were they in the stands in 2019 & the years before? That is a general question not limited to or directed at people here because most are fans who go to games. Same. I won't die on a hill defending Canadian rules & players if it means the team folds.

That's what the diehards here don't get. The CFL is becoming irrelevant. It's already like that in Toronto. The league will die anyway with the way things are going. We need to try something new. The definition of insanity is to keep doing things that don't work. If younger fans want to see 4 down football okay well, then that's what has to happen. I love 3 down football but I love the Blue Bombers more. I'll follow them wherever they go. It's all about the Team for me.

My parents both mid sixties got a call from their pharmacist this week to book them in to get the astrozenac shot in a week and half. So if you in the 65-60 age bracket you will not have to as many people to wait for.

As evidenced by the sheer number of people who seem to ignore the guidelines, I would agree with this. There is a pent up desire among a lot of people to get out and socialize, so I expect that as things continue to open up, most people will be out and about more and more.

How many fans are going to watch a league with American rules and mainly American players when they can watch the NFL?

Competing against a team full of imps is too big a disadvantage.

Us based NI dont work though. Even if its territorial. Not to mention having us based teams in league with us would badly hurt our ability to recruit. To hell with that. If we played some funny mixed rules or alternated rules for a cross over championship or some interleague play thatd be ok. But they cant have our 3 downs, our field width, or our endzone depth. They could take the rouge on the missed FG, id keep it on the punt though. 100 yards end zone to end zone would be fine too. More than that is suicide imo.

Going off my point in the other thread... I wonder how many free agents would of signed in Winnipeg in the last few years if they had the option of staying closer to home and living year round in a nicer climate in areas with a much more lively night life.

So if they change the field and the rules and remove the Canadians from the game... then why would I watch the Blue Bombers when I could watch the NFL? The only reason I watch the CFL is because of it's uniqueness and Canadian players. I can't believe so called fans on here are trying to sell it to themselves that things need to change and can't always be the same. Change the marketing, change the game day experience, change the presentation on tv. Don't change the rules, field size, and whatever gives the CFL it's unique flavour. The moment they change things to cater to the American audience/teams is the moment they lose the vast majority of the remaining CFL football fans and with American teams coming and going and rosters constantly being dispersed and changed it will crap on any continuity. It will be like the Moose/Goldeyes where every season it's a different cast of characters on the team. Also good luck luring any free agents to Winnipeg when they have options of living closer to home or in much more desirable locations with lower taxes and much more things to do. When the Jets left no die hard sports fans gave two shits about the Moose. The Moose was like the Goldeyes which was only around because it was a nice cheap night out to take the family for something fun. I never once saw any adults wearing jerseys or anyone talking about how they were playing at work. The CFL will be watered down like the AHL or the baseball league, nobody will give a crap and unlike the Moose who could remain profitable with 3000 - 4000 attendance per game, the Blue Bombers won't be able to survive with attendances like that.

same here

Man, when live sports is available on my Roku TV (I have one of those fantastic TCL Roku TV's) via a streaming platform, I'm gonna be a happy camper. The only reason I have cable is for the live sports. And I don't wanna go through some shitty website which I have to stream to a Chromecast stick. I want it via direct app on my TV...

This is just an example of one of the revenue streams that may be available that the CFL can't access on its own.

WHat in hell is going on here? https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-phantom-bills-ruling-1.5946634 They can introduce and vote on bills without anyone other than the PCs ever seeing them? dafuq is going on? Wait- it's the NDP's fault.... JFC.... Are they stupid? do they think everyone is stupid? NDP need new leadership, the Liberal's need a... provincial party- the PCs need to ******* crash and burn.

Bob Young's comments about "100 years ago, the Stanley Cup was a Canadian trophy, and 100 years ago you couldn't move the ball forward with a pass" really got to me.... as lame as it might sound, I've really had to do a lot of soul-searching about what it is about the Bombers and CFL that I support. What is it that makes me a superfan? As SF alluded to, what hill am I willing to die on to maintain the old ways, if the old ways mean no more Bombers ever....?

Actually, I have never expressed a like or dislike for him. And I think he has had his share of missteps for sure. The public problems with the Als’ sale taught him to keep his cards close to his chest rather than over promise and underdeliver. And that bugs you, because you see a world where these problems are simple fixes, when they most certainly are not. But you wrongly assume that because I challenge your attacks on him that I must like him, when what I am doing is pointing out your overriding bias that removes objectivity from your arguments. And it is clear you don’t like him, that we all get in spades. I have always wanted to know why that is, and why that hate is so passionate and so pre-determined. You have said it is his secretive ways - well here he is being open and you dump on him for that too. When you say “I never will (like him)” you prove my point about hating him without justification or giving him a chance and having no objectivity to the issue at hand. So I am left to believe it is something deeper or personal. But if you don’t want to say, I can’t make you. If the league is broke, it is not all because of him. You just want a scapegoat it seems because you can’t get a saviour. Ambrosie is neither of these things. He is just a guy trying to keep a league afloat and has been dealt a brutally bad hand unlike anything another commissioner has faced in the CFL with the pandemic and Health Canada calling the shots.

Calgary would get more people out to games with a price adjustment. They are charging premium priced to sit outside in Calgary where a warm day can turn cold at the drop of a hat to watch the CFL. Cfl badly needs to make games more affordable AND reach out to younger fans. Which is part of the affordability. Make games cheap enough for a family to go you start to get kids interested. You're not the NHL, stop assuming people will go regardless of cost.

Well, his teammates certainly have been demoralized by the goals he has let in, haven’t they?🙄

I was told that he should of been traded for Price because Helle has already peaked and we can get maximum value if we unload him now

That's just what Pat does. He's a talking head that wants views. I enjoy a lot of his content but he says a lot of stupid **** and he holds very little influence.

So not like this guy

That calculator is so messed up. At least they've finally updated it a bit but it's not really reflective of anything. My FIL is in his 70s and it says there are less than 50k in front of him. Based on how many doses they're getting, he should be immunized next week but they haven't expanded it at all. Unrelated, I've also learned that receptionists in dentists offices are getting the vaccine now. I'm not sure how a receptionist, who has zero contact with the public (behind shields and whatnot), should be getting the vaccine before seniors get it. Totally messed up.

Probably my pessimistic nature but I expect the opposite. A hesitancy from those that will take lessons learned from COVID and will want to avoid crowds in general going forward, the absence of going to movies/shows/sporting events causing people to say "I was fine without it, maybe I can save my money", etc.

well I think Frosty shared this link like awhile ago but it's worth posting again https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/vaccine/queue-calculator.html Every provincial website should have this, as now my place in line is 433,220 and granted I posted the update before the provincial cases update. I am well aware that it's going to be a long time before my turn comes, but it's just nice to know that my place in line has taken quite a leap up

Don't like the trend of the past few days, though.

A summer-fall league would not be directly competing with the NFL. The CFL game is faster and more entertaining. The NFL is so boring despite all the hype and glitz that I do not watch even the "super bowl". It will take time for a new league to become accepted, particularly if they use CFL rules, but it ought to be doable.

Those are hands that are a gift from the hockey gods all right

Impossible! This is all Ambrosie!! No one else!!

As JCon (I think) has said before, don't just focus on that number. TPR is up slightly, and about half of today's cases are from the North.

So, while I agree with most of what's been said recently in this thread, I wanted to just say that I think there'll still be a level of interest in regional rivalries. So regardless of what rules, and the ratio and all of that......it'd still be Winnipeg playing Regina playing Calgary playing Edmonton........so there will always be a passion for the "local sports team", regardless of all the extraneous stuff. That's something that I've thought long and hard about this week. The thing that makes the CFL special to me, is it's my home province playing against other provinces and that's probably what I cheer for the most. And nothing, regardless of rule changes or whatever, is going to change in that regard. They're not taking away the Bombers.

It was a great goal. KConn used to do that but even he was not as good as what AM just pulled.

I agree, many fans such as myself watch the CFL for it's Canadian players. The CFL draft is one of my favourite parts of football season. Canadian teams kept the ratio, during the U.S expansion and should if this is a merger. I highly doubt this is a merger, more of a partnership.

Where's our Monctom team , I thought Ambrosie was going to have it up and running by now I think Ottawa is a great example of how those questionable cities can learn from. Many of the people I know who go to Redblack games go because of the gameday experience (more so then the love of the CFL).

Would make me believe they have a couple reserves with outbreaks so they go in and mass test the entire place.

I think +/- is an incomplete way to evaluate players and doesn't take into account the full scope of how a team plays. Beaulieu led the Jets in that stat last season but doesn't translate to him being anything more than a 5-6 defenseman; maybe 4 depending on the situation. Morrissey and DeMelo are both struggling this season but that speaks more to a team problem than an individual player one, IMO. Team defense is not a strength of this team the last two seasons, which in turn puts the blue line in bad situations more often than not, particularly when a forward line doesn't pick up the slack. Pionk has been a bright spot, which is great for him and the team. The Jets are in the bottom 10 in both SOG allowed (9th - 796) and HDSC allowed (9th - 87) at even strength. Fortunately, Hellebuyck bails them out consistently and the team's power play is good enough to make up the difference when the opportunity arises. I think Hyman's first goal is a microcosm of what ails this team all too often at times: a glaring lack of a consistent, strong two-way game. When the Jets are without the puck, there seems to be a tendency to not focus on defensive responsibilities from the forward lines.

sports betting may be affecting the league as well. some people don't follow teams, just the players on their own fantasy "team". The NFL provides far more in that way than the CFL. and moving to a smaller stadium turned out to be not that big a deal to fans in Toronto and Montreal.

I don't know about you, but the more I hear about this Covid19 thing the less I care for it....

not to mention the majority of the solid fan bases in the three cities you mention are getting up there in age...

https://3downnation.com/2021/03/10/wade-miller-says-potential-xfl-partnership-is-not-due-to-cfls-financial-struggles/ I think the only way this "plan" works without massive outrage from CFL fans is by keeping the institution of Canadian football intact. The idea of sharing resources makes sense from a partnership standpoint but the fabric of our game cannot be compromised in doing so. I know it's early, as Miller says, but I have no idea what to make of this right now. It's unsettling as hell, though. The CFL is in a rough spot right now.