Rich

Why does your posting need to be so negative 😀

I've updated your name, it will show up in the screenshot next week. The lack of vowels always makes your name difficult for me I double checked, your picks weren't in the poll.

Picks this week need to be in by Friday @ 7:30 PM Current standings are below (note, these are adjusted from last week where I had miskeyed the winner of one of the games)

Agree with all that you said, except this last line. Leadership needs to get back in the mindset that they need to be juggernauts. Competitive isn't the bar they need to be reaching for. "Good enough" is not good enough. There needs to be hunger and desire to get back to the best in the league. To take over games and dominate. There was a time not that long ago when the defence would just shut teams down completely in the 4th quarter. The offence had the confidence to roll and kill the clock. All that is gone. It doesn't seem like they have that hunger anymore. From GM to coach to players.

Picks this week need to be in by Thursday @ 6:30PM Current standings below:

This was @Tony Fresco

Picks this week need to be in by Thursday @ 6PM Standings below:

Picks this week need to be in by Thursday @ 6:30PM Standings below:

Good to see! So it was more the product on the field and not the name change to the Elks.

Your picks are there.

Almost $19M a year! Crazy. For a sort of comparison .... highest paid NFL and NBA players are now making ~$60M per year.

Picks this week need to be in by Thursday @ 7:30PM Standings below:

I think this is just the natural QB cycle in the CFL. Every 10-15 years a generation of franchise QBs retires and there's a temporary gap while the next group establishes itself. The same thing happened when Calvillo, Burris, Ray, Glenn and Durant all left within a few seasons of each other, and it's happening again now. I'm also not convinced a true #3 QB changes much. If your starter + QB #2 plays 17-18 games, where are those meaningful reps supposed to come from? QB development happens in games, not on the depth chart. That's why experienced backups tend to stick around for so long. The CFL has always valued guys with actual starts over prospects who have spent three years holding a clipboard. Era Established stars Transition Next generation ~2000-2013 Anthony Calvillo, Damon Allen, Dave Dickenson Calvillo retired (2013), Allen (2007), Dickenson (2008) Burris, Ray, Durant became the established starters ~2013-2020 Henry Burris, Ricky Ray, Darian Durant, Kevin Glenn Burris (2017), Ray (2019), Glenn (2019), Durant (2017) all exited within a few years Mitchell, Reilly, Collaros, Harris became the league's veteran core 2024+ Collaros, Mitchell, Harris Current transition beginning Brown, Rourke, Alexander, etc.

I remember Walters talking early in his tenure as GM about how important it was to draft OL early. I wonder how much of this is due to a trend of the high end Canadian O Lineman getting more looks in the NFL.

Picks this week need to be in by Thursday @ 8PM Standings below:

He said give Walters credit for the Brown deal. Walters closed the deal.

I never said Brown's genetics were the cause of his injuries. It just stands to reason that the genetic makeup of some people will make them more resilient to injuries. Can you tell the difference as to what was the cause of an injury? No. But over the course of a career you can make some assumptions if you see patterns. Could be bad luck, could be genetics, but some people are just more brittle.

A player who is not "injury prone" can still get injured. But genetics will also play a role in how susceptible you are to getting hurt. but research also suggests that genetics play a part in how easily you are hurt. https://www.academia.edu/35551133/The_genetics_of_sports_injuries_and_athletic_performance#title

Picks this week need to be in by Friday @ 8PM Standings below:

I don't know that they necessarily support it, as in they want the players to be able to do this, you just need enough owners to want to get rid of it to make it a fight they are willing to get into. And since this primarily affects small market teams, my guess this isn't a big enough issue on everyones agenda.

That’s not a new concession. The cap is tied to roughly a 50 / 50 split of revenue. Revenue goes up, cap goes up.

Picks this week need to be in by Thursday @ 8PM Standings below:

I'd love to see the NMV clause removed as well, I'm not debating that part of it. I just think it has a low chance of happening. The players have fought for this in previous CBAs. You would need a majority of owners to want to see this gone for the ensuing fight / negotiation. The way negotiations typically work, the players will want some other concession, I don't believe this is something they will just agree to. That is the reality of real world negotiations with a strong union who represent the players.

Its more difficult with unions. If this is something the players care deeply about, which I suspect it is, players have wives and families and want a say where they live, this isn't something they are just going to give up on a whim.