Rich

http://www.cfl.ca/2016/11/28/10-million-canadians-watch-the-104th-grey-cup-presented-by-shaw/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

This guy has been banned from Delta Airlines for life. Apparently they also refunded the airfare for these passengers as he wasn't kicked off the plane when the event occurred. http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/delta-bans-rude-pro-trump-passenger-for-life-gives-refunds-1.3180399?campaign_id=A100

My bet is he stays up for at least this year. This is the rumour teams offer NCAA players "off the books" for signing early out of college.

I'm a Hellebuyck fan and everything, but does this really prove Hellebuyck is going to be as good as Price? How many goalies had similar stats that turned into nothing?

I don't see how any NFL team, let alone CFL team could pay Nichols $250 million, never mind 450 According to Justin Dunk earlier in the year, Nichols made a base of $169k and an additional 152k in play time bonuses, for 321k. That is really your starting point for next year, he isn't going to make less money. I would bump him up to 350k with somewhere around 250k in base salary.

About 10 years ago we went for a week long holiday to Cuba over New Year. Rather then a tour into Havana on a bus with a big group, we opted for a more personal tour with just our group in a mini-van with a tour guide. Got to know the guide over the course of the day and by the end of it he opened up a bit to us. In a quiet moment at the end of the day as we were grabbing a drink, he told us about how his job dealt with showing tourists around all day long, every day. He got to meet a lot of different people from a lot of different countries, but he also felt like a prisoner in his country. He (like most citizens) was not allowed to leave Cuba for any reason, including vacation. He had absolutely zero chance of visiting all these countries of people he had met. They had no freedom to live their lives how they wanted. They had to follow the state rules and the propaganda that was forced onto them. Just imagine if that was how Canada was run. You had little say in how you lived your life, what your job was, where you wanted to live, and where you wanted to go. We all take the basic freedoms that we have for granted and can't even contemplate what it is like for people in other countries who don't have them. We each tossed in $5 US for a tip at the end of the day, to give him $25 after driving us around and showing us the sites for a full day. He was almost in tears as that was more than a months wage for him. Granted that could have been a bit of an act as I'm sure he gets this regularly with his job (being in tourism was one of the best paying jobs in Cuba because of the tips), but it seemed very genuine. And you know, Hitler never did anything to me personally, it doesn't mean I don't give a crap about what he did.

Overtime?

NFL refs make close to 200k a year. I don't think their pay is the issue. The issue is a fair number of them are judges, lawyers, own their own businesses, etc. And if the NFL forces them to become full time, they will lose a number of their experienced refs as they are forced to choose their career. NFL needs to either bite the bullet and lose them or start the transition where new refs are full time going forward.

Stadiums and arenas need big footprints that the cost to put them in central locations balloons the price. MTS centre lucked out because the land donation bought Thompson into True North. The land sale of the old location was part of the funding of the stadium that wouldn't have been there had they built at that location I have no idea the answer to this question but what was around the polo park area when the old stadium and arena were built?

They probably got them for free from the league with "strings". No way they paid for them and are giving them away on a $30 pizza deal.

The Commissioner is doing the state of the league address this morning. Some interesting tidbits coming out on Twitter

http://www.ottawasun.com/2016/11/24/cfl-calls-illegal-procedure-on-half-baked-pizza-promotion-for-grey-cup-tickets

Calgary is going to be really interesting to watch over the next couple of years. Curious to see how the departure of John Murphy affects their pipeline of Americans coming in and compare that to Saskatchewan's scouting going forward. How much was Murphy responsible for the players that Calgary has been finding Also, Hufnagel is 65. How many more years before he decides to retire completely and what is the succession plan for GM? Michael Petrie has been assistant GM for the last 6 years. Is he being groomed? He has an interesting bio as he was a sportswriter and covered the Stamps before joining the club in media relations. BLM is only 26, and having a super star QB for potentially the next decade for whoever takes over is a big piece to that continued success.

The funny thing is that the shenanigans that they played probably made the broadcast of that game more interesting for TSN as they got to talk about the "controversy" of what they were doing. Still, the league should be investigating them. Can't bite the hand that feeds you.

I'm not sure having 25 - 30k people leaving the downs onto a single exit (the perimeter) would be any faster than exiting the U of M. There are also very few restaurant and bars within a reasonable distance as compared to Pembina. I think that anywhere they built the stadium there was going to be a subsection of the fans that felt alienated, have a longer drive, and they wouldn't like it. The biggest problem the Bombers are facing are that first impressions are sticking impressions, and that first year was executed so poorly that the the conception out there is that it is a bad location and hard to get to and out of. Since that first season, I don't find it bad at all. Tried the park and ride for the first time for the Heritage Classic and found it to be actually pretty convenient and quick. Didn't hear any complaints or issues for the heritage classic about the location, mostly because it was an event people really wanted to go to and were excited to go to. If the Bombers can start winning again (sustained), people will be convinced to give the location another chance and I think find that it isn't all that bad after all. Then we will go through all of this again in 50 or 60 years when a new one gets built some place else and people will have all the same complaints because at the end of the day, people just don't like change.

Quote from later on in the article... how would this go over in the WWE dressing room?

I would take him at that contract. Good chance he would get more (salary and / or term) on the open market though. Ladd got 7 years @ $5.5M and will be 31 in December. Would you pay more for Little over Ladd? Less? Same? So it would very much depend on preliminary discussions with his agent and how much Little wants to stay in Winnipeg.

Despite Perreault and Little being close to age, Perreault is signed for the next 4 years (plus this one). I don't want to lose Little at all, but the point of my discussion is he is only under contract for this year and next. If the Jets are confident they can afford and re-sign him, then by all means he should be protected. If you don't think you can re-sign him or afford him, why would you protect him to have him for next year only and lose someone like Armia who you control for the next 6ish years.

Barring a trade, I think they have to go 8-1. Hellebuyck is a no brainer for the goalie, same with the D and forwards you listed. At the beginning of the season, I would have thought Perreault was a lock because of the extension they signed him to. After the first half of the season, I wonder if I wouldn’t keep Armia over him. Here is a bit of an out there thought I just had while looking at the current lineup …. Little is going to be 30 next year with one year remaining on his deal. Looking at the younger guys coming up who are going to need raises and I’m not sure he is automatically re-signed. Little is probably going to want a raise and 4 -5 years minimum. So would you leave Little exposed?