Noeller

Reckon this is some more good news...... https://www.sportsnet.ca/cfl/article/government-reviewing-cfls-request-modified-quarantine-2021-season/ The CFL has cleared two more hurdles in its quest to return to the field in 2021. An official with the Public Health Agency of Canada told The Canadian Press the federal government has received the CFL’s request for a national interest exemption for modified quarantine for the upcoming season. The official added Ottawa is reviewing it in consultation with provincial health authorities. The inclusion of negotiations with Ottawa, in addition to previous talks with provincial health authorities, is a big step in the right direction for the league as it attempts to return to the field for the first time since 2019. Essentially, the CFL is asking Ottawa to provide it with the same exemptions it has for the NHL. The federal government waived its mandatory 14-day quarantine period for players acquired by Canadian NHL teams from American clubs "under national interest grounds" ahead of the league’s April 12 trade deadline. Under those terms, CFL players would observe a seven-day quarantine upon arrival into Canada and be subject to daily testing for COVID-19. Players would be eligible to suit up for their teams while continuing to undergo daily testing the following week. Another positive step is the ratification of an amended collective bargaining agreement between the CFL and CFL Players’ Association. Three sources told The Canadian Press the two sides have reached an agreement in principle on an amended deal, which would again pave the way for football to return in 2021. The sources were granted anonymity because the deal has not publicly announced. The CFL didn’t stage a 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league shelved plans for an abbreviated campaign last August after failing to secure a $30-million, interest-free loan from the Canadian government. Last November, the CFL unveiled plans for a full 18-game 2021 regular season. But in April, commissioner Randy Ambrosie announced the league was delaying the start of the ’21 season to Aug. 5 and reducing the number of games played to 14 per team. The next big step for an Aug. 5 return is a board of governors meeting on Monday. The board doesn’t require unanimous support to accept the Aug. 5 start but seven of nine teams would have to vote in favour as the CFL constitution requires over two-thirds majority. However, it’s unknown if the constitution could force teams to play and incur significant financial losses simply because a majority wants to go ahead with a season. The fear is that could force a situation where a team voting against the Aug. 5 startup date would simply refuse to play if the remainder of the board votes in favour of beginning a season in early August. That scenario could result in very serious implications regarding league transfer moneys as well as the CFL’s broadcast agreement and league’s ’21 schedule. Not playing in 2020 came at a significant cost to the CFL. A source has said the league lost between $60-and-$80 million last year by not staging games. The source has been granted anonymity because the CFL has never revealed its 2020 financial figures. Another factor, too, is the possibility of fans. The CFL wants to have a "significant" amount of fans in the stands. However, the Ontario government hasn’t signed off on that, and three of the league’s franchises are based in the province (Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa). But an Aug. 5 kickoff would see all four East Division teams opening the season with a series of road games in Western Canada. The hope would be that once they were slated to return home that some fans would be allowed in the Ontario stadiums. A TSN report earlier this week said a committee representing seven of Ontario’s seven pro franchises (Argos, Ticats, Redblacks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and Toronto Blue Jays) submitted a report to the Ontario government. The report said the committee was looking for 35 per cent of stadium capacity for Ontario’s second stage re-opening and up to full capacity for the third stage. "We will continue to work with our stakeholders as well as our public health experts at the provincial and local levels to determine when and if it is safe for measures to be lifted, including when other professional sports leagues may return to play," Ontario’s Heritage, Sport and Tourism ministry said in a statement to The Canadian Press. The first stage in Ontario’s re-opening is scheduled to start Friday. The province will remain at each step for at least 21 days to evaluate any impacts on key public health and health system indicators. The earliest date for the second stage would be July 2, with July 23 the earliest for stage 3.

I nearly cried reading this tweet. Get that second dose in me now...........

I will say this - it's a much more cautious approach than either AB or SK took in their re-opening. Slowly phasing it in over the entire summer, rather than just flinging open the doors at the beginning and hoping for the best. Looking at this from the Bombers perspective, 50% capacity by the start of the season (August 5th) if vaccination levels are met....it's not perfect, but it's something.

My concern right now is that they get the season rolling and then B1617 takes hold and everything has to be shut down again. Things are really trending badly right now in the Variants vs Vaxxes race...

About two weeks ago you told me the league was dead and everything was awful and the sky is falling and why even bother getting excited......I was pretty sure someone ran over your dog.....

I saw a thing on Twitter last night where one of the beat writers was saying that the unreleased new schedule apparently has Edmonton vs Ottawa on Aug 7 as one of the first games, and I stopped and went "What I wouldn't give right now to watch something as meaningless to me as Edmonton vs Ottawa CFL game right now...." I'm just so ******* excited about an upcoming season. I will watch every second of every game that I can. As nice as it was to have hockey, I'm just not THAT big of a hockey fan....but CFL......my Christ, I will never take it for granted again.

33% protection with 1 dose. Significantly more with 2 doses. Unfortunately it's spreading way faster than we can double vax people. Right now, I'm just praying we can get the numbers from the 3rd wave down enough that when it starts all over again, we have room in our hospitals and ICUs... And just for reference, the UK was nearly 50% double vaxxed when it started ravaging them. We're about 15%, nationally.... So it's gonna be bad.

Naylor actually said he's not sure on that.... So I guess we'll see!

Ya that Delta variant.... It's gonna **** us up real bad. Alberta is gonna be a mess just as they're throwing the doors open.

I'm sincerely hoping this happens....keep the stupid people away pls.

it's such an Alberta move to privatize provincial parks. Absolutely sickening.

re: single game betting........

Vaxx passports coming to MB! (Fantastic news!)

Naylor reporting that there'll be a conference call on June 14th to decide whether to kickoff August 5th. The only thing that might be a hiccup is the assholes in Toronto and Montreal, but hopefully the government will give enough guarantees re: fans in the stands, to get them on board. Players sure sound like they're coming to town in a couple weeks and getting ready for TC....

We lost because Scheifele and DeMelo were huge losses that exposed our depth, which had been heralded around the league following the Dubois trade. I also believe there were guys playing very hurt and not close to 100% in this series. It wasn't even the same team that went up against Edmonton. I truly believe that. If they can find a way to upgrade the D depth and continue to draft and develop up front, this is still a very very good team. And I believe in PaMo.....he's not the problem.

Hockey is done for another year. So glad CFL TC opens next month!!

I had a feeling he might be back after @Booch told us he'd likely be back.. Booch batting close to 1.000 on stuff like this!

Bombers TC in about a month!!

(just posting the Naylor tweet directly) Weeeeeoooooooo.... Football is really gonna happen, fam!!

Lost to teams playing in rubber boots at the start and then somehow figured it out. Andrew Mangiapane is a good hockey player????

Literally zero chance that anyone has thought of this and planned for it. Better give em a call....

My wife sure thinks so........

Biggie posted a picture on his socials of him training with his WBB helmet on and captioned it something like "time to get ready... #GameOn" I really think stuff is happening!