Noeller

You absolutely know that Roy will get consideration at the very least. I think his last tenure in Colorado has put him on a blacklist just about everywhere, but Montreal will at least consider it...

there's no question ZC is pretty fragile, but if this year off benefitted anyone, it's him. Get fully, 100% healthy. Also, if our OL holds up as it has, it's his best chance for success. You can never protect against everything, but our OL is his best chance for survival.

that just sounds gross...ha ha. I just really, generally speaking, don't like people. I tolerate a very specific small group of people... but mostly, I'd really prefer people keep their distance at all times.

If not having players on board when they made their pitch last year was a major issue, hopefully today's announcement is at least a step toward having a joint proposal that's taken more seriously by the feds.

ehhhh...... not addressing fan attendance (or lack thereof) seems like a big nothing-burger....

I personally don't think there's a "taking it too far". Would much rather see those examples you listed, rather than someone coming too close. Absolutely nothing wrong with keeping as much distance as possible at all times. We know how infectious this virus (and especially the new variants) is, so why take any chances??

forgot about that....stoked. Can't wait to listen...especially looking forward to Wade Miller. Not sure how much he can or will say, but definitely curious to hear him talk about the potential of a 2021 season...

you are describing my personal hell....

I would honestly be okay with masks becoming a permanent part of society. Reduce regular cold/flu. I'd love to see social distancing stick around, too. Things are generally too people-y.....maintain the 6' rule and people keeping distance in public. I'd be more than okay with all of that.

Lowry's been one of the most consistently good players all year. I'm more than happy to give him a pass on one play...

How on earth is that even remotely comparable...?

Some more information and quotes via 3DN: Commissioner Randy Ambrosie has stated multiple times since the 2020 season was cancelled that the CFL wanted to reset its business model. “We’ve done more work on that than the league has done in 50 years. We’re going to make substantial improvements to our business model starting this year and running through years to come,” Ambrosie said on The Green Zone. Ambrosie has done it by cutting nearly half the staff at the league office, lowering the football operations cap, and the directing each franchise to spend to the salary cap floor for the 2021 season, reducing player compensation. Sources have told Dan Ralph of the Canadian Press that the year long absence has cost the three-down league somewhere between $60 and $80 million dollars, though the CFL has not yet unveiled its official financial results. The decision to cancel last season came after the federal government refused support for a $30 million interest-free loan to fund a hub city in Winnipeg. The league’s precarious financial position might require government support once again. Unlike 2020 however, the CFL won’t leave it all up to a hand out. “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,” Ambrosie said. “We want to play, we want to get our players out on the field. We’re hoping the vaccine roll outs begin to accelerate because there’s nothing like a CFL game with fans — but right now I’m just feeding off the energy from our board of governors.” The massive losses have the CFL trying to find a way to play in 2021 and put fans in the stands to return their primary source of revenue. The CFL unveiled its 2021 schedule back in November. The pre-season is scheduled to begin on Sunday, May 23, while the regular season is slated to get underway on Thursday, June 10. “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,” Ambrosie said. “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.” With as many questions facing the league now as there were a year ago and some anonymous sources drawing ire for suggesting a 2021 season may not be plausible, Ambrosie insists there is only one possible outcome for the CFL.

There aren't nearly enough people who'd PPV for CFL. Cable subscriptions pay TSN (Bell) which pays the 10 million per year fee to the CFL, so we are indirectly paying the league to watch games. Would I pay above and beyond that? Sure, but what am I getting above and beyond? I don't think making a straight donation is in the cards. The GC base thing was dumb and not particularly well received. Is there something else they could do...?

But I'm already paying for that with my cable subscription.....? I mean I don't hate what you're saying... But I'm not sure you really thought it through all the way.

I truly think we'll have the doses in Canada, but as 17to85 had mentioned before, I don't necessarily trust the provinces to get it in people's arms efficiently...

Naylor's take: https://www.tsn.ca/dave-naylor-the-cfl-isn-t-going-to-play-without-fans-in-the-stands-1.1595551 Nearly a year after the COVID-19 pandemic ground the sports world to a halt, we’re still left to guess when the Canadian Football League will play its first game since the Winnipeg Blue Bombers walked off the field as Grey Cup champions back in November of 2019. Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said this week that the league is “committed” to playing the 2021 season without saying what that would look like, or assuring fans that a full 18-game schedule would start on time. All of which is highly frustrating for CFL fans who’ve watched other leagues – bigger and smaller – manage to play through the pandemic. And at this point – unlike last summer – there is no doubt that it can be done, the way having been shown both in the NFL and American college football. So what’s the difference? Why can’t the CFL just come out and commit to a full season starting in June? The answer is because that commitment doesn’t exist from all of the teams. If it did, the league would be screaming it from the mountain tops. The reason it doesn’t exist has to do with the core problem the pandemic has presented to the CFL from the beginning: its business model cannot function without fans in the stands. That hasn’t changed in a year for a league where as much as 60 per cent of all team revenue is tied in some way to home game activity. There is no alternative business plan for this league. Fans can wish for it all they want. It doesn’t exist. The only way the 2021 CFL season can start on time is if fans are allowed back in stadiums to a meaningful degree by the middle of June, or if governments guarantee that decision is on the way (although nothing is really guaranteed in a pandemic). Can that happen? A lot depends on the efficiency of the vaccine rollout over the next four months and the degree to which the virus is otherwise kept under control, especially when it comes to new variants. Governments in Canada have been extremely conservative when to comes to opening venues for thousands of people to gather. Consider that strip clubs were open last summer in Ontario but places where one could sit outside watching sports, socially distancing and wearing a mask, were not. Logic would tell anyone that sitting outdoors in a stadium is safer than attending movie theaters, restaurants, bars, gyms, or a whole lot of other businesses that were allowed to open at points over the past year. Expect the CFL to be part of lobbying efforts to get stadiums open this spring and summer. But ultimately, it’s a matter that lies beyond the league’s control. Which brings us back to why the league won’t commit to starting its full schedule on time. Are there teams that would play a season without fans? Certainly not a full one. So the question becomes: What’s the threshold upon which you can get all nine teams to agree? Is it 10 per cent of stadiums open, 25 per cent, 50 per cent? Would all nine teams agree to start the season with empty stands if there was a high probability that capacity could ramp up during the season? Those are the very questions the league is sorting through right now. The strong hunch from all directions is that the league will open training camps in mid-summer and be playing by Labour Day, by which time it’s anticipated that significant percentages of the stadiums will be opened. This scenario, besides allowing teams to avoid the risk of having to open the season without fans in the stands, would shorten the schedule by roughly half. That would drastically reduce teams’ loses for this season, which would suit the owners just fine. Missing the start of the season would surely be met with howls of outrage from fans and those in the media who will point at other leagues and incredulously ask “Why not us?” But the fact is that this league is never going to play without fans in the stands. Not last year, not this year, not ever.

My hope is that Wade Miller is secretly pulling the strings behind the scenes. He gets **** done... Period.

You'll have it before summer easily...

and he's still an odd duck. Ed and Darren did a "Handled Internally" podcast with him, and it was......awkward......in a lotta spots. Dude is still just kinda weird...

heh.... those posts made me laugh, but I do enjoy Bart. His "Day Tripper's Guide To Manitoba" is a great read that I re-read once every year. Last year I did an interview with him for a story on Bombers fans in Alberta during GC week. He was a good dude....but I get where the "condescending" stuff comes from. Ha ha. Bit of a hipster, that guy...

wrong thread x2...

*WRONG THREAD* yeeeeesh...

heh...