the watcher

These people are teaching a whole new generation of stupid.

I Mean.. that would be cool if the XFL adapted the CFL rules and field.   
But this is worrying depending on what they are really thinking. 

I'm one of those lucky people who work at something that is what I like doing. ( not the bookwork part  ) I retired from working out a few years ago and started a business with my son. More of a hobby gone out of control lol.

I'm one of those lucky people who work at something that is what I like doing. ( not the bookwork part  ) I retired from working out a few years ago and started a business with my son. More of a hobby gone out of control lol.

Canada Day parties like this country hasn't seen since VE Day.......

Based on the current expected vaccine supply, all Manitobans can get their first vaccine shot by the end of June. Also possible, by the end of May. This does not include the new J&J vaccine, which they don't have a supply schedule yet. 

Great news for Kerri Einerson’s team. Women’s Worlds is back on and will be held in Calgary along with the Men’s. 
 
https://globalnews.ca/news/7680473/curling-team-einarson-womens-worlds/?utm_source=GlobalWinnipeg&utm_medium=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1tyBxCGga84hLdooi0ZqVPuESsu3GYPtiCwPFhQYqfqtd_Js1-bhQDm4g

It seems like most provinces are aiming to have all adults given at least one dose by June. If that’s the case, why can’t we have fans? 

I'm one of those lucky people who work at something that is what I like doing. ( not the bookwork part  ) I retired from working out a few years ago and started a business with my son. More of a hobby gone out of control lol.

Work first, play later. Good plan. One that I will not follow. 

I have looked into various web sources (Forbes, statista.com, packers.com, Blue Bomber financial statement) and here are some numbers to chew on for those who want to compare the NFL and CFL’s financial situations:
In the NFL, the only public team is Green Bay, so all other financial projections are speculation unless the team reports it. The Bombers likewise out out a financial statement. So the numbers I found for the Dallas Cowboys, the Packers and the Bombers are as follows -
Expenses in 2019: $32.8 million (Bombers), $439 million (Packers), $425 million (Cowboys)
2019 revenues: $36.3 million (Bombers), $508 million (Packers), $960 million (Cowboys)
Of note, the Bombers biggest single revenue increase was $2.2 million more in game day merchandise and concessions, the Packers was $70 million more in league TV revenue  
Salary cap: $5.4 million in CFL (16.5% of Bombers’ total expenses) $198.2 million in NFL (45.1% of Packers’ and 46.6% of Cowboys’ total expenses)
2019 revenue from ticket sales alone: $11.5 million (Bombers - 31.7% of total revenue), $77 million (Packers - 15.2% of total revenue, $98 million (Cowboys - 10.2% of total revenue)
TV contract: $50 million league-wide in the CFL ( and a portion of that goes to the league itself and not each club, so the TV revenue is not $50 million split 9 ways and it does NOT cover the players salaries in entirety - the Bombers received $3.9 million in league payments in 2019, or 72.2% of the salary cap and 10.7% of their total revenue, it covers 11.8% of their operating costs), $255 million PER TEAM NFL (Packers and Cowboys 128.7% of the salary cap, Packers 50.2% of total revenue and covers 58.1% of their operating costs, Cowboys 26.6% of total revenue and 60% of their operating costs)
Bombers also generated another 24% of their revenue from game day related money such as concessions sales and merchandise, so 56% of their revenue stream is gone without fans. The Packers estimated that of their $508 million profit, $211 million or 41.5% was internally generated from ticket sales and game day and merchandise sales, and local sponsorships, the rest was league money. The Cowboys projected that without fans it could cost them up to $500 million this past season. The Cowboys other big revenue gain comes from sponsorship dollars, which is why they are the most popular brand and most valuable franchise in the NFL.
So the simple takeaway from this date is: no fans for the Bombers (arguably the healthiest franchise in the CFL - Sask and Edm are the only other 2 whose books are public and they both lost money in 2019 - the Riders basically because they had expenses for marketing a Grey Cup they never hosted, but were close to break even otherwise) means they lose about $19.7 million on game day revenue alone and go from a $3.4 million profit to a $16.3 million loss, likely more, the Cowboys lose $500 million from ALL sources yet still turn a profit of $35 million, and the Packers without fans wipe out any profit on ticket sales alone and likely more with no game day associated revenue, but again their ticket revenue is only 15% of their revenue stream vs 32% for the Bombers.
So let’s stop pretending that we can compare the CFL and NFL equitably based on not having fans in the stands and TV revenues and assume that because other leagues can do it, we should “just find a way”. Unless fans want to agree that if the league plays with zero fans and we fans will cover any losses next year by paying NFL-style ticket prices for every game (and I think we all saw from the Packers-Raiders pre-season game in Winnipeg, not to mention the last few Grey Cups we’ve hosted, how little appetite there is to pay that much from the fans’s point of view), it seems clear that this is more a gate driven league than other sports and no fans means no football  And the Government has no appetite to bail out a sports league because there is no political gain in it for them, and it is more public than a media company bailout supposedly to save thousands of jobs (even if said company *cough* BELL *cough* uses said buyout to pay their stockholders and fires their staff anyway), plus looks better in saving the national economy.
Just my two cents  
 
 

Hey guys I REALLY need to get cracking on getting my bookwork done but just want to thank all of you for a great discussion. It's not always easy to find these days. 

Ireland/Ulster is a wonderful example of what can happen when there is sufficient good will and enough pain and disgust over the past. There is a parallel between Ulster and the US to a degree. In both cases, what may have started out as legitimate protests over real grievances got coopted by essentially criminals who used and are using the veneer of protest to both exacerbate and profit from them to increase their power and wealth. In Ireland, when enough people saw that the IRA had become a criminal organization, dealing in extortion, selling drugs and so forth with no real concern for people, change became possible.
I do not see that awareness in America today, and a low-grade civil war and fracturing of the country is almost inevitable. A poll quoted by CNN reported that a growing percentage of moderate Americans are willing to tell the redneck states to leave. Impossible? An American seer Edgar Cayce predicted racial violence in the US but that the breaking of America would come from class warfare, and I interpret that to mean the wealthy against the poor and that gap has been growing for some 60 years. A political economist about ten years ago stated that so long as the "Communist" in Russia alternative existed to Capitalism, the rich and powerful were careful to not grind the working and middle classes. Once the USSR collapsed along with its pretend socialist government, the field was seen as clear for the 3% to begin to erode the other 97% of their incomes and political power, and that has been growing since 1989.

I've been a history/ religion/ political buff all my life. I find it fascinating,  especially the story behind everything . But when I read things like this I don't know if the US survives it. At least the US we know now. In all what's happened since November the crucial point was the vote to impeach in the Senate. They had their chance to say the country is more important than me. And they failed. They had a chance to step back, to pull their country back from the precipice and they chose power and money. I really believe they are f##ked.  I suppose I should still hold out hope for them because when I grew up I would never have thought that the violence in  Ireland could reach some sort of settlement . But the US has a long way to go. Crap like you just posted ( not your posting if you know what I mean  )  shows just how far they need to travel. 

That's a shame.  He will be missed

I've been a history/ religion/ political buff all my life. I find it fascinating,  especially the story behind everything . But when I read things like this I don't know if the US survives it. At least the US we know now. In all what's happened since November the crucial point was the vote to impeach in the Senate. They had their chance to say the country is more important than me. And they failed. They had a chance to step back, to pull their country back from the precipice and they chose power and money. I really believe they are f##ked.  I suppose I should still hold out hope for them because when I grew up I would never have thought that the violence in  Ireland could reach some sort of settlement . But the US has a long way to go. Crap like you just posted ( not your posting if you know what I mean  )  shows just how far they need to travel. 

Paul Gosar Spoke At A White Nationalist Conference. The GOP Doesn't Care.

Last week a sitting U.S. congressman delivered a keynote speech at a white nationalist conference in Florida. 
“Wow, what a group,” Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) said as he took his place behind a podium emblazoned with the letters “AFPAC” — an acronym for America First Political Action Conference, the second annual gathering of the white nationalist “groyper” movement. 
After speaking about “cancel culture,” Big Tech’s supposed censorship of right-wingers, and the need for a big border wall to keep “America First,” Gosar said goodbye to the AFPAC crowd, who’d traveled from across the country to attend the secret gathering inside the Hilton Orlando. 
“May God bless you,” Gosar said. “And may God bless the United States of America.”
The crowd — a motley crew of unabashed racists and anti-Semites — broke into a chant of “Gosar! Gosar!” to which the congressman responded with a wave, a smile and what looked like an earnest, heartfelt “Thank you.” 
Paul Gosar Spoke At A White Nationalist Conference. The GOP Doesn't Care. | HuffPost Canada (huffingtonpost.ca)

They've turned politics into sports. You may not always like the players but you always support your "team". It's kind of gross, pathetic and definitely anti-democratic. 
We have it to a degree in Canada but it's not institutionalized like it is down south. There are plenty of partisans that would never vote any other way than for their "party". 

I always figured you could blame communisms failure  on Lenin' s Vanguard Party idea.  Which may be comparable to what the US has now with their 2 parties. Here in Canada we have a long history of new parties springing up both Federal and Provincal that change the political scene and the county's mindset . And don't forget what the great philosopher Shrek   said " Change is good donkey "  Parties like, CCF/ NDP , THE BLOC, Reform, Social Credit, the Quebec Sepratists have made huge changes to our society even when they don't hold power. The US has lost that ability to foster new ideas. It is basicly a bunch of people ( mostly old white men ) clinging on to power and wealth at any cost including the failure of their country.

I always figured you could blame communisms failure  on Lenin' s Vanguard Party idea.  Which may be comparable to what the US has now with their 2 parties. Here in Canada we have a long history of new parties springing up both Federal and Provincal that change the political scene and the county's mindset . And don't forget what the great philosopher Shrek   said " Change is good donkey "  Parties like, CCF/ NDP , THE BLOC, Reform, Social Credit, the Quebec Sepratists have made huge changes to our society even when they don't hold power. The US has lost that ability to foster new ideas. It is basicly a bunch of people ( mostly old white men ) clinging on to power and wealth at any cost including the failure of their country.

I always figured you could blame communisms failure  on Lenin' s Vanguard Party idea.  Which may be comparable to what the US has now with their 2 parties. Here in Canada we have a long history of new parties springing up both Federal and Provincal that change the political scene and the county's mindset . And don't forget what the great philosopher Shrek   said " Change is good donkey "  Parties like, CCF/ NDP , THE BLOC, Reform, Social Credit, the Quebec Sepratists have made huge changes to our society even when they don't hold power. The US has lost that ability to foster new ideas. It is basicly a bunch of people ( mostly old white men ) clinging on to power and wealth at any cost including the failure of their country.

They are a non- functional democracy and teetering on a non- functional Country. 
 

So it's March 4th.  Has Trump been inaugurated as President and the clone been tossed from office yet ? Honestly who the hell makes this crap up and what's in the water that people actually believe it ? It would be completely hilarious and entertaining if they didn't have nuclear weapons.  The rest of the world needs to take them away like a parent takes sharp scissors away from a kid.