DR. CFL
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Posts posted by DR. CFL
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1 hour ago, Eternal optimist said:
Sure, labor disputes enable the QBs and other players to have some bargaining power, but most of the QBs in the CFL reside in the USA. Since they don't reside in Canada they aren't eligible for CERB... there is a lot of people hurting in the US for jobs, especially football players where life's become a standstill.
There would absolutely be a drop off in offensive output, my point was that in this case the QBs have more to lose (their livelihood) as opposed to the owners. Owners have more viable substitutes such as using their backup QB, airlifting in a new one, or even trading for one from another CFL team. I'll concede that offensive output would likely decline, but I just think the QBs don't have as much bargaining power as is currently perceived.
A couple of those poor souls made 500k plus lat season...no tag day for them. A slight drop off....seriously...How many back up QBs can you even name....never mind want to start? I guess time will tell.
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4 hours ago, Eternal optimist said:
Sure, but I would think that of the two group, the owners are in better a bargaining position. If a QB wants to walk off the job, owners could still find someone else willing to step up and play QB for the reduced rates. Does get to a tipping point though, where the talent at QB (or any other position for that matter) is so bad that the owners have to pony up.
As for the CBA - I agree, if I was on the CFLPA, I'd be negotiating a shorter-term deal, simply given the really weird situation COVID has caused.
Easier said then done....just say you have 3 of 9 of the marquee QBs decide they want their report and pass bonuses or they sit it out....there is a serious drop off in those teams offensive production....tough sell.
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1 hour ago, Eternal optimist said:
Couldn't you just adjust it based on the number of games played? Take whatever the regular season amount was and divide it by three (assuming 6 of 18 games played in shortened season)... It'd be harder for QBs to overcome one bad game but, I mean that's really the best they could do.
I guess the issue is these are the marquee players the league and teams need and are they going to suck it up. The other issue becomes I believe any new CBA is not just for this year and what are the carryovers that the league wants to impose on the players given the financial impact this season has on league revenues?
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1 hour ago, Floyd said:
Sure changed his tune.
Exactly the same panic and hand-wringing as last year (in which I participated...) - a deal will get done, there was never any doubt.
I wonder how they might resolve report and pass bonuses? Reports have Some QBs due upwards of 400K of their money.
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5 minutes ago, Floyd said:
We got your point that the CFL is shitty and doomed the first fifteen times you posted it...
A) I never said it was shitty. Never said it was doomed. If you think it is on track to play in 2020 I would be happy to listen to your case. I don’t want to see them make a hurried attempt to something that might have to be shutdown in short order. I would rather see them regroup, come to a well thought out agreement between the league and the PA so things could move forward into a 2021 season.
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14 minutes ago, Floyd said:
Still say the delay is CFL trying to push for an ‘eastern hub’ that is not Winnipeg...
Winnipeg and sask were obvious choices from day one
Well with no CBA agreed upon, no federal funding and who knows where things might be at with health, safety and testing requirements I’m not sure the Hub location is very contentious. No doubt Winnipeg is a logical choice.
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4 hours ago, 17to85 said:
Useless argument and players are ******* for using it too. It's the canadian football league, of course you are getting paid in Canadian dollars to play in Canada. You want to get paid in American dollars the number on the contract will be smaller to start with.
I’m sure the players understand the RISK of a volatile Canadian dollar....payout argument doesn’t hold for the NBA, NHL, and MLB teams in Canada. Perhaps easier to swallow during an 18 game schedule but 6 games with the possibility of getting cut at anytime. There is talk the NEW CBA will eliminate their report and pass bonuses.
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2 hours ago, Floyd said:
You're either making your own breaks or you're settling for an average/below average life... I know which choice I'd make - always.
I don't think $3000 USD a month is a 'pay cut' for most 'almost pro' football players... a chance to make a living playing football is ALWAYS better than sitting at home
Maybe some have good jobs - but judging by the jobless stats for USA - there's a TON of talented players that don't.
CFLPA as always knows it doesn't have a leg to stand on and as always the CFL knows this too. This is just CFLPA making noise before they sign.
Well I guess time will tell....4 days and counting. There is no indication the CFL has revised their proposal.
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13 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:
Not always. You wouldn't put your body on the line or be away from your young family for such little money. Most of these guys have jobs in the US. They can't afford to sit around doing nothing for 6 months of the year.
I agree.....1/3 of your salary...minus 26% exchange rate.....no guarantee you don’t get cut before the 6 game season is completed. No guarantee you don’t catch the virus. It seems some people seem to consider players simply as a commodity easily replaced and disposable. Perhaps people need to place themselves in the situation, given the circumstances and maybe their perspective might change.
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11 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:
I don't like Madani either but it doesn't mean he's wrong. Only Ambrosie Fan Boyz can say what a GREAT JOB he's doing. You can thank Relleon for getting me going. Since he poked the bear... Not many players are going to come back for a third of their salary & bein a bubble for however many days it takes to fin ish the season. Ambrosie & the BOG knows that. That's why they proposed this. So, if the Players say no Ambrosie can turn around & say, "See, it wasn't the owners who cancelled. Blame the Players." I think that's been the plan all along. And the Ambrosie Fan Boyz will be drinking the koolaid all day long.
A third of your salary is one thing, but not even guarantee that you can’t get cut before you even collect that. That has to be a concern for many players.
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2 hours ago, 17to85 said:
Madani is arrogant and thinks very highly of his own opinions.
I guess some might differentiate between opinions and fact based experience. Knowledge and wisdom are often associated by some as arrogance.
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1 hour ago, Noeller said:
No word yet on whether or not Iso wrote this rant for Madani or not.........
Sportsnet’s Arash Madani joined The Rod Pedersen Show on Thursday and, as per usual, didn’t hold back when it came to his takes on the league. In a ferocious rant, he indicated that he feel the CFL has shifted off a legitimate 2020 season and on to strong arming players for years to come.
“Because of the tactics they are using by ramming through a new CBA and reducing the salary cap next season, I get the sense that the league is thinking about 2021 and beyond, and their primary mission is not to get football off the ground this year,” he told the Regina based broadcasters.
“If they announce tomorrow ‘we want to play in 2020’, how much is needed to make this happen. Its not like you can say lets fly everybody up here and lets go,” Madani continued. “You need to get eight teams relocated into a city. How are you going to run training camps? Where are your meeting rooms? Where are your practice field? Where are you going to feed them? Where are you going to lodge them? Especially with some of your staff still furloughed and not working right now for different teams.”
To Madani, the situation is emblematic of a deeper problem in the CFL as an institution.
“The owners and leadership folk on CFL teams have long shown they have very little regard for the players, unless they absolutely need them. You saw that with Randy Ambrosie going in front of the house finance committee back in May, with no real dialogue going into it because he didn’t think he needed them,” Madani emphasized
“What the CFL is doing right now, is continuing to show their complete disregard for players themselves.”
Madani believes it has been a failure on the part of league leaders to protect players.
“What has the front office done to help players out, to be committed to try and get them CERB or any other government program? The answer is nothing,” he said angrily. “If you don’t believe it, here we are in July, the pandemic got off the ground in March, four months have transpired and what has Randy Ambrosie done for the players? What has Wade Miller, Scott Mitchell, Rick LeLacheur, and on and on you go with the team presidents, what have they done for the players to ensure they’re taken care of? From my seat, the answer is nothing.”
Players have been vocal that the current offer on the table, a 33% pro-rated contract with no monetary guarantees for a six-game season, is woefully insufficient. The latest reports are that the two side are not even in the same ballpark.
Madani sees why.
“What is an American player coming up here for? I thought Tony Washington’s tweet was bang on, if you come up here you are going to walk away with $9,000 on a non-guaranteed contract,” he said.
“I just don’t see it happening”
Madani believes a fundamental shift in strategy is needed to ensure the league’s recovery.
“I actually believe that the CFL right now, if they pull the plug on 2020, will have given themselves a four-month head start, a larger runway to focus on 2021 and to get their business together,” explains Madani.
“To try and ram a CBA down the players’ throats, its dirty business and its wrong business. They now have opportunity to focus on long term stability and really get the health of the league in order. The focus should be on next season, not this.”
That would mean no 2020 CFL season, something that Madani doesn’t see happening anyway.
“At this stage logistically, I just don’t see how they are going to get it off the ground. There are people who will tell you quietly that this is not the right thing to do from a logistical and safety standpoint.”
The league and the players have set a deadline of July 23rd to reach an agreement.
There are those here that don’t like Madani, so be it. Madani is not simply a journalist he has worked in the CFL for Ottawa and Winnipeg. He has seen what it takes logistically to put it all together. He has experienced the combative relationship between the CFL and the CFLPA. The clock is ticking on the July 23rd deadline and he has good reason to be skeptical , like it or not.
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20 hours ago, Floyd said:
I don't know why I'm bothering because I'm fairly skeptical you're open to anything that might be a positive idea about the CFL ha...
The whole point is that you essentially don't need a bubble like this in western Canada... if the players who come in are proved to be covid free, why keep all of them quarantined from the rest of the populace? Let them go out and have lives... we already have masks, social distancing, etc etc and there's almost zero community spread in western Canada. The 105 day quarantine seems ridicilous.
I get you are a fan and have your own subjective opinion. I worked in different pro sports, for a number of teams. Don’t confuse what you call skepticism for objective opinion. I am a fan of the CFL, but looking at the challenges that other pro sports are experiencing is cause for concern as to the practicality of this. Ultimately players will decide and early indications are a 6 game schedule maybe a deterrent for some.
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59 minutes ago, Floyd said:
The 6-game plan is just not going to work... CFL needs half a season (12 weeks and then 3 weeks for playoffs) but training camp would have to start early/mid-August and the CFL/CFLPA would need to agree to a plan by the end of this week basically.
As usual, instead of just making a basic sensible plan - CFL leadership is all over the charts
I mean why exactly would the teams have to quarantine for the whole season when there's a western Canada travel bubble in existence and each province is re-opening in Phases? Makes zero sense... quarantine for two weeks on arrival and then test the players after each game (one day quarantine)...
Any sport that is operating in a so called “Bubble” will still have contact with people from outside that bubble. It is an illusion if you don’t think the virus will not infect these bubbles. The other illusion is the belief that you can lock these players away for a sustained period of time and not have issues with players going over the wall or sneaking outsiders in. It doesn’t take a major breech but a few small cracks for the virus to start to spread.
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7 hours ago, M.Silverback said:
The CFL definitely will face the same issues every other pro league has and will. I hear you on the cost of starting up. But, there's also a big cost for the CFL not trying a start up. The fan base, TV deals, advertising, sponsorship just aren't as strong as the other leagues. If the CFL goes away for a year, they may not recover. No one cares about the CFL in Toronto and Vancouver now. Do you think they will a year from now, having not had a CFL game played for almost 2 years. I think the CFL would be pretty much dead in those cities then.
There's no great solution - trying to run a shortened season is going to be risky and cost teams money; punting on the season now is going to cost teams money and support. I think the optics are worse if they don't try at all.
You know who care about the CFL in Toronto and a Vancouver? TSN....if you don’t think that revenue in that TV deal is predicated on having teams in those markets you are mistaken. Hate those teams all you want that’s the marketing reality of the situation.
- TBURGESS, blue_gold_84 and Tracker
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Let the virus spread begin.
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6 hours ago, M.Silverback said:
Interesting take from Jamie Nye. I keep hearing fans of all sports including the CFL calling to "just cancel the season already". My take is I'd rather see all sports try to return with some form of modified season, knowing full well that may have to be stopped or modified again at any point. And for the CFL, I really think they need to try to have some type of season in 2020. The CFL just doesn't have the fan engagement in the big cities, and to some extent in the strong CFL cities, to sit out an entire year.
Some sports are better equipped to waste their money on start up. The CFL isn’t one of them. NBA, NHL , Pro Soccer can’t even get to Camps and they have positive test problems. You think the CFL won’t?
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18 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:
Hub city of WPG is the only place it makes sense. I still don't think the CFL happens, if they do theyll still government $$.
Its gonna be an interesting few weeks.
I’m curious as to who eats the expense of this...particularly if it actually gets off the ground and then has to get shutdown. Other leagues may have deep enough pockets if it doesn’t work...does the CFL?
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9 minutes ago, Jpan85 said:
A more credible source lol
Just a couple of minor details to wok out? This is like the reports that the Covid vaccine is progressing at warp speed...lol. Similar reports 3 days ago that the NHL had a new CBA. I long for the day that media goes back to actually reporting news and stops with rumours and speculation.
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36 minutes ago, Brandon said:
Just because someone is bigger it doesn't mean they have a higher pain threshold. Watch any of the lighter weights in the UFC and you'll see guys taking absolute beatings and still get up and fight hard.
My point was that Banks is a finesse player, his success is based on being fast, quick, elusive and to avoid physical contact. He has had some significant injuries....but I can’t speak as to his pain threshold. I would suggest that if he is nicked up or tired he understands he would be less effective given his size and skill set.
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2 hours ago, Brandon said:
Look at Streveler that guy was completely busted up and still toughed through it.
There’s probably 3 weight class differences between those 2....lol....that’s brut strength vs finesse
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Hate the game not the players. I guess looking out for your own livelihood, health and future isn’t seen as a desirable attribute. As to whether he is prepared or not....how do you train for something when there is no indication as to when it will start? Always easy to be critical of someone on another team. That is subjectivity vs objectivity.
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3 minutes ago, Dr Zaius said:
Is that what I said?
I’m not sure how stating his position on whether he will play...is a cry for attention? It is more about his concern about risking his health and longer term livilehood.
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1 minute ago, bb1 said:
No play no pay..... the rest of us common folk if we workin we risking...nature of the beast right now.
Well unless the new CBA changes....player contracts are paid for the regular season. For most guys playoff money is chump change. Some guys are going to risk it play a few games and get knocked out early...we will see.
2019-20 CFL Offseason
in Blue Bomber Discussion
Posted
I guess that’s simply an indication of the complexity of the situation. No simple solution....no quick fix....just reality.