TrueBlue4ever

https://www.tsn.ca/ottawa-senators-trade-defencemen-mike-reilly-braydon-coburn-1.1621951 Montreal acquires D help, Ottawa trades it away. Pens adding veteran depth for one more run. Buffalo’s fire sale continues. Given that the Leafs dumped a first rounder for Foligno, Boston scoring Taylor Hall for a 2nd rounder is a steal. https://www.tsn.ca/buffalo-sabres-send-taylor-hall-curtis-lazar-to-boston-bruins-for-anders-bjork-second-rounder-1.1621992

Separate thread just to show/discuss deadline deals. https://www.tsn.ca/toronto-maple-leafs-acquire-nick-foligno-from-columbus-blue-jackets-stefan-noesen-from-sharks-1.1621834 https://www.tsn.ca/toronto-maple-leafs-acquire-goalie-david-rittich-from-flames-1.1621960 I would love to know where the Leafs get the money to make any deals given how much they pay their top 4. Interesting cap juggling. https://www.tsn.ca/montreal-canadiens-acquire-d-jon-merrill-from-detroit-red-wings-1.1621715

So I read a piece last week that talked about trying to get Drake to invest in the CFL as the Canadian version of The Rock with the same Twitter presence. Said his connection with MLSE made it viable. Strange article, but the one line that really stood out was “MLSE is very much pro-XFL merger and expansion into the US.” And today Bob Irving tweeted this: Irving has been having a regular Twitter war with David Naylor, who is constantly writing about how this merger needs to happen to save the league, and comes across as pretty bullish on the idea (as does Farhan Lalji). Irving and Naylor snipe about the history of the league and the supposed reality of the modern-day economics of the CFL. All this to ask a few questions: Does the Toronto media have an agenda in seeing this XFL merger happen? Is the the CFL catering to Toronto’s owners by exploring this, and should they be, especially given how little MLSE invests in promoting the Argos? Bottom line, can the CFL survive without Toronto and does any belief That they cannot influence their current actions?

Great picture!

But he has said that. Jan. 22 letter to fans- Here at the CFL, we’re watching closely the pace of the virus, and the progress of the vaccination efforts. And they will ultimately affect our ability to get our great players back on the field and our wonderful fans back in the stands. We’re in constant communication with medical experts. We’re working to be ready when public health officials give us the green light. But we are determined to play. Feb . 18- We’re going to play a full season. But we’re also going to have the ability to be flexible and that’s the other side of this. You have to be adaptable and flexible according to whatever circumstances come our way. We are still very hopeful that the vaccine rollout will accelerate. We hang on the announcements being made by government officials and health care officials. We are listening and watching and talking with great intensity to all levels of government to get their take on the status of the vaccine rollout because we do know that it’s going to play a major role in getting all of us back to a more normal existence. Feb. 20- 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. 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. 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. Mar. 13- What we’re working on today is that we’re going to do everything we can to get back on the field. That is our focus. We want to play a 2021 season, want to get our players back on the field. We want to get our fans back in the stands. We’re obviously watching the vaccine rollout very carefully. We’re talking with public health officials about health and safety protocols. There are only so many ways to say “we are set to go but are at the mercy of the health authorities and how the vaccines go and how the lockdowns evolve. Would an update every week that says “we are no more certain today than 7 days ago” be better? And remember that in the last week of January we had over 200 cases in a day, 2 weeks later it was down to 50, then over 100 a week later, and so on. From 50 cases a week ago to 179 a couple of days ago. This virus is so unpredictable, no guaranteed message that is given today will be sure to hold water next week. So why make promises about 6 weeks in the future when so much can change between now and then. Announcing weekly that you are jumping from Plan A to B back to A to C and so forth when plan A is still over a month away is a waste of time and breath. And last thought, being blunt and saying “We have a plan and are good to go, but the Government has been dragging its heels on approving our return to play protocols” is not the way to get them onside. Part of the quiet is a political game. Ambrosie got burned last year when his plea for Government bailout money went public. And when you are trying to court new business investors to increase your revenues, giving a doom and gloom approach to the fans for the sake of full transparency is not going to woo those businesses to invest in your brand.

First Jets shutout in Montreal ever. And Hellebuyck has beat the Habs 6 times this year, first to do that in 55 years.

This game will irk the round table panels at Sportsnet and TSN itching for the Jets to mortgage the future for a rental defenceman so they have something to talk about on their 12 hour trade deadline shows.

Scapegoat Ambrosie all you want, but the pandemic is not his fault. The government locking things down is not his fault. A flawed business model that overly relies on filled stadiums just to break even was not created on his watch. Apathy in Toronto by a billion dollar corporation in MLSE who put pretty much zero dollars into marketing their club, the media in Toronto pushing the 4 down agenda, and owners who can’t agree with each other and who historically would rather fire a commish than let him lead were not his doing either. And the answers you want just aren’t available, plain and simple. The Government doesn’t know when things will open up again, but you continually hold Randy to a higher standard than anyone else. And if he came out every week with “ here is my update, we are still in a holding pattern until the pandemic situation becomes clearer” you be ticked off with that too. If he just pulled the plug on the season today you’d gripe about him quitting on the fans.

Ok, 3 questions for you to answer. 1. What kind of power or leadership does Ambrosie have in this situation that he has neglected to use to fix this situation? 2. Name another CFL commissioner who was more vocal and showed better leadership in dealing with a major comparable problem like this. Specifics please, don’t just throw out “any of them” or pick a random name, identify a specific person, issue, and how they showed visible transparent leadership to the fans throughout the problem. 3. Name a commissioner that ever had power over the owners or the Government that could have altered the course of this season?

Getting past the gif snipes, Ambrosie pulling the plug now just gives ammo to all those (yourself included if I recall correctly) who griped loudly last season when they postponed and then canceled the year that every other league was able to play (not exactly true, but why split hairs), so why couldn’t the CFL? Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/us/tucker-carlson-adl-replacement-theory.html#click=https://t.co/bFgM2F8Vdp “Everyone wants to make a racial issue out of it, ‘Ooh, the white replacement theory,’” Mr. Carlson went on. “No, no, no, this is a voting rights question. I have less political power because they are importing a brand-new electorate. Why should I sit back and take that? The power that I have as an American, guaranteed at birth, is one man, one vote. And they are diluting it.” The A.D.L. letter, signed by Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the Jewish advocacy group’s chief executive, said that the language by Mr. Carlson “was not just a dog whistle to racists — it was a bullhorn.” Again saying the quiet part out loud. It’s not about being “replaced” or being denied your rights. It’s all about losing your power position as the only voice.

I’ll just leave this here.

Well they do have over 1/3 of Canada’s population.

Per arbitration rules, if Laine goes back into arbitration, his minimum salary has to be the lesser of his final season salary ($7.5 million plus bonuses) or 120% of the AAV of his last contract (which works out to $8.1 million) and that will get him two years locked in at most. And that is the qualifying offer the club MUST make to retain his rights, he could sign for more. And if they want to avoid arbitration and get him into a long term deal (max. 8 years, which would get him to age 30) they will have to pay through the nose to make him give up 6 years of free agency. I can easily see him getting an 8 figure salary if they go long term.

You may hear the name and say “Who?” But you know the face. Apologies for the NSFW language, that’s this Twitter guy’s schtick, and I don’t know how to hide part of a post

For those wondering why CFL has not given us all the answers yet:

Let’s get through the due process before we call it quits on his life.

Jets were not serious about moving Laine until the season had started. All the off-season stuff was just media stirring the pot. Chevy listened to offers but nothing decent came up until Dubois went public with wanting out on January 3. It was only after Torts benched him that it became a real possibility. So this was never really at the forefront until the season was underway. Agree it would have been better to have happened earlier, but was not something that was brewing until the season started.

I’d say you forgot the “healthy scratch/benched” stat, but that may be skewed based on the respective coaches involved as much as it is on the players. One thing I have liked about Dubois is his passing game. Good vision and touch, could be a decent set-up guy.

He’s only 22 and on an 82 game pro-rated pace of 25 goals and 48 points. Scheifele at 22 had 15 goals and 49 points. Patience may be needed.

Jets come out like a house on fire before a couple of penalties slow their momentum. Nice mask Ottawa goalie Anton Forsberg has.

Ladies and gentlemen, the so-called most powerful nation on earth.

CFLPA should be keeping the players updated. Commish should be keeping the owners updated. Then the individual clubs should be telling the fans.

I post on many topics - US Politics, NHL hockey most prominently right now as those are active events and not months away. But let’s discuss who the Bombers should target with their first draft choice, who will fill the void in the receiving corps? Biggest loss in the off-season, player or coach? Biggest gain? Who is ready to step up into a bigger role? What vet may not survive the cut or will regress? A whole boatload of topics for you to debate. Have at it. Why not? It’s not like there is another option. Pandemic has kind of put the world in a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants mode, and I do not feel so self-important and entitled that I DEMAND to know what the unforeseen future will guarantee me, and how dare they change plans and not keep those impossible to make promises they have little control over.