Okay, so the off season officially begins now that the Grey Cup is over. Lots of topics for discussion in the months to come with the Bombers & the League. A new CBA needs to be negotiated sooner rather than later.  Will there be an eventual agreement or a lockout? How much will the salary cap go up? Randy Ambrosie is on record that wants the cap to significantly go up so that is a positive.  Will Bo Levi Mitchell sign with an NFL or perhaps another CFL team? What about Mike Reilly & Trevor Harris who are also free agents? There's a new start up league called the  AAFL & there are legit concerns that it'll draw star CFL players away or hamper free agent signings with CFL teams. Coaching changes in BC & Toronto. The continuing evolving story of the expansion Halifax Schooners & possible exhibition games in Mexico. 

Edited November 27, 20187 yr by SpeedFlex27

27 minutes ago, blue_gold_84 said:

Update on Halifax franchise: https://3downnation.com/2019/03/12/halifax-group-has-committed-60-million-to-project-ambrosie/

 

What sort of sorcery is this?  I have it on good authority that Ambroise can only deal with one thing at a time.  This suggests that he's dealing with expansion, Europe and contract negotiations all at the same time.  FAKE NEWS! 

 

 

Edited March 13, 20196 yr by Mr Dee

 

 

Country:

Germany – 6

Finland – 4

France – 4

Denmark – 2

Italy – 2

 

Position:

Receivers – 6

Defensive Linemen – 5

Linebackers – 3

Offensive Linemen – 2

Running Back – 1

Quarterback – 1

Edited March 14, 20196 yr by Mr Dee

Some League/PA bargaining stuff........
 

https://3downnation.com/2019/03/13/qa-cflpa-discusses-the-opening-cba-negotiations-and-whats-next/?fbclid=IwAR25DRBIwL9Ne5_Rk8HcYY9n16oZOMlPul8y_3BFQQjcGHhiUxu4yc1XBc0

 

 

 

“Ambrosie is committed to doubling league revenues and there is no single, simple, made-in-Canada method of doing it. So he has reached beyond the borders and it has led to some confusion, concern, and criticism. But he said he has heard mostly encouragement for 2.0 on Randy’s Road Trip, his tour through all nine CFL cities, which touched down in Edmonton on Thursday.”

“It’s about expanding the brand, thinking big and yes, creating new revenue streams. It’s about helping the Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes boost attendance by offering the diverse populations of those cities a reason to watch the CFL”

https://torontosun.com/sports/football/cfl/commissioner-randy-ambrosie-sold-on-the-low-cost-of-cfl-2-0#click=https://t.co/0NgyqmO4rl

 

1 hour ago, Mr Dee said:

 

“Ambrosie is committed to doubling league revenues and there is no single, simple, made-in-Canada method of doing it. So he has reached beyond the borders and it has led to some confusion, concern, and criticism. But he said he has heard mostly encouragement for 2.0 on Randy’s Road Trip, his tour through all nine CFL cities, which touched down in Edmonton on Thursday.”

“It’s about expanding the brand, thinking big and yes, creating new revenue streams. It’s about helping the Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes boost attendance by offering the diverse populations of those cities a reason to watch the CFL”

https://torontosun.com/sports/football/cfl/commissioner-randy-ambrosie-sold-on-the-low-cost-of-cfl-2-0#click=https://t.co/0NgyqmO4rl

 

Trying to corner the covered German demographic in the Big Smoke...

Kavis tries harder! 

Back to Edmonton?   Even if it hurts..

 

Wasn't sure where to put this, it just made me smile...

 

 

Can’t wait for the next bargaining session in 5 years when they decide to lower the starting Canadian ratio to 3.

🥺 🏈 😳

 

Edited March 16, 20196 yr by Mr Dee

And the writers have voiced their opinions:

 

What these wags in the media don't know or conveniently forget with their indignation of tweets is that football participation is down. There aren't the same number of kids playing the sport as there was 10 years ago. That will affect junior as well as U Sport programs as time goes by. I would expect some smaller & less wealthy teams will eventually fold or drop football completely. If Halifax does come onboard with a tenth team it will get very difficult to find seven new starters. I don't like the number reduced either but it's a fact of life.

Just this past season, 5 high schools in Calgary dropped their junior varsity programs (grade 10) because they couldn't field enough players to safely play. With an average of 40 players per team, that's 200 kids in Calgary alone that aren't playing high school football. In bantam & pee we football, there was one team eliminated in each division.  On top of that, when my son played community football & I coached 15 years ago, each of the 8 pee wee & 12 bantam teams averaged about 50 players each.  Today, that number is down to 30 or 35.  The drop has been significant. That's just Calgary. What's it like in other cities across Canada?

Edited March 16, 20196 yr by SpeedFlex27

I would’ve been fine with six, as the talent will be too diluted if we get a tenth team. Five is just too low of a number though, it appears they want to take the “Canadian” out of the “Canadian Football League”.

It's the "slippery slope" that gets me the most. I'm terrified of getting to 0 and I'll have almost no reason to watch anymore. I know I'm in the minority but I watch for Canadians... The rewlnones who come from Canadian HS to CIS to CFL. That's the league, in my eyes... 

A counter point is we have a lot of guys that are starting Canadians that never have lived in or played Canadian football. They have a Canadian passport only.

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

That's just Calgary

The “wags” as you put it don’t conveniently forget to mention if football is down in Canadian cities. Maybe it just isn’t so. Maybe it is Calgary.

In the recent past, football has grown in Quebec and even in Winnipeg, the WHSFL had expanded, even going rural. 

I wish there were more numbers available, but they just don’t supply that info.

The C n di n Football League.

There. How does that look? 

Seems like something’s missing.

I would be pretty disappointed if they reduce the number of Canadians. Its part of what makes the league so special, in my opinion. 

The AAF and the upcoming XFL serve as non-NFL leagues with unique rules and rosters composed of Americans.  

Great the Bombers can cut Andrew Harris and go with a cheap American replacement!  Huzzah!

 

 

1 hour ago, Jpan85 said:

A counter point is we have a lot of guys that are starting Canadians that never have lived in or played Canadian football. They have a Canadian passport only.

 

1 hour ago, Mr Dee said:

The “wags” as you put it don’t conveniently forget to mention if football is down in Canadian cities. Maybe it just isn’t so. Maybe it is Calgary.

In the recent past, football has grown in Quebec and even in Winnipeg, the WHSFL had expanded, even going rural. 

I wish there were more numbers available, but they just don’t supply that info.

The C n di n Football League.

There. How does that look? 

Seems like something’s missing.

Well, start telling parents you know to put their kids into football so the numbers can go back up... 

Edited March 16, 20196 yr by SpeedFlex27

1 hour ago, Mr Dee said:

The “wags” as you put it don’t conveniently forget to mention if football is down in Canadian cities. Maybe it just isn’t so. Maybe it is Calgary.

In the recent past, football has grown in Quebec and even in Winnipeg, the WHSFL had expanded, even going rural. 

I wish there were more numbers available, but they just don’t supply that info.

The C n di n Football League.

There. How does that look? 

Seems like something’s missing.

Do you really believe it's just Calgary? I highly doubt that. Kids aren't playing all across the country. The news media has brought this to the forefront with their stories of former players who are having issues as they age or committed a crime or have ALS, Dementia or Alzheimers. When former Ottawa Rough Riders defensive back Rod Woodward defrauded investors of millions of dollars, prior head injuries & concussions from football were blamed for his bad behaviour.  There was nothing medical or scientific to back up that claim yet there it was in his story. Concussions caused Woodward to become a crook.  Boom. bang. There ya go. Yet, do we see the same number or kind of stories in hockey? Nope. I'll say it's because there are billions of dollars being spent by Rogers & other media outlets on the game. as well as advertisers. Meanwhile, the CFL is small potatoes & an easier target than the NHL.  Rogers, Bell Media & the NHL don't want stories about head injuries in hockey as its bad for business.

Edited March 16, 20196 yr by SpeedFlex27

My take:

We're talking about not guaranteeing jobs for the 9 or 18 worst NI's in the league.

It won't make any difference to the current Canadian stars.
It won't make any difference to most of the Canadian starters. 1 or 2 a team may get pushed out of starting spots.
If a Canadian is better or equal to the American he's competing against, the Canadian still gets the job.
Teams could roster more NI's than they have to.
It won't matter to most fans, just the super fans like the folks around here. Average fans likely don't even know how the NI rules work.
It doesn't mean that only certain spots will be Canadian. Having a NI RB is the same as having a NI LB or an NI OL.

It will reduce the difference between NI and Import salaries for the same positions.
It will reduce the salaries of some NI's.
It will increase the skill level without additional cost.
It will decrease the problems that occur when a NI starter gets hurt.
It should make for better football overall.