https://www.tsn.ca/naylor-many-questions-but-few-answers-on-a-2021-cfl-season-1.1543725

The Canadian Football League has been outrageously quiet since it pulled the plug on its season more than two months ago, leaving behind a wake of speculation about where things are headed next.

With the reality setting in that COVID-19 is likely to still be around in some form next summer, there is real concern about what the 2021 season might look like or if it will occur at all.

There are teams that believe it is vitally important to play in 2021 and that without a season the CFL is in danger of being mothballed. Whether every team believes that is another question. And there is a lot to sort out before anyone can accurately predict what a season might look like and how much pain the teams are collectively willing to stomach to make it happen.

The league and its franchises are currently running through various scenarios for next season, trying to get a handle on true costs of each and working at ways to trim budgets and save money. That’s likely to continue until the league can truly choose a course of action, which feels like next April at the earliest.

Why? Well, there’s not much point in fully committing to a scenario that’s seven months away if that scenario might be totally unrealistic by the time you get there.

There has been no 2021 business plan presented yet, only regular updates to the presidents and governors about what the league is doing to prepare for the unknown.

It should be noted that teams will need to make decisions about retaining assistant coaches with expiring contracts by December, which will be the first real economic commitments to a 2021 season. Restrictions on signing players will need to be lifted well before the opening of February free agency, where players are likely to meet a cautious market – one in which signing bonuses will probably be absent.

There’s a collective bargaining agreement to amend, if not renegotiate, with the players, which will require some kind of pressure point because it always does. But the league can’t sit down with the players until it gets a true handle on revenues and it can’t do that until it chooses a course of action.

Will CFL teams be allowed to have full stadiums next summer? It doesn't seem likely. But just what percentage of capacity will be allowed – if any at all – is impossible to guess. It seems as if the league is counting on the restrictions that currently prevent fans from being in stadiums being lifted. But to what degree?

When will we see a schedule? Good question. Or could we see multiple schedules for different scenarios? Never say never.

Could it be a 21-week, 18-game season played in home stadiums? Unlikely, given the losses teams are expected to take with reduced numbers of fans in the stands. Could we see a return to the 10-week bubble? Maybe. A nine-game schedule played in home stadiums before fans? Perhaps.

The point is no one knows, so demanding answers to questions that can’t possibly be answered right now is a waste of time.

All we know is that there’s going to be a lot less revenue for teams to operate with under any scenario, not just because of crowd restrictions but also due to older fans choosing to stay home for their safety. The CFL’s fan demographics do it no favours in this regard.

Getting consensus on a best course of action won’t be easy for the CFL’s nine teams. Back in the summer, there were teams that were willing to play without government support and teams that weren’t. And just like then, the biggest challenge commissioner Randy Ambrosie faces now is finding a scenario they can all live with.

Adopting a revenue-sharing model so that each team absorbs the same amount of red ink would certainly make consensus-building easier, which many believe should be the direction for the future, COVID-19 or not.

The other elephant in the room is federal government, which many in the CFL believe left it high and dry last summer after months of back-and-forth talks where the league believed it was making progress.

Is the CFL prepared to go down that road again, knowing it doesn’t control the timeline and larger forces can change things in an instant? Perhaps, although it’s not as though the feds don’t have a long list of people coming at them with their hands out.

There will be voices demanding the owners suck up the losses of playing a season under any circumstance, as owners have done in other sports. But the business calculation in sports such as MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA is different because of the percentage of revenues those leagues derive from television.

Losses sustained by playing in those leagues can also be viewed as investments towards protecting massive franchise values. That’s not the case in the CFL, where teams can’t just float money on the backs of their franchise values, and where one third of the teams are publicly owned.

It would be beneficial for the league to soon announce its formal commitment to play some kind of season in 2021.

But beyond that, get ready for months more of waiting with lots of questions and speculation but very few answers.

1 hour ago, Jpan85 said:

Here what we will see when we start reaching 75% of the adult population get their first shot.

 

the vaccine roll out has been nothing short of abysmal.  Hopefully we can be getting close to even 50% by the time the games start. 

from what I can tell, the biggest problem has been vaccine hesitancy from older people. Once GenXY became eligible this week in AB/MB/ON, there was a massive uptick in % of people getting vaccinated per day. On the first day of Gen XYZeneca vaccinations, Kenney in AB said there were more vaccination appointments booked that day than the entire week previous. So I think as more and more age groups (younger) get eligible, you're going to see the numbers fly up. I am really really really hoping Biden comes through with more doses, as was hinted at yesterday. They still haven't approved OXAZ in the US, so send us everything you've got....and if there's excess Moderna/Pfizer (the story yesterday was that they actually have too MUCH doses and not enough people wanting to get jabbed) send that too. Keep opening up the eligibility, and the % of Pop vaxxed will start rising dramatically...

Manitoba is around 26% of the population with one jab and about 6.6 with 2 jabs so by August we just might be in a better place.

 

Just now, rebusrankin said:

Manitoba is around 26% of the population with one jab and about 6.6 with 2 jabs so by August we just might be in a better place.

 

We will be. People need to remember, it hasn't been a full roll out. Age requirements naturally mean less people will be vaccinated. As that age limit comes down, more and more people will be able to get it. Hopefully our system can keep up!

JJ 1-Shot arriving next week...300k+ doses in the first shipment. Will be a massive game changer. Keep 'em rolling in! 

my bestie with testes is a dose-giver at his clinic. 

He gets 250 doses per shipment once a week. Can't give them away to boomers. Cold calls 100+ people/day. Boomers won't take them.

He said the moment they open it up to millenials etc, they'll chew through them in days. 

Edited April 22, 20214 yr by Dr Zaius

I swear, Gen XYZ will single handedly drag this country out of the pandemic. ******* Boomers, as always, ruining everything by being entitled assholes...

https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/vaccination-coverage/ The official numbers, not behind a paywall.

1 shot isn't immunity.

CDC says 2nd shot should be given 3-4 weeks after the first shot and there is no scientific evidence for delaying more than 6 weeks.

84+% of age 80 and up have been vaccinated. The vaccine hesitancy is specifically for the Atra Zenica (74% effective) because of the blood clotting issues (7.9 per million doses, up from 1 per million just a week ago. BTW: Double the risk cuz everyone needs 2) and the fact that it's significantly less effective than Pfizzer (94%) and Moderna (94%).

From a CFL perspective, it's the cumulative numbers from Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and BC that matter, not just one of the provinces.

I'm 63, in Calgary. I managed to change my first dose from May 17 to May 3 yesterday. It means I'll get AZ, which I really don't want, but at least I'll have some immunity. I have no idea when I'll be able to get my second shot. Once I get it, I'll be 74% immunized and I'll still wear a mask in public because no one knows who is vaccinated and who is just being a Covidiot.

 

18 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/vaccination-coverage/ The official numbers, not behind a paywall.

1 shot isn't immunity.

CDC says 2nd shot should be given 3-4 weeks after the first shot and there is no scientific evidence for delaying more than 6 weeks.

84+% of age 80 and up have been vaccinated. The vaccine hesitancy is specifically for the Atra Zenica (74% effective) because of the blood clotting issues (7.9 per million doses, up from 1 per million just a week ago. BTW: Double the risk cuz everyone needs 2) and the fact that it's significantly less effective than Pfizzer (94%) and Moderna (94%).

From a CFL perspective, it's the cumulative numbers from Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and BC that matter, not just one of the provinces.

I'm 63, in Calgary. I managed to change my first dose from May 17 to May 3 yesterday. It means I'll get AZ, which I really don't want, but at least I'll have some immunity. I have no idea when I'll be able to get my second shot. Once I get it, I'll be 74% immunized and I'll still wear a mask in public because no one knows who is vaccinated and who is just being a Covidiot.

 

Those numbers are over a week out of date. 

Again, I'll type slower...

By the end of June, we'll have enough doses in Canada to fully vaccinate 22 Million people. And, enough vaccinations for everyone eligible for the end of September. 

The AZ vaccine second shot should not be given prior to 12 weeks. 

 

All vaccinations only provide partial immunity. 

 

 

But, given our province's unwillingness to do anything before we're in a crisis, we'll be locked down anyhow all summer. 

1) Blood clots are treatable

2) The chance of blood clots from AZ is somewhere between 5 and 10 in a million (seen a few different reports, but all are less than 10)

3) The chance of a blood clot from smoking is 1,753 in a million

4) The chance of a blood clot from Covid-19 is 169,000 in a million

 

Anyone who uses the chance of a blood clot as a reason not to get the AZ vaccine is buying into ridiculous fear.

Just now, Sard said:

1) Blood clots are treatable

2) The chance of blood clots from AZ is somewhere between 5 and 10 in a million (seen a few different reports, but all are less than 10)

3) The chance of a blood clot from smoking is 1,753 in a million

4) The chance of a blood clot from Covid-19 is 169,000 in a million

 

Anyone who uses the chance of a blood clot as a reason not to get the AZ vaccine is buying into ridiculous fear.

Absolutely. Just vaccine shopping. 

Just now, JCon said:

Absolutely. Just vaccine shopping. 

What a privileged life some people live, to be able to pick and choose which vaccine to get... as has been stated many times before by many people, the best vaccine to get is the first one that's offered to you.

I'm so done with the assholes claiming OXAZ is somehow worse....**** all the way off. Gen XYZeneca proving we're the intelligent generation. As mentioned, the best vaccine is the one you're offered. Just ******* get it in you. 

3 hours ago, Dr Zaius said:

my bestie with testes is a dose-giver at his clinic. 

He gets 250 doses per shipment once a week. Can't give them away to boomers. Cold calls 100+ people/day. Boomers won't take them.

He said the moment they open it up to millenials etc, they'll chew through them in days. 

my bestie with testes wins line of the day. Congrats.

Yeah all the vaccine's so far have proved that they are over 90% effective of keeping you out of the hospital or dying. Which is what we wanted all along to keep the hospitals from overloading.

If the 'boomers' (of which I'm one and have had my shot) are walking away from getting the needle then they should be criticized ...No excuses BUT I know of a few that were given a scare, when the Astra Zeneca was being given a bad rap and I can understand their concerns...Now it's seems to have cleared the health regulators and I believe boomers are okay with it....Can't speak for everyone but I feel any vaccine offered should be considered ...just get it done.........Didn't like the term 'boomer remover' ,the early name given to covid... and now the younger generations are now finding out this thing doesn't play any favourites

5 hours ago, JCon said:

Those numbers are over a week out of date. 

Again, I'll type slower...

By the end of June, we'll have enough doses in Canada to fully vaccinate 22 Million people. And, enough vaccinations for everyone eligible for the end of September. 

The AZ vaccine second shot should not be given prior to 12 weeks.

All vaccinations only provide partial immunity. 

But, given our province's unwillingness to do anything before we're in a crisis, we'll be locked down anyhow all summer. 

I hadn't noticed that the numbers are a week out of date. We've gone up 7.614% of Canadians getting their first shot since April 10 according to: https://covid19tracker.ca/vaccinationtracker.html and up to about 2.5% fully vaccinated instead of the 2.13% on April 10. Less than 1 Million Canadians have been fully vaccinated so far.

You're right that AZ is 12 weeks between shots. The others are 3-4 weeks. Thanks for the correction.

AZ vaccines are coming to Canada in part because the US won't use them and were getting J&J, because the US has 'paused' it due to side effects. Delivery dates haven't been settled yet. Several countries including the US, haven't approved AZ, other countries suspended it's use, still other countries only give it to 55+ or 65+ folks. The blood clot issue went from 1 in a million to 7 to 10 in a million in a week or two. We won't know where the number will eventually land until the independent data is in. I can understand people wanting the best instead of the cheapest vaccine.

There are 38 Million people in Canada. Even if we assume that we can fully vaccinate 22 Million by the end of June, which I don't believe, that still leaves 16 million and no one will know who is and isn't vaccinated.

Yes, all vaccinations only provide partial immunity. 94% immunity is better than 74% immunity and 74% is better than none.

The blood clot issue isn't just something that they can take care of. People have died from it (At least 19 as of April 7 when it was still a 1 in a million chance.). Kinda ironic to die taking the vaccine you took to protect you from Covid. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Edited April 22, 20214 yr by TBURGESS

7 hours ago, Noeller said:

******* Boomers, as always, ruining everything by being entitled assholes...

The generation born on third base and thinks it hit a triple. Bunch of selfish entitled assholes.

7 hours ago, Noeller said:

I swear, Gen XYZ will single handedly drag this country out of the pandemic. ******* Boomers, as always, ruining everything by being entitled assholes...

I'm a Boomer. I took it. Not all of us are like that. Just the ******* alt right conservatives who believe a conspiracy lives in everything. All of my friends my age that I know have been vacccinated & we're in our mid 60's. We need vaccination passports to make these stupid asshats get vaccinated. Trudeau dicking around & not willing to talk about doing it just makes it worse. Here in Alberta the UCP asshats in rural Alberta are demanding that Kenney resign. Even though anyone who takes over will lose to the NDP. That's how crazy these idiots are. Willing to throw away power because they hate restrictions. Some of those are Millennials too. 

12 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

The generation born on third base and thinks it hit a triple. Bunch of selfish entitled assholes.

Well, if Boomers were born on third base your generation was born first & goal from the 1 yard line. 

Edited April 23, 20214 yr by SpeedFlex27

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Well, if Boomers were born on third base your generation was born first & goal from the 1 yard line. 

We were born into a good situation, but boomers are hell bent on pulling up the ladder behind them. 

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

We were born into a good situation, but boomers are hell bent on pulling up the ladder behind them. 

Yeah, right. There are asshats in your generation as well.  Lots of them.

 

Edited April 23, 20214 yr by SpeedFlex27

And speaking of a big losses for us, the blue bombers lost out on the Cousin Zach sweepstakes as he just signed a contract with the Edmonton Football Team. 

13 hours ago, TBURGESS said:

I hadn't noticed that the numbers are a week out of date. We've gone up 7.614% of Canadians getting their first shot since April 10 according to: https://covid19tracker.ca/vaccinationtracker.html and up to about 2.5% fully vaccinated instead of the 2.13% on April 10. Less than 1 Million Canadians have been fully vaccinated so far.

You're right that AZ is 12 weeks between shots. The others are 3-4 weeks. Thanks for the correction.

AZ vaccines are coming to Canada in part because the US won't use them and were getting J&J, because the US has 'paused' it due to side effects. Delivery dates haven't been settled yet. Several countries including the US, haven't approved AZ, other countries suspended it's use, still other countries only give it to 55+ or 65+ folks. The blood clot issue went from 1 in a million to 7 to 10 in a million in a week or two. We won't know where the number will eventually land until the independent data is in. I can understand people wanting the best instead of the cheapest vaccine.

There are 38 Million people in Canada. Even if we assume that we can fully vaccinate 22 Million by the end of June, which I don't believe, that still leaves 16 million and no one will know who is and isn't vaccinated.

Yes, all vaccinations only provide partial immunity. 94% immunity is better than 74% immunity and 74% is better than none.

The blood clot issue isn't just something that they can take care of. People have died from it (At least 19 as of April 7 when it was still a 1 in a million chance.). Kinda ironic to die taking the vaccine you took to protect you from Covid. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

There is zero chance that 38 million Canadians will be vaccinated by September. We could have 100 million doses available and we won't get that kind of vaccine uptake ever. I am hoping we can get 70% of Canadians immunized and I think the government will have to be heavy handed with no-vax restrictions to achieve that. There are just too many people who are being down right stupid on the whole vaccination process. The last 10-15% to herd immunity will be a trickle and will only be coming in kicking and screaming because they don't have a vax ID card or vax passport.  At a time we are entering the 3rd wave caused primarily by a dangerous variant we have a lot AZ just sitting on the shelves. If the current state of our pandemic doesn't inspire people to go get it I don't foresee the vaccine hesitancy getting any better when case numbers fall.

Edited April 23, 20214 yr by GCn20

10 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Yeah, right. There are asshats in your generation as well.  Lots of them.

also, our (boomer) music is much superior to theirs. their music is crap and they should be ashamed for thinking its any good. 

what generation are the idiots I always see driving giant pickups with one person in it to get a coffee at 7/11?

with the truck running with air con on while they go in the store. look like thirty year olds.

generation dumb.

chopping down the ladder, selfish stupid idiots.

 

The generation that routinely drove home smashed from the bar listening to the BeeGees pointing fingers at idiots with bad music. Define irony