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.

6 minutes ago, JCon said:

CFL is boring now, says long time Rider scrub... oops, I mean "scribe". 

https://leaderpost.com/sports/football/cfl/saskatchewan-roughriders/rob-vanstone-all-is-not-swell-in-the-once-exciting-cfl

I have loved the Canadian Football League for 50 years, which makes the following sentence unpleasant to write — and, in all likelihood, to read. Canadian professional football has become an eyesore. The games are seldom compelling or entertaining. There is a somniferous sameness to the product, a problem that has also afflicted the NHL. Does every CFL team have the same playbook? It certainly appears that way. Defensive co-ordinators are unbending in their resolve to bend, but not break. As a result, what should be — and what used to be — a wide-open game has become a festival of hitch screens, slow-developing handoffs from the shotgun formation, and punts. The amateur game is alive and well, as evidenced by some recent shootouts in the Regina Intercollegiate Football League , Prairie Football Conference and Canada West, but the pros are ruining it for everyone.

 

 

"My team sucks so everything sucks" 

11 minutes ago, JCon said:

CFL is boring now, says long time Rider scrub... oops, I mean "scribe". 

https://leaderpost.com/sports/football/cfl/saskatchewan-roughriders/rob-vanstone-all-is-not-swell-in-the-once-exciting-cfl

I have loved the Canadian Football League for 50 years, which makes the following sentence unpleasant to write — and, in all likelihood, to read. Canadian professional football has become an eyesore. The games are seldom compelling or entertaining. There is a somniferous sameness to the product, a problem that has also afflicted the NHL. Does every CFL team have the same playbook? It certainly appears that way. Defensive co-ordinators are unbending in their resolve to bend, but not break. As a result, what should be — and what used to be — a wide-open game has become a festival of hitch screens, slow-developing handoffs from the shotgun formation, and punts. The amateur game is alive and well, as evidenced by some recent shootouts in the Regina Intercollegiate Football League , Prairie Football Conference and Canada West, but the pros are ruining it for everyone.

And to think, the Riders are still second in the division and all but guaranteed a playoff spot.

Buncha ******* whiners in the rectangle province.

10 minutes ago, JCon said:

CFL is boring now, says long time Rider scrub... oops, I mean "scribe". 

https://leaderpost.com/sports/football/cfl/saskatchewan-roughriders/rob-vanstone-all-is-not-swell-in-the-once-exciting-cfl

I have loved the Canadian Football League for 50 years, which makes the following sentence unpleasant to write — and, in all likelihood, to read. Canadian professional football has become an eyesore. The games are seldom compelling or entertaining. There is a somniferous sameness to the product, a problem that has also afflicted the NHL. Does every CFL team have the same playbook? It certainly appears that way. Defensive co-ordinators are unbending in their resolve to bend, but not break. As a result, what should be — and what used to be — a wide-open game has become a festival of hitch screens, slow-developing handoffs from the shotgun formation, and punts. The amateur game is alive and well, as evidenced by some recent shootouts in the Regina Intercollegiate Football League , Prairie Football Conference and Canada West, but the pros are ruining it for everyone.

 

 

3down has a similar article. I honestly agree. The all-star QBs the league had are aging out and we've yet to replace them. We continually ***** about the short-screen game that Fajardo plays, but who is the guy that can drive a passing attack like Khari or Calvillio? They don't exist anymore.

When the Bombers try to run a hurry up play, they're stopped by refs who don't set the ball for a minute+

 

https://3downnation.com/2021/10/26/the-cfl-has-an-entertainment-problem-and-theres-no-easy-solution/

2 minutes ago, Jesse said:

3down has a similar article. I honestly agree. The all-star QBs the league had are aging out and we've yet to replace them. We continually ***** about the short-screen game that Fajardo plays, but who is the guy that can drive a passing attack like Khari or Calvillio? They don't exist anymore.

When the Bombers try to run a hurry up play, they're stopped by refs who don't set the ball for a minute+

 

https://3downnation.com/2021/10/26/the-cfl-has-an-entertainment-problem-and-theres-no-easy-solution/

That article is written by a Rider fan.

1 hour ago, bearpants said:

just another reason to not cheer for a Bombers/Riders west final... I really hope Sask loses the WSF and then someone asks "how important do you think the bye is?"...

And if the Riders lose the WSF - "Why losing the WSF is a "blessing in disguise"....article we'll see on Monday.

2 minutes ago, kelownabomberfan said:

And if the Riders lose the WSF - "Why losing the WSF is a "blessing in disguise"....article we'll see on Monday.

"Valuable experience for when they load up for a home Grey Cup in 2022" 

1 hour ago, Jesse said:

3down has a similar article. I honestly agree. The all-star QBs the league had are aging out and we've yet to replace them. We continually ***** about the short-screen game that Fajardo plays, but who is the guy that can drive a passing attack like Khari or Calvillio? They don't exist anymore.

When the Bombers try to run a hurry up play, they're stopped by refs who don't set the ball for a minute+

 

https://3downnation.com/2021/10/26/the-cfl-has-an-entertainment-problem-and-theres-no-easy-solution/

4 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Love Zach but ..not even close to either of them.

8 minutes ago, voodoochylde said:

Love Zach but ..not even close to either of them.

Both Calvillo and Khari had otherworldly receivers. Hard to make a comparison.

2 minutes ago, BBlink said:

Both Calvillo and Khari had otherworldly receivers. Hard to make a comparison.

Was going to say, give Zach Khari's receivers and look out.

1 hour ago, Geebrr said:

"My team sucks so everything sucks" 

Yep. That is the Rider media/fans every year. On a loss:

"The refs are worse than ever" 

"This is why nobody respects the CFL" 

"The fix is in. x team in the East needs wins because they aren't Canada's team" 

14 minutes ago, voodoochylde said:

Love Zach but ..not even close to either of them.

the point is - You asked who can push a downfield passing attack.......what the **** has Collaros been doing all year?? 

3 minutes ago, Noeller said:

the point is - You asked who can push a downfield passing attack.......what the **** has Collaros been doing all year?? 

I didn't ask a question.

2 minutes ago, voodoochylde said:

I didn't ask any question.

Yes, apologies, thought you were the original post on this convo...my bad. 

I stand by my point - this conversation started as "who can drive a downfield passing attack?" and I fully believe Collaros can, whether you want to compare him to HOFers or not.....

19 minutes ago, voodoochylde said:

Love Zach but ..not even close to either of them.

He will be if he stays healthy and keeps producing the way he's been producing since 2019 till now.

The only thing that will stop him from being in the same conversation is injury and/or father time.

His career looked over but not so fast he said. 

7 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Yes, apologies, thought you were the original post on this convo...my bad. 

I stand by my point - this conversation started as "who can drive a downfield passing attack?" and I fully believe Collaros can, whether you want to compare him to HOFers or not.....

When Collaros wins the Grey Cup again this year he'll have just as many cups as Calvillo/Mitchell and two more than Jones big fat 0.

"not even close"? pffff.

put some ****ing respect on Collaros' name 

Edited October 28, 20214 yr by Dr Zaius

Just want to clarify my thoughts (for anyone who's new to this forum and doesn't know me...): 

-I've never been a big Calvillo fan, and believe there's never been a QB who benefitted more from the team/system around him than AC. 

-Khari Jones is my all time favourite Bombers QB (Matty D a close second, then Nichols) and regardless of GCs, is a worthy HOFer

Having said all that, Collaros isn't in the same conversation with those guys.......YET. But, as has been mentioned, if he wins the GC this year, on the heels of this remarkable season for the WBB FC...... he will certainly be in the conversation for the HOF, and having his name mentioned in the same circles as those other guys. 

I'll take the 4 2019 games of Collaros anytime. Him leading the team to end the drought is the best in my books.
The only topping that is if he lead this team win back-to-back. 

5 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Just want to clarify my thoughts (for anyone who's new to this forum and doesn't know me...): 

-I've never been a big Calvillo fan, and believe there's never been a QB who benefitted more from the team/system around him than AC. 

-Khari Jones is my all time favourite Bombers QB (Matty D a close second, then Nichols) and regardless of GCs, is a worthy HOFer

Having said all that, Collaros isn't in the same conversation with those guys.......YET. But, as has been mentioned, if he wins the GC this year, on the heels of this remarkable season for the WBB FC...... he will certainly be in the conversation for the HOF, and having his name mentioned in the same circles as those other guys. 

Takes two gcs for Collaros to get into a tier with 3 guys who didn't win any and who probably won't have as many bomber play off wins combined. Pretty crazy though how far Collaros has risen in soo few games. 

Khari going into the hof and up on the ring will be a great day. 

36 minutes ago, BBlink said:

Both Calvillo and Khari had otherworldly receivers. Hard to make a comparison.

 They also tossed a ton of picks in an era where dbs played man cover mostly and had to make great plays to get picks. Today's modern match zone and attack the ball would have them tossing 40 plus picks a year. 

1 hour ago, JCon said:

this is when I said to myself; "Holy ****, we're going to win the Grey Cup this year".

1 hour ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

this is when I said to myself; "Holy ****, we're going to win the Grey Cup this year".

My wife thinks that what collaros does is normal now. It might be the single most impressive play a bomber QB has ever made. Up there with the dozen or so other similar plays collaros has made like that since then. 

3 hours ago, Noeller said:

Yeah, the fact that Collaros is the unquestioned MVP and our offence is the top of the league is the problem. 

I love our team - but these should not be league leading numbers on the offensive side of the ball.

10 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Yeah, the fact that Collaros is the unquestioned MVP and our offence is the top of the league is the problem. 

I love our team - but these should not be league leading numbers on the offensive side of the ball.

On pace for 30 TDs vs 10 INT completing 71%  for 4634 yards are not MOP numbers?

On a first place team?

 

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out Jesse's post......I almost thought it was sarcastic and maybe I was missing the joke. I mean, we didn't start playing till August, right? Those numbers are lower than normal because we missed 1/3 of the season...