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.

2 minutes ago, stevethe3rd said:

Alford should be ROY. He came in and played a premium position and was probably the best player in the league. 

This is an excellent point. With the way the CFL has evolved into a 70 - 80% passing league - half back is the most important position on a CFL defense. 

4 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

This is an excellent point. With the way the CFL has evolved into a 70 - 80% passing league - half back is the most important position on a CFL defense. 

Especially to the boundary side. Most teams have two stud players that play the X and S position. Corners and Boundary halfbacks have a big job. If i remember correctly Nichols has had success at both this year. 

I gotta say, this thread shocks me with how vastly underrated Nic Demski is around these parts....

3 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I gotta say, this thread shocks me with how vastly underrated Nic Demski is around these parts....

Funny you should say that, I was going to start a Demski appreciation thread earlier this week but got sidetracked by something shiny. I'm not sure if he's underappreciated but we don't, collectively, recognize him enough on this board, IMO. 

Wildly underappreciated around here. Next to Lucky, I don't think there's a better multi-purpose offensive player in the league. And, as with Lucky, can return kicks when needed (and is good at it). Can be used as a RB if needed, and often runs sweeps and screens. Insane to me that people aren't more angry about his snub today....

27 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Wildly underappreciated around here. Next to Lucky, I don't think there's a better multi-purpose offensive player in the league. And, as with Lucky, can return kicks when needed (and is good at it). Can be used as a RB if needed, and often runs sweeps and screens. Insane to me that people aren't more angry about his snub today....

Demski is the straw that stirs the drink. With out him what we do doesnt work. The jet sweep motion pulls defenders to the line and stretches them out. That opens running lanes. When the D is cheating hard to the run thats how we beat them and keep them honest. His ability to catch and run forces the defense to take good angles and not cheat on him too. His blocking is superb, and he runs as well as any bomber.  Even when he's away from the ball on plays, he's forcing the defense to give us better options. 

This year wouldve been a big coming out party for him. in 18 games he wouldve put up 1k yards. He's about to turn 28, and any of the next 3 or 4 years could be his best. 

Outside of finding a better deep threat then Adams ,  the receivers we have now are a perfect compliment to each other.   Had we been able to get Begelton to replace Adams that would of been an insane receiver group. 

15 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Demski is the straw that stirs the drink. With out him what we do doesnt work. The jet sweep motion pulls defenders to the line and stretches them out. That opens running lanes. When the D is cheating hard to the run thats how we beat them and keep them honest. His ability to catch and run forces the defense to take good angles and not cheat on him too. His blocking is superb, and he runs as well as any bomber.  Even when he's away from the ball on plays, he's forcing the defense to give us better options. 

This year wouldve been a big coming out party for him. in 18 games he wouldve put up 1k yards. He's about to turn 28, and any of the next 3 or 4 years could be his best. 

I wonder what the offensive numbers look like with him in compared to out of the line up.

16 hours ago, Noeller said:

Wildly underappreciated around here. Next to Lucky, I don't think there's a better multi-purpose offensive player in the league. And, as with Lucky, can return kicks when needed (and is good at it). Can be used as a RB if needed, and often runs sweeps and screens. Insane to me that people aren't more angry about his snub today....

I juat don't think Demski gets the love outside of the Peg that he gets here, so it would be harder.

I think Bomber fans know how important and what a beast Demski is

 

 

17 hours ago, Noeller said:

Wildly underappreciated around here. Next to Lucky, I don't think there's a better multi-purpose offensive player in the league. And, as with Lucky, can return kicks when needed (and is good at it). Can be used as a RB if needed, and often runs sweeps and screens. Insane to me that people aren't more angry about his snub today....

I fully admit to underappreciating him until I saw him out of the line up early this season.

I am now a believer.

17 hours ago, Noeller said:

Insane to me that people aren't more angry about his snub today....

We're seething in silence - mutely loathing our lividness - close-mouthedly cussing....

"Ryan Dinwiddie should be CFL Coach of the Year" - Rod Pedersen

 

18 hours ago, Noeller said:

Insane to me that people aren't more angry about his snub today....

1. To quote the Miller beer commercial: “I guess I’ve reached that age where I realize yelling at the TV screen isn’t going to change the ref’s call”

2. Whining about the injustice of a player snub seems like a Riderfans thing to do. 

2a. Since we dump all over the other fan bases and their media when they complain about their ignored players, I do not wish to be labelled a hypocrite for doing the same or delusional for overvaluing our player’s worth in others’ eyes like we do for them. 

3. Mike O’Shea preferred to not focus on the individual accolades and embraces the team. I am cool with that mentality.

4. There is only one award worth having, and I am sure Demski will put his full energy into defending ownership of that award Dec. 12.

But that is just me. Not objecting to your anger, I am sure it is enough to sustain the both of us, and your approach is valuable in the make-up of a good fan base. You do you, I will take the quiet path, and we can both be content. 

2 minutes ago, Noeller said:

"Ryan Dinwiddie should be CFL Coach of the Year" - Rod Pedersen

The Argos are the best in the East and a very mediocre team. Not particularly well coached. But, Rod will be Rod, which makes him as useless as a toothbrush in Saskatchewan. 

6 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

1. To quote the Miller beer commercial: “I guess I’ve reached that age where I realize yelling at the TV screen isn’t going to change the ref’s call”

2. Whining about the injustice of a player snub seems like a Riderfans thing to do. 

2a. Since we dump all over the other fan bases and their media when they complain about their ignored players, I do not wish to be labelled a hypocrite for doing the same or delusional for overvaluing our player’s worth in others’ eyes like we do for them. 

3. Mike O’Shea preferred to not focus on the individual accolades and embraces the team. I am cool with that mentality.

4. There is only one award worth having, and I am sure Demski will put his full energy into defending ownership of that award Dec. 12.

But that is just me. Not objecting to your anger, I am sure it is enough to sustain the both of us, and your approach is valuable in the make-up of a good fan base. You do you, I will take the quiet path, and we can both be content. 

The perceived snub and Harris not practising. It’s all in the hands of Allah. 

34 minutes ago, JCon said:

The Argos are the best in the East and a very mediocre team. Not particularly well coached. But, Rod will be Rod, which makes him as useless as a toothbrush in Saskatchewan. 

Hey Rod, tell me about the great coaching job he did against BC with that epic clock mismanagement that should have lost him the game. The most visible coaching he did this year was a massive f*ck up. 

“Useless as a toothbrush in Sask” - I may plagiarize that in the future, that is some solid work there. 

I think there's a case for RD as coach of the year, just like there's a (stronger) case for MOS.

But Rod's points don't make any sense.

For RD he pointed out that he - Took a new coaching staff to the top, were ALMOST undefeated at home. No one thought RD would work out as a HC before the year started.

He ignores that "new" coaching staff had heaps of experience. He was essentially gifted a playoff team via $$$ and he in fact did NOT go perfect at home. Had a few games in a row where he was badly out coached (which happens with Rookie HC).

MOS - Rookie OC that made the WPG offence more impressive than their GC winning one. WENT undefeated at home, No one thought WPG would be leading the Leading at the start of the year. Most had them around #3 in the West. Lost is MOP from 2019 for how many games now? 


 

I will never care what Rod Pedersen thinks.

He made it clear long ago he is in it for money not to be credible.

He wants attention

 

1 hour ago, JCon said:

The Argos are the best in the East and a very mediocre team. Not particularly well coached. But, Rod will be Rod, which makes him as useless as a toothbrush in Saskatchewan. 

I also found toilet plungers to be useless there too.

Just like the player awards are based on stats over actual play on the field, Coach of the Year awards are often about the "most improved" team as opposed to the "best" team.

Rod got mesmerized by Dinwiddie's dazzling blue eyes.

8 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Rod got mesmerized by Dinwiddie's dazzling blue eyes.

We've all been there.

So this new rule IS in effect this year. I'm not sure if the Bombers have needed to take advantage of it. 

From the article: "CFL teams have to start seven Canadian players at the beginning of each game, declaring a number on both offence and defence that cannot be reduced over the course of the contest. Under the current CBA, a veteran American player with three years of service on his team or four in the league may replace an injure Canadian starter - a rule that Hamilton has been accused of exploiting this season - but it appears their fancy substituting caught up with them in the regular season finale."

 

https://3downnation.com/2021/12/01/insider-talk-head-coach-candidates-ottawas-gm-search-cfls-best-canadian-player/

A few interesting things...

If I were hiring a head coach my list of candidates would be (Calgary special teams coordinator and assistant head coach) Mark Kilam, (Ottawa special teams coordinator) Bob Dyce, (Hamilton defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach) Mark Washington, (Winnipeg offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach) Buck Pierce, and (Calgary offensive coordinator and offensive line coach) Pat DelMonaco.

I'd be hesitant about a coordinator where the HC is still making most of the calls.