Arash Madani ‏@ArashMadani  8m8 minutes ago

Per @JDunk12: Esks, Riders talking trade. EDM wants No. 1 pick Josiah St. John AND a first for QB James Franklin. SSK, coherently, declined.

Ed Hervey vs. Chris Jones is going to be a real thing to keep your eye on over the coming weeks and months.

To reach for two first round picks, including No. 1 overall, in return for a back-up QB with a handful of pro starts is... hilarious, really

1 hour ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

As reported on Rona Roundtable, three biggest cities in Canada are bottom 3 in CFL attendance.

Argos down 7k avg s  far. So much for the new home.

Argos attendance is a joke moving to BMO has not helped 1 bit, Montreal packs the place when they win which in the last few year has been less and less and BC Place looks terrible with the curtains which just masks the problem of the stadium being to big for today's CFL. This could turn out to be a very serious problem for the CFL and it's respective owners.

1 hour ago, TBURGESS said:

It would be in his best interests to see what the Bombers are offering before he tries that. He might get another contract this year, but it will be a backup QB job at less than half of the $400K he's being paid now. Likely between $150-175K.

Sometimes it's not just about money

17 minutes ago, bustamente said:

Argos attendance is a joke moving to BMO has not helped 1 bit, Montreal packs the place when they win which in the last few year has been less and less and BC Place looks terrible with the curtains which just masks the problem of the stadium being to big for today's CFL. This could turn out to be a very serious problem for the CFL and it's respective owners.

I agree. The Argos move to BMO has been disastrous & the excuses... Oh the excuses. I hate what they've done to BC Place with those curtains. It looks claustrophobic like they play in a closet on tv. The other thing about BC Place is we were in Vancouver last year & thought about going to a game. But you can't drive to the game in Vancouver like you can in Calgary & find a place to park nearby. People have to rely on public transit to get there & back. That may be one of the reasons it's always a challenge to get fans to go to a game at BC Place. The other thing are ticket prices. Single game day prices are expensive in BC. I'm sure it's the same in Toronto.

5 hours ago, voodoochylde said:

 

This guy was one of the best at his position in Calgary. Game in & game out. He had a pick 6 last game. Now, is his career over? Just goes to show no matter how big your contract is in the CFL it isn't guaranteed & for an older & more expensive veteran like Raymond it can be over so fast. I admit I'm a big fan of Raymond. He made some huge plays when he was a Stampeder. Always timely & a lot of times key tackles, fumble recoveries & picks to win games.

Edited August 26, 20169 yr by iso_55

1 hour ago, Jacquie said:

I can remember the media ****storm when the Bombers restructured LeFors' contract mid-season back in 2009. It would be interesting to see what the reaction would be now.

Yeah, that was the first thing I thought of when I saw Goalie's post -- that this was a move that a guy like Kelly or Popp would make.

If memory serves, the LeFors situation was a bit sleazier.  Didn't he have a shoulder injury when his contract stuff went down?

This is why I always root for the players in football labour disputes: pro football contracts are bullshit.

1 minute ago, johnzo said:

Yeah, that was the first thing I thought of when I saw Goalie's post -- that this was a move that a guy like Kelly or Popp would make.

If memory serves, the LeFors situation was a bit sleazier.  Didn't he have a shoulder injury when his contract stuff went down?

This is why I always root for the players in football labour disputes: pro football contracts are bullshit.

I'm sure Keon Raymond would agree.

5 hours ago, iso_55 said:

I think most fans would be okay with it. Didn't Kelly try to restructure when LeFors was out with an injury? I think that was a big part of the negative reaction that happened. It looked like Kelly was kicking LeFors when he was down.

No it was before. LeFors said he was told to re-negotiate or he would be released and an injured player can't be released.

5 hours ago, bustamente said:

Argos attendance is a joke moving to BMO has not helped 1 bit, Montreal packs the place when they win which in the last few year has been less and less and BC Place looks terrible with the curtains which just masks the problem of the stadium being to big for today's CFL. This could turn out to be a very serious problem for the CFL and it's respective owners.

They are actually making more money this year with less attendance. Get much more of the revenue than they did at Rogers. 

1 hour ago, Jpan85 said:

They are actually making more money this year with less attendance. Get much more of the revenue than they did at Rogers. 

I don't know what there revenue is so i'll take your word about that but not being able to get more than 18,000 people to there home games except the opener in a city of 2.8 million is a joke.  

1 hour ago, bustamente said:

I don't know what there revenue is so i'll take your word about that but not being able to get more than 18,000 people to there home games except the opener in a city of 2.8 million is a joke.  

18,000? That's a great crowd. I think they're lucky to draw 13,000.

8 hours ago, Jacquie said:

No it was before. LeFors said he was told to re-negotiate or he would be released and an injured player can't be released.

No it was after he was injured.  He got injured in game 3 or 4 and they didn't ask him to take the pay cut until mid September. 

17 hours ago, iso_55 said:

I agree. The Argos move to BMO has been disastrous & the excuses... Oh the excuses. I hate what they've done to BC Place with those curtains. It looks claustrophobic like they play in a closet on tv. The other thing about BC Place is we were in Vancouver last year & thought about going to a game. But you can't drive to the game in Vancouver like you can in Calgary & find a place to park nearby. People have to rely on public transit to get there & back. That may be one of the reasons it's always a challenge to get fans to go to a game at BC Place. The other thing are ticket prices. Single game day prices are expensive in BC. I'm sure it's the same in Toronto.

You sound like a hick from Sask.  People in big cities have no problem using public transit, it's fast, cheap and convenient and it works even in a little burg like Cowtown. 

2 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

You sound like a hick from Sask.  People in big cities have no problem using public transit, it's fast, cheap and convenient and it works even in a little burg like Cowtown. 

while I'm not a huge fan of jamming on with a bunch of drunk yahoos after a game or during Stampede, I'll admit I do appreciate the Calgary "C-Train". It's fast, convenient and relatively inexpensive...

7 minutes ago, Noeller said:

while I'm not a huge fan of jamming on with a bunch of drunk yahoos after a game or during Stampede, I'll admit I do appreciate the Calgary "C-Train". It's fast, convenient and relatively inexpensive...

And parking downtown Calgary is scarce and/or  expensive, so the C-train is a Godsend to those working there.

Big city residents use transit. That's not the issue. The big city hubris is the problem. I remember going to a Grey Cup game in Vancouver and listening to people on the train mock the game and the league. I still think Toronto can recover. While MLSE does not own the Argos the owner is a big wheel in MLSE and look how their sports franchises have succeeded without much success on field, ice or court. It will get better. I don't know who is going to rescue the Lions. 

9 minutes ago, tracker said:

And parking downtown Calgary is scarce and/or  expensive, so the C-train is a Godsend to those working there.

Coming from the north, we park at the zoo, hop on the train and get to Stampede grounds (Flames/Hitmen) or McMahon really easily and relatively cheaply. It's a good system, for sure...

Lefors hurt his shoulder in game 3 of 2009 but started game 4 anyway and he stank the joint up bad. Then Michael Bishop parachuted in for game 5 and Lefors was told to renegotiate or be cut.  I don't know if Lefors ever spent time on the injured list -- I remember him holding on field goal attempts after Bishop's arrival -- so his injury might not have been "official".

Here's a column with the timeline laid out (content warning: Friesen)

http://www.winnipegsun.com/sports/columnists/paul_friesen/2009/08/19/10508166-sun.html

gary lawless ✔ @garylawless

Hearing @cfl rules committee met yesterday, came up with tweaks to challenge system. Looking to deter frivolous challenges. Board approved

 

Word is there's no more "free" challenge. You'll now lose a timeout with first incorrect challenge...

Quote

Word is there's no more "free" challenge. You'll now lose a timeout with first incorrect challenge...

That would bring us back some form of rational thinking and stop the outrageous, blind, looking for anything challenges.

From CFL.ca

Through nine weeks, CFL games are averaging 2.5 challenges per game. Last season, the league averaged 1.26 challenges per game. Jason Maas and Edmonton have been the most frequent and successful challengers. They have thrown the challenge flag on 14 occasions and have had six overturned rulings. Dave Dickenson and the Calgary Stampeders are the least frequent. They have challenged seven times and have had none overturned.

 

CFL APPROVES RULES CHANGE ON COACHES’ CHALLENGES

An unsuccessful first challenge will now cost a team a time out

Friday, August 26, 2016 — TORONTO (August 26,2016) -- The Canadian Football League has approved a rule change on coaches’ challenges.

Effective immediately, if a team makes their first Coach’s Challenge of the game and does not win that Challenge, the team will now lose a timeout. If the team wins its challenge, it will keep its timeout.

In other words, the first Coach’s Challenge is no longer a “free” one. With this change in place, teams now put a timeout at risk with their first challenge, in the same way they already do for their second challenge of the game. Teams must be in possession of a timeout to make a challenge. Teams are allowed two timeouts per game and can only use one timeout in the last three minutes of the game....

Source: https://press.cfl.ca/cfl-approves-rules-change-on-coaches-challenges

I'm gonna laugh if they were stupid enough to do this IMMEDIATELY as in starting tonight. They've already played a week 9 game under the "old" rules. You can't change it for the other three this week. That's just dumb.

Do you think someone would challenge that? ?

1 minute ago, Mike said:

I'm gonna laugh if they were stupid enough to do this IMMEDIATELY as in starting tonight. They've already played a week 9 game under the "old" rules. You can't change it for the other three this week. That's just dumb.

Meh, I don't think it really matters. One team is also on a bye. Someone was going to play more/less games with the old rule in place.

Just now, Super Duper Negatron said:

Meh, I don't think it really matters. One team is also on a bye. Someone was going to play more/less games with the old rule in place.

I'll risk my timeout on this.

Perhaps they re-structure Willy's deal to include less guaranteed and more incentives.  I think he ends up starting again and if his deal gets him back up to a starters salary when he's starting, so be it.