Lionbackers.com

The CFL has released a full 2021 schedule. If all goes well, the Lions will open the regular season on the road in Calgary on Saturday, June 12, and then play on Friday, June 18 in Edmonton. The home opener will be Saturday, June 26 against Montreal.

The schedule isn't ideal, given the Lions' preference to play at home on Saturdays. Including preseason, the Lions have five home games on Fridays, four on Saturdays and one on Thursday.

Lions schedule:
https://www.bclions.com/schedule/

Full CFL schedule:
https://www.cfl.ca/schedule/

Any idea why we don't play Winnipeg, Hamilton or Toronto twice? Why only once.

MacNews wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 20, 2020 9:49 am

Any idea why we don't play Winnipeg, Hamilton or Toronto twice? Why only once.

According to Arash Madani, the imbalanced schedule is designed to reduce travel. The Lions play Winnipeg three times, once at home and twice on the road. They get two home games against Saskatchewan and Calgary and none against Hamilton, which is typically the worst draw in Vancouver. I'm all in favour of more divisional games against natural rivals. I'm not sure why the Lions have a home-and-home with Montreal early in the season but the two teams have had a rivalry over the years

B.C.FAN wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 20, 2020 10:15 am

MacNews wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 20, 2020 9:49 am

Any idea why we don't play Winnipeg, Hamilton or Toronto twice? Why only once.

According to Arash Madani, the imbalanced schedule is designed to reduce travel. The Lions play Winnipeg three times, once at home and twice on the road. They get two home games against Saskatchewan and Calgary and none against Hamilton, which is typically the worst draw in Vancouver. I'm all in favour of more divisional games against natural rivals. I'm not sure why the Lions have a home-and-home with Montreal early in the season but the two teams have had a rivalry over the years

The 3 western-most West teams BC, Cgy & Edm play West rivals 12 times and East clubs 6. The 2 eastern-most West teams Ssk & Wpg play East clubs 7 times and West rivals 11. In my mind they tried to balance/reduce travel while at the same time deal with 5 teams in one division and 4 in the other. They may well have wanted to revert back to the old scenario where West played 2 East clubs at home and 2 on the road. However with 18 games that would have created a situation where the 4 East clubs would have 5 games vs the West and would have to split the other 13 amongst their 3 rivals. That would mean playing 2 East teams 4 times and the other 5 times. The result is probably a compromise to reduce travel without having 2 East clubs play 5 games against each other.

This schedule is based on one of the following three contingencies happening:

1. The virus is completely under control.
2. We have given up on trying to control the virus.
3. The CFL will play without fans.

I hope they are counting on #3 because the chance of #1 or #2 happening is almost nil. Otherwise, this seems kind of pointless.

I will start looking in great anticipation at this schedule around early May (when training camps have to get underway). By then we should know if this has a chance of being real or just another mirage like the Winnipeg bubble. CFLPA (from what Sol-E said) wants a commitment that they will play whether there are fans/stands or not.

Lions HC Rick Campbell is on TSN 1040 with Donnie & the Moj right now and he mentioned how certain everyone felt they were going to Winnipeg with the huge amount of preparation that was devoted to it.

maxlion wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 20, 2020 12:21 pm

This schedule is based on one of the following three contingencies happening:

1. The virus is completely under control.
2. We have given up on trying to control the virus.
3. The CFL will play without fans.

I hope they are counting on #3 because the chance of #1 or #2 happening is almost nil. Otherwise, this seems kind of pointless.

I don't disagree with you on #1 being in question. I do disagree about #2. Unlike Trump Canada won't give up. Whether that determination pushes them towards #1 becoming reality won't be known for months. I do disagree on #3 though. If they try to go down the path of #3 I think it would them down into a hole they have no chance of digging out of. I think it would bankrupt the community owned clubs who may have already exhausted all or most of their stabilization "rainy day" funds.

Hambone wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 20, 2020 2:39 pm

I do disagree about #2. Unlike Trump Canada won't give up.

I said the chance of us giving up is almost nil, so I think that means we agree.

The CFL's best home is that the vaccine is widely distributed by mid June or July so they can get fans in the stands, otherwise......

DanoT wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 21, 2020 3:54 pm

The CFL's best home is that the vaccine is widely distributed by mid June or July so they can get fans in the stands, otherwise......

The U.S. and Japan have pledged to vaccinate everyone who wants it by May or June. Canada plans to start vaccinating vulnerable people early in the new year and finish everyone else by late fall. I hope we have enough vaccine to speed up that timeline.

Im guessing that the season will start a month later to get more people vaccinated. Which is supposed to kick into high geasr in th3 next month zs millions of doses are expected to come soon as per signed contracts that Canada made with vaccine suppliers.

The vaccines are looking to be on schedule withnvaccinations having restarted in BC last week and supplies of vaccines have ramped up following some nationalism from EU and USA. I don't mind the ?USA not releasing moderne vaccines to export as their situation is much worse than ours. If a third vaccine is approved we might see most canadians protected by late June. That might work for a football season with spectators. Hold tight its happening we are at the beginning of the end of this nightmare.

In addition to an improving vaccine timeline, there's new medical research in the U.S. that purports to show that NFL and NCAA football games that allowed limited attendance with social distancing did not lead to increases in local COVID cases.

The Effect of NFL and NCAA Football Games on the Spread of COVID-19 in the United States: An Empirical Analysis

Randy ambrosie was bragging this week about the amount of planning that has been happening ascvthe most in 50 years bragged about laying off staff and directing clubscto also cut staff can anyone recall if he has taken ac pay cut? I take anything he sayscwith a vgrain of salt hescwhistlingbin the dark. He hasnt borovided leadership and the vultures are circling overhead and if we lose this season he knows hes done foir sure but I think hes already done. I wonder ifv there are any leadership quality candidates out there. Hmm. Not another former player unlkessbthey comevwith a lot of big business experience.

I believe Ambrosie and most league and team staff took a pay cut of at least 20%. I love some of things Ambrosie has done to transform the league and expand its vision. I just wish he were more transparent in telling fans exactly what has been done and what is planned. He and others have all said the league hopes to play a full 18-game schedule this year but he hasn't laid out all the contingencies that have been considered for delaying the season, operating with limited or no fan attendance, etc. He said this week that he believes the CFL has done more work on its business model than the league has done in 50 years, but hasn't explained exactly what changes have been made other than to cut costs. Is there a new ownership structure, funding source or revenue sharing agreement? When fans, sponsors, media a and other stakeholders are left in the dark, people often assume the worst.