Randy Ambrosie optimistic about 2021

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Murdoch
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CFL should concern themselves with getting the players and field personnel cleared to play and play without worrying about making money on every game. Over time it all works out given prudent management. Do what they can do for the fans. It's not like ticket pricing is going down.

Either they are in the game or they are not. Big picture is the television and radio rights deal with TSN is far below market value. NFL is talking about doubling the $7 billion in revenue while the CFL sells out to their true parent company Bell Media and TSN.

What happens if everyone is vaccinated and attendance is still down as it very well might be?
Murdoch
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Ambrosie needs to encourage a vaccination priority policy for CFL fans. Show a season ticket stub and get in line.

Ontario now aiming for "every one over 60" starting Mar 15 with plenty of shots to go around.
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David
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It's February 25, certainly no reason to push the panic button (yet). But we're being fed seemingly empty and optimistic promises by Trudeau and Ambrosie on vaccine distribution and the possibility of a 2021 season respectively, yet every morning I wake up and very little seems to be changing.

According to the CBC's John Paul Tasker we are falling well behind other G7 nations in vaccine distro. The USA has vaccinated 5x more citizens per capita than Canada, while in the UK it's 6.5x more people than Canada. A hell of a lot has to change by May/June, just over 3 months away.


DH :cool:
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maxlion
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This is the problem when you rely solely on the vaccine to address the health crisis, but you have to depend on others to provide the vaccine for you. Some jurisdictions have had full crowds at sporting events SAFELY well before any vaccine was approved. We chose the lazy way. Borrow money to keep the economy afloat, buy vaccines from other countries.

Anyways, still lots of uncertainty with regards to vaccine supply and effectiveness, but so far the signs look positive. From a health standpoint, it seems not entirely out of the question that we could have fans in stands later in the fall.

However, how many people will show up is not certain. Minimal crowds and increased costs for testing, etc, is going to cause serious financial issues for teams moving forward. The league is on very shaky ground right now even if they can play a portion of the season this year.
Last edited by maxlion on Thu Feb 25, 2021 10:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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B.C.FAN
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The CFL and CFLPA plan to submit their return-to-play plan for government approval by the end of this week. Here's a pretty good assessment by The Canadian Press of the league's chances of getting the season started.

CFL will have to appease more levels of government to get 2021 protocols approved
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Hambone
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David wrote:
Thu Feb 25, 2021 10:09 am
It's February 25, certainly no reason to push the panic button (yet). But we're being fed seemingly empty and optimistic promises by Trudeau and Ambrosie on vaccine distribution and the possibility of a 2021 season respectively, yet every morning I wake up and very little seems to be changing.

According to the CBC's John Paul Tasker we are falling well behind other G7 nations in vaccine distro. The USA has vaccinated 5x more citizens per capita than Canada, while in the UK it's 6.5x more people than Canada. A hell of a lot has to change by May/June, just over 3 months away.


DH :cool:
I wonder where the UK would be if they had to work with the same logistics Canada has to deal with? UK has nearly double the population of Canada in an area about double the combined size of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
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maxlion
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Hambone wrote:
Thu Feb 25, 2021 1:46 pm
I wonder where the UK would be if they had to work with the same logistics Canada has to deal with? UK has nearly double the population of Canada in an area about double the combined size of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
I don't think that this is a major factor given modern transportation and distribution systems.

Both UK and US produce their own vaccines. That's the big reason why they are ahead. China could have vaccinated their population months ago but instead chose to control transmission. Now they are supplying half the world with vaccines. Different approaches in different countries.
Murdoch
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Thinking about the XFL and how many viewers would be watching if there were a game today. Only thing better would be if there were two.
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Hambone
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Murdoch wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 7:27 am
Thinking about the XFL and how many viewers would be watching if there were a game today. Only thing better would be if there were two.
I guess I'm a traditionalist because I believe sports are seasonal and should stay that way. I find it hard to be interested in a sport played outside it's normal calendar season. As long at there was hockey, spring training baseball or NASCAR available to watch I'd watch that before any XFL or prior to that AAF or XFL 1.0. When I did tune into XFL last year it was mostly out of curiosity to see how many fans were dressed up as empty seats. Once I figured that out I moved on to watch something else. The football itself was of little interest because March is not football season to me. Similarly I found myself struggling to follow NHL action last August and I'm every bit as much a fan of the NHL as the CFL. The Canucks making a bit of a run kept me engaged but had they been bounced out at the start or, like my favourite team Detroit, not even have made the 24 teams that were involved I would have been tuned out to it all.
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Murdoch
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Hambone wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 1:43 pm
I guess I'm a traditionalist because I believe sports are seasonal and should stay that way. I find it hard to be interested in a sport played outside it's normal calendar season. As long at there was hockey, spring training baseball or NASCAR available to watch I'd watch that before any XFL or prior to that AAF or XFL 1.0. When I did tune into XFL last year it was mostly out of curiosity to see how many fans were dressed up as empty seats. Once I figured that out I moved on to watch something else. The football itself was of little interest because March is not football season to me. Similarly I found myself struggling to follow NHL action last August and I'm every bit as much a fan of the NHL as the CFL. The Canucks making a bit of a run kept me engaged but had they been bounced out at the start or, like my favourite team Detroit, not even have made the 24 teams that were involved I would have been tuned out to it all.
Guessing you were a fan of the Gil Thorp comic strip back in the day. They did a good job following the different seasons. I had a friend who was pasting the daily strips into a scrap book for a while.

Can't say as I have even heard a name for the former XFL to date or any update for that matter. Plenty of former XFL players signing in the CFL though. I think the league will find a niche provided they don't get carried away with trying to be something they are not. I wish them well. Would love to see it go 3 downs.
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Hambone
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Murdoch wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 8:05 am
Guessing you were a fan of the Gil Thorp comic strip back in the day. They did a good job following the different seasons. I had a friend who was pasting the daily strips into a scrap book for a while.

Can't say as I have even heard a name for the former XFL to date or any update for that matter. Plenty of former XFL players signing in the CFL though. I think the league will find a niche provided they don't get carried away with trying to be something they are not. I wish them well. Would love to see it go 3 downs.
I can honestly say I never heard of a Gil Thorp comic strip. I just Googled it and nope it still doesn't ring any bells. No idea where its circulation was but I definitely don't recall it gracing the pages of The Vancouver Sun or The Province.

I believe XFL 3.0 will try to get off the ground in 2022.
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Hambone
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Can't help but feel positive about today's vaccine plan news from Dr. Bonnie. I also think that as much as the feds have been criticized for not committing to as many vaccines from the first provider that was approved the tact of committing to multple providers may prove itself over the long haul. AstraZeneca and J&J once it gets approved are far more suitable for distribution across the vast expanses of rural and remote communities that make up Canada.
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Hambone wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 4:29 pm
Can't help but feel positive about today's vaccine plan news from Dr. Bonnie.
It is interesting that she cites evidence from Canada, UK and Israel to support the idea that a single dose can provide protection for 4 months... even though none of these jurisdictions have had vaccination programs in place for even 3 months.

As Canada's Canada's chief science adviser says, "it amounts right now to a basically population level experiment".

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/nemer- ... -1.5932714

Oh well. All we can do is hope.
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Hambone wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 1:43 pm
Murdoch wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 7:27 am
Thinking about the XFL and how many viewers would be watching if there were a game today. Only thing better would be if there were two.
...March is not football season to me.
bite your tongue. Every day is football season. Wasn't a day of the year that I didn't want to play football when I was younger.

Isnt a day goes by that I don't want to watch it. CFL, NFL, XFL, AFL(Aussie), you name it.
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Murdoch
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Hambone wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:14 am
I can honestly say I never heard of a Gil Thorp comic strip. I just Googled it and nope it still doesn't ring any bells. No idea where its circulation was but I definitely don't recall it gracing the pages of The Vancouver Sun or The Province.

I believe XFL 3.0 will try to get off the ground in 2022.
I wondered if it ran in Vancouver papers after I posted.

Gil Thorp was a long time staple of the Winnipeg Free Press comic section alongside Peanuts, Archie, Dennis the Menace, and the rest of them. I should be able to name them all but it might take a while.

Gil Thorp was a high school athletic director from the fictional town of Milford. Full of all the related drama that could be packed into a comic strip. Guaranteed read for a 12 year old sports fan. First aired in 1958.
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