Randy Ambrosie optimistic about 2021

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Murdoch wrote:
Fri Apr 16, 2021 3:06 am
From John Hodges insider quotes

"Our TV deal is so under market relative to the ratings. Combine that with new gambling initiatives and the league will be more than fine."

Quite the discrepancy between that line of thinking and reports that an XFL merger is close to a done deal (with rules drawn up = see ya Canadian football).

Be nice if there would be some sort of statement from the league about the future of the league - not the dates for a maybe upcoming season, but a declaration of what the CFL is or might have to evolve to. But Ambrosie & co. are total clowns, IMO. Gutless. And speaking of gutless, all it would take is one existing team's leadership to take a stand and make a statement of their own - either we're good with a sell-out or we're not going to stand for it.
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SammyGreene
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I do find it amazing we don't hear a peep about the MLS financial woes amid the pandemic. This is a league that is currently getting $90 million (US) annually in TV revenue which is divided among 27 teams so hardly a significant windfall.
The Whitecaps began the 2020 season in Florida, then played a bunch of games in Canada before being based out of Portland to finish the season. Now they begin 2021 with home games in Salt Lake City. Apparently no problem and no financial hardship.
It should be mentioned they continue to entirely fund their youth academy program for an estimated $1 million per season.
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DanoT
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Any kind of deal with the XFL seems questionable since The Rock and associates paid $15M and all they got was the XFL name and nothing else. There is nothing to merge, just The Rock with big name recognition and a bunch of $$.
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Gridiron Ernie wrote:
Wed Apr 14, 2021 5:42 pm
Hambone wrote:
Wed Apr 14, 2021 11:22 am
On a positive on Saturday the registration window opened for my age group 60-64. I quickly and very easily registered thru the government website. Today I received the text advising I can now book and am scheduled for my 1st shot on April 29th up in FSJohn.
Good for you Hambone. Yes, it seems to be going fairly swimmingly now after earlier hiccups and hitches. I'm in the 65-70 grouping and last week it was quick and painless to register and then the following day set up an appointment time for vaccination just one week away now, here in Vancouver. Big trouble around these parts though with especially the one variant (Brazil) doing its damage. The variants will be muddying the waters for a while yet regards a clear picture on the prospects for a solid season of CFL football. So sign up and get jabbed Leo fans!
I am registered and waiting for the appointment time--I thought it would be faster since I'm in the 55-64 age group that was supposed to get the AstraZeneca shot (that everyone is too afraid of now, due to the terrible way authorities have handled the regulatory aspects of it--and it looks Johnson & Johnson is being bungled in the exact same way). If everyone tries to hold out for Pfizer/Moderna, you can add an extra year to this process.
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Hambone wrote:
Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:29 am
B.C.FAN wrote:
Thu Apr 15, 2021 7:44 pm
I choose not to get worked up over speculation about the CFL/XFL talks. It's filled with conspiracy theories about secret deals to fully merge the two leagues and play a spring season of four-down football on smaller fields with XFL kicking rules and no Canadian ratio, all in the interest of getting bailed out by American investors with no allegiance to Canada or Canadian football. I respect Dave Naylor but people have taken his personal speculation as confirmation of a clandestine deal to sell out Canadian football. Every day the speculation becomes wilder, with no credible evidence cited for it.
As I posted on RF I'm in "wake me up when it's over" mode. No sense getting my shorts in a knot until then because just like the weather a month from now there's not a damned thing I can do about it. When the end result is known I can then determine if it's something I can support or I simply walk away and use that significant disposable income on something else like NHL games, maybe some trips to NFL games or any number of other recreational options.
I'm now in the same mode. The BoG are expected to announce the postponement of the pie in the sky 2021 season on Tuesday. Ontario Health rejected the proposal for return to play, the Feds said no again to a low interest loan, and (as Cromartie said in his epic overview) the XFL-CFL will be the result of having flushed all other wasted opportunities down the toilet.

On paper I've got 5 Lions home games to go to already paid for (I have a 3 + 1 FREE pack I bought in December 2019, and they added on 1 more free game in their last letter). If it ever happens, I'll be very surprised. (Of course most of the blame goes to the Federal Govt mismanagement of the vaccine procurement, and our Third World beggar bowl status in the world supply chain.)
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I'm a bit more empathetic about this season than last.

It's difficult to start a season when the Premier has turned the province that has three of your franchises into a locked down police state. (And I say this as someone who supported and supports logical legal curbs on things such as indoor dining, shopping hours, mask policies and non-essential work from home requirements).
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https://www.cfl.ca/2021/04/21/cfl-annou ... 21-season/
This is unintentionally funny. Doublespeak at it's finest.
Even better is how Caretaker Bob is so excited.


Hey, if it doesn't work out we can always add another Fan base to the Grey Cup instead.
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David
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This is classic Ambrosie. Master of the vague, unclear, nebulous plan. Is he not the most wishy-washy Commissioner we've had? Jeffrey Orridge wasn't intentionally vague, he was just clueless. Ambrosie on the other hand loves to baffle us with bull****. "We're talking about talking" and other such nonsense.


DH :cool:
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B.C.FAN
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The Aug. 5 start date was about what I expected but I'm happy with the plan to play a 14-game season. The league's hands are still tied until the six provinces with CFL franchises approve return-to-play plans but it would have been easy to truncate the original schedule and play 9 or 10 games starting in August. This gives everyone a realistic target date, given the expected trajectory of the pandemic, and it gives fans and players a longer season than they might otherwise have received. A Dec. 12 Grey Cup in Hamilton and divisional playoff games in late November and early December should be much more affected by bad weather than a traditional schedule with a late November Grey Cup on the Prairies.
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More good news for those of us who like to dive headfirst into the season at training camp. Rick LeLacheur expects to hold a full training camp in Kamloops in July. Bring a hat and plenty of sunscreen. The hot sun can be unrelenting on the metal bench seats at Hillside Stadium.

https://www.castanetkamloops.net/editio ... y--48-.htm
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cromartie
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There is no chance, with the way things are in Ontario and Manitoba this happens.

Just go with hubs and a six game tournament like you should have done last year.

JFC this guy just gets worse by the day.

As an aside, if you get the Moderna shot, plan on taking the day after your second shot off because it will knock you out.
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cromartie wrote:
Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:07 pm

As an aside, if you get the Moderna shot, plan on taking the day after your second shot off because it will knock you out.
Depends on the individual. My brother had the Moderna. He reports absolutely no side effects.
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David
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TheLionKing wrote:
Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:07 pm
Depends on the individual. My brother had the Moderna. He reports absolutely no side effects.
I think he's talking about the 2nd shot, not the first. In USA, the two shots are within a much tighter window than ours.

Farhan reporting tonight that the league expects to play to 25% capacity in most markets. Speaking to LeLacheur, he said B.C. will be less. About 17-18% which will mean about 4,000 or 5,000 fans in the lower bowl "which will work for them" (which I assume means they won't need to open the upper bowl, or simply can still operate).


DH :cool:
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Bosco
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That's sad when 5,000 fans in BC Place is very doable.

Sad, but realistic - as I'm sure the season ticket base has dwindled to next to nothing.
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Hambone
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Bosco wrote:
Thu Apr 22, 2021 1:19 pm
That's sad when 5,000 fans in BC Place is very doable.

Sad, but realistic - as I'm sure the season ticket base has dwindled to next to nothing.
I started getting STs again in 2011. I wonder if I make the cut? :wink:
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