JuranBoldenRules

I hope it was Woods. If he's 100% from that foot injury that's great news.

DB could see a surprise cut too, we have a hell of a lot of rookie DB's. 9 rookie imports, plus guys like Markett, Dunn and a whole bunch of new NI's too. Kent and Hefney cut the last two years in training camp...

I think Thomas and Lucas will both play some, Newman and Bucknor are basically competing for a spot on D, most likely playing passing downs, taking out Thomas/Lucas, potentially swapping out an import DB or LB for another pass rusher. Sherman has an outside shot in that competition too, he wasn't bad playing D a bit last year. If we get any kind of LB play from a NI this year that would be a bonus (other than Newman maybe playing some OLB on passing downs).

That's too expensive for a school bus ride IMO. Plus there isn't really a school bus company in Winnipeg that could handle the demand if it keeps up from last year, they'd basically have to contract every private bus in the city, and there aren't a lot of them because every school division has their own giant fleet. If that's something that ends up happening, they are going to have major problems selling tickets long-term. Tack $80 onto the cost of your season ticket essentially if you're planning to use the bus. They'd probably be better off just raising ticket prices to pay for it in terms of optics.

Wouldn't be much of a practice. They'd have no equipment, they'd have to head to Canadian Tire to buy a ball.

9/10. Got number one wrong. Thought they took out cut blocks outside of the box and away from the line of scrimmage for the coming season. There's pretty much one seemingly minor detail in every question you have to pick out, and if you do it is very straightforward.

This could end up being better for the Argos in the long run. Avoid a "mistake by the lake." Wonder if they'll be able to play a few cities/municipalities off each other to get some tax money.

The funniest part of that article is when Bourke says "look at the numbers, they don't lie. It's not like we're asking for a crazy amount." Followed by, I've never actually looked at the numbers. Only 4 members of the PA executive have access to the audited financial statements of the private teams, but still, it's kind of a funny way to put it and then contradict yourself in the next quote. The numbers are almost becoming mythical outside of the negotiating table. But as you said, the more the PA speaks, the more ignorant they sound. Their policy of telling players to take any and every opportunity to speak to media and vent on Twitter is really backfiring, you'd think there'd be enough media consultant's itching for a small consulting fee and the CFLPA on their resume that they could take advantage of for some basic media policy advice. Bourke's played in every CFL city multiple times, spent several days in all of them, and he really wonders how the Alouettes would struggle to "do at least fairly well?" They are the second team in a one team city. They play in one of the oldest standing stadiums in North America, which is also damn near inaccessible by any modern mode of transportation. When they were selling out they were selling an amount of tickets that would have put the Bombers on the brink of folding. They also lack control over a bunch of ancillary revenues. The Rolling Stones aren't playing Percival Molson if they come to Montreal. Since Wetenhall sunk a bunch of money into upgrading the stadium a bit and adding some seats, they haven't been selling out. It's pretty simple math. A team selling 22,000 seats isn't going to post strong revenues in a league where 25,000 is the relative breakeven point.

I was hoping for "Boltus fumbled ginger snaps."

Got a bit of a laugh with them listing Watson at 285, if he's more than 260 he's really packed on the pounds fast. Goodrich is a guy with pro potential for sure. Not sure about his eligibility as a territorial exemption because I believe he spent at least one season with the Bisons, and I think part of last season too before he went back to the Rifles. I've watched Goodrich since he was 14, coached teams that have played against him. He's as dominant as a receiver as there's been in Winnipeg at the high school level in a long time, keeping in mind a guy like Demski who came through as a tailback, but has mostly played receiver for the Bisons and likely will in the CFL too.

The FACTs contradict each other. Business models differ, but new stadiums in Hamilton and Ottawa should equal comparable revenue to the new stadium in Winnipeg. Here's a FACT I'm interested in, does the CFLPA at least consult with an economist? Interesting numbers with the community owned teams in terms % of team revenue would go to player salaries. What's the % for Toronto or Montreal? I suppose they can't release that number because it would break the confidentiality they agreed to with financial statements. It would likely be upwards of 50%.

I'm pro-union, but I don't have a lot of sympathy for the CFLPA given how poorly they are handling negotiations, consistently flip-flopping each time the CBA is reopened on how they wish to be compensated based on how they can get the most money the next season (which is totally fair). What I can't stand is the calling out of the league for being greedy and unwilling to partner with the players, when really history suggests the opposite is at least equally true. In the last CBA, the league gave the players more money than they would have got had compensation linked to revenue continued. The CFLPA knew that stadiums were planned in Winnipeg, Hamilton, BC and most likely Saskatchewan last time around. Rather than take a longview, they took the immediate money and ran, giving up compensation linked to revenue. You change something fundamental like how compensation is determined, you can't expect to change it back to suit you best the next time it comes around. You reap what you sow. Unfortunately I believe most CFL players are in the dark (which is not unusual for any labour negotiation) and their executive/legal counsel is severely lacking in expertise, and they don't have the money to bring in someone who can handle this situation properly. They've likely seen the best offer from the CFL, and if this goes on much longer they'll be taken to the woodshed.

This is reminding me a lot of the breakdown of the NHLPA in 2005. Small group of players, along with the PA executive willing to die on the hill of absolutely no salary cap, even if that extended the lockout into a second season, larger group of players eventually freeze out that faction and take over negotiations. The league side also brought in more moderate negotiators. I don't know how accurate Harris' estimates are, but I think they are favouring the right sides in terms of most players and most owners wanting to compromise. Problem is it gets very personal, basically a clash of personalities among the people from both sides at the table, and you're looking at a group of competitive people on both sides.

The players should vote to strike but show up for camp with the strike looming, basically they can walk out at any point without a current CBA. That to me would be the only leverage they could hold over the league at this point. MLBPA and NHLPA have both used this tactic to varying success. Imagine if the players said two weeks before Labour Day that they won't play starting that week if there is no deal...leverage. Even that might not be enough to move the league, but it's something. I'm not sure their leadership is savvy enough to organize something like that.

The players actually asked to remove the revenue sharing in 2010, it was their idea. At least that's the impression I get from Doug Brown and the CFLPA counsel currently and at that time, Ed Molstad. At that point revenue was stagnant and they wanted more real dollars tacked on to the SMS limit. Penton and Toth were giving Doug Brown a pretty good ribbing about it last night. Goes to show how narrow the view of the CFLPA is, and I guess that makes sense since most of them aren't around more than a few years. I also listened to that conversation last night between Toth, Brown and Penton. That's definitely not the impression I got. My understanding was that the PA allowed the owners to go back to a fixed cap because the league was in hard times and that the league would consider a cap tied to revenue in the future if revenues increased. But the hard cap was requested by the owners. I'm sure if the PA requested the removal of revenue sharing last time and now want it back, that the owners would be making a bigger deal about it, during these negotiations. The switch to a fixed cap was sort of the $3,000 bonus and immediate raise of that negotiation. Have some money now, and you have can probably get some more later, but lets just get it done on the league's part. Like now, the players wanted more money, but the revenue sharing agreement wouldn't give that to them. The PA only deals in the here and now, which is difficult when the league is dealing with sustainability. I don't think any pro league has the same dynamic, ones with collective bargaining anyways.

The players actually asked to remove the revenue sharing in 2010, it was their idea. At least that's the impression I get from Doug Brown and the CFLPA counsel currently and at that time, Ed Molstad. At that point revenue was stagnant and they wanted more real dollars tacked on to the SMS limit. Penton and Toth were giving Doug Brown a pretty good ribbing about it last night. Goes to show how narrow the view of the CFLPA is, and I guess that makes sense since most of them aren't around more than a few years.

The playing field is slated to be 25 feet below grade. Not going to be a lot of wind.

I'm not a fan of the half open, half closed designs. Terrible shadows, no sun on the seating area. Not worth it for the 1-2 games it might rain. Works for British soccer stadiums cause they get rain/cloud cover for 35 games and sun for 4-5 games. But, they had the same pressure we did here with people saying why not a dome? We compromised with the covered seating area, they are calling it "roof ready" just in case someone trips over $250 million to turn it into a dome.

Sadly, the practice roster beer vendors make even less.

Scott Flory, noted lover of the comma, needs a media consultant, to help him craft his message.

Good. I will miss adding to my stack of unused playoff tickets though.

Montreal has to beat out Ottawa and at least tie with the 4th place team in the west to get the last playoff spot. They get 2 extra games against eastern teams instead of western teams. They have a very good defense. All of that gives them a pretty big advantage over Edmonton and Winnipeg IMHO. I don't know if I'd agree with that. I certainly don't know if I'd agree that it would be a big enough difference that a roster player to-be would look at it and say "hey, this team is markedly better than this one" They were the 3rd worst D in the league last year, they need to change their ratio and they lost their middle linebacker. It could definitely go either way. Their D is relying on a lot of relatively old players in key spots too.

Hamilton must really like Aprile, because they have no one else behind Fantuz and Giguere.

The media is a huge part of any labour negotiation, from Superstore cashiers right up to pro athletes. Most unions and large employers have media consultants just for that purpose. It's a matter of whether you want Gary Lawless (or a news reporter in the case of other negotiations) putting out leaks, many times inaccurate or one-sided, or if you want to control the message. On Cohon's part, he's trying to get the message of the money in their pockets to all the players. Having been a part of a bargaining unit and outside that fence as an employee, often employees have no idea what offers are on the table, particularly coming from the employer's side. I'm part of the internet generation, so I have no idea what it was like before so many avenues of instant communication were available, but I imagine it was even more closed. Straight up money is often used to move the bargaining unit off other issues, stuff like benefits and player safety in this case, and strike a quick deal when both sides are bordering on desperation. It's sort of like a car salesman, "come on let's get this deal done, I'll fill the tank!"

It`s weird for Popp to say that cause he`s drafted a pretty significant number of guys who had NFL contracts, along with guys who have NCAA time left. His first two picks in 2010 were signed by the NFL when he picked them.