2019 CFL Season: Around the League

[JCon]

1 minute ago, M.O.A.B. said:

After losing Reaves to injury last week, Riders now lost Chris Judge (their "steal" of the draft). 

Seriously? That's unfortunate for them. What's the injury? I think they expected a lot from him this season. 

[bigg jay]

1 minute ago, JCon said:

Seriously? That's unfortunate for them. What's the injury? I think they expected a lot from him this season. 

 

[Noeller]

14 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Neufeld I don't see him needing a lot of guard reps. But he's a guy who has had some injury issues in the past. As is he's the weak link in our projected starting group imo. 

Neufeld is not the weak link in an OL with 2 projected "new" starters......

[Bigblue204]

18 minutes ago, JCon said:

Seriously? That's unfortunate for them. What's the injury? I think they expected a lot from him this season. 

You're thinking of the wrong Judge. The one hurt is his brother, who was selected in the final round of this years draft. Likely wasn't making the team. This injury probably seals that.

[JCon]

Just now, Bigblue204 said:

You're thinking of the wrong Judge. The one hurt is his brother, who was selected in the final round of this years draft. Likely wasn't making the team. This injury probably seals that.

Ah, thanks! 

[wbbfan]

5 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Neufeld is not the weak link in an OL with 2 projected "new" starters......

New starters doesnt mean inferior. How many new starters at wr this year would be better then starters that had been around the team last year with more experience?

[Tracker]

23 minutes ago, M.O.A.B. said:

After losing Reaves to injury last week, Riders now lost Chris Judge (their "steal" of the draft). 

Well, there go da Judge.

[Brandon]

Didn't Montreal have a terrible promotion where people can come to the game free starting in the 3rd quarter?   

I'm surprised that more teams in the East have not followed Ottawa's blue print....   make the atmosphere fun and exciting where young people including non football fans come out ...

[Jpan85]

Hamilton also.

[Brandon]

I'm assuming the issue is that Montreal has so many options for entertainment that it's hard to pull people away...  it's either this or everyone in Montreal is bandwagon fans who jumped off because the team is struggling? 

Either way very concerning that they loss that much money. 

[Jpan85]

In those big centre's I think its time to start marketing them not like the other big major leagues. Have to price and market more like a minor league team (this is no dig at CFL). Tickets need to be cheaper between 15-50 bucks to get you in the door and concession prices need to be low. Need to have some sort of pull to bring people into the stadium other than the game. Once you get people in the building I think the game entertainment value is top notch and will bring people back again.

[blueandgoldguy]

1 hour ago, Jpan85 said:

In those big centre's I think its time to start marketing them not like the other big major leagues. Have to price and market more like a minor league team (this is no dig at CFL). Tickets need to be cheaper between 15-50 bucks to get you in the door and concession prices need to be low. Need to have some sort of pull to bring people into the stadium other than the game. Once you get people in the building I think the game entertainment value is top notch and will bring people back again.

Ticket prices were decreased last year and this year.  Given the limited revenue sources in such an antiquated stadium (even with the improvements and expansion in 2010) it isn't surprising they have been losing so much money the past 3 years...although a not insignificant amount of those losses was Wettenhall having family members on the payroll doing nothing.  Still, even without that, the losses have to be huge.  Last year's average crowds was 17,000 but in reality were probably around 13,000.  This year the announced average is likely to be around that number with actual butts in the seats at less then 10,000.  Combined with dropping sponsorship revenue, and the losses will probably be similar this year.

The Wettenhalls are owners in name only.  The league has basically taken over which means the other 8 markets will pick up the losses...at least one million per team and probably closer to $1.5 million each.  I wouldn't be surprised if any deal with a prospective new owner will be contingent on the CFL picking up a portion of the losses for at least one additional year and maybe more until they can right the ship financially.  Tough times ahead for the league...

[rebusrankin]

Can you not apply the Ottawa/Hamilton model to Toronto and Montreal or am I missing something?

[Mr Dee]

Ed Hervey - 

Following Sunday’s 22-7 pre-season loss to his former team, the B.C. Lions GM was approached by Eskimos receiver Kenny Stafford, whom Hervey originally brought to Edmonton in a trade back in 2015.

Stafford flashed a big smile and extended a hand of gratitude in the true spirit of Once an Eskimo, Always an Eskimo.

Instead of warmth, however, Hervey pulled back, put both hands in front of his own face, turned his head away as if unwelcomely crossing paths with an ex and walked away without uttering a word.

https://edmontonsun.com/sports/football/cfl/edmonton-eskimos/the-ex-eskimo-way-former-gm-ed-hervey-turns-handshake-into-cold-shoulder#click=https://t.co/wbbvprnuVb 

Can you imagine?

Thank goodness we don’t have that Hervey putz.

[Bubba Zanetti]

Hervey is an idiot.

[do or die]

We will see how many people around the league want to deal with Hervey, as time goes by.....

[Brandon]

15 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

Can you not apply the Ottawa/Hamilton model to Toronto and Montreal or am I missing something?

I guess we would need Bluto's insight on the reasons.    Going to games both in Ottawa and Hamilton,  where the stadiums are located and how the gameday feels it's more of a small town community kind of aura.  

I'd imagine in Toronto if they played in the 'burbs and had more of a college gameday with tailgates maybe they'd have more success attracting people not wanting to deal with the hassle of going into the heart of the city where it's hectic.

Montreal has so many places for young people to go for entertainment,   they'd really need to follow the Ottawa model and try to get the young people wanting to spend their money to get drunk at the football game rather then elsewhere.

[Goalie]

A big issue in Montreal is the roads going to the stadium are literally non existent.. Like they are eroded badly. I was talking to some Als fans a while back and they told me getting to the stadium is a problem.. Plus Montreal generally supports just the habs unless the other teams are winning (Als, Expos when they were there)

The reality with Toronto Montreal even Vancouver, they are shitty sports towns... They only draw if they are winning. Leafs Habs and to a lesser extent Canucks being the only exceptions. All other local teams draw nothing unless they win. 

Edited May 29, 2019 by Goalie

[Geebrr]

1 hour ago, Mr Dee said:

Ed Hervey - 

Following Sunday’s 22-7 pre-season loss to his former team, the B.C. Lions GM was approached by Eskimos receiver Kenny Stafford, whom Hervey originally brought to Edmonton in a trade back in 2015.

Stafford flashed a big smile and extended a hand of gratitude in the true spirit of Once an Eskimo, Always an Eskimo.

Instead of warmth, however, Hervey pulled back, put both hands in front of his own face, turned his head away as if unwelcomely crossing paths with an ex and walked away without uttering a word.

https://edmontonsun.com/sports/football/cfl/edmonton-eskimos/the-ex-eskimo-way-former-gm-ed-hervey-turns-handshake-into-cold-shoulder#click=https://t.co/wbbvprnuVb 

Can you imagine?

Thank goodness we don’t have that Hervey putz.

Farhan Lalji has always been shill for the Lions (Pedersen light) but he will be even more careful about what he says about the Lions now with Hervey there. Hervery had a very contentious relationship with the Edmonton media and kept them at arm's length from the team. 

You could already see it in the way Lalji reported on the release of Elimimian.Wanted to make it clear he was in no way criticizing the release.

Pretty funny.

[Mr Dee]

Also, as Dave Naylor explains it...

There is a the provision allowing teams to replace any Canadian starter who suffers an in-game injury with a veteran American, defined in the new agreement as a player with at least four years in the CFL or three with his current team.

Any rule tied to a player being injured is potentially problematic. But when that rule opens the door for a team to help itself through an injury, well, everyone knows what happens when you give coaches a way to gain an advantage. They’re going to use it.

It’s not hard to see how any head coach might use this as a way to improve his team by having a weaker Canadian starter go down with an injury early in a game so he can be replaced by a veteran American.

Here’s an extreme example to illustrate the point: Hamilton cornerback Delvin Breaux starts every game for the Tiger-Cats and is considered among the league’s very best defensive players. He has three years in the CFL, all with the Tiger-Cats.

Let’s say that instead of starting Breaux at cornerback, the Tiger-Cats list him as a backup and start a Canadian at corner, maybe even someone who has never played the position in his life.

On the first play of the game, that Canadian player goes down with an ankle injury and is replaced by Breaux, an NFL-level talent who instantly makes the Tiger-Cats a better team and requires Hamilton to play only six Canadians for the rest of the game.

For more see...

https://www.tsn.ca/two-provisions-in-the-cfl-s-new-cba-deserve-a-closer-look-1.1313456?tsn-amp&__twitter_impression=true

 

 

 

 

[Atomic]

Hervey is such a joke, hope the Lions tank this year

[Mr Dee]

 

[Zontar]

On 2019-05-28 at 4:21 PM, Brandon said:

Didn't Montreal have a terrible promotion where people can come to the game free starting in the 3rd quarter?   

I'm surprised that more teams in the East have not followed Ottawa's blue print....   make the atmosphere fun and exciting where young people including non football fans come out ...

Hamilton is a youngish crowd. Montreal is a very noticeably young crowd. Cheapest beers in the East last year. When Als stop sucking attendance will improve. 

[Tracker]

2 hours ago, Zontar said:

Hamilton is a youngish crowd. Montreal is a very noticeably young crowd. Cheapest beers in the East last year. When Als stop sucking attendance will improve. 

I would wager that it wasn't just the product on the field- I think it was also about the inept management making obviously dumb moves that would cripple the team for time to come. The current GM needs to be canned posthaste.

[Geebrr]

22 hours ago, Goalie said:

A big issue in Montreal is the roads going to the stadium are literally non existent.. Like they are eroded badly. I was talking to some Als fans a while back and they told me getting to the stadium is a problem.. Plus Montreal generally supports just the habs unless the other teams are winning (Als, Expos when they were there)

The reality with Toronto Montreal even Vancouver, they are shitty sports towns... They only draw if they are winning. Leafs Habs and to a lesser extent Canucks being the only exceptions. All other local teams draw nothing unless they win. 

Toronto is hardly a shitty sports town.

Football is really the only sport not making bank.