2020 Thread

[17to85]

I am not surprised given what's gone on this summer, but it sucks. Football season is one of the best times of the year and not having it just leaves the summer feeling incomplete. 

[Captain Blue]

This really sucks, but I think it was the right call. As much as a short season would have been fun, I really just want the league to be okay in the future. They absolutely, positively need to figure out a way to make the 2021 season work - and there's a decent chance they'll still have to pull that off with no or limited fan attendance. 

Everyone seems ready to blame the government but I can't really get on board with that.  It sounds like there were avenues laid out for them to obtain reasonable loans, but the CFL didn't want to pursue them.  I am not nearly as anti-Ambrosie as many here are, but have to admit he really misplayed his hand. He has struggled to come up with concrete plans through the whole process. In fact, his "plan" just seemed to be to wait things out and hope for a miracle. Perhaps though this isn't all on him either, as it sounds like the private owners were really driving the bus on this one.

[JCon]

Beyond the long term impact that this will have on the league, I feel particularly bad for the Bombers. There was so much positive energy and relief last year, they should have expected a real surge at the gate this year. This could have propelled them for the next few years. Now, that momentum will stall. 

 

So, for 2021, will we see league wide resurgence because people realize how much they miss it or will the league suffer even more as fewer and fewer people come back? 

[Noeller]

 

https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/despite-a-lost-season-a-triumphant-return-awaits-the-cfl~2015704/despite-a-lost-season-a-triumphant-return-awaits-the-cfl~2015704

 

Do yourselves a favour and watch this.....it's both hopeful and heartbreaking.....

[wbbfan]

So this means all players will be free agents at the end of the 2020 year right? 

 Man next off season will be a mess. Every one will want a raise going to be hard to bring back a bunch of Americans. Wonder if the cap will have to go up. 

[Brandon]

I would *hope* that the contracts would of been carried over a year or at least the team retains the rights of the players who were still on contract.  

Either way it sucks that our fully loaded team won't get a chance to repeat =\  

[Stickem]

47 Million for a middle eastern country Yemen, recently and nada for a football institution in this country....Guess it doesn't take much to figure out the priorities of this federal govt. and I know where my priorities will be, come election time

[JCon]

3 minutes ago, Stickem said:

47 Million for a middle eastern country Yemen, recently and nada for a football institution in this country....Guess it doesn't take much to figure out the priorities of this federal govt. and I know where my priorities will be, come election time

Humanitarian relief. Let's not pretend the gov't was paying for football in the Middle East. People are starving to death. 

 

Gov't provided them a loan offer, similar to those being offered to other companies. 

[Stickem]

1 minute ago, JCon said:

Humanitarian relief. Let's not pretend the gov't was paying for football in the Middle East. People are starving to death. 

 

Gov't provided them a loan offer, similar to those being offered to other companies. 

To other companies....what like We....This govt. is a sham

[JCon]

Just now, Stickem said:

To other companies....what like We....This govt. is a sham

The Gov't made them a loan offer, the same as other companies. 

 

[TBURGESS]

I'm so tired of these apples vs kumquats comparisons. Losing the season sucks, but it's the right decision that should have been made weeks ago.

[Stickem]

4 minutes ago, JCon said:

The Gov't made them a loan offer, the same as other companies. 

 

The final decision was most likely made by a finance minister ...who has one foot out the door of this present govt. and the other on a banana peel...Doesn't bode well for a positive decision for the CFL....But like another poster said maybe in the final analysis this season was a shot in the dark in any event...Still hurts that we don't have backing from our fed. govt.....Other institutions seem to have an inside track as far as support......us...not so much

[JCon]

1 minute ago, Stickem said:

The final decision was most likely made by a finance minister ...who has one foot out the door of this present govt. and the other on a banana peel...Doesn't bode well for a positive decision for the CFL....But like another poster said maybe in the final analysis this season was a shot in the dark in any event...Still hurts that we don't have backing from our fed. govt.....Other institutions seem to have an inside track as far as support......us...not so much

The gov't said that they are working with the CFL for the 2021 season. I am hopeful this is genuine. 

I still think the CFL got the same deal as others. 

 

Let's discuss over a beer at the 2021 season opener! 

 

Is it June yet?

[wbbfan]

25 minutes ago, Brandon said:

I would *hope* that the contracts would of been carried over a year or at least the team retains the rights of the players who were still on contract.  

Either way it sucks that our fully loaded team won't get a chance to repeat =\  

I read that in the cba that if a full season is missed all contracts are voided. 

[17to85]

33 minutes ago, Stickem said:

47 Million for a middle eastern country Yemen, recently and nada for a football institution in this country....Guess it doesn't take much to figure out the priorities of this federal govt. and I know where my priorities will be, come election time

sadly all the options are a bag of ****. I couldn't see any of the parties going in on this if the Liberals wouldn't. They were the best chance but they didn't even want to get involved. 

[Bubba Zanetti]

13 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I read that in the cba that if a full season is missed all contracts are voided. 

Sweet, maybe all the players will go into a big snake draft. Itll be like Madden! We'll have 9th overall pick though  Probably end up picking Nichols in the 1st round lol.

[Mr Dee]

At least we can turn our attention to our fine former players who signed in the NFL:
Marcus Sayles - Minnesota Vikings
Chris Streveler - Arizona Cardinals
Jonathan Kongbo - San Francisco 49ers
Winston rose - Cincinnati Bengals
We now have 4 teams we can follow with games featuring Streveler being the most anticipated...

[17to85]

Just now, Mr Dee said:

At least we can turn our attention to our fine former players who signed in the NFL:
Marcus Sayles - Minnesota Vikings
Chris Streveler - Arizona Cardinals
Jonathan Kongbo - San Francisco 49ers
Winston rose - Cincinnati Bengals
We now have 4 teams we can follow with games featuring Streveler being the most anticipated...

and some of them may be back to start the next season if things don't go as planned for them in the NFL.

[Bomber_fanaddict]

Is it time to start a 2020 offeaseon thread?

[DR. CFL]

I guess the big question to be answered is the state of player contracts, the CBA and free agency.?

 

[Starman115]

Well, there's no choice but to accept this. It's deeply disappointing for many reasons. Aside from the players, coaches, and us fans, there are so many others across the country who will be profoundly impacted by not having even a shortened season. For me, this pill would be easier to swallow if the season had been cancelled strictly for health and safety concerns. But apparently, the hub city/bubble concept was deemed a safe enough measure for all, and in the end it came down to financing.

From a more selfish perspective, I honestly believed that Winnipeg had an excellent chance to repeat with a strong team despite some departures to the NFL. Who knows how things will look in 2021? Not only in terms of rosters, but also regarding the ongoing uncertainties of COVID-19 and how it will affect spectator sports moving forward.

[SpeedFlex27]

18 hours ago, JCon said:

Ambrosie should be gone by the end of the week. He has bungled this badly from the beginning. 

- Went to Gov't without a plan. 

- Went to Gov't without communicating with the PA. 

- Has kept everyone in the dark throughout this.

- Ignored the fans. 

 

Put on your hard hat & watch out for objects flying at your head from the apologists. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

1 hour ago, JCon said:

The Gov't made them a loan offer, the same as other companies. 

 

Government sounded more like loan sharks. 

[JCon]

Just now, SpeedFlex27 said:

Wait, another Ambrosie critic here? Put on your hard hat & watch out for objects flying at your head from the apologists. 

I've been critical of Ambrosie the whole time; however, when things start flying, I duck and let them hit you. 

 

I don't really care for him and perhaps that clouds my perspective but, in this case, I would be critical of anyone who went in front of gov't without a plan. I have been on the other side, receiving pitches for all sorts of funding proposals. Meetings are very short when you don't have a plan. And, trying to get another face-to-face meeting would be very hard. I suspect the Feds gave them lots of opportunities but they needed to take the same proposal that was being floated to everyone else. 

[JCon]

2 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Government sounded more like loan sharks. 

$60M, repayable over 4 years with increasing interest rates, up to 7%. 

 

The Feds don't loan out their own money. They take on debt and have to pay it back. The terms are probably similar to what they were getting on the market.