2020 Thread

[Bigblue204]

Bobs take is a little off. An interest fee loan shouldn't exist for any business. It sucks, but I wouldn't have agreed with a decision like that. And Miller is trying to save face and claim the government dragged them along...? Your commish went to them with a Taman like plan (napkins). There's plenty of blame to go around, I'd like to see some of the high ranking members of this league take some of it on to their own shoulders. Stop pointing fingers and get the **** to work.

[Mr Dee]

I’ll tell you what. I’ll take Bob Irving’s take and Wade Miller's take over some random statements made from hither and either. 
This is not an interest free loan in normal times. It probably would have been a low interest loan anyways. 
And if the league had approached it in the wrong way, why didn’t somebody from the Gov. guide them in a better fashion, and with a greater urgency. It’s not that it was a surprise that the league wanted to start as soon as possible.

Of course mistakes were made, by both sides. This has never happened before. 

And the aim is to point blame at one side or the other? Seems fruitless.

2021 season can’t come soon enough.
 

[JCon]

So, when will the CFL allow it's players under contract attend NFL camps? They should be released right away to do so. 

[Noeller]

Seeing a lot of stuff online about how 2021 might not even be viable because large group gatherings won't be allowed by next summer. I really hope they find a way to make that happen. I don't know about an indoor venue like BC Place, but you'd think outdoor venues (most stadiums) plus masks for everyone, should be okay.....but I guess we'll see. And who knows when the vaccine will be ready...that might help, too.

[bryan35]

Toronto and some other privately owned teams didn't want to play this year. Wonder how hard the CFL tried to get a season played?

[Noeller]

3 minutes ago, bryan35 said:

Toronto and some other privately owned teams didn't want to play this year. Wonder how hard the CFL tried to get a season played?

has been refuted by several people, including Rick LaLacheur and Wade Miller, who said the entire league was on board. Lalacheur actually blamed Sportsnet (Madani) for having bad information.

[Mr Dee]

Madani has been a real asp over these talks and non-talks, blaming almost anyone associated with the league. I can take one or two tweets, but he goes on and on about what he knows....which is nothing.

[Brandon]

1 minute ago, Mr Dee said:

Madani has been a real asp over these talks and non-talks, blaming almost anyone associated with the league. I can take one or two tweets, but he goes on and on about what he knows....which is nothing.

As said before... I trust Irving and Miller over a guy like Madani who is desperately trying to have anything stick to the wall. 

[DR. CFL]

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

As said before... I trust Irving and Miller over a guy like Madani who is desperately trying to have anything stick to the wall. 

Honestly..does it really matter? You would certainly expect the portrayal of a united front, all parties in agreement and working together at this point. What is more important is that that is in fact the case and the process of moving forward towards 2021 begins now. Let’s all turn the page....history is just that.

[BomberBall]

17 minutes ago, DR. CFL said:

Honestly..does it really matter? You would certainly expect the portrayal of a united front, all parties in agreement and working together at this point. What is more important is that that is in fact the case and the process of moving forward towards 2021 begins now. Let’s all turn the page....history is just that.

Does it matter as to where the league and fans find ourselves now?  Absolutely not.  But, does it matter for who we trust to get our information from?  Absolutely.

Completely agree with the part in bold.

 

[blue_gold_84]

5 hours ago, Mr Dee said:

I’ll tell you what. I’ll take Bob Irving’s take and Wade Miller's take over some random statements made from hither and either. 
This is not an interest free loan in normal times. It probably would have been a low interest loan anyways. 
And if the league had approached it in the wrong way, why didn’t somebody from the Gov. guide them in a better fashion, and with a greater urgency. It’s not that it was a surprise that the league wanted to start as soon as possible.

Of course mistakes were made, by both sides. This has never happened before. 

And the aim is to point blame at one side or the other? Seems fruitless.

2021 season can’t come soon enough.

Why should it be a government's responsibility to hold the hand of a business when it's requesting public funds for financial assistance?

Ambrosie strolled into Ottawa back in April, more than a month after this pandemic established a foothold in Canada, with what looked like nothing more than some bungled request for $150M and no plan in place as to how to allocate those funds to facilitate its 2020 season. That ham-fisted approach proved to be a costly mistake and reflected poorly on the league and the commissioner, immediately putting them at a disadvantage for future discussion. You wouldn't roll up to a lender, ask for a Brinks truck worth of money, and then not be expected to explain what it's for or how it's going to be spent. And FWIW, I don't imagine the federal officials with whom he met just laughed at him and not tell him what was required for further discussions to move in the right direction. It's been nearly four months since that fateful meeting and what tangible progress have we seen? It shouldn't have taken this long to sort out the situation and we all waited and waited for something concrete but it never happened. It seems like there's been more finger-pointing, obfuscation, and doublespeak than anything else until yesterday's unfortunate and disappointing announcement. Which is to say nothing of the seemingly widening rift between the league, the owners, and the players. The CFL needs to do away with its lack of transparency with regard to its financial landscape, and I think that would benefit it significantly during normal times but especially at a time like this.

Let me be clear here: I won't make any excuses for the missteps and errors made by the feds in recent years (there are too many to count) but I don't think any gov't official should be blamed for a private organization being unable to formulate a plan to save its business operations during a worldwide health crisis. That part is on the league for not having done its due diligence and making sure its t's were crossed and i's were dotted when requesting financial assistance to keep its 2020 aspirations alive.

All levels of government have enough on their plates at an unprecedented time like this. Expecting them to guide an established organization like the CFL through the process of requesting financial aid doesn't seem reasonable at all. A professional sports league should have the right people in place to navigate the best interests of its business, including the highest office of said league and its major stakeholders.

Edited August 18, 2020 by blue_gold_84

[Mr Dee]

 

 

[JCon]

7 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

 

 

 

[JCon]

 

[Brandon]

I guess we can't fully make a judgement without knowing all of the facts.    

I won't fully blame Ambrosie because I don't know if he's a puppet or decisions were made by him.  We also don't know how prepared or how ill prepared the league was.  

At this point though we really will see what Ambrosie is made of for the return of the CFL.   He'll have plenty of time to get things in order for the next season... I think how the league returns will determine Ambrosie's legacy.  

[Dr Zaius]

5 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

Bobs take is a little off. An interest fee loan shouldn't exist for any business. It sucks, but I wouldn't have agreed with a decision like that. And Miller is trying to save face and claim the government dragged them along...? Your commish went to them with a Taman like plan (napkins). There's plenty of blame to go around, I'd like to see some of the high ranking members of this league take some of it on to their own shoulders. Stop pointing fingers and get the **** to work.

If it wasn't for the CEBA $40,000 interest free loan tens of thousands of small Canadian businesses would have been shut down forever. 

This is just on a much bigger scale. 30 million dollars really isn't all that much in the big picture. Especially considering it would employ over 1000 people. 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Dr Zaius

[Bigblue204]

1 hour ago, Dr Zaius said:

If it wasn't for the CEBA $40,000 interest free loan tens of thousands of small Canadian businesses would have been shut down forever. 

This is just on a much bigger scale. 30 million dollars really isn't all that much in the big picture. Especially considering it would employ over 1000 people. 

Yeah I suppose there is a time and place for them. I still believe the CFL could have done a better job representing themselves to the gov. (If the reports are true anyway)

[Bigblue204]

2 hours ago, Mr Dee said:

 

 

He's actually right....even if he was trying to prove an opposite point. The way those industries are run is pretty rough. Airlines were making record profits and still needed bail outs...That's a flawed model Wade.

On top of that....there were plenty of people saying we're due for a pandemic....people warn us all the time about how weak our society actually is. Now when something starts crushing it everyone in charge of anything "Oh we didn't see this coming" "Who would have known" Unprecedented this, unprecedented that.

I thought Miller would lead better then he is. Stop making excuses.

Edited August 18, 2020 by Bigblue204

[Mr Dee]

I actually like something Bo has said..

 

[DR. CFL]

4 hours ago, Mr Dee said:

 

 

I’m not clear as to what Mr. Miller hoped to accomplish with this comment? I would think that it is given to move forward on a positive note and work towards formulating a plan for 2021.

[Brandon]

Now if Trudeau bails out some scummy American company in the next while..... 

[Mr Dee]

GOOD CFL news...

 

 

Edited August 19, 2020 by Mr Dee

[Mr Dee]

When Mike talks...we listen.

 

[Mr Dee]

 

 

[JCon]

2 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

 

 

Losing Gray would hurt. I don't see the others moving on. Maybe Lawler?