2019 CFL Season
 

I guess the first question here is will we get a new CBA signed before the season officially starts?

What impact will the AAF have when it begins

Who will be each teams starting QBs ? Does BLM sign in the NFL?

Can new coaches in BC, Hamilton and Toronto have an immediate impact

Will the Atlantic Schooners officially be granted a franchise and begin construction on a stadium, and where will TD Atlantic be held and how will it be received?

Will anything move forward with Mexican players and / or games to be played there going forward

Can BC, Toronto and Montreal gain back fans in seats and grow their attendance numbers?

Big season with lots of unanswered questions, some might say this is the most pivotal season for the long term future of CFL

To answer my own questions

Yes it does, I think both sides will realize that a work stoppage could lead the CFL into a death spiral

I think the AAF does effect the recruiting somewhat, but ultimately Spring football has never worked down south

I think BLM ends up in the NFL, think Mike Reilly ends up in BC and then the dominoes really start to fall.....

Yes, I think all 3 will have huge impacts with improved teams

My gut on the TD Atlantic game is they want it in Halifax and will find some way to get temp bleachers etc at St Marys stadium. As for the stadium getting done, I am really on the fence, really want it to get going but just see some many obstacles in the way

I think Mexico will slowly move forward with a couple of players being offered tryouts in training camp and I think they will look to play a game there next year (2020)

I think BC and Toronto grow a bit, but again it takes time. As for Montreal until they can consistently start winning, it is going to be tough for them to be as relevant in that market

I think Montreal will be a tire fire once again this year as Kavis Reed and Mike Sherman and Joe Mack need to be fired. They have the worst o-line in football no receivers and no clear cut qb.

If Bo Levi goes to the NFL and Reiley is signed by the Lions I see the west as what is was like back in the mid 80's with the Lions and Bombers battling it out for top spot.

I see the east still as a 2 team division with the ti-cats and redblacks. The Argos have a lot of holes and no real superstar player of any sort.

Wow, you have to think that this group is closer than we think on a stadium if they are looking to hire Tillman already

https://www.tsn.ca/tillman-in-discus...tive-1.1234947

Sounds like Montreal has decided to close part of their stadium for the upcoming season and reduce the capacity.

As much as I love the Eskimos, I love the CFL more and I want to see teams do well. It's concerning that these major markets are suffering so much.

So long, Chris Jones.

Good riddance. I can’t think of another long time cfl name that has such a history of looking out for himself above all else.

It was only a matter of time until he left. He will probably fuck over Cleveland in a few years. I hope he hits some loose gravel on his way down south.

Yes, I'm starting to feel more pessimistic about the league's future.

Part of me wants to laugh at the Riders getting what they had coming to them, but then I am reminded that the Bombers could very easily lose LaPolice as a result of all this.

We'll see how it goes with Halifax entering the fray. Maybe there's still hope for Quebec or another Ontario city like London?
Having lived in Toronto and now in Calgary one of the issues facing the CFL in cities like these (Calgary/Toronto/Van/MTL) are the high proportion of migrants from other cities or other countries. The international immigrants aren't taking to the CFL and the inter-city migrants tend not to either. If they didn't come from a city with a CFL team they usually don't support the Argos or Stamps, etc...
Calgary seems to have a decently solid fan base, but considering how good the team has been, it should be bigger IMO.

Adam Bighill signed a 3yr extension with the Bombers. I thought he was leaning towards the Lions but glad he’s with my Blue.

I'll laugh. I never liked Jones.

That said, it is looking like an ugly season here.

This news made my day yesterday... resigning your most important defensive player is always a good thing! :tup:

Well it's up to the CFL and the individual teams to get those different backgrounds interested in the teams. Go to a game in Ottawa and Montreal it's full of diversity. Montreal would be fine with attendance if it hadn't been a basket case for last 5 seasons.

There seems to be a lot of high profile personnel heading down south this off season, more than usual. I'm hoping this will demonstrate to potential players in the US that your best chance at securing a professional career is through the CFL (if you don't make the NFL right away) and not one of these US start up leagues.

I agree, Montreal's declining attendance is probably strongly correlated with the fact that the team is a dumpster fire. And Montreal's tickets are not that cheap, especially to sit on a wooden bench. Not surprisingly, it's a tough sales proposition... "hey! why don't you spend a hundred bucks to come watch Johnny Manziel and a bunch of other guys you've never heard of try and break their 8 game losing streak!"

FWIW I find crowds at Bomber games to be generally pretty diverse. More so than Jets games, which tend to have very white crowds. I think being in the south end of the city, on a university campus has probably contributed to that.

Rumour has it that Lapo is on the Riders Radar as the new head coach. :runaway:

That would fill the HC job. You'll still need a DC and a GM. Riders better get that help wanted ad up on kijiji right away!

Jeremy O'Day was named the GM yesterday (He's been the assistant GM since Chamblain was fired 4 years ago and Jones was hired) so that part is already covered.

JC Sherritt has announced his retirement. I've always had an appreciation for undersized pitbull LBs. The first being Dan Kepley.

Interesting year ahead for the Esks.

When was this announced? I haven't heard anything about O'Day becoming GM.

In related news, Kyle Walters suggested that the Bombers wouldn't be giving the Riders permission to talk to LaPolice because it's too close to the season.

So get that kijiji ad up!!!!

^I don't think it has. I've only seen a tweet saying expect that to happen.

Doesn't that make Ambrosie's idea of CFL 2.0 more relevant to help those markets ? If there are players from those countries eventually playing in the CFL, that will help attract the new fans and if they sign TV deals it can lead to more money for the league and allow those fans to follow the league in the native language if they so choose.......it will be slow to get traction but it is a low risk, potentially high reward idea

Probably, but it's a tough job to tackle. One of the other factors is that you can watch pretty much any sport from anywhere on TV or internet channels these days. Immigrants from other countries are easily able to follow Cricket and soccer, etc.. Fooftball fans in Canada also get to watch pretty much as much NFL football as they'd like - and that's an issue. Regardless of whether you prefer the American or Canadian game, the best players are in the NFL. A segment of people will always gravitate to the NFL for that reason.

I'm not trying to knock the CFL, as I am a fan myself, but I think it's a tough road ahead. I'm also not trying to blame immigrants for any struggles in the league, but realistically, it is part of the equation.

I agree, but I am glad they are not just sticking their heads in the sand and trying to take a pro-active approach. It is also keeping the CFL relevant and in the news in the off season which is good

^ This has probably been the most news-filled CFL off season I can think of since the 90s.

He will be missed, that's for sure.

His body took a beating over the year though. The way he played the game and the hits he laid out, I'm surprised he wasn't out of the line up more.

Lots of Eskimos fans are saying he would be a perfect coaching. I agree with that 100%.

Looks like Bo Levi might sign with the Denver Broncos soon which makes a lot of sense as he could likely beat out Case Keenum for the starters job and Denver is such a similar city to Calgary as well living wise. I hope he goes to the NFL as I am so tired of the Stamps almost 30 year domination of the West and would make things much easier for the Blue Bombers to hopefully end this Grey Cup drought curse and help make the CFL have better parity between West and East.

https://247sports.com/nfl/denver-bro...ell-128437939/

Former Eskimos defender J.C. Sherritt joins Stampeders as linebacker coach
3Down Staff 3downnation January 28, 2019

The Calgary Stampeders have hired former Edmonton Eskimos Most Outstanding Defender J.C. Sherritt as linebackers coach.

“J.C. was a player I always respected and I’m happy to welcome him to the Stampeders organization,” Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson said in a statement. “I’m confident he’ll be an excellent coach and I’m excited for the fresh perspective he will bring to the defence and the organization.”

Sherritt signed with the Eskimos in 2011 and spent his entire eight year CFL career playing in Edmonton.

“I’m excited for the next part of my career,” said Sherritt in a statement. “An opportunity arose to coach in Calgary and it was a chance to be part of an organization that has enjoyed a lot of success. It seemed like a dream opportunity.”

Sherritt won the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award in 2012 and earned a Grey Cup ring when the green and gold won the 2015 CFL championship.

Sherritt played 109 career games making 552 total tackles, 17 forced fumbles, 15 sacks, 14 interceptions, six fumble recoveries and scored one touchdown.

The 30-year-old takes over the linebacker coaching role from Brent Monson who moved up to become Calgary’s defensive coordinator after DeVone Claybrooks accepted the B.C. Lions head coach job.

^Hope he does well in his coaching career, just not against my Eskimos or winning too many Grey Cups ;)

Roughriders announce four signings.. but no quarterback.

New Montreal Alouettes Logo and Uniforms unveiled last night. I really like them a lot simpler and neater design. Now if only the Lions could get rid of their disastrous creamsicle road uniforms.

https://www.cfl.ca/2019/02/01/new-id...logo-uniforms/

They went with the most unapologetically Montreal approach to design one could imagine... their new fan apparel is unlike anything I've ever seen before.

https://www.behance.net/gallery/7520...f-HvmjGF-HK9AA

https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/pr...493237119d.png
https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/pr...38a097bf3b.png
https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/pr...38a097a422.png

The kids look like they would rather be wearing anything else then Als merchandise.

They're Generation Z. They always look like that.

Did they design the logo using an Etch-a-Sketch?

Als re-branding
 

TOTALLY agree with this article, especially the last paragraph (below).

The Montreal Alouettes new look is fantastic – and long overdue
By Tim Hodge February 2, 2019
https://3downnation.com/2019/02/02/t...-long-overdue/

"...With the Alouettes relaunch, my biggest uniform-related issue in the CFL has been resolved. I will now lend my voice to the next issues that need to be rectified: getting the Riders to switch to their retro uniforms full-time, convincing the Stamps to stop wearing black and embrace silver once again, and (likewise) get the Lions to minimize black in their colour scheme and focus on their current “away” orange and white look."

I don't mind the new Als unis, although I actually liked their previous ones, particularly the white ones with the blue pants. Hated that old catoon bird logo though.

Don't like the silver (grey) in the Stamps unis - keep it black.
Hate the Lions white & orange (creamsicle) road jerseys - need more black.
I agree that the Riders should go back to the retros full time.

LOVE
New Alouettes uniforms: way nicer than anything else in the league. 10/10

LIKE
BC Lions: the orange in the away uniform is too harsh. Nice otherwise. 8/10

PASSABLE
Bombers: A bit loud but do like that blue. 6/10
RedBlacks: I liked the old Ottawa Roughrider uniforms more but these are OK. 6/10
Tiger-Cats: The Steelers have a nicer uniform with the same colour combo. 6/10
Eskimos: The Packers have a nicer uniform with the same colour combo. 6/10

BLAH
Stampeders: The uniform is way too busy. Get rid of the black and simplify the rest. 5/10

TACKY
Argonauts: The logo is hideous. Get rid of it altogether. I know light blue is part of their colour scheme but it's just way too busy. Keep it simple: navy and white 3/10
Roughriders: that shade of green has never worked for me. Make it much darker. The retro uniform is much nicer. Go back to that. 3/10

^ Bombers must be right off the charts? ;)

The Stamps could have a thing of beauty if they toned down the busy-ness of it all and went back to red and white with a dash of silver. Black could even work if they toned it down.

I think the Argos have a great, very simple and traditional look.

Sask can't go to dark green because that's Edmonton's colour.

As soon as I saw that you'd posted last I realized I'd forgotten the Bombers. I'll slot them in.

With uniforms, simple is usually better. Regarding colours, there are lots of teams that share a colour. Hamilton, BC, and Ottawa all use black. Calgary, Montreal, and Ottawa all have red. In both these cases the shade is practically the same. The yellow and white would differentiate between Edmonton and Saskatchewan as would design elements and helmet. One sees lots of this in NCAA and USports too.

That said, I suspect the Schooners will use blue if they become the 10th team. There's enough blue already.

I do like the Montreal scarf.

Happy CFL free agency day!

Rumours are flying that the two most high profile QBs on the list, Bo Levi Mitchell and Mike Reilly, will be going to Toronto and BC respectively for $2+ million, 3 year deals.

(I guess it's more than rumours at this point... just about every CFL source out there is claiming these signings will happen)

I look forward to the Riders signing some more depth cornerbacks and maybe a lineman.

I hate Toronto. Just slightly more than I hate BC. :haha:

Wouldn't be the first high profile qb to leave Calgary for Toronto. Not sure Bo Levi Mitchell is on the same level as Doug Flutie but probably the closest thing to it. If it does come to fruition the Argos would have a bona fide star to market around and maybe that gets a few more butts in the seats.

Wasn't Ricky Ray supposed to be that star previously?

In my CFL fandom going back to 1990, Matt Dunigan, Kent Austin, Doug Flutie, Damon Allen, Kerry Joseph and Ricky Ray have all played that part.

Basically if you're a MOP CFL quarterback, chances are you're going to spend at least some of the downslope of your career in Toronto.

They barely paid any attention to Flutie during his time as an Argo, and he went directly from there to becoming a NFL starter who made it to the pro bowl the very next season, so he was still at the top of his game. If they didn't notice that, I'm not sure what difference having BLM will make. Might as well have just kept Drew Willy and saved some money!

Toronto ignored Flutie as an Argo but claimed him as their own when he was a Buffalo Bill.
Oh well, shiny baubles and all that!

Reilly to BC. William Powell to Saskatchewan.

So we'll solve the QB problem by hoping to run the ball with an aging RB. Sigh. RBs are cheap and younger ones are always available. Smart move by Ottawa as Powell is 30 years old now. Hoping he doesn't fall off like many backs do in the twilight, but not a really brilliant move.