2017 CFL Season

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It's hard with just one game though. A two-game cumulative score is probably the way one to determine the best team with assurance.

But we don't do that in gridiron football.

I hope we never ever see a 2 game cumulative score/best of 3 series.

[le calmar]

I hope too. I find that system hardly exciting.

[Calgarian]

I figured they would choke in the west final, so I guess I should be happy they at least made it to the Grey Cup lol. Something has to change, dominating the regular season year after year means nothing if you don't bring home the hardware.

[esquire]

^ The funny thing about it is that this is nothing new for the Stamps... they've had several seasons like this over the past 20 years where they've racked up 12+ win seasons but ended up falling short.

Is it possible to just be too damn good in the regular season to the point where you just get sloppy and careless in the playoffs? The Eskimos had 16 wins in 1989 and also failed to win the cup.

[cjones2451]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I think the CFL has a bright future, especially if Toronto can build on this success to strengthen ticket sales, and also if a fabled 10th franchise makes it in Atlantic Canada.

Halifax is 2.5 hours from Moncton. There's a good chance I'll head down there 1-2 times per year to catch a game. I think it would be good PR for any Halifax based team to stage training camps throughout the region and yearly pre season games in Moncton at our stadium. This would certainly help build regional fan support.

There seems to be a ton of sentiment of "I don't want a single cent of my tax dollars going to a stadium for rich owners" and I get it but....

1 - no owner in the CFL is getting rich being a CFL owner, unlike the NFL
2 - it would create huge tax revenue via construction jobs and workers who would work at the stadium, for the team and from the players themselves
3 - there would also be economic impact from other events, that leads to money being spent at restaurants, hotels, taxis, team merchandise, etc.

So yes, it should not be completely tax payer funded, but if there was a P3 model like Ottawa that works, it should be looked at and the LONG term funding model

[harls]

Shania looked more buoyant than I remember.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by harls

Shania looked more buoyant than I remember.

Yes, I seemed fixated on her upper apparel, thinking something was different.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by cjones2451

There seems to be a ton of sentiment of "I don't want a single cent of my tax dollars going to a stadium for rich owners" and I get it but...

I don't think that's the case in this situation, seems to be plenty of goodwill on both sides, unlike Calgary. Boy it sure seems Calgary is taking it on the chin these days, whatever happened to that western "can do" attitude? It seems like the life is being sucked out of that city.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by GernB

I'd certainly be looking at Tommie Campbell. Tries for the interception twice on he same receiver and gets beaten both times, once for a TD and once for a big gain, then sits back deep on the same receiver late in the game and gets beaten again. Another area is Canadian receivers. How Anthony Parker gets brought back year after year beats me. If Lemar Durant isn't back from injury next year this is going to be a problem area, though Brescacin has come a long way since the start of the year.

Obviously you change some players. I agree, Campbell deserves just as much blame there as the guy that fumbled and Bo Levi Mitchell for throwing into double coverage. But I mean I wouldn't do anything drastic, like get rid of Mitchell or Dickinson. But that's just me, I don't like to blow it up unless it gets really bad. The Stampeders seem like they could still contend next year again. Then again, things change quickly in the CFL.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by elly63

It seems like the life is being sucked out of that city.

What? That's a hell of a stretch given the context...

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by esquire

What an electric finish to that game... I thought the Stamps were just going to hit high gear and roll over the Argos at the end, but as with their respective seasons the Stamps peaked early and the Argos just ended with a roar. Cassius Vaughn's fumble recovery, DeVier Posey's long distance TD, Matt Black's late game interception and Lirim Hajrullahu's game winning points now enter the annals of Grey Cup lore

I know many who aren't in the 403 are feeling at least a little schadenfreude toward the Stamps, but at the same time you have to feel for them a little bit too. All that blood, sweat and tears poured into regular season domination only to come up short in the big game, twice. These guys might have to turn down the swagger a little bit... Ricky Ray has all the cockiness of a CPA but he quietly gets the job done with remarkable poise and precision. BLM could take a lesson.

And Ottawa did a bang up job with the whole week... the Shania halftime was awesome. You can't please everyone with the halftime act, but Shania came damn close. Best one since the big 2012 extravaganza.

Good for the Argos fans too. Toronto is the only place where it's hard be a fan of the local CFL team... none of those fans are posers, they weren't at the games to be seen or to ride the bandwagon or whatever. Argos fans cheer on their team in spite of all the reasons not to and they deserve huge respect IMO. (Although now that the Argos have won their sixth Grey Cup since 1991 I think the fans have been fully compensated for their hassles...)

I was so pumped after that great ending that I had a hard time falling asleep... and now they want me to wait six months for more?!?!

Definitely not true haha.

But I agree, this seems like another 100th Grey Cup reset where the Argonauts are riding high. Now with the ownership, and the stadium, etc. they really have a way to build from it.

[cjones2451]

Originally Posted by elly63

I don't think that's the case in this situation, seems to be plenty of goodwill on both sides, unlike Calgary. Boy it sure seems Calgary is taking it on the chin these days, whatever happened to that western "can do" attitude? It seems like the life is being sucked out of that city.

I looked at the comments on the CBC.ca article by Devin Heroux, and it seemed that way, but also as many people saying all the old NIMBYs in Halifax hate any change, or fear that their taxes will go up and love to complain

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

Definitely not true haha.

But I agree, this seems like another 100th Grey Cup reset where the Argonauts are riding high. .

Boy did they ever piss away all the goodwill they had after that one - in record time!

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Boy did they ever piss away all the goodwill they had after that one - in record time!

You have to wonder if team executives get complacent after big championship wins? The same thing happened with the Als years ago... they won the 1977 Grey Cup in a season where they drew huge crowds every game, then attendance plummeted a couple years later.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by cjones2451

I looked at the comments on the CBC.ca article by Devin Heroux, and it seemed that way, but also as many people saying all the old NIMBYs in Halifax hate any change, or fear that their taxes will go up and love to complain

I don't think it is a similar situation to Ottawa where the NIMBYs were so close to the action. The site they will eventually pick likely won't have that issue.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by esquire

You have to wonder if team executives get complacent after big championship wins?

I don't think you have to worry about that with the Argos, they know they still have a big mountain to climb but they're going at it, slow and steady.

There was a school of thought that it would be better if they lost the GC and stayed "in the hunt". But a lot of goodwill was created by the way they won and how classy they carried themselves that hopefully it will affect change for the better.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by cjones2451

There seems to be a ton of sentiment of "I don't want a single cent of my tax dollars going to a stadium for rich owners" and I get it but....

1 - no owner in the CFL is getting rich being a CFL owner, unlike the NFL
2 - it would create huge tax revenue via construction jobs and workers who would work at the stadium, for the team and from the players themselves
3 - there would also be economic impact from other events, that leads to money being spent at restaurants, hotels, taxis, team merchandise, etc.

So yes, it should not be completely tax payer funded, but if there was a P3 model like Ottawa that works, it should be looked at and the LONG term funding model

BTW Ottawa mayor Jim Watson has stated that this Grey Cup in Ottawa brought a $100 million boost to the city's economy.

A palatial stadium or arena like they build in some places won't usually even come close to paying for itself but a modest stadium like many CFL cities have isn't too bad in terms of bang for the buck - if you get to host the occasional Grey Cup and other events.

Apparently in Regina upwards of 90% of the fans in attendance are from the city, so the idea that half the stadium is people from all across the province is a fallacy - and a Halifax team would likely be the same even if they marketed it as the Atlantic Canadian club.

Even so, let's say a game leads to about 1,000-2,000 extra hotel rooms booked in the city, and all those people spending money in the city for a day or two, that's still not too shabby in terms of economic impact. Several times a year.

[esquire]

^ I don't know exactly what happened in 2012 but it seemed as though the stars aligned perfectly for the Argos... big win in a splashy high-profile championship game in front of a sold out home crowd, coinciding with the end of the Bills in Toronto series.

Then next season, attendance was lower than it was the year before.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Pushing coverage of the Grey Cup on major networks globally should be a focus. It's attractive content and perhaps the first exposure most people around the world would have to the CFL. The big potential revenue generator for the CFL might be international television contracts for regular season games once they've had a taste of the Grey Cup. They could aggressively sell CFL games and networks would pick it up if it's priced right.

I realize they do have coverage on 3rd tier sports networks around the world but they don't seem to have a strong strategic plan about spreading CFL globally. They've had their hands full with other issues but now it's time for them to make an international push. It's entertaining football so it will find an international audience. Even if they only get 1% of sports fans to tune in, that would still dwarf the Canadian television audience.

CFL could alter schedule to accommodate NFLN deal
Mike Florio profootballtalk.nbcsports.com November 24, 2017

The CFL could be coming to NFL Network. And as part of that deal, the CFL may alter its schedule to move the Grey Cup from late November to the middle of October.

“I’d like to see the Grey Cup earlier, it won’t happen for 2018, but for 2019 it’s possible,” CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said Friday, via the Ottawa Sun. “I’d like to see it maybe the third week of October. That week, almost everywhere in Canada is a fantastic weekend. I’ve traveled — we’ve lived in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Oakville, Montreal — the third week in October is amazing. The leaves are changing colors. It’s autumn, it’s not cold.”

Of course, that would require starting the season sooner, which could cause problems with TSN, the CFL’s primary Canadian broadcast partner, given a little something known as the Stanley Cup playoffs. TSN, which doesn’t have Stanley Cup playoff rights, wouldn’t want to put CFL games up against high-stakes hockey games. However, an adjustment to the season would give NFLN game content during the slow months, if a deal can be done between the CFL and the NFL.

“We’ve talked about the idea of what are they doing for programming on the NFL Network, could we be a positive source of amazing content?” Ambrosie said. “I’m entirely on board with sharing our game with more people around the world . . . and I’m not just talking about the U.S. market. We should stop being so Canadian and shy about this. With three downs and a big field and it’s wide open and these are world-class athletes — we’ve got the greatest game in the world.”

The NFL may disagree with that one, but the CFL is good enough to potentially take a spot on the NFL’s platform during the months when NFLN is a wasteland of NFL Films programming, Hard Knocks reruns, and the goofy top 100 player list.

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I hope we never ever see a 2 game cumulative score/best of 3 series.

You mean again? Both those methods were used to determine the East and West champs back in the 60s and earlier... Maybe into the early 70s?