2019 CFL Season

[craner]

Two nights in a row beaten by a walk-off FG.
At least I couldn't watch tonight's game.

[jawagord]

Originally Posted by craner

Two nights in a row beaten by a walk-off FG.
At least I couldn't watch tonight's game.

Well it’s never really bad when the Eskimos get beaten at home!

[thurmas]

If and its a big if Collaros stays healthy I really like the Bombers chances in the West. He has excellent footwork good arm strength causes far less turnovers than Strev. Based solely on talent he is probably the best QB the Bombers have had since Khari Jones in the early 2000's. Couple that with a team that runs the football better than any team in the CFL and more often than anyone else and a capable defense in the cold weather I am hoping this ends the 29 year drought.

[thurmas]

Nichols could never do this it would end up in row 6 at IG Field.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2019/10/...azing-td-pass/

[elly63]

Back story, Rodney Smith caught both Prokop's and O'Connor's first TD passes and then proceeded to...throw the balls in the stands. This is the reaction you hear from the commentators after O'Connor's TD pass.

Argos get major contributions from young quarterbacks
CFL.ca Staff October 27 2019

TORONTO — Despite being eliminated from the playoffs, the Toronto Argonauts’ Week 20 win over the Ottawa REDBLACKS was an opportunity for the coaching staff to evaluate their young quarterbacks heading into next season.

Starter McLeod Bethel-Thompson saw first-half action, but backups Dakota Prukop and Michael O’Connor took over under centre and made an impact in the third and fourth quarters respectively.

“The biggest thing was to be able to evaluate those guys on the field tonight, and I thought that they did a good job,” Argos head coach Corey Chamblin said after the win.

Prukop was highly efficient, completing six of eight passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns to help give Toronto a commanding 32-8 lead entering the fourth quarter. The 26-year-old quarterback threw his first career CFL touchdown pass to Rodney Smith, and he followed it up with a touchdown to running back A.J. Ouellette.

“To finally get my shot at quarterback was really cool,” Prukop said.

O’Connor made a splash by putting the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. The Ottawa, Ont., native and former UBC Thunderbird sealed the victory against the REDBLACKS with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Smith. He completed five of nine passes for 51 yards in limited action, but he made his presence known right away with a 31-yard strike to Armanti Edwards on his first play.

O’Connor completed four straight passes on Toronto’s fourth-quarter touchdown drive.

“He’s a different type kid, and what I mean by that is he’s very mature.” Chamblin said of O’Connor. ” It’s always good to see him. The way he carries himself, he’s good in the locker room around the guys.”

“It’d be good to be able to look at the film and evaluate how he really played, but there was some exciting moments when he was in the game,” Chamblin added.

While O’Connor said he still has a lot of work to do to get better as a passer at the professional level, he hopes to one day serve as an example and help other Canadian quarterbacks reach the next level and achieve success.

“I definitely want to be an inspiration to young quarterbacks in this country, and the future is bright I think,” O’Connor said. “But at the same I still have a long way to go. Later in my career I’d like to help further Canadian quarterbacks in this country, but right now I’m just focused on keeping my job and trying to find success in this league.”

Getting a win against his hometown team was an added bonus for the 23-year-old pivot.

“I don’t really see into those things too much, but it was kind of neat to play against a hometown team,” O’Connor said.

Bethel-Thompson also performed well for Toronto, throwing a pair of touchdowns to extend his league leading total to 26. It still remains to be seen who will get the start in Toronto’s regular season finale next week against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

“We’ll see how that goes,” Chamblin said. “But those guys (Prukop and O’Connor) definitely are going to play a lot more in terms of how we finish the season.”

The Argos will travel on the road to face the East-leading Ticats next Saturday at 7:00 p.m. (EDT).

[esquire]

Originally Posted by thurmas

If and its a big if Collaros stays healthy I really like the Bombers chances in the West. He has excellent footwork good arm strength causes far less turnovers than Strev. Based solely on talent he is probably the best QB the Bombers have had since Khari Jones in the early 2000's. Couple that with a team that runs the football better than any team in the CFL and more often than anyone else and a capable defense in the cold weather I am hoping this ends the 29 year drought.

KG in his prime was at least as good as Collaros... Buck Pierce is also in the same tier but he was damaged goods by the time we got him. Kind of sad to think that beyond that it's been a bit of a QB wasteland here otherwise since Khari left. Nichols is sort of a Tom Burgess calibre QB... good enough to get the job done if all the other factors are in place.

[elly63]

La ligne à l’attaque, une préoccupation chez les Alouettes
Miguel Bujold La Presse October 16 2019

Claridge would not own 49% of the Alouettes

As The Gazette reporter Herb Zurkowsky reported a few days ago, the Claridge Group is involved in the sale of the Alouettes. But according to our sources, Stephen Bronfman's group would be willing to acquire between 20% and 35% shares in the team, and not 49% as it was reported.

In negotiations with the CFL, now the owner of the Alouettes, for several months, brothers Peter and Jeffrey Lenkov would become the majority shareholders of the team.

Other investors, other than Claridge and Pierre Boivin, who is a Claridge employee and the father of Alouettes president Patrick Boivin, could be part of a potential consortium. Although we seem to be moving towards a resolution of the file, according to our sources, nothing is imminent and no announcement is expected in the coming days.

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by elly63

La ligne à l’attaque, une préoccupation chez les Alouettes
Miguel Bujold La Presse October 16 2019

Claridge would not own 49% of the Alouettes

As The Gazette reporter Herb Zurkowsky reported a few days ago, the Claridge Group is involved in the sale of the Alouettes. But according to our sources, Stephen Bronfman's group would be willing to acquire between 20% and 35% shares in the team, and not 49% as it was reported.

In negotiations with the CFL, now the owner of the Alouettes, for several months, brothers Peter and Jeffrey Lenkov would become the majority shareholders of the team.

Other investors, other than Claridge and Pierre Boivin, who is a Claridge employee and the father of Alouettes president Patrick Boivin, could be part of a potential consortium. Although we seem to be moving towards a resolution of the file, according to our sources, nothing is imminent and no announcement is expected in the coming days.

I just don't trust the Lenkov bros. I am still in doubt of their financial capabilities withstanding the loses of owning the Alouettes. This sale has been told to be imminent for several months now and the can keeps getting kicked down the road.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by thurmas

I just don't trust the Lenkov bros. I am still in doubt of their financial capabilities withstanding the loses of owning the Alouettes. This sale has been told to be imminent for several months now and the can keeps getting kicked down the road.

Have you done any research on the Lenkovs? People seem to get ideas in their heads that people don't have as much wealth as they do. I am sure many who have ever met David Braley would not think he was a billionaire with as diversified a portfolio as he has. The fact that Ambrosie wants to partner them up is a good sign that the league is no longer a mom and pop organization and some big players are involved. The Lenkovs have some stroke probably not unlike McNall and that's where Ambrosie would like to add some even more conventional financing.

[thurmas]

When I read Eric Lapointe's interactions with them on trying to find out what business plan they had and they had none at all from his conversations with them that had me very worried. As well the many times this year the sale to them has been told as imminent in june, sept, oct and still has not happened I get the feeling these guys are not sure what they are getting into. As I have stated many times on here I hope I am wrong about them as I want to see full stadiums across the CFL with every team doing well but at the same time the signs I get from these constant delays do give cause for concern. Being a CFL fan we all know all too well the some of the crazy clown owners this league has seen over the years with Nelson Skalbania, Murray Pezim, Bruce Mcnall, Larry Rickman, Sherwood Schwartz, The Glibermans ect… we hope those days are behind us and that a new era of innovative owners take hold across the league in Montreal, BC and hopefully the Maritimes.

[blueandgoldguy]

https://www.halifaxtoday.ca/local-ne...nomist-1771132

Halifax municipal staff are still going ahead with a report on the potential economic impacts of a stadium in Shannon Park.

This announcement came this week after Councillor Sam Austin tried to nip the proposal in the bud.

However, Concordia University economics professor Moshe Lander says that Schooner Sports and Entertainment, the company behind the pitch, is missing out on opportunities to start a fan base in Halifax.

"They keep missing out on opportunities to try to legitimately sell this to the public and get them on-side," Lander says. "If this fails it's going to be because they ownership group just completely fumbled a gift that was handed to them."

The economist says unlike the new Halifax Wanderers soccer team, which began selling merchandise before the team was even officially announced, he hasn't seen any Atlantic Schooners merch.

"If you're going to name the team at least start trying to brand it into the city's consciousness," Lander tells NEWS 95.7's The Todd Veinotte Show.

Lander says one thing Schooner could have done better was marketing for the Touchdown Atlantic in Moncton at the end of the summer.

"They missed out on a golden opportunity here," he explains. "There wasn't any sort of hype that was really built up here in Halifax to try and sell that this is just the precursor to us having a team ourselves."

Within the next five years, Lander thinks the CFL will be expanding to a tenth location, and most likely to Halifax.

"If you're going to put one more team in Canada it should be in Atlantic Canada, and Halifax is really the only viable city that could support a team," he says.

But the success of the team depends on whether Haligonians are willing to support it.

"There's clearly football that's being played here in Atlantic Canada and there's clearly football fans," Lander says.

Lander says a Halifax team could be comparable to the success of the Saskatchewan Roughriders if things are done right from a marketing side.

"You have a small province with a small population, but man they love that team," he adds. "And it's because they built it into the public conscience and it's part of the community."

Lander says that Schooner will have another potential chance to win over the public during this year's Grey Cup on November 24.

"You could have a Grey Cup watch party, weather permitting, in Rogers Square," he says.

But so far, Lander thinks Schooner Sports hasn't proven they know what they're doing.

"This ownership group has gotten everything wrong," he adds. "The economics are bad, and I see that city council is starting to recognize that the economics are bad."

Lander says that his advice to council is to find a better location, and to get Schooner to invest their own money.

But his advice to Schooner is to use the promise of economic benefits to win over uncertain residents of Atlantic Canada.

"The way you sell it to citizens is a civic pride exercise or that it does move us up the table. You try and sell all of the economic benefits that this will bring," he explains.

This includes the promise of new housing, commercial development, and of course, making Halifax a "world-class city."

"Think of all the times that Halifax is now going to be on T.V. as a major sports town," says Lander.

The economist says it's no use talking to people who are already sports fans, it's those who are on the fence that will make or break the stadium's success.

"If they're sports fans to begin with, they're willing to have almost any cost just to have that stadium, to have that team."

[LakeLocker]

With the CPL up and running CFL expansion makes no sense.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by LakeLocker

With the CPL up and running CFL expansion makes no sense.

The CFL is not the cat's meow but the CPL is still a bit player compared to it.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by LakeLocker

With the CPL up and running CFL expansion makes no sense.

You realize they're different sports, right?

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The CFL is not the cat's meow but the CPL is still a bit player compared to it.

For now, but we have every reason to think that the CPL could potentially edge out the CFL in Halifax.

[thurmas]

Interesting read on Braley trying to sell the Lions. I did not know his health problems were this bad.

https://3downnation.com/2019/10/28/d...m-loses-money/

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by LakeLocker

For now, but we have every reason to think that the CPL could potentially edge out the CFL in Halifax.

Could be but that game is the CFL's to lose, if you ask me.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by LakeLocker

For now, but we have every reason to think that the CPL could potentially edge out the CFL in Halifax.

You make it sound like Halifax could only support one or the other but that is clearly not the case. A metro of 400,000+ can easily support both.

Obviously CPL has an advantage in that it requires much less of a venue which is why they're up and running in Halifax.

The longer this saga with Leblanc drags on, the more it looks like Ambrosie has poisoned the well for maritime expansion for another generation. Oh well. What's Quebec City up to these days?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

Lander says one thing Schooner could have done better was marketing for the Touchdown Atlantic in Moncton at the end of the summer.

"They missed out on a golden opportunity here," he explains. "There wasn't any sort of hype that was really built up here in Halifax to try and sell that this is just the precursor to us having a team ourselves."

Hell, there was virtually no marketing of the CFL game in Moncton even, let alone Halifax. They didn't even try, until about 2-3 weeks before the game, when I think it occurred to their beady little brains that there might be a problem there.

TD Atlantic #1 & #2 were very well organized (and well attended). TD Atlantic #3 was obviously just the CFL brass going through the motions, and not surprisingly was a relative failure. TD Atlantic #4 resembled #3 quite a bit.........

I really don't think LeBlanc knows what he is doing.

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by esquire

You make it sound like Halifax could only support one or the other but that is clearly not the case. A metro of 400,000+ can easily support both.

It's not just these two, however. Halifax also got the NLL this year, and they already have junior hockey and basketball. They low key became a very crowded sports market.