How Could the Coronavirus affect the Argos and the CFL

[OV Argo]

https://3downnation.com/2020/05/26/s...del-is-broken/

I'm all for scrapping Ambrosie's Global CFL plan, but I'm not sure if adding more Canadians automatically means Canadians will watch and invest more in the CFL.

I'll take a lot of heat for saying this, but I hope the CFL doesn't get any Federal funding (I'm actually against all the "free" money being handed out by the Liberal Government, but that's a topic for another forum). The League has been struggling for a long time, Sars-Cov-2 is just the latest issue, so hopefully the League comes out of this with a real plan to take the League where it needs to go. If not, I wonder how much longer some of the Owners are willing to lose money on some of these sinking ships.

Imagine that - a Canadian (and an elected MP to boot) sticking up for Canadian football talent and wanting to see more of it in the CFL - why the nerve.

The comments in reply to that article are typical of what bannedforlife is on about in another thread here - anti-CFL trolls / or dupes who have been told/sold that Canadian football talent is inferior - why there just isn't enough good players produced by Canada, the game has been dying up here - coming from little dweebs & wannabes who never played the game and were raised on all-american hero hype. Is kinda interesting how a site dedicated to the CFL like 3 Down features so many "fans" who are so negative about or mocking of the CFL and Canadian football talent ? Only in Canada type thing i guess, eh? Oh say can you see ? ;0)

[argolio]

Denmark unlocked 6 weeks ago and has reduced social distance to 1 metre. All is going well. Individual close contact less than 15 minutes. If all goes well, sports may return first maybe with every other seat filled?

Notre Dame announced that students and athletes will return mid August. The President of the university wrote an OpEd this week in the NY Times “We are in our society regularly willing to take on ourselves or impose on others risks — even lethal risks — for the good of society. We send off young men and women to war to defend the security of our nation knowing that many will not return. We applaud medical professionals who risk their health to provide care to the sick and suffering. We each accept the risk of a fatal traffic accident when we get in our cars.”

https://www-nytimes-com.cdn.ampproje...virus.amp.html

You can post all the articles you want, but there won't be fans if there's a 2020 CFL season. Stop deluding yourself.

The Notre Dame president is so transparent. What he's really saying is they will have a 2020 football season because Notre Dame need to get its NBC money, fans or no fans.

https://3downnation.com/2020/05/26/s...del-is-broken/

I'm all for scrapping Ambrosie's Global CFL plan, but I'm not sure if adding more Canadians automatically means Canadians will watch and invest more in the CFL.

I'll take a lot of heat for saying this, but I hope the CFL doesn't get any Federal funding (I'm actually against all the "free" money being handed out by the Liberal Government, but that's a topic for another forum). The League has been struggling for a long time, Sars-Cov-2 is just the latest issue, so hopefully the League comes out of this with a real plan to take the League where it needs to go. If not, I wonder how much longer some of the Owners are willing to lose money on some of these sinking ships.

The only way the CFL will ever get where it needs to go is increased rights fees. That's what the 2.0 initiative is trying to do. Will it succeed? Don't have a clue. But if the last 30 years have proven anything, it's that substantial increases in rights fees within Canada are highly unlikely, if not impossible.

[Wobbler]

The Notre Dame president is so transparent. What he's really saying is they will have a 2020 football season because Notre Dame need to get its NBC money, fans or no fans.

You weren't impressed by his argument that since car accidents happen, we shouldn't try to avoid harm?

[Argo57]

Imagine that - a Canadian (and an elected MP to boot) sticking up for Canadian football talent and wanting to see more of it in the CFL - why the nerve.

The comments in reply to that article are typical of what bannedforlife is on about in another thread here - anti-CFL trolls / or dupes who have been told/sold that Canadian football talent is inferior - why there just isn't enough good players produced by Canada, the game has been dying up here - coming from little dweebs & wannabes who never played the game and were raised on all-american hero hype. Is kinda interesting how a site dedicated to the CFL like 3 Down features so many "fans" who are so negative about or mocking of the CFL and Canadian football talent ? Only in Canada type thing i guess, eh? Oh say can you see ? ;0)

I like the way it is now OV, Although I wouldn’t mind a couple more Canadians per team though rather than Randy’s CFL 2.0 “plan”.
I find myself reading 3Down less and less as time goes on, the 3Down comments section consists of the usual juvenile baiting comments which you also regularly see on social media platforms such as Instagram and the like, zero interest in getting involved with it on any level.

[argolio]

You weren't impressed by his argument that since car accidents happen, we shouldn't try to avoid harm?

I plan to run across the 401 every day to test his theory.

[ArgoZ]

To get the Globals speaking English, or the NATs and INTs speaking Spanish and German?

Ah crap. I’ll use the excuse I’m on my phone cutting grass. Seriously though. To plan flights, schedules, venues, dates, and etc, 4 weeks or 20 working days might not be enough.

[jerrym]

The Covid-19 infection of Canadian Oklahoma State LB Amen Ogbongemiga raises questions about the CFL that go beyond this single infection.

Canadian linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga contracted the coronavirus amid peacefully protesting in the United States.
The Calgary native was in Oklahoma at a rally following the senseless murder of George Floyd. ...

Ogbongbemiga enjoyed a breakout 2019 season at Oklahoma State University as the Cowboys defensive captain. As a junior, the Notre Dame High School product recorded 100 total tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, intercepted one pass, forced one fumble and recovered another. He set a career-high with 12 tackles against Texas A&M University in the Texas Bowl and added a sack and a fumble recovery.

https://3downnation.com/2020/06/02/c...rotest-in-usa/

What happens if the widespread protests trigger a new wave of infection? Would that set back the start of the CFL season, or possibly even end it before it starts?

If the season does start, what happens if a player becomes infected? Is he the only one isolated? Will the CFL do contract tracing and testing among teammates, coaches etc., or the entire league? Should the entire team be banned and have its season end if the player attended practice before the infection was recognized? If the infection was not caught until a game was played, what is done about the exposure to players on the other team?

Contingency plans should be developed for as many possible scenarios as possible, rather than based on adhoc decisions that often are not well thought out.

[jerrym]

The cancelling of all USports in Canada's universities is another sign that things are looking increasingly negative for a 2020 CFL season.

[1971GreyCup]

Global COVID sports update.

New Zealand restarts professional rugby with crowds.

Last Sunday COVID restrictions were eased for Taiwan professional baseball fans. Baseball originally started on time without fans. Then 1,000 fans were permitted. Now up to 50% capacity is permitted with one seat left empty between spectators.

This is very promising since it is only early June and the pundits said 2021 or 2022 before we normalized. This reminds me of the pundits during the Gulf War 1. Sadam Hussein set fire to all the well in Kuwait. It was estimated that it would take 2-5 years To put them all out. The economic loss was unfathomable. No one reported several months later that all the wells were extinguished. The pundits were off stirring up distress on other fronts. I remain constructive on the return of sports.

[Antwon]

Global COVID sports update.

New Zealand restarts professional rugby with crowds.

Last Sunday COVID restrictions were eased for Taiwan professional baseball fans. Baseball originally started on time without fans. Then 1,000 fans were permitted. Now up to 50% capacity is permitted with one seat left empty between spectators.

Promising for them, but keep in mind those countries learned from SARS and acted early and aggressively against COVID. New Zealand has essentially has no new cases and can now control when they open boarders, and monitor travellers to stop any new outbreaks.
Sadly the Feds and their medical experts dropped the ball for Canada. (it's well documented out there).
It's predicted that Ontario and Quebec are going to "smoulder" for months, if not the rest of the year with a couple hundred cases a day. So ON and QC are still a long way from having fans attend any events.

[paulwoods13]

Promising for them, but keep in mind those countries learned from SARS and acted early and aggressively against COVID. New Zealand has essentially has no new cases and can now control when they open boarders, and monitor travellers to stop any new outbreaks.
Sadly the Feds and their medical experts dropped the ball for Canada. (it's well documented out there).
It's predicted that Ontario and Quebec are going to "smoulder" for months, if not the rest of the year with a couple hundred cases a day. So ON and QC are still a long way from having fans attend any events.

Thanks for the reality check. Ontario is still adding more than 300 new cases a day, despite months of public-health measures.

NZ has zero active cases of COVID-19, thanks largely to how isolated and infrequently visited it is, how small it is (fewer than 5 million residents), and how aggressively it clamped down with travel bans and physical distancing. Taiwan began aggressively testing very early, imposed strict quarantine requirements and used cell-phone data to track citizens. Those countries' circumstances are vastly different than ours.

[1971GreyCup]

Thanks for telling me the obvious.

Like it or not, we’re bringing back sports. It remains important to know what progress there is in the world. Also, it won’t be without misstep or mishap. Unless we decide to give up civilization entirely and live our lives at home.

The Canadian sports landscape, like it or not, will be in place September 1st.

I Just spoke with a friend in Alabama today. Weeks ago they reopened everything, with exception to sports and bars. COVID numbers have gone up. Almost without exception they are asymptomatic or minor symptoms. Minor league sports will be the next to reopen.

domt forget those unfortunate individuals that need progress in this area before they lose their livelihoods.

[paulwoods13]

It remains important to know what progress there is in the world.

There's certainly no harm in knowing what is happening elsewhere, ncluding places with good progress against the virus as well as those where things are going in the wrong direction. But IMO knowing the current situation right here is far more important, and far more relevant to North American sports (or commerce, or anything else) than what is happening on the other side of the world.

[Wobbler]

I Just spoke with a friend in Alabama today. Weeks ago they reopened everything, with exception to sports and bars. COVID numbers have gone up. Almost without exception they are asymptomatic or minor symptoms. Minor league sports will be the next to reopen.

If you want to be guided by experiences elsewhere - which I think is quite valid - I suggest consulting the official statistics rather than asking a friend.



The number of confirmed COVID deaths in Alabama has almost doubled since they "reopened" on May 11th.

[argolio]

Global COVID sports update.

New Zealand restarts professional rugby with crowds.

Last Sunday COVID restrictions were eased for Taiwan professional baseball fans. Baseball originally started on time without fans. Then 1,000 fans were permitted. Now up to 50% capacity is permitted with one seat left empty between spectators.

This is very promising since it is only early June and the pundits said 2021 or 2022 before we normalized. This reminds me of the pundits during the Gulf War 1. Sadam Hussein set fire to all the well in Kuwait. It was estimated that it would take 2-5 years To put them all out. The economic loss was unfathomable. No one reported several months later that all the wells were extinguished. The pundits were off stirring up distress on other fronts. I remain constructive on the return of sports.

There will be no fans permitted at sporting events in Toronto and possibly all of Canada for the rest of this calendar year. That's why the NHL is talking about starting next season in early 2021. Unless New Zealand, Taiwan, or a burning oil well intends to offer some financial help, what has really changed regarding the CFL playing in 2020?

By the way, it was widely reported that those fires were extinguished much earlier than predicted. I remember watching news stories about it.

[Topshelf]

The only way to save the CFL is to drastically lower salaries, and run it similar to the Canadian Soccer League.
Focus more on Canadian University players, including QBs. Lower the price point for fans.
TSN money will still be there. Your core support likely will be too.
Yes we have 3 downs and a great tradition. But we need to toss in the towel and forget about marketing ourselves as top tier pro football. The NFL has that market cornered.
Quebec supports Laval football, you don't think the Als would do better with that league as a pipeline at all areas including QB?

[jerrym]

The number of athletes testing positive for Covid-19 before any season begins raises more questions about whether leagues will be able to successfully run their seasons. For example

Clemson announced on Friday that 23 football players have tested positive for coronavirus since returning to campus this month. ...

Two football staffers and three athletes from other sports also tested positive.

https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/ncaa...41ktwvzvxpltma

On Saturday, Kansas State said it was shutting down its voluntary workouts for athletes at team facilities after a spike of 14 positive cases. And on Monday, Notre Dame reported one positive among 91 tested football players, Wisconsin had two positives among 117 athletes tested and Iowa's latest round of testing found nine positives among 40 overall.

As colleges and universities ponder how to reopen campuses to droves of students during a pandemic, sports programs around the country are providing a daily glimpse at the challenges that lie ahead — and maybe some solutions. ...

“When you’re thinking about athletes, people are very worried about sports and the close contact they have. And there’s a little bit less concern when it comes to the general student body because of their interactions being different,” Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security and a member of the NCAA’s COVID-19 advisory panel. “But I do think it speaks to the fact that the colleges are going to have to come up with a plan for dealing with these cases.” ...

College students, and especially college athletes, are mostly among the lowest risk groups for becoming severely sick or dying from COVID-19. For most athletes, the greater personal risk is being sidelined from competition or possibly infecting teammates and causing an outbreak that disrupts a season.

The average student isn't facing that type of pressure to take precautions, which worries Dr. Greg Stewart, the team physician for Tulane athletics.

https://www.wagmtv.com/content/news/...571432601.html

[OV Argo]

The only way to save the CFL is to drastically lower salaries, and run it similar to the Canadian Soccer League.
Focus more on Canadian University players, including QBs. Lower the price point for fans.
TSN money will still be there. Your core support likely will be too.
Yes we have 3 downs and a great tradition. But we need to toss in the towel and forget about marketing ourselves as top tier pro football. The NFL has that market cornered.
Quebec supports Laval football, you don't think the Als would do better with that league as a pipeline at all areas including QB?

Not sure about the "only way" but that is an idea that COULD be entertained (but it WONT in the current CFL): get rid of way over-paid QB salaries, lower the SMS a bit (but top players could still be earning 100K plus), reduce game rosters to say 41 players (with a 7 man PR), AND focus on more Canadian talent (rosters should be 50%+ Canadian/National), including marketing top young Canadian talent coming into the league (stress their local/Canadian football roots).

Again, COULD be tried, might work well, but it WONT be tried with the current clique of Americans first GOBs running the CFL. AND - the CFL is (and always has been) "top tier" pro football - it is the highest level of CANADIAN football (and tough $hite for the wannabes who don't see it that way by comparing it to American football) and would stay that way with more Canadian content - in player and coaching content.

[j-ski]

The only way to save the CFL is to drastically lower salaries, and run it similar to the Canadian Soccer League.
Focus more on Canadian University players, including QBs. Lower the price point for fans.
TSN money will still be there. Your core support likely will be too.
Yes we have 3 downs and a great tradition. But we need to toss in the towel and forget about marketing ourselves as top tier pro football. The NFL has that market cornered.
Quebec supports Laval football, you don't think the Als would do better with that league as a pipeline at all areas including QB?

I would prefer your suggestions, to the current version of the CFL.

[doubleblue]

The only way to save the CFL is to drastically lower salaries, and run it similar to the Canadian Soccer League.
Focus more on Canadian University players, including QBs. Lower the price point for fans.
TSN money will still be there. Your core support likely will be too.
Yes we have 3 downs and a great tradition. But we need to toss in the towel and forget about marketing ourselves as top tier pro football. The NFL has that market cornered.
Quebec supports Laval football, you don't think the Als would do better with that league as a pipeline at all areas including QB?

Well sounds good in theory, but I don't see that working long term. Just a fact that except for the "hard core" the TV ratings will drop and then so will TSN money. The same with the already dwindling fans attending games. Whether we like it or not the average fan will not get excited about watching more cheaper paid less talented Canadian ball players. IMO if a CFL team were able to play in Quebec City they would eventually out draw Laval, which is why the University tries so hard to keep the CFL out. People aren't stupid and they will want to watch the better players in town.
Randy Ambrose seems to get a lot of flack trying to grow the CFL game world wide, but it seems that is the only way to try an increase revenue. Sometimes we have to look at the big picture.
I'm all for the Canadian players in the CFL, but the reality is there is not a deep enough talent base to stock ten teams at the calibre of football currently played in the League. Even if your idea was to happen, who's to say a good Canadian player coming out of USports would want to play for much less than he could make in the real world.
People can't seem to get there head around that the current CFL talent is very close to the NFL. But it's a different game with often smaller players but not less talented. On the smaller NFL field they are not as effective. The players know once they experience it. Ricky Williams said when he came up for a year, that he couldn't see much difference in the calibre of play from the NFL. But again it's the American players that make the League as good as it is with the best Canadian players available sprinkled in.
But more Canadian players playing for less money, the League will die or become a semi-pro League or die and probably take the USports football down with it.