R.J
02-27-2012, 08:26 PM
As blogged by Rod Pederson (http://www.rodpedersen.com/2012/02/big-week-for-cfl.html)
TORONTO - This is a big week for the Canadian Football League here in Canada's largest city, home of the Toronto Argonauts and site of the 100th Grey Cup this November.
Our league's leading coaches, hottest player prospects, and biggest partners all come together in Canada's largest city, along with executives and employees from all CFL teams, for a series of gatherings leading up to one of the most important seasons in the league's storied history.
It gets underway Wednesday, when CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon kicks off CFL Congress presented by Cisco, an annual three-day gathering where league and team personnel share information and best practices on topics such as marketing, ticketing, communications, game operations and football operations.
This year's focus is the 100th Grey Cup in 2012: a celebration of the sporting and cultural milestone will span several weeks and the entire country, before culminating in a tremendous 100th Grey Cup Festival in Toronto November 16-25, and the iconic game itself on Sunday, November 25, at Rogers Centre.
But Congress also includes a meeting of the league's rules committee (Thursday), which will review possible rule changes for the upcoming CFL season, a session for team physicians, part of the league's ongoing commitment to player health and safety, and an opportunity for TSN, the league's biggest partner and official broadcaster, to outline its plans for a series of groundbreaking documentaries on the Grey Cup.
Friday features the 51st annual CFL Coach of the Year luncheon, honouring the leading coach from the 2011 season, at Noon ET in the Queen's Park Ballroom at the Park Hyatt Hotel.
The nominees for the prestigious award are:
Wally Buono, who has won more games than any other coach in CFL history, and led the BC Lions to a Grey Cup victory last year after some counted his team out following an 0-5 start;
Paul LaPolice, who coached the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a first-place finish in the East and a berth in the Grey Cup, after winning just four games the previous season;
and Kavis Reed, who is credited with restoring the lustre to the league's famed Edmonton Eskimo franchise, as his team made it to the Western Final in his first year as head coach, just one year after the Eskimos missed the playoffs.
This year's luncheon will honour the legacy of more than 100 years of great Canadian football coaches and will be hosted by legendary Canadian broadcaster Brian Williams of TSN, winner of eight Geminis and two Foster Hewitt Awards.
Also on Friday, the league brings together its partners (sponsors, licensees, media and agencies) for CFL Summit.
They will plan for the year ahead, network, and focus on the business of the CFL. Guest speakers at Summit include Hamilton Tiger-Cat quarterback Henry Burris, a two- time Grey Cup Champion who signed with the Tabbies this past off-season, and former Toronto Argonaut Quarterback and four-time Grey Cup Champion Damon Allen, who will be inducted into the Canadian Football of Fame this Fall.
On the weekend, 59 of Canada's top football prospects, who dream of competing for the Grey Cup themselves someday, gather downtown for CFL Evaluation Camp presented by Reebok.
The camp is an important opportunity for them to display their talent for CFL teams in anticipation of the CFL Canadian Draft on May 3rd.
On Friday evening, the players hear from CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon. Saturday features strength and agility testing located in the Queen's Park Ballroom of the Park Hyatt Hotel, as well as interviews with the teams' general managers, coaches and player personnel directors. On Sunday, players will be timed over 40 yards, and take part in blocking, passing and catching drills, on the field at the University of Toronto's Varsity Stadium, site of 24 Grey Cup Games.
Leading prospects at Evaluation Camp include Ben Heenan, an offensive lineman from the University of Saskatchewan, Shamawd Chambers, a receiver from Wilfrid Laurier and Arnaud Gascon-Nadon, a defensive end from Universite Laval. Also participating are quarterbacks Kyle Quinlan, who led McMaster University to the Vanier Cup in 2011, Billy Greene of the University of British Columbia, and Kyle Graves of Acadia University.
(Courtesy CFL)
TORONTO - This is a big week for the Canadian Football League here in Canada's largest city, home of the Toronto Argonauts and site of the 100th Grey Cup this November.
Our league's leading coaches, hottest player prospects, and biggest partners all come together in Canada's largest city, along with executives and employees from all CFL teams, for a series of gatherings leading up to one of the most important seasons in the league's storied history.
It gets underway Wednesday, when CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon kicks off CFL Congress presented by Cisco, an annual three-day gathering where league and team personnel share information and best practices on topics such as marketing, ticketing, communications, game operations and football operations.
This year's focus is the 100th Grey Cup in 2012: a celebration of the sporting and cultural milestone will span several weeks and the entire country, before culminating in a tremendous 100th Grey Cup Festival in Toronto November 16-25, and the iconic game itself on Sunday, November 25, at Rogers Centre.
But Congress also includes a meeting of the league's rules committee (Thursday), which will review possible rule changes for the upcoming CFL season, a session for team physicians, part of the league's ongoing commitment to player health and safety, and an opportunity for TSN, the league's biggest partner and official broadcaster, to outline its plans for a series of groundbreaking documentaries on the Grey Cup.
Friday features the 51st annual CFL Coach of the Year luncheon, honouring the leading coach from the 2011 season, at Noon ET in the Queen's Park Ballroom at the Park Hyatt Hotel.
The nominees for the prestigious award are:
Wally Buono, who has won more games than any other coach in CFL history, and led the BC Lions to a Grey Cup victory last year after some counted his team out following an 0-5 start;
Paul LaPolice, who coached the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a first-place finish in the East and a berth in the Grey Cup, after winning just four games the previous season;
and Kavis Reed, who is credited with restoring the lustre to the league's famed Edmonton Eskimo franchise, as his team made it to the Western Final in his first year as head coach, just one year after the Eskimos missed the playoffs.
This year's luncheon will honour the legacy of more than 100 years of great Canadian football coaches and will be hosted by legendary Canadian broadcaster Brian Williams of TSN, winner of eight Geminis and two Foster Hewitt Awards.
Also on Friday, the league brings together its partners (sponsors, licensees, media and agencies) for CFL Summit.
They will plan for the year ahead, network, and focus on the business of the CFL. Guest speakers at Summit include Hamilton Tiger-Cat quarterback Henry Burris, a two- time Grey Cup Champion who signed with the Tabbies this past off-season, and former Toronto Argonaut Quarterback and four-time Grey Cup Champion Damon Allen, who will be inducted into the Canadian Football of Fame this Fall.
On the weekend, 59 of Canada's top football prospects, who dream of competing for the Grey Cup themselves someday, gather downtown for CFL Evaluation Camp presented by Reebok.
The camp is an important opportunity for them to display their talent for CFL teams in anticipation of the CFL Canadian Draft on May 3rd.
On Friday evening, the players hear from CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon. Saturday features strength and agility testing located in the Queen's Park Ballroom of the Park Hyatt Hotel, as well as interviews with the teams' general managers, coaches and player personnel directors. On Sunday, players will be timed over 40 yards, and take part in blocking, passing and catching drills, on the field at the University of Toronto's Varsity Stadium, site of 24 Grey Cup Games.
Leading prospects at Evaluation Camp include Ben Heenan, an offensive lineman from the University of Saskatchewan, Shamawd Chambers, a receiver from Wilfrid Laurier and Arnaud Gascon-Nadon, a defensive end from Universite Laval. Also participating are quarterbacks Kyle Quinlan, who led McMaster University to the Vanier Cup in 2011, Billy Greene of the University of British Columbia, and Kyle Graves of Acadia University.
(Courtesy CFL)