Comments relative to the following article on CFL 2015:
[url=http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl-55-yard-line/five-crucial-cfl-questions-for-2015-201850883.html;_ylt=A0SO8wYsJ69ULZYABQBXNyoA]http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl-55-ya ... YABQBXNyoA[/url]Saw the same article in the paper earlier in the week. All good points without the usual hysteria from the press.
My responses would be
1/ Braley is becoming this generations Harold Ballard. Rich enough to do what he wants. Old and cantankerous to do the same even if it hurts him the team and the league.
2/Concussion lawsuits will not be a massive thing. We are not as sue happy as the US and the league is not rich enough to really chase for the mother load cheque. It will cave for the same reason the players union did, the imports are not here long enough and involved enough to get that worked up. Just want to play the game and earn some dough then go home. Plus Bruce was just pissed about his bounce around quick downward end.
3/Offence will rebound as the quarterbacks come back. Collaros, Durant, Lulay, Reilly all missed big chunks. If they all play changes the whole tone of the year.
4/Argo's See point 1
5/ Karen Stinz First female commish. If she was able to stand up to Rob Ford she can keep the owners in line. She said earlier she wants the job and so far I haven't heard anyone else say so.
I got excited and thought the CFL finally joined the 1980s and created a video game…lol
-BMO just is really looking to be a terrible option. MLSE is pending oven 100 million for more than just TFC matches. It is already the National teams main venue. It is pretty obvious to me that they want to make it the main venue for International events and matches as well. Which most is played during the summer and fall months right during the the CFL season.
From that respect alone the dates available may be even worse than at Rogers Centre.
-If the Argo's do get BMO for home games we do not know all of the lease conditions. Aside from still being millinos short of phase 3, who would pay to have the seats in the endzone removed and put back into place to go from CFL to Soccer. Who pays for painting and removing CFL lines.
BC Lions have been reported for some time to have several interested ownership Groups. The only on that I have heard that has come out openly is the Canucks. There has been zero news in recent months though in regards for the Lions sale. I would not think that money is anykind of object for Canucks and Aquillini group as they have been very open to the public that they want to add more teams in other leagues under their brand.
It s Braleys ego.. He does not care about the health of the Lions and is more interested in stoking his ego at the cost of his own legacy.. The Lions will not even average 20k paid and sat in seats in 2015... It is just so sad to see how Bradley has destroyed the legacy of Bob Ackles... Ackles brought this team from 14 k all the way up to 35K.. Braley is hell bent on taking it back to 14 it would appear...
You know if you make an argument you have to at least be self-consistent.
- Braley only cares about “his own legacy”
- Braley doesn’t care about the health of the Lions
- Bob Ackles legacy is building Lions attendance
- (therefore) Bob Ackles cared about his own legacy
- (therefore) you have asserted that both Braley and Ackles care about their legacy
So, how does Braley generate a legacy (which MEANS the public perception of his accomplishments) when he (in your estimation) doesn’t care about the very things that would build that legacy???
Because he is a pigheaded cheapo that is so stubborn that he continues to do things that he knows are hurting him. Like stupid stuff like not carrying any named jerseys at the game. Can you believe that 5 years ago you could not go to a Lions game and buy a Geroy Simon jersey.. You had to order it ,and then have them snail mail it to you!!!! I was so blown away by this... Then this year every keg of beer was stale.. I had to go to 4 different kegs to find a good one.. When I came back down stairs.. They were still selling 14 dollar stale beers to people, even though they admitted that the beer smelled awful.. Most people in Vancouver are too cliquey to embarrass themselves like I am and say anything. So they jus bought the 14 dollar stale beer and were throwing them away. Then in the upper deck, you will miss an entire quarter of football to get a beer because cheapo has half of the conssessions closed.. I actually ran down to the lower deck got beer and then went all the way back up and beat my brother back to the seats... He doesn't care because hes queerer than 3 dollar bill and doesn t even understand what's going on..haha
TIP: skip the beer.
For the sale of the Lions, it has only been about a year since Braley made the announcement about selling of both franchises. Just because he does not spout out to the media whats going on with it does not mean it is not in the works. Hopefully it is the long expectation that the Canucks will purchase the Lions. Would secure the Lions future with a NHL/CFL synergy model. Aquilini is a Vancuver guy also owns Canucks AHL club that currently resides in Utica. Also has designs for the NBA to return to Vancouver.
A non profit for the Argo's sounds like a Cohon plan. Not sure how that would work in this day in age but I would doubt anyone from Toronto proper would be interested in investing their money into an Argo's non profit. Looking into who could put something together for an ownership group would be Landmark Sports Group's Elliot Kerr of Mississauga long time resident. Also has turned the OHL team, the last OHL team formally in Toronto Proper, re branding the team to the Steelheads and has turned that club around. Mayorial Candidate had a stadium on his platform for Mississauga. He lost the race for new mayor but another resident of the city for 36 years still may have designs on getting Argo's and stadium in Mississauga through a non profit set up. ( this is just a specualtion on my part, nothing more. )
Reserve comments on Braley until we see how this plays out.
The longer Braley hangs onto the Lions... The cheaper they will be when he sells them. This is true for the Argos as well. He could OF got 8 mil for them last year.. Now they are worth nothing. He could OF gotten 30 or 40 million for the Lions when the Reno's were announced, but didn't sell. Then he failed to sell out tempore even once after the city decided to rip everyone off and charge 25 dollars to park. Then he botched the relaunch of BC Place by doubling the ticket prices. What a colossal failure the relaunch has been . even the playoff games have not been close to a sell out.. Bradley has hurt the Lions emensely and should of sold the team the day Ackles died.. Ackles made the lions what they were
Who every week invented auto correct should be shot... Anyways.. I doubt the Lions are even worth 15 million now that they can't host another Great Cup game for probably more than a decade.. By the end of this season the team will be worth less than 10 million , once it becomes apparent that the team is losing money again despite the huge TV increase. It would not surprise me in the slightest if Braley drug this team through the mud like he is doing to the Argos.
My mother. Commented this year on how the game was no fun because there was no one there. You start losing your fans who don't attend the game but who are attending an event and you are in big big trouble