So I am watching PTS today and BOB Mccown is asked by Ambrosie if he has any ideas for the Argos . Ambrosie was not on PTS it was just a segue to start a CFL discussion so Bob thinks the CFL should be a NFL minor league with all NFL rules . He bashes the league as double AA.
Nice to see the three others including Madani pushing back and trashing Bob's idea . They were out to lunch if they think TSN overpaid for rights ..
I don't watch often but he had taken nice gesture by Randy and turned into a bash . Not impressed and I hope Randy remembers .
That just goes to show the mentality of bob macowin , he probably never watched a cfl game in his life. I wouldn’t take any advice of his , that’s for sure.
Bob fancies himself a bit of an intellectual colossus when it comes to two things:
Sports & 2. Wineries
But his hatred for the CFL dates back several decades as he was kept out of the loop, either broadcasting or hosting panels in the CFL, when mushrooms like Rod Black, Joe Galat, James Curry & others were gifted jobs.
So his credibility on the league is basically zero to very low.
Anyone can see Toronto is a head-scratchin’, failing market. Doesn’t take Bob’s incredible 89 IQ. . .> !
And the only way the CFL should become NFL North is when the CFL can no longer exist on its own volition - either the sports networks pull the plug on sponsorship or attendance falls by at least 25% across the board. At that point, even I would concede, the boring 4 down, plod 'n poke league would serve as a good platform for 4 down ball, 11 man rules, 45 to 48 man rosters with limited reserve & taxi squads.
No doubt an NFL North concoction could exist with NFL TV networks, some Canadian participation and teams in at least9 markets (Sask’n, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Ottawa, Quebec, Montreal, Hamilton & Winnipeg) with a 10th team based in an American non-NFL city (ie. Rochester, Des Moines, Fargo, St. Louis, etc.)
This is far down the road - may never happen but the only rule I’d like the NFL to consider is keeping a modicum of Canadian born talent on such teams; perhaps 2 starters on offense & defense plus another 3 to 5 players rostered (either as back-ups, rotational or reserve guys)
McCown is also catering to his own Sportsnet ownership group (Rogers) because that network barely mentions the CFL (other than near Grey Cup time or when a guy like Lyle Bauer or Kavis Reed soil themselves) - - - and now Sportsnet/Rogers is probably enraged cuz CFL/Ambrosie has started talks with CBC to see if they want back into the coverage - and at what price!
So essentially MCown has become Roger’s on-air mouthpiece on this little twist - because Rogers family ownership don’t want to speak directly to the issue - ON ANY MEDIA PLATFORM, LET ALONE THEIR OWN!
The league should turn this kind of thing to their own advantage.
Have an ad campaign featuring a bunch of young fans listening to this kind of scorn from cranky middle-aged (and older) dudes like BM and reacting to that but-it's-not-like-America scorn with an eye-roll and "sure, Dad" dismissal with cuts to these young fans enjoying themselves at TD, Mosaic, etc.
The diversity is strength angle is a great one, but an edgier, more youthful angle could be used to complement it.
Yeah, unfortunately Bob's issues with the CFL is personal which stems from when C&S, Bob's good freinds were on the out when they owned the Argos. Didn't like how it was handled so he's had a beef with the league ever since. Not sure what it will take to change that.
A 4 down professional football league that's not the NFL? He thinks that will work? The Montreal Machine say hello. If non pro NFL doesn't sell in the US. Zero chance you can have a viable league here.
No he Ambrosie wasn’t on the show Bob had said he met Ambrosie and of course Randy being open minded asked Bob his ideas . Bob used this as a segue to his NFL triple A football league . Triple AAA doesn’t even work for baseball in Canada .
The only solution would be one spot in the Super Bowl playoffs if there was no crossover games during the season and each team was self supportive in a Canadian division . I actually think this is a solution for NFL expansion worldwide . Where each foreign league get one berth in the play offs with opposite years getting a home date to the first round . The NFL’s only way to a English Division or Mexican Division etc…
I wouldn’t entirely rule out an NFL North league. First & foremost - the NFL would surely be able to reduce the CFL’s current star-driven payroll from 5.25 million to less than 2 million a team. They’d try to keep ticket prices solid but that might not work - they’d have consider cutting current CFL ticket prices 15 to 25% - across the board.
One advantage of an NFL Northern League would be the appearance of NCAA developmental players who need experience and aren’t quite ready for the NFL. We’d see more up 'n coming players at key positions than we ever did - if that’s a good thing, its a good thing!
But watching boring 4 down football played on mini-fields isn’t my cup o tea.
O - couple other upsides. NFL quality control would never tolerate vermin like Rod Black on the stick. And the officiating - clearly that would get better under NFL auspices!
NFL officials usually deliver an average 8/10 game (some 7s, the odd 6 but usually top level) while their CFL counterparts deliver a usual 6.0 with tons of 4.5 and 5s thrown in. The best CFL officiating is probably no better than 7.0 or 7.5
Bob McCown? That old man is still around? I thought he was toast. He's a likeable nothing guy though, always liked him because he just doesn't come across as any serious sports reporter or whatever his title is/was.
If the CFL is AA, McCown is East Coast Hockey League material nowadays. I think ol' Bobby knows this now, he's a fun guy, does he still wear those "cool" shades? 8)
McCown is 67 or 68. He's in Red Fisher territory now. His cool on-air demeanour belies a mealy-mouthed sports persona. But he's not invested in anything anymore. Got paid rather well by Rogers - doesn't spend much (word on the street is he's one of the cheapest guys in southern Ontario)- enough to get some investors together to open a couple wineries in the Niagara peninsula. Dropping the shades and talking cryptic about sports gives him another $200 to $250k annually to save and invest in wines.
That said, there's at least two guys in Canadian sports broadcasting I'd take Shady Bob over - 1. Michael Landsbergh, TSN's drech-master extraordinaire who's recently been confined to a regional radio show after blowing his brains out on TSN's 'Off the Record'. 2. Rod Black, TSN's multi-purpose idiot who debases the CFL every time he's assigned a game. Might actually be 3 guys now that I think about it - Cabby is a total waste immo! No more need be said.
Bob said he hasn’t been to an NFL game in 20 years and finds it boring . He says he loved the CFL when C and S friends were involved but if they are not there he doesn’t care for it . He still wears his sunglasses .
He twists in the wind and loves the attention of the other panelists . Never sure what to make him . At times he has had some good guests with some good insight but today he was just jock talk with no substance .
McCown fleeced Rogers big time over the years, I think he was getting paid in the mid $600,000s at one time, believe it or not!
Landsbergh I do know has and might still have some major depression from what I understand so I’ll give him slack. Rod, well Rod, ah, well Rod, ok enough said. But he has a likeable factor, again I imagine he’s paid well, the word fleece applies here as well.
we all know what the CFL has to do in order to compete on the field with the NFL. They are not that far away now. If people who follow the leaguedon’t want that change then they need to be supporting their teams. Talent still quite good and prospects far greater in the CFL then the other sports in TO. If he knew somethingabout sports he would know where to look for the facts and he wouldn’t look like an idiot and say things like the AA comment.
McCown as long as I listened to him has been able to fake out all of the listeners with his BS. He doesn’t care about sports! He cares about money, golf, wine and taking shots at things he hasn’t got a clue about.He is upset that MLB ratings were poor for the W.S. Calls CFL AA but in reality, at least in Toronto the Argos have the best athletesin the city- just do a side by side comparison of the teams. MLB went off the juice and it shows. Had to make special baseballs so the players can still hit H.R.'s. TV ratings are not great for some of the otherMLSE properties and that bothers him. He or his show should just hurry up and die, he will get lots of attention then. Then maybe Rogers will put in a true sports reporter who will respect all of the athletes. orMaybe not.
Wow - Bobcat sure bent old man Rogers over a barrel - if that $600k figure is accurate (or even $500k). Doing a couple of hours a day, basically the same guests, same dour demeanour and constant moping - well that’s incredible.
I don’t think Landsbergh - at the very height of his deceits was grabbing any more than $300k - Rotten Rod is prolly in the $200 to $225k range as TSN’s #1 utility man! Don’t have a clue what temps like Cabby or Brian Williams inhale!
[b]Lyle B. Style wrote:[/b]
Wow - Bobcat sure bent old man Rogers over a barrel - if that $600k figure is accurate (or even $500k).
Wow, didn't realize McCown was raking in this much dough! Ok, for that amount of money he has to be an entertainer rather than simply a sports broadcaster. :)
It has made him the highest-paid broadcaster in Canada, according to some sources, with an annual salary believed to be more than $1-million.
I never listen or watch PTS anymore. Can't stand the ignorant rants about the CFL. Kind of funny, when Bobcat was doing his shows from Las Vegas back in the 90's he was part of a group trying to bring a CFL franchise to Vegas. He was all in back then on the CFL. Also when his buddies C & S owned the Argos and Pelly was the Pres. However, it appears he got his knickers in a knot when Braley took over and dumped the buddies and has been dissing them and the CFL ever since.
If enough people let Roger's and the people paying the bills know how they feel it would have an impact. Rogers and their Sponsor's don't like negative publicity. I dumped Roger's quite a while ago in favour of Bell because of their treatment of the Argos. Like I said earlier, don't listen or watch PTS anymore and only find out things from Post's like this one.
McCown and his ilk are dying Dinosaur's anyway, they just don't seem to know it yet.
McCown and cronies like Jeff “Mope like Bob” Blair are on borrowed time anyways. Rogers barely puts any promotion into PTS - instead really shilling and promoting the heck out of Timid Sid (aka Tim & Sid). I’m sure whenever Bobcat’s contract is done, he’ll be working full-time in the winery.
I think by now Ambrosie should know 90% of those who are on the CFL enemies list. Bobcat is #1, Jeff Blair would slot in at #2. That idiot who used to call games in Edmonton would prolly be #3.