There was big news announced last week by the Canadian Football League and a developing story posted to TSN.ca about what a potential CFL season would look like. I am here to give my take on all the news about the possible new season.
The 2020 Season Will Not Start Until September
On May 20 the CFL announced that it will not be starting its 2020 season until September at the earliest. This means that the CFL could lose around half of its season. This could also put the Grey Cup into December. This is a good thing to know as this can help teams prepare for whatever solution the CFL determines to be the best option for their 2020 season. This enables them to make plans and arrangements for players and officials. This will be needed more so if the league is to choose a hub city-or cities-model. This would line the CFL up more so with the other football organizations, such as the National Football League, National Collegiate Athletic Association Football, and U Sports Football. This would be nice for U Sports but may be a struggle for the CFL, as they are going up against two very dedicated sports followings in the NFL and NCAA Football.
No Touchdown Atlantic
With the postponement of the start of the 2020 CFL season to September, the 2020 version of the CFL's Touchdown Atlantic, which was scheduled for July 25, has been cancelled. Moncton was ready to make its pitch for being the home of the CFL's tenth franchise. This pitch will have to wait, as most of the world is doing right now. The CFL has a sense of incompletion to it, as they are without an even number of teams, and are missing one of the country's most iconic regions: Atlantic Canada. Will this hurt the expansion of the CFL with the Atlantic Schooners? Only time will tell, but in my opinion, it will have only delayed it.
Regina Grey Cup Moved to 2022
With the possible truncation, or even cancellation, of the 2020 season, the CFL made the decision to move Regina's opportunity to host the national celebration of Football to 2022. This is a marvellous decision as any city-not just a crown jewel of Canada and the CFL-should be able to showcase themselves to the country, and this is what this decision has done. So then, the question being begged here, what is happening with the 2020 Grey Cup? The CFL has decided that the 2020 edition of the game will be played in the home stadium of the qualifying team with the better record. This is a good plan for this season, but only if this is to remain for this season. Football has a tradition of neutral-site championship games, and to remove this would be robbing the game of one of its oldest, time-honoured traditions, one that levels the playing field.
Spring League Partnership
One of the most interesting pieces of news to come out of the CFL sphere was the potential of the CFL teaming up with The Spring League. TSN.ca is reporting that "Brian Woods, the CEO of The Spring League, has approached [CFL Commissioner Randy] Ambrosie about a partnership. Woods is offering an opportunity for some CFL teams to practise with and play against Spring League squads in September in a condensed format he says has proven beneficial to his operation." The CFL has alumni for the Spring League currently under contract with their member clubs. This could be good for the few teams that are able to play with them as this could get them sharp for the coming season. The Spring League is only looking for a few teams, and the partnership would have to be approved by the Canadian Football League Players Union. Based on those last two facts, I think it will be rather difficult to get approval. Having only a few teams with the chance to be ready before others is going to be a difficult item to be approved by the union, but I believe that partnerships like these will help grow the game as a whole and the CFL specifically. This could be a massive bright spot for the league if it is able to get approval from the Players Union.
The CFL may not know for sure if they're able to play a full season, but that doesn't mean they should not try. This is a valuable organization to the country and should be treated as such. Sport has the power to unify unlike nothing else, even between the bitterest of rivals, and may it unify our nation.
La Cheeserie, Littles
Fight On, Sleepers
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