2018 CFL Season

[Horus]

Originally Posted by Steveston

I must be the only guy in the CFL who likes his end-zone seats!

End zone seats are great, provided they are high enough above the field to be able to see to the other end.

[esquire]

I'm not a fan of endzone seats period, the only real purpose they serve IMO is to improve atmosphere by giving a stadium a closed-in feeling, and perhaps to save on construction costs by building a short endzone stand instead of having to build really tall sideline stands.

In Winnipeg the endzone seats are priced in the middle of the range, and not surprisingly they are probably some of the worst sellers... you know this because if you go there, it's full of groups who have no doubt received tickets either for free or at a heavy discount.

[osmo]

End-Zone seats provide a cheap entry ticket, usually for younger fans. I believe most of the old fan or student sections with the rowdy fans would be in the endzones for most classic stadiums.

[TimB09]

I personally like sitting in the upper deck so I can see the play develop in front of me. I've noticed it's so hard to see that happen when you're sitting down low.

[esquire]

^ I think most football fans would agree with you. You don't see too many new stadiums built with seating that wraps all the way around a football field the way you'd see in a hockey arena.

Even the largest NFL stadiums tend to have fewer rows of seating in the end zone as compared to the 60s-90s when it was common to have the same number of rows right around the field as at the Metrodome, Giants Stadium, RCA Dome, Three Rivers Stadium, etc.

[EpicPonyTime]

I really like the boxed-in design of modern soccer stadiums like the render, but there's no way it works for football, especially in a league where more and more teams are renovating the endzones because traditional tickets there don't sell. The best clue that the render was fake would be that they were trying to build two tiers of endzone seats with no party area or something similar.

That said, it's still a very nice render for whichever stadium it is. Whether it is atmosphere or architecture, soccer stadiums have the feeling of everyone being on top of one another. I think it's something that could be replicated in a new stadium for Halifax.

[elly63]

Alouettes coach Sherman says CFL is a faster and more creative game than NFL
Bill Beacon Canadian Press February 21, 2018

Former NFL coach Mike Sherman knows he has much to learn about the Canadian Football League.

That’s why all but two of the nine-man staff he hired to begin his tenure as head coach of the Montreal Alouettes have either played, coached or done both in the CFL.

“I realized it’s a different game,” Sherman said Wednesday as the coaching staff met with the media in the Alouettes locker room. “It’s a faster game. It’s more creative.

“So to have coaches who have experienced that creativity and the tempo of the game certainly was something I was looking for. The NFL game is different from this game. It just is.”

Along with Sherman, who coached the Green Bay Packers from 2000 to 2006 and was offensive co-ordinator for other NFL squads, the only coaches with no CFL experience are defensive line coach Bert Hill and Paul Dunn, the offensive line coach and run game co-ordinator.

Sherman, hired Dec. 20 to help turn around a team that went 3-15 last season, said he has been going over the idiosyncrasies of the 12-man game with his coaches and plans to spend time with a former CFL officials to go over the rules.

But one of his first tasks is basic to any football team – finding a starting quarterback, a problem the Alouettes have been unable solve since Anthony Calvillo retired after the 2013 campaign.

With the departure of Darian Durant after only one season, the Alouettes have six quarterbacks on their roster, including Drew Willy, Matt Shiltz and Antonio Pipkin returning from last year. They signed former NFL pivot Josh Freeman as well as prospects Garrett Fugale and Nick Shafnisky.

“There is no leading candidate in my mind,” said Sherman. “I want to see them all throw and I want to see them all lead.

“In the CFL, on all the really good teams they have good leaders, not just good quarterbacks. So it’s going to be a wide open camp. I don’t wait too long to make a decision. Guys better come to camp ready to play because the decision isn’t going to be too, too late. We need to move forward to get ready for the season.”

Sherman kept on only two coaches from GM/coach Kavis Reed’s staff last season – Billy Parker with the defensive backs and Andre Bolduc for the running backs. Both are former Alouettes players.

He has Khalil Carter, the former Calgary Stampeders DB coach, as defensive co-ordinator and former CFL quarterback and coach Khari Jones as offensive co-ordinator. Carter will be mentored by long-time CFL defensive guru Rich Stubler as special adviser to the defensive co-ordinator.

The special teams co-ordinator is Mickey Donovan, formerly the head coach at Concordia University. Ex-Edmonton Eskimo Jason Tucker is the receivers coach.

Carter and Donovan are first-time pro co-ordinators.

“Khalil played under Rich Stubler, who has tremendous experience in the CFL and his system,” said Sherman. “Khalil was part of that system. When he explained to me their defensive package, I thought he was an excellent teacher. He’s highly intelligent.

“Mickey is also intelligent and is a great teacher. He has high character. I think we’ll be a very good special teams team as we grow through the season. I don’t think it will be Day One, but as we go through the games we’ll get to where our special teams will be a force.”

Donovan, an American who played at Concordia in the early 2000s, jumped at the chance to join Alouettes.

“I’m coaching, I’m doing what I love to do,” he said. “I always loved coaching special teams, no matter where I went. I always wanted my hand in the pot of doing things with special teams.”

Carter was defensive backs coach in Calgary and had a hand in the signing of former Stampeders Joe Burnett and Tommie Campbell as free agents as part of a sweeping rebuild of the Alouettes defence. They also inked DBs Dominique Ellis from Hamilton and Mitchell White from Toronto.

“We looked at tons of film to see what guys fit the system we want to have here and those guys fit the system,” said Carter. “I really felt like Kavis and coach Sherman supported all of our ideas and what we wanted to bring to this team.

“When you’re 3-15, you have things you need to change and I think we addressed that in free agency.”

Carter played three seasons with Stubler as his defensive co-ordinator while with the Toronto Argonauts and coached under him in Calgary.

“He’s an adviser,” said Carter. “He’s going to help me with ideas that I have.

“You can liken it to a mentor. He’s here to help me make good decisions. Everywhere I’ve been with Stubler as a player and under him as a coach before, we’ve been very successful.”

[elly63]

Alouettes want to host the Grey Cup but where will they play it?
Drew Edwards 3downnation.com February 22, 2018

CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie is speaking in Hamilton tonight as part of his cross-Canada tour and one of the questions he’s inevitably going to face will surround when Hamilton is going to host a Grey Cup, something they haven’t done since 1996.

But they aren’t the only ones looking to get back in the game.

The Montreal Alouettes also want to get back in the Grey Cup rotation according to team president Patrick Boivin. Montreal is a great city and the fan base could likely use the infusion of interest and attention that comes with hosting the CFL’s marquee event. Montreal hosted its last Grey Cup in 2008, the second-longest drought after Hamilton.

The only problem: where will they play the game?

Boivin appeared with Randy Ambrosie as part of the CFL commissioner’s cross-country tour which launched in Montreal in early February.

The issue for the Alouettes has been the lack of a suitable facility – a concern which Boivin did not address in his remarks.

Percival Molson Stadium, where the Alouettes play their home games, has a capacity of just 25,012 and has precious little room for temporary expansion. Last year’s Grey Cup in Ottawa was hosted at TD Place in front of just over 36,000 fans, which included 10,000 temporary seats.

The 2008 game was played at Olympic Stadium but concerns over the structural integrity of the roof mean that events cannot be held if there is more than three centimetres of snow. Given that the Grey Cup is played in November – remember last year’s Snow Bowl? – that’s not a risk the CFL is likely to take.

In November, the Quebec provincial government announced plans to replace the existing roof at a cost of between $200 and $250 million but work isn’t expected to be completed by 2023 at the earliest – two years after Boivin’s suggested host date.

The 2018 Grey Cup is set to be hosted in Edmonton and there are a few other CFL franchises likely interested in mounting a bid for what’s become a lucrative event for the host team, city and league. The Saskatchewan Roughriders, who last hosted in 2013, have a brand new facility as do the Tiger-Cats. Hamilton, however, is still embroiled in litigation over the stadium and city council has said a bid will not proceed until those issues are resolved.

Still, a Grey Cup in Montreal, one of the most enjoyable cities on the CFL circuit, sounds like fun – if Boivin can find a place to play the actual game.

[tomthumb2]

^^^ Doesn't the MLS team play some home and playoff games in the Big O? Didn't know the roof had deteriorated that much lately. It's really the only option as McGill is way too small.

As for the Alouettes organization - they are a complete joke. Going to McGill is not the trendy thing it used to be and the team is not worth wasting your money on. Have a cousin in Mtl who says its a real chore to go now - the team has almost zero talent and offers very little entertainment value. I don't see how a goof like Kavis Reed can change things around, especially when he hires a guy with zero cfl experience. They will be hard pressed to even get to 3-15 this year.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by tomthumb2

^^^ Doesn't the MLS team play some home and playoff games in the Big O? Didn't know the roof had deteriorated that much lately. It's really the only option as McGill is way too small.

As for the Alouettes organization - they are a complete joke. Going to McGill is not the trendy thing it used to be and the team is not worth wasting your money on. Have a cousin in Mtl who says its a real chore to go now - the team has almost zero talent and offers very little entertainment value. I don't see how a goof like Kavis Reed can change things around, especially when he hires a guy with zero cfl experience. They will be hard pressed to even get to 3-15 this year.

It probably won’t be long before the CFL crisis hotspot shifts from Toronto to Montreal.

[esquire]

It feels like the Als have been a rudderless ship ever since Calvillo retired. That team was a powerhouse for so long (really going back to season one in Baltimore) they don't seem to have any conception of how to restock their roster and rebuild the team.

FWIW I doubt the situation there is dire quite yet... tickets are relatively pricy in Montreal and they still draw respectable crowds. But a few more seasons like last year and I could see a situation where the alarm is sounding.

[tomthumb2]

Originally Posted by esquire

It feels like the Als have been a rudderless ship ever since Calvillo retired. That team was a powerhouse for so long (really going back to season one in Baltimore) they don't seem to have any conception of how to restock their roster and rebuild the team.

FWIW I doubt the situation there is dire quite yet... tickets are relatively pricy in Montreal and they still draw respectable crowds. But a few more seasons like last year and I could see a situation where the alarm is sounding.

Is 19k respectable? That's like a hockey game crowd. Seems like a pretty low standard to me but I suppose its probably incredible to get that many people out to watch a really crappy football team.

[tomthumb2]

Originally Posted by Andy6

It probably won’t be long before the CFL crisis hotspot shifts from Toronto to Montreal.

And don't forget Vancouver. Been a disturbing trend there too. Stadium is beautiful but its way too big and the giant beach towels hanging down look ridiculous. Not sure what the solution is though. Winning might help them get their average up a bit but I feel like most Vancouverites just don't care.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by tomthumb2

Is 19k respectable? That's like a hockey game crowd. Seems like a pretty low standard to me but I suppose its probably incredible to get that many people out to watch a really crappy football team.

I guess it's a matter of perspective. Considering the average CFL crowd in recent years has hovered around the 25,000 mark, it isn't that bad... especially considering how lousy the team has been of late. Montreal's price points are quite high too, so I'm sure their revenue is decent.

You do seem to like crafting doomsday scenarios though, so I concede that crowds of 19,000 are enough to start painting a grim picture if one is so inclined.

[tomthumb2]

Originally Posted by esquire

I guess it's a matter of perspective. Considering the average CFL crowd in recent years has hovered around the 25,000 mark, it isn't that bad... especially considering how lousy the team has been of late. Montreal's price points are quite high too, so I'm sure their revenue is decent.

You do seem to like crafting doomsday scenarios though, so I concede that crowds of 19,000 are enough to start painting a grim picture if one is so inclined.

Doomsday scenario is a little harsh but surely you can't argue that they are trending down.

[esquire]

To me, the time to get alarmed is when a market starts tuning out completely. It's happened many times before like in Montreal during the 80s, Ottawa and Vancouver in the mid 90s, Toronto earlier this decade. Montreal is not at that point. Seeing an attendance decline during a losing patch where there aren't really any stars to get fans excited is part of the normal cycle IMO.

If they had another 5 seasons like last year it would have the potential to become dire, but I don't think there's much to worry about right now.

[tomthumb2]

^^^ Agreed. I wouldn't say I'm worried but if attendance declines again this year people are going to start getting concerned. IMO they have to have to have more success this year (they won't get to 500 this year but maybe 6 games is possible?) and maybe even more importantly, get one or two players to get excited about. Right now there's no one and I think Kavis Reed is a complete idiot.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

I guess it's a matter of perspective. Considering the average CFL crowd in recent years has hovered around the 25,000 mark, it isn't that bad... especially considering how lousy the team has been of late. Montreal's price points are quite high too, so I'm sure their revenue is decent.

You do seem to like crafting doomsday scenarios though, so I concede that crowds of 19,000 are enough to start painting a grim picture if one is so inclined.

Does the RDS TV contract money go to the Alouettes primarily or is it spread out evenly across the league?

The Alouettes' TV ratings on RDS are actually pretty good.

[elly63]

Randy Ambrosie’s Atlantic Town Hall (Full video)

As part of the last stop of ‘Randy’s Road Trip’, CFL.ca will have exclusive LIVE coverage of Randy Ambrosie’s town hall meeting in Halifax Friday afternoon as he takes questions from fans and media in Atlantic Canada.

[Horus]

Hamilton officially confirms the rumoured hire of Jerry Glanville as new DC. The Tiger-Cats transformation into the 1990's Atlanta Falcons is getting closer.


https://www.tsn.ca/glanville-joins-t...s-dc-1.1009061