1. The Randy Ambrosie Tour. The Commissioner of the CFL visited each franchise city to connect with management, fans, season ticket holders and who ever else wanted to gain insight. He talked (hyped) a lot about CFL 2.0 and what that means for the leagues future successes.
2. The CFL & Players Association met for talks over 3 days and pretty much nothing was accomplished. At least, there's been no news and not even any rumours floating around. The current CBA expires May 18th so there's still plenty of time to get things worked out. Us fans are antsy and would like things settled sooner than later.
3. Ratio Ga Ga. There was a massive discussion surrounding the ratio rules of the CFL's Canadians but also about the proposed amount of Global players. What we did see was an outpouring of CFL players posting their thoughts all over social media and often getting in arguments with each other or fans which was pretty embarrassing.
4. The Combine was held. I was otherwise distracted...Life, but thankfully I had some great people (John Strutt) who kept me in the know or at least updated about what was happening. I understand that the Combine is like a coming out party for possible players because it gives perspective teams a chance to view their skills. What I've always failed to see is how that might make someone a great player in the end, but that's just me, there must be something to it because it's done. It's important to note that this was the first time Global players were invited to attend and because of that there was gained exposure from both their leagues and Canadian media.
5. Mosaic Stadium was going to be home to an NFL preseason game...on second glance, nope it's not...or maybe yes? Between this and Olive Garden my Twitter feed was full of the ying yang of polar opposites. Some (John Gormley) wanted to say it was the Riders who put the kibosh on the event but when they later put out a statement about how the turnaround from an NFL field to CFL field less than 24 hours later, well I believe them and let's all be honest here...would you have really gone to see the Raiders and Greenbay's 3rd stringers anyway? I know I likely wouldn't have especially when I'd have to travel again the next day for the Rider game. The NFL was at first reported as unwilling to change the date and was looking elsewhere, like Winnipeg and Edmonton. Fine with me. Bob Irving also posted his thought that CFL franchises should be pulled for supporting an NFL game...Come on Bob! We are versitile people and can enjoy many forms of football in the world! For the record, I also welcome Olive Garden. The more choice the better.
6. The Alouettes are for sale. Firstly, the report was denied but then the truth came out as it always does. It's seemed to me for some time that their owners had lost interest in what was happening with their team and so I'd think new ownership would inject a much needed infusion at a time when they desperately are in need of it. What is curious is that the CFL wants to be the middle man here and take it off the Wettenhall's hands before selling it to...? Call me crazy if you'd like, but isn't this akin to Trudeau buying the pipeline?
7. Remember when we all felt the CFL was threatened by the AAF? Well Wednesday there were several stories about how the league is out of money. There was a multitude of potential here and I think had they secured a TV deal that allowed us all to watch instead of having to subscribe to yet another channel or streaming option most of us forgot about following it all together. Without exposure, there's little desire for anyone to attend the games and there have been some dismal crowd shots of the games that even make the Argonauts chuckle. Let's not forget that Johnny Manziel recently signed there too and many of us thought this was his last kick at the can but when it comes down to it there may not be a can left to kick.
8. There are some proposed rule changes surrounding the health of our players and the rolls of the referees and who and when penalties can be called. I'm all for progress. When you think of the end of the Riders season and the "I couldn't see" fiasco it was apparent something needed to be done besides adding more eyes on the field. It'll be interesting if all of this does indeed come to fruition.
There you have it! Those are the 8 CFL Stories of March. What does April have in store for us? We will have to wait and see. In the meantime, don't forget to check out ABC Football's Facebook page and if you'd like to have a fun discussion with some other passionate (and slightly crazy) Rider fans, search and join ABC Rider Fans. When the 2019 season begins, we all want to know all the latest news and I don't know a of better way to get involved.
Go Riders!
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