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Farhan Lalji's Twitter feed: From Bo Levi Mitchell: I think we are all disappointed, not in the league or the govt. b/c everyone is trying to do what they think is right, but just in the fact that we aren’t playing & we just want to play. It’s what we do. We’re football players. It’s what we love. We miss it. I'm with Bo on this one.

https://www.tsn.ca/cfl-announces-plans-for-shortened-season-starting-in-august-1.1627462 The Canadian Football League has announced a plan to cut its 2021 regular season from 18 to 14 games, while moving its start date back nearly two months from June 10 to Aug. 5. The Grey Cup, originally scheduled for Nov. 21 in Hamilton, is now slated to be played on Dec. 12. While a target date to resume play is a welcome bit of clarity for the CFL’s various stakeholders, the league stopped short of committing to play without governments lifting restrictions on fans attending games. It all points to a period in mid-June when the league will have to assess whether its new start date is attainable. “Aug. 5 is based on a lot of conversations with public health authorities that we would have a lot more information and will see a real decline as this third wave passes through,” said commissioner Randy Ambrosie. “With more and more people getting vaccinated, there’s a lot of indication that early June will give us more information for a final decision to go. “In early June we’ll be collecting all of our data and be in contact with public health officials.” Ambrosie said he could not be specific about what percentage of stadiums would have to be open to fans for the league to play, given the different capacities. “We will work with each team and their local health authorities to see what is possible in their market,” he said. The CFL’s announcement follows a meeting of club presidents and governors on Tuesday, roughly three weeks before rookies were due to report for training camp. While a delay to the start of the season has been obvious for at least the past couple of weeks due to the third wave of COVID-19 in Canada, the league has been under pressure to reveal as much of its plan as possible. The CFL has received at least verbal approval of its return-to-play protocol from four of the six provinces in which it plays, with Ontario and Quebec as the exceptions. That isn’t expected to be an issue once the third wave subsides. But the issue of fans in stands remains a potential hurdle. If restrictions on fans in stands are lifted in Western Canada sooner than in Eastern Canada, the league is prepared to relocate early-season games to the west. “We may think about taking our teams on the road from the east to play in a place where they may have opened up fans in the stands,” Ambrosie said. “There is a commitment to play in 2021 and all the work that will happen to where we can make a comfortable final decision to go.” Making a decision to go could mean such things as eliminating preseason games, rookie camps or shortening training camp. “All of those issues are up for grabs,” said Ambrosie. “Everything is on the table.” A new start to the season will also require an amended collective agreement with the Canadian Football League Players’ Association. “I’m confident we can work together to put together a plan,” Ambrosie said. As for what happens if the league cannot commit to its Aug. 5 start date by mid-June, Ambrosie said the league would continue to press on with alternate plans. “We have backup plans and backup plans to our backup plans … we are committed to playing in 2021,” he said Interesting stuff about moving East games out West, in order to get fans in the stands. I have absolutely no doubt that AB will be among the first to allow fans in attendance. Limited capacity, with masks, at outdoor venues sometime in June, I truly believe. Alberta will go Full Texas, and try to reopen fastest....for better or worse.

From Wade: Dear Season Ticket Member, We worked hard to kick off the 2021 season on time but over the last month, COVID-19 has taken hold of parts of the country. The positive news is that we are still planning for a 14-game schedule (7 regular season home games plus a potential home playoff game) starting on August 5th - full statement from the CFL below. Our Fan Services team will send a separate email by the end of this week with the specifics on what this change means for your season ticket account. As vaccination rates increase and the majority of Canadians are immunized by July 1, we will be in a good position to start in August, subject to public health approval. We’ve seen that as vaccinations have increased around the world, so has the ability for other leagues to welcome fans back to their stands. A new schedule will be released in early May which will see us playing a lot of football at IG Field in August. Like many other venues that have successfully welcomed back fans, IG Field will use a pod-seating configuration, where small groupings of fans will be safely distanced from each other throughout the stadium. Once the schedule is released, our Fan Services team will provide additional information as to what action you will need to take. On behalf of the entire organization, thank you for your ongoing support as we work through the end of this pandemic. We are very close to getting back to IG Field to cheer on your championship team. The one thing we know for certain is that the quicker our community reaches higher levels of vaccination, the quicker we will be able to get you back to IG Field. When it’s your turn, the most impactful thing you can do is get vaccinated so we can tackle COVID-19 together. Go Bombers, Wade Miller President and CEO

I would be happy with one single game at this point

That can't be true. I've been told all he does is travel the world looking for foreign football players and scarfs.

At this point having even a shortened season would be great to look forward to.

TPR has climbed to 6.6% in Winnipeg. In two weeks, we're going to be asking Brian why he didn't shut things down earlier as we're well over 10% TPR and he's going to relay to us some moronic sports analogy and tell us it's our fault. They need better measures to curb this now. Let's reduce in-store shopping, reduce restaurant capacity now, shut those churches right down.

There's certainly been some ugly weather games in Green Bay and New York late in the season... I don't love the idea of a -30 Grey Cup... but if a run-dominant Bombers team is playing, I could probably live with it

I'm at my inlaws and hear this over the radio here in St Albert, I screamed and they scared the **** out of everyone. Really happy the plan to play is public and an August start date is probably more realistic. A dec 12 grey cup outside will be really interesting....

Since I added the Leafs to my hate rankings, they have lost 5 in a row. Coincidence? I think not.

Hmmm. Desicions ,decisions. A zit or a slow lonely death on a ventilator. Hmm. Decisions decisions....... The worst is every idiotic nonmasking ,conspiracy believing mouthpiece will use him as proof. Fire him and yank his licence I say.

A 9-12 game season if July is the projected start time seems reasonable, IMO. I just want CFL and some title defense Blue Bomber action!

I don't know about buying Microsoft products, but after I got my shot, I went out and got a tattoo.

The Grey Cup game is now scheduled for December 12th in Hamilton. And a 14 game schedule. Well, just like I said. How do ya like that??? Bring the guys in who are supposed to be on the team other than a few where there is actual competition from retirements, So a small TC roster & skip the exhibition season. Then go in 3 weeks.

I really and truly believe this is going to work..... if we maintain our current rate of vaccination (or, God forbid, increase it...) we're going to be in good shape come July 1. Open camps in mid July, and fire up the season on the August Long Weekend... let's f***ing GOOOOOOO.......

They play football in Buffalo for another month past that date. If the Bills host AFC championship game could have a game end of January

Ottawa beat reporter....

"Harumph, I'll believe it when I see it!!" They can play into December because the GC game will be in Hamilton & I doubt they'll be facing minus 30 temperatures like they would in Regina. Teams will be lucky to get just one break if it's an 18 game schedule. I'd be happy with 12-14.

Ha! Even the Rogers network is working now. Let's just say, my Excel is not freezing. Phone seems quicker with a longer battery life My Outlook on life is suddenly improved. Everything is great !

Do you have the urge to go out and buy Microsoft products, does everything you look at remind you of Bill Gates, has your wifi all of a sudden gotten better

Done and done. Now, I wait to find out what super power this gives me.

Vaccine's...vaccine's ...vaccines is the name of the game....I'm hoping the rate of needles in arms jumps precipitously and we can start putting this pandemic behind us....Fans in the stands is key and with some sort of protocol adjustment this version of the season just might work....Americans saying today they are upping the supply of vaccine to Canada today...Anything and everything will help...Finally a glimmer of hope

Who remember Jay Harrison? Came here during that season when we lost a bunch of D to injury and he was pretty good.

Last time he played was March 24th. I don't have a problem with Maurice giving him some ice time to check him out.

I was hoping he wouldn’t see the ice unless there were injuries, but I knew Maurice would get him in the 1st chance he got.

At this point, I'll just wait and see. I can't get excited about an announcement that just pushes the season later and provides no detail on the conditions for meeting the August start date.

Ford will be sure that the Ontario teams get approval to play.

Covid means planning is hard, if not impossible. This is at least a target to shoot for in order to get all the stakeholders on the same page, which is more than we had yesterday.

I was thinking that but I imagine they dont want to have no grey cup winner in 2021 as well as 2020. And the earlier end to the season gives them a chance to move the start of next season back earlier with out heavily shortening the off season window.

there won't be a press conference, I don't think. Something will be announced on their socials. Yesterday was the Board of Governors meeting, and today they'll finalize what the official statement is. I'd bet sometime this afternoon...

It would figure that this guy is an Albertan. Things continue to rage on out west here, and there are no signs of slowing down. It seems the province is willing to sacrifice as many people as necessary in the name of herd immunity.

I'd take a 8 game season, games starting in August, TC in July.

Revealed: Trump's DHS IG blocked a probe into the assault on Lafayette Sq. protest The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general blocked an investigation into the role of the Secret Service in clearing Black Lives Matter protesters from Lafayette Square ahead of former President Donald Trump's controversial photo-op last June, according to internal documents obtained by the Project on Government Oversight. Joseph Cuffari, a former adviser to Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey who was appointed by Trump in 2019, rejected career staffers' recommendation to investigate the Secret Service's involvement in the June 1, 2020, incident, when federal law enforcement used tear gas to forcibly clear peaceful protesters in front of the White House so Trump could take a photo holding up a Bible in front of a church that had been damaged by fire during an earlier protest. Department investigators argued that the probe was "essential" in upholding the duty of the office, according to The Washington Post, which first reported the documents. The documents show that investigators pushed to probe whether the Secret Service violated its use-of-force policies in the clearing, noting that hundreds of protesters were hit with rubber bullets and chemical irritants. Cuffari shot down the proposed investigation a week later, suggesting that the Secret Service could review the episode themselves and taking investigators "aback," according to the report. Revealed: Trump's DHS IG blocked a probe into the assault on Lafayette Sq. protest - Alternet.org

Wow, I am really surprised to see guilty on Murder 2 and Murder 3. Manslaughter was a given. Nice to see justice prevailing. Just remember... if not for Darnella Frazier hitting record on her phone- this is how it would have gone down officially:

Wait Wait wait wait.... so... you're telling me that Don jr. is not a legit New York Times best seller? That he cheated? You're full of ****! 😁 😁 😁 😁 😁 😁 😁

I may like his music, but man is he a fuckwit.

Yeah its about time all teachers across the province get vaccinated. Hopefully with Johnson and Johnson shot coming that is single does it will make getting vaccinated easier for some of our more vulnerable populations like the homeless.

Thanks for that image.

couple of notes, one positive one negative: -Ambrosie said they have back-up plans to their back-up plans.......so they really are working hard to make sure some kind of 2021 season plays. (Positive) -Ambrosie says the planned start date is "contingent on a 'significant' number of fans in the stands", with no real clarification on what that means exactly.... (Negative) So much is up in the air right now, but I really believe that, as fast as the case counts escalated, they will fall just as quickly once the vaccines start taking effect. By mid-May, I think we'll already be seeing a significant decline...

First league update on nothingburger 2021 is, more nothingburger. https://www.cfl.ca/2021/04/21/oleary-randy-ambrosie-aug-5-kickoff-xfl-talks/ CFL.ca: Are there any updates on your discussions with the XFL and is there a chance that they can factor into this 2021 season? RA: Our discussions with the XFL have been very positive. What we’re focused on is really understanding what this opportunity might look like. If I back up from there, one of the things that I shared with an alumni group that I spoke with at their annual general meeting last night was what has become increasingly obvious to me is that the business of our league has never been as good as the players who play our game and the game itself. What we’re looking at and what we’ve been working on on our own is improving our business model. We’ve made a lot of adjustments in the past number of months to make sure that we’ve got the best business model possible. The discussions with the XFL are really focused on that. How would working together help to improve the business model? When you get that answer, you have nearly an infinite list of possibilities on how you would make it work. What our fans really deserve and what our amateur football partners really deserve is a business that’s as good as our game. That’s what we’re working to deliver here. We don’t have those answers today but we do know that we are working with world class people. Every time you are on a call with them, you are struck by how genuine, authentic, how sincere they are in trying to determine if there is an opportunity to do better, do better together in some form. That’s been the spirit of our discussion so far. PS, has the XFL 3.0 folded yet?

They have a verbal agreement in the West, assuming the 3rd wave subsides, but don't even have that for the East. Maybe the Eastern teams will play road games for a month at the beginning of the season. They haven't got buy in from the CFLPA and they'll look at the dates again in June. Basically a thoughts and prayers announcement. We think we might be able to do August and we pray that Covid won't still be a problem.

In the 1960's the tobacco companies hybridized the tobacco to produce a strain which is 3-5 times more saturated with nicotine than before. They also introduced ammonia compounds into cigarettes to allow much quicker passage through the alvioli walls in lungs so as to accelerate the effect and by simple behavioural modification, become more physically addictive. It may work in New Zealand because of their relative isolation and culture, but if the governments tried to ban tobacco here, it would simply go underground much as pot did. If the price of licit tobacco rises to high, the same happens. Education appears to be the only viable course. One study showed that the most effective ways to combat smoking was to a) require all cigarette companies to use identical packaging in drab colours and b) institute a "registered addict" program whereby only individuals who had registered themselves as nicotine addicts would be allowed to purchase tobacco products. You can imagine the reactions among the same individuals who are having melt-downs over COVID inoculations.

If governments were in any way serious about meaningful reductions in smoking they could and would have done it already. The answer has been there and medical associations have been lobbying for years to no avail for governments to set limits on nicotine in products with a gradual reduction year to year until nicotine is eliminated from all products. There would still be segment of social smokers but the vast majority of people would simply just stop smoking or very significantly reduce their smoking without the cravings telling them to reach for their pack every 20 minutes. It's easy and very low cost to the cigarette manufacturers. I am an ex smoker that has quit and started and quit a few time already. Without the nicotine I would have zero issues with quitting even if I relapsed and had a few smokes one day. It seems insane in this day and age that we allow big tobacco to keep and even enhance the amount of the nicotine in their products

Speaking of fuckwits: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/canada-doctor-world-health-organization-airborne-1.5994889

"Don't register to vote": FL sheriff, standing beside Ron DeSantis, says don't "vote the stupid way" "Welcome to Florida. But don't register to vote and vote the stupid way you did up north," warned Grady Judd During a Monday signing ceremony for Florida's new anti-riot bill (HB 1) backed by law enforcement all throughout the state, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd appeared alongside Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to remind Floridians of how the new legislation –– which grants civil immunity to motorists who crash into protesters –– will preserve the state they "know and love." "There's a reason that this place is fun," the sheriff explained, holding up what appeared to be stock photos of multiracial families basking in the sunlight of Florida's beaches. "There's a reason why we have a 49-year-low crime rate. And the same people that don't think we should have an anti-rioting bill, or a rioting bill, are the same ones that think we ought to let more people out of prison." He continued, "We're a special place, and there are millions and millions of people who like to come here. And quite frankly, we like to have them here. We only want to share one thing as you move in hundreds a day. Welcome to Florida, but don't register to vote and vote the stupid way you did up north, or you'll get what they got." "Don't register to vote": FL sheriff, standing beside Ron DeSantis, says don't "vote the stupid way" | Salon.com

Guilty, guilty, guilty.

Guilty on all 3 counts, unanimous.

Handful of Sobey's appointments available this week: https://www.pharmacyappointments.ca/

Wife and I just got the shot. I am ecstatic. Astrazeneca from local Pharmacy. The dude at Regent Park Pharmacy was awesome. He walked us through everything, assuaged my Wife's and my own concerns. Told us what to expect and what to watch out for. Darrel is awesome!