CPL General

[jonovision]

4 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

I think it should be a bicycle league. Teams should bike from stadium to stadium. Now everyone discuss the fact the the CPL could realistically become a bicycle league

Non-elite athletes cycle from coast-to-coast all the time!

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

16 hours ago, Kingston said:

....a)  Most people do not want to see a regional bus league.  It is either a true national league or nothing....

Easy to say that you prefer nothing to regional bus travel at the moment. That sort of posture doesn't wind up looking so clever when it actually does wind up being nothing outside of USSF sanctioned clubs in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver as happened in the mid to late 90s after the CSL imploded. Even the NSL that had been around since the 1920s folded at that point and most CPSL clubs in the league that replaced it in southern Ontario were not even as good as top local amateur teams and drew double digit crowds of friends and family only. Twenty years before that one of my cousins was playing for London City in front of 5000+ reasonably regularly against NSL teams in the GTA and the NASL was booming after Pele arrived.

Hockey and baseball don't try to do national air travel in North America outside of 30 or so large metropolitan areas, but still have dozens of other fully professional teams playing in regional bus travel formats (with the occasional exception such as the PCL in baseball). In a Canadian context, the CHL brings hockey into 52 different Canadian communities as a significant spectator event drawing several thousand people to games on the back of bus travel but let's keep trying to emulate European soccer structures rather than doing the sort of things that have worked sustainably for other sports in North America. No need to pay any attention to George Santayana.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[Kingston]

1 hour ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Easy to say that you prefer nothing to regional bus travel at the moment. That sort of posture doesn't wind up looking so clever when it actually does wind up being nothing outside of USSF sanctioned clubs in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver as happened in the mid to late 90s after the CSL imploded.

That is the risk, yes.  Although we would still have a thriving system of D3 leagues which is far beyond anything that previously existed.  And, if the CPL did fail, presumably the CSA would be open to any surviving clubs joining the USL.  But, yes, most of us want the CPL to take the risk to trying a fully national league even if it could fail.

And you may be right that a CHL-style bus league model is the most viable but I think it is still too early to make that call.  Attendances need to rise by a significant percentage but we're still in the stage of the league where the owners are willing to give it a chance.

[narduch]

The newest Footy Prime episode is an interview with the new Commish

[narduch]

Apparently the new Commish wants to have an award for the regular season champions.

[Unnamed Trialist]

14 minutes ago, narduch said:

Apparently the new Commish wants to have an award for the regular season champions.

Makes perfect sense. 

[phil03]

Perhaps its just me but the fact that the championship won't come with a place in CONCACAF Soccer this time around kinda, remove a bit from it if that make sense? I was thinking that it might be a good idea to, exceptionally and just to bridge toward the new CCL format, give the spot for CCL 2024 that would normally go to the winner of the regular season of 2023 to the CPL champion of 2022 instead. Any thoughts?

[Aird25]

3 hours ago, phil03 said:

Perhaps its just me but the fact that the championship won't come with a place in CONCACAF Soccer this time around kinda, remove a bit from it if that make sense? I was thinking that it might be a good idea to, exceptionally and just to bridge toward the new CCL format, give the spot for CCL 2024 that would normally go to the winner of the regular season of 2023 to the CPL champion of 2022 instead. Any thoughts?

They would be a completely different team in two years. Other than maybe Forge.

[yothat2]

On 8/30/2022 at 9:26 AM, narduch said:

The newest Footy Prime episode is an interview with the new Commish

sound is awful .. wait too low

[red card]

If people like Welcome to Wrexham, the vibes are very similar in the CPL. A number of the replies are from people who are watching the show but don't follow football.

CPL can also commission to produce similar content thanks to the FCE situation. And/or they could do a show about the birth of one of the new clubs coming soon.

https://cultmtl.com/2022/08/house-of-the-dragon-and-welcome-to-wrexham-top-streaming-charts-tv-shows-series-in-canada/

 

[Bison44]

Maybe Davies to buy FCE rumors will turn out to be true???  It would be a high profile owner and it makes more sense than hollywood types buying wrexham

[RS]

As big as Davies is, he's no Ryan Reynolds in terms of general appeal and fame.

That's no reason for the CPL to not do it — I just don't think they should expect similar results without a celebrity at the level of Reynolds at the centre of attention (and McIlhenney has quite a following himself).

Maybe Rob Friend can convince Reynolds to buy part of the CPL Vancouver team now that he's caught the soccer bug?

[gwsmith63]

Wow, crazy weekend of results for the Top Five.  
 

Ottawa’s point on Friday night turns out to be (arguably) the second best outcome behind Valour.  Keeps them top of the table. 
 

🤷🏻‍♂️

[jonovision]

Next weekend will be a different sort. Instead of every matchup being top 4 vs bottom 4 like this weekend, all of the non-Valour top 5 sides will be playing each other.

An Ottawa win next weekend vs Pacific would be a good result from a Valour perspective.

Edited September 5, 2022 by jonovision

[Rocket Robin]

 

I've notice that CPL plays are being squeezed into both Sportsnet shows 'Plays of the Month' and 'Misplays of the Month' Top 50 countdowns.  

Those half hour shows are rebroadcast between live events and sportscasts.  Their are good and bad plays from hockey (not so much this time of year), baseball, tennis, and yes soccer Euros, MLS, and CPL too.  

Across their what, six ?, alternate channels, a few times a day that's dozens of times to see Terran Campbell score that end line roofer into the net (Plays) or that goal line clearance by that forward stopping a sure goal (Misplays...although I guess that was in their August show).  

I suppose some people may be introduced to CPL for the first time catching a few minutes of that.  Unaltered with all the logos, call by Oliver Platt etc.  

Should be a good thing right? 

 

[Kent]

5 hours ago, Rocket Robin said:

 

I've notice that CPL plays are being squeezed into both Sportsnet shows 'Plays of the Month' and 'Misplays of the Month' Top 50 countdowns.  

Those half hour shows are rebroadcast between live events and sportscasts.  Their are good and bad plays from hockey (not so much this time of year), baseball, tennis, and yes soccer Euros, MLS, and CPL too.  

Across their what, six ?, alternate channels, a few times a day that's dozens of times to see Terran Campbell score that end line roofer into the net (Plays) or that goal line clearance by that forward stopping a sure goal (Misplays...although I guess that was in their August show).  

I suppose some people may be introduced to CPL for the first time catching a few minutes of that.  Unaltered with all the logos, call by Oliver Platt etc.  

Should be a good thing right? 

 

I've seen it too. Earlier in the year I think there was like 3 or 4 plays on one show. It was kind of trippy all of a sudden hearing Adam Jenkins voice while watching Sportsnet.

[Bison44]

1 hour ago, Kent said:

I've seen it too. Earlier in the year I think there was like 3 or 4 plays on one show. It was kind of trippy all of a sudden hearing Adam Jenkins voice while watching Sportsnet.

Its still too bad we cant get some regular highlights now and again, or a CPL weekly roundup type show piped in from OneSoccer.  Considering all the trash and reruns that TSN/Sportsnet show.  

[Rocket Robin]

On 9/7/2022 at 11:51 PM, Bison44 said:

Its still too bad we cant get some regular highlights now and again, or a CPL weekly roundup type show piped in from OneSoccer.  Considering all the trash and reruns that TSN/Sportsnet show.  

Yeah there's some bad ones.  I saw a few minutes of a league where men play 'tag' swinging on monkey bars etc to escape the guy who is chasing them. 

[Ansem]

FWIW, Onesoccer are trying to get on cable. I know they are petitioning the CRTC to make Bell & Rogers add their signal at the very least, hopefully they'll be part of a sport package

 

[Free kick]

On 1/9/2022 at 11:31 PM, Free kick said:

There are important differences with the CEBL.  First is the resume of the management types who were hired for the CEBL front office.   They all seem to have an extensive business focused background (ie:  lots of sports management expertise).  
 

Secondly,  CEBL (unlike the Can PL) put a lot more emphasis on the product.  And by that i mean that they made sure that the players can make a reasonable living with a CEBL salary.  That way you can keep a canadian quota while at the same time attract some pretty good american Ncaa div 1 talent that will elevate the quality of the league and hence helps the Canadian talent that is in it.   For example,  the CEBL MVP from last year, Xavier Moon, just signed with the LA clippers and there is strong word that his stay in LA will become permanent.  There are two other CEBL players who recently signed 10 day contracts in the NBA (the top Basketball league in the world).  Are the CanPl players getting sniffs from the top soccer leagues?
 

Finally,  the canadian talent playing in the CEBL is pretty much the entire national team for Canada (Ie.: for games where NBA talent is unavailable).   With Canadian CEBL players,  Canada has proven that they can win in FIBA Americas competition and even qualify for the WC.  Could you win and qualify in Concacaf with CanPL talent?  

To further this point:   Canada just sent a team to the FIBA Americup comprised of a majority of players currently from the CEBL or who have played in the CEBL. 

Canada - FIBA AmeriCup 2022 - FIBA.basketball

That means that this is not Canada's A-team (ie.: that would be NBA players) nor Canada's B-team (ie.: that would be Euro based and/or G league talent like Wiltjer, Pangos, Scrubb brothers, Nemhard etc), so this is probably a C or D team.

The FIBA Americup is Basketball's equivalent of the Gold cup and Copa America all in one (ie.: in FIBA basketball,  the teams in North and South America are all part of one confederation) and our opponents are mostly playing their fulltime national teams.   Of the 12 players Canada that sent, 6 are currently in the CEBL, a few others are on European teams but have played in the CEBL, a league that is just 4 years old.  

With a CEBL squad,  Canada just reached the tournament semi finals joining Bra., Arg. & US.  In group play, they finished 2-1 beating Uruguay & Colombia while losing to Brazil (the home team) in a relatively close match.  In the 1/4 finals, they beat a veteran Mexico team.   Could a national team made up of CPL players come anywhere close to this kind of achievement in combined Copa and Gold cup tournament?   Not a chance,  they would have trouble with some of the Concacaf minnows.

The point I was making is earlier in previous posts is that,  in basketball,  you have talent and depth of talent in Canada at youth levels and the national league serves, in the big picture, as an avenue to ensure that that talent doesnt get wasted.  But do we have that same talent and depth of talent in Soccer in Canada?  Anyone who is honest with themselves would have to conclude: NO.   So far it seems that CPL has produced 1-2 players for squad depth in MLS but that's about it.   This is one reason that i have never been as gunhoe about the CPL.  Talent needs to improve first.

 

Go ahead,  Fire away.

 

Three Things Canadian Basketball Can Learn from the Latin Americas - Raptors Republic

Edited September 9, 2022 by Free kick

[Kingston]

7 minutes ago, Free kick said:

The point I was making is earlier is that,  in basketball,  you have talent and depth of talent in Canada at youth levels and the national league serves, in the big picture, as an avenue to ensure that that talent doesnt get wasted.  But do we have that same talent and depth of talent in Soccer in Canada?  Anyone who is honest with themselves would to conclude: NO.   So far it seems that at best,  CPL can produce the odd players for squad depth in MLS but that's about it.   This is why i have never been as gunhoe about the CPL. 

 

Go ahead,  Fire away.

The key difference is the relatively popularity of basketball and soccer in these countries.

Soccer is the absolute king for every country in the Americas south of the US.  Canada is probably the country in the Americas with the second highest interest in basketball.  (?  I'm not a big basketball fan so someone can correct me if basketball is totally huge in Belize or something like that.)  So is it that we are super efficient in our basketball talent pipeline?  Or just that we don't face much competition so we can do well with even a modestly efficient basketball talent pipeline?  In soccer we clearly need to maximize all possible production to have a chance.

[Free kick]

19 minutes ago, Kingston said:

The key difference is the relatively popularity of basketball and soccer in these countries.

Soccer is the absolute king for every country in the Americas south of the US.  Canada is probably the country in the Americas with the second highest interest in basketball.  (?  I'm not a big basketball fan so someone can correct me if basketball is totally huge in Belize or something like that.)  So is it that we are super efficient in our basketball talent pipeline?  Or just that we don't face much competition so we can do well with even a modestly efficient basketball talent pipeline?  In soccer we clearly need to maximize all possible production to have a chance.

Basketball is extemely popular in South America . And throughout the world.  Second only to soccer

Edited September 9, 2022 by Free kick

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 hour ago, Kingston said:

The key difference is the relatively popularity of basketball and soccer in these countries.

Soccer is the absolute king for every country in the Americas south of the US.  Canada is probably the country in the Americas with the second highest interest in basketball.  (?  I'm not a big basketball fan so someone can correct me if basketball is totally huge in Belize or something like that.)  So is it that we are super efficient in our basketball talent pipeline?  Or just that we don't face much competition so we can do well with even a modestly efficient basketball talent pipeline?  In soccer we clearly need to maximize all possible production to have a chance.

Basketball is probably more popular in Argentina and even Brazil than in Canada. Or at least it is close. I'd say in Argentina it is in there tied for second with rugby, but I am not sure.

[Free kick]

54 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Basketball is probably more popular in Argentina and even Brazil than in Canada. Or at least it is close. I'd say in Argentina it is in there tied for second with rugby, but I am not sure.

Yes, Judging from what you can find on-line about basketball from Argentinian sources, you can safely say its more popular than in Canada.   In Canada basketball is the Raptors. 

 

Edit.:  I should clarify my last sentence.   The FIBA World Cup qualifying matches for 2019 and 2023 that were played in Canada,  have been (except for the game in Montreal versus Brazil in 2018) well attended.   But I would safely venture to say that int'l basketball is not as mainstream in Canada as it is in Arg, Bra and Venezuela.  

Edited September 9, 2022 by Free kick

[Unnamed Trialist]

4 minutes ago, Free kick said:

Judging from what you can find on-line about basketball from Argentinian sources, you can safely say its more popular than in Canada.   In Canada basketball is the Raptors. 

I really have no basis of knowing, but basically they only have football, which crosses class lines. Basketball is more lower middle to middle class, and rugby upper middle.

There are also a lot of F1 fans, tennis. For participation, maybe padel is in there.

Edited September 9, 2022 by Unnamed Trialist