RickC

Well, of all the sports I've seen, I'd say Formula 1 is up there as one of the least impacted. It's been a wild season so far too. As to basketball, I only know it's actually NBA because my son doesn't have the PS4 controller in his hands. Usually, he and his friends prefer NBA 2K20. I haven't yet decided what to do about the Collective and One Soccer but expect we'll at least get One Soccer for this season.

Received the above press release via email as one of my boys is with a Barrie Soccer club rep team. So, lots of locals will know about this launch. I don't think it's stated anywhere on the club's website, but 1812 refers to when Barrie was settled during the War of 1812. Looking forward to next summer!

A blast from the past...Lyndon Hooper was on a Zoom meeting with my son's U11 soccer club today. He gave a recap of how he started playing soccer, got onto provincial teams, went pro, made it onto the CMNT, helped with World Cup qualifiers, went to Birmingham City. Really nice to hear from a former player. One of the highlights of his career was going through the tunnel and stepping out into Azteca Stadium, hearing the crowd of 100k going wild (obviously not for him!). Still involved in the game too.

The TiCats put out a release from the CFL this afternoon stating the earliest their season will start is September. This is not a plan to start in September, merely stating that would be the earliest timing. The Grey Cup may be moved into December, and will be hosted by the team that qualifies for the final and has the better regular season record. Saskatchewan was to host this year, so to actually host the Grey Cup in 2020 they must qualify for the final and have a better regular season record that the other final-qualifying team. There are big differences between the CFL and CPL: team salaries, number of players, TV deals, number of foreign players, etc. The possible CPL approach of a single or dual sites may allow them to start earlier than the CFL. For example, Manitoba now allows outdoor gatherings of 50 people which would allow for two CPL team but only one CFL team. Simplification I know, but there is still some hope for a CPL season this year.

The Olympics start in late July, but there is still qualifying in numerous sports and of course training, logistics, etc. As for CPL, there will be a need for training camps prior to the start of the season. Maybe just one week in order to get the teams a bit working together, but wanting to get on with the games ASAP. At this point, I'm thinking my elementary school aged kids are not going back until June at the earliest. If only I could play the guitar, we'd have School of Rock here. Maybe a Canada Day weekend start for CPL? I don't see it being any earlier than that. One sport that's being devastated is Formula 1. Perhaps the most global "league", the first race still scheduled is Canada June 14. I think this will be postponed too. I'm not sure if CPL could do something like what F1 is doing re ESports. F1 held a virtual Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday, with two current drivers, several former F1 drivers or younger ones, and some ESports "stars" all playing F1 2019 at the same time against each other.

^^Not surprising CPL has postponed the start of the season. Formula 1 has postponed or cancelled their opening seven races with the next non-affected race being the first weekend of June.

I'm sorry if this has been covered already, but how does CPL start the season (if you were in charge). Start possibly in closed stadiums? Gets the season underway, no revenue for teams, puts players into some danger of getting sick. Delaying the start and making matches up mid-week through the season or, delay the start and reduce the number of games played. Pros and cons to each. We're in South Africa where the president made a speech to the nation last night and will start taking serious actions. Hoping to get back to Canada in a couple of days, even if there's no toilet paper. It does put sport into perspective but this is a football supporter's forum. BTW, if you ever considered a safari, once covid19 is no longer an issue, do it!

I've never seen anything to indicate the CFL salary cap is in US$. All information I've seen simply indicates $. Given almost all of the teams revenues are in CD$ it's highly unlikely their largest expense would be in US$. The three Canadian-based MLS teams on the other hand...

Great idea but before I got to the description of what the boot was I assumed it was something to do with the highest goal scorer (individual). That's the immediate connotation I had with boot.

Received the email from Forge FC re Feb 27th kit unveiling from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

I don't know much about loans from MLS, but in Europe, loans are a negotiation between two teams. Sometimes very little of the player's wages are picked up by the team bringing him in on loan. Whatever the two parties agree to would be the loan terms: wages, length of loan, expectations of playing time, etc. So, it may be that loans wouldn't hit the salary cap much at all, meaning young Canadians in MLS could indeed be loaned to CPL clubs.

Regarding FIFA and precedents, FIFA is based in Switzerland where they have civil law not common law. Our (Canadian ex-Quebec) understanding of legal matters may not hold for Swiss law. Please note, I have taken one course in business law so, to say the least, am no legal expert.

One thing to keep in mind about TFC is a sale of the team, even if it were to be for $250mm, wouldn't be the windfall it appears. I don't recall specific numbers but am sure TFC has lost money every year on an operating basis. Let's just say it's a loss of $5mm a year (I'm sure it's far more) that would reduce the gain from $240mm down to $140mm. Then you need to consider the $$ sunk into BMO Field, their training centre, etc. I expect it would still end up being a sizable profit but not quite the amount it would seem on the surface.

Reminds me of wanting to learn some Italian for an upcoming trip. TLN showed Serie A in Italian and one phrase I picked up was "calcio d'angolo" which means corner kick. So, there's an Italian angle. Just words triggering a memory.

Roma does have a bit of history of playing friendlies in Toronto. We went to the Roma vs Celtic match in 2004 and although we sat with the Celtic supporter's side there was definitely more support for Roma. But, that was with Totti at or near his prime. They also played at least once vs TFC after Bradley joined TFC. I love that Atletico is in Ottawa. Agree with Ansem that if Lyon arrived it would work well to have a team named Olympique... A team named Roma-something would not work for me but having a team in giallo rossi (yellow red) without "Roma" in their name would be good.