Articles posted in February 2009
2009 CFL Schedules Published
Published on February 27, 2009
I am pleased to publish the full 2009 CFL schedule and individual team home schedules in iCalendar format. Links to the schedules are found in this post and in the footer of the site. CFL.ca has full individual team schedules available in iCalendar (.ics) format on its site (click the schedule link for the desired team) for those who want just a single team’s home and away schedule. On CFLdb you have the choice of subscribing to the full 2009 CFL schedule in one calendar, or each individual team’s home schedule in separate calendars that can then be colour coded by team. The schedules will be updated through the season with any changes and results, so if your subscription is set to follow changes you can keep your calendar up to date with the latest information. Please only check for updates once per day to limit the load on the CFLdb server.
Ottawa Stadium Site List Released
Published on February 20, 2009
A report commissioned by the City of Ottawa to identify sites for a new outdoor stadium has been released. Using four main criteria to evaluate the sites, Bayview Road/Tom Brown Arena and Carelton University tied for the top score. The Lansdowne location, proposed by the stadium project of Ottawa Sports and Entertainment (Jeff Hunt group) came in sixth place. The Scotiabank location, proposed by Eugene Melnyk’s Senators Sports and Entertainment, was the highest ranked of four Kanata locations along with another ScotiaBank site tied for seventh. There were a total of 23 sites ranked in the report and the report did not prefer either a central, urban centre location or a sports-entertainment district with shared infrastructure. Instead it listed both as options and left it to the city to decide which meets the needs of the region.
Slam! Sports poll results (non-scientific) show an overwhelming majority prefer a multi-use facility be built. I’ve captured the results in an image for posterity for when the poll question is changed. This was captured on Friday, February 20, 12:59 PM EST.
Results graph from Slam! Sports Poll
Update - February 27: I’ve updated the screen grab of the poll results. Since the first grab was taken, the results have increased by almost 300 votes and the percentages have remained the same.
Update - March 6: I’ve updated the screen grab again. A little less than 200 votes have been added with the percentages again staying roughly the same.
Update - April 16: Another update. About 700 more votes but no real change in the percentages.
All Sides Sounding Off in Ottawa
Published on February 18, 2009
The debate over the location, purpose and politics of a new outdoor stadium in Ottawa continues to be on the front pages of the news sections of Ottawa’s papers. Football Canada added its objections yesterday to characterizations on the state of football in Canada made by Eugene Melnyk the previous week. An additional story had allegations from an Ottawa Councillor that the Lansdowne Live proposal and closed design competition was a backroom deal. There are reports that the city’s commissioned report on a stadium location to be released February 24 will not list either Lansdowne or Kanata as the top location. The future of the Ottawa ‘67’s Junior Hockey team is also called into question if Lansdowne redevelopment does not go forward. Chris Stevenson raises the issue with ‘67’s owner Jeff Hunt due to the team’s home, the Ottawa Civic Centre, being attached to the current Lansdowne stands. No Lansdowne stands, no Civic Centre it stands to reason. A decision will need to be made quickly to receive the funding available for the project and get the process started.
Next week should see some progress with reports being delivered to council, announcements of an evaluation process and other details coming out. Ottawa Council do not have a luxury of time for picking a location and approving a development plan. Further delays could result in the current opportunity being missed altogether. That would not be the first time a public project such as a stadium was effectively killed by the indecision of civic leaders.
Analyzing the 2009 CFL Schedule
Published on February 16, 2009
Note: See the Schedules page if you are just looking for 2009 CFL schedule in iCal format. For the 2009 CFL schedule try the CFL.ca site or tsn.ca for the television schedule.
The CFL released the 2009 schedule February 3 and it has received positive reviews from around the league. This year’s schedule offers a few new wrinkles from recent seasons.
Free Agency Season Opens
Published on February 16, 2009
The CFL Free Agency season opened this morning at 12:01 AM ET with the expiry of player contracts. Already there have been reports of signings and trades so it appears 2009 will be a very active year for player movement. The landscape could be very different at the start of the season with all teams attempting to improve themselves in player signings, especially Canadians. A list of free agents and their statuses can be followed as well as daily transactions as they are announced on CFL.ca.
Ottawa Stadium Not Either-Or
Published on February 15, 2009
Last week the Ottawa stadium discussion came to the forefront following as statement from Eugene Melnyk and a response from the CFL. The back-and-forth between the the groups responsible for opposing stadium proposals and the CFL commissioner’s setting some facts straight received national media coverage, but also brought the Ottawa media out to cover the proposals and options in more detail.