Before I even begin to express my thoughts of this off-season and the coming season, my congratulations and praise to the Saskatchewan Roughriders for winning the 101st Grey Cup and to the province of Saskatchewan and city of Regina for putting on an excellent show and experience. One of the best aspects of my job, maybe the best, is the experiences; the interactions with people you never forget. Whether it is meeting Tom Hanks briefly (class act) or the genuine enthusiasm and interaction of Riders and Ticats fans, I am confident I can speak for all that covered the game in saying you made us feel much more important and appreciated than we deserve. I sincerely hope the moment the new stadium is ready to roll the “Big Game" goes back to Regina with no hesitation. Overall this off-season has been a good and productive one. With new stadiums in Ottawa and Hamilton, future stadiums in Regina and Toronto, the most important aspects of the game – in-stadium fan experience and attendance – are progressing, not regressing. Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton is taking shape. The season ticket base is just about maxed out and the luxury boxes are all sold. I have yet to visit the stadium in Ottawa but I have a high level of confidence in the people running the Redblacks and what they are doing to make this organization viable. Its very important to have a CFL team in Ottawa for one big reason: it is our nations capital and will continue to enhance pride and patriotism in ourselves and our country. With Toronto, at the risk of sounding like a cheerleader, BMO Field would be perfect. I have walked around the stadium three or four times and the sight lines, angles, and proximity to the field are exceptional. Its basically on the same location as the old Exhibition Stadium and that location is excellent; not as congested as the Rogers Centre location and probably not as expensive. I dont dislike the Rogers Centre, at one time it was one of the most unique structures in North America, but BMO fits what is needed: more intimacy and less immensity. Trust me when I say this, its perfect! In on-field related issues, I like the challenge system as it relates to pass interference; the NFL will watch closely how it is executed and learn. But I also have concerns with flow of the game. Too many stops and starts in football make the game boring; I hate to say that but it is the truth. This is a pretty bold, precedent-setting move by the league. May I suggest one more? Eliminate the huddle from football with the exception of the beginning of a drive. Football players are pretty bright, they can run an entire offence without talking about it in detail after each play. Between TV timeouts, injuries, and challenges, the game is too long, especially NCAA football, which now runs anywhere from 3.5 hours to four. That is too much. How do you create a rule to keep the game flowing? Easy. Once a play is over, the offence must go back to the original position they began the play from, then the quarterback directs the play and players. Time constraints stay the same and every player that needs an ear piece can use one to offset the noise. The quarterback becomes a true quarterback, not an order taker. Realistic? I believe so. The entertainment value of the game would explode as there would be constant focus from the fans due to constant motion and action. It may be a difficult sell but as a viewer, anytime a team goes no huddle I regain and intensify my interest. Again the league could set a new standard of entertainment for the benefit of the paying public. They are, after all the most important revenue generators. Speaking of revenue, the Players Association wants a new, bigger and better deal. As a former player, I want the present players to earn more. CFL players are the most underpaid athletes in a combat sport I know. The league is not at a point where an increase can be so significant that it satisfies the desires of all. It is still a lean business that has developed stability, but not prosperity. There will be an increase for players, the amount is unknown. May I suggest this though, as a life lesson learned? It is not so much how much you make as it is how much you have and what you do with it. With an increase in revenue, the best thing the league and Players Association can do is get it out of the hands of the players to control spontaneous purchases. We have all heard the mind-numbing stories of athletes that make a lot yet have very little. And the truth is they have no one to blame but themselves. Hard pill to swallow. There will be more money, but making the money truly work so you can satisfy both your desires for security and adventure in life is critical. There is nothing more important in the CFL than the quality of the play and the player. And there should be nothing more important to that player than when his playing days are over he has physical, financial evidence he played. I dont know about you, but this was the most brutal winter I have encountered in a long time. I heard it was the coldest in Manitoba in 100 years. I am looking forward to watching a game without seeing my breath. Fall will come soon enough, but spring football sounds good to me! Puma Shoes Australia Sale . -- Floridas smothering defence returned to form just in time for the third-ranked Gators to keep their winning streak going. Buy Puma Shoes Australia . The 36-year-old Colts receiver is going back to the playoffs as a division champion. http://www.cheappumaaustralia.com/ . FIFA said the suspension was requested by ethics prosecutor Michael Garcia, making Beckenbauer the first person to be punished as a result of the case. Beckenbauer refused "repeated requests for his assistance, including requests that he provide information during an in-person interview or in response to written questions provided in both English and German," FIFA said in a statement. Cheap Puma Shoes Womens . Richard Jefferson scored 17 points and Diante Garrett had a career-high 15 points as the Jazz had seven players with 10 points or more in Utahs largest margin of victory this season. Cheap Puma Shoes Online Australia . Rosbergs time of 1 minute, 33.185 seconds at the Bahrain International Circuit was a quarter of a second faster than Hamilton, who had to abandon his final flying lap after running wide at the first corner.The Toronto Blue Jays off-season quest for a rotation upgrade continues according to reports, they could be considering a journey through the recent past. Reports surfacing Wednesday in The Globe and Mail and Thursday in the Toronto Star suggest that the Jays could be considering a run at free agent starter A.J. Burnett, now that hes believed to be available. The 37-year-old Burnett had previously announced his intention to retire instead of playing the 2014 season. Based on that assumption, the Pittsburgh Pirates did not tender him a qualifying offer meaning that signing him as a free agent carries no compensatory draft pick. Its believed that Burnett would prefer to pitch closer to his Maryland home, but – unlike previous reports – he is believed to have softened on his desire to pitch only for the Pirates. Burnett is one of several free agent arms that the Jays have been linked to through the rumour mill of late; a list that is also believed to include Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana. In 30 appearances with the Pirates last season, Burnett posted a 10-11 recorrd with a 3.dddddddddddd30 earned-run average and a 1.215 WHIP. He finished with the National Leagues highest strikeout/nine innings ratio last season, with 9.8. His groundout-to-flyout ratios have been higher the past two seasons in Pittsburgh (2.05 in 2012, 1.90 in 2013) than every other year of his MLB career save 2005 with the Florida Marlins and are both well above both his career average of 1.36 and the MLB average of 1.08. Burnett has posted a 147-132 career record over 15 MLB seasons with the Pirates, Marlins, Blue Jays and New York Yankees with a 3.99 career ERA, a 1.315 WHIP and a K/9 ratio of 8.3. He signed with the Jays as a free agent prior to the 2006 season to serve as the teams No. 2 starter behind Roy Halladay. He went 38-26 over those three seasons, including an 18-win performance in 2008 which tied him for the 10th-highest single-season total in franchise history. Originally signed to a five-year, $55 million deal by then-Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi, Burnett opted out of the deal after three years to sign a five-year, $82.5 million deal with the Yankees. ' ' '