Jamie Nye: We’re all ready to play again!

Aug. 5 is going to feel sweet.

The CFL is back. The three-down game we love returns and it’ll start to feel normal again after months of social distancing, masks, hand sanitizer and empty stadiums.

Thankfully, all the board of governors in the league agreed that it’s time to play again. Of course, it’s not a slam dunk that everything goes smoothly from here on out.

The league needs to see the border restrictions eased, it needs to see players get settled in and it needs all the testing to go right. It wants to see the reopening plans for all the provinces go ahead with no setbacks and of course it wants to see fans allowed in stadiums.

And when this league has seemed to be snake-bit by poor timing and having its optimism thrown back in its face, you see why those of us who cover the league are keeping our fingers crossed.

But when that ball gets kicked off, when that first tackle is made, heck, even when the fans do the wave for the first time, Randy Ambrosie is correct. It will be a time to celebrate as the CFL seems to reflect life over the last 15 months and we’re all getting ready to play again.