Some of you may be asking, "How did a former CFL football player end up becoming the Commissioner of a new Canadian pro basketball league?" Well, that answer is for another day. That said, this is the best opportunity that I could ever have imagined.

First, as a 48-year-old, this is my first blog post. What on earth is a blog, anyway? To me, this is a way to share some of the thoughts that go into making the Canadian Elite Basketball League ( CEBL ) what it is today: An all-star league — at every level — from staff, players, coaches, executives to fans, partners and support staff.

For me, the CEBL isn’t too different from the CFL. Proudly Canadian and a platform for our top homegrown b-ballers to compete and showcase their amazing talent on home soil. In the CEBL, we take that idea to a new level, mandating that 70 per cent of our players should be Canadian. You may ask why? The answer is simple. Because they are some of the best players in the world, and deserve to play in front of their families, friends and our basketball fans.

Within the Canadian basketball landscape, this opportunity has been extremely rare and so is the tremendous on-court talent we have been able to assemble to make this league a reality.

As I look forward to our second season, I feel the excitement building among my staff, our teams and all their fan bases. Our first true off-season has been amazing so far — with the addition of the Ottawa BlackJacks franchise, a three-year media partnership with CBC, hiring of new coaches and general managers, upcoming national partnership announcements, and a new wave of incredible talent to enter the CEBL via free agency, which starts on Feb. 1.

Where does the CEBL plan to go from here? The only thing standing in our way are the limits we put on ourselves. The future of the CEBL includes teams in every province, from B.C. to the Maritimes, the addition of new and exciting ownership groups for our current and expansion teams, the continued growth of our place in Canada’s summer sporting landscape, and taking our game international to compete against the best teams in FIBA. Lofty goals? I realize that. Insurmountable..? Absolutely not.

I believe that if you are afraid of failure, or concerned about the consequences of putting everything you have got into something that you believe in, then don’t expect success in return. Success is built on failures, learned experiences, and taking chances.

So I encourage you to tune in, buy a ticket , follow us on social ( Twitter , Instagram , and Facebook ), experience #OurGame and take a chance on us! You won't regret it.