Grey Cup Weekend

[Ishkur]

Aww yeah, it's finally here! The most important weekend in professional football, known to Americans as the enigmatic, highly-touted and awe-inspiring Week 11, but to Canadians is called by the more flamboyant title: Grey Cup Weekend. Today marks the 92nd occasion by which...
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[Mike]

I cannot comment on your entire story becuase it covers to many details!

As far as the rules of the two leagues, just becuase the field is longer and wider, does not make it harder to score by any means. Also the 3 downs for a first and only 2 chances to get a first down, that is their rule. That does not make it more difficult than the NFL.

It is a fact that the less talented college players or NFL players that can only obtain practise squad positions on a team, end up in the Canandian Football league. Sure the talents of some of the players are outstanding, such as Doug Flutie, who I admire for his toughness. The fact is that your country has their rules and the NFl has their's, it does not make one better than the other, some of your points are ludacris at best. Dont make statements that your league or the players are better becuause of the rules that differ between the two leagues

[Rusty27]

Wow,you make the CFL sound almost as exciting as our Arena Football League.

[leafsnation2k4]

ishkur, i like your writing style. it's quite entertaining! write some more stuff.

P.S. i'm sorry that my argos destroyed your cubs last night.

[jtg33]

Sounds like the Bad Guys won yesterday. The dastardly villians are now Grey Cup Champions. Once again, evil triumphs over good.

Too bad...

[Ishkur]

Argos win. But you know what? I'm not that miffed. Because I like Pinball Clemons. This guy--an American--has been an ambassador for the game for the better part of the last 20 years. A veritable CFL icon, he has never had anything bad to say about the game. Completely devoid of pretense, egotism or arrogance, Pinball is one of the classiest men in football. Even during the lean years, the "Friends" era of the 90s, when attendances were abysmal and the Argos hit rock bottom and had something like 12,000 ave. fan attendance one year, he still held his head up high and promoted the game, in the face of his detractors, against those who called the CFL a bush league, against his own fans who deserted the team. He could've just said "this is pitiful; I quit. I'm outta here", but he stuck by and made the game bigger and better.

So congrats to Pinball. I hope his coaching career is just as rewarding as his playing days. It looks like it's already off to a great start, and if anyone in this league deserves it, it's him.

As for the leos--they'll be back. Replace the defensive backs, trade Wynn, and keep the one-two QB combo (if they can, though I have a feeling they won't be able to. This is one of those flukey things that only works for one year or so). Wally's a smart coach, he'll make the necessary off-season acquisitions. Keep the nucleus of the team's offense together. And we have something to look forward to next year. Maybe a rematch? And the best thing about it is next year's Grey Cup is at BC Place.

[Ishkur]

Originally Posted by Mike

As far as the rules of the two leagues, just becuase the field is longer and wider, does not make it harder to score by any means. Also the 3 downs for a first and only 2 chances to get a first down, that is their rule. That does not make it more difficult than the NFL.

I didn't say anything about difficulty. I said it makes each and every down far more important. You can't just waste a play by throwing the ball away or sending your fullback up the middle to reshuffle the defensive alignment. Every down counts. CFL QBs rarely ever throw the ball away. They try to make something of each and every play. This often leads to a lot of improvisation and quick-thinking. By contrast, NFL plays are very robotic and mechanical, and if a play isn't made by the time everyone completes their assignments, then a play isn't made at all.

Originally Posted by Mike

It is a fact that the less talented college players or NFL players that can only obtain practise squad positions on a team, end up in the Canandian Football league.

This is very interesting, and there's a myriad of factors because of that. The biggest one being, of course, money. But for every NFL-bust come CFL-allstar ala Doug Flutie, there is a Todd Marinovich or Rocket Ishmael who had stable NFL careers, but were largely CFL dissapointments.

The misnomer is that all NFL players, if moved to the CFL, would dominate the game. Not quite. Probably the only ones who could make the easy transition would be quarterbacks, receivers and defensivebacks. Every single offensive and defensive lineman would be completely useless in the CFL. They're just too damn big. The CFL wants agility and speed, not size and power.

Another fact is that the NFL--especially the recruiting divisions at the college level--are very cliquey. Once you're ranked, it is hard to shake that rank off. Some of the best players routinely slip through the cracks because they don't play for bigname, top 10 Universities. A perfect example is Casey Printers. But Casey is doing something all those other all-star college quarterbacks who landed roles as clipboard-holding third-stringers aren't: he's playing football. He's honing his craft and his skills, and with that comes recognition. Defecting to the CFL is sometimes the best career move, as evidenced by guys like Johnny Bright and Warren Moon.

Also: the NFL loves to keep the CFL under its thumb. There's a subtle anti-CFL bias inherent among NFL GMs. I'm not sure why, but it's probably a blow to their patriotic pride to admit that a rival football league has comparable talent and skill and excitement. Probably the best example of this is the way three separate teams have dicked around Doug Flutie.....because the spectre of him being this CFL superstar lingers over his head, and NFL GMs would rather write off entire seasons than face the scary proposition than a mere canadian football player could ever succeed in the bigger, larger, better NFL. And the only way to affirm the assertion that the CFL can't compete is to never give him that chance.