Does anybody watch the CFL anymore? It would appear to me that they do not. When I lived in Ottawa last year, I saw the outrage in the city due to the possible moving of the Ottawa Renegades. The fans were rioting in the streets, buildings were on fire, babies were eaten...actually I don't think anyone even noticed that the team suspended operations in April of 2006 because no one knew they existed.
All I ever hear about in the CFL is the lack of money and the folding of teams. Why don't they revolutionize the game? I often have this conversation with my dad and he brings up a very good idea for the CFL - why not turn it into a farm system for the NFL?
Playing in the CFL seems to be a deathwish for a player's career unless your name is Doug Flutie or Ricky Williams. Actually, yeah, it's still a deathwish. But what if the CFL was used as a minor league system for up and coming players in the NFL? In the current system, if you're not drafted out of college, then you go and get a 9-5 job with your General Studies degree (if you completed your requirements, that is).
What about players that couldn't get the exposure they needed on their college team or weren't good enough in high school to be offered a college scholarship? There could be a lot of talent out there that doesn't have the chance to develop because other than arena football in Europe, there is no system in place.
Players aren't drafted out of the CFL very often for two major reasons:
1) The rules are different. If a player gets used to throwing every down, they might lose their abilities on pass defense. Special teams is more important with 3 downs and the 1-point system as well.
2) There is very little exposure. How can these players get noticed with the current relationship the CFL has with the NFL. They need to be tied more closely so that teams can monitor their draft picks.
How many times is there a first-round draft pick from college that you don't hear about again for 4 years until the first string franchise player goes down? And 9 times out of 10 that draft pick fails to meet the hype when he gets in. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that he's played 3 snaps in the last 4 years! If there was a farm system, the team could have him playing in the farm system while he's developing and bring him up when they need him. That way, his game sense stays sharp and he's been in game situations for the past 3 or 4 years and not playing 7-on-7 no contact at practice every week.
I think most people would rather buy a ticket to go watch these up and coming superstars than to go watch a bunch of washed up CFL'ers kick every 3 plays and score on every touchdown pass because they have an end zone the size of Australia.
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I wouldn't. I watch all levels of football, and I was livid that the Renegades were suspended, but I would have no interest in the CFL being a feeder league.
You mention NFL Europe. Do you watch it? If not, no worries, even fewer people watch that than the CFL.
You mention the CFL as a place to send players for development. NFL team don't like that. They prefer to have their players around to practice with their teammates and work within their own system. Have you ever stopped to wonder why NFL Europe is played in the spring? It's partially so the players allocated to it miss as little time as possible with their "real" teams. Now how crazy do you think NFL clubs would be about sending a few guys away from from May to October? So those first-round picks you're talking about wouldn't go anywhere. Neither would your "up and coming superstars".
Also, a week or two before the NFL Europe allocations start, watch the transactions pages. Teams will sign a half dozen off the street and send them to NFL Europe to meet their quota. They rarely send anyone that matters. They send out some Joe and if the light goes on for him while he's out there, then all the better. Why would they do it any differently with the CFL?
And it may seem nutty to you, but some people actually *gasp* prefer the Canadian rules. Yes, there are more kicks but the pace if faster overall because of the shorter play clock. But all that's a matter of personal taste.
As an aside, what I think they should do is have eight NFL Europe teams and have each one represent an NFL division. That way the players allocated from any given team all play together, and NFL fans can adopt a team. If I'm a Pittsburgh fan, and all allocated Pittsburgh players go to Frankfurt, then I have an interest in watching Frankfurt all of a sudden.
Regardless, the CFL needs to do something different than they currently are. A once very proud league has been reduced to a mere shadow of its former self, and the rules suck. Granted, there's a lot of passing, and the game's quicker, but it also has a lot of faults.
I want a game where a team can showcase a running back. 3-for-10 doesn't really let that happen. I want a game where you aren't rewarded for a missed field goal. I want a game where a player has a chance to play in the NFL one day. If the CFL can't give me these things, then I won't watch it...guess what, I don't watch it. I used to though...back in the days of Tommy Joe Coffee and Angelo Mosca.
The only thing they need to do is fix their business model so that teams stop getting in jeopardy of folding if they have two poor seasons. I understand that their TV contract is about to be greatly improved and that should go along way towards accomplishing that. Constantly having teams of the brink of extinction got old long ago.
Aside from that, there's little to fix because what was suggested will bring little of what you want. The feeder system will not work for reasons already stated. So the guys with a chance to make an NFL roster that you're looking will no more be there than they would be with NFL Europe because the NFL simply won't send them up.
Also, changing to American rules will chase away the die-hards. So will having constantly changing rosters that rob teams of their identity. Think that means little? You might want to research the where the two leagues stack up in terms of popularity across the country. It's closer than you think.
Hey, the CFL is by no means all gold in my book. I hate the single point for a missed field goal too, for example. But...
-I detest the fair catch in the NFL.
-I prefer that a team can choose concede a single point when fielding a punt in the endzone for the sake of field position. It then becomes a matter of strategy which is what the game is all about to me.
-I prefer that 3rd and one is "decision-time" as opposed to 4th and one rarely being tried.
-I hate NFL clock management in that a two-score lead with four minutes left is game over 90% of the time. That's not the case in Canadian ball.
Ultimately, I think they both have their flaws, but if you prefer American rules, you have plenty of options to enjoy, whereas mine are limited. So please, leave my goofy Rouge alone. :-)
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