I remember as a young guy the 2 game total point playoff format but not clearly. I do remember my Dad being excited about it.
Financially it would give 6 of the 9 teams a home playoff date and would propose this only for the semifinals. All other sports are a best of 7. Does anyone remember how it was? Everything in the CFL playoffs is sudden death format and we maybe short changing ourselves of some extra football.
Would it add to the excitement? What was the reason the league took it away?
2015 financial statements by the EE's says the western final was 1.8 million in revenue so it is significant. I am sure TSN would also like it
A playoff format change was made for the Western Final in 1972. For several years a team from the West got into the GC by beating its opponent 2 out of 3 times. In 1972 the Western Final changed to sudden death: beat the opponent once and earn a trip to the GC. In 1973 the East adopted the one game sudden death format. For several years the two teams in the East that made it to the Eastern Final settled the score by playing a two game total points series. The team with the most points earned a trip to the GC.
Other than the introduction of the cross-over in 1996 [with a slight change in 1997] the sudden death Semi-final and sudden death Final has not changed.
I liked the old format of the best of 2 out of 3 to settle things in the West. I always felt that any team could come out flat or lose because of a terrible call. They could in fact be the better team and because of this I enjoyed seeing the opposition "earn" the right to the GC. Of course the proponents arguing against a return to the old playoff format would argue that a team could come out flat in the Grey Cup game too and we only have one Championship game there. A valid point but it doesn't change my take on the idea that the team that can knock off the other team 2 out of 3 times was the better team.
Of course the flip side is that the more games you play the greater the risk of injury but that really does not phase me. I thoroughly enjoyed watching SSK and Calgary going at it...hopefully 3 times in a row in a Western Final.
The East could be just as entertaining albeit if a team lost its first game, let's say 46-2 because they came out flat, it meant they were starting the next game down 44-0! Ouch! How entertaining would the second game be?
Personally, I don't think 18 games today is too many games and I for one would like to see a return to the old playoff format.
I imagine that ticket sales and the short season factored into the playoff format change. Regardless, even though a team wins a bye into the Western Final by taking 1st place in its division I would still like to see the best 2 out of 3 for a Western Final.
I understand what you're saying 300Magnum but remember the playoff format has already been changed multiple times: In 1972, 1973 and 1996. So it really is not that difficult to change the playoff system.
If those that make such changes thought changing the playoff format would generate ticket sales and be supported by the fans who knows what could happen. I'm sure it would be a serious consideration. Having said that I'm skeptical that we are going to see any significant changes anytime soon.
you forgot 1986 Beagle , the last time that a two game total point series was played . That was the year that the league also moved from a 16 gm schedule to an 18 gm regular season schedule for the first time . The league changed up the play-off format allowing for a 4th place finisher to qualify as long as they had more points then the 3rd place finisher in the other division .
The format would allow for a two game total point play-off series between the East's 1rst place Argos and the 2nd place Ti-Cats . Meanwhile the West play-offs saw the 4th place Stampeders play the 1rst place Eskimos and the 2nd place Bombers took on the 3rd place Lions .
In the 2 game total point East Final the Argos won gm #1 by a 31-17 score and were up 15-3 in the 1rst quarter of game #2 so were up by 26 points in total points in the series. But the Cats roared back and took the 2nd game by a final score of 42-25 thus winning the 2 game combined by a 59-56 final point tally . As far as I know this was the one and only year that this format was played .
The best part of this format was of course that the Cats got a 2nd chance after losing the first game which in other years would've eliminated them from the play-offs otherwise . But that comeback in that 2nd game earned them a trip to the Grey Cup and we all know who won that game now don't we ? :rockin:
Not all other sports are best of 7...MLB is after the first rounds. NBA is shorter to start. NHL is 7. Soccer is not. Rugby is not. NFL is not. NCAA basketball is not. WHA is not. AFL does not. IPL does not.
Everything in the CFL is not sudden death. Their OT is one of a handful of sports that is not.
Also, if 6 of 9 get in then are you saying the 2nd and 3rd place team should beat each other up for 2 weeks and the 1st place team gets a 2nd bye?
It would add an extra game to the season for playoff teams, and in turn put more wear on players before potentially going to the cup. It's bad for the players. Period.
"It would add an extra game to the season for playoff teams, and in turn put more wear on players"
If playing an extra game or two during the playoffs is bad for the players then why did the CFL go from a 16 game regular season to an 18 game regular season several years ago? Evidently it isn't. If you include the the pre-season it is actually a 20 game season!
Personally, I'm all for seeing a best of 3 playoff Final. We would be looking at supposedly the best 2 teams in the West [or east] duking it out for the right to play in the Grey Cup. I think that is what it's all about.
" But that comeback in that 2nd game earned them a trip to the Grey Cup and we all know who won that game now don't we ?"
Ahhh, yes we do Bobo. Always the eternal optimist Bobo.
Let me see... Didn't Hamilton make its last Grey Cup appearance sometime during the last century? I think so. Oh and they won that game too. 16 years is a long drought. Hopefully the drought will not last much longer.
CFL already did this in years past so it is not something new. MLS has 2 game total point, NBA best of series, MLB, NHL the same and the NHL even gives a participation ribbon point even when a team looses.
Beaglehound, I do agree with your bit about a team losing the first game 46-2 in a 2-game series. I don't want to show up to see a game where one team already has one foot in the grave and the other team is just running the football and looking up at the clock.
Like I said, it's bush league. It has no place in the CFL or any real sport for that matter. The fact they 'used' to do it and then grew out of it is no reason to go back to it.
As for fan interest? I would automatically LOSE interest in moving to a bush league move.
Good catch OskeeweeneeVI! :thup: My bad. :oops: I could say I meant "Didn't Hamilton make its winning last Grey Cup appearance sometime during the last century? But you would know that I was just trying to snow you and weasel my way out. I made a mistake and now I must eat crow. I'm sure Bobo will have a field day with this. I just hope he misplaced his glasses.
I think that is exactly what could happen OskeeweeneeVI with the 2 game total points playoff approach. Even as a kid I used to wonder about it when that is how it was done in the East.
If I have some time on my hands I wouldn't mind going through the archives to see how often[if] that happened. I always did like the best of 3 to settle the Western Final for reasons I've already listed, especially when you know one team is superior and happens to lose that decisive playoff Final. Yes, the other team won fair and square but if the underdog beat the prevailing team 2 out of the 3 times then they would no longer be the underdogs and would be worthy of a birth in the Grey Cup Championship game and did not get in by some fluke, mis-call or whatever. If the prevailing team with the better record knocks off the underdog two straight games then they have proven themselves without a doubt.
Oh well, the CFL is still the best game in town in my books regardless of how they get to the Grey Cup.
The issue I have with a best 2-out-of-3 is what if someone wins in 2 straight? Now there's an empty TV slot and we're stuck watching Steel Magnolias or something instead of football? Or, god forbid, spending time with our families? :lol:
One of the greatest appeals of football for me is the shortness of the season and the finality of a one-game playoff. You either win or you don't,
:rockin: 