Since there are a number of posts about improving the CFL and the Grey Cup, I thought it was time to resurrect my annual crusade to return the Grey Cup to its roots and play the game on Saturday.
The polically correct folks have moved the game to Sunday in an attempt to:
Make more money for the host city.
Get away from the "Grand National Drunk"
I feel that playing the game on Saturday is a far better choice. My reasons.
Regardless of how the tea crowd feels, many people, myself included like to indulge during the game. Staging the game on Saturdays gives one day grace in nursing the annual hangover.
People who like to travel to the game are forced to book one extra day off work as a travel day home. For most people I know this is a huge sacrifice, I am limited in my vacation days and the one extra day hurts more than the hangover.
Many sports teams, non profits community groups have lost money that used to be made staging Grey Cup parties.
Those travelling to the game are generally stuck in the host city, with nothing happening for one extra day.
Those travelling to the game are forced, to cough up one more night in a hotel, just to boost the revenues for the host city.
NFL fans are forced to choose, rather that experience both.
For many the "Grey Cup Party" was the tradition that solidified them as CFL fans.
Don't have to decide between the Grey Cup and church.
Please feel free to give reasons for holding the game on Sunday and spare me the "tradition" card, the tradition was to hold the game on Saturday long before Sunday games took over. Over the years, nobody has ever given a convincing arguement for the Sunday games, other that the host city getting more revenue. It is time to consider the fans over the money.
Just my take, not saying anyone else is wrong. Even though you are. :cowboy: (joke)
I agree for several reasons, number one would be, people attending the game would have the Sunday to travel back home and not have to miss a Monday at work. Secondly, having the game on a Sat eve in primetime would be great exposure. No NFL games on sat eve and I'm sure the NHL could be convinced to schedule the Canadian teams in the afternoon and have the game at 7 est or even 6est.
There is no chance the NHL would change its schedule to accommodate the CFL. Maybe if MLSE owned the Argos, but otherwise there is not a chance in hell. And CBC would never surrender Hockey Night in primetime to benefit its main competition.
"1. Regardless of how the tea crowd feels, many people, myself included like to indulge during the game. Staging the game on Saturdays gives one day grace in nursing the annual hangover."
this is an absolutely super great reason not to have it on saturdays. Sign me one of the Pepsi generation. Its one thing to have a few drinks, but to make it a point to get plastered just to watch the game. Thats really sad.
Your probably right, but teams can ask for certain game times and all Canadian teams play in the afternoon at one time or another during the season. I'm thinking most western Canadian NHL teams wouldn't have a problem accomadating their CFL teams that play in their city. Habs and Leafs probably wouldn't budge.
Spare the sermon, exageration is but a tool in the discussion. Indulgence is a personal thing, nobody said anyone needs to get "plastered". A day recovery is not a bad thing.
The CFL is competition for scarce dollars in each market. How would it benefit any NHL team to adjust its schedule to suit the CFL? I just don't see it, in any market.
I think FYB is a bit a jerk, but I have to agree with him on this one. If you have a hangover, you did more than indulge. I don't hold it against anyone who drinks -- I don't, personally, but that's my choice -- but to say that the Grey Cup should be held on a Saturday so that the imbibers have a day to recover is rather silly.
To be honest, I don't care what day the game is played on, I will watch it. It could be Saturday, Sunday or noon on a Thursday, my eyes will be on the TV to watch the game. It makes no difference to me when the game is played.
There were 8 other reasons I gave for a Saturday Grey Cup. You guys pick one and that's good enough.
Once again, this shouldn't be difficult, nobody has given one good reason for the game to be on Sunday.
Some say they don't want to compete with the NHL, but your fine competing with the NFL. CFL Grey Cup vs NHL regular season, the NHL will lose the ratings war, and they will move to accomodate.
The only, I repeat only reason for the Sunday Grey Cup is revenue for the host. Saturday is far more fan friendly. The Saturday Prime Time Grey Cup Party used to be a huge fundraising opportunity for amateur sports, now it's gone. If the only arguement you have for not staging the game on Saturday is because you want to prevent others from drinking, enjoy your puritan life, the rest of the world likes to live a little.
Again, somebody please come up with a reasonable argument, I haven't heat it yet.
When was the last time they played the Grey Cup on a Saturday? I looked as far back as 1980 and couldn't find one. I thought they did switch it to a Saturday once but the ratings dived so they moved it back to a Sunday.
I, for one, whole-heartedly agree with your position, tridus.
The Grey Cup is the single biggest day of celebration, for me - in the entire calendar year. Having a day in between to savor the experience. and not be rushed back to work would be delightful.
Your point regarding travel home is, also, a great one ... It is my intent to take my children to the Grey Cup the next time it is being held in British Columbia ... having an extra day to travel before returning to work would be of great benefit.
Many of your other points seem to have merit, as well ... I was just curious though ... how does the change in day effect those community groups, and sport organizations ability to hold the same fund raising parties ?
Someone else asked the question ... in what year did this change occur ?
Just spit-balling here ... but I have to think the decision to change it to Sunday has alot to do with hockey, and also an atttempt to mimic that "SuprBowl Sunday" thing the NFL has going for it ...
I, like you, am very interested to hear the rationalizations for changing the day.
Sunday is "Prime Time" for TV viewers, it's as simple as that. If they put it on a Saturday they would lose half their audience. And sponsors would pull their advertising dollars from the prime time event.
As for competition it's a non-starter. You can look at the TV ratings and see that the highest rated TV events are always on a Sunday. Look at the BBM ratings and you can see that Sunday is THE night for TV viewers and Saturday is the least watched TV night of the week. The fact that there may be other sporting events on TV at the same time as the Grey Cup is a non-starter. There is no evidence(no TV ratings) that people would watch another sports program instead of the Grey Cup, the majority of viewers are not sports fans but they watch the yearly event.
The Grey Cup, and the Super Bowl draw viewers who are not football fans, these are viewers that tune in to watch a yearly event. You can look at the TV ratings and see the huge viewership for both games in Canada but it doesn't translate into regular season football viewership.
It's the same for big soccer events like the Euro this year, there were huge TV ratings in Canada - 4 million plus for the Sunday final but that doesn't translate into regular soccer viewers in Canada.
The Grey Cup moved from its traditional Saturday start to Sunday in 1969. After that, for many years the game was played in late morning or early afternoon on Sunday, still allowing fans a chance to catch an evening flight home and still make it to work Monday morning. This ended in 1989 when they determined that holding the game at prime time (Toronto Prime time, don't get me started there) would result in one more night hotel and associated costs to the traveller.
Despite a few milk toasts out there having a problem with people enjoyin the odd cocktail, the only reason given so far and obviously the only sound reason for holding the game on Sunday evening is revenue and thus the CFL puts money over people.
Flyin-A asked:
How does the change in day effect those community groups, and sport organizations ability to hold the same fund raising parties ?
That one is quite simple, in the old days :cowboy: , sport organizations, community groups or even just neighbors would gather together to watch the games as a group. In short they would make a party out of it, now I understand that having a party is a problem for some out there but a lot of us like a party. That is not being done to near the extent any more due to the same reasons that are held with regard to the game on Sunday Prime time. People simply don't go out on Sunday night because they have to work Monday morning. Organizers who were quite willing to devote their Saturday night at the local community hall, cleaning up after, were happy to do so knowing they could sleep in Sunday morning, whether or not they had consumed any alcohol. Why do they rarely hold dances, community events, parties on Sunday. Because people have to get up Monday morning and go to work, it is not that difficult to comprehend.
Of course it does. What sane business would pass on significant sums of revenue for a few people who really want to get drunk? It's not like they're rolling in cash and just afford to take that hit.
Also, the idea that the "Grand National Drunk" is inherently a good thing is itself questionable. Lots of potential customers are highly turned off by drunken morons at the games.
I keep forgetting that you have to be be careful not to be too vague on this site. Otherwise people enjoying the odd cocktail become drunken morons. Everything in moderation I always say but it only takes a few bombastic self righteous teetotallers to ruin it for the other responsible non-drinkers.
It's a not uncommon complaint at sporting events, actually. You get 30,000+ people together drinking, you're going to get a few morons in the group.
Besides, we're not talking about people enjoying the odd cocktail. There's nothing stopping people from doing that on Sunday. People manage to drink at games all year long on all sorts of days of the week, including Thursdays and other Sundays. Your own words were about hangovers back in post 1, and that's a lot more then a cocktail or two.
If you expect the league to forego significant revenue so that you can have 8 beers and not have to go in to work the next day, you'll be making this thread for the next 40 years.
Again, why do you and others cherry pick one of the reasons given and dwell on that ad nauseum. Nobody has addressed the travel. Nobody has addressed having to take an extra day off work to attend the game. Calling everybody who wants to have a few drinks and sleep in the next day a drunken moron is no different that calling every non-drinker a self-righteous neerdowell, neither is correct and a few bad apples spoil it for the bunch. And when did a few drinks, suddenly become 8 beers. I usually have 2 or 3 beers at a game, as do the vast majority of attendees who choose to indulge. I have never thrown up on a patient but have been thrown up on be the odd unruly child who should be at home with the babysitter and not being forced to endure the thousands of drunks at the game. (I love kids almost as much as I love exageration, but since were playing the exageration game, I can play it with the best of them.)
Anyway, in order to move this along and maybe just maybe look at the other points made for Saturday games. I concede the drunkeness issue. You can't argue with a drunk or a teetottaler. Although drunks sometimes pass out, the other side never goes away.
What is there to address? Sure travel and such would be better on Saturday.
So long as revenue generation and TV audiences are better on Sunday, the league and TSN don't care. The decision makers care about the money, and this other stuff is all secondary.
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