Im sure you all know I hate the crossover, but this is another reason why the crossover is wrong.
Everyone in the west is so cockey that their division is sooooooo much stronger than the east and BC fans thnk that Hamilton will be a pushover. They are wrong on both counts but lets say they are right.
Lets say for a moment that the east is weak.
Why should the last place team in west(this year) have an advantage over the 3 team with better records by playing in a weeker division?
Calgary and Ssk are both better teams than BC but one will eliminate the other while BC has an easy road to the cup and coasts there.
Again, I am not saying that the East is weak or that Hamilton, or Montreal will be a pushover, But if they were, this system would be penalizing the better teams in the west, and rewarding BC for its failure!
In an 8-team league, I believe that many fans would be frustrated if a team with a good record (even a winning record) would be shut out of the playoffs while teams with inferior records (even losing records) got in. No doubt that is the thinking. Is it fair? That is a matter of debate; there is no perfect solution.
Ultimately, I would like to see a 12-team league with equal numbers of East and West teams - 6 each. The rules would be simple. The 1st place team gets a 2-wk bye, the 2nd place team gets a 1-wk bye and the 3rd and 4th teams in each division fight out a quarter final. The semi final sees the winner of the quarter final against the 2nd place team and the 1st place team plays the winner of that game in the division final. The 5th and 6th place teams finish out of the playoffs. All of this regardless of the win/loss columns of the respective divisions.
One more point. I would like to see a "sudden death" approach in OT. This is where the "rouge" in Canadian football could be used to good advantage. Football is a game of territorial advantage. As long as a team is able to move the ball into scoring territory (not necessarily the red zone), a "quick kick" could end the game early. Who kicks and who receives in OT, should it come to that, would be determined by the coin toss at the start of the game.
I understand the idea. Just ends up being a waste of time. BC has no chance traveling over 20 000 miles and dealing with 4 3 hour time changes in two weeks.
I dont see how 8 teams makes a difference, it happens in every sport where a team with a better record misses the playoffs. Furthermore, a better record doesnt mean a better team.
I think a 2 week layoff would hurt a team. To me, even with 12 teams, keep the playoffs at the top 3 team in each division
I dont care for sudden death, especially with the rouge. Win the coin toss, win the game
you need the cross over because the east seems to be so week year after year dating back many years, no team with 5 wins should make the playoffs, I have no problem with it, I think if B.C. was healthy then they would not be in this position, juggling QB's all year is not good, Printers gives them a chance so dont think Hamilton is a shoe in to beat them.
Did you read the post? I dont think so because your answer has nothing to do with the point I made.....How about responding to that instead of the regular western whinning about the east being weeK!
The east looks weak because MTL is so dominant!
Mtl beat Ham and Wpg 3 times each
Give those wins to Wpg and both Montreal and Wpg would still be 1st and 2nd in the oh so powerfull west!
Keep telling yourself the west is so much stronger, it wont make it true
The crossover started because the west whinned.....
Even if for the sake of argument the west is stronger :roll: ,
The Chances of the Lions traveling 4000 km and beating Hamilton, going home, travelling 5000 km and beating a MOntreal, team that hasn't played in 2 and 3 weeks for some then going home then travelling 1000 km to Calgary and beat the winner of the West is NON EXISTANT. These poor guys would not even know what day of the week it is.
I personally don't think they even have a prayer against a young fast team like the Ticats but even if they got through that, they would just get run over in MOntreal.
I have to agree with you on this exactly, I have been saying it for ages. To me, it completly defeats the purpose of even having seperate divisions. I mean if you are going to allow a crossover, then forget the divisions in the first place and make it a free for all. East vs. West is so American Leagues (in most sports) it isn’t funny, but a small league in a small demographic, it’s just stupid. And causes confusion like this year. I agree, why in the world would a 4th place team get a playoff spot assured when numbers 3&4 (I think you meant Edmonton in this post) will elimate each other.
The whole crossover rule is goofy, elimate it or the divisions all together. That’s my 2 cents ($400 in Micronesia).
If I were Wally, if I won the game against Ti-Cats, I would ask the owner for extra funds to stay in Montreal for a week. I would take the team to Montreal on Monday, and I would look for a field for practice in Montreal until Saturday. I do not know if any team can have a practice at the Big Owe before the game, now that it is an H1N1 vaccination centre.
Edmonton did that last year for the eastern final.
Because the Cup was in Montreal, they packed and planned to stay for the week if they would have won
They wont find a place to practice in Montreal on that short of notice. Als have a hard time finding indoor locations at this time of year. No way the Lions get an indoor field to practice all week.
Having an indoor practice field is good, but IMO an outdoor field will work too. I am just thinking that it will be much better for the Lions to stay around between Hamilton and Montreal rather than going home to Vancouver. First is their biorhythm for time difference (which they obviously overcame in Hamilton) and the second is physical fatigue associated with 12 hours total flights v.v. in less than a week.
For outdoor practice, I think there are a number of fields laying around. From Molson stadium to the field at Parc Jeanne-Mance, I think they can use one.
