Can you say New Comish equals the new NFL 2?

Thanks for the awesome responses to the thread!

Ya I may have been over reacting but I was going with my initial gut feeling.

Many of you made some great points and while I may stil be holding my breath to see how Mr. Cohon performs, thanks to everyone's input I will at least be doing it with my eyes open..at least one!

And Meanstreak...I've put the clucker away for a cold one...time for a shotgun beer brother! Let's get this season started!

Jare

holly crap ive had my internet down for 3 days n im going insane i come back and this place is a zoo, so much news in so little time.. we signed db's? a new comish and tuffind up the dline

Thanks TCanuck. I agree with all of your comments and points.

I suspect Mr. Cohon will not be moving to take the C out of CFL. I certainly hope not.

I like the rules as these are now, it is Canadian football after all. But personally, I'm more of an overall football fan rather than strictly Canadian football fan. This is just me. So even if they changed, for whatever reason, some of our rules and made it more 'American', it wouldn't mean for me that I would stop going and watching the CFL, not at all. Doesn't make me better of a fan or not compared with people who want to keep the rules as they are now or were years ago, just a different type of fan here I guess.

No problem at all with what you said in this post Earl. Fair enough. There are different kinds of fans for sure, as it should be. We can all enjoy the game in our own ways.

That’s funny Earl because I think it’s the other way around. Over the last 5-8 years, the NFL looks more like CFL football to me.

Up until a few years ago, the NFL was not known for it’s passing. One of the things that made it less exciting (to me at least and probably many others) was the reliance on the run game. With 4 downs it was much easier to gain 10 yards, more methodical (ball control) and passes were not that necessary (a balanced attack… closer to 50/50 pass/run). You were lucky to see 20 passes a game. Now it looks more CFL with pass attempts usually over 30, often reaching 40 or more, per game. IIRC, they set an NFL pass attempt record a few years back (Bradey? New Endland? over 50 or 60? can’t recall). Not NFL like at all.

Both points above seem to reflect a more wide-open, “pass happy”, CFL-like offensive philosophy. (the “dull” 2006 CFL season being an exception)

Maybe it was the Flutie influence, but it was rare to see QB sneaks and so much QB scrambling. Years back there were a few Fran Tarkensons (sp?.. Vikings) but now it seems more a regular occurrence. Plus the acceptance of more mobile QBs, another CFL trait (not the typical NFL 6’4’, linebacker-sized, “don’t/can’t run” tree trunks).

Up until a few years back, I had never seen a punt return. I’ve watched NFL games off and on since the mid-60’s and never seen a punt return. It was always a fair catch or let the ball hit the ground and roll. Now they seem to return it more often than not.

So, if anything, I believe the NFL has become more CFL like over the years.

IMO anyway :slight_smile:

The commish to be was on Prime Time with Bob McCown yeterday on the FAN590.
He was asked specifically about U.S. expansion and he said that he was opposed to it.
He did say he would investigate expansion here in Canada.
I would think Ottawa and Halifax would be nice adds!

Im against adding 2 teams , I think we should stick with an even amount of teams and not have the gap of weeks without games .

That’s funny Earl because I think it’s the other way around. Over the last 5-8 years, the NFL looks more like CFL football to me.

Excellent post longtime and I completely agree and I should have said this. I guess all I was saying was that over the course of many decades the CFL has gone more American like, for example we are now using the same sized ball as the NFL and time outs. But I agree that the main rule differences like the 3 downs, extra man, and larger field are still here and really have influenced the NFL alot with having guys like Flutie play here and show that a small guy can play, more easily at first to show his skills which shine more easily with Canadian rules and then, the NFL takes notice.

It is bothersome that we don’t see more articles about how the Canadian game has influenced the American game. Although maybe I’ve missed some of these articles. Sports writers, are you listening?

k never call US College ball 2nd rate. You can argue that the CFL is different, unique and the best canadian football, but US college ball blows CFL football out of the water. Arena ball and NFL Europe are not on the same page as college or NFL so dont even try comparing them.
The Canadian game is different. Whether that makes it better or worse than the american game is up to each person to decide. I think there are some rules that make it more exciting, while there are others that are just plain stupid.

US college ball blows CFL football out of the water

If the CFL wasn't 'hampered' by the import rule, some might argue that the talent level would increase in the CFL a fair bit. If you were talking about actual talent level?

k never call US College ball 2nd rate. You can argue that the CFL is different, unique and the best canadian football, but US college ball blows CFL football out of the water.

In your humble opinion.

Not mine.

I would rather watch the Ti Cats play any CFL team than watch Middle Tennessee State play Akron any day!!!

yes i am mainly referring to talent level and calibre of play.
i personally think its also more interesting/entertaining to watch, but thats a preference, so we can disagree on that.

blackandgld, you base your opinion on what?

Well, one aspect of interest/entertainment that factors into anything is amount of hype and people watching something and without question in these regards, not much beats major college football in the US of A. I'll admit that. For me, though, this is actually something that wants me want to take in the CFL more, I know football is so huge in the US that something must be good about the game for crying out loud. And we get some of their excellent graduates to come up here and play. Not bad, not bad indeed. Along with our excellent Canadians of course.

This new Commish has a great Resume and I think its a good choice. We need a strong marketer with good connections. Look at some of the things he's done:

"Cohon comes to the CFL with more than 15 years' experience in sports marketing, business development, ticketing, sponsorship and television sales. As vice president of business development with the NBA, Cohon was responsible for the league's international marketing forays.

Prior to that, Cohon was Director of Corporate and Game Development for Major League Baseball International, responsible for increasing revenues and brand exposure, sponsorship and initiating game development activities around the world."

He also worked at Toronto Zoo as a lion tamer and they said he was a big fan of Peter Gabriel - impressive stuff.

Is Peter Tony's brother or relative? 8)

They are cousins and both pretty good singers

:)

There are still a few folks out there that think even the best NCAA teams could beat one of the weaker CFL teams. The quality between a pro-roster and a collegiate roster is like night and day and no knowledgeable football person would suggest otherwise. The differences in popularity (CFL versus NCAA) is more a reflection of the differences in hype and the size of their respective markets than quality of the product.

As for Commish Cohon, give him a chance. He appears to be bright, committed, has good business sense (based on the coast-to-coast lobbying he did to get the job), youthful and willing to work hard for the league. He may fall flat on his face but let's see what he can do.

An Argo-Cat fan

Teams in Ottawa and Atlantic Canada? Now there's a huge challenge for the next five years. I wish the new Commissioner luck. Great on-field product but the Board of Governors is a rats nest and trying the please them could be tough.
As to the theme of this thread....where does it say Mark Cohon has thoughts of turning the CFL into a northern NFL? Come to think of it...where else has that been even brought up? Comparisons with the NHL are ridiculous...there is no NFL-type counterpart to the NHL.
Cohon mentions the "CFL identity" in Canada which indicates to me that he thinks the CFL brand of football is important.Where does JareCanada's "first impression" about turning the CFL into an NFL franchise come from?
Stay optimistic :slight_smile: .

When I was Running my Ticats Blog..
I did an Interview with Tom Wright..
I like Him..
I Found Tom Wright to be Thoughtful Insightful and Very Upfront

Maybe I'll Get Chance to Speak to new Commish
I love to Interview him..