CFL at a glance

CFL Talk
#1

Theres a lot of threads right now about improvements to the CFL, so heres my bit. A thought on the cap increase today, it's great, it gives teams the money ($150, 000) to either sign another star player(or pay his signing bonus) or three more decent players.
College Level Football

Canadian college football is currently a joke, it needs to be better supported by us, played on networks like TSN or CBC, athletic scholarships are needed to achieve this feat. I would like to see each school with 15, 000 seat stadiums, and big football schools like Western, Queens, Saskatoon and Mac with 25, 000 seat stadiums. No one should say the schools can't afford scholarships, these schools are loaded. Being able to watch the young players develop from university to pros is huge, it puts more fans in the seats. The 6 round draft should be televised, and it should be a serious event, not just drafting players for the sake of having Canadian's to fill your roster, drafting players because they are the best at that position available, and it fills one of your teams needs. Also a 3 round NCAA draft should be held, It doesn't need to be televised, maybe they could show it on broad band over the internet. University football is where it starts, and is the most important aspect to improve our great league to be even greater and eventually be an empire.

Import non import ratio should be even, it should be half and half, and you shouldn't be forced to start a certain amount of either. Also with fewer Canadian's, you would only see the best ones, and it would make Canadian players look better. We would also be able to see more American talent which is good also. I would like to see more Canadian's starting, but I would also like to see better football, and the CFL has been a snore fest when it comes to offense the last few years, and if it means starting more Americans then might as well. Advertisement

The CFL needs to put more commercials on TV on stations like CBC, TSN and the Score. Also local TV stations have to advertise the local team. I'm not sure if they do this any where else, but they did it a few years ago on CH (Hamilton). I haven't seen anything advertising the Argo's. Logo's need to be put on the field's, and billboards around the teams cities. Also some beer commercials would be nice [img. Maybe some free shirts in beer cases would help to.[/img][/b]

[/b]Expansion Is a must, we need a coast to coast league, with teams in Ottawa, QBC, Atlantic Canada, and some where in the west, and maybe another in Ontario. Enough said there, the topics been covered endlessly.

The CFL needs to strengthen on the aspects i talked about, and alot of people are going to say i think to big, and they are happy that we have our own league here in Canada, and were doing our own thing, but the fact is it could be a lot better, and it needs to be, it currently isn't a coast to coast league like the NFL, and it should be, because CFL stands for CanadianFootball League, and should cover the whole map. We need to make our great sport even greater and build an empire.

Just one last thing. I am sick of going into sports stores and other stores and seeing piles and piles of NFL, NBA, MLB and NASCAR merchandise. Stores need to start carrying CFL merchandise, and if they won't, the CFL should open a few stores in some major cities. We need to build our league up, and the smallest things like clothes and other souvenirs help. I know i started to like the Tiger-Cats when i received a hat for my 8th birthday.

#2

This sounds like a wannabe post. Go watch NFL buddy.

#3

What does his post have to do with the NFL?

#4

how is this a wanna be thread? i am making suggestions to improve the game that i love, and you tell me to go watch the NFL which i do anyway? what am i confined to only watch one or the other? are all the CFL fans on this forum going to ban me if i watch the NFL? so what if i watch both. Am i not allowed to make suggestions to make our league better. You and the CFL must be perfect because in your mind there is no room for improvement as you say. Things can always be improved, unless your "TorontoIsMyHome" because then your perfect.

#5

They're not forced. It's just the way the numbers work out.

Let's use your way to make a simple example. On a 40-man roster, you'd have a 20-20 split, right? But you need 24 starters, plus two kickers. So you "use up" your 20 imports and "have" to start some Canadians.

That's why teams are forced to play Canadians. Not because by rule they have to play some, but because due to roster structure, they've just "run out" of Americans.

#6

Of course. He’s proposing increasing the prestige and interest in CIS ball, making CFL merchandise more easily available and increasing CFL marketing. I can see where you’d label him an NFL whore. :roll:

#7

The CFL is the only league i know of where fans whine about whats wrong with it as much as they do. You want CIS to be NCAA. You want 32 teams. You want there to be merchandise everywhere you look. You want American players.

You can have all those things. Watch NFL.

Yes, many of these things would improve the league but do you think these highly intelligent men we have had running the league for the past 95 years have not tried them? Many are just not feasible.

How do you stock stores with CFL products when many stores, especially sports-related stores, simply stock their shelves with products they get in bulk from American suppliers who don’t even carry CFL?

Many Canadians have a problem supporting Canadian Pro Football. How can you expect CIS to become a big deal? They don’t even offer scholarships and everyone at the games is a student.

Having fewer Canadians is a bad idea. Canadian talent is the pillar of a team on the field and in the eyes of the fans in many cities. Americans are a revolving door in most cases. Rare are the Americans who settle down and have a long career in the CFL. You need these Canadian stars so fans can know who to follow year in and year out, regardless of the Great American Hopes that will come and go.

How do you know Canada can support 12 teams with a $4.2 million salary cap? So far we have seen it can’t even support 9.

You want more prestige for the league? No doubt if we had a 12 team league stocked with superstars with a $20 million salary cap and everyone wearing CFL products there would be more prestige. Until then, the NFL is for you.

#8

I get the distinct feeling you’re over-reacting.

#9

And what was your first clue?

#10

Kinda hard to narrow it down, really...I mean, there were so many clues in such a short time, it's nearly impossible to determine which came first...it's a chicken-egg sorta thing...

#11

There you go. So he's right. :wink:

If people suggest ideas as to how the league can be improved it's not because they don't like it, it's because they like it a lot and want to see it succeed beyond what it already has.

#12

Couple of points. It was a good post, and I definitely agree about the merchandise. I've told my story about my Eskimos t-shirt many times already, so I won't repeat it. But the CFL definitely needs to get its products out there. Or at the very least, lover the shipping on their website. Asking someone to pay $15 in shipping for a $30 hat is ridiculous.

Expansion is touchy. I'll break my opinion about it down in point form:

  1. We don't have the population to support a large league.
  2. I don't want a league where the same teams are in the basement like the Lions and Cardinals, etc.
  3. I say get a team back in Ottawa, and maybe one more out East, and that should be fine.

On the topic of advertising, I think the CFL signing with TSN was a good idea. I've been watching the NFL playoffs, and I've seen a ton of commercials advertising the 2008 Grey Cup coming to TSN. I see it probably 3-6 times a game.

#13

you make the CFL sound so helpless like it will never improve. if we can support junior hockey so well and professional hockey so well, why can’t we do the same for football? The schools can afford athletic scholarships, and with better advertisement more people will watch. and i’m not saying everyone needs to wear CFL products, the products just need to be more available, i have heard numerous complaints about this. I sincerely hope you are never commisioner of the CFL or even in the front office, because if you were to run it, it would be the same, 8 team league, with an average fan base, and a pathetic junior level of football, and the only place you would be able to buy CFL products would be at games.

#14

I'm sure many a commissioner has tried to make them more available. They're not stupid and they certainly do a better job than most of the know it alls on this forum could.

#15

Someone having a bad day or what? Try lightening up a little. All ticats111 is trying to do is generate a little discussion about the league during the off-season.

#16

One thing I find weird, and it fits in with this thread I think, is that how in the heck did Canada end up with football and collegiate sports in this country so low on the totem pole in terms of exposure and facilities etc. compared with what happenned in the US? Ok, to answer this question properly would probably require a PhD in North American history and sociology and a couple hundred of pages of research text but really, when you get down it, I find it strange. The border between the US and Canada is far more than just imaginary as some suggest, it's very real. Two very different countries although on the surface it doesn't always seem so.

#17

Now correct me if I am wrong, the CFL Store is owned by Jersey City. I know here in Edmonton, they have a couple Jersey City stores and do carry CFL stuff all year round, but more during the CFL season. They also have some in British Columbia so there are places to buy CFL gear out here in the west.