At the Stampeders game yesterday, I noticed a couple of fans sitting in front of us in Baltimore Stallions gear. Needless to say, I felt the need to talk to these fans. They were in town visiting some familly. Not only did they decide to take in the Labour Day game at McMahon, they also flew to Regina to see the Riders/Bombers game. They had also said that they had tickets to the Grey Cup game as well.
I was so impressed that they chose to not only follow our game, but to make an effort to take in 2 Labour Day weekend games. The Stallions have been gone over a decade and these fans of the US have chosen to continue to follow the CFL. I know that they are not alone.
There are a number of CFL fans in the US some of which are transplanted Canadians living, working, and longing for real football. The problem is, the television coverage is something to be desired. I have a dish and only get 8 Stampeder games in total. I did not get the Labour Day Classic and do not get tonight's game either. ESPN360 carried the Labour Day Classic but is not carrying tonight's game. Talk about terrible US TV coverage for the Grey Cup Champions. CFL, you have to do better. By the way, we get to see Toronto 13 times. This is not performance; if you are not interested in seeing the Argos. In case the CFL has not heard; the Argos are not Canada's Team.
I predict that once the level of CFL viewers in Canada reaches a certain level, whatever that is, the CFL will be able to get a half-decent deal with a US network. It might take another five or ten years, but it will happen as long as the ratings keep going up. It's all about numbers of viewers and advertising revenue. The new way of calculating total viewers in Canada is bound to have an impact as the numbers look much more impressive.
There are still Stallion fans at Grey Cups every year and the team only existed for 2 seasons over a decade ago! If there ever was a commercial for marketing success couth of the border that is one of them. If only the Stallions were still around…
After watching the CFL for a few months you get so used to the rules, which can get a little tricky when the season gets underway down here. Case in point, I attended my nephew's season opening Junior Varsity game this past Monday and one of his teammates fielded a punt in the air and had opposing players within five yards, I stood up yelling NO YARDS and everybody, including my family just looked at me like I had just gone off the deep end. It was a little embarrassing.
I get a little tired, OK VERY tired, of explaining the single to my American pals. They just don't seem to get the concept of field position and an actual kicking game. I'm pretty sure it's because they have never actually seen a live CFL game, and how big the field really is.
