New CFL fan

Hello everyone,

I am a new member to this forum and a relatively new fan of CFL. I am originally from New Zealand (where CFL is virtually unheard of) but I now live in New York. I watched many CFL games this past season thanks to espn360.com coverage. I think Canadian football is a great game and I hope it grows and expands in the future. I am already eagerly awaiting next season.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome new fan! You are a perfect example that many people will love the CFL once they actually are able to watch games!

Looking forward to your comments in the forum :slight_smile:

welcome!! have you picked a team to cheer for yet? seeing that you are from new york…jets…green…riders.

Welcome Eugene. I think you'll find the black and gold of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to your liking, if I was you I'd start cheering for this team, the team of the future in the CFL!

Welcome to the board. I actually have a buddy from New Zealand. Good guy. Always nice to see fans from around the globe. Have you picked a team to cheer for yet?

Welcome to true addiction, Eugene...................

Sorry to disappoint Saskatchewan and Hamilton fans but I am a Montreal fan.

I support Tampa Bay in the NFL who's QB is of course the CFL legend Jeff Garcia.

I do agree with rpaege that the CFL would gain more fans once people actually watched the game. The CFL really needs to focus on publicising the league in the USA and beyond. Very few people in the USA have access to CFL Broadcasts. I am fortunate enough to live in an area where ESPN360 is available.

Somehow the CFL also needs to get past the erroneous image Americans have of it being an inferior league full of players not good enough to make it in the NFL.

Here's a typical southern Ontario response.

My mom from London, Ont. knows I love the CFL and going to games and following the league and this year I went to the GC. My brother, whose wife is from Windsor and whose brother organizes NFL bus trips and has nothing good to say about the CFL tells my Mom who doesn't watch a lot of sports the Grey Cup was boring, predictable not real tough NFL football. And my Mom tells me this (knew it was coming from this "NFL only counts" ahole of a guy).

Lots of people love to crap about the CFL but when you find out they hardly watch any of the games in the full and really follow the league, well, who's the crapola and full of s?

Unreal and we have to live with this crap here in southern Ont. and probably in some other parts of Canada.

We tell people who tell us that the CFL is inferior that WE DON’T CARE. It is a high quality game/entertainment nevertheless, and that’s all that matters. Besides, it is almost always people who have either never seen more than a few games, or have never seen a game at all who actually say that. Certainly you NEVER hear ex-CFL players and coaches say that. On the contrary, they uniformly praise the CFL after having worked in the league. The difference in talent is relatively small, but the difference in the quality of the game is large, and the quality of the football experience tips in the CFL’s favour, IMHO, speaking as a Raider season ticket holder who grew up going to CFL games in Edmonton.

As for viewers outside of Canada, only a small number (probably) actually buy tickets to a game now, though I do agree that if the CFL had a sustained and accessible presence in the U.S. and other countries, it would eventually translate into modest season-long tickets sales for every home team, as people take interest and make a point of seeing a live game when they visit. It might even eventually result in some meaningful licensing revenue. The television presence MUST be wide spread and long term for any of that to happen in any significant way.

P.S. The last two minutes of the first half of the Raider game today took AT LEAST 15 minutes today. It was stoppage after stoppage after stoppage. There were so many time outs that people were practically falling asleep in their seats. It had to be the most boring two minutes of football I have EVER witnessed. That is one of the reasons the average NFL game is five minutes of excitement and fifty five minutes of tedium. A CFL game, by en large, is far, far more exciting.

Well if your going to pick a favorite team go with the best team in the league the Grey Cup Champion Calgary Stampeders.

P.S. The last two minutes of the first half of the Raider game today took AT LEAST 15 minutes today. It was stoppage after stoppage after stoppage. There were so many time outs that people were practically falling asleep in their seats. It had to be the most boring two minutes of football I have EVER witnessed. That is one of the reasons the average NFL game is five minutes of excitement and fifty five minutes of tedium. A CFL game, by en large, is far, far more exciting.
Raiders games are very tedious. They have a QB who can't pass and Receivers who can't catch. Firing Lane Kiffin also didn't help them. He was actually starting to make progress with the team despite the efforts of owner Al Davis.

In regards to comments about the Grey Cup being a dud I do not see what people mean. The game was a tactical struggle where both defenses stood up. The NFL would class it as a classic playoff struggle between two good teams. It perhaps didnt quite have the quality of the West Division Final but it was still a good game.