I really need to get this rant out of my system, so I'm going to air it out with a bunch of CFL fans.
I have a cousin that lives in Hamilton. He HATES the CFL. He thinks that the NFL is the be all and end all of professional football. There is no amount of marketing that will open up his eyes to the fact that there is quality affordable football being played in his very city. Because it's from Hamilton... it's automatically junk (in his mind).
Anyways...
He was arguing with me that NFL Europe is WAY better than the CFL. That players in the CFL only wished that they could play NFL-E because... it's affilitated with the NFL... According to him the CFL is 100% bush league.
So I'm just looking for some opinions on what other CFL fans think.
PS - There are many reason why I think that the CFL is better but one reason stands out (in my opinion) more than any... NFL-E is filled with farmhands... i.e. it's a minor league (like the AHL)... The CFL on the other hand is not a farm system. It is a "major league"... in theory. In hockey terms I feel like the NFL-E is like the AHL and the CFL is more like the Russian Elite League.
Definitely... the integrity of the competition in the CFL isn't tainted because we don't loose players mid-season and we have a good measure of player continuity season to season. NFLe is a pure developmental league that's heavily re-drafted year to year.
I noticed that anyone i've spoken to between the ages of 16-45 who truly hate the CFL, will maintain that attitude and their is nothing you can do. It sucks, but just brush him off and stop wasting your breathe. His mind will not be changed.
They/I grew up in a generation when NFL salaries dwarfed CFL ones, CFL teams would lose players and declare uber-bankruptcy many times. NFL stadiums and TV broadcasts became more modern and the CFL simply couldn't keep up. Can you really blame them? the power of presentation is powerfull. Also, despite the CFL having talented athletes to deny the NFL houses the better players is simpy being naive. For some it's 1 or the other.period. Frankly it's their loss.
I ussually bring up Ricky Williams and that shuts most of them up quickly, but many will still try and make excuses for him. "he's washed up" "He doesn't care" or my personal favorite "He wasn't trying" although I never understood what that even meant. When given the ball, he didn't simply stand there and let the LB's tackle him.....
It's quite funny now that I thought about it. I remember encountering the son of current(former?) Argo player and employee Dan Ferrone. he went to a High School in the same city as me. Anyway, I saw him at a local bar and here was the son of a person who i'm sure bleeds double blue and the organization that put food in his mouth, decked out in New York Jets gear.....I didn't say anything, as I dont know him per se, but found it funny and odd at the same time.
Why is it that average people that live in average cities in average neighbourhoods in average houses, with average jobs and average educations, average spouses and kids, driving average cars, wearing average clothes from average stores, eating average food in average restaurants, drinking average beer, listening to average music and watching average television - I could go on and on - anyway, why would a thoroughly average person, average in every way, refuse to watch the CFL because of a concern that it's quality may not be as high as that of some other league. I mean, what an asinine thing to all of a sudden be having such high standards about.
I love the CFL, and I don't care nearly so much at all about the NFL. I watch CFL throughout the season, only get interested in the NFL near the playoffs, after CFL season is over. I have passion for the CFL, not at all for the NFL. I have Cats' jersey and cap, would never dream of wearing an NFL team one.
There is no doubt in my mind that the talent and skill level in the NFL is far superior to that in the CFL. That doesnt bother me at all, and it isnt somethng that I think is disloyal to the CFL, it's just reality. When there were NFL-CFL games back in the 1950s and early 60s, we got killed every time, even when the pay scales were closer than they are now and the NFL was less of a "machine" than it is today. The Cats did beat the Bills, but that was in the early days of the old AFL, not the NFL.
None of this bothers me a bit. I don't think we're bush league, but we are not at the NFL's level at all and I don't think we need to try to pretend otherwise. This is our game, and we follow it because we like it. Who cares how it stacks up against something else, or what other peope think or say? For those who follow the NFL, great, go ahead, enjoy what you want to. I like the CFL, period. No explanations, excuses or justifications required. If some new people try it out, they might be surprised at how good and enjoyable it is. That would be great, but I don't measure it by how NFL fans view it.
Some of the things I like about the CFL are:
-it's Canadian
-there's room for Canadian players
-the rules
-the field
-the scoring
-the history and tradition
-the faster pace of play
-no fair catches or touchbacks
-the great players over the years
Is the CFL at the same level of calibre as the NFL? No, let's not kid ourselves (we aren't kidding anyone else). But so what? It's great, and it's ours. That's more than enough for me.
uhh... let's see..
the CFL is plainly a more exciting game to watch. wider and longer field, motion, more passing, deeper endzones, no fair catch.... heck, even the rouge adds another dimension to the game.
The Super Bore game is just that... boring... I'll stack up any Grey Cup game against it.
NFL is way over rated and so are there players. Rickey Williams ansd others are prime examples. Their money and huge crowds because of their population being 12 times or more than Canada and their unbelieveable hype does not impress me, I dont buyb it. Their qbs are way over rated as well. The Bears qb and Manning as well would do nothing in the CFL, couldnt throw the ball on our field and would get killed. They, NFL qbs dont get touched in the NFL. Tell your friend and any others to go live in the staes we dont need their negativity.
I just see it as we lost one generation because of the forementioned, NFL salaries went into orbit and the CFL stayed down, teams folding, going into bankruptcy, begging for cash infusions, everything was negative in the 90’s. There was no reason for anyone to get excited about the CFL if you weren’t already a fan. Those people who were growing up at the time never got the right exposure to the product and you will never win them back. You are not going to get many people to board a ship they deem is sinking. The marketing efforts have been more than adequate for last 6 to 7 years, the young fans of today, will be the ticket buyers of tommorrow. They had just better not in an obvious manner try to alienate the family fan base for the corporate dollar. If they do that, this will be disasterous as demonstrated in baseball. The Jays thought the corporations wouldn’t go away, well they did, if it’s not the hottest ticket, why would they pay so much? Now they have to charge 3 times what they did back then for tickets as the new darling is now Toronto FC. The only way for this 21 year old to appreciate the CFL is for him to have something to positive to grab a hold of.
I am a lifelong fan of the Tiger Cats. I'm also a huge Miami Dolphins fan. For some reason, people always see it necessary to compare the two leagues and fight about which one is superior. Can't people just be fans of football in general? People are made to feel like second rate CFL fans, unless they disown any allegiance to the NFL game, and ignorant fans of American football generally discount the quality of CFL ball as being third rate. The fact of the matter is, they're two very different games. The NFL gets the elite athletes, because that's where the money is. The CFL is loaded with really talented guys, many from major college programs, who may lack the size to play in the states or have a skill set better suited to the Canadian game.
As a Tiger Cat fan from birth and a 34 year season ticket holder who now lives in an NFL city, I must weigh in to this discussion.
It comes down to one thing - marketing. The NFL was and is a marketing machine. It started back in the 70's and has continued on crushing the WFL, the USFL, the WLAF and, I guess, WWE FL along the way.
On game day you can go out in public anywhere in this city and the majority of people are wearing some sort of Bengals (ooops, gave it away) gear. Let me repeat myself - the majority of people are wearing Bengals gear. I am sure the majority of them have never been to a game but they bleed orange and black.
Why?
An NFL game is an event. Pure entertainment. Flash, dash and splash with a side order of city pride thrown in. It's no different than what you see in any Canadian city during hockey playoffs. Except this occurs every given Sunday throughout the season.
Yes, the CFL game is vastly more entertaining than the NFL variety. But, the overall entertainment product isn't. The NFL sells the sizzle, not the steak.
The CFL could have done the same. Back in the 70's they could have marketed their product like the unpopular NBA and NFL did. But, instead, the owners figured that people will keep coming to CFL games because they always have. Look where we are now.
The reality is the public today are pawns to the biggest marketing campaigns. You could sell a "turd on a stick" if you have the right spin doctors peddling it.
When you think about it, I'm wondering if the Board of Gov's of the league saw how some well placed marketing campaigns can turn attendance and interest around for a team...case in point the Ticats.
Now that I think about it, I bet that's the whole reason they brought the new comish in. He's marketed North American sports on the otherside of the world and has been successful. Now he is responsible for turning our pulley and lever set into the CFL Marketing Machine.
Really, I think alot of Canadians want to be CFL fans they just don't yet realize how cool it is to be a CFL Fan.
A CFL game is the best sizzlin' steak you've ever seen or tasted! We got it all baby!
I am a fan of live football in general I go to all the home games i can since i work shifts and every yr me and the guys do up a bus trip to buffalo to check a game. I follow both nfl and cfl but for some reason i cant stand to watch a game on television i just love the atmosphere of the games in general. Outside of if the cats are away for the playoffs and the grey cup ill watch on tv. Bein a broncos fan ill watch a televised game of them here or there and the playoff games they are in and the super bowl ill watch. My love of the NFL came after my first live game the excitement the large crowds tail gates its just an amazing atmosphere that cant be compared to anything ive expierenced in any sporting event. I must admit if i wasnt from hamilton i dont know if id follow the cfl closely or at all.
