To those of us who passionately watch the Canadian Football League and buy tickets to actual games, it really has been an exciting and extremely competitive season.
Not once has it crossed my mind that CFL rules are illogical and need to change, or that the field is way too big. A few times getting a single point for a missed field goal seemed a little unreasonable, and there are way too many quarterback sneaks on third-and-short for my tastes. But that鈥檚 about it.
At the same time, those of us who passionately watch and buy tickets also understand there aren鈥檛 enough of us. The signs are everywhere. Every time those TSN cameras work extra hard to keep shots of the action low, you know they鈥檙e trying to avoid showing just how empty the stands are.
You can love the league and still understand there are some worrisome trends, even at a time when the three-down game is quite entertaining and nine teams are running pretty good operations most of the time. You can love the league and still notice that most of your friends and family members don鈥檛.
So on Monday, when CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston announced the most historic changes to the league since the days of U.S. expansion, it was both surprising and not so surprising. Surprising because the CFL has been terrific to watch this season with its existing rules. Not surprising because Johnston is a former TSN executive, and the league鈥檚 television contract is due to expire after next season, and the announcement of radical changes to the field of play and traditional rules such as the rouge are almost certainly a reflection of an insider鈥檚 concern about TV numbers and future revenue.
Let鈥檚 be clear, without TSN鈥檚 extraordinary financial commitment the CFL would not have survived. Moreover, it won鈥檛 survive without a strong new TV package and Johnston, who would understand those numbers better than anyone, has clearly convinced team owners that something is significantly wrong with their product.
The nature of the changes proposed seem more likely to impact the way the league looks, rather than the style and substance of CFL competition. Shortening the field and moving the goalposts to the back of the end zone might result in fewer field goals, but it鈥檚 still a three-down game with the defence giving the offence a yard at the line of scrimmage.
Want truly drastic change to the CFL game? Change that. Or go to four downs.
But one suspects shrinking the end zone and going to a 100-yard field rather than 110 isn鈥檛 going to change the feel of the game a great deal to most watchers. It鈥檚 definitely not going to affect the massive roster turnover the league experiences every year, a major factor in the dissatisfaction of many fans who love football but aren鈥檛 crazy about putting their allegiances behind a local team they barely recognize from one season to the next.
But Johnston鈥檚 proposals will make the games look somewhat more like the NFL. If that鈥檚 the objective, these changes could work. Will they infuriate longtime fans enough to turn their backs on the CFL? Unlikely. Will they be enough to attract a new generation of fans? Nothing else has worked.
The decision not to consult CFL players, coaches or general managers at all, meanwhile, is a strange one and rather disrespectful to those key stakeholders.
鈥淭he rule changes, to me, make it sound like we want to be that league down south,鈥 said an emotional B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke. 鈥淭he worst part is that this was done independent of anybody who actually knows football. We have a commissioner who hasn鈥檛 been here for a year and he鈥檚 already trying to change the game. And I don鈥檛 believe he loves football as much as I do.鈥
The reality, however, is that it may not matter what Rourke or longtime CFL fans think. These changes are about aggressively attracting new people, and consulting players and executives who like the league just the way it is likely wouldn鈥檛 produce the necessary dynamic. If you and your team are doing well under existing conditions, why would you advocate change?
Despite being a rookie commissioner who didn鈥檛 play in the CFL like his predecessor did, Johnston believes he already knows what the league needs more than experienced players, coaches or GMs do. He clearly had the data and TV evidence to convince the owners of his position.
For many of us, the CFL product hasn鈥檛 looked broken this season, so why fix it? But Johnston and his owners clearly believe urgent change is necessary to survive.
They couldn鈥檛 have been more clear about that.
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