Why does the CFL suck so bad?

[Flames in 07]

Ricky Williams is not built for the CFL, he's a between the tackles runner who doesn't work well in open space.

Many running backs have played in both leagues and some do well up here, and some down there. Troy Davis was a huge bust in New Orleans but carved out a decent career up here. Mike Pringle I believe gave the NFL a whirl and was not very good down there.

[Hakan]

NFL is as boring as watching paint dry.

Give me CFL every time.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Hakan

NFL is as boring as watching paint dry.

Give me CFL every time.

I agree.

Superbowl's commercial's are more exciting than the product on the field.

At least CFL is mostly an air game, while NFL is ground warfare (yawn.)

3 downs for 10 yrds! Sure is hard.

I'd rather (much rather) watch Rugby than NFL.

[soulchoice]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Ricky Williams is not built for the CFL, he's a between the tackles runner who doesn't work well in open space.

Many running backs have played in both leagues and some do well up here, and some down there. Troy Davis was a huge bust in New Orleans but carved out a decent career up here. Mike Pringle I believe gave the NFL a whirl and was not very good down there.

The list of players whom have done well down in the NFL, whom have CFL roots is few and far between I am sure. I cannot even recall a RB who left the CFL and did well in the NFL.

[ken0042]

First of all, I find it interesting that the OP has not returned to respond to any of the comments. My guess is he is a Riders fan who simply could not stand to see his team lose two games in a row.

In any event- IMO there really is no comparing the two; it's like comparing Hitmen hockey to Flames hockey. Obviously anybody who is good enough will try to play in the more elete league. So the NFL will continue to be a league with higher talent levels. But why do people still enjoy watching the CFL? My reasons:

- Heart. There is more heart in a CFL hotdog than on an entire NFL team.
- Home Teams. For me; having never lived in the States or a city like Windsor I really don't have an NFL team to cheer for. I have a couple that I like, but none that I cheer for. However I have two teams in the CFL to cheer for; Calgary and Winnipeg.
- Live football. Like all other sports I enjoy watching football live. CFL gives me that chance without having to drop $500.

The one thing I will give the NFL is marketing. They do an awesome job of selling their product.

[worth]

Why is it a bad thing to like the CFL for some people?

The NFL has an overflow of tallented players. The average time a player spends in the NFL isn't very long because there are always quicker, younger and faster guys coming into the system.

And why does the CFL have to be compared to the NFL at all? Just because the CFL doesn't have the "best" players makes it a bad league? There are players that have thrived here but could never have in the states due to size.

Look at pinball or the giz or any number of smaller players in the CFL. You cna't seriously sit there and say those guys aren't good players or good athletes, or that because they play in the CFL they are somehow lesser or worse players. Those guys have a god given talent. A lot of guys that come up here say they never got a real shot in the NFL. There are too many players and too much competition, so those that don't get a hard look have to go somewhere else to play the game they love. Doesn't make them less of a player.

Plus many of these guys are leaving their own county and families behind to play for < 100,000 canadian per year. What kind of dedication is that? For a couple mill it might be easy to pick up and move, but for 80 or 60 grand? To go to a place you've never been to before just to play a sport?

I oftentimes hear the "real football" argument. Why can't people just enjoy it for what it is. It's professional football in a purley candian league. This league survives because canadians buy tickets to the games.

This league averages 28,000+ people per game, which is pretty damn good for a country of hockey fanatics if you ask me. I don't really know how people in this thread are calling that poor. Poor in comparison to the NFL, yeah, I suppose. But Football in the states is a little bit different than here. I don't see how 28-40,000 people showing up for a sporting even is a poor turnout.

Whats better than going down to McMahon a few hours before the game, cooking up some burger and drinking some beer in the sun, then watching a good old canadian football game? Not much in my opinion. And yeah, I went to an NFL game last year in Seattle. It was great. It was amazing. But the CFL gets some unwarranted criticism from a lot of people in Canada. Candian football is a great game too. We should be proud and be thankful that we actually have a pro football league here. If it disappears, what's left? Pretty much hockey and that's it.

For field size arguments and the like, read up on the history of football.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by MikeJustMike

Besides the wnba it has to be the most brutal league in north america.It's like week 5 and there has yet to be a half decent game.Constant blowouts and 6-2 scores at halftime.Penalty after penalty called and just ameteur play and playcalling.I admit to being an NFL guy but in the 80's and early 90's the cfl had it's share of entertaining games.Now they all seem to be slowmoving and brutal.

Edmonton v Winterpeg in the first week was better than any NFL game you will see this year.

The problems with the CFL are...

REFFING
Awarding bad plays (1 pt for missed field goal, gimme a break)
Ole Boys club - there is no good reason why there isnt another team in BC or TO/QC.

MYK

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Ricky Williams is not built for the CFL, he's a between the tackles runner who doesn't work well in open space.

Many running backs have played in both leagues and some do well up here, and some down there. Troy Davis was a huge bust in New Orleans but carved out a decent career up here. Mike Pringle I believe gave the NFL a whirl and was not very good down there.

Ricky Williams 40 time was like .2 secs slower when he went to the CFL; he was out of shape. Notice how he sucked when he came back to the NFL? The time he took off before going to the CFL turned him into a out of shape slow running back.

[worth]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

REFFING
Awarding bad plays (1 pt for missed field goal, gimme a break)
Ole Boys club - there is no good reason why there isnt another team in BC or TO/QC.

MYK

I agree that reffing is a problem in this league, however, i must clarify one point that is misunderstood by a lot of people.

The rouge, (single point) is not a reward for bad plays. A rouge is given if the defending team on a field goal fails to get the ball out of the end zone. If the FG team happens to be close enough to kick the ball through the back of the end zone, then that's one point no matter what, and that's just too bad. If the kick doesn't go out of the end zone and the kicker misses, then the receiving team has to get the ball out of the end zone.

The rouge is given because the returning team can not get the ball out of the end zone. It's not given because the FG kicker missed the FG.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Awarding bad plays (1 pt for missed field goal, gimme a break)

Just to correct you- a team is not awarded a point for missing a field goal. The opposing team has the option to run the ball out, or to conceed a single point.

Let me ask you- what was arguably the biggest play in the NFL last season? The 109 yard missed field goal return for a touchdown. Instead of icing the game just before halftime, now it was within a major score of being tied. 10 point shift in one play.

In the CFL- that type of play has the chance to happen every week; as opposed to once per season. And the NFL has had NFL Europe experiment with some of the CFL rules to see if they could add some excitement to the game. Most recent significant addition was the 2 point convert.

[Sainters7]

I'm more of an NFL guy myself, but I love and follow both leagues. And to the originator of this post, clearly you missed the first two games of the season(Toronto/BC and Edmonton/Winnipeg), because both were classics. Hell, on Sirius NFL on my Sirius satellite radio they were even talking about how good the Toronto/BC game was, and Levingston's ridiculous 129 yard TD return. Or how bout Edmonton trailing Saskatchewan 20-1 at halftime just this past Friday, only to come back and win 21-20?

I love the NFL for how precise you have to be on routes, how everything has to be just perfect for it to work. And of course its the best football players on the planet. I also love the atmosphere at games, the crowd is going crazy, especially when the opposing offence takes the field(I wish fans in the CFL(outside of Regina) understood the concept of drowing out the opponents O and staying quiet for your own. Did I really hear the crowd chanting "GO STAMPS GO!!!" during a Stamps offensive drive two days ago, to the point where Burris had to motion for them to shut up?? What is this, a hockey game??).

But I also love the CFL for the big plays...for the ability to come back from three TD's in the fourth quarter...and for almost always having a classic Grey Cup game, unlike the NFL's usual Super Bowl blowouts. If you just simply dont like football, then that's fine. But how you can love one league and hate the other is beyond me.

[troutman]

Some trivia for history buffs;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...rican_football

Football was introduced to North America in Canada, by the British Army garrison in Montreal, which played a series of games with McGill University. In 1874, McGill invited Harvard to Montreal to play their new game derived from Rugby football in a home and home series. Many of the similarities and differences between the Canadian and American games indeed came out of this original home and home series where each home team set the rules. For instance, Harvard due to lack of campus space did not have a full-sized rugby pitch. Their pitch was only 100 yards long x 50 yards wide with undersized endzones (slightly less than the 53 1/3-yard width of the current regulation size for American Football). Because of the reduced field, the Harvard team opted for 11 players per side, four less than the regulation 15 of Rugby Union. To generate more offence, the number of downs was also increased by Harvard to 4 from 3 as set by McGill. Both the Canadian and American games still have some things in common with the two varieties of rugby, especially rugby league, and, because of the similarities, the National Football League (NFL) has established a formal relationship with the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Interesting that 4 downs was introduced to increase scoring. It actually has the reverse effect.

[bendecido]

Ricky Williams was asked how big a difference there was between the NFL and CFL Tackels and he said that as far as he was concerned when both are playing at their peak the talent was equal in both leagues; he said the only noticable difference was in the consitency of the two - the NFL dudes being the more consistently talented players. But when the good CFL guys are at their best, they are just as good. That's not my opinion, I heard it from his mouth.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by bendecido

Ricky Williams was asked how big a difference there was between the NFL and CFL Tackels and he said that as far as he was concerned when both are playing at their peak the talent was equal in both leagues; he said the only noticable difference was in the consitency of the two - the NFL dudes being the more consistently talented players. But when the good CFL guys are at their best, they are just as good. That's not my opinion, I heard it from his mouth.

Ricky Williams is also an idiot.

[calf]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Ole Boys club - there is no good reason why there isnt another team in BC or TO/QC.

I think there's a number of reasons for that
1) No other suitable stadiums (unless they share?)
2) Dilution of talent in the league (especially considering the ratio requirements)
3) These teams are pulling good crowds, but not nearly good enough to allow for two teams...

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

I'm more of an NFL guy myself, but I love and follow both leagues. And to the originator of this post, clearly you missed the first two games of the season(Toronto/BC and Edmonton/Winnipeg), because both were classics. Hell, on Sirius NFL on my Sirius satellite radio they were even talking about how good the Toronto/BC game was, and Levingston's ridiculous 129 yard TD return. Or how bout Edmonton trailing Saskatchewan 20-1 at halftime just this past Friday, only to come back and win 21-20?

I love the NFL for how precise you have to be on routes, how everything has to be just perfect for it to work. And of course its the best football players on the planet. I also love the atmosphere at games, the crowd is going crazy, especially when the opposing offence takes the field(I wish fans in the CFL(outside of Regina) understood the concept of drowing out the opponents O and staying quiet for your own. Did I really hear the crowd chanting "GO STAMPS GO!!!" during a Stamps offensive drive two days ago, to the point where Burris had to motion for them to shut up?? What is this, a hockey game??).

But I also love the CFL for the big plays...for the ability to come back from three TD's in the fourth quarter...and for almost always having a classic Grey Cup game, unlike the NFL's usual Super Bowl blowouts. If you just simply dont like football, then that's fine. But how you can love one league and hate the other is beyond me.

you probably did, its a regular occurance ... see my post in page 2.

That's the other thing that people don't raise, CFL fans as a group really don't know much about football. It's like they are hockey fans looking for something to do in the summer. Football is my #1 sport by a mile and have been around it, in some way for 15 years, and I absolutely can't stand being in the stands. Probably like going to a hockey game in Carolina, so long as the fans in Carolina think they know what the heck they are watching.

[KTown]

Originally Posted by bendecido

Ricky Williams was asked how big a difference there was between the NFL and CFL Tackels and he said that as far as he was concerned when both are playing at their peak the talent was equal in both leagues; he said the only noticable difference was in the consitency of the two - the NFL dudes being the more consistently talented players. But when the good CFL guys are at their best, they are just as good. That's not my opinion, I heard it from his mouth.

He's also not going to say there fat and slow because he has to play them every week and why would he want to fire up the opposition.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Did I really hear the crowd chanting "GO STAMPS GO!!!" during a Stamps offensive drive two days ago, to the point where Burris had to motion for them to shut up?? What is this, a hockey game??).

I dropped my season tix last season, but in past years it's usually Ralph's fault. He sits there during breaks trying to get the crowd up, then doesn't stop until the play starts back up.

[Tyler]

I heard that NFL Europe was shutting down after this season?

Does that mean the CFL is going to get a whole lot better next year?

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Just to correct you- a team is not awarded a point for missing a field goal. The opposing team has the option to run the ball out, or to conceed a single point.

Let me ask you- what was arguably the biggest play in the NFL last season? The 109 yard missed field goal return for a touchdown. Instead of icing the game just before halftime, now it was within a major score of being tied. 10 point shift in one play.

In the CFL- that type of play has the chance to happen every week; as opposed to once per season. And the NFL has had NFL Europe experiment with some of the CFL rules to see if they could add some excitement to the game. Most recent significant addition was the 2 point convert.

Come on, its rewarding substandard athletes who are more often than not non imports. Its similar to allowing punters to have the kick land out of bounds (thankfully they have modified it this year). Why should the offence be rewarded if they cant score a touchdown or field goal. The rouge settles way more games than it should. Instead you are penalizing the defensive team for a great defensive series.

There is no good reason for it apart from the fact that it differentiates the CFL from the NFL.

MYK