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The Roar

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The quirky beauty of Canadian football

29th June, 2015
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We're past halfway through the CFL season.
Expert
29th June, 2015
23
1628 Reads

Canada has brought plenty of good into the world. Neil Young. Rachel McAdams. Degrassi Junior High.

The beer isn’t too bad either and the food ranges from the cheesy goodness of French-Canadian poutine to the sweet delicacies known as Beaver Tails.

Of course Canada also must bear the responsibility for unleashing the evil power of Justin Bieber, Celine Dion and Nickelback.

This time of the year, however, I’m thankful for another of Canada’s unique creations: the Canadian Football League or CFL. Note: if you speak French, which you probably don’t, it’s LCF.

The 2015 CFL season opened over the weekend and provided a nice alternative to the latest news about Deflategate and whether or not the Broncos really wanted to trade Peyton Manning to Houston.

With the NFL and NCAA football seasons a couple of months away and the Arena Football League not much more than a venue-filling gimmick, it’s great to have ‘real’ football back on Australian television screens.

Granted, Canadian football is different and if you haven’t seen it before, you might find yourself stopping every now and then and wondering just what the hell is going on.

First of all, the field itself is 10 yards longer and 12 yards wider. The end zone is 10 yards longer with goal posts on the goal-line.

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There are 12 players instead of 11 and three downs instead of four.

Even stranger, more than one player can be in motion prior to the snap – and they can even move forward – which makes the second or two prior to the snap look messy and herky-jerky when compared with the NFL.

Other differences include defensive players needing to line up one yard back from the line of scrimmage, no fair catches allowed and a three-minute warning instead of two.

Quirkiest of all, there’s a one-point scoring option called a rouge (the French word for red) or a ‘single’. If a punt or a missed field goal cannot be returned out of the end zone, the kicking team gets one point. Or un point if you’re French-Canadian.

The rouge can create some wacky scenarios like this one, which looks a bit like rugby, since teams are allowed to punt it back and forth.

The CFL has been around since 1958 and is the highest level of professional football (gridiron style) outside of the NFL. The league currently has nine teams, four in the East Division and five in the West Division.

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The names (Ottawa Redblacks notwithstanding) are delightful. Who can’t get behind the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Edmonton Eskimos, Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tiger-Cats or Saskatchewan Roughriders?

Although a number of these franchises – eg: Montreal, Toronto, British Colombia – have private owners, a few in Canada’s west are community owned, a la the Green Bay Packers or teams in the Australian Football League.

Saskatchewan, founded in 1910, may be the oldest community-owned professional sports franchise in North America. The Roughriders play in Regina, the smallest market in Canada, yet draw a loyal fan-base from all over the province and even across Canada.

If that doesn’t impress you, how about a mascot called Gainer the Gopher?

The CFL salary cap is a paltry $5 million (Canadian) per team.

Rosters are littered with former American college stars, although teams must keep 21 ‘non-imports’ – Canadian citizens or those who have residency – on their roster.

It’s a fast-moving, wide-open game and because of that, it’s been an outlet for talented American players considered too small for the NFL.

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Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie played for a number of NFL teams, but because of his height coaches never fully committed to him as a starter. The 5’10” Flutie became a superstar in Canada, winning three Grey Cups (The CFL’s Super Bowl) and six MVP awards.

Similarly Damon Allen – brother of Raiders’ Hall of Fame running back Marcus – couldn’t catch on in the NFL, but won four Grey Cups with three different teams.

The most famous American to play in the CFL was quarterback Warren Moon, who won five consecutive Grey Cups with the Edmonton Eskimos before NFL scouts were convinced he could play in their league.

Moon eventually ended up starring for the Houston Oilers and earning selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Other well known Americans who played in Canada are Joe Theismann (he of the gruesome broken leg), Jeff Garcia and Rocket Ismail. Controversial running back Ricky Williams played for Toronto when he was suspended for the 2006 season for failing drug tests.

The CFL season runs from July to November, so it starts in the hot summer and finishes with the approach of winter, which in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan can be like playing at the North Pole.

Attendance, which was slightly down last season, is around the 25,000 per game mark. That puts the CFL ninth among worldwide domestic sporting leagues, ahead of Italy’s Serie A and just behind Spain’s La Liga.

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So if you’re looking for a taste of football before the NFL gets started, give the CFL a try. You might find yourself thinking four downs is too many or perhaps you’ll start emailing Roger Goodell and asking him to add the rouge to the NFL rulebook.

CFL games can be found on ESPN here in Australia and this is the league’s website.

Now excuse me while I go crack open a Kokanee and put on some Arcade Fire.

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