CawFuL
First off, who picked Tiger Woods to win the PGA by five shots? THIS GUY.
I've been in the midst of an e-mail battle about the CFL between some of the Gazette lads, and the basis of the argument is this: the CFL sucks. On the anti- side is Ravi, a native Edmontonian, rabid Eskimos booster and possibly the only CFL fan on the Western campus. Also, kind of on Ravi's side is Denomme, who argues that hating the CFL is somewhat un-Canadian.
I hate the CFL. I think it is a complete waste of time. I have not watched more than five minutes of a CFL game since the days when Rocket Ismail wore Argos blue. I have no particular bias against minor league sports (since I love minor league baseball), but the CFL and the incessant hype of it on TSN makes my skin crawl. For example, at least minor league baseball has no illusion that it's important -- it's got frickin' minor league right in the name. But the CFL has idiots like Dave Schultz who pretend it's the most major sport on earth. I find it hard to be interested in someone like a Milt Stegall when he would be hard-pressed to be the fifth receiver on most NFL clubs.
As for the patriotic aspect, well, part of being a Canadian is being cool with shame. An American has it drilled into their heads since birth that "America is the greatest country in the world," and thus many USAers have to defend various parts of their national heritage (the non-metric system, the right to bear arms, pointless wars in Iraq) because they feel that what they do is right because they're number one. Not in Canada. We're ok with admitting that some things are just kind of silly and letting them be. It is this humility that makes us awesome, not actually saying we're awesome.
So that's why I think the CFL is bush league. Sorry, Ravi.
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6 comments:
dear cfl hater. i'm also an edmontonian and eskies fan just like ravi, and happen to be a good pal of his. i gotta say i'm totally on ravi's side on this one. how can u compare the cfl with minor league baseball when the cfl has nothing to do with the nfl. i agree the nfl has the better players or the bigger names but that should not matter to canadians and cfl fans. most of the major sporting leagues are strongest in the states. take basketball for example, just cuz the U.S.A has the NBA doesn't mean the rest of the world should abolish their basketball leagues cuz they are not as good. but u know what, u r right. it's not just the cfl that sucks, let's take this one step further. no canadian team has won the stanley cup in over a decade so why don't we get rid of all canadian nhl teams. why are they there if they don't win right.
u are really on the right track my friend. i will start a petition to eliminate all sport outside of the states cuz let's face it, states rule everybody else sucks. but seriously dude, people like the cfl cuz its canadian. it's older than the nfl and has been part of canadian culture for a long time. even players who have enjoyed success in both the nfl and the cfl, like warren moon for example, have said that they don't regret a single minute that they spent in the cfl. anyways i don't wanna start ranting cuz i'm not gonna convince u otherwise but i agree with ravi. CFL rules GO Eskies
I don't see how CFL players not being as good as NFL players is remotely relevant to the argument; the two aren't mutually exclusive. OHL hockey players aren't as good as NHL players, and yet we still all follow the Knights. Very few OUA football players would hold up five minutes on even a CFL field, and we follow Western football.
The CFL debate isn't about whether it's as good as the NFL; anybody who thinks it is needs to pull their head out of their ass.
It's about whether it's a fun game to watch, and one which is competitive and does require a high amount of skill. The fact of the matter is that it is fun to watch, and I think Ricky Williams would agree with me that the CFL isn't "bush league." You can argue all you want about the game being tailored more to the passing game, but over truly under-talented defences, Ricky would absolutely tear up the league. Clearly, while the skill level is not as high as that of the NFL, the CFL level does require a high level of proficiency.
The fact of the matter is that, while the CFL isn't the NFL, it's still an entertaining and skilled sport. The Montreal Alouettes will never be the Indianapolis Colts, or even the Detroit Lions, but they would tear a new one for any team in the OUA, which we do follow closely.
On a Wednesday night, when it comes down to watching inferior but still entertaining CFL football or watching re-runs of "Two and a Half Men," I'm choosing football. If all you prima donna CFL-haters want to ride your high horses, feel free to turn down a quality football game, but a "real" sports fan would tune in for some excellent football.
I enjoy the CFL. It gives me something resembling football to watch from June until September. And then the NFL comes back and I forget the CFL faster than a night at the bar on my birthday.
The play that started this debate was Edminton's decision to kick a game winning field goal on 2nd down, which you want to do incase there is a bad snap. Yet Edminton’s coach let the remaining 18 seconds tick off the clock, rendering the kick on 2nd down useless. And of course, the snap is fumbled and the game is over, while any coach with half a brain would have still had a second opportunaty at the field goal. That's my problem with the CFL, plays like that should not happen in a pro league, its embarrassing. My high school coach wouldn't let that happen.
Also embarrassing? Watching the Sask-Ham game this weekend, and being told by the commentator that the running back "stick handled" around the defender. Stick Handled?? Uggg. I know this is Canada, but try to give us a little bit of credit please.
-Dave
lol.. Have to agree with Dave, the commentary and coverage in general is atrocious.
Generally speaking, I agree with everything Dave said. Macolm, you make a good point aruging that it should be a matter of how much fun the league is to watch. But in my opinion, the level of talent is integral to how much fun the league is to watch. Unfortunately, the level disparity between the CFL and NFL is ridiculously immense. That's why I have a hard time watching. I can't stand seeing recievers dropping balls and linebackers missing tackles, and that happesn rather often in the CFL. The quality of play just isn't the same.
In fact, I think the CFL employs a set of rules that make the game very entertaining (e.g. three downs encourages passing versus the NFL's boring grind-it-out philosophy). Still, I think the CFL's game would be infinantely more entertaining if it were being played by NFL-calibre players.
Most importantly, I can't take a league seriously that fields just eight or nine teams, depending on who's bankrupt that year. Eight teams? And SIX make the playoffs? And they play MORE games than the NFL?!?! It makes each game seem unimportant. It's too easy. Why do I care about a week six matchup between BC and Edmonton if that invidual game has little impact on the overall standings? It's pointless. Meanwhile, even a week one loss in the NFL seems nearly catostrophic. It makes the NFL much more entertaining to follow. I read somebody's column (Steve Simmon's, I think) and scrapping divisions in the CFL and only advancing the top four teams into the playoffs. I think it's a great idea and would immensly help the CFL.
Regardless, I think the talent level is significantly superior in the NFL and that's why I find it wildly more entertaining than its little sister, the CFL. The CFL's playoff format only exacerbates my lack of interest.
I really don't get your argument. It sounds like you hate the CFL just because there are those in this country that love the league more than you feel they should. There are people who hate the CFL because of the dominance of passing or the three downs or the lack of defense or the ineptitude of those that ryun the league.
If you're going to make a bold statement about your hate for the CFL maybe you should come up with something more concrete, rather than trying to distance yourself from extreme CFL boosters.
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