Semi-OT: Anyone watch the CFL game on NFLN tonight?

[Canada's #1 Pats Fan]

Speaking of which, anyone remember the bizarre rumor that the Patriots were going to play one of their home games in western Canada a couple of years ago?

Yeah, they were supposedly going to play Denver in Edmonton, I believe. Broncos owner, Pat Bowlen, is Canadian, from Edmonton, I think.

 

[102 Pat]

As I canadian, I'm not the biggest fan of the CFL but I watch when I get those "NFL cravings". We actually have a regular season game coming here to Moncton on Sept 26th (my b-day) and I wish I would of been quicker on the draw to get tickets as they sold out really fast.

Some consider it as a test to see if a team would be created in Moncton but I can't see it happening. The talk of the CFL expanding out here to the Maritimes has been going on for years now.

 

[WhoaDirty]

As I canadian, I'm not the biggest fan of the CFL but I watch when I get those "NFL cravings". We actually have a regular season game coming here to Moncton on Sept 26th (my b-day) and I wish I would of been quicker on the draw to get tickets as they sold out really fast.

Some consider it as a test to see if a team would be created in Moncton but I can't see it happening. The talk of the CFL expanding out here to the Maritimes has been going on for years now.

I love football, so I watch CFL until at least Labour Day. Sadly though, the CFL becomes a bit of an afterthought after the NFL season begins.

I hope you guys do get one out there, it would be nice to see the league with 10 teams.

 

[TrueBeliever]

Some consider it as a test to see if a team would be created in Moncton but I can't see it happening. The talk of the CFL expanding out here to the Maritimes has been going on for years now.

I thought they were too busy expanding to San Antonio and Baltimore.

Seriously though, the reason I always remember that the CFL has 20-yard end zones is as such: my brother lived in San Antonio in the summer of 1995, and we went to a preseason game between Dallas and Houston (the Oilers, that is, it was their second-to-last season there.) In the Alamodome, we could see the remnants of the white lines from the longer end zone, as the CFL's team had played there until just recently. (Or maybe they still were, I don't remember anymore.)

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

As I canadian, I'm not the biggest fan of the CFL but I watch when I get those "NFL cravings". We actually have a regular season game coming here to Moncton on Sept 26th (my b-day) and I wish I would of been quicker on the draw to get tickets as they sold out really fast.

Some consider it as a test to see if a team would be created in Moncton but I can't see it happening. The talk of the CFL expanding out here to the Maritimes has been going on for years now.

Yeah, I don't know what the population in Moncton is but in Halifax it's only about 400,000 or so. Not really a big enough market although the comissioner wants the league to go from coast to coast.

The CFL?...it's an ok league, it has some speed and talent for sure. The only thing I don't like is the 3 downs. I love watching sustained drives and should you run on the first , you only have 1 passing attempt. I don't know, the flow seems choppy.

I hope you guys in Moncton put on a good show...football is getting more popular around these parts, I think it's just a matter of time. From Halifax's point of view, first thing first...we need a stadium.

 

[Mike the Brit]

The CFL?...it's an ok league, it has some speed and talent for sure. The only thing I don't like is the 3 downs. I love watching sustained drives and should you run on the first , you only have 1 passing attempt. I don't know, the flow seems choppy.

This seems right to me (who's never watched the CFL).

Now a theoretical question. Does having only three downs make it more rational to go for it on third-and-short than fourth-and-short? Less rational? Or no difference?

My first guess is "no difference". On the one hand, the gain expected on third-and-short is less than fourth-and-short (three more downs, not four). On the other, the loss is less, since the likelihood of stopping the opponent if you give up the ball is greater. (But what about the territory gained by punting? Is that not greater in a three-down league?)

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

This seems right to me (who's never watched the CFL).

Now a theoretical question. Does having only three downs make it more rational to go for it on third-and-short than fourth-and-short? Less rational? Or no difference?

My first guess is "no difference". On the one hand, the gain expected on third-and-short is less than fourth-and-short (three more downs, not four). On the other, the loss is less, since the likelihood of stopping the opponent if you give up the ball is greater. (But what about the territory gained by punting? Is that not greater in a three-down league?)

I think the rational here is like the NFL, whereby field position is a deciding factor. Coaching style, confidence, match-ups all of these types of things are the same I think in both Leagues.

Overall the Leagues have, IMO, as many differences as similarities and is a good "appetizer', for lack of a better term, for the NFL regular season.

As a side not one thing that drives me nuts about the CFL is the end zone space. I feel it favors, like most aspects of the CFL, the offense. It is easier to score.

Being a patriot fan I love seeing goal line defense. Not the same in the CFL...

 

[ahmed]

The end zone is bigger for the same reason it's a 3 down system. Create a difference between the CFL and NFL (otherwise CFL cannot compete even in Canada) and have huge offensive scores in the games. Again, rational is bigger scores, more excitement. 3 Down system allows for a lot more drives because drives are really short compared to NFL. So if you are a good offensive team (i.e. can drive long & score) you get a lot more chances to score. That's why you see a lot of high scoring games in the CFL.

 

[Mike the Brit]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Very interesting.

How far do weather conditions play a role? I see that the playoffs are in November. Does that mean that there are a lot of bad weather (low scoring) play-off games? (If November in Boston is anything to go by, I think that the answer will be "yes". )

 

[102 Pat]

Moncton needs a new stadium as well. The game is being played at a newly constructed track and field "stadium" that holds 10,000, 20,000 with temporary bleacher seats. I think one of the big reasons the game is coming here is solely because of the field being built for this world track championship thing going on in a few weeks. Meanwhile, we're stuck with our horribly outdated Coliseum with a max capacity of 7,000...

 

[RDS11]

This seems right to me (who's never watched the CFL).

Now a theoretical question. Does having only three downs make it more rational to go for it on third-and-short than fourth-and-short? Less rational? Or no difference?

My first guess is "no difference". On the one hand, the gain expected on third-and-short is less than fourth-and-short (three more downs, not four). On the other, the loss is less, since the likelihood of stopping the opponent if you give up the ball is greater. (But what about the territory gained by punting? Is that not greater in a three-down league?)

Yes, there's a difference but it has more to do with the players positioning than the number of downs : in the CFL , the defensive players have to be a full yard behind the ball. On short yardage, that's a huge advantage for the offense.

 

[WhoaDirty]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Very interesting.

How far do weather conditions play a role? I see that the playoffs are in November. Does that mean that there are a lot of bad weather (low scoring) play-off games? (If November in Boston is anything to go by, I think that the answer will be "yes". )

Scores of the last few Grey Cup games (championship game):

2009: 28-24 (Calgary - outdoors)
2008: 22-14 (Montreal - indoors)
2007: 23-19 (Toronto - indoors)
2006: 31-27 (Winnipeg - outdoors)
2005: 38-35 (Vancouver - indoors)
2004: 27-19 (Ottawa - outdoors)
2003: 34-22 (Regina - outdoors)
2002: 25-16 (Edmonton - outdoors)

3 downs is not as big a detriment to sustained drives as someone might think. As mentioned already, the defense has to be a yard off the ball at the snap. Players are allowed to motion toward the line of scrimmage before the snap of the ball, so you often see players close to full speed as the ball is snapped. And the field is quite a bit bigger - it's 65 yards wide, so even with the 12th player on the field, there is lots of space.

 

[CanadianPat'sFan]

Scores of the last few Grey Cup games (championship game):

2009: 28-24 (Calgary - outdoors)
2008: 22-14 (Montreal - indoors)
2007: 23-19 (Toronto - indoors)
2006: 31-27 (Winnipeg - outdoors)
2005: 38-35 (Vancouver - indoors)
2004: 27-19 (Ottawa - outdoors)
2003: 34-22 (Regina - outdoors)
2002: 25-16 (Edmonton - outdoors)

3 downs is not as big a detriment to sustained drives as someone might think. As mentioned already, the defense has to be a yard off the ball at the snap. Players are allowed to motion toward the line of scrimmage before the snap of the ball, so you often see players close to full speed as the ball is snapped. And the field is quite a bit bigger - it's 65 yards wide, so even with the 12th player on the field, there is lots of space.

This is a very accurate statement.

The Canadian game is totally in favor of offense so to have four downs would make it more like arena football which I would not be in favor of. As you mentioned the yard off the ball makes those 3'rd and 1's much more easier to get. Also what makes it tough is that the inside receivers and RB are all allowed to be in motion and you only have 1 yard to bump which makes it almost impossible against the slots who have a run at the LOS.

I truly love football and watch NFL, CFL, AFL and hell I would even be watching a high school game if it was on TV right now. I have tickets to the game in Moncton on Sept 26 and I hope it goes well. The game sold out in just over a day so popularity for football out east is getting much better.

Moncton just makes sense as they are the hub city of the maritimes (2 hours drive from Halifax, Fredericton and Saint John which would provide 750,000 people to draw from. I would say either Ottawa, Quebec or Moncton will be getting a team within the next few years to make it a 10 team league.

 

[WhoaDirty]

Moncton just makes sense as they are the hub city of the maritimes (2 hours drive from Halifax, Fredericton and Saint John which would provide 750,000 people to draw from. I would say either Ottawa, Quebec or Moncton will be getting a team within the next few years to make it a 10 team league.

Which puts you pretty close to the #s that Regina and Winnipeg have to draw on. Other than the stadium issue, I don't see any reason why the Maritimes couldn't support a team.

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

I'm Canadian but I don't really watch the CFL. I root for the Als, and this year they managed to not blow it in the Grey Cup despite their trying really hard to. (It took the other team getting penalized for too many men on the field and a 2nd chance at the game winning field goal)

My biggest problem with the CFL is their games are spread all over the place. One of the big reasons I love the NFL is that the vast majority of their games are played on one day. With the CFL it's all over the place and you can't get into that weekly rythm the same way you can with the NFL.

For example these are the days of the week the Alouettes play on this season.

Sun, Sat, Thu, Sun, Fri, Thu, Thu, Fri, Sat, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun, Fri, Fri, Mon, Sun, Fri, Fri, Sun

Now, this year's Pats' Sked

Sun, Sun, Sun, Mon, Sun, Sun, Sun, Sun, Sun, Sun, Sun, Thu, Mon, Sun, Sun, Sun, Sun

Which one of these is easier to plan your week around consistently?

Moncton just makes sense as they are the hub city of the maritimes (2 hours drive from Halifax, Fredericton and Saint John which would provide 750,000 people to draw from. I would say either Ottawa, Quebec or Moncton will be getting a team within the next few years to make it a 10 team league.

Yeah, but the problem there is Moncton sucks and Halifax rules!

 

[CanadianPat'sFan]

Yeah, but the problem there is Moncton sucks and Halifax rules!

I would have to agree with you there as I just played a football game for us "Seniors" down there just 10 days ago, went out that night and had quite the time to say the least.

Good point about the CFL games being spread out but they usually have two games every Friday night which I like. Maybe play the other two games on Saturday as to not compete with the NFL in Sept and Oct and keep that consistent.