The CFL: A sporting secret

The Canadian Football League is perhaps one of North America’s best-kept sporting secrets. It’s quite popular up in Canada, but doesn’t have a huge presence in the U.S. However, its spring schedule and exciting, offence-oriented games can make it compelling off-season viewing for American football fans. Moreover, college football fans will see plenty of names they recognize, as many college stars who weren’t able to stick in the NFL have made their way up north. The CFL may begin to take on a more prominent role in developing players for the NFL as well, thanks to the demise of the Arena Football League and NFL Europe. Several CFL alumni are currently on NFL rosters, including Cameron Wake of the Miami Dolphins and Stefan Logan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I’ll be discussing the league with James Brown and First Derivative on the Pubcast tonight and I’ll have my weekly CFL column, The Whole 110 Yards, up at The Rookies tomorrow, but I figured I’d use my column this week to give a little background on the league’s history, rules and teams. Read on for more!

The Rules:

There are several key rule differences that make Canadian football a unique product. They’re described in good detail here, but I’ll go over a few of the highlights. Perhaps the most important is that teams are restricted to three downs instead of four. This emphasizes the importance of the passing game, and leads to a lot of singleback and shotgun spread sets. Interestingly, there’s less of a difference here to the NFL than there used to be; most NFL teams use at least some spread formations these days, largely thanks to the success of pass-heavy offences in college and the CFL. A strong running game is still important, and can sometimes even be the dominant weapon in a team’s offence, as it was in Winnipeg’s win over B.C. Friday, but the pass usually takes precedence.

The playing fields are also larger in Canadian football. The field is 110 yards long and 65 yards wide, and the end zones are 20 yards deep. To cover some of this distance, teams play with 12 players a side. This usually results in an extra receiver on offence and an extra defensive back on defence. The defence also must line up a full yard away from the ball, which makes going for it on third-and-short more palatable. Motion before the snap is almost unlimited, which allows for a great variety of plays. There’s also a single point, or rouge, which is granted when a punt or missed field goal goes through the end zone or isn’t returned out of the end zone. Time runs down more slowly in the last few minutes in the CFL than the NFL, thanks to differing rules on when the clock starts. By and large, the Canadian rules tend to result in high-scoring games that go right down to the wire.

Ancient History:

The league was officially founded in 1958, but the game’s history in Canada goes back long before that and predates even the establishment of the country in 1867. Rugby crossed over into British North America in the mid-ninteenth century and soon began to develop into something recognizably different. The first documented “football” match took place at the University of Toronto in 1861 and an official football club was founded soon after in 1864. At this time in North America, football chiefly referred to the game we know as soccer in the U.S., but the Canadian version was closer to rugby. The rugby-style game spread to Montreal’s McGill University, and they challenged Harvard to a two-game series in 1874. That game introduced Harvard players to rugby rules, which they then used in an exhibition game against Yale in 1875. Players from Yale, Princeton and other universities enjoyed the rugby rules, which paved the way for their adoption during the creation of the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1876. Thus, Canadian football played an important role in introducing the game south of the 49th parallel.

Up in Canada, the first crucial organization was the Canadian Rugby Football Union, founded in 1884. It established a code of play and regulated several smaller organizations below it. The CRFU was renamed the Canadian Rugby Union in 1892, but continued its overarching role. 1909 saw perhaps the most significant event in the history of Canadian football, when Governor General Earl Albert Grey (not the one they named the tea after, but his son) donated a trophy to be presented annually to the senior amateur football champions of Canada. This became known as the Grey Cup, and is the CFL’s championship trophy to this day.

Initially, both university and city teams competed for the trophy. Perhaps fittingly, the first three trophies were claimed by the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, who had played such an important role in establishing the game in Canada. They beat the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club, the Hamilton Tigers and the Toronto Argonauts. The canoe club still exists today as the Boulevard Club, but their football team has long since fallen by the wayside. The Tigers existed off-and-on until 1950, when they eventually merged with the Flying Wildcats to become today’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Argonauts, originally founded by the Toronto Argonaut Rowing Club, have been in continuous operation since 1873 and are the oldest continuously-existing non-university football club in North America.

The city teams took over for a while, with the Tigers, Argonauts and Hamilton Alerts claiming the next four cups between them through 1915. The cup wasn’t awarded between 1916 and 1919 due to World War I and the influenza epidemic that followed. In 1920, the University of Toronto claimed their fourth Grey Cup. The Argonauts won in 1921, and then the Queen’s University Golden Gaels (my school) claimed three straight Grey Cups from 1922 to 1924. Their 1924 victory over Toronto Balmy Beach would be the last time a university team claimed the cup, though.

From the 1920s through the 1950s, Canadian football began to shift towards professionalism. Amateur sides still competed for the Grey Cup, but were mostly unsuccessful. The 1954 withdrawal of the Ontario Rugby Football Union paved the way for an all-professional league, with members from the eastern Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and Western Interprovincial Rugby Union. The two leagues got together to form the Canadian Football Council in 1956, which became the Canadian Football League in 1958.

The league roster remained remarkably stable for over two decades. The B.C. Lions were the last of the current franchises to come into existence; they joined in 1954 before the league received its official name. From 1958 to 1982, the CFL was a nine-team league, featuring the BC Lions, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Toronto Argonauts, Ottawa Rough Riders and Montreal Alouettes.

Modern Times:

1982 saw the demise of the Alouettes, but they were quickly replaced by a separate franchise, the Montreal Concordes. The Concordes also struggled to draw fans, though. They were renamed the Alouettes in a 1986 marketing move, but that didn’t help enough; the team folded in 1987. In 1992, the league turned its eyes south of the border. The first U.S.-based franchise, the Sacramento Gold Miners (which I covered in last week’s column), was added in 1993. The Baltimore Stallions, Shreveport Pirates and Las Vegas Posse were added the following season. Las Vegas flopped and was contracted, but the other teams met with initial success. In 1995, the Memphis Mad Dogs and Birmingham Barracudas were added and Sacramento moved to San Antonio to become the Texans. Baltimore won the Grey Cup in 1995, and became the only American-based team to ever lift the trophy. San Antonio and Baltimore were doing quite well, but the other teams struggled (partly thanks to the ownership of the Gliebermans in Shreveport) and folded. Baltimore relocated to Montreal in the offseason and retook the Alouettes’ name. San Antonio then folded instead of continuing as the sole franchise south of the border.

The league was back to nine Canadian teams for the 1996 season, but Ottawa folded after the campaign. There were constant financial and power struggles during this period, excellently described by former CFL president and COO Jeff Giles in his book Bigger Balls. Giles is now the athletics director at Hamilton’s McMaster University, another famed football school. One of the key reasons for the league’s survival was an interest-free $3 million loan from the NFL, used to promote the game in Canada. The loan and the NFL’s own grassroots programs in Canada, along with some energetic and nationalistic marketing, helped put the league back on financially sound footing for the most part. Ottawa came back as the Renegades in 2002, but again folded in 2006, partly thanks to ownership problems (the Gliebermans again). Expansion to Quebec City and Halifax was strongly considered, but has been put on the backburner for the time being, and a new Ottawa franchise under different ownership is expected to begin play in the next few years if everything works out.

The CFL’s been doing reasonably well for itself lately. All games are now broadcast nationally on TSN (a Canadian version of ESPN), and the high production values and insightful commentary have helped to add plenty of new fans to the game. There used to be a sharp divide between CFL and NFL fans, with older Canadians mostly following their own league and many younger ones choosing to follow the NFL and ignore the CFL, but those dividing boundaries have started to blur. Many Canadians of all ages now follow both leagues avidly, which has helped ratings for both the CFL and the NFL. There have still been plenty of issues with power politics, which were involved in the departure of former commissioners Michael Lysko and Tom Wright (who I interviewed earlier this year about his recent involvement with Jim Balsillie’s bid for the Phoenix Coyotes), and the league faced a bizarre situation this year when it was revealed that B.C. Lions owner David Braley had secretly put up half of the franchise fee for the new owners of the Toronto Argonauts in 2003. Still, some of the old tensions seem to have been swept under the rug for the time being, the threat from the NFL’s Bills in Toronto series has diminished and commissioner Mark Cohon is doing an excellent job so far. Anything can happen with the CFL, but things appear relatively stable for the moment.

The Teams:

B.C.: The Lions have been in the league since 1954 and have claimed five Grey Cups since then, the most recent in 2006. They play in one of the league’s two enclosed stadiums, Vancouver’s B.C. Place, known for its incredible noise. They were first run by CFL legend Annis Stukus and have seen plenty of impressive front office names over the years, including Bobby Ackles, Bob O’Billovich, Don Matthews and the man who’s likely soon to overtake Matthews on the CFL’s all-time win list, head coach/general manager Wally Buono. Notable Lions alumni include wide receiver “Swervin’ Mervyn” Fernandez, running backs Jim Young (the first Canadian university player drafted into the NFL) and Willie Fleming and kicker Lui Passaglia.

Edmonton: The current Eskimos were founded in 1949, but other teams with the name existed earlier in the 20th century. The team has won 13 Grey Cups, with their latest victory in 2005. They play in the league’s biggest arena, Commonwealth Stadium, which has a capacity of 60,081. They’re owned by local shareholders in a similar style to the Green Bay Packers. Famous Eskimos include quarterback Warren Moon, defensive end James “Quick” Parker, quarterback/running back Jackie Parker and fullback Normie Kwong, the current lieutenant-governor of Alberta.

Calgary: The Stampeders were founded in 1935, when they were known as the Bronks. They changed to their current name in 1944. They’ve won six Grey Cups, and are the current defending champions. They play in McMahon Stadium, which was built in 1960. Notable former Stampeders include quarterbacks Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia, fullback Earl “The Earthquake” Lunsford and receiver Allen Pitts.

Saskatchewan: The Roughriders (no relation to the former Ottawa Rough Riders) were founded in 1910 as the Regina Rugby Club. They became the Regina Roughriders in 1924, and adopted their current name in 1947. They play at Mosaic Stadium, which has a capacity of 30, 945 these days and always seems to be packed. Their fans are known for being some of the CFL’s wildest. The Roughriders have only won three Grey Cups, most recently in 2007. Saskatchewan alumni of note include quarterback Ron Lancaster, running back Eddie “Dynamite” James and wide receiver “Gluey” Hugh Campbell.

Winnipeg: Winnipeg’s generally considered to be in the western part of Canada, but the Blue Bombers play in the East Division to balance the schedule. They began life as the Winnipeg Winnipegs (yes, very, very redundant) in 1930 and were the first Western team to lift the Grey Cup in 1935. They picked up the Blue Bombers name in 1936 from Winnipeg Tribune writer Vince Leah, who used it as a reference comparing their play to the fighting style of Joe Louis, the “Brown Bomber”. They’ve won 10 Grey Cups over the years, but haven’t lifted the trophy since 1990. They play at Canada Inns Stadium, perhaps the coldest venue in the league thanks to the oft-brutal winds off the lake. Famous Blue Bomber alumni include coach/general manager Cal Murphy, running backs Leo “The Lincoln Locomotive” Lewis and Russ “The Wisconsin Wraith” Rebholz and wide receiver/running back Tommy Grant.

Hamilton: The Tiger-Cats were born in 1950 when the Hamilton Alerts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats merged. They’ve lifted the Grey Cup eight times since then, most recently in 1999. They play at Ivor Wynne Stadium, which seats 30,000. They’ve been the laughingstock of the league recently, but have rebounded this year and currently sit in second place in the East. Notable Hamilton alumni include defensive tackle Angelo Mosca, slotback Rocky DiPietro and defensive end Grover Covington.

Toronto: The Argonauts are the CFL’s oldest team, dating back to 1873. They play in the Rogers Centre, which is also home to the Toronto Blue Jays. They’ve had plenty of interesting ownership moments over the years, including the celebrity regime of Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky and John Candy in the early 1990s and financial struggles early in this decade. They’ve won a league-high 15 Grey Cups, but 10 of those came before the official establishment of the CFL in 1958. Their last Grey Cup came in 2004. Notable former Argos include running backs Michael “Pinball” Clemons and Ulysses “Crazy Legs” Curtis and wide receiver Raghib “Rocket” Ismail.

Montreal:The original Alouettes were founded in 1946, but the current edition started life as the Baltimore Stallions in 1994 and moved to Montreal in 1996. The Alouettes have won five Grey Cups over the years, most recently in 2002. They play at McGill University’s Molson Stadium, but sometimes shift to the Olympic Stadium for playoff games. Notable Alouettes alumni include running back Mike Pringle, quarterback Sam “The Rifle” Etcheverry and defensive end Junior Ah You.

Tags: andrew bucholtz, CFL, football, history, sporting secrets
Categories: Daily Specials, Imports

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