Matt Cauz
CFL.ca
I want to talk about the National Football League for a second. I know this can be taboo subject among CFL fans (especially in Southern Ontario) who often have a chip on their shoulders being forced to listen about the supposed superiority of the American brand of football.
Now I’m not going to pile on and criticize the Bills/Colts game from this past weekend. Let’s be honest, the pre-season means nothing and the product that is delivered is stale and devoid of all the charm and excitement that comes with going to actual NFL game. Instead, you’re stuck with a sponsor-themed tailgating party which is basically line-ups, bad beer and 50 Bud Girls getting paid $65 dollars an hour to fake laugh at your stupid jokes.
Listen, it’s really a no win situation for Rogers. You can’t succeed trying to turn a mediocre product into something that’s worth my time or money. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Toronto sports fans are not dumb enough to believe they’re watching a good product.
All of this brings me to the main point of this column: Fantasy Football! The NFL’s presence here got me thinking about it.
I love the CFL because it is opposite to Major League Baseball. Our game is open to change and they truly listen to the fans. This league changes rules when needed, they have the most satisfying overtime, they make integration with the community a high priority. In short, the CFL is constantly looking to improve the fan experience.
So why hasn’t the league found a way to bring in fantasy football? I understand that it would require a significant cash investment to create the necessary infrastructure and with only eight starting quarterbacks you would not be able to have the traditional 10-team leagues that most of us are used to. That said, the long term health of any sports league is based on attracting newer and younger audiences.
As I write this, I’m sitting at my cottage at the end of my yearly debaucherous guys’ weekend of fantasy football and heartburn. As an aside, please don’t hassle your husband/boyfriend about going away for a weekend like this. It’s by far the safest guys’ getaway. Trust me; no one is going to want to be anywhere near a bunch of dudes who are ingesting incredibly high levels of sodium, drinking way too much and talking football nonstop.
With the exception of myself and one friend, my group is all married and the majority have children. We are at that point in our lives where our collective sports knowledge is starting to slip; you just don’t have the time anymore. This is where fantasy football comes in. My buddies may not spend half their weekends watching football like we did in our 20s, but most can list off every team’s backup tight end and which rookie running back is hurt. It’s a pride thing, no one wants to lose and therein lies the beauty of fantasy football – it keeps you involved and keeps the sport relevant in your day-to-day life. There are many reasons why the NFL is the biggest sports entity in North America and fantasy football is on the medal podium of reasons.
Just think how much bigger these storylines would be if we had a credible fantasy league:
(1) Arland Bruce’s recent statistical explosion. Whoever owned Bruce would be leading their league right now.
(2) Cory Boyd coming out of nowhere to lead the league in rushing. Boyd would set the record for most guys bragging about taking him as their ‘sleeper’ pick.
(3) The Anthony Calvillo injury. Or as I would like to call it: The day CFL.ca crashed as everyone was trying to add Chris Leak to their team as quickly as possible while simultaneously trying to trade Ben Cahoon. Avon Cobourne’s value would suddenly skyrocket; Jamel Richardson’s would take a hit. There are just so many different angles to the Calvillo injury.
All these stories are important just from a football side, but once you introduce fantasy into the equation they all become so much bigger.
So this is my plea, not only to the CFL, but also to the owners and especially to TSN to get a CFL fantasy league set up. I would love to be debating next summer about where to rank Arkee Whitlock … Who will have more yards between Fantuz or Dressler … or should I take a chance on Jesse Lumsden late in the draft. You get the idea. Doesn’t that sound like fun?
