5 Ways to improve the CFL

Now, I’m already on the record as being anti-CFL, and going into this season things haven’t changed much. I don’t know any players and I really don’t care. I’ll carry my football jones until the NFL season starts in October, thank you very much.

Who Cares About the Grey Cup?

But the question remains: What could the CFL do to garner the attention of a fickle fan like me? Well, I’ve come up with a handful of suggestions.

1. Say it with me now: CFL Saturdays.

This one’s simple. How can the casual fan be drawn into the game when they have no idea when their team is playing? These weekday night games are for the birds. It has always been one of the simplest draws of NFL football: You know when the games are. They’ve created a franchise out of Sunday and Monday night football.

The CFL’s schedule is all over the map, with games on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Labour Day Monday. Competing against the NFL on Sundays isn’t a good idea. And Thursdays … whose idea was that one?

Whether at home or on the road, knowing your team will be playing every Saturday and that there is a CFL doubleheader on TV is a great way of drawing casual fans into the game. And I think a lot of people prefer Saturday games, when they can make an event of going to a game with the whole family instead being forced to sneak out of work or worrying about that early meeting the next day.

2. Real weather, real turf.

Come on, we’re well into the 21st century now. Do we still have to be playing games on plastic grass or away from the weather? In the U.S., franchises have been moving away from this for 20 years now. In the CFL, only one team plays on real grass. It’s a little embarrassing, frankly.

And don’t tell me the weather is an issue. If they can grow real grass in Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, they can grow real grass anywhere. Even Winnipeg. I’ve been to Winnipeg. They have lawns. It can be done. Real grass gives the game some old-time authenticity.

The Montreal Alouettes’ move from Olympic Stadium to Molson Stadium on the McGill campus should be all the evidence anyone needs about moving away from the big, impersonal buildings. At the Big Oh, the team was an afterthought verging on another bankruptcy. Since moving to the smaller, outdoor field the Als have sold out every game and are again part of the city’s identity. Fans love toughing it out together and bad-weather games are far more fun than antiseptic indoor games. We’re Canadians. We’re hearty. We like our football the same way.