2014 CFL Offseason News/Views

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Faxman: Feb 27, 2009

GuavaMoment posted:

As an Eskimo fan I'm entirely confident we have last place in the west firmly secured. Unless the REDBLACKS are in the west or other stupidity? How are they doing the schedules now that it's unbalanced?

Go GREENGOLDS!

The schedule is here: http://www.cfl.ca/schedule/year/2014/time_zone/0
Every week there will be one team with a bye, so we get a 20 week season this year :toot:

I'll be moving from Edmonton to Calgary some time this summer, which is going to be different for football. I've only been to one game at McMahon and while the fans were fun the stadium seemed a lot smaller. Any secrets I'm missing to enjoying a game in Calgary?

# ¿ Feb 18, 2014 00:28

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 14:32

Faxman: Feb 27, 2009

Drunk Canuck posted:

Hey look the Rouge et Noir have started a naming contest for their dumb new mascot
http://www.ottawaredblacks.com/article/redblacks-unveil-their-new-mascot

I hope it's something stupid and silly, such as a Choppy or Reginald.

I skipped a few words reading that article and it really made it sound that Henry Burris was going to be the new mascot.

The Article posted:

...the Ottawa REDBLACKS introduced their new mascot before the Ottawa 67�s game. Henry Burris, the newly acquired QB...

Now I can't stop laughing at the thought of Burris having to fulfill both roles for his new team.
"drat we had to punt the ball. Guess I'd better go put on the giant foam head and try to start the wave"

# ¿ Feb 18, 2014 23:30

Faxman: Feb 27, 2009

Stickarts posted:

I know right. It's like the development team stopped working on the design halfway through because the REDBLACKS cheques started bouncing or something and the Ottawa REDBLACKS just said "gently caress it" and rolled with what they had. Even the logo is total "working title" in the vibes it gives off. Oh well. Have faith, I guess - the Blue Jackets and Wild are good examples of expansion teams that cleaned up their acts given a little time.

But at least Blue Jackets and 'the Wild' are actual things. REDBLACKS just sounds like something your racist grandpa yells when you ask him to describe biracial children from his two least favorite ethnic groups.

It works in French thoughbut that's probably more because there's a few CIS teams whose name is just their team colours.

# ¿ Feb 18, 2014 23:59

Faxman: Feb 27, 2009

Drunk Canuck posted:

Amazing news from Ottawa, today they signed Paris Jackson.

Also Kevin Glenn is still asking for a trade out of there.

I really do not understand where he hopes to land because there is no god drat team in the league where he'd be starter. He just doesn't want part of the Rouge Et Noir passion.

Maybe they can trade him to the Atlantic Schooners for a future expansion draft pick.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2014 23:30

Faxman: Feb 27, 2009

Tedd_Not_Ed posted:

Talks are underway to renovate BMO Field to be the new home of the Argonauts (Page 6).

Moving out of the 80% vacant skydome would be one of the best things to happen to the Argos in a long time. Maybe even up there with Eric Tillman takinga handful of sleeping pills and giving them Ricky Ray in exchange for some magic beans.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2014 15:53

Faxman: Feb 27, 2009

This is technically Canadian football so I'm going to talk about it here. The spring season for kids going into high school (Midget league) just finished here on one of the crazier plays to end a game, especially a championship game, I've seen.

Tier 2 Midget league championship game - Shock vs. Grizzlies.
Last play of the game, score is 22-17 for the Grizzlies. Shock have the ball on the Grizzlies' 7 yard line. Shock try running the ball up the middle, the RB fumbles at about the 2 yard line. The ball rolls over the back of a Grizzlies player and goes into the endzone. One defender accidentally heel kicks it backwards, ball is about 8 yards deep in the endzone, and the players have finally figured out where it is. One Shock player manages to jump out and reach for the ball, getting his hand on it and gripping it for just long enough for the officials to decide he has possession - he had it knocked out of his hand pretty quickly after and then a player from each team jumped on it at the same time but that was after whistles went so it didn't matter. 5 minutes of arguing from everyone on the field followed but the decision stood, Shock win 24-22. Didn't even bother running the convert since one team was too dejected and the other was too busy celebrating.

Crazy play to end a game, and it just makes me want more football and want it now dammit.

# ¿ May 7, 2014 21:34

Faxman: Feb 27, 2009

There really shouldn't be any limit on what you can use video replay to review. You want to waste a challenge on something there's no way video could overturn, knock yourself out. Think a player got 5 yards instead of 4 on a first down run, sure go ahead.

CFL posted:

Pass Interference Video Review

Coaches are now allowed to challenge both called and potential defensive pass interference fouls under certain conditions.

The new rule now provides a team with the ability to use any and all of its Coaches' Challenges to challenge a called or potential pass interference foul up to the final three minutes of a game. In the final three minutes of a game, and overtime, a team can only challenge such a call or non-call one time, and only if it still has an unused challenge and a timeout remaining.

A coach must challenge to trigger a video review of a pass interference call or a potential pass interference call. They will not be subject to automatic review by the Command Centre.

An unsuccessful challenge of a potential pass interference foul in the final three minutes will result in the loss of a timeout. An unsuccessful challenge of an actual pass interference call in the final minutes will not result in the loss of a timeout.

The CFL is the first football league to subject pass interference to video review.

The role of the Command Centre has also been expanded to automatically review specific turnovers of fumbles lost and interceptions, and can now detect illegal participation fouls during a play (when a player returns to the field after voluntarily leaving it).

As far as video review of pass interference goes, I'm glad that it isn't an automatic review, but the fact that you can only challenge a PI (whether there should have been one or not) in the last 3 minutes of the game or overtime seems pretty strange. I also don't like that it only applies to defensive PI and not offensive PI. But again I'm for lifting all the restrictions on what can be challenged and when.

The other approved rule changes are these

CFL posted:

Approved rule changes to further protect the health and safety of CFL players:

� Eliminating low blocks below the waist, other than those delivered to the front plane of a player, in all areas of the field except in the area between the tackles and two yards on either side of the line of scrimmage.

� Outlawing peel back blocks, which occur when a play changes direction in the backfield, forcing the defender to modify his pursuit, making him susceptible to blind low blocks executed by an offensive player moving toward his own end zone.

� Clarifying the rules that make it illegal to "deliver a blow" to an opponent�s neck or head, and when it is illegal for a player to use their helmet to hit an opponent, standards already followed by officials but not yet codified in the rule book.

� Requiring an injured player to leave the field for three plays regardless of whether a penalty was called on the action leading to the injury (players currently have the option to stay in the game if a penalty was called on the play.)

Other approved changes to promote scoring and improve the flow of the game:

� Allowing quarterbacks for each team to use their own team supplied Wilson footballs, provided they have met the "new ball" quality standard established by the league.

� Allowing centres to bob their heads multiple times in an effort to signal timing of the snap of the ball (to be used by visiting teams coping with noise in stadium).

� Allowing offences to further dictate the pace of play by no longer requiring the Head Referee to hold the 20 second clock for the defence to substitute.

All the player safety stuff seems fine to me. Nobody wants to see a bunch of injuries.

Not allowing the defence the freedom to substitute whenever they like could be an interesting one. I'd expect (and hope) to see a lot more no-huddle offences with that rule in place. Also gives the offence a chance to exploit a defensive mismatch a little more easily if they spot one they like.

# ¿ May 9, 2014 16:01

Faxman: Feb 27, 2009

The impression I get from Burris is he doesn't think anything is ever his fault, and he gets upset when someone makes a mistake. Any time a receiver drops a pass or runs a wrong route (or just not the route he expected) Burris seems to go screaming after them.

# ¿ May 12, 2014 17:00