THURSDAY COMMENTARY – HAIL THE XFL
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary at 9:50 am and 5:20 pm on Cat Country 98 FM)
TODAY WE ATTEMPT TO DE-CODE THE CFL.
IN AN ANNOUNCEMENT QUITE LITERALLY OUT OF NOWHERE, THE CFL DIVULGED WEDNESDAY THAT THEY HAVE ENTERED TALKS WITH THE XFL ABOUT A POSSIBLE COLLABORATION DOWN THE ROAD.
WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?
THE DEFINITION OF COLLABORATION IS “THE ACTION OF WORKING WITH SOMEONE TO PRODUCE OR CREATE SOMETHING.”
SO THAT’S WHY I’VE TOOK THIS TO MEAN IT’S AN ALL-OUT MERGER, BEGINNING IN 2022. AND I APPLAUD IT. IF IT’S NOT THAT, WHY COLLABORATE AT ALL?
BY THE WAY, SO COVERT WAS THIS VENTURE THAT MANY TOP LEAGUE EXECUTIVES WEREN’T EVEN AWARE OF IT, I’M TOLD. I’M GUESSING SOMEBODY’S GETTING AN EARFUL TODAY.
BUT COMMISSIONER RANDY AMBROSIE HAS ALREADY BEEN MET WITH SIGNIFICANT BACKLASH FROM CFL LOYALLISTS OVER THIS MOVE SAYING THEY WON’T SUPPORT IT AND IF THE CANADIAN RULES CHANGE, THEY’RE OUT ALTOGETHER.
I DON’T BELIEVE THEM. AND I’M CERTAIN RANDY DOESN’T EITHER.
SECONDLY, THE PANDEMIC HAS TAUGHT US THAT THE AVERAGE CANADIAN ACTUALLY KNOWS LITTLE ABOUT CFL BUSINESS, NOR HOW PRO FOOTBALL WORKS IN GENERAL.
SO MANY HAVE DECRIED IN THE PAST 24 HOURS, “WHY WOULD WE PARTNER WITH A LEAGUE THAT’S FOLDED TWICE?”
IF YOU’RE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE, YOU’RE SHOWING YOUR IGNORANCE.
PROBABLY THE SAME PEOPLE WHO WONDERED WHY THE CFL WENT BACK INTO OTTAWA EVEN AFTER PRO FOOTBALL FAILED IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL TWICE.
THAT’S ONLY TURNED OUT TO BE ONE OF THE GREATEST STORIES IN FOOTBALL HISTORY WITH THE REDBLACKS APPEARING IN THE GREY CUP IN YEAR 2 AND WINNING IT ALL IN YEAR 3.
WAS THERE THIS MUCH RESISTANCE TO THE NHL DOUBLING IN SIZE IN 1966? I’D SAY THAT WORKED OUT.
THE NAYSAYERS ARE SHOWING THEIR NARROW-MINDEDNESS AND LACK OF BUSINESS & MARKETING ACUMEN. WITHOUT THE XFL, THE CFL WILL SURELY DIE. DIEHARDS ARE GREAT, BUT THEY’RE NOT ENOUGH OF THEM AND THE CFL HAS BEEN SHRINKING FOR YEARS.
MERGING WITH THE XFL WILL DELIVER THE “BIGGER, BOLDER CFL” AMBROSIE HAS LONG PROMISED.
THE COMMISSIONER CLEARLY KNOWS THIS. BUT HOW MUCH DOES HE LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE WHO’VE SUPPORTED THE CFL THE LONGEST?
THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY ON CAT COUNTRY 98.
I applaud your optimism, Rod, & agree the business model has to change. But there is the small matter of the behemoth called the NFL. Since the 1990’s there’s been multiple attempts to get the American public to buy into other US Football Leagues – AFL (Arena Football League), PIFL, IPFL, IFL, PSFL, UFL & XFL to name a few or we can go back to the moderately successful USFL of the 80’s. Merging a CDN product with another incarnation of spring football in the US doesn’t look like a winning formula for me. And if pay across this new… Read more »
how will the rules work, 3 down vs 4 down, how about the field size, how about US teams not wanting to have a canadian content rule? Will it still be called the CFL and have the history to continue or will the CFL be done and this is called something else. Seems to me the XFL has some quirky rues that stray away from basic football that we all like. I just forsee the CFL like we all like it, will be gone and we will have to get used to a new type of football. I am against… Read more »
Hi Rod. Your optimistic which is fine. I agree the model has to change as it’s not working. Think more Canadians, lower qb salaries and less coaches would be a start. The US franchises failed miserably in the 90’s. Why would a merger work now? Then you have issues with ratio and field size. Guess we’ll see what happens
Steve
Saskatoon
xfl is good but has a lot of flause like 10 minutes of intermission