This column is brought to you by a CFL traditionalist who, unlike a goal post, is not anchored in one place.
Surprise!
Part of me expected to be alarmed, perhaps apoplectic, over “significant changes to the game” announced by Commissioner Stewart Johnston on Monday.
I am, after all, part of the demographic that is most likely to object.
So there I was, invariably nodding as the alterations were rolled out, one by one.
And, yes, there was an element of relief, because my 61-year-old mind started racing as soon as notification of the media conference arrived on Sunday at 11 a.m.
What could it be? What could it mean? Will football in Saskatchewan suddenly look the same as the gridiron game in, say, Sarasota or Sheboygan?
A Sunday spent surfing social media was not the best thing for my anxiety.
Then came Monday, the media conference, and a welcome sense of calm.
The highlight, from this perspective, pertains to how the timing of the game will be adjusted.
A 35-second clock, which will be reset as soon as the preceding play is whistled dead, should improve game flow.
As it stands, the 20-second play clock is activated at the discretion of an official. That can lead to delays and, at times, nearly a minute between plays.
Consider the following sequence from a Saskatchewan Roughriders game, with time on the clock shown in boldface:
6:03: Official blows whistle to activate 20-second play clock.
5:43: Ball is snapped.
5:36: Play concludes.
5:03: Next play is blown in; 20-second clock starts ticking.
4:49: Ball is snapped.
4:45: Play concludes.
In this case, we have a full minute between whistles and 53 seconds between snaps.
Forget about 60 or 53 seconds. The number will soon be 35.
“The consistency is the biggest thing,” Roughriders President-CEO Craig Reynolds said during a Monday afternoon media availability.
“It’s something that’s a little bit misunderstood, honestly, where everybody thinks it’s a 20-second running clock right now. It’s not.
“It can be really inconsistent right now in between plays. I think you’re going to have a fair bit of consistency there and I think teams will have a different sense of urgency as well, because that clock is running.”
The game clock had barely stopped running on Aug. 22, 2024, when the Toronto Argonauts’ Lirim Hajrullahu celebrated a game-winning missed field goal and a 20-19 victory over the visitors from Saskatchewan.
All it took was a rouge, instead of three points resulting from a 40-yard field goal, to settle matters.
The impact was noted and lamented in Riderville, for obvious reasons, but there were broader consequences.
The play, comparatively insignificant at other junctures of a game, was shown continent-wide and greeted with incredulity — even mockery — by commentators who openly wondered why, oh why, an unsuccessful kick could be, er, successful.
The result can be, in the words of Commissioner Johnston, “a less-than-inspiring victory” and a catalyst for accusations of “rewarding failure.”
Now, as an antiquated aficionado of the CFL, I could point to several reasons to justify the (continued) existence of a universally applicable rouge. It has never really bothered me.
At the same time, I recognize that the league and its decision-makers are in a no-win situation.
Revise the rouge and some people will vehemently object.
Retain the rouge, in its current form, and dissenting voices will also be heard at an elevated decibel level.
Irrespective of what is decided, there will be pushback due to the long-standing division and intensity of opinion. Change, in and of itself, can be difficult to digest.
But when you examine the larger equation, we are debating one point. A single, solitary point. A point that will still be awarded if the ball is playable in what will soon be a 15-yard end zone (more about that later).
In a corresponding move, a kicking team will no longer receive a point if and when a ball is punted through the end zone.
Fortunately, such a rule was not in effect on Oct. 5, 1959, when a punt single by Ferd Burket with 21 seconds left was ultimately the difference as Saskatchewan won 15-14 in B.C.
“Burket hoofed the ball far into the stands,” a Canadian Press correspondent noted a mere 66 years ago. (I told you I was old.)
Is the rouge a hill to die on when you consider the CFL game as a total package?
Yes, the length of the field — from goal line to goal line — will be shortened from 110 yards to 100. A notable change, yes, but one that will not affect the style of play.
As long as the playing surface is 65 yards wide, as opposed to 53 1/3 in the United States, the essence of Canadian football will be preserved and, moreover, showcased.
You may counter by pointing out that the depth of the end zones will be reduced from 20 to 15 yards. Fairly noted.
As a counterbalance, the goal posts will be moved to the back of the end zone — creating heretofore unexplorable opportunities for offences and eliminating the entertainment spectacle (see: sarcasm) that is the 11-yard field goal.
The positioning of the uprights has doubled as a virtual 13th man for defences. Effective in 2027, offences will be able to use all the end zone without having to worry about a receiver running into a post or a pass deflecting off an upright.
Since Nov. 17, 2019, we have wondered what would have become of a Cody Fajardo pass that was aimed toward Kyran Moore on the final play of the Western Final against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Moore was running a route over the middle, 10 yards deep in Mosaic Stadium’s north end zone. He appeared to be open, albeit by no more than a step.
Would Fajardo’s pass have produced a touchdown and led to overtime with a Grey Cup berth at stake?
Alas, we will never know, because the pass hit the crossbar — whereupon the Roughriders’ quarterback hit the turf in sheer anguish.
At last word, fans do not pay good money to see footballs hit inanimate objects, unless that inanimate object happens to be a 61-year-old sports writer.
I hasten to add that the Fajardo pass was not a one-off. Late in a 1965 playoff game at Winnipeg, Ron Lancaster looked toward Jim Worden in the end zone and … CLANK! Winnipeg won, 15-9.
In fairness, I should note that Darian Durant and Weston Dressler used the anchored-in post to shield a defender while collaborating for a six-yard TD against the host B.C. Lions on Oct. 4, 2013. Roughriders 31, Lions 17.
On the whole, however, the current placement of the post is more advantageous to defences.
“It will improve player safety,” Johnston added, “because while collisions with the post may not be commonplace, the risk is clear.”
Finally, there is the matter of ensuring that the teams’ benches are on opposite sides of the field.
This will eliminate examples of players running (inhale) 50-plus yards (exhale) to enter the (inhale) game as substitutes (exhale).
Additionally, tempers and nostrils can flare when benches are side by side, as we saw when the Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Elks exchanged unpleasantries during an ugly scene last weekend at BMO Field.
Now, there is a compelling case for benches to be adjacent — but only in roller derby.
Roller derby, for the uninitiated, was invented and popularized in the United States. The CFL, by contrast, is not trending toward “Americanization” — a term that has been thrown around, without hitting an upright, of late.
“The majority of the things that make the CFL unique stay in place,” Reynolds emphasized. “Three downs … 12 players a side … the wide field … unlimited motion. Those are things that are uniquely Canadian.
“Today wasn’t about changing our game. It was around making a great game better.”