Published Oct 06, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 4 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n The political speeches were nearing an end at Monday\u2019s Grey Cup news conference when an uninvited guest appeared outside, peeking through the window.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive columns by Ryan Stelter, Paul Friesen, Ted Wyman, Scott Billeck, Lorrie Goldstein, Warren Kinsella and others. Plus newsletters: Gimme Stelter for your beat on the city, The Exit Row for all your Jets news and On the Rocks for curling.Unlimited online access to Winnipeg Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Winnipeg Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive columns by Ryan Stelter, Paul Friesen, Ted Wyman, Scott Billeck, Lorrie Goldstein, Warren Kinsella and others. Plus newsletters: Gimme Stelter for your beat on the city, The Exit Row for all your Jets news and On the Rocks for curling.Unlimited online access to Winnipeg Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Winnipeg Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Account<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cHow Canadian is that \u2013 a Canada goose wants to join us here,\u201d Richard Genaille of the Manitoba Metis Federation said, drawing laughs from the assembled media types and others in the conference room at the home of the Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n While Genaille welcomed that particular slice of Canadiana, he abhors the prospect of seeing other pieces sliced from the CFL in the form of rule changes announced by the league a couple of weeks ago.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything is actually bothering me,\u201d Genaille, the MMF\u2019s minister of sport and youth, told me after the formal proceedings. \u201cBecause it\u2019s not CFL. They\u2019ve got their game in the States, the NFL and all that. But we\u2019ve got our game. Our Canadian game. It\u2019s different.\u201d<\/p>\n It won\u2019t be as different in two years.<\/p>\n The Winnipeg Sun’s Daily Headline News<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The people who run the CFL unilaterally decided to shorten the field to 100 yards, the end zones to 15 and to move the goal posts to the back of the end zones.<\/p>\n Those three moves mimic the American game, while removing some of the aspects that make the three-down version unique.<\/p>\n Missed-field-goal returns, for example, will all but disappear. One of the most exciting plays in the game, erased with the stroke of first-year commissioner Stewart Johnston\u2019s pen, co-signed by the board of governors.<\/p>\n Genaille makes no bones about how that makes him feel.<\/p>\n \u201cLike they\u2019re betraying us, the fans,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d tell him no. Hold off on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Genaille and other political figures were at Monday\u2019s news conference to applaud three moves by the Blue Bombers, including plans to supply flag-football kits to more than 900 schools in Manitoba and to take the Grey Cup on tour to the North, with stops in fire-ravaged Flin Flon, Thompson, and Churchill.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n All Grey Cup signage and literature will also be bilingual.<\/p>\n Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham loves those moves, but is far less enthralled with the ones the CFL is making.<\/p>\n \u201cI just like the distinction of the Canadian game,\u201d Gillingham said. \u201cI love the rouge. It\u2019s an anomaly. A game can be decided on this bizarre, unique rule in the CFL called the rouge. I\u2019d like to see it stay.\u201d<\/p>\n The single point will disappear on field-goal attempts that go wide of the uprights, the CFL claiming that\u2019s no way to decide a big game.<\/p>\n So another play unique to Canada \u2013 a player punting the ball out of the end zone to avoid giving up the point, and occasionally the other team trying to kick it back in \u2013 will also be mostly confined to the dust bins of history.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Yet, the CFL\u2019s big thinkers say their changes will make the game more exciting and get fans to fill some of the vast quantities of empty seats in the majority of cities.<\/p>\n \u201cI do understand Winnipeg\u2019s market and maybe Saskatchewan\u2019s market are maybe a bit unique in the CFL,\u201d Gillingham said. \u201cI know that\u2019s not the case in every other city. So for the future of the game, I do appreciate some changes may have to be made to attract more spectators to the game.\u201d<\/p>\n But will they? He\u2019s not so sure.<\/p>\n \u201cIf any rules are being changed to attract more fans while still maintaining a uniqueness of the CFL compared to the NFL game, I\u2019m open to it,\u201d the Mayor said. \u201cBut I like the rouge, I like the goal posts where they are. There\u2019s nothing like the thrill of someone returning a missed field goal.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 6<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Gillingham grew up on a farm west of Carman, his dad driving him to Bombers games when he was a kid. The two have season tickets to this day.<\/p>\n He and his friends have debated the rule changes, some of which, like changing to a 35-second running clock between plays, he has no problem with.<\/p>\n Like every fan across the country, and every player, GM and coach, for that matter, he wasn\u2019t consulted about the changes.<\/p>\n They just landed with a thud \u2013 like a downed goose \u2013 two Mondays ago.<\/p>\n If the commissioner thinks the change is going to get more fans to peek through the glass to watch the Canadian game, Genaille says he\u2019s got another think coming.<\/p>\n \u201cIt won\u2019t,\u201d he said. \u201cThe outcry probably from right across Canada is going to be the same. That\u2019s not for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Genaille\u2019s passion was palpable, much like that of the fans who\u2019ve sent emails and signed petitions denouncing the shift to an American style of game, especially at a time when Canadian pride is swelling due to unfriendly pushes from south of the border.<\/p>\n Canadian players, such as B.C. quarterback Nathan Rourke, and coaches, such as Winnipeg\u2019s Mike O\u2019Shea, have spoken out against the moves, too.<\/p>\n Genaille\u2019s last words to me echoed what O\u2019Shea had said two weeks earlier.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s our game.\u201d<\/p>\n paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca<\/p>\n X: @friesensunmedia<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links SportsFootballCFL Get the latest from Paul Friesen straight to your inbox Sign Up Published Oct…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-194165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Grey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1007fivefolks-e1759793660755.jpg\")
From left, Richard Genaille, Manitoba Metis Federation Minister of Sport and Youth; Scott Gillingham, Mayor of Winnipeg; Wade Miller, president\/CEO Winnipeg Blue Bombers; Tracy Schmidt, Manitoba Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning; and Colin Ferguson, president\/CEO Travel Manitoba attended an event at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Oct. 6, 2025 for a Grey Cup media event. Photo by Paul Friesen \/Winnipeg SunArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Winnipeg](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.6.0\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-wsun-new.svg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.6.0\/websites\/images\/newsletters\/icon-sun-headlineNews.svg\"\/){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n