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In a year with so much focus on Canadian patriotism and Canadian sports, this should be the Canadian Football League\u2019s time to shine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But many felt that last night\u2019s Grey Cup didn\u2019t rise to the occasion. The CFL chose American musician mgk as the halftime act, and has started announcing changes to the Canadian football rules that some people feel Americanizes the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today on Commotion, host Elamin Abdelmahmoud sits down with sports commentators Tara Slone<\/a> and Morgan Campbell<\/a> to discuss what is going on with the CFL.<\/p>\n We’ve included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player<\/a>.<\/p>\n Elamin: We actually have to talk about that halftime show because the halftime show is one of those places where you can sense that idea of like, OK, if you are trying to say, \u201cWe are distinctly Canadian,\u201d this is a place where you would program or make certain choices. Maybe get a homegrown star for that particular town. Instead, you get this guy: mgk, formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly, he did the halftime show yesterday\u2026. Tara, what do you think of mgk’s performance?\u00a0<\/p>\n Tara: I was scrolling through Twitter \u2014 X, whatever it is \u2014 trying to take the temperature, and I saw one tweet that just said: \u201cThat was a perfectly acceptable halftime show.\u201d And I thought, OK, he was fine. But I think \u2014 I’m going to make people mad \u2014 this trend of bringing in B-list American talent to headline our halftime shows is \u2014 like, why? Let’s bring in the A-listers of Canada. It\u2019s my problem with the CFL not deciding what it is. If you want to be a Canadian product, then be Canadian!\u00a0<\/p>\n Elamin: The pre-show, I should say, was Our Lady Peace, A-lister Canadian band. But the halftime show the last couple of years, they’ve gotten the Jonas Brothers, they’ve gotten Green Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n Morgan, how do you feel about this idea of mgk, Green Day doing the Grey Cup halftime show?<\/p>\n Morgan: The CFL, they know they’re the CFL. The Grey Cup is the Grey Cup. And your halftime performer has to be available and inclined to get out here in the cold weather and perform. So A-list Canadians, like The Weeknd, he ain’t doing that show. Celine Dion ain’t flying back from Las Vegas to do that show.<\/p>\n Elamin: But they used to get Shania Twain.<\/p>\n Tara: Not that long ago, even.\u00a0<\/p>\n Morgan: But also the idea that the halftime performer should have some type of organic connection to their game site, that’s a little bit overrated. You look at the Super Bowl, they had The Weeknd, he’s Canadian. Shakira has performed there, and there’s maybe one Colombian player in the entire NFL and he grew up in the U.S. You see what I’m saying? So that’s a little bit overrated\u2026. And the reality is like, I don\u2019t know who is a big name who says: \u201cCanada!\u201d I don’t think Stompin\u2019 Tom Connors is around anymore.<\/p>\n You can listen to the full discussion from today’s show on CBC Listen<\/a> or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Panel produced by Stuart Berman.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n