Allan Maki on the 2011 Grey Cup
Globe sports reporter Allan Maki takes your questions on the CFL's championship game.
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How did the B.C. Lions rebound from a 1-6 start and win the West Division? Will Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Buck Pierce’s knee be an issue? Is this it for Lions general manager/head coach Wally Buono?
I’m globesports.com editor Darren Yourk, inviting you to join us a 1:30 p.m. ET on Friday for a live discussion on all things CFL with Calgary-based sports reporter Allan Maki. Al, who is in Vancouver for the CFL’s championship tilt, will take your questions on Sunday’s game and the current state of the Canadian game.
We hope you’ll join us. -
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It's important not just for the overall image but for extablishing stability and continuity, the kind of things that attract sponsors and make the game better in a business sense. On the field, the game is still the CFL's best selling point, Adjustments are always necessary, but changing the commish isn't.
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I understand that's the case. Not everyone in the CFL is happy all the time, but there's a feeling Cohon has done a good job to this point and should be afforded the chance to carry on. The fact there are so few fires burning on the horizon is a testimony to that.
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It could be a one-year blip. No one in the CFL is certain. In 2010, they experienced a 100 per cent increase; in 2011 it was a 19 per cent drop. A hird year under the Neilsen rating system might provide a clearer answer. That's whay the CFL is hping for - a better understanding and a truer reading.
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Al, I was looking at the CFL website yesterday and I noticed that the lowest attendences at games were in Toronto. I'm concerned that Canada's largest city has the poorest turnout to games. When I lived in the GTA in the '80's I thought that the Argonauts had terrible promotion. Unless you searched it out you never knew when they were playing and the local media would mention results but normally never talk up a game before the fact. Is this still the case and is the solution to increasing attendence as simple as more promotion? Note that Montreal has done a great job in getting attention at home since their return.
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Thanks, George. Toronto is the CFL's Rubik Cube. The more the CFL fusses with it, the more confusing it gets. Promotion is a good component of the new turnaround plan. The league, with owner David Braley's financial support, is going to launch a major marketing and promotions initiative to highlight the 2012 season and the 100th Grey Cup in Toronto. If the Argos have a better season, that would help. Montreal's blueprint for success would be good to follow, too.
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The Burris sweepstakes, now that he's said he doesn't want to return to Calgary as a backup, is sure to come down to Toronto. The Argos need a QB and they need to win games in 2012 (to maintain interest in the 100th Grey Cup set for their stadium). Look for Calvillo to return to Montreal, which means Burris won't go the backup route. As for Hamilton, I think the Ticats would rather go with Quinton Porter than take on Burris's hefty salary.
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The biggest thing with QBs is that the NFL is pretty much taking them all - as backups, practice roster players, development guys. There's not as much for the CFL to choose from. That said, the CFL is going to introduce new tryout camps in the US to identify import talent and get more players, especially QBs, to come north and not stick around waiting for an NFL team to call.
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The big problem in the Toronto market is, I think, a psychological one. Owing to something of an inferiority complex, there seems to be a perception that if's not good enough for the US, it's not good enough for Toronto. Moreover, there's an entire lost generation of fans who were drawn away by the Blue Jays when they were winning World Series, or by the Raptors of the NBA (+ being in American leagues makes them 'palatable'). So how do you build on that?
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I blieve the CFL earned a measure of strength by the fact the Bills games in Toronto didn't collapse the league, as a lot of us thought it might. The three-down game is a good one. What needs to be improved are aspects around the game such as officiating, the TV presentation, the marketing of the players. It's a slow route but when you've lost a generation of fans, as you rightly noted Rob, you can't win them back in a hurry. Takes time. Having a Grey Cup in Toronto is a step in the right direction, if properly handled.
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The never ending question about expansion. IMO an 8 team league that plays 18 games gets kind of redundant. Same teams playing the same teams again and again. There needs to be a minimum of 10 teams. I know Ottawa is back in 2014. Is it possible we will see another team in the very near future as well? What are your thoughts about Moncton, Halifax or Quebec city?
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Tater, the East Coast expansion always comes down to: where to put the team; where's the stadium?; and, who has the money and interest to own it? None of that has been answered so far. As for Quebec City, there's been little news on expansion but taking advantage of the great football programs and number of players being produced in Quebec makes it a logical spot - and perhaps the preferred spot- for the CFL. That said, I understand the league would rather have a 10th team (after Ottawa) in the Maritimes to sell a coast to coast image.
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The plan to attract more talent for QBs is a good idea. What about the league adding a spot on every team's roster for a Canadian QB (i.e. a spot that could not be used for any other purpose, so as to ensure that it is indeed used to groom a Cdn QB)? There have been a number of good QBs to come out of Cdn universities in the past couple years, but who never got a chance to be developed. Think, for instance, of all the years that Toronto spent grooming Michael Bishop -- no way could a Cdn QB be shown as much patience without a protected roster spot.
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Agreed, Rob. Seeing Michael Bishop in the CFL is always a cry for panic. Calgary had Ottawa's Brad Sinopoli as its third-stringer all season. In the CFL, the three QBs can be import or non-import. What some teams want is this: if you carry a Canadian QB, you get to have an extra import spot on the roster, That has to be hashed out with the CFLPA. But giving talented Canadian kids a chance to play QB is not something the CFL has done a good job of. It'sbeen token at best, and neglectful at worst.
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With the Vanier and Grey Cup being tied together and the popularity of football growing across the country, why didnt anyone suggest tying the Subway Bowl to the weekend as well? We are growing the sport at 2 out of the 3 levels, this weekend could have been complete had the Subway Bowl been held at its usual location, BC Place, in conjunction with the two other games -
That would have made wonderful sense, Luke - having the BC high school football championship staged at the same time. Not sure how the scheduling of that worked or didn't. I can say this: some of the Vanier Cup's presence has been lost here in the shadow of the Lions being in the Grey Cup. I have a feeling both the CIS and CFL will take a look at their twin billing and work to improve on it for 2012 in Toronto.
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Hi Phil. I think Kevin Glenn has shown he's as good as he's going to get. Porter is still a question mark and will probably get a chance to start the 2012 season. Burris will be 38 at the start of the next CFL season and has inconsistencies in his game. Will the Ticats be interested in him? Probably. But Toronto, and Burris's familiarity with Jim Barker (and Jeremaine Copeland), is his probable destination.
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@Allan Maki If the CFL wants to get more interest, they should start marketing the success that US QBs have had in Canada and the lifestyle it has given them. They won't be millionaires, but they will play in front of a passionate fanbase, make OK money and play the game they love. Shoot a video with Calvillo, Burris, Ray, Lulay, etc. and make it viral via You Tube
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I'm wondering if it's just me, or has there been a sort of "media blackout" when it comes to Winnipeg's strength coming into the Grey Cup? It seems most of the talk has been around BC, or around the teams that didn't make it (Burris leaving Calgary, who can turn SK around, what will happen to Kevin Glenn?)... why is there so little respect for the top team in the East, and arguably the top team in the league (having won the season series against BC)?
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Hi Glenn, that's a good point. The Lions are the darlings for being in a home Grey Cup and finishing the season like home wreckers. Even the Wpg players have been happily buying in, saying it's all about BC, 'we're just here to play our game.' I think the Bombers want the pressure to build on the Lions. I don't see the lack of Wpg coverage as a show of disrespect, I see it as the Lions persona dominating the show in Vancouver. But as we all know, it's what counts Sunday that matters most. And it would be wrong to think of the Bombers as an easy target.
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Alan, you sounded very certain that the Riders' next head coach will "not be anybody on the current staff". Essentially this rules out Richie Hall and Craig Dickenson, both of whom I know have put their hat in the ring. I'm just curious why you seem sure they have been ruled out?
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Hey Rob. Hall's unsuccessful go as a head coach in Edm will work against him. Craig Dickenson has been a position coach and a special team's coach but needs more time as, say, an offensive coorindator to take himself to a higher level. I'm being told Brendan Taman has always thought well of Chamblin and likes his work and is keen to hire him.
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