Driving north to take in a football game

The Seattle Times has spread the word a bit in Washington State about the unusual game of football played above the 49th parallel. Staff reporter Jose Miguel Romero was dispatched north to take in the Lions/Ti cat’s game of last week, the home opener for the Leos. The first thing that seemed to take him for a loop was that uniquely Canadian football tradition the single point awarded on a missed field goal. Yes, the rouge seemed to hold his interest for an amazing amount of time. Considering the game ended up a thrilling 38-36 final, focusing his attention on the single point seemed a tad overdone, but then again, if you’re not used to the idea, it is kind of hard to get used to.

The bulk of the article was a fairly balanced look at the CFL, the players, the failed expansion and the future plans for a 10th team somewhere in Eastern Canada. The article focused on former Seahawks like Dave Dickenson and Kerry Joseph who are now starring in the CFL, players that got lost in the NFL shuffle and came north to find success.

The Commissioner gave a rather optimistic report on the state of the CFL, something that could not have been done at this time last year, and paints the picture of a league on the way back.

The only negative tones were the continual expression of inferiority to the NFL and the suggestion that a CFL team would have a hard time against a top college team. While possibly true, it’s impossible to be so cut and dried about a game that perhaps the author had seen only once. His remarks about the play being penalty and error filled did not take into account that it was the first regular season game of the year after a short pre season. Not to mention that there have been many, many NFL games that feature more than a few errors, games that are penalty filled and many are boring to boot.

While taking the position of the CFL being a notch or two below the NFL, Romero did point out that the game is more wide open, fast paced and entertaining. A point he makes despite his exposure to the evil rouge for two quarters of football.

All in all though, it was a pretty good report on the game up north. Hopefully it will help bring a few more folks up above the 49th to check out that other brand of football. While we won't be seeing the bus caravans that we send south to Seahawk, Lion and Bills games, we might get the odd station wagon coming north for a game.

One hopes that the CFL invites Romero back up North for the playoffs and a trip to the Grey Cup. If tradition holds to form, the excitement level of a Western Final and of course Grey Cup week should help turn him into a fan of the unusual game up north.