Last weekend’s CFL games reacquainted me with a few of my pet peeves (plus a few of my peeves that are not even close to domestication) about the league.
The first source of irritation is the chronic lack of communication demonstrated by the CFL. The league has solicited feedback about its rules through an ask-the-ref email promotion that is essentially a Q&A with CFL director of officials Tom Higgins.
I have enjoyed minimal luck with the CFL when it comes to email responses — zero with Higgins — and my questions to Higgins were not graced with even an auto-reply acknowledgement from his office. Since I never initiated the program, I expected that I would get a response but, in a new era in which people blithely ignore a request for an email response, why should the CFL be any different?
The CFL just follows a nasty trend in which email responses to a query are optional and subject to the ego of the recipients.
Anyhow, I asked the league about the long process to a decision after each penalty and whether wireless communication between officials might speed up the process. The CFL is a league that has too many penalties, so a speedy decision is vital to each game’s length.
I also asked whether no-brainer decisions on a penalty could be dispatched immediately. Fouls such as holding on a long play or pass interference on an interception are painfully obvious and require about three nano-seconds to reach a decision. They do not require a lengthy hand-holding session on the field.
I also suggested that the CFL provide a wireless connection to the broadcast teams so that they can convey the right information in an immediate fashion to the viewers.
Call it the Rod Black protocol in honor of a guy that still does not understand the no-yards penalty — along with just about every other aspect of the game.
I did not include the poor officiating in my unanswered email. That was painfully evident in the Montreal-Winnipeg game during the final seconds when a brutal no-call on end zone pass interference was followed by a horrific make-up call on pass interference against Montreal.
The CFL has to be consistent with its enforcement of the rules. Players will take advantage of loose interpretations of the rules while games get longer and slower because of too many penalties.
I hated the safeties in B.C. Place last weekend. There is no prevailing wind in a covered stadium and absolutely no reason to concede two points. Safeties simply mean that coaches have no faith in their punter and even less testosterone in their system.
I was also disgusted that the B.C. Lions were forced into a coin toss with a soccer team for first dibs on B.C. Place. When did anybody really care about soccer outside of soccer moms and people with chronic insomnia looking for a non-narcotic cure? Most Canadians moved here in search of a better life and a soccer-free future.
Finally, I want to revisit the concept of a 60-minute game for ’Rider coach Ken Miller. The ’Riders chose to sit down on the last play of the first half of the game against Calgary, while Edmonton chose to arc a pass downfield and almost completed a pass for a TD in a similar situation last weekend against B.C.
Neither team won their games last weekend, but winning teams play every second of every game — a lesson that was lost on Miller.
Football is a game custom-designed for the bold and the brave — all others need not apply.