The CFL is a Rodney Dangerfield league.
It does not get the kind of respect that it richly deserves from its long history in a young country.
Let’s avoid splitting hairs on the entity known as the Canadian Football League, because the name is merely the latest moniker for Canadian football as it evolved from its 19th century rugby roots.
Anyhow, enough about the mini- legal history of the league, I want to discuss the insanely exciting 54-51 Saskatchewan Roughrider victory over the Montreal Alouettes from the Canada Day season opener. The July 1ST fireworks had nothing on the game itself.
So I decided to bask in the glory of all that is right about the Canadian brand of football and encountered a very annoying trend on NFL football forums.
A few chipmunks from Canada had to throw in their two bits worth of opinion on several NFL forums about the CFL.
These insecure rodents decided to hijack American football forums that posted positive reactions about that amazing game with their own ridiculous attack on our league. The American football fans were very surprised by the stupid comments from these clowns.
The American fans were highly impressed with the skills and professionalism of the CFL game, and were blown away by the circus catches during the game. It was a big eye-opener for the planet’s most dedicated and well-informed football fanatics.
So the stupid comments from badly informed Canadian “football fans” confused them.
Eventually a few informed CFL football fans with a balanced view of football apologized for the Canadian lowlifes desperately seeking attention or a pat on the head from the American fans.
One idiot from Calgary babbled on about the deficiencies of the league-including some bizarre assertion that the fields are too hard.
My best guess is that this clown was off his meds.
The game was a feel-good moment for a league that is currently riding a big wave of popularity in every place but southern Ontario where, coincidentally, most of the bad vibes about the CFL originated on the NFL forums.
One bozo swore his undying allegiance to the American game while attacking our football game.
But his major complaint was the American pronunciation of the word “about” in the Canadian “aboot” form.
He wanted the Americans to know that “only people from Newfoundland” pronounced it that way. I beg to differ on even that minor point, but who am I to argue with this narrow-minded genius?
It should be noted that the game itself was a major story in US sporting circles. A photo of the packed Rider stadium was a picture of the day feature in the online Wall Street Journal edition.
It was a game for the ages and I regret that a few alleged sports fans with very modest IQs hijacked the event in their own clumsy fashion.
So maybe I shouldn’t let these insecure and testosterone- deficient morons rain on a very amazing game in an amazing football league.
But it is difficult when they marginalize gifted athletes in a sport that they know nothing about in a real sense. On a local note: Red Deer Buccaneers play this Saturday 6 pm at Great Chief Park.
More of Jim Sutherland at mystarcollectorcar.com