Now, I've never seen a CFL game, and have no idea where (other than Canada) I would be able to see one. Nor do I have any desire to see one, but doing research on the subject, I've come to the conclusion it would probably drive me insane. It resembles American Football, they have uniforms, helmets, goal posts and lines on the field. However...
10. The field is 110 yards long (sweet seats on the 55 yardline), 65 yards wide (53 1/3 in the U.S.) and has endzones 20 yards deep.
9. The goal posts are still on the front of the endzone, the NFL moved them back before the 1974 season to reduce field goals and increase touchdowns.
8. They play with 12 players on each side of the ball, with the extra one on offense usually being a running back and a defensive back (defensive half back) on defense.
7. They play 3 downs instead of 4. That would confuse the heck out of me. "It's third and long, better punt"
6. Teams only have 1 timeout per half, with clock stoppages after every play within the 3 minute warning.
5. When a fumble goes out of bounds, the last team to touch it gets it, regardless of who last had possession.
4. The ball is much more oblong than the NFL football, making it harder to throw.
3. The CFL has a 42 man roster, 21 of which have to be Canadian.
2. Defense has to play 1 yard off the line scrimmage, and have only a 1 yard "bump and run" cushion.
1. There is no fair catch rule. Only the kicker (or any player behind the kicker) can come within 5 yards of the return man until he has possession. The kicker (or any player behind the kicker) is also the only one who can recover a kick that has not been fielded, and he can then advance the ball.
Well, there ya go Canada, you whacky canucks.
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I'm just gonna say it cause it's weird they use yards? Canada uses the metric system so it is like they are not very committed to this football thing if they keep it in yards. How is a Canadian gonna understand yards? I barely get the metric system and I'm told it makes way more sense.
ReplyDeleteAstute observation Kristen. I think it is odd that in the US the width of the field isn't a whole number. Have you done your research on Irish Football, because it actually looks pretty cool. Bouncing the ball and all.
ReplyDeleteWell, Courtney, it's interesting, the American game's dimensions are due to the size of the commons at Harvard in the late 19th century. The game was played at the commons, and the current dimensions still reflect the size of land available to the students over 100 years ago. Also fractions are awesome.
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