Penton: Not everyone loves CFL’s new look
By Bruce Penton
The new-look Canadian Football League season kicks off this week and while some are applauding the significant rule changes made to the game since last year’s Grey Cup, not everyone is thrilled.
Commissioner Stewart Johnston, who took the helm about a year ago and is the architect, at least in the public’s eye, of these changes, say the new rules will help to speed up play and lead to more exciting touchdown drives and fewer boring field goals. More changes are in store for 2027, which include reduction of the field to 100 yards and moving the goalposts to the back of the end zone.
When the 2026 season kicks off June 4 in a game between Montreal and Hamilton, here are two major changes fans will see:
— A 35-second play clock
— Elimination of the one-point rouge if the ball is kicked through the end zone by way of a field-goal attempt, a punt or a kickoff (the rouge remains if the ball stays within the end zone and the returner takes a knee or is unable to advance the ball into the playing field).
The latter change means teams will no longer automatically get one point for a missed field goal, oftentimes the winning point in a tight game. That, says retired CFL refereel Bud Ulrich, is an abomination.
“That takes away from some of the most exciting plays we witnessed for many years,” Ulrich wrote in a letter to the Winnipeg Free Press.
“These changes can only be viewed as aligning our game with the National Football League,” Ulrich continued. “In today’s climate of Canada needing to be self-reliant and not dependent on the United States, for the development of our game, I am both surprised and disappointed” … with the changes.
The play-clock change is likely to speed up play, say CFL officials, and Grey Cup champion quarterback Trevor Harris agrees. ““I think it’s going to increase the amount of plays,” Harris told Taylor Shire of the Regina Leader-Post. “And so, if you’re watching a 60-minute football game, you’re going to see more plays and that’s exciting. Less wasted time and I’m fired up about it.”
Meanwhile, Roughrider fans all over the country are hoping for a Grey Cup repeat from their favourite team. After a Week 1 bye, the Riders open their season at home on June 13 against the B.C. Lions. The nine CFL teams will vie for six playoff positions, but next year, the playoff format will include eight of the nine teams. In a press release, the CFL said the playoff format changes will “create more meaningful games, better summer experiences for fans, and a more competitive path to the Grey Cup.” Detractors, however, say allowing eight of the nine teams into post-season play will render the regular season meaningless. Cynics state the obvious: The move was made to allow more teams to have playoff games, ergo, more revenue. If the move proves to be extremely unpopular, the fans will respond by staying home.
Fat chance of that.
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, on the fall from grace of a golf great: “Tiger Woods was never supposed to be a punchline. He was supposed to be a legend carved in marble.”
Former Steelers’ coach Mike Tomlin, on a player who said he wanted to be traded: “I’m okay with that. We want volunteers, not hostages.”
Shane Ryan of GolfDigest.com, on Russell Henley’s poor performance in last year’s Ryder Cup: “If I had to compare his Ryder Cup to a bird, it would be a pigeon that gets hit by a tractor.”
Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com: “The Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres (in Game 7). I’m so old I remember when it wasn’t a shock that a Canadian team MIGHT win the Stanley Cup.”
South African golf great Gary Player, on Elvis Presley’s golf grip: "Like he was a cow giving birth to a roll of barbed wire.”
Journalist Michael Farber, on referencing a former NHLer when asked what to call a feline pet: “Al Iafrate Cat.”
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Lakers may not be the Beatles in their prime, but they’re like the Rolling Stones of today — older, richer and running mostly on legacy — but somehow still selling out every arena in America.”
One more Bianchi offering: “Kudos to the Washington Wizards for winning the NBA’s draft lottery. Finally, a success story in D.C. that doesn’t include a leaked memo, a subpoena and a congressional hearing.”
Another headline at the onion.com: “Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Trying To Draw Foul While Shooting Free Throw”
Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: “If Mitch Marner had played the way he’s playing now in Vegas, he’d still be a Leaf.”
Another one from Simmons: “Bruce Cassidy reminds me of Pat Burns. Five-year contract, three-year act.”
Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca