tc23
03-01-2013, 05:23 PM
REGINA — The CFL history lesson is over, people.
It's time for the three-down loop to look forward and have a little fun.
That's the vibe coming from commissioner Mark Cohon this week in Regina,
where the CFL is holding its annual winter meetings to share business practices
and hand out the 2012 coach of the year award.
And good on him. While the league did an excellent job leading up to the
100th Grey Cup last year in Toronto, it's time to look to the future. During a
question and answer session during breakfast at a downtown hotel on Wednesday,
Cohon even threw out the suggestion of having players Tweet during games.
That was only an example, of course. The last thing the CFL needs is to
become is the XFL North, but we get his point and we like it. The commish even
went so far as to suggest the CFL could use something so very un-Canadian:
Swagger.
"All the things that we have been doing leading up to the 100th Grey Cup was
celebrating the culture of our league, that connectivity between the role the
CFL has played in our history," Cohon said. "Now what we have is new stadiums
being built, soon to announce a new TV deal, we've got great superstars. These
guys do so much in the communities. We have Ottawa coming back in.
"It's time to have not a cocky swagger, but a Canadian swagger and be proud
of who we are and make sure people understand that this is a great league and
should be a part of it."
In other words, it soon won't be your grandfather's, or maybe even your
father's, CFL. The problem now for Cohon, however, is growing the game while
ensuring fans still have player access that you don't find in the NFL or NHL.
It's a bit of a Catch-22 because the CFL is taking a long, hard look at closing
part or all of some practices for both fans and media each week. That takes away
fan access, but the commish believes the games will be better as a result fans
won't be able to put trick plays online.
It's a fine line for the commissioner to walk, but it sounds like he's ready
to step out onto the tightrope.
"I want this game to always improve," he said. "We always talk about the
business of the league. Let's talk about the game. That's the best thing. So
that's why we're discussing this."
Fans spilling secrets with their smart phones is one way technology can hurt
the on-field product, but if the CFL is going to bound into its second century
of existence, it's going to have to be savvy in the tech department if the kids
are going to notice. Tweeting players is one way to do that.
"One of the things you see is leagues saying what players can't do. I want
the attitude to be 'what players can do.' They're great ambassadors for our
teams, they're great ambassadors for our league, and they're great ambassadors
for themselves," Cohon said. "We want these guys to become superstars."
The league's new stadiums -- Winnipeg this year, Ottawa and Hamilton in 2014
and Saskatchewan in 2017 -- will give it a chance to attract fans to things that
are shiny, and the plan is for them to be wired to the hilt to, as Cohon put it,
"make sure the fan has the experience in the stadium that is the same one they
have in their living room."
Cohon also wants to see better fantasy gaming for the league and at one point
even a CFL video game. The league has been talking to universities about putting
22-year-olds to work in that department. It's about time.
"I'm throwing out ideas here that we're not necessarily going to do, but it's
talking about the culture that we're creating here," he said. "We're young, even
though we're over a hundred years old, we're nimble, we're progressive, we're
entrepreneurial, and that's what I want to communicate both to our fans but also
to the people that are running our teams."
The past won't be forgotten. It never should be. It just won't be the focus,
and that's how the CFL will grow.
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/02/27/cfl-looking-at-future-not-past
It's time for the three-down loop to look forward and have a little fun.
That's the vibe coming from commissioner Mark Cohon this week in Regina,
where the CFL is holding its annual winter meetings to share business practices
and hand out the 2012 coach of the year award.
And good on him. While the league did an excellent job leading up to the
100th Grey Cup last year in Toronto, it's time to look to the future. During a
question and answer session during breakfast at a downtown hotel on Wednesday,
Cohon even threw out the suggestion of having players Tweet during games.
That was only an example, of course. The last thing the CFL needs is to
become is the XFL North, but we get his point and we like it. The commish even
went so far as to suggest the CFL could use something so very un-Canadian:
Swagger.
"All the things that we have been doing leading up to the 100th Grey Cup was
celebrating the culture of our league, that connectivity between the role the
CFL has played in our history," Cohon said. "Now what we have is new stadiums
being built, soon to announce a new TV deal, we've got great superstars. These
guys do so much in the communities. We have Ottawa coming back in.
"It's time to have not a cocky swagger, but a Canadian swagger and be proud
of who we are and make sure people understand that this is a great league and
should be a part of it."
In other words, it soon won't be your grandfather's, or maybe even your
father's, CFL. The problem now for Cohon, however, is growing the game while
ensuring fans still have player access that you don't find in the NFL or NHL.
It's a bit of a Catch-22 because the CFL is taking a long, hard look at closing
part or all of some practices for both fans and media each week. That takes away
fan access, but the commish believes the games will be better as a result fans
won't be able to put trick plays online.
It's a fine line for the commissioner to walk, but it sounds like he's ready
to step out onto the tightrope.
"I want this game to always improve," he said. "We always talk about the
business of the league. Let's talk about the game. That's the best thing. So
that's why we're discussing this."
Fans spilling secrets with their smart phones is one way technology can hurt
the on-field product, but if the CFL is going to bound into its second century
of existence, it's going to have to be savvy in the tech department if the kids
are going to notice. Tweeting players is one way to do that.
"One of the things you see is leagues saying what players can't do. I want
the attitude to be 'what players can do.' They're great ambassadors for our
teams, they're great ambassadors for our league, and they're great ambassadors
for themselves," Cohon said. "We want these guys to become superstars."
The league's new stadiums -- Winnipeg this year, Ottawa and Hamilton in 2014
and Saskatchewan in 2017 -- will give it a chance to attract fans to things that
are shiny, and the plan is for them to be wired to the hilt to, as Cohon put it,
"make sure the fan has the experience in the stadium that is the same one they
have in their living room."
Cohon also wants to see better fantasy gaming for the league and at one point
even a CFL video game. The league has been talking to universities about putting
22-year-olds to work in that department. It's about time.
"I'm throwing out ideas here that we're not necessarily going to do, but it's
talking about the culture that we're creating here," he said. "We're young, even
though we're over a hundred years old, we're nimble, we're progressive, we're
entrepreneurial, and that's what I want to communicate both to our fans but also
to the people that are running our teams."
The past won't be forgotten. It never should be. It just won't be the focus,
and that's how the CFL will grow.
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/02/27/cfl-looking-at-future-not-past