|
|
Message en anglais copier coller de bluedodger sur le subreddit CFL.
Très intéressant a lire.
First, I want to begin by talking about an assumption that a lot of people have. This assumption lives in Canada, especially in the bigger cities. The assumption is that NFL players are more talented. Simply 100% incorrect.
Okay, 10,000 football players come out of elite college programs every year. The CFL and NFL snap up about 300 - 350 of those players each year. Perhaps 200 end up on a roster or practice roster. That's 200 out of 10,000, not counting CJF and CIS. That's 1 out of 50 elite athletes. According to a study conducted in Ontario in the 80s, 1 in 7 elite athletes made the NHL. So, regardless of personal opinions when somone calls a CFL player 'bush league' they are truly a bush league thinker because that type of comment is devoid of intelligence.
Back to the main points. Of those 350 players, not all will fit the NFL measurables. That is not a comment on their talent but the dimensions. Every NFL scout will tell you that the measurables count. There are very few exceptions to the rule.
The measurables are important in the NFL for very good reason. On another thread, I noticed someone saying that they liked both the CFL and NFL but preferred the strategy involved in the NFL because it is more of a chess game. Good observation. The reason is simple and thematically verifiable.
The NFL game has very little room for improvisation. You have 4 downs which translates to a situation where risk and improvisation are not warranted. Sure, the NFL passes more now but the yards per attempt stat show that it is a short passing game. Instead of a run up the middle they will now throw into the flat for 3 or 4 yards. Special teams plays are essentially non-plays 75% of the time. With every snap, every player has a precise assignment and location. The entire name of the game is to control as many variables as possible.
The CFL is different. With a field that is 65% larger, an extra player, and less opportunities to advance the ball - risk aversion is a recipe for disaster. (Bomber fans, I am sorry to say but Marcel's offense will be driving you nuts and into the loss column in the second half of the season for this exact reason). 65% more space, more players, no dead plays, faster pace and unlimited motion equals more variables. There is no denying that.
As a consequence, the CFL requires a different style of athlete. The differences are small but they are there. Most obvious is the height. The CFL is full of 5'9" DBs because they are among the most talented on the planet and it is not necessary for them to be 6'1" or more. And, they have to be able to read and react on the fly and do more than one job.
So, improvisation and versatility are essential for CFL players. The NFL has the roster capacity to have specialists. They are just very different games.
For the commenter who says that he prefers the NFL because of the strategy, I can respect that totally. I like the NFL. But my preference is the unpredicatbility of the CFL. I like sports where anything can happen. Its a personal preference. Its not right, wrong, better, worse and any effort to impose a hierarchy is nonsensical.
Many in Canada's bigger cities seem to have a need to impose this hierarchy and degrade the CFL. That is a misguided perspective and indicates a serious lack of understanding. Of course the NFL gets the players they want because they pay so much but to use money and notoriety as the barometers of quality is just plain sad. By that logic Brittney Spears and Ashlee Simpson are great artists and Dianna Krall is a hack. different genres of music, different genres of football. this is just the reality and denying it and insisting on degrading one or the other is a reflection of the insecurities of the individual rather than a valid argument or observation.
I have been living in LA for 5 years now. When I put on a CFL game and have friends over, they never bash the CFL. Because they don't know any better, they may have an initial assumption that the NFL is hands down better but they are open to accepting information. When I tell a new person about the CFL being a different game with different types of players who are still among the best football talents on the planet... they do not disagree. It makes sense to them. But not to many Canadians.
CFL bashing is a Canadian characteristic. You get to TO or Vancouver and it seems impossible for many people to grant the CFL any respect. They need to degrade it for some distorted reason. They need to somehow be associated with what they consider to be "big league". as though watching a league where players date a Kardashian is the indication of quality. No, that is strictly an indication of notoriety. One league is played in a nation of 300 million and the other in a nation of 33 million. Again, do the math if you want to figure out why that notoriety exists.
Anyway, my sincere hope is that many people in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and even Calgary/Edmonton can realize what they have right in front of them. We have a unique game that is being played by some of the best athletes in the world. They may not be 6'4" qbs and they may not be 6.5" 320 lb linemen (but with 1 yard between linemen that would be foolhardy) but they are incredible skilled and versatile. The fact that they are on a CFL roster indicates that they have overcome imposing odds to play football for a living.
Every player that has played in both leagues has sang the praises of the talent in the CFL. Every plays has said that CFL talent is on par and takes a back seat to no one. Every player. yet many people in media and sports bars seem to think that it is a huge conspiracy and they are all lying. No, rather than listen to the men that have played in both leagues, they will listen to the cliche voice on radio, the man who is doubtless sporting a barbed wire tattoo, a man who went to broadcast school for 6 whole weeks. This voice, this attitude sets your opinion? Money and notoriety decide on your behalf how you rate quality? The CFL basher is a complex creature.
|
Verrouillé
