This season, the Canadian Football League has decided to expand their coverage to televise a multitude of their game coverage into the United States. I have decided to follow it and will be writing my column weekly or even more frequently depending on the popularity. This is the CFL: an American perspective.
The CFL first caught my attention during last year’s 102nd Grey Cup. I live in Iowa and although having an Iowa State bias, I was looking to watch Drew Tate – a former Hawkeye. A friend of mine also showed me film of Bo Levi Mitchell a while back, and I was aware that he was playing in the Cup as well.
So, naturally I cheered for Calgary; they won, and I looked like a huge bandwagon jumper.
I attempted to watch some of the offseason moves, which seemed intriguing since an acquisition in a nine-team league might have more impact on a team than than any roster change in the NFL’s 32 teams.
The biggest move that stuck out for me was Michael Sam going to Montreal, but leaving team drills early. Our own Nick Di Giovanni wrote an opinion piece on Sam that I thoroughly enjoyed as well.
So this season, I will preview a few different teams from the league and follow some interesting story lines that I’m looking at going into 2015, from my vantage point south of the Canadian border.
- How will the Stampeders use Drew Tate and Bo Levi Mitchell as a dual quarterback situation? I haven’t been able to watch in previous years, of course, but I’m watching closely now.
- How will Ottawa adapt to the CFL in their second season? Are they still considered an expansion team?
- Can Hamilton respond after a tough Grey Cup loss?
And now, most importantly – as one might imagine, without watching the CFL in past years, it will be difficult to know the better and more interesting players. I want to see which players impress me with their game.
If you have any suggestions, please tell me in the comments what I can do to improve my first season of viewership.
