Round 1 – League History

NFL – The modern day NFL, the one we all know and love has only been around since about 1967, when the first real AFL-NFL battle was staged (Packers beating KC 35-10), but actually the NFL has been around for much longer than that. I’m no history buff, but I believe that the NFL has been around since about 1919 or so, when Curly Lambeau first formed the Packers, when it was called the Ohio League or something. Having said that, I feel that I can only use the history of the modern day NFL, due to its obscure history (dating back to 1869 with Rutgers vs. Princeton), and plus, who is to say that the game that Rutgers and Princeton played can even be referred to as football, I mean, any game where a field goal counts for 6 points and forward passes are illegal, does not quite qualify as NFL football.

CFL – In the same manner as above, the modern day CFL has been around since 1958, when the name CFL was officially coined. But its history reaches back as far as 1861, where they played a similar game to that of the Rutgers-Princeton match ups. From what I have read, the CFL’s teams have been around for much longer than ‘ 58 too, with the majority of them being members of the CRU (Canadian Rugby Union) as far back as early 1900.

Decision – 10-9 CFL

The CFL gets this round because it has been around just a little longer, and although it is hard to say when the real game was formed, I am giving this one to the CFL. (C’mon people, you gotta let the underdog get at least one shot in on the favorite, don’t ya?)

Round 2 – Teams

NFL – Ok this one is a no-brainer, right? The NFL has 31 teams (soon to be 32), widely spread throughout the States. The NFL succeeds in cities that other sports could not, and will continue to do so, with its brilliant front office people. The one thing that gets me though, is that if the NFL is all about marketing and having teams in the big markets, then why no team in L.A.? I presume that in the near future there will be a team there, but with the history of teams not succeeding there, I don’t know how near that future is. Another plus for the NFL is the team names it has, names like the 49ers, Titans, Steelers, Browns, Raiders, Saints, Bears, Cowboys and Buccaneers, are classic names.

CFL – The CFL currently has 8 teams. At one time the league had 12 but that is when it experimented with U.S. expansion. I know! U.S. teams in the Canadian Football League? Doesn’t sound right, does it? Most Canadians were not crazy about the idea either, in fact those American CFL teams were about as welcome as a turd in a swimming pool. As with the NFL, the CFL has some unique (yeah, that’s it) names for its teams as well. Team names like, Lions, Tiger Cats, Alouettes, Blue Bombers, Stampeders, Argonauts, and my two favorites, Roughriders and Eskimos (Roughriders and Eskimos? Isn’t that an adult film title? Never mind).

Decision – 10-8 NFL

This round was dominated by the NFL, with its greater numbers and better names. But the CFL will not go quietly though, as it left a mark on the NFL with its obvious dislike for American expansion.

Round 3 – Stadiums

NFL – It seems that NFL teams are forever doing one of three things. They are complaining about their current stadium, opening a new or renamed stadium, or waiting for that brand new multi-billion dollar stadium to be built. The stadiums can hold small countries worth of people, and have more amenities than my home town, but where do they come up with, and better yet, why do they bother with the names they have, such as PSINet Stadium and Adelphia Coliseum? I recall hearing a story about the Tennessee Titans, when they were playing Memphis (or wherever it was) and they were complaining that the stadium was poor and that was the main reason they were only drawing about 30,000 fans to a game. I remember thinking to myself, 30,000 fans to a game? Only? In the CFL, if you get 30,000 fans out to one game per year, it is a success.

CFL – Old. Broken Down. Barely passing safety inspections. Ok, that last one isn’t true but it makes for good reading. The stadiums in the CFL are so old (all together now… how old are they?), that when they were built the Dead Sea was just ill (bah-dum-dum ching! Thank you. I’ll be here all week!). Seriously, with the exception of SkyDome (which was built in the early 90’s), all of the other stadiums are no better than most NFL team’s practice facilities. Take my hometown stadium for example, Taylor Field, it is a nice stadium that will hold about 30,000 plus, but it is all concrete and wood, and the most current thing in there is the brand new turf they put in last year. One thing the CFL does have over the NFL in this regard is much better names, with normal sounding names like Commonwealth Stadium, Taylor Field, Molson Stadium, McMahon Stadium and SkyDome.

Decision – 10-9 NFL

The NFL gets this round because of its newer, up to date, swanky stadiums, but the CFL again stings the champ with it’s normal, yet original sounding names.

Round 4 – the Game itself

NFL – OK kids, time for a little book lernin’. The NFL game is played on a 100 yard long by 50 yard wide field, with 10 yard endzones on each end, which equals, c’mon now, someone must know the answer? OK, never mind, that equals 120 yards. Each team is given 4 downs to make a first down, which is achieved by advancing the line of scrimmage at least 10 yards. There is fair catch, touchbacks, instant replay and ever so small neutral zone. There are false starts and encroachment calls, along with the field goal posts at the back of the endzone and 11 players per team on the field at once.

CFL – OK kids, book lernin’ round two. The CFL game is played on a 110 yard long by 60 yard wide field, with 20 yard endzones on each end, which adds up to 150 yards. Each team is given 3 downs to make a first down, which again is done by advancing the line of scrimmage at least 10 yards. There is no fair catch, but there is no-yards, a rule in which the player returning the punt must be given a minimum of five yards around the ball to pick it up and attempt to return it. Also, there are no touchbacks; in fact if a player takes a knee in the endzone on a kicked football (either kick off, field goal or punt) the other team is awarded 1 point. The offensive and defensive lines must line up at least one full yard from each other; there are illegal procedure calls; the field goal posts are at the front of the endzone and each team is to field 12 players at once. And NO INSTANT REPLAY!

Decision – 10-9 NFL

This was a hard round to score, due to the many differences between the two games and fields themselves. However, the NFL gets the extra point on this one, because of the smaller field and shorter endzones. Plus, what the hell is no-yards anyway? Crazy Canucks.

Round 5 – Player Salaries

NFL – Alright, stop laughing. Obviously this round is going to be no contest, but no comparison would be complete in this day and age without making mention to the almighty dollar. I am not sure what the average NFL salary is today, but I do know that in the 99-00 season, the NFL’s average player salary was approx 1.2 million. The best players in the NFL make 8 figures and the average Joe Schmoe can pull in about 2 to 3 million per year. With team salaries ranging around the 60 million dollar mark, it makes for some big business.

CFL – When comparing CFL and NFL salaries, the words “peanuts” and “small change” come to mind. The best players in the CFL make barely half of what the NFL average salary is. In fact, it is a big deal if a player gets 6 figures from a CFL team. I think that the CFL salary cap is something like 2.2 million per team, PER TEAM! Violations of this cap are rare though, because most teams do not have the cash to go over that number. Actually, I always get a kick out of seeing some of the pros from my city out and about, I see them in a bar, acting like they are all that, but in all actuality, a lot of them make less per year than I do. No kidding.

Decision – 10-9 NFL

Well, this one could have been scored 10-8 for the huge difference in dollars, but I scored it closely because of the quality of game and players the CFL is able to put out with its obvious monetary limitations.

Round 6 – Financial Stability

NFL – This league is more stable than a Bob Vila built deck, but it does have its share of losses though. Granted there is not a lot of red ink flowing around the NFL, but when teams are leaving cities for others it does not make financial sense (or cents for that matter), and actually the moves may not have been totally financially driven. Bottom line, this league is stable and the revenue it generates is very impressive.

CFL – This league is about as stable as a house of cards. Every year we hear that teams are in danger of folding and the league is going to die, etc, etc. Actually, the CFL did a lot better last year than is recent memory, with some teams actually turning a profit. There is even talk of expansion again, with a team set to go back into Ottawa (for the 3rd time) and maybe even my birthplace, Halifax N.S.

Decision – 10-8 NFL

The CFL will never reach the financial level that the NFL is at, but it is not going to go away any time soon, which is beneficial for everyone, on both sides of the border.

Round 7 – Championship Game / Trophy

NFL – Is there a bigger spectacle than the SuperBowl? I think not. The SuperBowl is the single biggest sporting event of the year, every year. More viewers tune into this than there are TV’s to tune into. The Vince Lombardi trophy is one of the great symbols in sports, a classic design, that is simple yet elegant. The NFL’s championship game is without parallel, the proverbial clash of the titans, and rarely does it disappoint. OK, there have been some bad SuperBowls (take last years for example) but they are never bad for everyone, the people in Baltimore loved last years, even though it was about as exiting as watching grass grow.

CFL – The Grey Cup game is not the biggest spectacle in sports, but it is right up there for us Canadians, it is like a mini version of the SuperBowl, where it follows the same pattern, with the celebrity singers for the anthem and halftime, some new commercials and a lot of pre game hype, but it is all just on a smaller scale. The trophy is another story though, because the Grey Cup is a historic sports symbol. Dedicated to the CFL (then CRU) by Lord Earl Grey, the Lieutenant Governor of Canada, the Grey Cup has been around since 1919, now that is old.

Decision – 10-9 NFL The CFL would have won this round if it was based solely on the trophy, but the NFL wins another because of the spectacle that is the SuperBowl. Only event I know of where people actually LOOK FORWARD to the commercials. Only in America.

Round 8 – Statistics

NFL – 1000-yard rushers, 3000-yard passers, 1000-yard receivers and 10+ sack artists. These are things that are goals in today’s NFL, in fact they are benchmarks for NFL supremacy. In the NFL, the leading players in those three categories were as follows: passing – Peyton Manning, 4413yds 33tds; rushing – Edgerrin James, 1709yds 13tds; receiving – Torry Holt, 1635yds 6tds; sacks – La’Roi Glover, 17 sacks. Those are lofty numbers for players to achieve, and if they are able to sustain such play, the word great should follow their names.

CFL – Same categories. Passing – Damon Allen, 4840yds 26tds; rushing – Mike Pringle, 1778yds 19tds; receiving – Curtis Marsh, 1560yds 10tds; sacks – Joe Montford, 20 sacks. These stats compare quite nicely to those of the NFL standouts, but with the smaller amount of players in the CFL, it is easier to maintain a spot in the top 3 in the league than it would be in the NFL.

Decision – 10-9 CFL

Another round for the underdog, but alas, it is too little too late. Still, those stats are impressive and based on numbers alone, those CFL players would be tops in the NFL.

Round 9 – Players

NFL – Marshall Faulk, Terrel Owens, Randy Moss, Dante Culpepper, Kurt Warner, Eddie George to name a few. The NFL boasts some of the finest athlete’s in all of sport, let alone all of football. The players are continually getting bigger (see: Jonathon Ogden), stronger (see: Eddie George) and faster (see: Randy Moss), and I can only imagine what the future holds.

CFL – The CFL is not without its share of greats, don’t kid yourself. Great receivers like Donald Narcisse (who holds the all time football record for most consecutive games with a reception), Damon Allen (younger brother of Marcus Allen, just surpassed Ron Lancaster as all-time leading passer in CFL history with 50,789 yards passing as well as 9,463 yards rushing – and counting), so the CFL is not a bunch of scrubs. In fact, there have been CFL greats that have gone to the NFL and enjoyed success; in fact, the names Warren Moon, Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia ring a bell.

Decision – 10-9 NFL

Another close one, but in the end, the NFL wins again. The CFL has its share of quality players, but the NFL does too, and in much greater quantity. It would be interesting to see the Grey Cup champs pitted against the SuperBowl champs in some sort of exhibition game, wouldn’t it?

FINAL ROUND

Round 10 – Fans

NFL – A huge fan base. People all over the world love the NFL and it is getting more popular as the years go by. But with this growing popularity comes the hated “fair-weather fan”, the fan who is only around for the good times a team has and then disappears faster than an 80’s rock band when the going gets rough. The NFL has more than its share of die hards (take us Niner Faithfuls for example) who have been there and will continue to do so, for years to come. Teams like the Packers, Bears, 49ers, Raiders, Jets, and Cowboys have fan bases that are among the most dedicated, where their football team is of the utmost importance. Those kinds of fans make this game and league great, the ones who support and love their team, through and through no matter what the circumstance. Another thing I love about die hard fans, is how they are quick to accept and almost forgive certain player’s troubles and issues when he joins the team or starts succeeding with that team, and then when he plays poorly or leaves the team, he turns back into the selfish player or trouble maker he always was. Hilarious. And no fan is innocent of this, in fact, not even me (case in point: Deion Sanders’ one season with the 49ers).

CFL – Virtually every Canadian is a CFL fan. And you are a fan of the team that plays in, or near, your city. The CFL fans are among the most spirited fans in all of sport, although not all the teams can boast that their fan base is as dedicated as others. CFL teams like the Toronto Argonauts and BC Lions do not have the fan support that the Calgary Stampeders or Saskatchewan Roughriders do, but that may not be for lack of trying though, because the sites that the Argos and Lions play in could only be filled by NFL teams, which makes their stands look empty all the time. The reason I say that CFL fans are as dedicated as they come is because, where else do you see fans come out to watch football when the temperature is like minus 35 degrees Celsius outside? (other than Green Bay, but I don’t think it gets quite as cold there)

Decision 10-9 NFL

The NFL gets the final round because of its much larger fan base, which is rapidly expanding. But both leagues have their share of die hards, and that is very encouraging. I think that if you are a football fan, you are a football fan, bottom line. I mean, I hear fellow Canadians say that they hate the NFL, but they still tune in each week. And I hear NFL fans say that the CFL is a bush league and not worth watching or reading about, well friends, obviously it is, because you’re reading this aren’t you?

So the total comes to 98-90 for the NFL, an easy win, but it was a hard fought battle by both sides, one that stirs memories of Rocky I, where Apollo and Rocky went toe to toe for what seemed like ever, and in the end the favorite came out on top, but neither fighters will soon forget the bout.