Significant changes to the game to be announced tomorrow morning

[Moose Head]

Anyone care to speculate what rules and why now?

[cmbuk]

Like what could this even be,IN season?

[Esks4ever]

4 downs here we come!!!

[Esks4ever]

it has to be something major to call it during the season....

[glenvb]

I can't imagine that they would be in-game changes... coaches, officials, etc can't completely change their conditions of work overnight. Unless they take effect next season.

They had better not be an Americanization of our rules. That would be a serious mistake. Why even bother to watch the CFL then?

[Moose Head]

The fact that they are announcing changes now makes me think the changes will be immediate. Any changes for next year would be announced during Grey Cup week or after. I really, really hope the CFL doesn't make a huge mistake.

[Hammer24]

I can't imagine that they would be in-game changes... coaches, officials, etc can't completely change their conditions of work overnight. Unless they take effect next season.

They had better not be an Americanization of our rules. That would be a serious mistake. Why even bother to watch the CFL then?

Agreed. Is there anything that has been happening recently that would cause them to make such changes on the fly mid-season. Off the top of my head the only mid-season change I recall was shortly after Ambrosie took over as Commish he cut the number of challenges a coach could make from 2, with possibility for 3, down to 1, with possibility of 2. I was totally necessary to improve game flow while putting a halt to the frivilous fishing expedition challenges all coaches were guilty of. That simple change did not change any aspects of the way the game was played or officiated.

As for Americanization of the game some of the things we hold dearest such as 3 downs, 12 men, CFL field size, no yards, 1 yard off the ball cannot arbitrarily be changed by the Commissioner. Per the Constitution such changes must be approved by the BOG at the AGM. It would take only 2 votes to shoot down down any proposal to change those aspects. In other words either 8 or 9 out of 9 club reps who make up the BOG would have to vote in favour of any changes to those aspects. As with most CFL committees such as the Management Council or Rules Committee the Commissioner chairs te meetings but does not get to vote on any issues up for vote.

[cmbuk]

Agreed. Is there anything that has been happening recently that would cause them to make such changes on the fly mid-season. Off the top of my head the only mid-season change I recall was shortly after Ambrosie took over as Commish he cut the number of challenges a coach could make from 2, with possibility for 3, down to 1, with possibility of 2. I was totally necessary to improve game flow while putting a halt to the frivilous fishing expedition challenges all coaches were guilty of. That simple change did not change any aspects of the way the game was played or officiated.

As for Americanization of the game some of the things we hold dearest such as 3 downs, 12 men, CFL field size, no yards, 1 yard off the ball cannot arbitrarily be changed by the Commissioner. Per the Constitution such changes must be approved by the BOG at the AGM. It would take only 2 votes to shoot down down any proposal to change those aspects. In other words either 8 or 9 out of 9 club reps who make up the BOG would have to vote in favour of any changes to those aspects. As with most CFL committees such as the Management Council or Rules Committee the Commissioner chairs te meetings but does not get to vote on any issues up for vote.

Well that’s settling a bit.. can’t change what makes the cfl the cfl

[Esks4ever]

with all the hype and questions watch it be something so minor.

[cmbuk]

Just don’t ruin the game

[Esks4ever]

why do I feel TSN pushed for this ?

[Esks4ever]

goalposts to be moved to back of endzone

Endzones from 20y to 15 yards

All endzones will be same size and shape

All benches will be on opposite side of field

Field from 110 to 100 yards

Rouge stays but no point for a missed fg or punt out of bounds

point awarded if returner takes a knee.


20 sec play clock is now 35.

[Moose Head]

I like the modified rouge. Really dislike shortening the field. I'm indifferent to the other changes. Will need time to process...

[Looner]

Summary:

• Goal posts moved to the back of the endzone (in 2027)
• 10 yards removed from the middle of the field
• 5 yards removed from each end zone
• 35 second play clock that resets right away.
• benches on either side
• No rouge on missed FG

[bone]

goalposts to be moved to back of endzone

Endzones from 20y to 15 yards

All endzones will be same size and shape

All benches will be on opposite side of field

Field from 110 to 100 yards

Rouge stays but no point for a missed fg or punt out of bounds

point awarded if returner takes a knee.


20 sec play clock is now 35.

One tweak to your summary, point is awarded also if tackled.

Overall I'm fine with all these changes with only a minor objection to the field length.

Interesting now though is that for a Field Goal to be within 50 yards, teams now need to gain to the 28 yard line. Combined with the fact that punts in the end zone may still result in the ball coming back to the 40 yard line, why wouldn't teams just gamble every single time if you are between the opposition 30 and 50. The risk/reward scenario makes gambling very attractive particularly as punters struggle getting that coffin corner at shorter distances. This is assuming they keep the rouge as a 40 yard field position change. If they drop it to 30 then I don't think it would change strategy very much.

35 second clock is awesome. Always drove me crazy how sometimes in the 4th quarter plays extended up to 40-50 seconds if the officials don't press teams to complete their changes and not close the gates quickly. So this is a great improvement to 54 minutes of the game, but it does sacrifice a lot of the excitement in the other 6 minutes per game. Hopefully they offer up more timeouts so that teams can still effectively use those last couple minutes of a game to mount a comeback.