[BeaverFever]

$1:

Cohon says CFL willing to consider an earlier start to regular season

To address issues of filling stadiums in cold November temperatures, the commissioner said the league could explore the possibilities of starting the season in June rather than July.

“Our biggest revenue from the teams comes from fans in the stands, so we’re open to exploring that,” said Cohon. “If we move it up a few weeks in June, what would that mean for TV ratings? We would go head-to-head with the Stanley Cup playoffs, but would it have a better effect on the back end, especially in the open-air stadiums in the west? We’re open to exploring it if it makes sense on the business front.”

“If we think we can fill the stadiums in June and more on the back end of the season, we’ll contemplate it.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/f ... e15562011/

[Thanos]

Won't hurt to try it for one year as a test.

[bootlegga]

Personally, I like the cold weather games (and voted thusly), but why not give it a try and see if it helps. If it makes a big difference on the bottom line, then go for it. Anything that makes the CFL stronger is a good thing in my mind.

[Strutz]

I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it out but I don't think a couple of weeks would make much of a difference. The cold weather of November doesn't seem to discourage fans from attending so really, why bother changing it? Hell, the NFL plays until the end of January when it's even colder in some of those cities.

[BeaverFever]

Good point, Strutz. On the NFL note, an earlier season would mean a month less overlap with NFL, which may help retain some of the casual CFL viewers who tune out once NFL season starts.

[fifeboy]

HE NO! If those wimp Yankee players can't stand it than they should stay home!

[Caelon]

$1:

HE NO! If those wimp Yankee players can't stand it than they should stay home!

On the other hand how many Grey Cups have been won by good/bad luck due to weather conditions. No traction on icy fields, fumbles with frozen hands, etc, etc. Ending the season a month earlier has a better chance of playing the Cup in half decent weather. We could still have a blizzard, but the chances are a lot greater of temperatures in the +5 to +15 range.

[Freakinoldguy]

Caelon Caelon:

$1:

HE NO! If those wimp Yankee players can't stand it than they should stay home!

On the other hand how many Grey Cups have been won by good/bad luck due to weather conditions. No traction on icy fields, fumbles with frozen hands, etc, etc. Ending the season a month earlier has a better chance of playing the Cup in half decent weather. We could still have a blizzard, but the chances are a lot greater of temperatures in the +5 to +15 range.

The only thing the weather dictates is the quality of play, not the outcome.

Some but not all football game outcomes are dictated by slips, fumbles, drops because of cold hands and other intangibles like rain, fog, wind or heat so, saying the weather plays a major part in those factors may be true to some extent but is completely mitigated by the fact that both teams play in the same weather on the same field at the same time.

If we want perfect Championship games or other games for that matter with no outside factors we may as well just start doing what the Americans do with the Super Bowl where it's only played in a neutral warm weather venue or domed stadium. Of course that would mean that we'd only have all games in Vancouver especially after Rogers and the Blue Jays kick the Argos out of the Skydome in 2018 and would mean the end of the CFL since only one City would have a team.

I personally think we'd be better off leaving things as they are rather than possibly damaging our game because some people got cold. Besides, they've made a cure for cold football fans and it's called alcohol.

[OnTheIce]

I'd move the games back into June or maybe mid-May.

Running the season into November makes it compete with all NHL markets in Canada for two months. With the NHL season ending in April and not all Canadian teams making it deep, the could capture more eyeballs and have better weather too!

[Jabberwalker]

No. Playing in snow squalls is part of the Canadian game.

[Freakinoldguy]

Besides the CFL doesn't really compete head to head with NHL. It gives an alternative for sports fans to take in an even better event without mortgaging their home, forcing their wife into a life of prostitution and selling their children to Gypsy's just so they can go to one game.

Garry Buttman and his crowd have destroyed the NHL for alot of fans so they need something to do in the fall between Baseball and the NFL because the new version of Gangbanger basketball just doesn't do it anymore.