A sleepy Offseason Is Soon Over – TSN Drops Preseason Games

You may remember how the CFL had a CFL week, held it first in Regina and then Winnipeg so fans can see future stars work out, listen to panels with current and former players and coaches, and learn more about the game.

It was a great idea, but then the CFL decided to stop doing it because they were negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with the CFL players association and used it as a bargaining chip. Since the CFL did not want to spend money to fly players in, well, so much for promoting the league and players around the league.

The CFL Combine was interesting because while there were guys who were ripped in muscles, they did not show much when it came to drills. Teams also used the week as an opportunity to interview potential draft picks.

The problem with the Combine concept is that as one guy from the NFL once said, they play the game in pads, not PJs so stuff like how far they can jump etc, might not mean much.

What does matter is how they perform on the field and on drills. So here is a little secret about football players. Those with physical talent tend to coast on that talent while those who work on improving themselves, let’s take Tom Brady as an example, study film, work on their own physical form and conditioning to extend their careers as long as possible.

Those players who don’t realize the game is as much about mental games as physical will be out of any league in short order. You can have all the physical talent in the world, but if you don’t know what you are doing or why, then you won’t last.

The Riders added a new quarterback in Trevor Harris and two offensive linemen to help fill the holes in the Swiss cheese offensive line of 2022. I think the Riders hopes of doing well this season will not lie with who they get in the draft, but how well Brent Jones does in his interviews with the Saskatchewan College of Medicine.

Jones is coming off a long NFL career and with a degree in engineering and his wife a teacher, applied to become a medical student. If he doesn’t get in, he will likely sign with the Riders and their offensive line takes a giant step forward toward respectability.

Even if he does get in, he still might be able to play a bit with the Riders. The Rider offensive line problems were either due to players playing below potential, not being coached properly, or executing a system that just was not working.

While no one doubts that Dan Clark has a lot of heart, no one should argue that a Rider offensive line with Brent Jones leading it is much better. Clark as an offensive center calls blocking assignments, something he even did as a rookie in Calgary, and with his experience, it would be fun to see how Chris Jones of the Elk tries to thwart the Riders.

If the changes on offensive line and offensive coordinator do help in a better team, Brent Jones could be the most important Rider signing in years. So, the draft is nice, but in the end not essential for this season to succeed.

It takes Canadian players about two to three years to get used to going from a 12-game schedule in university to an 18-game schedule. US College football is the basic minor leagues where players learn how to train properly and play to their abilities and is a 24-7 365 day a year job.

The Riders will be without Kian Schaffer-Baker for at least the first third of the season and I would humbly suggest that fans should not expect to see Schaffer-Baker on the field this year as he recovers from hip surgery.

Schaffer-Baker signed a contract extension, but he still has an NFL window where he can try out and try to get signed. However, without any film, I would think that should Schaffer-Baker not make it on the field this year, he will still be back with the Riders next year and can try for NFL free agency after the 2024 season.

Assuming he does not rush his recovery and reinjure himself, he should be able to post good numbers to intrigue an NFL team. The Riders do have a couple of holes at Canadian receiver and could go with that with their first pick.

An offensive or defensive lineman would be nice, but again, it takes time to develop an offensive lineman and remember, Jeremy O’Day and Craig Dickenson are in the last year of their contracts and if they don’t win this season, they will likely be gone at the end of the year so they don’t have the luxury of bringing along a Canadian offensive lineman not named Brent Jones who might not start for two to three years.

The Riders should go for a receiver or a linebacker since Micah Tietz is back this year from hip and groin injuries but again, will he be as effective as he was two years ago?

What usually happens with the NFL draft is those Canadians who get drafted by the NFL will be drafted at the end of the CFL draft since there is no guarantee they will come back from the NFL. After the NFL draft the NFL can draft undrafted free agents, those college players who were not drafted.

Sometimes guys don’t get drafted because their school is not visible enough for people to see them play consistently, and sometimes the players have their own attitude problems that keep teams from adding them.

So the CFL will have to wait to see which Canadians will be available and then choose accordingly. Just try to find somewhere to watch all of this unfold.

TSN, who has the exclusive contract for the CFL, announced this week they would not televise two exhibition games, including a Rider game, claiming that it was cost prohibitive. TSN has backed away from the CFL exhibition schedule but the exclusivity of the TSN contract prevents others like, maybe, Sportsnet or CBC or even web broadcasting from showing the games.

On the one hand you have the argument that exhibition games are sloppy and not very good, and you won’t get much of an argument from me. But that argument misses the point.

TSN or the CFL can use the exhibition season to experiment with something like the Manning brothers doing Monday night football. If you have never seen this, Peyton and Eli Manning watch the Monday night games and comment on them in an insightful and relevant way.

If you have a situation where you have some commentators who can teach casual fans about the game, give them good stories and make them understand what is going on and you create a nice buzz.

Instead CFL fans will be treated to crickets and a whole bunch of sports gambling commercials which means absolutely nothing outside of Ontario which has the only sports betting in Canada right now.

One of the things the CFL and TSN miss out on is in sports betting, you can bet on plays or any sort of scenarios, but it helps to explain these things to habitual gamblers, especially those south of the border who might not be familiar with the rules.

The CFL seems to be gearing its operations for the benefit of the Ontario sports bettor. The demographics show the CFL fan base is aging and they have not been able to get their hooks into young people, new Canadians or First Nations.

Imagine living on a reserve and hearing or watching a game broadcast in Cree or Inuktitut? This would open a whole new world for those young people and create potential fans to replace the aging fans who got into this league due to the passion of their parents and which the CFL seems to have forgotten.

The CFL opted to try their Global Player plan to spark interest outside of North America, but they will not release the number of games streamed outside of North America. I have my doubts there are not that many and those who do stream are likely Rider fans on vacation.

Most teams are around 90 to 100 players on their roster and will have to trim their rosters to meet the 83 or 84 players they are allowed to bring into camp, not including draft picks or territorial exemptions.

The Riders are around 94 and it seems like there will be competition at all positions in camp. While talent will go a long way, intelligence and passion will also play major roles and I think most Rider fans I talk to are having a wait and see approach to the team until they see them on the field.

Thanks to TSN for making that a longer than expected process, but as the NFL draft starts tonight and runs through to Saturday, at least there will be some football talk in the air.

The pity is if the CFL and TSN cared as much about the league as the fans do, there would be a heck of lot more talk and interest.

by Greg Urbanoski

A sleepy Offseason Is Soon Over – TSN Drops Preseason Games

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