Mullin: Changing the game – Old, new, borrowed

Jim Mullin
CFL.ca

Ah, yes. It’s time for the lightning round of discussion of possible rule changes.

All of this in an effort to cast aside throw-away plays, speed up the game and get things right on the field.

In this series we’ve addressed developing more Canadian-trained players, strengthening the CIS and CJFL and discussed Canadian quarterbacks and their future role in the game.

We’ve examined new ideas for open discussion on curtailing wasted plays, like the conceded safety which actually takes points off the board and lengthens the duration of the game. We’ve also focused on making the convert more than a trip to the washroom for the TV-watching fan.

There are lessons of the past, like going back to two timed halves for overtime instead of the current “Kansas City Plan” and the possibility of two-game total points series for the playoffs which were used in the league in 1986 and from 1972 back to the start of the modern era of the game.

Judging by the “Like” button on Facebook, the majority of you appreciate the discussion when it comes to examining innovation to the game.

As for the folks who scream back in ALL CAPS about resisting change, I appreciate your passion. Years ago I used to be one of you.

However if you study the game even on a peripheral level, you’ll realize the game changes regardless of the rules. The caliber of the athlete continues to progress. We’ve gone from an offensive lineman who smoked Sportsman filterless in the 1960s to running backs whose nutrition and training is a 24/7 proposition to remain in the game.

We’ve gone from two-way players to special team specialists.

Offence has gone from double tight ends and backs in the “I” to shotguns and six-packs.

Shouldn’t the game look for a way to stay ahead of the curve the same way the athletes and coaches have?  It has in the past and should not cave to those who want to clampdown on the game’s evolution. The backbone of the game is solid, but football is a game which has always grown with the times and the current day should be no different.

In the final installment, it’s a potpourri. We have an old beaten warhorse, a new use of technology and a way of speeding up the game.

1. The single point on missed field goals

You guessed right. This is the warhorse.

I’ve always maintained to the dissenters that that single on missed field goals was simply a point for field position. It’s easy to plead that the returns would not happen if the field goal was pushed wide and there was simply no point involved.

During all of those brave arguments it’s difficult to not know deep down, that the point – in some part – was given up for failure. In many cases it’s easier for a team to take a knee and surrender a point than risk getting hemmed in deep inside your own 10 yard-line.

The solution to part of the debate is to give the return team more incentive to return the ball out of the end zone and to force the kicking team to make a defensive play to register the ‘point for field position’.

An appropriate rule change already exists in the CIS and amateur football. They’ve been doing it for decades.

When a returner brings the ball out of the end zone, if he is tackled anywhere inside the 20 the return team is awarded the ball at the 20 yard-line.

This achieves two things.

The team who misses a field goal is forced to make a play with their coverage team by getting down field to force a team to concede, usually with a tackle.

The more likely outcome – witnessed in countless CIS games – is that the ball will be returned out of the end zone more often than a CFL game.

Dissenters to the rouge on missed field goals will likely still complain, but at least this forces the cover team to earn their point for field position and the rule creates more returns.

2. Video Replay

The current video replay system is serving the league well.

However, the CFL can go further than the NFL in technological innovation. The Command Centre in Toronto presents the league with a head start.

Working with their business partner TELUS, the head referee could be wired to the command centre in Toronto at all times. It’s as simple as a headset and a cell phone.

On a team challenge, there is no need for the official to spend the time to trot to the sideline to the phone, consult the Command Centre and then run back to the centre of the field to relay a decision. A minute to two minutes per review can be saved if the official remains on the field and talks to Toronto via wireless telephone headset.

Furthermore, when it is clear – regardless of a challenge – that a play has been wrongly ruled, the Command Centre should be able to immediately inform the head referee to stop the clock and inform the official through a headset that they will review the play and get the call right.

Canadian football is quite possibly the most difficult game to officiate in the world. Any assistance from technology should not be seen as an act to undermine the human element of the officials, but as a means to assist them.

Judgment calls like pass interference should be decided on the field. However, placement of the ball and infractions involving placement of the players (illegal receiver, blocking outside of the interior line, etc.) could be administered from the Command Centre if the on-field officials miss a beat.

This should be tested in the exhibition season, because we know that technology has its limits. However, in a handful of situations last season incorrect calls would have been overturned if an extra set of video eyes were available.

3. Measurements

There is no official stat on this, but you’ve all witnessed one of the great delay tactics employed by CFL coaches.

The request for a measurement.

We see it too often. Coaches use it as an unofficial time out.

We haven’t seen delays like this since certain Edmonton Eskimos special teams players of the mid-aughts went down with mysterious cramps, conveniently allowing the defence to catch their breath after a two-and-out.

Surely a coincidence.

No longer do we have to contend with a mud bowl at Varsity, or a groundskeeper at Commonwealth Stadium who leaves the field at creekside reed-length height. All of the fields in the league are on synthetic grass with clear and precise markings.

How annoying is it to witness an unnecessary delay of 60 to 120 seconds while the chains march across to the opposite side of the field when the answer is obvious?

Anything outside of a foot either way should not be measured. It should be the head linesman’s duty to keep the game rolling, not allow the coach an extra pause to reconsider a straight forward situational play.

Cut at least four of these requests out and you save anywhere between four to seven minutes per game.

Any time the coaches are crafty enough to find a way to stall the game the league needs to find a way to pick up the pace.

Before I conclude, I have one final point to make. Contrary to what a fan said in the comments of my last article, I am not to blame for a Hamilton-Montreal Labour Day match-up.

Feel free to discuss.