THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 31, 1995 TAG: 9510310423
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 186 lines
What exactly is the Canadian Football League, the not-quite-major, not-quite-minor-league outfit that could be coming to Norfolk next season?
It is not a mini-NFL, as people connected with the league take pains to point out. The CFL is more like the NFL stretched in a fun-house mirror, played at 78 rpm.
The CFL also is losing money at dizzying rate - an estimated $30 million this year, according to a report in last week's Toronto Globe and Mail. The paper says all 13 CFL teams will lose money - some in excess of $4 million. That's a lot, considering that team operating budgets are only $6 million to $10 million.
``We're drowning in a sea of red ink,'' Calgary Stampeders owner Larry Rickman told the Globe and Mail.
Lonie Glieberman, president of the Shreveport (La.) Pirates, who would like to bring his team to Hampton Roads, disputes those numbers. He says two, perhaps even three, CFL teams will make money this year - while admitting that his franchise will lose nearly $4 million.
At present, the CFL seems caught in a costly ``Catch 22.'' Without a major TV contract, it does not have the money to sign many marquee players. And without those players, a hefty TV contract is unlikely.
Although the CFL has its high-priced stars, the vast majority of its players have more in common with Joe Six-Pack than with Joe Montana.
The CFL is $40,000 linemen blocking for half-million-dollar quarterbacks.
It's Raghib ``The Rocket'' Ismail being chased by Stu ``The Fireman'' Laird. Ismail was a $4 million indulgence of former Toronto owner Bruce McNall, lured out of Notre Dame. Laird is a Calgary firefighter who moonlights as a defensive end.
It has rules that take some getting used to. Three downs. Twelve players to a side. No fair catches on punts. A field that is 10 yards longer and 12 yards wider than an NFL field, with goal posts at the goal lines, not in the back of the end zones. It's got something called a ``single,'' in which a team attempting a field goal is awarded a point if the attempt misses but the ball lands out the end zone.
The rule changes make for a game that is more wide-open - advocates say more exciting - than the NFL.
``It's a quicker league,'' said Forrest Gregg, the NFL Hall of Famer who coaches Shreveport. ``You go out for popcorn and a couple of Cokes, and you might miss a couple of touchdowns.''
Shawn Knight, a Maury High graduate who plays for the Toronto Argonauts, says the CFL is not a step down from the NFL.
``It's more of a step over,'' said Knight, who was a record-setting quarterback at William and Mary. ``It provides different challenges for the players.
``There's a greater emphasis on speed and quickness because of the size of the field.
``Up here, you really need quarterbacks who can read coverages. The additional player really does change the complexion of the game.''
Because of the difference in salaries, the CFL doesn't compete with the NFL for players. But nearly all the CFL's American players have been in NFL camps. Many have NFL experience but were too light or too short to stick.
``There's good talent up there,'' said Jerry Sazio, athletic director at Maury High and a longtime CFL scout who scouts East Coast NFL camps for CFL prospects. ``I think it would be (comparable to) Triple-A baseball, maybe a notch above.''
Joe Theismann and Warren Moon got started in the CFL. So did Ismail, and Tamarick Vanover, a standout rookie with the Kansas City Chiefs. New England plucked receiver Will Moore off Calgary's roster this year.
Doug Flutie jumped the other way, going from New England to Calgary. Flutie is thriving in Canada, but other former NFL players, such as Shreveport's Billy Joe Tolliver, have struggled. Guys you've never heard of - like Birmingham quarterback Matt Dunigan, who has led four different teams to the CFL championship game - put the ex-NFLers to shame.
There's talent up north, no doubt. And everyone seems to agree that it's an exciting brand of football.
So why aren't more people watching?
The reason cited most often is television - the lack of it. A TV deal would not only put cash in the owner's pockets, it also presumably would put more fans in the seats. The thinking is that if fans in Memphis can watch, say, Toronto on television, they'll be more likely to come to the game when the Argonauts come to town.
``If we had been on TV for 10 straight years, we'd have a huge fan base,'' Glieberman said. ``It's one of the keys to success.''
The CFL expanded to the United States in 1993 in hopes of landing a major TV deal. What it got was a deal with ESPN and ESPN2, a network that is not available in every U.S. CFL market.
Without TV exposure, most U.S. franchises have struggled. Sacramento, the first U.S. franchise, moved to San Antonio this year. The Las Vegas franchise folded. Attendance figures have been disappointing in Birmingham and Memphis, which joined the league this year. Shreveport likely will relocate - if not to Norfolk, then to Milwaukee or Miami.
Only Baltimore, which draws about 30,000 per game, is doing well. And even Baltimore's attendance is down from 37,000 a year ago.
The struggling U.S. franchises have blamed their lackluster crowds on everything from the heat to competition from college football. Although Birmingham drew well early in the season, attendance dropped dramatically after Auburn and Alabama began their football seasons.
Former Norfolk State wide receiver Gary Morris, who played on a Grey Cup championship team in Edmonton before signing with Memphis this year, said the U.S. teams have not been marketed well.
``The rules are kind of funny, and a lot of fans are having a problem with that,'' Morris said. ``But the real problem is marketing. Nobody knows about the team here. There are still people in Memphis who don't know anything about the Mad Dogs, and the season's almost over.
``Edmonton had a real strong tradition, and that made it real easy to play there, and not be concerned with politics or money.''
Although the Canadian teams are losing money as well, they have the advantage of tradition, and on average are not losing as much as their U.S. counterparts. Three of the Canadian teams - Saskatchewan, Winnipeg and Edmonton - are owned by their communities.
Glieberman said a $60 million TV deal would put the U.S. teams in the black and make Canadian clubs ``very very profitable.''
As yet, no network has stepped forward. The league has had talks with CBS, and Glieberman also mentioned UPN and the USA Network as possibilities.
With a major TV deal unlikely, some Canadian owners have discussed another way of cutting the league's losses: reducing the salary cap for players. The current cap is 2.5 million Canadian dollars per team, or about $1.9 million in U.S. currency. Each team can except one ``marquee'' player and pay him as much as it likes.
While reducing the cap would cut expenses, it would doom efforts to market the CFL in the U.S., Glieberman said. To attract fans, U.S. teams need to sign more high-profile players, and that can only be done by increasing the cap, or allowing teams more marquee players.
U.S. teams already have an advantage when signing players because they operate under different rules than the Canadian clubs. The league's import rule requires teams north of the border to keep 20 Canadians on their 37-man rosters. U.S. teams face no such restrictions.
With good native players hard to come by, the Canadian teams are at a competitive disadvantage. Not surprisingly, U.S. teams have a combined winning percentage of better than .600 against Canadian clubs.
The import rule could be modified - reducing the number of required Canadians has been discussed - but it's unlikely to be eliminated, because Canadian teams say their fans want to see native players.
Other changes under consideration include moving the CFL season back a couple of months, so that it would start in the spring. A name change - to the Can-Am League or the North American Football League - also is being discussed.
Cleary, the league is groping for ways to stay viable.
Said Glieberman, ``We need to weather this storm because it's out there and it's going to hit.''
It appears to have made landfall already. Still, Glieberman, pointing out that the CFL has been around 104 years, said he's confident the league will find a way to survive.
``Anything's possible in the CFL,'' he said. ``That's a quote you can always use if you can't get hold of me.''
Because it will always apply. ILLUSTRATION: STAFF Graphic
WHAT'S IN IT FOR HAMPTON ROADS?
CFL BY THE NUMBERS
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
The Canadian Football League has unusual rules, an exciting brand of
play - and big league red ink. Lonie Glieberman, president of the
CFL's Shreveport (La.) Pirates, hopes to relocate the team here for
the 1996 season. THe Virginian-Pilot is studying the people and the
issues involved with that potential move.
Today: A look at the CFL
SOME CFL FACTS
The CFL in the United States
1993: Sacramento Gold Miners become first south-of-the-border
franchise.
1994: Baltimore Stallions, Las Vegas Posse and Shreveport Pirates
are added. Total: four teams.
1995: Las Vegas folds; Sacramento moves to San Antonio.
Birmingham Barracudas and Memphis Mad Dogs are added. Total: five
teams.
Who's who in the CFL
Matt Dunigan, QB, Birmingham: Considered by many the league's top
player. Has led four different teams to Grey Cup game. Second
all-time in CFL passing yardage. Attended Louisiana Tech.
Doug Flutie, QB, Calgary: League MVP in 1993, when he threw for
6,092 yards and 44 TDs. Played with Chicago Bears and New England
Patriots. Attended Boston College.
Damon Allen, QB, Memphis: Younger brother of Marcus Allen. MVP of
1993 Grey Cup championship for Edmonton. Attended Cal-State
Fullerton.
David Sapunjis, WR, Calgary: Top Canadian player in league.
Attended Western Ontario.
Mike Pringle, RB, Baltimore: CFL's leading rusher. Attended
Cal-State Fullerton.
Willie Pless, LB, Edmonton: Won CFL's outstanding defensive
player award. Attended Kansas.
by CNB