Super Duper Negatron

Most of his injuries seem whiplash related as opposed to a blow to the head, but I'm no doctor.

Don't forget the endzones will also be smaller now. This whole thing has the feel of "vibe commish-ing" rather than anything based on real numbers,

As insignificant as a throwaway skit in a cartoon might seem, the closer we get to the American game, the less reason anyone has to pay any attention to us at all.

Someone on reddit dug up the numbers when the NFL moved the goalposts back and apparently it resulted in more punting, more missed field goals, and no increase in TDs.

Nobody disagrees with the league that the attendance numbers in the larger markets are unsustainable and something needs to change. I think very few of us think these changes will make a dent in that.

Ballentine on 3DN stole my "Madden" take, so now I would like to formally disown it.

I was a lot more pragmatic this afternoon but the more I think about it, the more I hate it. No clue what was threatened behind the scenes to get the other owners on board but I suspect it was something like "tow the line or MLSE walks".

The more I think about this the more I suspect this will actually decrease scoring, and the league knows it. The solution? Add another down and take a player off the field.

Is scoring actually even down? Is it lower or higher than the NFL? Which league has more punting? Does anyone even know? Or care?

So how far do you have to make it now for a makeable field goal? The 25?

Not a receiver, we know that much!

Any chance these changes sweeten the pot for a real CFL video game now? The number of changes required to port Madden to Flutie are getting smaller...

Someone said he wouldn't rule out 4 downs in the future when asked outright. Is that true? If so, this might just be the first in a series of death by a thousand cuts.

Maybe to partially counter the increase to 35 seconds in the final two minutes: clock stops if the team in the lead doesn't gain positive yards? ie: no taking a knee.

*yet Fair point. There are probably a half dozen games this year that go the other way.

But even most of those long ones are missed wide, not short, are they not? Overall knee jerk thoughts - most of the changes seem fine at first glance. Nothing about them takes away too much from the CFL-ness. That said, I don't know what problem they solve either. For every ball clanging off the goal post there are probably 25 missed FG returns. Seems like the trade off isn't worth it. The argument about TV sightlines was comical. To me they amount to "easier to explain to an NFL fan" type changes without improving the game much (or at all).

Wide left or wide right is now out of bounds by definition. I doubt we notice the play clock. The refs seems to take forever to blow it in these days anyways.

Only if its short, which is rare.

So what, he is going to catch it in the fifth row? Limiting the rouge on field goals basically had to happen with the goal posts moved back. They could have kept it for punts.

35 seconds but started right away instead of by the ref, so probably a wash. Most exciting play from last week (missed field goal return) completely gone. Moving the posts back basically dictates you had to shorten the endzones and the field. We will see if the benefits outweigh the loss of the excitement of field goal returns. Might see longer field goals tried more often since there is almost no risk now.

I would be fine with almost all of these changes. Although when you change a bunch of things at once it is always hard to tell which ones are working.

Do we really think the number one reason young fans aren't watching in the worst markets is the rules, though? I think it's more "I don't look football, and I don't like football that isn't the NFL". Rule changes won't fix either of those.

Alienating the diehards to turn the CFL into the football equivalent of the AHL would kill it within 5 years.

The whole Luke Wilson complaining about the rules thing has been so weird because of how great most of the (non Bombers) games have been this season.