One evening, a man was making a roast beef dinner for his family. http://www.footballbengalsnflstore.com/Youth-Andrew-Whitworth-Elite-Jersey/ . After watching him cut the ends off of the raw slab of meat before placing it in a roasting pan, his wife asked why he had done that. "Thats the way my mother always did it," he replied. A few weeks later, at a family gathering, the woman observed her mother-in-law preparing a roast the exact same way. The wife asked her, "Why do you cut the ends off of the roast before you cook it?" The mother-in-law had the same response as her son. "Thats the way my mother always did it," she said. Conveniently, the husbands maternal grandmother also happened to be at this family function. Her curiosity now piqued, the woman approached the grandmother and said, "Your daughter and your grandson both said they learned how to prepare a roast from you. May I ask you why you cut the ends off of the roast before you cook it?" The grandmother looked at her and laughed. "When I was raising my family", she explained, "I only had one roasting pan and it was very small. Sometimes I had to cut the ends off of the roast to make it fit." The point of the story is that you occasionally have to ask yourself whether your approach to a particular task actually makes sense or if youre just blindly doing it "the way it has always been done". The CFLs divisional format falls into the latter category. Established before World War II, when the Grey Cup was actually contested between the champions of two completely separate leagues from different parts of the country (the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union) its not the right method for determining playoff seedings in todays CFL. My stance on this issue isnt new and has absolutely nothing to do with the West Divisions early season dominance. The only relevance of the current standings is that they provide a perfect opportunity to illustrate some of the reasons why the present system is far from ideal. At the conclusion of Weeks 5 and 6, the leagues five best win-loss records have belonged to West Division teams...and Week 7 wont change that. Dont get sucked into the idea that teams records will even out as the season progresses. A significant portion of that will occur not because the gap between the divisions will close but rather due to the increase in intradivision (East vs. East and West vs. West) games late in the season. The number of remaining divisional matchups dictates that, barring ties, the East teams combined will win a minimum of thirteen more games this season and the West teams combined will lose at least eighteen more times. That said, its still entirely possible in terms of both mathematics and actual on-field outcomes that the final standings could favour the West as much as they do right now. The crossover rule doesnt come close to resolving the issue, as it only addresses divisional imbalances between lower ranked (3rd and 4th place) teams. It completely ignores imbalances occurring in the top half of the divisions (1st and 2nd place), thus creating at least two problems. First, it potentially gives the fourth place or "crossover" team in a given division an easier path to the Grey Cup than the second and third place teams in its division. This years standings demonstrate this scenario perfectly, as the second place team in the West would have to beat two teams with winning records in order to reach the Grey Cup while the fourth place team in the West would compete in a playoff bracket with two sub-.500 East Division teams. The other issue is that, although the crossover creates the possibility of two teams from the "stronger" division meeting in the Grey Cup, it only allows for that possibility if one of the finalists is the fourth place finisher. The other major hole in the crossover rule was created by the addition of a ninth team. As a result, contrary to popular belief, the rule no longer guarantees that the top six regular season teams make the playoffs, as it did when there were two four-team divisions. With only one crossover spot available, the rule fails to account for the possibility that has taken shape so far this year, which is the fourth and fifth place teams in the West both having better records than the second place team in the East. Some people will argue that abandoning the divisional playoff format could lead to fans in given markets losing interest if their respective teams fall out of the playoff race early. I would contend that fan interest in any given CFL team tends to be more of a function of the teams market than its win-loss record. In 1996 and 97, the Toronto Argonauts posted back-to-back 15-3 seasons and won the Grey Cup both years. Their lineup featured both the best player ever to play in the CFL (Doug Flutie) and the undisputed most popular player in franchise history (Michael "Pinball" Clemons) yet there was no spike in the clubs attendance during that time. On the other hand, in the 21 seasons from 1982 through 2002, the Saskatchewan Roughriders posted just three winning seasons, but I dare say that fan interest in the franchise never waned. I would also argue that the fans who grow disillusioned with a team thats 2-12 in late September would feel that way regardless of whether or not they still have a mathematical chance of making the playoffs. Furthermore, if a team loses fans late in the season because theyre not competitive or not entertaining then that organization should strive to improve the on-field product and game day experience. The CFL shouldnt risk watering down its playoffs simply because its afraid to force its clubs to "try harder" or "do better". Ill discuss that concept more a little later in the article. The most common argument against scrapping the divisional format is the "tradition" of the Grey Cup pitting East vs. West. Make no mistake. I love most of the CFLs traditions, from rivalry games on Labour Day weekend and Thanksgiving Day doubleheaders to Calgarys touchdown horse, the Melonheads in Saskatchewan, and Hamiltons many generations of Pigskin Pete, but sometimes tradition is just a more tolerated way of saying, "Thats the way my mother always did it." East vs. West meant something in 1936. Seventy-eight years ago, the country was divided based on geography, lifestyle, industry, and politics. To each other, Eastern Canada and Western Canada represented the unknown. That, along with their perceived differences made them natural rivals and the Grey Cup was symbolic of that. In the twenty-first century, however, courtesy of airline travel, cable television, and the internet, among other advances, there is no mystery and, in most circles, no rivalry. I have played in, attended, and/or covered every Grey Cup game since 1998 and I refuse to believe that the fan interest and passion require an East vs. West matchup. The 2007 game, which featured Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, speaks to that, as Winnipeg represented the East in name only, just as they have done in five other well-attended and well-watched Grey Cup games. The traditions that CFL fans deserve are a Grey Cup game between the two best and most worthy teams, and the opportunity to occasionally see the CFLs fiercest rivalries contested on the leagues biggest stage. For the players and coaches who toil and sacrifice to reach The Big Game, the value of doing so shouldnt be diminished by a system that potentially allows one finalist to get there "by default". In case you still dont see why theres no valid reason to maintain the status quo, lets discuss the flaws that make it necessary to get rid of the current two-division system. FLAW #1: "Neither the schedule format nor the size of the league suit a division-based playoff system." In sports, the sole reason for keeping standings during the regular season is to determine seedings for the playoffs. If a leagues playoff system is based on divisions or conferences then the majority of each teams regular season games should be played within its division or conference. In other words, a team should play the majority of its games against the teams with whom it is directly competing for a playoff position. This makes the regular season games considerably more meaningful as they have far greater bearing on playoff races. For example, in the National Hockey League, where the Eastern and Western Conferences have separate playoff brackets, teams play 61% of their regular season games within their own conference. In the National Basketball Association, which features a similar playoff format, clubs play 63% of their games within their conference. In the National Football League, where the AFC and NFC have separate playoff brackets, intraconference matchups account for 75% of a teams regular season games, while Major League Baseball teams play 88% of their games within their own league, with the AL and NL each having its own playoff bracket. In contrast, the CFL plays what is best described as a "balanced schedule", with each team playing a home game and a road game against each of the other eight franchises to account for sixteen of their eighteen regular season games. While the two remaining games are played within the division, this format still sees each club in the four-team East Division play only 44.4% of its games against East Division opponents. In other words, they play the majority of their games against teams that have little bearing on their playoff position. Ill reiterate that, if the regular season schedule isnt weighted towards divisional play, then playoff positions shouldnt be based on divisional standings. Heres another way to look at it. Regardless of which division a CFL team is in, that team will play 44.4% of its regular season games (8 out of 18) against East Division teams and 55.5% of its games (10 out of 18) against West Division opponents. In other words, every team essentially faces the exact same competition and has equal "strength of schedule". Extrapolate this years six-week standings over the full season and youll have Toronto at 6-12 getting a first round bye and a home playoff game and B.C. at 9-9 not even making the playoffs. That can be justified if theyve played the majority of their respective regular season schedules against different opponents but it doesnt make a shred of sense when they have faced identical competition. A league that doesnt differentiate between divisions for scheduling purposes absolutely should not differentiate between divisions for playoff purposes. The CFL could theoretically correct this flaw by either (a) changing its schedule format to ensure that each team plays at least 60% (11 out of 18) of its regular season games within its division or by (b) staying with the balanced schedule and scrapping the divisional playoff format. Changing the scheduling formula wouldnt significantly impact clubs in the five-team West Division, as they would still face each of their four divisional rivals either two or three times during the regular season, exactly as they do now. However, in the East, it would mean that each team would have four regular season meetings per year against two of the other three East Division teams. Suddenly, youre looking at almost half (44.4%) of every East teams schedule being played against just two opponents. That doesnt even take into account the likelihood of facing those same two teams for a fifth and sixth time in the same year, in the preseason and playoffs. In the nine-team CFL, maintaining the balanced schedule and scrapping the divisions is clearly the best option. FLAW #2: "The East-West playoff system devalues the regular season." One of the common criticisms of the CFL from casual fans is that "the regular season doesnt matter because everybody makes the playoffs." Its an exaggeration but the point is still valid. The NHL and NBA both use their regular seasons to disqualify 47% of their teams (14 out of 30) from postseason play. The NFLs regular season eliminates 62.5% of the teams (20 out of 32) from the playoff picture. At the conclusion of the MLB regular season, 67% of the teams (20 out of 30) go home. The CFLs regular season, on the other hand, only eliminates 33% (3 out of 9) of its teams, making regular season outcomes less meaningful. I understand and support the CFLs reasons for having six teams in the playoffs but regular season games would be more meaningful if the system at least guaranteed that (a) the two teams getting first round byes were the teams possessing the two best regular season records and (b) the three teams excluded from the playoffs were the teams with the three worst regular season records. Again, even with the crossover rule in place, the division-based system doesnt create those assurances. With regard to the top teams, it should be noted that, in six of the last eight years, the two best records in the league have belonged to teams in the same division. That means that 75% of the time over that period, the playoff system has ruled out any possibility of the CFLs two best regular season teams meeting for the Grey Cup. FLAW #3: "The current playoff format allows teams to strive for mediocrity rather than forcing them to aim for excellence." Youve probably heard the joke about the two hikers who encounter an angry bear. As the grizzly eyes them up, one of them asks the other, "What should we do?" His friend replies, "Run!" The first guy says, "...But well never be able to outrun a bear!" His buddy responds, "I dont have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you." This "Dont Be Last" attitude is fine when escaping large carnivorous mammals but professional sports franchises should be expected, if not forced, to aim higher. Philosophically, however, the CFLs current playoff system enables teams to qualify for the playoffs simply by "not being last". Consider the question, "Why are the teams in the West Division better than the teams in the East?" The answer is, "Because they have to be" You see, as it relates to the aforementioned joke, the teams in the East dont have to "outrun the bear" to have a chance to get to the Grey Cup. They just have to outrun their slow-footed friends. Ignore the crossover for a moment and look at the base playoff qualification standard where the top three teams in each division advance to the postseason. In the West, Winnipeg and Edmonton, the leagues two worst teams in 2013, have had to step up their game because, just to make the playoffs, they have to be better than at least one of Calgary, Saskatchewan, and B.C., who combined for 36 wins last season. In contrast, to make the playoffs in the East, Toronto, Hamilton, and Montreal have to be better than an expansion team. In order to win the Cup, an East Division team theoretically only has to beat one of Calgary, Saskatchewan, B.C., Edmonton, or Winnipeg once with that one occasion being in the championship game. Just to represent their division in the Grey Cup, a West team needs to be built to beat that same list of competitors multiple times. If the teams in the East needed to consistently beat teams in the West just to make the playoffs, theyd get better in a hurry...but, right now, they dont have to. Ive considered other options, from expanding the crossover possibilities to having the Division Semi-Final winners play the first place team in the opposite division...but theyre all just partial solutions. The perfect solution requires a tenth team and I promise to discuss that in a future article. However, as long as the CFL remains a league of nine or fewer teams, scrapping the divisional format entirely and seeding the top six teams for the playoffs represents the most complete and logical solution. http://www.footballbengalsnflstore.com/Youth-Will-Clarke-Elite-Jersey/ . A wide-eyed 18-year-old visiting North America for only the second time in his young life, Caboclo immediately noticed the "big tower" his new home is best known for.http://www.footballbengalsnflstore.com/Youth-Leon-Hall-Elite-Jersey/ . Here are some of the best from Week Three and players to watch for Week Four: TOP PERFORMERS Andrew Harris, RB, British Columbia (203 YDS, 1 TD, 23 touches at Saskatchewan) - 27-year-old Canadian runner had compiled 3341 yards and 22 touchdowns from scrimmage over the previous two seasons and he burst through with a monster game against the Roughriders last week. NIMES, France -- Almost at the line, Jack Bauer and Martin Elmiger were exhausted but could see it coming -- their first Tour de France stage victory. Those last 50 metres, however, got in the way. A bunch of sprinters leading the pack came speeding like a runaway train and plowed past the huffing breakaway duo in the final milliseconds. Stage 15 belonged to Norwegian speedster Alexander Kristoff, his second stage victory in this Tour. The 138-mile (222-kilometre) stage went smoothly for overall leader Vincenzo Nibali of Italy. He made sure his main rivals couldnt claw back any time, and he kept his yellow jersey by finishing in the trailing pack. After two days in the Alps, Sundays stage offered some relief over a flat course from Tallard, southeast Frances parachuting capital, toward Nimes, known for its Roman arena and bullfighting. More relief comes Monday -- a second rest day. This ride showed yet again on the Tour how mighty efforts so often go unrewarded. Bauer is a New Zealander who had a better shot of holding off the sprinters than Swiss champion Elmiger. Bauer dropped his bike after the finish line, sat on the ground and cupped his face in his hands, crying. They had led nearly from the starters gun. "Its a fantasy for any cyclist to win a stage at the Tour and especially for a Kiwi cyclist, not many of us turn professional and not many of us get a chance to start the Tour de France," Bauer said. The 29-year-old rider came to the Tour to help Garmin-Sharp leader Andrew Talansky, who dropped out before Stage 12 because of injuries from an earlier crash. The pack perfectly timed its move on the breakaway duo and proved too strong. Bauer was pedaling with his last remaining strength, and when he looked back a last time they were already zooming by. He finished in 10th place, with Elmiger 16th. "I really gave it absolutely everything, and as you can see from my meltdown at the finish I was pretty disappointed to come away empty-handed," Bauer added, noting hes usually a support rider. "I thought I had it, but then I realized in the last 50 metres that I had nothing." The Swiss rider with IAM Cycling took it more in stride. This, after all, wasnt the first breaakaway to fail in this Tour. http://www.footballbengalsnflstore.com/Youth-Mohamed-Sanu-Elite-Jersey/. "I am not disappointed because I actually did not have the best legs today," Elmiger said. "Being caught by the pack is not so bad when you are convinced you have given everything. As I have already said three times this Tour after breaks have failed, one of these days the wheels will turn in my favour." Kristoff, a Katusha rider who also won Stage 12, sighed in relief. "It was a little bit late for comfort. It was very close," he said. "I thought I would be second. ... We turned on the gas." "Of course, thats a pity for them, but I dont feel sorry for them," he said. "Normally, the break should never have had a chance, but they did. They were really strong guys. ... That must have been really hard." With about 12 miles (20 kilometres) left, rain briefly doused the riders, though skies brightened by the end. A series of roundabouts and leg fatigue among the sprinters after the Alpine stages gave an advantage to the breakaway pair until the final seconds. Nibali kept his main rivals for the Tour title at bay. He leads Spains Alejandro Valverde by 4:37 while Romain Bardet of France is third, 4:50 behind. American Tejay van Garderen is fifth, 5:49 back. Nibali, the leader of Kazakh team Astana, is in good shape to take the yellow jersey when the three-week race ends next Sunday in Paris. Some of his closest rivals have already said the race is now for second place. The Italian has shown savvy -- gaining time on cobblestone patches in Stage 2 -- and nearly insurmountable dominance on high climbs. He won Stage 13s entree into the Alps and was second a day later, also in the snow-capped mountains. On Sunday, Nibali showed he wasnt leaving any chances to his rivals. With about 39 miles (65 kilometres) left, he sped out of the pack and briefly took the lead. "At that moment, there was a lot of side wind," he said. "I really didnt want to miss the good opportunity and try to move up into position ... because when theres wind, you have to be at the front." More grueling climbs loom in the Pyrenees this week before the only individual time trial of this Tour on Saturday. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '
