THE CZECH IS IN THE MAIL
Did you know it’s football season in Canada?
The Canadian Football League starts in June and ends in November with the Grey Cup. So, there is hope for football fans during the summer if you turn on TSN (The Sports Network), which is the Canadian equivalent of ESPN. However, there are a few differences between the American and the Canadian versions of the game.
Field length
U.S. football fields are 120 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide. Goal line to goal line is 100 yards with midfield being the 50-yard line; the end zones are 10 yards deep.
In Canadian football, the field is 150 yards long and 65 yards wide.
Goal to goal is 110 yards, the center line (not midfield) is the 55-yard line and end zones are 20 yards deep.
12 man
In Canada, 12 players on the field are legal, unlike the NFL with 11 on the gridiron.
Canadian offenses still require five linemen and seven players at the line of scrimmage.
A typical CFL offensive alignment is five linemen, a quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers and two slotbacks. Meanwhile, Canadian defenses usually have six to seven players in the box and five to six in the defensive backfield.
Rouge
The kicking team can score even when a field goal is missed in Canada. If a wayward field goal, punt or open-field kick goes through the end zone, or if a player returning a kick into the end zone fails to return the ball out of the end zone, the kicking team is awarded a point called a “single” or a “rouge.”
Following a rouge on a punt, open-field kick or kickoff return downed in the end zone, the return team begins the next offensive possession at its own 35. A successful field-goal attempt, a failed field-goal attempt that hits any part of the goal post or a kickoff that goes through the end zone do not result in a rouge.
No fourth down
American football gives offenses four downs; you only get three in Canada.
Catch and run or return
In Canada, there is no fair catch on kickoffs or punts. Between no fair catches and the possibility of a rouge, missed field goal returns are a common occurrence in Canada.
Open-field kick
Football as we know it in the States only allows kick attempts to be made behind the line of scrimmage. In Canada, that’s not the case. Used in desperate situations, a ballcarrier will advance the ball, then drop kick a field goal with hopes of the kick either splitting the uprights or landing in the end zone where the kicker or any of his teammates who were behind him can recover the pigskin in the end zone for a touchdown.
That leads to the next comparison.
Kicker advance
In Canada on any punt, kickoff or missed field-goal attempt, the kicker or any player behind the kicker during the kick is eligible to not only recover the ball, but also to advance it once it’s recovered.
Three-minute warning
The two-minute warning is a familiar TV timeout in the NFL occurring at the twominute mark of each half. Canada has the three-minute warning at the three-minute mark of each half. Canadian offenses also have a slew of free timeouts as the clock stops after each play under the threeminute mark of each half.
So enjoy some maple syrup, dig out your favorite sweater, practice saying “eh?” a lot, get resigned to the fact hockey is still months away and channel your inner Canadian.
Chlapek is the area editor of the Elgin Courier and Taylor Press.
He can be reached at jason.chlapek@granitemediapartners.
com.
