Paul Woods: Video: TSN: CFL American Expansion 1995: CFL Commissioner Larry Smith

Canadian Football League expansion, or CFL expansion in America, was a great idea because the CFL, lets face it, was a 9-team league back in the early 1990s, before they expanded inside the United States. From a country (Canada) of roughly 30 million people struggling just to pay their bills, let alone save a few dollars, they needed American fans and American dollars spent on the CFL to pay their bills. At the time, there were plenty of major markets inside the U.S. that could afford and want to support major league gridiron football.

The problem with the CFL expansion was that it was poorly executed and poorly thought out, which is what happens when you get 10-20 thousand fans at CFL games inside 65 thousand-seat stadiums, which is what they had in Memphis and San Antonio, because they didn't have the right marketing for America or the right management groups for the American teams.  Only Baltimore was profitable in the CFL, while Sacramento, Las Vegas, San Antonio, Shreveport, Memphis, and Birmingham all folded in the CFL.

Thanks to the new United States Football League, the CFL, I believe, will have the opportunity to merge with the USFL, especially if they agree to play in the spring and summer instead of summer and fall. And you could have an American Football Conference and a Canadian Football Conference in this united league in the future. There will be a future blog about that, but bringing in an American conference would more than save the CFL financially and give lots of Canadian and American football fans teams to root for and follow.

CFL Video: CFL 1978-Western Semifinal-Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ Calgary Stampeders: Short Clip

Source:CBC Sports- Blue Bomber fans making the trip to Calgary.

Source:The Daily Times 

“CFL 1978 WEST SEMI FINAL WINNIPEG BLUEBOMBERS AT CALGARY STAMPEDERS”

From CFL Video

At first glance, those Calgary Stampeders uniforms, look like the Atlanta Falcons uniforms of the 1970s and 80s. And Georgia Bulldog uniforms of any period with the red helmets, red jerseys, and gray pants.

38-4, sorry if I give away the score to anyone who is actually interested in this game who hasn’t seen it yet, but the announcer was talking about how good the Stampeder defense was in 78, especially their front four. And comparing it to the Edmonton Eskimos front line as well. Which was a big part of all the CFL championship success that the Eskimos had in the late 1970s and early 1980s. And when you give up four points in a CFL playoff game, you either have a great defense, or you’re playing a team with a poor offense.

The Blue Bombers scored 371 points in 1978, in sixteen games. So they could obviously move the football and score. Only the Eskimos beat the Stampeders in the CFL Playoffs in 78, in the Western Final. So they have a very good team in 78.

CBC Sports: CFL 1978-Week 10-Montreal Alouettes @ Toronto Argonauts: Short Video

Source:CBC Sports- the Alouettes and Argonauts from 1978.

Source:The Daily Times 

“CFL 1978 MONTREAL ALOUETTES AT TORONTO ARGONAUTS”

From CFL Video

I just looked this up, before someone accuses me of being an expert on the Canadian Football League: The Montreal Alouettes were 8-7 in 1978 and made it all the way to the Grey Cup where they lost to the 10-4 Edmonton Eskimos, a team, that was barely over 500, makes to all the way to the CFL Championship. Similar to the 1979 Los Angeles Rams, that were 9-7 in the NFL,

Perhaps the 78 Alouettes were in a similar situation as the 79 Rams, a club with a mediocre record, but with a lot better personal then their 8-7 record would indicate..

The Toronto Argonauts however, had an awful 4-11 record in 78. So this wasn’t a matchup of great teams.