CFL trying to weather the perfect storm

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Jim Barker rhymed off an exasperating list of factors that have dogged the Canadian Football League this season, and then shook his head in amazement.

"The league was hit by a perfect storm," the Toronto Argonauts general manager said. "I've never seen something like this since I've been in this league, and I don't believe I'll ever see it again."

The CFL had an underwhelming start to its 2014 season, competing against the World Cup for viewers while trying to overcome big hurdles. Its star power took a hit with the retirement of some all-time league leaders, including Anthony Calvillo and Geroy Simon, and injuries to the likes of Chad Owens and Travis Lulay. The league and its players were at odds while negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, one some players panned on social media. Hamilton's new stadium, originally slated for a July opening, was agonizingly delayed. Ottawa's expansion team mustered a single win in the season's first half. The team in Toronto, living in anticipation of being sold, had no practice home, so it shuttled players to various locations in a hodgepodge daily existence.

While summer-time CFL football often lacks the drama of post-Labour Day action, this year's early-season contests have been particularly low-scoring, and the records of East and West divisions laughably lopsided. Western teams won 26 of the 29 games played against Eastern teams through the first 11 weeks, and even the worst team in the West (Winnipeg at 6-5) has a record better than anyone in the East.

The league's two most accomplished quarterbacks have been shadows of themselves: Toronto's Ricky Ray lost five of his top receivers; Ottawa's Henry Burris played on an expansion team struggling through its debut season. Attendance has dipped in many buildings.

In Toronto – the market the CFL regularly calls central to its success – single-game attendance has been in the neighbourhood of 16,000-18,000 fans, as low as any reported by the Argos in the past decade. The team must vacate Rogers Centre by 2017, but Toronto's oldest sports franchise has nowhere to go.

A sale to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. seemed promising as Argos owner David Braley met with the company about possibilities, including a new home at a refitted BMO Field, shared with Major League Soccer's Toronto FC. But talks stalled. Even if negotiations do resume, much has changed: Both CFL commissioner Mark Cohon and MLSE president and chief executive officer Tim Leiweke have since announced they are leaving their jobs in 2015.

The Argos fired some employees in their business operations this summer, and several others quit in light of the uncertainty. One source who spoke on the condition of anonymity called the business work environment "really toxic" and said the leaders "just aren't forward thinkers."

The Argos did partner with MLSE on a new practice facility, which was scheduled to open when the team broke training camp, but multiple delays meant it wasn't ready for move-in until Labour Day. While waiting, they bused players to various practice locations – sometimes as many as three different venues in one week, the travel time all counting against the league-mandated four-and-a-half hours daily that players can spend in practice and meetings.

Sharing their game-day stadium with the prioritized Toronto Blue Jays, the Argos had just four home dates at Rogers Centre through the first 11 weeks. They have played turnover-plagued football en route to a 3-7 record, most with such stars as Owens and Andre Durie on the shelf.

"This last month has been as tough as any I've ever worked in the CFL, aside from a time in Calgary when I once had the owner's son playing quarterback for me," Barker said with a half-hearted laugh. "But that's history now – we're in a practice facility that's very workable, and as bad as we're playing, we've still got a chance to win the division."

League-wide, an average of 45.8 points has been scored per game through 11 weeks this year. If that rate continues, the CFL would be on course for its lowest-scoring season since 1985. Compare it with 2013, when games saw an average of 52.4 points scored.

"I don't think it's a trend," Cohon told media in Edmonton last weekend. "I think it's a blip. When I look at the past several seasons, there are these cycles. Probably next year or later this year, you'll see the numbers go up."

Most experts attribute the lack of scoring first to injured starting quarterbacks and receivers, along with a handful of first-year officials and players new to the league, due to the addition of a ninth team, the Ottawa RedBlacks. Still, some see more reasons.

Paul LaPolice, head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers two seasons ago and now an analyst for TSN, also credits this year's defences. He says Canadians now starting at positions usually played by internationals, such as running back, free up ratio spots for Americans on defence. Added designated import spots this year have also bolstered defences and special teams, while coverages are more complex.

"There is so much more defensive coverage being played, more combination coverages and pattern reading, and it's harder for the quarterbacks," LaPolice said. "I watch tape every day, and today I was watching film on Calgary and even playing it back in slow motion – I couldn't recognize one coverage, and I've been doing this for 14 years."

Retired CFL linebacker Leo Ezerins, executive director of the league's alumni association, says games also seem slower-moving, thanks to more penalties and the new use of video review on pass interference.

"The games are just too long, and over all, I'm seeing a lot of flags thrown this year," Ezerins said. "Some of this stuff is taking away from play on the field."

Ezerins also notes that the league is driven by its quarterbacks, and in 2014 most haven't dazzled. Only four teams have started veteran CFL quarterbacks this year. Now, even the Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders are without their long-time starter as Darian Durant is having season-ending elbow surgery. Fresh faces are just starting to earn recognition, including Drew Willy, Zach Collaros and Bo Levi Mitchell.

"I was helping coach some high-school football in Aldershot, Ont., and I asked the kids to name their favourite football team. Of the 40 kids, six said CFL teams – four Ticats, two Argos. The rest named NFL teams. The league still has a lot of work to do in selling itself, especially in Southern Ontario," Ezerins added.

On Labour Day in Hamilton, that initiative took a step. The Tiger-Cats managed an ugly 13-12 win over their rival Argonauts – a game that featured just two touchdowns – but the more important attraction was Hamilton's new Tim Hortons Field. It's a big draw for the Ticats, and one that puts a white-hot spotlight on what the Argos so desperately need.

"If in the next six months, we don't yet have a solution to where we're going to play – either a lease signed to play at BMO Field, or a commitment to build a new CFL-appropriate stadium – then I believe this franchise is in real trouble," Argos president Chris Rudge said. "I believe it's the most urgent issue facing the CFL and at this week's Board of Governors meeting, we'll be pressing the discussion. It's not just a Toronto issue; it's a CFL issue."

At least now, the Argos have a practice facility, nestled next to Toronto FC's at Downsview Park in north Toronto. Their modest former practice facility at the University of Toronto Mississauga suffered a fire in 2011 but was patched back together for two more seasons as the team searched for another solution.

The team is in the middle of four road games while the Blue Jays finish their regular season. On the remote chance the Jays make the playoffs, the lease states they could bump the Argos out of any scheduled October home games if the dates are needed for baseball.

Cohon indicated to media last week that BMO Field would have to be expanded and renovated to be suitable for the Argos, which could require some $20-million.

"I think the table is set to get a deal done," he said. "The question is whether I can work with David Braley and the [MLSE] board to get it done while I'm still here."

Barker and the Argonauts isolate themselves from buzz about ownership and stadiums, and the GM has been around the CFL long enough to experience how much change can happen on the field in the second half of a 19-week season. Television ratings that slumped versus the World Cup have improved since, especially in recent weeks.

"Our league has undergone lots of change this year and so many injuries, and you put it all together and you get a rocky start to the season, but I see the play getting better every week, more exciting," Barker said.

"I think it's wrong to look at the first half of the season and say 'this is how the CFL is going to be from now on.' Playoff races are supposed to be exciting, and the East race certainly will be exciting this year."