Joe's Take

CFL Insiders Correspondent Joe Pritchard Weighs in with His Take on What's Happening Around the League.

Top 10 Reasons to Give the CFL a Try

1. It's football. Enough said.

2. It's football, with a twist. Don't like fair catches? Like to see a ton of passing? Wide open special teams? Ever wondered what happened to X player from X school? Chances are, if they're not in the NFL at this moment, they could be holding down a job in the CFL.

3. Their Balls are Bigger. Maybe not at this point, as the ball has evolved into one very similar to the NFL's size, but for many years, it was bigger than the NFL's. The league used the tagline "Our Balls are Bigger" as a marketing pitch in the late 90's, to attract the younger generation of fans.

4. The money isn't that big. No player makes a million a season. Top quarterbacks have just now hit the $500,000 mark, and most players make around $100,000 or less. It's truly a league where players play for the love of the game.

5. You may be seeing the next NFL star. What do Warren Moon, Jeff Garcia, Joe Theismann, and Joe Horn have in common? They all got their big break playing in the CFL. Kenton Keith's big game for the Colts in week 5? Not a fluke. His talent may well have gone undiscovered without the CFL and his four years of service there.

6. They introduced us to black quarterbacks long before the NFL was comfortable with them. The league was starting players such as Chuck Ealey, Condredge Holloway, J.C. Watts, and, of course, Warren Moon, before the NFL became truly comfortable with the notion of a black quarterback.

7. It's more accessible than ever. Fox Sports Net has a few affiliates that cover games, as well as Comcast. Most weeks, you can get 3 of their 4 games, unless you're hooked to VOOM HD, where you'd get Friday Night Football as well.

8. The regular season starts in June. June football? I'm there.

9. With 8 teams, it's small enough to follow completely without much effort. With 18 games per season, rivalries can get nasty in a hurry. The NFL has nothing like the Labour Day Classic weekend, where 3 major rivalries are slated to play every season. The next weekend is a rematch at the other guy's place. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

10. The Grey Cup is older than the NFL. Something with that much tradition is worthy of respect. Also, it's an awesome excuse to party. They don't call it the "Grand National Drunk" for nothing.

Need any more reasons? How about the virtual guarantee for bad weather games late in the season, a playoff system that provides 6 of 8 teams a chance to hold the Grey Cup each season, and yes, they have cheerleaders too.