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[Note: the map shows each CFL team's present day helmet. At the bottom of each team box is: 1. the team's earliest logo I could find; 2. a helmet design from the 1960s-1980s; 3. a recent variation of their logo/ or their current logo.]
The Canadian Football League was formed in 1958, though some of the teams had already been playing for many decades. The Canadian championship of gridiron football, the Grey Cup {see this}, was last won by a non-CFL team in 1944, when a battalion from Montreal called Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Donnacona {see this} were the champions. (Just because I love historical trivia like this, the last two non-CFL winners before this were the Toronto RCAF Hurricanes, in 1942, and The Sarnia (Ontario) Imperials {see this} in 1934 and 1936.)
The CFL is widely (and almost completely) ignored by the American media, and is overshadowed, even in Canada, by the National Football League. But it has been getting solid attendance figures for years, and averaged 29,438 per game in 2007. In fact the CFL is the 7th highest drawing league in the world {see this}.
The CFL season runs from July 1st to early November, with the Grey Cup played (in alternating cities) in late November. The CFL has some crucial rule differences from the NFL. First of all, there are only 3, not 4, downs (or plays), for the offensive team to gain the 10 yards necessary to start a new set of downs. Secondly, the offensive backfield (ie, the players who get the ball the most often) can be in forward motion prior to the ball being put in play. This gives the offense a much better chance of gaining yards than in the NFL. Thirdly, the game is a far more wide-open affair, as the CFL field is wider, longer, and has deeper end-zones. Again, more chance for the offense to score. Finally, there is the opportunity for a 1-point score (called a “rouge”), via the kicking game.
Here is Wikipedia’s page on the CFL {click here}.
Last season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders won only their 3rd Grey Cup, beating Winnipeg in the “Prairie Cup.”
{Click here, for the 2008 CFL standings.}
{Click here, for the CFL site.}
Thanks to http://www.sportscolours.org, which includes Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page; Helmets, Helmets, Helmets; and Logo Shak.
