Time to Rethink the Structure of Training Camp?

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CardiacKid
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During the telecast of last Friday's game, Glen Suitor very briefly touched on how much training camps have changed since his rookie season. Essentially back in his day, pre-season consisted of 4 games and was a month long; today we have 2 pre-season games to get teams running and prepared to start earning points.

I seem to recall the move from 4 to 2 pre-season games was done entirely for financial reasons; the league was in dire straits and needed to generate as much revenue as possible just to keep the beast from the door.

Now that the league is on a sounder financial footing, what do folks think of looking at the structure/length of the pre-season?

I think you can reasonably argue that two games are not enough to get a team up to speed for the start of the season. Or at least a longer pre-season allows a team a greater opportunity to iron out their wrinkles. With the atrocious start the East had last year, I can't help but wonder if a longer pre-season would have helped mitigate the poor numbers they were experiencing across the board. The way the majority of the East turned their season around past the half-way mark shows they had the makings of a competitive product at the start of the season, it just needed time to gel.

And for a team like the Lions that is going through a significant transition, a longer pre-season can facilitate a better product taking the field at the start of the regular season. A better product is a more competitive product and also (and I think this is key) a more entertaining product. Also contributing to the quality of the product is a reduction in the number of penalties due to rustiness and lack of preparation; does anyone have numbers describing the average number of flags per game as the season progresses? I don't think I am crazy in suggesting the number of flags actually goes down from the start of the season.

I also have to believe a longer pre-season helps the officials as well. As noted several times during Friday's game, the head official (forget who it was...) was very quick in announcing the calls and helped make the game go faster. But are all the ref's going to be as good? Can't help but think they need to shake off the rust (some need a grinder to get rid of the rust but not all... :clown: )

To sum up, I think a longer pre-season gives the fans a better chance to enjoy a better, more competitive and more entertaining product when the games actually count for the standings.

On the other hand, I do enjoy how a longer regular season allows more head-to-head meetings between division rivals. I wish we had two home games vs. the Riders every year.
dupsdell1
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I agree go to at least 3 exhibition games 2 is no good the first 2 regular games of the season are always played like exhibition games . that is way the NFL turned down going to 2 exhibition games . not enough time
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B.C.FAN
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Adding a third preseason game might work if the third game is always held at a neutral site (For McMurray, Victoria, Saskatoon, Quebec City, etc.) but it would require lengthening training camp and the players association would have to agree to an increase in the number of games. The number of padded practices is limited under the players' contract.
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CFL needs that 18 game schedule for the TSN contract to remain at the level the league has worked hard to secure. While 3 games may be the compromise, I don't think that you can ask teams to add an additional game to their collective bargaining contract without it also affecting wages. There is the scrimmage game that teams do to walk through reffing calls as it is. With two games for pre-season currently, it is an advantage for teams out of the gate if they carry forward their core players. So it is half a dozen vs half dozen to the other really. Right now I think that the Lions would like to see about 6 pre-season games, and we might just see that from them. :beer: Best part about the CFL is the unbalanced schedule of East vs West game, allowing a slow starting team to play teams that they require to gain ground on as they hit their stride. However it could be a large task this season given the strength of the Western teams, it is going to be hard to put a string of W's together.

To sum it up, it would be a hard sell to get more pre-season games and really the seats are hard to sell as is. This isn't going to happen IMO.
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B.C.FAN wrote:Adding a third preseason game might work if the third game is always held at a neutral site (For McMurray, Victoria, Saskatoon, Quebec City, etc.) but it would require lengthening training camp and the players association would have to agree to an increase in the number of games. The number of padded practices is limited under the players' contract.
You can't have a balanced 3 game ex-game schedule. Somebody has to play a 4th game for the rest to play 3.
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B.C.FAN
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Hambone wrote:
B.C.FAN wrote:Adding a third preseason game might work if the third game is always held at a neutral site (For McMurray, Victoria, Saskatoon, Quebec City, etc.) but it would require lengthening training camp and the players association would have to agree to an increase in the number of games. The number of padded practices is limited under the players' contract.
You can't have a balanced 3 game ex-game schedule. Somebody has to play a 4th game for the rest to play 3.
True, but you could have 13 preseason games. Eight teams would play three times, one team would play twice. Or you play 12 games (four per week). Six teams would get three games. Three teams would get two games.
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WestCoastJoe
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This fan would rather keep it at two preseason games max.

It is a tradeoff.

Obviously regular season games are more compelling.

And yet it is beneficial to teams to shake out some of the rough spots with a couple of preseason games.

Question ... How much TC time does Chris Jones need in order run his defence. Not much it seems. Ready to go in preseason game 1.

Calgary's offence was ready to roll, right out of the gate, versus the Lions. They are probably itching to get the season started.

The better teams adjust better. The weaker teams will not be noticeably more competitive no matter how many preseason games are played. Teams playing vanilla in preseason won't give you much of an idea where you stand. Two preseason games suits this fan well enough.

Just IMO ...
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I would prefer 3 exhibition games. Two are not really enough but there are problems in doing so. You can't have an unbalanced exhibition schedule. All teams would have to be equal so it doesn't work. We can't impact the 18 game schedule.

However, a compromise would be to have longer training camps and a couple of inter-squad games prior to the exhibition season. That would give rookies and new players to the team more opportunities to show their stuff. The Players Association would have to approve it but on its merits it makes more sense overall.

Certainly I agree that two exhibition games and short training camps are not ideal. The solution is more difficult. I would never want us to go back to the four exhibition game format.

Its an interesting topic.
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Hambone
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B.C.FAN wrote:
Hambone wrote:
B.C.FAN wrote:Adding a third preseason game might work if the third game is always held at a neutral site (For McMurray, Victoria, Saskatoon, Quebec City, etc.) but it would require lengthening training camp and the players association would have to agree to an increase in the number of games. The number of padded practices is limited under the players' contract.
You can't have a balanced 3 game ex-game schedule. Somebody has to play a 4th game for the rest to play 3.
True, but you could have 13 preseason games. Eight teams would play three times, one team would play twice. Or you play 12 games (four per week). Six teams would get three games. Three teams would get two games.
Can't see that flying. CFLPA would have something to say about some teams playing more games than others. Similarly I can't see the teams being able to agree on the possibility of some teams getting the advantage of an extra exhibition game to assess talent and prepare for the regular season. IMO a team entering the season with 3 ex-games under their belt has an advantage over a team with only 2. Having said all that I have long felt the ideal number of exhibition games would be 3. 2 doesn't seem like enough and 4 seems too many.
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CardiacKid
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If and when the Maritimes get a team, that fixes any unbalanced schedule in terms of some teams getting 2 exhibition games vs. 3. And I think the Maritimes will get a team at some point, if not right around the corner some time in the not too distant future.

I think a 4-game pre-season is too much but a 3 game preseason with the addition of 1 more game and let's say 1 more week of camp, is worth it in my opinion. Just lilke any major change, there is going to be trade-offs but I think the positives outweigh the negatives. Players will be sharper, plays and schemes will have a better chance of being executed properly, teams will have a better chance to learn how to adapt to rule changes (especially big ones like what we will be seeing this year), fewer "mentally lazy" penalties like too many men, teams taking un-necessary time outs because someone screwed up an assignment, better chance of players being in game shape, etc.....

I truly believe a longer pre-season not only benefits the teams, it will benefit the fans in terms of quality on the field. We moan about how the Lions are weak in promotion and getting the brand out there but ultimately, it is about what we witness on the field. And anything that can be done to help improve even the little things right out of the gate, gives the team credibility, word of mouth props and hopefully momentum in the market place.

It's like that old adage....measure twice, thrice or even four times, cut once. Right now it feels an awful lot like measure once, cut once.
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Having 4 exhibition games will require an earlier start to the season. Either that or have football in December. As a season ticket holder I'll be forking out some more money for preseason games.
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WestCoastJoe
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Not sure how much fans like preseason games. They feature backups and vanilla plans, for the most part.
B.C.FAN wrote: True, but you could have 13 preseason games. Eight teams would play three times, one team would play twice.
If you went 3 game preseason, with 3 games for 8 of the teams, have the GC champion only play 2 games. They should be ready earlier than weaker teams, and they can save on wear and tear.

Also, I expect there might be a team that prefers only 2 games preseason.
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While they don't get a 3rd pre-season game, the good news for the lions is that they get one of their 2 bye weeks to start the season and with all the coaching and player changes this is a good fit.
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WestCoastJoe wrote:Not sure how much fans like preseason games. They feature backups and vanilla plans, for the most part.
B.C.FAN wrote: True, but you could have 13 preseason games. Eight teams would play three times, one team would play twice.
If you went 3 game preseason, with 3 games for 8 of the teams, have the GC champion only play 2 games. They should be ready earlier than weaker teams, and they can save on wear and tear.

Also, I expect there might be a team that prefers only 2 games preseason.
I was thinking same thing. 13 total PS games: one home game for each team plus 4 neutral sites. Presumably the champs would require less assessment of team personnel to settle their roster, and — much as the champs get final pick in each round of the draft — it would also serve to increase parity across the league.

Notwithstanding CFLPA issues.

Speaking of unbalanced schedules, I see the AHL will have one next season whereby everyone plays 76 regular season games except for teams in the new Pacific Division who will only play 68. Scheduling logistics were a factor in the decision.

The CFL itself also once played an unbalanced schedule until 1974, whereby the west played a 16 game regular season while eastern teams played 14 games. The playoff structure in each division was also different for many years before the current sudden-death format was fully adopted in 1973.
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go to 3-4 games, but 1st-2nd game is basically a fanfest game with hitting. its not an official preseason game, its just part of TC. You hold them at training camps cites or even a neutral site like kelowna or UBC. maybe charge $10. its not part of the season tix package or you get tix for free for the game.

The other way you could do it, is there are only 3 training camp cites around the league, with 3 team at each site. They can practice against each other. As well, its only 3 central locations for media and TV so you get stories coming out every day from more reporters and coverage at each site.
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