The Road to and From Touchdown Atlantic: Moncton and Charlottetown Edition

Touchdown Atlantic has come and gone, but my adventures on Canada's east coast have not.

I covered the game and our arrival in Moncton, but I didn't talk about what we did pre- and post-game. I also forgot one cool part of our arrival in Moncton.

We stopped at a gas station to pick up drinks and fuel before embarking on the final leg of the trip. While at the gas station, we were saluted with an "Oskee Wee Wee!" by a guy at the gas station. Tiger-Cat fans in Moncton (not at the game): check!

Before I move on, it should be noted that during our travels Kevin Glenn sustained a devastating left-arm injury, and while he gutted out a tough performance, he was forced into a hyperbaric chamber to fix his ailing limb, thus ending his trip.

But even with the injury, he soldiered on in Moncton. Before the game, we hit up the Magnetic Hill. Kevin Glenn came along for the ride. (Note the missing arm.)

After that, we decided to walk from our hotel to the stadium on the campus of the Université de Moncton. Kevin Glenn was there, feeling worse, but still holding on strong.

Once we arrived, we partook in the pre-game festivities, which were a lot of fun. While there, Kevin Glenn made the rounds.

He enjoyed a pancake breakfast courtesy of the Calgary Stampeders.

He met up with some Tiger-Cats Cheerleaders...

And some Stampeders Cheerleaders.

He also had the privilege of chilling with Pigskin Pete.

And both Glenn and myself met former CFLer, and current TSN colour commentator Glen Suitor. Suitor was very gracious and more than willing to pose with me, despite the fact that I had a one-armed bobblehead in my hand. Glen Suitor is a cool dude.

And just prior to kickoff, Glenn met his nemesis in the form of... Santa? Yup, Santa is not a fan of Kevin Glenn.

While at the game, we had the privilege of sitting with a couple of Tiger-Cat fans and a threesome of Stampeder fans. The Ti-Cat fans were awesome, and I feel bad for not getting their names because I would have shouted them out here. But if either of you read this, feel free to drop me a line and I will give you your kudos.

The Stampeder fans were fun too. They took the beating the Stamps took in stride and had fun with it. Those are the type of opposing fans you want to sit with. They didn't get belligerent and took the jibes in stride. I also wish I would have gotten their names, but on the off chance they read this, feel free to drop me a line and I will be glad to give you your proper due for making the game even more fun.

The game and the surrounding events were awesome. My only regret is that I didn't get a chance to run into Drew Edwards. I would have loved to have gotten his picture with Kevin Glenn. Sadly, I did not. Maybe next time.

I do have a couple of stories to share about Charlottetown.

First, a lot of people in Prince Edward Island liked the Tiger-Cats. I was approached twice by locals who brought up the game on Sunday. Tiger-Cats fans in P.E.I.: check!

The next story is even better. We went out to dinner at a place called Lobster on the Wharf. Some may know it as the place the Stampeders ate the night before the game this weekend. When we arrived and before heading to dinner, we hit up the fish market adjacent to the restaurant. We learned about lobsters from the man who runs the market... who also happened to be a Tiger-Cats fan. We then went to the restaurant where the man that seated us was also a Tiger-Cat fan (and was the son of the man who runs the fish market). What are the odds?

And that about ends the Touchdown Atlantic road trip. Tomorrow begins the long journey back to Hamilton. Since the siteseeing will be kept to a minimum, this is the last travel log I will be posting. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading them as much as I have enjoyed writing them. This was a trip I was glad I made, and if the Tiger-Cats ever play in Moncton again (which is likely), I will be more than happy to make the long journey back to the Maritimes.

Hamilton 55, Calgary 36

It was like a mini Grey Cup. Fans from around the country were there, and they got a glimpse of how good this Hamilton team can be when everything is clicking. This is the team that dismantled the Roughriders in July and beat the tar out of Montreal on Labour Day. The fans who traveled from far and wide got a heaping helping of what Tiger-Cat football is all about.

Positives

The only place to start is with Marcus Thigpen. He was inserted into the starting lineup as a Receiver and shredded the Stampeders' Secondary for 274 total yards and three touchdowns. Now, 118 of those yards and one of those touchdowns came on a beautiful missed field goal return, so Thigpen contributed in many ways on Sunday. But he finished the game with six catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns in his first start at Receiver. Thigpen was the man in Moncton.

When the team lets Justin Hickman and Stevie Baggs pin their ears back and go get the Quarterback, good things happen. The two combined for four tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble, and pretty much made life miserable for Henry Burris. When the two rush ends can get pressure, that makes life easier for the rest of the Defense.

With Thigpen being moved to Receiver, Terry Grant became the primary backup to Avon Cobourne, and while Cobourne's status as the starter is nowhere near in jeopardy, Grant made the most of his Tiger-Cat debut. Grant contributed in the running game with 23 yards on five carries and a touchdown; in the passing game with three receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown; and in the return game, where he had three returns for 103 yards. Grant is another weapon added to what was already a very dangerous, and some might say loaded, Tiger-Cat Offense.

When the Ti-Cats lose, the first player that gets thrown under the bus is Kevin Glenn. But when Glenn is on, he's on. Today, he was on. It wasn't a huge game for number five, but it was a very efficient one. He finished 16 for 23 with 276 yards and three touchdown passes. Glenn is probably the most underappreciated and heavily scrutinized player in the league, but when he's on his game, there are few better. Today, Glenn didn't have to beat the world, but he did play well.

Negatives

When a team scores 55 points, it is very hard to find negative things to talk about. One such thing was the sickening hit that Matt Carter took. I have witnessed some hellacious hits in my years of watching and playing football, but the hit that Carter took was, in a word, scary. He laid motionless on the field for what seemed like forever, and it was very comforting to see him walk off the field. He needed help, but him just walking off was encouraging. Get well soon, Matt.

On a much less important note, the emergence of Chris Williams and now Marcus Thigpen has relegated Dave Stala and Maurice Mann to also-ran status. The two veteran Receivers have been M.I.A. the last few weeks. It's been five games since Stala scored a touchdown, and Mann hasn't done anything of note since his acrobatic catch against Montreal on Labour Day. Both are highly talented players, but it is troublesome that neither player has really contributed much over the last month.

Final Thoughts

The last time a Tiger-Cat team rolled up at least 55 points was when they beat Saskatchewan 63-17 in 1999. Remember that year?

The Cats played a great game today, but the question remains if they can do it again. This team has been maddeningly inconsistent this year, so it will be important for them to build on the momentum they gained today. If they play this well, they can beat anybody. I think that's what bothers fans so much. We know what this team is capable of when it plays its game: we get outcomes like we saw today. Keep this up and no one will care what happened in mid-September.

Up next for the Cats is a trip to Toronto to take on the Argos. The trash talk has already started for this one, as Argo Linebacker Ejiro Kuale shot his mouth off and guaranteed a victory. It is always fun when the Cats and Argos meet up. Next Saturday will be no different.

The Road to Touchdown Atlantic: Grand Manan and Moncton Edition

Today was a very interesting day. It started in the small island town of Grand Manan. The hope was to take a whale-watching tour, but because of inclement weather, the trip was canceled.

While we were not able to get on a boat, Kevin Glenn would not be stopped. While the rest of us were eating breakfast, Kevin Glenn found himself a boat.

I wonder what he was thinking while he was on that boat.

After the boat tour was canceled, we took a trip around the island. We found some awesome stuff. Some views that look right out of those "Visit New Brunswick" ads. Even Kevin Glenn was awed by the view.

Unbeknownst to me, Grand Manan is well known for its Hole-in-the-Wall attraction. It is literally a gigantic hole in a rock formation on the edge of the island. I didn't know this existed, nor did I know that it was known to others. Kevin Glenn was impressed by it as well.

That ended our Grand Manan adventure, and we boarded the ferry to head to the final destination: Moncton.

All roads lead to Moncton for this weekend, and we arrived around 7:30PM local time. We settled in and went to grab some pizza from Greco's. The pizza was recommended to me, and I thought it was pretty darn good. Kevin Glenn didn't get a chance to eat any pizza; he was too tired following such a busy day.

Finally, after leaving Hamilton Wednesday morning, we arrived, safe and sound, in Moncton. Tomorrow is finally game time. As much as I have enjoyed our stops in Quebec City and Grand Manan, I came on this trip to watch some football.

But the trip doesn't end after the game does. There is still a day in Charlottetown and the stops on the way back from Moncton. So there will still be more travel stories over the next few days. Kevin Glenn's journey through Canada is far from over.

Preview: Stampeders at Tiger-Cats

7-4

5-6

Touchdown Atlantic is finally here.

When the schedule was released back in February, a game that most CFL fans had circled on their calendars was this one. Even if you are not a fan of either of these teams, you want to see this game be a success, because a permanent team in Atlantic Canada is something most want to see.

This game also has a lot of meaning. Both teams are coming into this game following losses. The Cats have lost their last two -- and looked horrendous doing it -- and Calgary suffered another defeat at home, which has proven to be more of a house of horrors than a comfort zone for the Stamps this year.

Perhaps it is good that both teams are on the road for this one.

Hamilton has lost all the momentum they gained from beating the Als on Labour Day. So much so that fans from around the country have been jumping off the bandwagon at a record-breaking pace. The Cats have played as badly as over the last two games as they have at any point in the last two and a half seasons. But the last time the Tabbies were beaten this badly twice in a row, they came back to win three straight.

The atmosphere in Moncton should be electric. Despite this being a home game for the Tiger-Cats, I'm sure it will feel more like a neutral-site game. It should be fun nonetheless, so hopefully both teams bring their A games.

If you aren't going to be in Moncton, you can catch the game on TSN or on AM900 CHML.

The Road to Touchdown Atlantic: Maine and New Brunswick Edition

Today was a travel day, which means sites were at a minimum. There were two border crossings and only one stop on what was almost 10 hours of travel.

The day started by leaving Quebec City where, as was typical of any car drive there, we took a wrong turn. I kid you not when I say that every single time we drove anywhere in Quebec City we took at least one wrong turn.

After leaving Quebec City, it was off on the long road to Maine. This was the first time I had crossed the border since the summer of 2001, so an over-10-year break from leaving Canada ended earlier today. Kevin Glenn has crossed the border many times, so unlike me, he was happy to do so.

In Maine we made our one and only pit stop of the day. I went into a gas station store to buy myself a pop (or should I say soda?) and when the women asked me how I was doing, I stared at her for a good two seconds like she had just asked me the question in Korean. That New England accent threw me for a loop. I rebounded to say that I was doing great, and asked her how she was doing. She responded by saying, "Be betta in about an 'ouwa." I guess I know when she got off work.

Maine is dull. Sorry, but it is. Or at least the parts of it I saw. It was a bunch of trees and not much else. I fell asleep for a good portion of it, but what I saw was pretty boring.

We finally got out of Maine and back on Canadian soil, entering in New Brunswick. The trip then took a very fun and fortunate turn, as we made the 5:30 Grand Manan ferry with about 15 minutes to spare. So instead of waiting around for the 7:00 ferry, in the middle of nowhere, we got to get on the boat and get across sooner than expected.

The boat ride was an hour and a half, and Kevin Glenn decided to do a little wandering. I guess the people that own the ferry company knew that Kevin Glenn and the rest of us were coming, as the ship was decked out in some familiar colours. Kevin Glenn was obviously pleased.

We landed onshore in Grand Manan and headed out to dinner. Kevin Glenn was very tired, so he stayed behind. Tomorrow is hopefully going to involve some whale watching, but if not, we will leave Grand Manan and make the final trek to Moncton, where we can try and take part in some of the festivities there. If whale watching is a go, it will be a late arrival in Moncton – sometime around 10:30PM local time – so it will likely be bed and then getting ready for the main event of the trip: the game on Sunday.

The Road to Touchdown Atlantic

Many might not know why I started this blog. If you go back to the first post, I never actually state the purpose or goals I had. Normally, as I've seen from other bloggers, your first post is a kind of manifesto, a reason for what you are doing and what you hope to accomplish. I never did that.

I am about to now.

As much as I love the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the reason I started writing this was actually not to cover the Ti-Cats as in-depth as I have over the last two years. I started writing because back in January 2010, myself and two friends hatched a plan to travel with the team throughout the 2011 season. We were going to hit up every game in every city. For reasons I won't go into, those plans fell through.

Now you know, and this is a story I don't think I have shared with anyone else. No one knew why I started this blog. In fact, after the cross-country trip I was going to stop writing altogether. The trip was a gift to myself for graduating university, and I thought that once I had to enter the quote-unquote real world, I wouldn't have time to maintain this blog. Now I hope to keep doing this indefinitely. I enjoy writing, and I hope you enjoy reading what I write.

Anyway, with the big trip canceled, we decided to go to a game in a different venue every season until we have seen the Tiger-Cats play in every stadium in the country. A more modest and doable proposal.

Last season, we did a pre-run of sorts by going to Montreal. It was amazing, and I wrote about it back in July 2010. That dealt solely with the football aspect of the trip, i.e. the game itself and the atmosphere surrounding Percival Molson Stadium at McGill University.

I'm going to do things a little differently this time around. Since this is a much more elaborate trip, I am going to detail what is happening and what I'm doing. I'm sure the people who come here strictly for football news and opinion are not going to care, but I know there are people out there interested in this side of the story.

The trip started yesterday morning by driving from Hamilton to Quebec City. I have been to Quebec City twice before and enjoyed it immensely both times. The plan is to stay in Quebec City today (Thursday) and take in some of the sites, since my co-travelers have not been to Quebec's capital. I am not entirely sure what sites we will be seeing, but I have no doubt it will be fun.

Then on Friday, we leave Quebec City and head to Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick. Where the hell is Grand Manan, you ask? No idea. We are going there because of a whale-watching tour were are taking on Saturday. I have never seen a whale, outside of Marineland, so this is a bit of a treat for me.

From there, it's off to Moncton to enjoy the game. That, no doubt, will be fun. I have never been to the east coast – you can count on one hand the number of places I have visited as an adult – and I have always wanted to see that part of Canada.

From there, it is a jaunt to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to see the site of the Charlottetown Conference (so be prepared for this site to turn into History Nerdskee Wee Wee on Monday) and probably some other stuff in PEI.

After that, it is the long trek home. That is the one part of this grand sojourn that has not been planned. It is very likely to be a two-day journey back to Hamilton.

But for the Tiger-Cat fans out there, a little Black & Gold flair will be added to the proceedings. Remember those Kevin Glenn bobbleheads they gave out to 5,000 fans at the game last week? He came with. So there will be pictures of Glenn taken at various Canadian tourist spots.

Glenn's first stop: The Big Apple in Colborne, Ontario.

Today, it's off to see some of the great historic sites in Quebec City. I wonder where Glenn will find himself today?

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

There has been a lot of talk about the Tiger-Cats' pitiful performance Sunday against the Alouettes, and surprisingly it hasn't focused on Marcel Bellefeuille or Kevin Glenn.

OK, not all of it has.

Scott Radley wrote a piece in the Hamilton Spectator comparing the Tiger-Cats to a John Grisham thriller and Forrest Gump's box of chocolates. His basic points were that the team is full of surprises and "you never know what you're going to get" from one week to the next.

Radley is right; the Ti-Cats have not been a consistent football team in 2011. What that means, I don't know. We'll have to wait and see.

Drew Edwards looked at the "two schools of thought" most fans are taking following the latest loss in Montreal.

There are people in one camp who believe the Bellefeuille-Glenn duo has taken this team as far as they can go. That with these two men, the Cats are destined to be nothing more than a .500 ball club who will never win a championship.

A Tiger-Cats loss – any Tiger-Cats loss – cannot be dissected without someone bringing up those two men. Regardless of what happens, it is somehow always their fault.

The second group sees the loss in Montreal as being part of a long season and not worth getting worked up about.

I reside very squarely in the second group.

The Cats put up a listless, disappointing effort on Sunday in Montreal, but this came just six days after the Als did the exact same thing against the Ti-Cats in Hamilton. An argument I have made numerous times is that every single CFL team has laid an egg or two.

Case in point:

• Winnipeg: lost 27-7 and 45-23 in back-to-back weeks against Saskatchewan
• Calgary: lost 35-7 to Edmonton
• Montreal: lost 44-23 to Hamilton
• Edmonton: lost 28-16 to Winnipeg; lost 27-4 to Montreal; lost 36-1 to BC
• BC: lost 33-17 to Edmonton; lost 30-17 to Winnipeg
• Saskatchewan: lost 42-28 to Edmonton; lost 33-3 to Hamilton; lost 24-11 to BC
• Toronto: lost 40-17 to Montreal; lost 29-16 and 28-6 in back-to-back weeks against BC

Heck, the Argos (the league's worst team) beat Calgary (maybe the league's best team) in Calgary in Week 1. Sure, the Stamps' Rob Maver missed three field goals because of an injury, but the result counts regardless.

Every team has at least one horrendous performance on their résumé this season. Hamilton has laid three such eggs: the Week 1 loss to Winnipeg (in which neither team played particularly well), the Week 2 loss to Edmonton and this past week against Montreal. The Ti-Cats' other two losses (to Winnipeg, 30-27, and Calgary, 32-20) were not the same as the other three. The Cats played very well against Winnipeg, and that game could have gone either way. Against Calgary, the team came out on fire and then lost it in the second half.

All this proves is that it is foolish to get too high or too low based on any given week's outcome.

Moving on from the past and looking into the future, I see a Tiger-Cat schedule that looks very promising.

Yes, the Tabbies will play five of these eight games away from Ivor Wynne Stadium, and they are an uninspiring 1-4 away from home so far this season. But these five games are not like the previous five games. The Cats play in Moncton against Calgary, in Toronto, in Montreal, in Saskatchewan and in Toronto again. The Montreal game is the only one where the Cats will be prohibitive underdogs. The best-case scenario is probably four wins; the worst-case is two.

At home, Hamilton faces Edmonton, Winnipeg and BC. Edmonton hasn't won in Hamilton since 2008. Winnipeg has already won in Hamilton and has beaten the Ti-Cats twice, and sweeping a team is never easy. BC has actually done fairly well in Hamilton in recent years and have won their last two games at Ivor Wynne Stadium. That said, I like the Cats to pull out victories in all three games.

Under the best-case scenario, the Cats will finish the regular season 12-6. Worst case, 10-8. I will say that 9-9 is possible, but that's only if they don't take care of business at home. There is no way they go 1-4 on the road, because Toronto will not beat them. I know I said that sweeping a team is never easy, but Toronto is everyone's whipping boy right now, and the Cats are 6-3 against Toronto in the last two regular seasons.

While nothing is set in stone, and anything can happen, things are set up nicely for the Tiger-Cats down the stretch.

Touchdown Atlantic Ticket Info

The Canadian Football League announced earlier today the ticket information for the upcoming game in Moncton between the Ti-Cats and Stampeders.

The pertinent information for Tiger-Cat fans is that any season-ticket holder wanting to go to the game will get first crack at purchasing tickets. An exclusive presale for Tiger-Cat and Stampeder season-ticket holders will take place starting at 10:00AM on Monday, May 9th and ending on Wednesday, May 11th.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, May 11th.

I wonder how many Ti-Cat fans will make the trek out East. All I know is that cheap Keith's and easy access to seafood has me primed and ready to go.

Two New Coaches and TD Atlantic II

A couple pieces of news today as the Ti-Cats have rounded out their coaching staff, and it looks like they're headed to the East coast for a matchup with the Stamps.

First, the Tiger-Cats have hired two coaches: Rick Worman and Doug Malone. Worman will replace Mike Gibson as the team's Running Backs Coach (Gibson was also the Offensive Coordinator, a role that now belongs to Khari Jones) and Malone will replace Steve Buratto as Offensive Line Coach.

Worman brings a wealth of CFL knowledge, having served in multiple capacities with multiple teams, most notably as an Offensive Coordinator, most recently with the Edmonton Eskimos. Malone has over 30 years of experience, but none in the CFL.

The key for both of these gentlemen is to get the running game going, which was a weak spot, offensively, for the Cats in 2010. DeAndra' Cobb did not have the best of seasons (yes, he finished with decent stats, but anyone who actually watched the games knows he did not have a good year), and the O-Line seemed as if it was unaware of how to run block. If the running game can be fixed in 2011, the Cats' Offense will be downright lethal.

Secondly, it looks like the Tabbies will be "hosting" the Calgary Stampeders in Moncton in September.

The source article cites that "the [Tiger-Cats'] general manager let it slip during a radio interview earlier this year" that Hamilton would be the home team. I do not recall ever hearing this interview or hearing about this interview. If anyone of my loyal (or not-so-loyal) readers could please point me in the direction of this interview (or at least confirm it exists) I would be grateful.

Also, as was pointed out by one of my Twitter followers, the fact that the Cats will lose all nine home games in 2012 (with one or two possibly being played in Moncton), means that it is somewhat unfair to the fan base to lose one in 2011 as well. I do not have a problem with Hamilton playing in Moncton in 2011, but it should have been a home game for the Stamps, not the Cats. Since we are going to be deprived of an entire season's worth of games in 2012, we should at least have been given a full slate of games in 2011.

Cats in Moncton?

Don't worry, I'm not talking about the team moving there. So don't have a heart attack. But with the roaring success of this year's Touchdown Atlantic game between the Eskimos and Argonauts, there is already talk about who will play that game next year.

If rumours are to be believed, it looks like we Tiger-Cat fans will be losing a home game. While this is not confirmed at all (and probably won't be for some time), when the Tiger-Cats host the Calgary Stampeders next season, it won't be at Ivor Wynne.

I am not surprised by this at all. Toronto gave up a home game to play in Moncton this season, and the Cats are the logical next team to fly east. Calgary is notoriously a tough sell at the gate. Crowds are usually very low, among the lowest of any game all year, and it would make sense to take that game and sell out a stadium in the Maritimes.

While it would suck to lose a home game, what's good for the league is good for team. The rumours are probably accurate, and Touchdown Atlantic II will be between the Calgary Stampeders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

CFL Expansion: The Dream and the Realities

CFL expansion is always a hot-button topic among fans. A consensus is hardly ever reached on what cities would make the best candidates for expansion. While some cities seem unlikely (London, Windsor), others seem realistic (Quebec City, Moncton/Halifax), and still others seem all but guaranteed (Ottawa), the topic of expansion seems to bring about more opinions than there are people. This year's Touchdown Atlantic game in Moncton between the Toronto Argonauts and the Edmonton Eskimos has revitalized discussion among fans on possible expansion.

Being a huge fan of the CFL, I also have a very detailed opinion of how I hope the CFL will look one day in the not-so-distant future. I put extra emphasis on hope. I fully believe that my scenario is possible, but unlikely. First, I'll propose my dream scenario, and then I will submit for you the more realistic one. Don't worry, my dear reader, there are no U.S.-based teams to be found in either proposal. No one is silly enough to want to revisit that nightmare... I hope.

The Dream Scenario

I would one day love to see a 12-team, 3-division Canadian Football League. The divisions would be (expansion teams in bold):

West: BC, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatchewan
Central: Hamilton, London, Toronto, Winnipeg
East: Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City

As you can see, the CFL would expand to four new locales: London, Ontario; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Ottawa, Ontario; and Quebec City, Quebec.

This to me would be the perfect size for the CFL. Existing rivalries (Hamilton-Toronto, Edmonton-Calgary) could continue, and new ones could be created. Imagine the heat between Montreal and Quebec City. It could easily build on the bitter feelings brought out during the heyday of the Canadiens and Nordiques in the NHL. Hamilton and London could build up a nice rivalry as well.

In this plan every major region in Canada is represented. The CFL would truly be a Canadian league, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

The playoff format could allow for 8 teams to advance: the top two teams in each division, as well as two "wild card" teams being selected by record. This would rid the CFL of a bye week in the playoffs, as well as pave the way for Grey Cups that we haven't been able to see because of the current East-West playoff structure. Could you imagine a Hamilton-Toronto or Edmonton-Calgary Grey Cup? How cool would that be?

A CFL that has 12 teams, broken down into 3 divisions, would be great. I realize that this is not likely to occur any time in the near future, but this is my dream scenario.

The Realistic Scenario

Most likely, if the CFL was to expand, we'd see a 10-team, 2-division league, without any major changes to the playoff format. In this (more likely) proposal, the CFL would be configured as such (expansion teams in bold):

West: BC, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg
East: Halifax/Moncton, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto

I put Halifax/Moncton because the Touchdown Atlantic game this season is being played in Moncton, but Halifax has a much larger population, so they would be a good candidate to house a team. I can't choose which one would be better, so I just put both, mostly to hedge my bets. Ottawa, once again, springs up. It seems highly likely that we will see another 9-team CFL in the next 2 or 3 years, with Ottawa already being conditionally awarded a franchise in 2008.

The playoff format, which I drastically changed in my previous scenario, would stay the same way that it is currently constituted. Three teams from each division would make the playoffs, with the top seed in each division receiving a bye.

This scenario seems the most likely for a number of reasons. One, Ottawa is getting another team. That is happening sooner rather than later. Depending on the success of the Touchdown Atlantic game in September, Moncton or Halifax could have a team within the next 5-10 years.

But this option is more likely based on what is unlikely in my scenario, namely London getting a team. As much as it pains me to say it, the weak link, at least financially, in the CFL is Southern Ontario. The Argos and Tiger-Cats have trouble attracting fans and are consistently losing money. There are two reason I can think of as to why this occurs. First, the teams haven't been very good. The Argos have the worst combined record the past two seasons (winning a total of 7 games), and the Cats have been one of the worst teams in the CFL for the past decade. The 2009 season showed that the Cats might be back to being competitive, but how long that will last is anyone's guess. Second, and this strictly deals with Toronto, the CFL is seen as "small time" compared to the NFL. People in Toronto harbour delusions of grandeur that they will one day have an NFL franchise. It's a pipe dream, but one that the people in Toronto won't give up. These are the factors that make me believe that putting another team in Southern Ontario is unlikely. Why split an already small audience even further?

With all that said, it looks like the best we can all hope for is a 10-team league, which would be great, just not perfect.

The one wild card in all this Quebec City. The province of Quebec is a hotbed for football right now. Laval University and the University of Montreal have great football programs. The Alouettes, who play at Percival Molson Stadium on the campus of McGill University, consistently sell it out. Striking while the iron is hot and getting a team in the provincial capital of Quebec seems like a no-brainer. I wouldn't be surprised if one day a team is playing in Quebec City.

Would moving to an 11-team league force the CFL to consider expanding to one other location to even out the numbers? For years the CFL had 9 teams, so 11 wouldn't be weird by CFL standards, but I hope that looking for another possible place to play, to get the teams to an even 12, would be in the cards. Maybe, just maybe, my dream scenario will play out one day.

What are your thoughts? Do you enjoy the 8-team league? Are you opposed to any expansion? Do you have a place in Canada that you think would be better than the places I have proposed? Let me hear what you think.