Randy’s Road Trip is underway as the CFL commissioner visits all nine CFL markets plus Halifax.
In his first stops, you’ve heard about Randy Ambrosie wanting a guaranteed starter spot for an international player in the future, further pushing the CFL 2.0 global initiative. This should surprise no one. But this is likely two or three years away, because as the scouting internationally improves, so will the talent.
What really caught my attention was a potential change to the playoff format that would see the first-place teams in the West and East divisions get byes and then the next four teams be seeded no matter their location, meaning if the East is bad — as it has been lately — you could see two western teams host games on semifinal weekend.
The twist is this: The first-place team would then get to choose its next opponent. Could you imagine Hamilton publicly announcing whether it’d play Edmonton or Winnipeg in the East final last year? Instant bulletin-board material for the visitor!
While I think the choice of your opponent twist is a little bit silly, I feel optimistic that maybe the CFL brass is starting to see the light that the current playoff format is flawed and needs upheaval.