“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” – Charles Darwin
View this post on Instagram
It is a natural tendency to be hesitant to accept change. When someone loves something, seeing a minor amendment to it can be frustrating. A major revision can initially be a shock to the system, leading to feelings of anger, betrayal, and sadness.
In sports, most changes go through that period; purists immediately balk at the change, feeling it’s making their league worse. In the CFL there was furor when the length of conversions was moved back to 32 yards, but the longer kicks have made that play a lot more interesting than the old 12-yard gimmes.
Hockey has become faster with the elimination of the centre red line for two-line passes, the NBA three-point line has led to countless comebacks that would have been impossible in a bygone era, while the initially dreaded pitch clock in baseball has won over the majority of fans.
On Monday, CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston announced several changes to the CFL game, revisions intended to encourage teams to chase touchdowns rather than settle for field goals.
View this post on Instagram
Toronto Argonauts general manager Michael “Pinball” Clemons has been around the league since first coming to Canada in 1989 as a player, then staying in the organization as a head coach, executive, and now GM.
Not surprisingly, the perpetually positive Clemons is excited by Monday’s news. When speaking with Argonauts.ca immediately after the announcement, he admitted that he still hadn’t had time to put all the pieces of the puzzle together but is always on board when trying to make the CFL product better.
“Your best is always good enough, but your best should get better,” said Clemons. “These are changes designed to make us better. That’s what I’m so excited about, to think about our game and how awesome it is, and now there’s a chance that we can make it better? I’ll be watching.”
He mentioned one positive aspect of the goalposts being moved is the elimination of an unintentional 13th defender.
“I had a pass heading my way once; I was open, and it hit the upright,” recalled Clemons.
Also waiting patiently for the league announcement was head coach Ryan Dinwiddie. The Elk Grove, California native is an offensive intellect, always looking for any minutiae of an opposing defence that will give his team an advantage.
With the rule tweaks created to enhance scoring, he’s eagerly looking forward to finding a way to best benefit from the changes.
“Any time our league looks into certain things I’m excited about it,” Dinwiddie told Argonauts.ca just after the announcement. “All of us understand what it is now, and we’ll make the adjustments. I’m glad they’re giving us some time to figure all that stuff out, but I’m totally on board.”
Perhaps the biggest offensive advantage to come out of these changes is the removal of the uprights from the playing surface, moving them from the goal line to the back of the end zone. When asked about how the goal posts have hindered his ability to use the full playbook, Dinwiddie’s reply was surprising in that he didn’t look at it from a red zone perspective.
“It’s funny they brought that up, I’ve never seen that brought up in the media since I’ve been in the CFL,” said the coach. “When we’re backed up in our end, inside our own 10 (yard line), pretty much I’m calling the ball to go to the boundary. It’s interesting, because as a play caller you make that decision and never think about it in the grand scheme of things, as far as how the defence operates.”
View this post on Instagram
Dinwiddie and his staff will have a full off-season to figure out how to best navigate some of the changes, two full off-seasons to study others. The coach was happy with the tweaks made, knowing that they were crafted to increase offence and make a night at the stadium more enjoyable for the majority of fans.
“We do have a great product, but at the same time we’ve got to continue to evolve, just like the world does.”
Much like his GM – and Darwin for that matter – Dinwiddie is fully behind anything that can make the CFL game better.