CFL Football Betting: The Balls are Bigger
by Bodog Sportsbook | Nov 17 2009
The
Canadian Football League still matters, and we've got the online football betting market to prove it.
It's been a long time since the CFL's heyday in the late 1970s, when crowds of over 50,000 were showing up at Montreal's new Olympic Stadium and Toronto's newly expanded Exhibition Stadium. Since then, the spread of cable television has drawn eyeballs, revenue and talent away to the NFL, and to other pastimes. But the
CFL remains the No. 2 football league in North America with enough cachet to draw about 30,000 for a typical game and more for the playoffs - which is where we're at right now.
And yes, the CFL is a viable marketplace for handicapping, as well. Business is brisk at the start of the season in July and August, while the NFL is still dormant, and it picks up again for the postseason. Make sure to visit Bodog Sports for this weekend's football odds; we're at the “Division final” stage with four teams left in contention for the Grey Cup, which is celebrating its 100th year of existence.
The first semifinal (Sunday, 1:05 p.m. ET) features the
Montreal Alouettes hosting the
British Columbia Lions. The Alouettes were the top team in the league during the 18-game regular season at 15-3. They play in the East Division; the Lions finished last in the four-team West at 8-10, but that was good enough to get into the playoffs, where they beat the 9-9 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 34-27 in overtime this past Sunday to advance to the next round. Montreal earned the bye week as the No. 1 seed in the East.
The Alouettes can lay claim to being the best CFL team of the 2000s, reaching the Grey Cup six times (including last year) and winning once in 2002. The one constant has been quarterback Anthony Calvillo, a former Utah State standout who has been in the CFL since 1994 and in Montreal since 1998. Calvillo was last year's Most Outstanding Player for the second time, and he's in line to win his third after throwing a league-high 26 TD passes with just six interceptions.
The Lions have also been blessed with excellent quarterbacks this past decade, reaching the Grey Cup three times and winning twice, most recently beating the Alouettes in 2006. But the QB position has been something of a revolving door due to injuries and the lure of playing (or at least holding a clipboard) in the NFL. The man under center this Sunday will be Casey Printers, the 2004 league MOP who spent 2006 on the Kansas City Chiefs roster before returning to the CFL the following year. Printers was inactive in 2009 before signing with the Lions in October; he looked like his old self against Hamilton, going 24-for-35 for 360 yards and a TD with zero picks.
Printers gives the Lions a puncher's chance this Sunday in Montreal, but B.C.'s porous offensive line is likely to get flooded by the Alouettes defense. The West final (Sunday, 4:35 p.m. ET) figures to be a closer affair between the
Calgary Stampeders and the host
Saskatchewan Roughriders, each finishing the regular season with a record of 10-7-1. The Roughriders earned the No. 1 seed by beating Calgary twice and tying once. The Stampeders advanced by downing the 9-9 Edmonton Eskimos 24-21 on Sunday.
The Roughriders are experiencing something of a renaissance after spending most of the last 30 years roaming the prairie in frustration. They've enjoyed three straight winning seasons since hiring Eric Tillman as their GM, including a Grey Cup win in 2007 - their first since 1989 and only their third since joining the league in 1910. This year's team isn't overflowing with talent, but there are no glaring weaknesses either, and returner Jason Armstead gives the Riders an advantage on special teams - even more important in the CFL with all that extra room to roam.
The Stampeders, on the other hand, are an all-for-nothing proposition. Their defense is vulnerable, and on offense, they have venerable QB Henry Burris, who has been in the league since 1998. Burris threw 22 TD passes this year, but also 16 picks. Complementing Burris at running back is MOP candidate Joffrey Reynolds (1,504 rushing yards at 6.4 yards per carry), who gives Calgary stability on offense and a chance to win any matchup.
