A Passing Game: A History of the Cfl

Frank Cosentino's title "A Passing Game: A History of the CFL" should ideally be taken figuratively, not literally, as a tongue-in-cheek narrative of the history of the operating of the CFL during a 30-year period (roughly 1965-1995). It is a third person "behind the scenes" viewpoint which mostly takes us into the boardrooms and executive offices, as opposed to the football field itself. The book is so clear with anecdotes that it seems as if the author attended all thesemeetings...and perhaps he did. If you're looking for game descriptions in great detail, this is not your book; see Stephen Thiele's "Heroes of the Game: History of the Grey Cup" instead. There one will no doubt find descriptions of the CFL as a three-down "Passing Game." But if you're a tried and true CFLer, you'll love this book; you'll understand at the end that Canadian Football indeed may be a game whose time has passed. It was amazing to me that hardly any of the team owners had any business or marketing sense in the operations of their respective teams and the league. Profits were low, if at all, the crowds were small, the players were underappreciated and the owners were inept. There was, and still is, little merchandising; try to find a CFL jersey in a U.S. sporting goods store. There is so much detail, very interesting detail nonetheless, about the operations (or lack thereof) of the CFL that the playoff and Grey Cup games are relegated to often one-paragraph honorable mentions. Bankruptcies, failures, inferiority complexes (to the NFL) and expansion are covered in great detail including the overriding issue of non-import (Canadian player)quotas which is discussed ad nauseum. Ultimately what has doomed the CFL, made it a "passing" game hearkening back to another era has been its inability to remain CANADIAN. Their rules, their game is a lot more exciting than the NFL; it's more like the old AFL with 60+ passes a game, on a longer & wider field with only 3 downs to make 10 yards. The end result is that by failing to trumpet the purely Canadian aspect of their game, steeped in prairie tradition, the priest and undertaker have been called in more than twice to administer the last rites. How the league survived I'll never know but may they continue ad infinitum, with expansion to the Maritimes and back to the capital, Ottawa. Long live the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Winnepeg Blue Bombers and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, etc...Thanks, Frank, for this inside story. Despite any criticisms, I enjoyed your book and recommend it for CFL purists!

When I first saw this book I debated whether or not to buy it. I thankfully chose to buy it. It is the best sports book that I have ever read. It is filled with teriffic antecdotes that are sometimes very funny. I highly recommend this book even if you are not a CFL fan

This book truly hit the spot and is one of the best books that I have read this summer. A+