Last week, for the first time, I attended a professional football game. Through a friend's courtesy I got to sit in a skybox and watch the 24 players run and throw tbe football up and down the 110 yards of field.
24 and not 22? 110 and not 100? Yes, as I was in Vancouver (the other one), watching the B.C. Lions defeat the Calgary Stampeders, 42 to 9, in a game which if not suspenseful was alawys exciting. The Lions play their home games in a basic concrete bowl close to downtown, covered with an inflatable top -- a series of tubular balloons sewn together to make a dome. "It deflated only once," said my host, "but no one was in the stadium at the time."
The CFL has two divisions, each with four teams. Six of the eight teams make the playoffs each year: in each division the no. 2 and 3 teams play each other. The winner plays the no. 1 team in the division. The two division playoff winners then play each other.
It occurred to me that Portland could satisfy its major league ambitions by seeking a CFL team. Besides giving our sporting activities an international air, we would also have a team that would make the playoffs most years. Even if the playoffs continued to be restricted to six teams we would make the playoffs two years of every three. And we might very well support the team with enthusiasm, if Vancouver's experience is a guide: each time the Lions scored a touchdown, the spectators stood up and sang the team fight song. Do fans of the Seahawks stand up and sing when the team scores?