THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 24, 1994 TAG: 9407240199
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
DATELINE: BALTIMORE LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
``The game is not boring,'' said a writer to my left in the Memorial Stadium press box. ``Even if you don't know the players, it's fun to watch.''
The writer had been in attendance at every Baltimore Colts football game, including exhibitions, from 1950 to 1983. ``Even the ones in Norfolk,'' he said.
The voice of authority was correct about the Canadian Football League game being played on this sticky Saturday night. It was not boring. And I didn't know the names of the players.
A week ago, Doug Flutie was in town to lead his Calgary team over Baltimore. This week, Forrest Gump could have been quarterbacking, for all anybody knew.
It was a CFL game between two American teams, Baltimore and Shreveport. If there was a Canadian in the place, he was not wearing his plaid shirt.
Of the two teams, Shreveport was the one with the nickname - Pirates. Because of a court injunction brought by the NFL, the home team is known as the Colts only in the hearts and imaginations of the fans.
This didn't stop the stadium P.A. announcer from having a little fun. ``That's a first down,'' he would boom, ``for the Baltimore CFL . . .''
And the fans would shout out, ``Colts!''
It was all part of a fun package that included the kind of wacky, wide-open football they've been playing north of the border for 102 years.
``You'll like it,'' Tom Matte, former Colt and part-owner of the Baltimore club, said before the game. ``It's faster, wider, quicker.''
At its most wide open, the CFL gives you a lot for your money, including two 50-yard lines and
those size-XXL end zones.
In the first quarter, Baltimore placekicker Donald Igwebuike missed a long field-goal attempt which Shreveport did not run out of the end zone. This gave the Baltimores a ``rouge'' - good for one point.
A rouge is no weirder to an American than the discovery that a team can have a first-and-10 on the 53.
The biggest adjustment for an NFL fan, though, may be the CFL's faster-paced game.
With only 20 seconds between plays, and with only three downs, the CFLers don't stand around posturing. John Madden, Dan Dierdorf and other manufacturers of hot gas would hate this league. Things happen too quickly.
The CFLers don't waste time - theirs or ours - testing the middle of the defensive line. Passes make up about 80 percent of the plays.
What's a safe lead in the CFL, someone familiar with the league was asked Saturday night.
``Thirty-five points with 2 1/2 minutes to play,'' he said.
How this potential for excitement translates into interest in the United States is still to be seen.
A few dozen short of 40,000 were on hand for Baltimore's home opener against Calgary.
For the Shreveport game, 31,172 watched Baltimore win, 40-24. That was 3,000 more than bore witness to the Baltimore NFL Colts' last home game.
``People are putting a helluva burden on Baltimore,'' said Matte. ``They feel that if we can be a success here - which we are - other teams can make it in the States, too.''
But it's too early to brand the franchise a success. You get the feeling that animosity toward the NFL is what's fueling much of the initial support for this fledgling team.
Turning out for CFL games is Baltimore's way of spiting the NFL and Colts owner Robert Irsay, the Mayflower pirate.
Here and there during lulls in Saturday's game, small pockets of fans shouted off-color remarks about Irsay. This, a decade after the Colts slipped out of town.
If support for the Baltimore Helmetheads is built on a foundation of hate, it can't last. We'll know more later. Until then, the CFL game, the one played on and off the field, shouldn't be boring. by CNB