Football: Calgary coach Nill imagines national interlock

Blake Nill, like of a lot of us, is more of a "Why not? person than a "why?" The Calgary Dinos coach mentioned that he would love to see Canada West introduce regular-season interlocking games. Coincidentally, Huskies Football Outsider is also running a series outlining how it's possible to have an interlock.

Nill nailed it comments related by the Saskatoon StarPhoenix:
"I think CIS football, in the time I've been coaching, has improved so much ... The systems have improved, the coaching has improved, the conditioning has improved. It's to the point where it's a legitimate entertainment value and an entertainment product. I just want to see us reach our potential before my time comes and goes.

"I want to see stadiums with a lot more people in them, I want to see national interlocks, all that stuff. It's a product that can generate revenue for schools, and it's a product that can be marketed. If you were witness to the two games (Calgary) played here (vs. Saskatchewan) this year, you'd say that, too."
There's a lot of entrenched thinking to overcome, in all regions of the country. However, if you want the media to pay attention during the regular season, you need to sell good matchups between the best teams, which likely means creating a national interlocking schedule.

A lot of people seem delighted the Yates Cup averaged 130,000 viewers and peaked at 200,000 during a tense fourth quarter, but that seems like settling. Remember, the new PPM (personal people meter) system means every televised sport is setting records (Chris Zelkovich, Sports Media Watch) on a weekly basis.

The Score averaged 108,000 viewers for its first University Rush telecast on Sept. 12. In a sense, they didn't pick up a ton of viewers over a 10-week run, despite getting good games almost every week (their Sept. 26, Oct. 3 and Oct. 17 games were all in doubt until the final seconds).

This is an old blog trope, but it bears repeating: A next step is having a premiership carved out of AUS, OUA and QSSF schools (a "Big East"). There could be two other divisions for second-tier and expansion programs that would be equivalent to the NCAA's MAC or Sun Belt, still with a theoretical chance of winning the national championship, which about all several teams have presently.

Remember, tried-and-true is an anagram for tired-and-true. Someone please inform the right people.
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