Todd: CFL flushes breathtaking athleticism with bad calls, gambling

The game is called “FOOT-ball.” The Canadian variety of the sport, to be specific. (Or American, if CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston has his way.) Article content

Football, on this continent, is a violent game. It is distinguished from the sham violence of soccer, the grinding violence of rugby or the mayhem of Aussie rules football, which is what you get when you dress a hundred juvenile delinquents in short shorts and turn them loose on a field the size of Canberra. Article content Article content

There are three main pillars of football: gambling, violence and occasional breathtaking athleticism.

Of late, the gambling element has taken over. It was rubbed in our face constantly during Sunday night’s hit-and-miss Grey Cup telecast on TSN. When the signal wasn’t blacking out, it w