CPL General

[narduch]

5 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Seems those rankings privilege previous form, don't take into account current tables, and are hard to budge. And that Leagues Cup wasn't factored in at all. Or Open Cup. Or Voyageurs Cup.

Maybe it'll adjust better by mid December.

Well Inter Miami are ranked 18th. They would probably be closer to TFC without the Leagues Cup win.

[Kent]

6 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Seems those rankings privilege previous form, don't take into account current tables, and are hard to budge. And that Leagues Cup wasn't factored in at all. Or Open Cup. Or Voyageurs Cup.

Maybe it'll adjust better by mid December.

From the original announcement of the rankings.

"As a starting point for the new ranking, the region’s men’s clubs have been ranked based on their results since 2017 in the following official international and domestic club competitions:

• Concacaf Champions League
• Concacaf Regional Cups (Leagues Cup, Central American Cup, and Caribbean Cup)
• Domestic first division professional league
• Member Association Cups (which qualify for Concacaf competitions)
• FIFA Club World Cup"

So it does take into account the Leagues Cup, US Open Cup, Voyageurs Cup, and many more. It works in the same way as FIFA rankings. It will definitely lag behind things like the league table. I'm not sure how to measure how difficult it is for rankings to change.

[Trois Reds]

9 hours ago, Kent said:

From the original announcement of the rankings.

"As a starting point for the new ranking, the region’s men’s clubs have been ranked based on their results since 2017 in the following official international and domestic club competitions:

• Concacaf Champions League
• Concacaf Regional Cups (Leagues Cup, Central American Cup, and Caribbean Cup)
• Domestic first division professional league
• Member Association Cups (which qualify for Concacaf competitions)
• FIFA Club World Cup"

So it does take into account the Leagues Cup, US Open Cup, Voyageurs Cup, and many more. It works in the same way as FIFA rankings. It will definitely lag behind things like the league table. I'm not sure how to measure how difficult it is for rankings to change.

From what I've read, CONCACAF uses a ranking system similar to ELO. it's updated every Monday. CPL league games seem to give between +/- 3 points, MLS +/- 5. I'm assuming the playoffs would be weighted higher?

The Central American Cup QF seem to be worth more, there were clubs gaining or losing 10 points this week.

[narduch]

TSN will literally cover any sport instead of our domestic league.

 

 

[SpursFlu]

34 minutes ago, narduch said:

TSN will literally cover any sport instead of our domestic league.

 

 

It's on TSN so yah its mainstream buddy boy. Not like Soccer. Who the hell likes and plays that in Canada?

[gwsmith63]

29 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

It's on TSN so yah its mainstream buddy boy. Not like Soccer. Who the hell likes and plays that in Canada?

John and Terry?

Not to be confused with John Terry. 

Edited October 11, 2023 by gwsmith63

[Ansem]

Sportsnet is showing highlights of the 2 CPL playoffs games

That's a good start!

Edited October 15, 2023 by Ansem

[MtlMario]

Wonder if there's anything behind this?

11 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Sportsnet is showing highlights of the 2 CPL playoffs games

That's a good start!

 

[Kent]

Just beat me to it @Ansem. I saw it too and just posted it to the OneSoccer thread. Was going to post it here too. Great to see!!! I can't confirm or deny if TSN did the same.

[shermanator]

 

[narduch]

 

 

[xcalibre]

I like the idea of every playoff team getting a home game, but basing the entire playoff format around it seems a bit much - especially when it involves these weird outcomes like the losing playoff team getting a second chance. It should be easy to quickly explain the playoff system IMO

[Shway]

2 hours ago, xcalibre said:

I like the idea of every playoff team getting a home game, but basing the entire playoff format around it seems a bit much - especially when it involves these weird outcomes like the losing playoff team getting a second chance. It should be easy to quickly explain the playoff system IMO

I actually like this format. 

In the case of Cavalry it reaffirms the importance of winning the shield. They've earned the "chance".

Now if it was Forge getting that second chance, the conversation could be different considering how close 2nd and 3rd was. 

[Cheeta]

4 hours ago, xcalibre said:

I like the idea of every playoff team getting a home game, but basing the entire playoff format around it seems a bit much - especially when it involves these weird outcomes like the losing playoff team getting a second chance. It should be easy to quickly explain the playoff system IMO

I'm 100% OK with it and I don't think it's that complicated either.  I love how it really, really does emphasize the importance of the league standings since those are used for the seeding in this end-of-year tournie.  I guess all playoffs are a tournie of sorts but you get the point.  I'm not calling it playoffs and neither should the CPL.  Maybe it's just optics but this format is unique enough in NA they should spin it as something else.  The Canadian Premier League has a champion, it's Cavalry FC of Calgary.  But it's Canada, we want an end of season tournie and hopefully some drama to go with it.  So lets have one.  

And I hope CPL doesn't call it playoffs in the future either.  The CPL should go out and try to get a sponsor for it.  Hell, they probably already are.  The Canadian Tire North Star Cup has a ring to it. 

Few basketball fans on here.  I'm not one but doesn't that March Madness tournament have a convoluted structure?  Have that in my head somehow.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rkomar]

Yes, this same format (the Page playoff format) shows up in basketball and also in curling.

[xcalibre]

9 hours ago, Cheeta said:

I'm 100% OK with it and I don't think it's that complicated either.  I love how it really, really does emphasize the importance of the league standings since those are used for the seeding in this end-of-year tournie.  I guess all playoffs are a tournie of sorts but you get the point.  I'm not calling it playoffs and neither should the CPL.  Maybe it's just optics but this format is unique enough in NA they should spin it as something else.  The Canadian Premier League has a champion, it's Cavalry FC of Calgary.  But it's Canada, we want an end of season tournie and hopefully some drama to go with it.  So lets have one.  

And I hope CPL doesn't call it playoffs in the future either.  The CPL should go out and try to get a sponsor for it.  Hell, they probably already are.  The Canadian Tire North Star Cup has a ring to it. 

Few basketball fans on here.  I'm not one but doesn't that March Madness tournament have a convoluted structure?  Have that in my head somehow. 

I don't think most fans, sponsors, players, coaches or league employees would agree that these aren't playoffs, or that Cavalry are the CPL champ for that matter. But hey, it's like literature right, all about how the reader interprets it

[SpursFlu]

On 10/15/2023 at 8:30 AM, Ansem said:

Sportsnet is showing highlights of the 2 CPL playoffs games

That's a good start!

Would love to see something being worked out for the final to be shown on Sportsnet. Where there is a will there's a way

[K Edgar]

[Cheeta]

^ Not too shabby of a trio.  League is well represented there.

[red card]

4 hours ago, SpursFlu said:

Would love to see something being worked out for the final to be shown on Sportsnet. Where there is a will there's a way

CPL didn't schedule it to be on SN. Second half of the Final overlaps with SN/SN Now showing World Series Game 2, Raptors game and 4 Canadian teams in HNIC games. Too much content for SN's 3 linear channels that 2 of the hockey games are only on CBC & Citytv.

For TSN, it overlaps with the last 2 games of the CFL season, US college football and a MLS playoff game.

[SpursFlu]

38 minutes ago, red card said:

CPL didn't schedule it to be on SN. Second half of the Final overlaps with SN/SN Now showing World Series Game 2, Raptors game and 4 Canadian teams in HNIC games. Too much content for SN's 3 linear channels that 2 of the hockey games are only on CBC & Citytv.

For TSN, it overlaps with the last 2 games of the CFL season, US college football and a MLS playoff game.

Sportnet World? Just need to bump the Gold Coast Sharks vs Mckenzie City Bohemians Aussie Rules Football test match. It will be a real craka

Edited October 17, 2023 by SpursFlu

[Watchmen]

1 hour ago, red card said:

CPL didn't schedule it to be on SN. Second half of the Final overlaps with SN/SN Now showing World Series Game 2, Raptors game and 4 Canadian teams in HNIC games. Too much content for SN's 3 linear channels that 2 of the hockey games are only on CBC & Citytv.

For TSN, it overlaps with the last 2 games of the CFL season, US college football and a MLS playoff game.

And there's no real point to Sporstnet World or TSN+. At that point, you're just back on an additional pay/streaming service.

[Kent]

21 hours ago, Cheeta said:

I'm 100% OK with it and I don't think it's that complicated either.  I love how it really, really does emphasize the importance of the league standings since those are used for the seeding in this end-of-year tournie.  I guess all playoffs are a tournie of sorts but you get the point.  I'm not calling it playoffs and neither should the CPL.  Maybe it's just optics but this format is unique enough in NA they should spin it as something else.  The Canadian Premier League has a champion, it's Cavalry FC of Calgary.  But it's Canada, we want an end of season tournie and hopefully some drama to go with it.  So lets have one.  

And I hope CPL doesn't call it playoffs in the future either.  The CPL should go out and try to get a sponsor for it.  Hell, they probably already are.  The Canadian Tire North Star Cup has a ring to it. 

Few basketball fans on here.  I'm not one but doesn't that March Madness tournament have a convoluted structure?  Have that in my head somehow.

I'm not sure how this isn't playoffs. From Merriam-Webster. "a series of contests played after the end of the regular season to determine a championship". The CPL playoffs are a series of contests, and it's played after the end of the regular season, and it determines a championship. Check, check, and check.

[Bison44]

Shhhhh, if they want to call it something else to keep people from bitching, let them.  

[phil03]

I am biased because I suspect I am less attached to the European leagues than many here but my take on the playoffs vs regular season debate is that you've got to work with the fans and potential fans you have, not the one you'd ideally like.

Both the CPL and the MLS have done their best to make the regular season title mean more in their league then it does in leagues of other sports in Canada and the US. They have done this because ''this is how its done'' in the biggest Soccer leagues in the world and they wanted to align themselves with them to some degree in that sense.

The issue is that, to paraphrase one of the previous poster, this is North America and sports fans tend to be steeped in a North American sporting culture, where after a regular season you have playoffs and the winner of the playoffs is your actual champion. Attempts to make fans see it differently to some extent have only met with mitigated success, with fans in general in both CPL and MLS arguably caring more about the places in CONCACAF soccer coming with them than the actual trophies, although for both leagues you have a minority of fans who'd beg to differ. This means its likely that media, sponsors, and ultimately the teams themselves will keep seeing things that way, regardless of how both leagues try to present things.

And you know what? I don't think there is anything wrong with that! Obviously, we should take inspiration of what worked elsewhere but at the end of the day the CPL is a Canadian league and IMO its perfectly normal how it is structured is influenced by its wider sports environment. We ought to embrace that and make it part of the league's culture instead of seeing it as a bad thing IMO.

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by phil03