@realcaseyrollins Dunno if this would appeal but the USports playoffs are ongoing. This week (Loney Bowl, Yates Cup, Dunsmore Cup, Hardy Cup) is wrapping up by now but there's still a quarter to go with Laval over Montreal 17-14, so that might still be interesting. Next Saturday are the Uteck and Mitchell Bowls, Vanier Cup the week following.
Is that football? Where can I watch it?
@realcaseyrollins It's Canadian football (three downs, wider field, *much* better punting rules). The main carrier is TVA but you can usually find a bootleg stream if you poke around
@realcaseyrollins good on you for the integrity! There's a paid service but I don't know that I'd recommend that at this point - maybe if you liked it and wanted to subscribe for a season or something.
Yeah good point…I’m thinking that I might be willing to pay for #ESPNPlus, when I’m on my own, but not much else tbh. I don’t mind paying for stuff if I can own it, but I’m trying to kill off my subscription services except #Spotify. My friends shut off our shared #HBOMax account to save money, so all I have left to get rid of is #Hulu.
@realcaseyrollins the Vanier Cup (national championship) in two weeks will be broadcast on CBC, which is free. Sometimes you need a Canadian VPN to access their streaming service, but I don't think there's an American rights holder for this event so my guess is that CBC won't geofence it.
@realcaseyrollins for a taste, here's highlights of the Dunsmore Cup (Quebec conference championship) with English commentary.
By way of explanation, in Canada the goalposts are at the front of the endzone, like pre-1960s American placement. What would be a touchback on a missed field goal, punt, or kickoff* in US ball is a 'rouge' in Canadian football, worth a single point to the kicking team. Usually they're accidentally scored when the kicking team overshoots while trying to pin the opposition deep.
* On a kickoff, a rouge can't be scored if the ball goes out of bounds without being touched.
@realcaseyrollins yeah, rough equivalents:
CFL = NFL
USports = NCAA
RSEQ = SEC
That video is from the RSEQ championship - tomorrow the winners, Laval, are playing another conference's champions in the Mitchell Bowl, which serves as a semifinal for the USports championship in the same way the Fiesta and Peach Bowls do for the NCAA championship.
They play university football according to Canadian rules which vary slightly from the CFL's, the same way that NCAA and NFL rules both play by American rules but differ in certain details.
@realcaseyrollins I think the championship next week will be on CBC, which is often free to stream in the US if there's not a separate American rights holder whose territory they have to respect. But for regular season games, streaming subscriptions based on conference seem to be the way it's done.
Ah that’s cool! Almost like here in America with #CFB except some less important games are free because there aren’t enough cable channels to carry them all.
@realcaseyrollins Turns out today's semifinal games are also on CBC, and not geofenced.
Uteck Bowl, 12PM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=NivmI_IxffA
Mitchell Bowl, 3PM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jq6N1TsOmY
Ah that’s cool! That makes sense!
And the only way to watch it is through a #Canada-based streaming service or subscription?