This is the B-Side to my last Sounding Off piece. This also has a football component and also saw strange but predictable social media pushback from people unhappy with change and true innovation.

What's Below

• New Changes to the CFL game.

• What To Do When The Internet Goes Down

• The Making of Tubby

• Congratulations Terry Evans, K-97 Edmonton.

• Best Thing I Listened To This Week

• Voice Over Work

New Changes to the CFL game.

Okay - so here are the changes. Starting in 2026, the CFL will roll out the first phase of its modernization plan — introducing a 35-second automatic play clock, benches on opposite sidelines, and a revised rouge rule that removes single points for kicks that sail out of bounds or through the end zone untouched.

Then in 2027, larger structural changes arrive: the field will shrink to 100 yards (from 110), end zones will be reduced to 15 yards (from 20), and goalposts will move to the back of the end zone.

The league says these updates will speed up the game, boost scoring, and improve safety and presentation, while critics argue they make the CFL feel a bit more like the NFL.

Let’s check to see who doesn’t get it:

Oh boy, okay. Lots to unpack here. Let’s start with why the CFL is doing this. Because they are broke. Seven of Nine CFL franchises are losing money. The League has zero social media presence unless a wacky rule makes the rounds, and an entire generation of Gen Z has grown up watching football like this on Sundays. (Spoiler: That’s my living room and they are all watching NFL)

The NFL Red Zone channel, dubbed the “A-D-D” football channel by my wife, is “7 hours of commercial free football”. Host Scott Hanson spends the afternoon jumping around from game to game:

• “Seven hours of commercial-free football starts now!” — his signature opening line every Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

• “We are inside the 20!” — announcing that a team has entered the red zone.

• “We’ve got action in…” — used when cutting to a new game with something exciting happening.

• “Every touchdown, from every game.” — Red Zone Tagline

• “Back to back to back!” — when three touchdowns happen in rapid succession.

• “Let’s take you there live!” — transition phrase before switching feeds.

• “This is why you watch RedZone!” — used during particularly wild sequences.

This channel was recently purchased by ESPN and the NFL, and will sadly feature the odd commercial. By comparison the CFL is literally doing TV the same way they did in 1990. So if you shorten the field, there’s more of a chance of seeing an end zone on the screen. And by moving the goal posts to the back, there is less of a chance of boring field goal. Even the NFL knows that kicking is boring and has been tinkering with it every year. So, pushing the goal posts back and reducing the chance of social-media coverage looking like this—is a good thing (The Rouge is not going away completely and will still exist)

Change is good people. Calm down. So long as the CFL remains 3 down football, it will always be Canadian.

What To Do When The Internet Goes Down

The AWS Outage earlier this week had the Podcast Superfriends thinking about what we do when our toys don’t work. Listen to the episode here.

The Making of Tubby

Alan Zweig's new podcast is called "Tubby". It's a unique show that explores conversations about weight, body image, and self-esteem, and not a typical self-help podcast. Together with Alan Black, (Left Of Dial Media) the show approaches the topic with authenticity and humour, focusing on storytelling rather than providing solutions.

We discussed the challenges of podcasting, the importance of originality, and how they want to create a show that resonates with dedicated listeners. They're committed to maintaining the podcast's unique voice and avoiding the generic, overly produced feel of many current podcasts. This is why they are on the show this week. It's something I feel a lot of people are forgetting when making a podcast.

Congratulations Terry Evans, K-97 Edmonton.

Best Thing I Listened To This Week

This is an episode from 2024 from 99% Invisible. (This also has an Edmonton component) I was reading about some of the political discourse on a friend’s Facebook page, and someone made reference to “15 Minute Cities” and how coo-coo crazy people believe it is designed by the government to limit your movement.

Me: “We just want a grocery store nearby.”

Idiots: “Soon they are going to make you pay to enter the city centre!”

Me: “You mean like last week when I took my car into NYC and it cost $11? You know that has been happening since the 70’s right?”

Anyhow - I am fascinated by how idiots think. I’d probably do better in life if I wondered how smart people think… but this is way more entertaining.

Voiceover Info Here

I am tearing down the studio, putting it into a box and moving it across the country. I can’t even tell you how uncomfortable this makes me feel. I literally just finished the studio before having to rip it all down and move. We are still recording emergency sessions with a back up mic. We should be all built up again around November 7. Wish me well.