I've bet the CFL for 26 years and watched hundreds of games, including many in person, primarily in Winnipeg, Montreal and the short lived Las Vegas team during the '90s.
I really think you guys are overstating the caliber of play in the league. I would have bet the NFL Europe teams in a heart beat over CFL teams, and that goes triple for the UFL, which was very impressive last year.
Bottom line; a 3 down pass oriented league is too soft, just like a 3 point shooting basketball league is too soft. Don't make the analysis too complicated.
BTW, the greatest spread covering play I've ever seen was Calgary returning a punt for a TD to cover against Las Vegas, long after time expired. Calgary was something like -11 and led by several points less than that when Las Vegas punted, for some inane reason, with a few seconds remaining. The Calgary return man caught the ball near the right sideline at about his 45. He initially headed right, like he was going to tamely end the game by running out of bounds. Then he reversed field suddenly and picked up a convoy. You could hear the stunned reaction in the crowd, particularly from the gamblers and also the huge Calgary section. They must have traveled 2000 to the game, all sitting together in a sea of red. The return man picked up one block after another, like Miami's famous Dick Anderson play, and scored at least 10 seconds after time had expired. The Sam Boyd Stadium crowd wasn't big but gad was it loud and rowdy after that play. Guys were literally tumbling down rows in disbelief, calling it either the worst beat of their lives or the luckiest win. The Calgary fans were rejoicing, many jumping up and down, saying the play paid for their trip.
