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Slanted first-down line on Thursday's CFL broadcast gets international attention

Slanted first-down line on Thursday's CFL broadcast gets international attention

We all know Canadian football's different, and that Thursday Night Football in particular is trying to be an especially different broadcast, but graduated first-down lines? That seems to be just going too far. Here's what appeared on the TSN broadcast (simulcast on ESPN2 and WatchESPN in the U.S.) near the end of the third quarter in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-13 win over the B.C. Lions Thursday night:

The line was right for the majority of the game, but that's still a pretty funny error to see, even if it was only around for a limited time. If this did actually happen, it would make for really different football tactics, too. If you had less distance to go for a first down on one side of the field, would you flood that side with receivers, or would you expect that the defence would anticipate that and call a play to the longer side? Or would they anticipate that you were anticipating them, send guys to the longer side, and have the whole thing only resolved by an immunity to iocane powder? Sadly, we'll never know, as this was merely a technical glitch.

Still, at least this got the CFL some attention, and it made for a good laugh. It wasn't even Thursday's worst performance, either. That dubious honour goes to the slumping Lions and their propensity for turnovers. Even the slanted first-down lines weren't enough to help them...

[H/T: Awful Announcing]