Canadian Football Might Have The Dumbest Rule In Sports And It Decided A Game Last Night

I've always been fascinated by Canadian football. I never really watch it, but it's the idea that intrigues me.

It's like if you explained American football to an alien and then set them loose to try to replicate it for themselves. The idea is there, but there's something totally off about it. 

12 players, 3 downs, the field dimensions are messed up, the goalposts are in the wrong spot, and for a long time there was one team called the Rough Riders and another called the Roughriders.

Sure, I'm well aware that Canada — specifically McGill University — played a big role in the development of football, but to a lot of Americans, our version of the game gets it right.

And that couldn't be more clear when you see how a Canadian football rule can ruin the end of a game.

Also known as a "single," a rouge awards a team a single point if they kick or punt a ball into the endzone and it isn't returned. That includes drilling it out the back of the endzone, as was the case on Thursday night between the Toronto Argonauts and Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The game was knotted at 19-19, and here in the States, that would mean a team kicking a last-gasp field goal for the win.

That's exciting.

But it's less exciting when the kicking team can miss the field goal and still win.

That's what happened.

Seriously? But getting excited about winning something because of a missed field goal feels very on-brand for Trudeau's Canada.

Lirim Hajrullahu of the Toronto Argonauts celebrates kicking the game-winning point by way of a "rouge" against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  (Photo by John E. Sokolowski/Getty Images)

The Single Is The Single Dumbest Rule In Sports

If you can win a game like this, why even try to put a kick on target? Do what I've done any time I have to shoot a basketball. Throw it up here as hard as you can and pray it hits the backboard.

No finesse, no accuracy; just boot the Canadian pigskin threw the back of the endzone and into the next province for all anyone cares.

This rule led to the lowest-scoring game in league history when in 1966 the Ottawa Rough Riders (not to be confused with the Roughriders; c'mon Canada…) defeated the Montreal Alouettes by a score of 1-0 in 1966 thanks to a single that was awarded because of a missed field goal.

If I were at that game I'd be demanding my loonies and toonies back because that's ridiculous.

Apparently, there have been movements over the years to get this play taken out of the game, but that hasn't gained any traction.

On a related note, do we think Don Cherry loves the rouge or hates the rouge? I think there are cases on both fronts. The man is a proud Canadian so maybe he'd like it because it's a rule unique to the Great White North. 

On the flip side, an old-school coach with a love of gaudy suits doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would like to see a team rewarded for missing a field goal.

Let me know what you think, and let me know if you think there are any rules in sports dumber than this one: mattreigleoutkick@gmail.com