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a, Features

Investigating journalism

by Mayaz Alam on

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It’s no secret that the landscape of the journalism industry is profoundly different than it was at the start of the 21st century. The prevalence of the internet has fundamentally altered the way in which people consume print journalism; consequently, it has eroded both circulation and advertising, the primary revenue streams for publications.

These changes have been felt in a different way on university campuses. For example, the University of Ottawa has suspended its journalism program for another year, while Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia closed its journalism school in 2012. Elsewhere, many schools are eschewing the term ‘journalism’ in favour of ‘media’ or ‘communication’ as part of a rebranding effort. Many student publications have also struggled to keep up-to-date with digital industry trends, even though the majority of students consume the news in an interactive, online manner. According to a 2012 survey, 37 per cent of college newspapers within the United States did not have a website in 2012.

The ‘McGill School of Journalism’ is not undergoing a drastic overhaul because no such school exists, nor has it ever. In Montreal, McGill stands as the exception: UQÀM, Concordia, and Université de Montréal—the other three universities in the city—all have undergraduate journalism programs. However, the aforementioned programs are part of a grand total of only 11 programs Canada-wide—in a nation of 98 degree-granting universities.

Although McGill does not currently have a journalism program, it has had a rich history of undergraduate student publications that have stepped in to fill the void. The resulting mosaic has created an extremely diverse group of news publications that have evolved over time.

The McGill Daily, the oldest of the current on-campus publications, was created in 1911 as a daily sports paper. As The Daily’s relationship with the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) became increasingly contentious,  The Daily sought independence from SSMU.

“Over the years […] the shape of the paper has changed quite a bit,” said Dana Wray, coordinating editor of The Daily. “But even [in] the ’60s and ’70s, The Daily was covering issues that were considered to be controversial and not mainstream. In the ’70s, we covered International Women’s Day. In the ’80s, we created the gay-lesbian supplement […] so it’s been in its current form for decades now.”

Le Délit, The Daily’s sister publication, shares an office and management with the Daily Publications Society. The French-language newspaper was founded in 1977 by The Daily’s bilingual editorial board. Le Délit faced scrutiny from within the larger McGill community in its initial stages.

“We take it for granted now, but the idea of having an all-francophone newspaper on campus was something quite big back then,” explained Joseph Boju, rédacteur en chef of Le Délit. “The Daily received letters of support, but also aggressive statements, such as [a] letter signed by an irate mother predicting the destruction of ‘the best university of the province’ because of the francophone minority. Since then, Le Délit hasn’t stopped publishing its issue once a week, advocating for francophone students on campus.”

Following The Daily’s independence referendum in 1981, SSMU created the McGill Tribune, which was founded in 1981 to serve as SSMU Council’s student newspaper. In 2010, the Tribune became completely independent as it sought greater editorial freedom.

More recently, the Faculties of Engineering and Management have established faculty-specific publications in an attempt to cater to students within those fields. The Plumber’s Ledger, which evolved from an Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) newsletter, reached its current magazine form in Fall 2012. Although The Ledger is still young, a long history of publications—comedic and otherwise—exists within the Faculty of Engineering.

“The history of The Plumber’s Ledger begins with the history of The Plumber’s Pot, a publication that was there for 30 years or so,” explained Luis Pombo, editor-in-chief of The Plumber’s Ledger. “They crossed the line […] back in the day and The Plumber’s Faucet, which was a serious publication back then, moved to a more satirical stance.”

The Ledger is still struggling to make a large dent outside of its faculty, but steps are being taken by expanding distribution to more on-campus locations. Within the Faculty of Engineering, however, The Ledger represents the interests and needs of members of the EUS.

“Outside of the faculty […] it’s a relatively unknown publication, but we are looking to change that,” Pombo said. “Within, I think the majority of the people see us as the engineering voice on campus and see it as a publication that reflects their views.”

The Bull and Bear, which is funded and published by the Management Undergraduate Society (MUS), can also trace its roots back to a faculty-specific newsletter. Since 2003, when it became an official publication, it has served to provide writing training, greater coverage of management-related issues, and a different perspective on campus issues for management students.

“There’s been a huge discussion within the faculty that management students don’t get enough writing training, and [The Bull and Bear] became an outlet for students,” said Max Feinsot, executive editor of The Bull and Bear.

As magazines that publish once a month, both The Bull and Bear and The Plumber’s Ledger produce a different type of content compared to a weekly newspaper. For Pombo, this means that there is more room to experiment with different types of articles.

“The fact that we have such diverse content every month really works well,” Pombo said. “We do a lot of features and that definitely helps in setting us apart. We also have short stories every month, which I don’t think any other major publication does.”

With five major news publications on campus and a myriad of other journals and newsletters, McGill’s print media might seem fragmented to the average student. Wray acknowledges that this situation may pose an interesting quandary for a first-year student who is surrounded by five different campus news sources, but notes that the landscape of media at McGill has become one of the university’s strengths.

“The diversity of journalism on campus is one of the strongest things about McGill,” Wray said. “You really don’t see that [on] other university campuses. I think that it’s excellent that there are these very different newspapers where students can really find their place to shine.”

Boju notes that the presence of five different publications could possibly cause competition; even though all have their respective niche, each is attempting to convince students and advertisers that their publication is the one to read.

“We are more than happy that there are several newspapers at McGill,” Boju said. “It’s a ‘healthy competition,’ as people say, though we don’t see it as a competition because we differ in coverage. There is something quite extraordinary on this campus: It doesn’t have a journalism program and [yet] it produces more newspapers than any campus in [Montreal].”

Journalism is a changing industry, and on-campus publications are facing many of the struggles that their real world counterparts face. The future of journalism will undoubtedly look and feel very different from the past. Pombo sees the media at our fingertips with the proliferation of mobile apps and Jenny Shen, the editor-in-chief of the McGill Tribune, understands that digital media will become more and more prominent, prompting publications to look inwards.

“We’ll all have to re-evaluate what our intents are in terms of what our purpose on campus is so that even as we move online, we don’t forget our campus readership,” Shen said.

Feinsot, along with the others interviewed, hopes that print publications will still play a role on campus 10 years from now, but acknowledges that the ability to attract readers will have to change.

“There will be more digital offerings […] and more electronic interactivity,” Feinsot explained. “I hope that they all don’t go down the […] route of becoming promotional pieces. There’s money in it—but it’s dirty money.”

McGill doesn’t have an undergraduate journalism program. Instead, students have worked to develop a fabric of campus journalism that stands as an exception both within Quebec and Canada at large. Students have been thrust into leadership positions and tasked with managing large publications.

At times they have caused controversy, but as a whole, McGill’s student journalists’ independence from the administration has emboldened the nature and quality of campus media. The lack of a journalism program should be viewed as a positive; it has resulted in a diverse and robust campus journalism landscape that enables students to consume and participate with the news from diverse viewpoints. In many ways, the ‘McGill School of Journalism’ has had classes for more than a century now—and class is undoubtedly still in session.

a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Album Review: Aphex Twin – Syro

by Clark Bray on

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In early September, Richard James, aka Aphex Twin, teased his eager fan base with the release of his new album’s first track, “minipops 67 [120.2].” The song’s resonant kick-drum harmony reminded me of Moderat’s crowd-pleasing 2009 single, “Rusty Nails,” which lead me to believe that Syro was going to be James’ attempt to cater his distinctive sound towards the clubbing demographic. While the album does have its dance oriented moments, my original prediction proved to be shortsighted—as the album’s melodies become progressively stranger and often creepier as it unfolds.

The album is by no means alienating, as James maintains an energy throughout it—which, albeit eclectic, is honest and visceral. Moments of certain songs are evocative of other artists and even classifiable, such as the Daft Punk-esque robotic funk groove in “XMAS_EVET10.”

Viewed as composite structures, the tracks cannot be justifiably classified. It is almost as if James employed an orchestra of laptops to create the album, each programmed with its own unique and foreign sound, and each directed by his figurative baton to enter the music at unpredictable, whimsical moments. If music exists on another planet or dimension, I believe that Syro is a near perfect representation of how that music might sound.

Nevertheless, as left field as Aphex Twin takes the listener on Syro, intrinsically, the album is a convincing, original expression of James’ peerless musical genius. With James’ previous release of Druqks in 2001, the 13-year wait for Syro was well worth it.

a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Pop Rhetoric: Mysterious craze—Why the U2 hate has gone too far

by Eric Noble-Marks on

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Is there a more hated band in the world right now than U2? (more…)

a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

20,000 Days on Earth: An artist finds fulfillment by losing himself

by Daniel Fishbayn on

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Like most projects Nick Cave pours his soul into, 20,000 Days On Earth is a gripping experience. (more…)

a, McGill, News, PGSS

PGSS hosts conference on the future of health research in Canada

by Philippe Dumais on

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Dr. Alain Beaudet, president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), discussed the future of Canadian health research in an event hosted by the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) on Sept. 26. The event was intended for graduate students seeking opportunities in academic and private medical research.

Beaudet began by explaining his thoughts on the current state of scientific research and healthcare in Canada.

“For those of you who wonder how we rank, we rank well,” he said. “[We] want to increase it. The problem is: Where we are absolutely great at science, we are not terribly great when it comes to delivering healthcare [….] You have to understand that our role is to produce the best possible science, but more and more the public is asking for an impact [in the healthcare system].”

The increasing costs of healthcare were also discussed. Beaudet outlined the paradox affecting medical research regarding healthcare costs.

“Right now,  healthcare in this country costs over 200 billion dollars per year,” Beaudet said. “It accounts for almost 40 per cent of all provincial budgets, [which] is a huge burden.  Yet research is still seen [as] a cost driver, and indeed, in some cases it is. But research is also the only way to be able to curb the costs.”

According to Beaudet, health research in Canada faces the challenge of accounting for the different realities experienced by Canada’s diverse populations. Beaudet specified that Indigenous peoples’ must be included in research processes.

“This is not acceptable in our country,” he said. “Canadian Inuits have the highest suicide rate in the world in young males.  They have unbelievable rates of [type 2] diabetes in the aboriginal populations and in the North, increasing prevalence of tuberculosis.”

The role of the private sector in research was at the core of the presentation. Beaudet warned against financing universities through the private sector, saying that it would not only impact academic freedom but also limit the power of research in creating new industries. He also made suggestions regarding how partnerships could be formed to fund research.

“There is a paradox if the university serves an industry that already exists,” Beaudet said. “How are we going to generate new industries in that context?  If the private sector can participate in the founding through partnerships—great [….] What I propose are similar partnerships for specific and narrow developments [applying] to medical research [and] devices: Applied science where the private sector has a genuine interest to invest [in].  It is nonsense that the public sector bears all the risks. That burden must be shared.”

Erin Strumpf, McGill professor of health economics, echoed Beaudet’s point of view.

“The distinction is essentially that the results from commercial research can be ‘commercialized,’ that is, sold in the hopes of making a profit,” Strumpf said. “That can happen with academic research, but usually the goal here is to increase knowledge, not to discover or develop something profitable.”

Strumpf continued to explain how the private and public sectors did not necessarily have the same incentives for conducting research, as some diseases only affect a small percentage of the population so that no one has the economic incentives to foster research.

“There is certainly the possibility for profit-earning health interventions, [such as] stents, CVD drugs, etc, but also areas that are unlikely to attract private-sector investment, [such as] orphan diseases, treatments and immunizations for diseases prevalent in poorer countries, etc,” Strumpf said. “Government funding can help support these areas where the private market fails, because research that might increase social welfare would not benefit private investors.”

Beaudet also encouraged the audience to promote scientific awareness.

“We need more people who understand science,” he said. “It is a little disappointing to see how few scientists there are in the House of Commons, for instance [….] You can have an appointment with your MP easily and just talk about science. Tell them what you are doing.”

According to PGSS VP External Affairs Julien Ouellet, McGill is likely to play a role in generating a conversation among the different actors of the medical research field.

“Virtually all graduate students know that the world of research is changing, for better or for worse.” he said. “Considering the success of this event, our executive hopes to attract the presidents of the other two granting agencies: The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) [….] We hope that by pooling our resources with the other Montreal based universities, we might create winning conditions to convince them to address our members.”

a, McGill, News

New Engineering Café to open in October

by Lindsey Hageman on

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The dining area of the McConnell Engineering building will reopen as a newly renovated food retail location on campus on Oct. 14. While a new coffee location, Dispatch, has already been unveiled right outside the cafeteria, the food court itself has not yet opened.

Oliver de Volpi, executive chef of McGill Food and Dining Services (MFDS), said that the renovations were necessary due to the cafeteria’s poor condition and impractical layout.

“A lot of things were getting quite used and beaten down,” de Volpi said. “The flow was absolutely terrible. Everyone would walk in the same door or the same path as they would walk out all the way next to the cashier [….] We didn’t feel we were able to serve the food that we wanted to serve with the equipment in there and the layout.”

According to de Volpi, Dispatch, the coffee stand right outside of the cafeteria, aims to help lessen the crowds in the café by providing an extra location at which students can buy coffee and quick snacks.

“It’s going to take a little bit away [from] the crowds that used to be in there that were just coming for a coffee and a muffin,” he said.

Mariam Khan, U3 Engineering student, acknowledged the positive design changes but expressed concerns about the new prices.

“I feel the prices will go up more,” Khan said. “I noticed that even in the outside coffee place the prices have gone up.”

De Volpi noted however that there will be a lower -priced option for coffee inside the cafeteria once the new food location opens.

“You’ll see fair trade coffee in both locations, both at Dispatch and inside the [cafeteria], because there’ll be a small, just brewed coffee [place] at a lesser price than Dispatch,” de Volpi said. “Overall, the prices will remain the same as they were last year.”

Carl Fournier, U3 Engineering, agreed that Dispatch should help ease the crowds, but questioned the necessity of the entire major renovation.

“It’s really nice, but the thing is, it wasn’t really bad before,” Fournier said. “We didn’t actually need to renovate it. A good point though is that the Dispatch place, even though they only serve a few things, it takes a big load off the cafeteria because many people were just coming in to get coffee.”

According to de Volpi, the renovation project was done after consulting students and gathering their inputs.

“Many, many discussions happened, not only with the Faculty of Engineering but with the students there,” de Volpi said.

Mathieu Laperle, senior director of Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS) said  he had met with the Chairs and Directors of the Faculty of Engineering as well as the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS), earlier in January to present the plans for the revamp of the cafeteria.

“Many liked the fact that the lobby and corridor would be vastly improved as a social space and that this would bring some life to the buildings­­—something that disappeared with the very sterile renovations in this lobby,” Laperle said.

Funding for the project came mostly from Compass, a food provider, with whom SHHS signed a contract in May, according to de Volpi. A smaller part of the funds came from SHHS itself. In addition to the expenses for the actual cafeteria, these funds covered Dispatch and renovations on the surrounding hallway.

Students will be able to purchase more locally sourced food at the new café, according to de Volpi. Compost bins will also be available at the food court a few weeks after its opening.

“[We will open] a full service food location that will have everything from homemade soups to homemade pizza,” de Volpi said. “They’re going to be using much of our [Macdonald campus] farm produce. All the grab-and-go and all the desserts that will be there will be made in-house.”

A week prior to the opening, there will be a “soft opening” of the new food court, during which some of the new food options will be available to be sampled by a test group from within the Faculty of Engineering.

a, Baseball, Behind the Bench, Sports

Dusk of the pinstripes

by Aaron Rose on

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Six years ago, I made a pilgrimage to the old home of the New York Yankees, the so-called “House That Ruth Built.” It wasn’t a special game per say, just a late May tilt between the Yankees and the Seattle Mariners. To me though, this game meant something. I was witnessing history. After 85 years, the Yankees were moving across the street to a new and improved stadium. The old building’s concrete was covered with layers of grime and its blue seats were decrepit and old. But this stadium had a mystique about it, something that couldn’t be found anywhere else.

After a Johnny Damon groundout, the late Bob Sheppard’s voice rang out: “Now batting for the Yankees, the shortstop, number two, Derek Jeter, number two.”

For 56 years, Bob Sheppard was the voice of Yankees baseball. He saw 13 World Series Champions and narrated the careers of 16 Yankee Hall-of-Famers. He called Mickey Mantle’s Triple Crown season and he was there for Reggie Jackson’s three home run game.

I don’t want you to think I’m some sort of deranged Blue Jays fan, I absolutely loathe the Yankees. I hate their arrogant New York attitude, their seemingly endless payroll, and the fact that they just never seem to lose. Yet in the end, I begrudgingly respect them. The Yankees just seem to have a special way of doing things.

I never got to see Mr. October or the Great Bambino, but one day when my children ask me if I ever got to see Mr. November step into the box, I’ll tell them about that night. In an era where fans are hesitant to form attachments to players, guarding their hearts against the frantic pace of free agency, Jeter has been a constant. He was the Yankees’ shortstop the first time I saw them play, and he’s been the only shortstop I’ve ever known to don the pinstripes. If his 14 All-Star appearances, five golden gloves, and .309 career batting average don’t impress you enough, maybe his flair for the dramatics will. He helped seal the 2001 American League Division Series for the Yankees when he scooped up an errant throw from outfielder Shane Spencer and, with his momentum carrying him off the field, flipped the ball home to throw out a sprinting Jeremy Giambi. 

His 3,000th career hit was crushed over the left-field fence in Yankee Stadium for a home run. Last Thursday night, Jeter hit a walk off single in his final at-bat at home in front of the 48,000 crazed New Yorkers. The hit, a slapped grounder to right field, was vintage Jeter. On Sunday at Fenway Park, he earned a hit in the final at-bat of his long career, beating out a high chopper to the Boston third baseman. His legend is one of storybook proportions.

In 1995, catcher Jorge Posada, starting pitcher Andy Pettitte, closer Mariano Rivera, and Jeter put on the pinstripes for the first time, forming what would come to be known as the “Core Four.” After five championships and a combined 5,996 games, baseball fans everywhere waved goodbye  on Sunday not just to Derek Jeter, but also to the end of a special era. With Major League Baseball becoming more and more commercial, it may be a while before we see another player transcend his stats and transform into an icon.

a, News, SSMU

Fall 2014 SSMU referendum period revisits building fee levy

by Nicolas Mak-Wasek on

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Voting has begun for the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Special Fall Referendum. The questions under consideration pertain to the implementation of a University Centre Building Fee. The ballot comes as a move by the SSMU to gather the necessary funds to afford to continue its current level of operations under its new lease agreement with McGill, signed in Winter 2014.

The referendum is divided into two questions. The first asks whether students support the creation of a University Centre Building Fee.  According to the SSMU website, the fee is “payable and non-opt-outable on Minerva […] at $5.78 per full-time student per semester and $2.89 per part-time student per semester.” The second referendum question asks if the fee should be indexed to inflation yearly for the next seven years  to cover the rising costs of the SSMU building during the term of the lease.

The question is posed in response to the new lease agreement the SSMU signed with McGill and the $230,000 in back fees owed by SSMU to McGill for upkeep and electricity charges and keeping the building operational while the lease was being negotiated from 2011 to 2014.

This is not the first time SSMU has asked students to vote on the implementation of the University Building fee. In the Winter 2014 referendum period, a set of nearly identical questions were rejected by the student community, with 53.6 per cent of students voting “No” to the first question and 60.8 per cent voting “No” to the second.

According to SSMU President Courtney Ayukawa, although voting “Yes” on the proposed referendum would ultimately see a rise in fees for every undergraduate student attending McGill at the downtown campus, voting “No” would involve drastic reductions in the services that the building offers.

“A concrete change that will happen [is] starting Sept. 29, the building hours are set to drastically decrease,” Ayukawa said. “The building would close at 1 a.m. on Mondays through Fridays and wouldn’t be open on Saturdays or Sundays.”

According to Ayukawa, the establishments and services located within the premises that are run by SSMU, such as Gerts and Mini Courses, would also see price increases.

She stated that SSMU is re-running the question because she believes that students last year were not able to make an informed decision on the SSMU building fee levy. The lack of the formation of a “Yes” committee was a major criticism of SSMU’s dissemination of information for the Winter 2014 referendum questions.

“[There is] no mention of a moratorium [for referendum questions] in the SSMU constitution or bylaws,” Ayukawa said. “I think it’s important that SSMU re-asks the question. This time around, SSMU gave out a lot of information through its website and Facebook page and formed a ‘Yes’ committee […] and people have an opportunity to make a more informed decision. If this time around, students make an informed vote and it happens to be a ‘No’, SSMU will move forward and hopefully find another place for that money to come from.”

Students who share Ayukawa’s point of view do not see the harm in a small increase of fees associated  with the SSMU building. Isabelle Oke, U1 Arts, believes that since the building has such an important role in the student community and in the individual lives of many students, reducing its services in any way would be detrimental for students at McGill.

“The SSMU Building gives [students] so many opportunities, and a reduction in those or an increase in their [services’] prices would be much worse than a small fee everyone has to pay,” Oke said.

Not all the students agree with the “Yes” committee, however. Niketan Valapakam, U0 Management, said that as an international student, an additional fee would increase his cost of schooling, something some students already have trouble affording. He also voiced his concern that if this fee should pass, many more like it will end up on the ballot.

“I think that approving more and more fees could lead us down a dangerous road,” Valapakam said. “It always starts off small—with 5 dollars—but in the long run could end up costing students much more.”

a, Arts & Entertainment, Books

Edge of Eternity provides engrossing ending to historical trilogy

by Martin Molpeceres on

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History has a bad rap for being a seemingly perfunctory field of study. As a history major, I certainly have gotten my fair share of skepticism when I profess my interest in our past. But history, more than almost any other subject, carries a certain humanity with it. It is the story of us, of how we got to where we are, with all the emotions, tragedies, and strange foibles that only real people can afford.

Few books tap into this feeling better than Ken Follett’s Edge of Eternity.

The third and final instalment of the renowned novelist’s Century Trilogy, Edge of Eternity follows four families from Russia, Germany, Britain, and the United States. It captures the early days of the Civil Rights movement, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and everything in between.

The plot offers little in the way of added complexities or depth because it is essentially the Cold War retold. Rather, it is the characters and the different lenses through which they view the events that offer the crux of the drama. While the interwoven family trees are cumbersome at first, Follett does a good job reintroducing the characters and keeping them isolated enough that their arcs unfold at separate, brisk paces.

Readers familiar with the series will enjoy some satisfying moments of closure from the first generation of characters, long forgotten and living out the last days of their lives. That is not to say new readers will not enjoy Edge of Eternity without having read the previous instalments; but there is simply a level  of familiarity that goes with following these five families for three generations.

The book’s predecessor, Winter of the World, focused less on the history than on the love lives of the characters. While this worked well in the first instalment, Fall of Giants, for the second book, it occasionally descended the piece into the trappings of a cheap soap opera. Fortunately, it is a trapping that Edge of Eternity deftly avoids. While melodrama is still present—and those infuriated by love triangles in fiction may find themselves gnawing their teeth at times—Edge of Eternity chooses to focus on the politics of the era and the men and women that shaped it. Historical figures such as Robert Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev are deeply explored, and Follett’s painstaking attention to detail gives the read an air of engrossing realism even in its more outlandish moments.

This is not to say that the book is perfect—while it isn’t as overbearing as its predecessor, what little romantic plot points do remain are grating at times, with seemingly every main character getting a clear soulmate to play “will they, won’t they” with. Additionally, while most characters are interestingly fleshed out, antagonists appear somewhat more one-dimensional by the standards of the rest of the narrative, particularly a German Stazi officer whose main characterizing feature is ‘petty jerk.’

Despite these shortcomings, Edge of Eternity is an engrossing read. Follet’s manages to switch seamlessly from character to character, making this decades spanning story feel absolutely epic.

Edge of Eternity was released in Canada by Penguin Books on September 16, 2014.

NFL Coin toss
a, Football, Sports

Changing the game: NFL overtime rules

by Mayaz Alam, Nicholas Jasinski, Zikomo Smith, Wyatt Fine-Gagné on

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Two minutes to save the world

One of the most exciting sequences in any football game is the fabled “two-minute drill.” Offences open up when they are up against the clock; more risks are taken, the pace is faster, and the crowd is on its feet. Whichever team starts on offence will receive the ball on the 20 yard line and will have, you guessed it, two minutes to score. After the initial team scores, squanders possession, or exhausts their alloted time, the opposing team gets a chance at redemption. This would then continue for two minutes at a time until one team emerges victorious.

Additionally, each team will be required to attempt a two-point conversion after each touchdown scored. This is because the rate at which placekickers convert the standard one-point conversion is preposterously high and adds little surprise to the game.

This proposed solution has the potential to add a new dimension to professional football that would be different than the college game. Rather than borrowing completely from the NCAA, this finds a somewhat happy—or entirely absurd—medium that promises to keep fans on the edge of their seats.

– Mayaz Alam

Luck schmuck

I see no reason to change the current overtime rules in the regular season. They allow for the game to end quickly, which reduces the chance for a game to drag on and lose some of its excitement. It also adds an element of pressure and luck that can spice up even the most boring regular season games. Also, with the principle of regression towards the mean at work over the course of a sixteen-game regular season, the current rules aren’t going to have significant playoff implications for any team involved in an overtime match.

In the playoffs, the teams should have extra time, as they do in soccer, and play until one team comes out with more points at the end of the game. The post-season is a knockout tournament, and the fans want to see the best team of the day win–not the team that wins the coin toss. The importance of minimizing the effect of luck is magnified in the playoff setting, as there are no second chances.

– Zikomo Smith

Play on

The current NFL overtime rules are worse than those in any other professional sport. Before the 2010 rule change, the sudden death format put an inordinate amount of importance on the coin toss. It kept superstar players like Peyton Manning on the sidelines, with as much ability to affect a game’s outcome as someone sitting at home yelling at the television would have. Unfortunately, the current format isn’t much better. Requiring both teams to possess the ball is a great change, but the touchdown exception makes the rule little more than a half-measure, and thus practically ineffective. The current system can be compared to playing extra innings in baseball, but not allowing the home team to bat if the visitors hit a grand slam in the top of the 10th inning.

The most entertaining alternative for fans would be to play a full fifth quarter and accept a tie in the regular season if the score is still level at the end, as is done in soccer. Sudden death can work in a sport like hockey, where the possession is free-flowing and both teams have the opportunity to make plays, but the format of football is fundamentally different and the overtime rules should reflect that.

– Nick Jasinski       

I love college

When the NFL switched its overtime rules, its aim was to eliminate the issue of coin tosses determining winners. This clearly has not been the case, and it is because of the provision that a touchdown can win a game on the first possession, leaving one team’s offence on the sidelines. To remove the importance of the coin toss entirely, the NFL needs to adopt a similar system to that of college football. In this version of overtime, each team gets one possession and the game plays out like a shootout of sorts. The first team on offence starts with the ball on the 25-yard line, and their possession ends when they score, turn the ball over, or miss a field goal. The second team then has to match or do better. If they score the same number of points, a second round of possessions ensues–and so on and so forth–and if one team has scored more, that team is crowned the winner.

This removes the importance of the coin toss, as it is now only used to determine who gets to go on offence first. Another improvement would be to have possessions begin on the 40-yard line rather than on the 25. This would make scoring easier, and hopefully add a little bit of extra excitement to overtime.

– Wyatt Fine-Gagné

 

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