Canadian Football Kickoff: Welcome to the 2021 Interprovincial Pro Football Conference
This weekend marks the start of the new Canadian football season. No, not THAT Canadian football season-the CFL is still trying to figure out how/if they're even going to HAVE a season in 2021. It's the start of the 2021 Interprovincial Pro Football Conference (IPFC) season, the league's twelfth season of play, with COLD SNAP Canadian Pro Football Game! While there are a number of fictional leagues in the PLAAY universe, the IPFC is unique in that it exists both as a solitaire league (starting with the 2010 season) for Canadian football fans to create their own adventures, AND also (since 2015) as a cooperative league, with real coaches, a real schedule, real playoffs and a real championship game (The Cartier Bowl) that produces a real yearly champion!
When I launched Cold Snap, it was a no-brainer that the game would have a fictional component, like all PLAAY games do. Thus, the IPFC was born. Only six teams (because at that time, the CFL only had eight teams, so six seemed about right for an alternate league--plus it was difficult to find Canadian cities big enough to logically support a pro team which weren't already doing so!), Halifax, London, Ottawa, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Quebec.
Originally, I offered an in-depth IPFC player-guide similar to what I used to put together for our fictional hockey card set. Here's the 2011 edition of the player guide--(I know, right? How did I ever have time to do this sort of thing!). One of the nuances of Canadian ball is it's commitment to developing home-grown players by limiting the number of "imports" (i.e., American football players) that a team can have on its roster. I made that a part of the IPFC as well, for the first couple seasons, although I eventually abandoned the idea in the interest of expedience. No one really wanted to have to count and re-count the number of imports, and it was problematic to make changes to a team's roster without having individual player cards.
After a few seasons (2010 through 2013), I made the decision to pull the plug on the IPFC. It was fun, but it really didn't have a very large following, especially given the mental energy required to continue creating new seasons. (Truthfully, the fictional sports league concept as a whole really didn't catch on with the PLAAY community until the mid 2010s, thanks largely to SCRAM and Baseball America). That's when Lenny LaFrance jumped in. Lenny had been part of the PLAAY sports scene for a number of years and, like me, is a big fan of "lesser" sports. Lacrosse (Lenny rated the NLL sets for us through last year!), roller derby (https://hacks-tabletop-rollerderby.webs.com/), and Canadian football, to name a few. Lenny asked if I would mind if he went ahead and created ratings for a 2014 IPFC season. I was totally in favor of it and offered to post and promote in the monthly PLAAY newsletter.
Lenny added a seventh franchise (Alberta) to the 2014 IPFC and, with Ottawa regaining its place in the CFL, moved the IPFC Ottawa franchise to Windsor, ON. We also coordinated on some cross-pollination with the ongoing Football America series for Second Season. At age 37, fading FA star Serge Yarelian headed north to the IPFC rather than continue on as a backup to Greg Carter in Detroit. Randy Breaux was another Football America refugee who found a home in the IPFC under Lenny's watch, starting his career with Chicago and Detroit before moving to the IPFC--he's still an active player, with Windsor. There were others who made the move as well. It was a seamless transition to the new season, complete with a season look-ahead (a PLAAY staple!). We distributed the 2014 IPFC package as a newsletter freebie. On his own tabletop, Lenny coached the Quebec to a 9-3 mark, good for second place behind Vancouver, here's the Liberté's 2014 Yearbook--good stuff!
For 2015, Lenny approached me with the idea of taking the project a little further and making the IPFC a cooperative league. Let me let Lenny tell the story from here...
"I initially developed the league because I wanted to play through the IPFC season, but with others. I also wanted to see the statistical outcomes of the IPFC card set which I worked on developing. I'm a stat freak, so the statistical outcomes and being able to publish them are probably the biggest hook for me to be involved in a cooperative league. Since I create each card set, systematically progress each set from year-to-year, build the framework/statistical basis which each set is created, and generally know how each set should play out, the human factor within the league is really the wildcard - even with all the data used, anything is possible."
Lenny was league commissioner and coach of Quebec from 2015 to 2017. Each season, he meticulously compiled league statistics and at season's end produced a comprehensive IPFC annual. Here's the 2017 edition of the IPFC Yearbook--take a look, you'll be impressed! I was an active coach for part of that time myself, piloting the London club in 2017--originally known as the Lumberjacks, I re-christened them as the Monarchs (little known fact: in my PLAAY universe, the team is based in London England, not London Ontario!).
In 2018, Lenny found his free time severely limited. "I was working full-time, was a full-time undergraduate then graduate student, while raising a family." Obviously, something had to give. "Coordinating a league is no easy task. Finding coaches, setting schedules, consistent communication, and ensuring timelines are met by every coach can be challenging. Inputting data into a multitude of Excel workbooks is also time consuming." So, reluctantly, Lenny stepped back from his IPFC commissioner and coach duties.
However, although he wasn't able to participate in league play, Lenny insisted on continuing to make the IPFC yearly sets. Despite his schedule challenges, Lenny managed to provide an IPFC season update every single year, 2018 through 2020. (I think, in some ways, working on the IPFC helped him maintain his sanity!) It's an impressive and noteworthy accomplishment, and one that was aided by the positive chemistry of the IPFC cadre of PLAAY gamers. "When running a league, having others who are skilled and dedicated to coordinating the league is vital. Luckily, over the past couple years and before I took my hiatus, Peter Miller has done a great job of further streamlining internal processes and did a great job recruiting coaches. (Peter is a league coach himself, Saskatoon.) At the end of the day, the key for success of this league has been the coaches who are dedicated to meeting timelines, communicating issues within the league, and having fun. Without coaches, the league wouldn't exist!"
One of the highlights for us was streaming the final quarter of the 2019 Cartier Bowl live on the PLAAY space…
Tim Lucas (Bismarck, ND) is in his third season coaching the Halifax Schooners. "I've always been intrigued by the CFL and its risk/reward style of play. Halifax is a cross between the Cleveland Browns quarterback carousel and the Carolina Panthers failure to execute in the playoffs. I may have high blood pressure because of blown opportunities with this team!" Who's Tim's favorite player? "I won't name a favorite player because they always end up elsewhere the next season (reverse psychology?)!"
Jeff Tomlinson is the head man for the Vancouver Cougars, lives in Nanaimo, BC. "I first participated in this type of league back in 2003 when I was part of an online Strat-O-Matic football league. I really enjoyed being part of that group and was excited to see an opening in the IPFC, which played Canadian Football with a fictional set. This year will be my third year with the IPFC, we've been in a rebuilding phase since I took over. This year we look like we will be competitive with our outstanding sophomore quarterback Shotgun Johnson and improved receiving corps."
Sean Culnan lives in West Sand Lake New York is in his third year as member of the IPFC, as coach/GM of the London Monarchs. “I really enjoy the league and the pure excitement of Canadian Football. By far my favorite player and probably the favorite player of all Canadians is quarterback J'Marcus Urban. We won the championship two years ago and hope J'Marcus can bring us back to the Cartier Bowl!”
One of the newest IPFC coaches is David Drais, from Weston CT, who leads the Alberta Grizzlies. "This will be my second season in the IPFC and beyond loving the fun CFL spins on traditional American Football rules (who doesn't love the chance to score a point when they miss a FG) I was drawn to the league by the other coaches who are just a great group of guys! This season I'm most excited to get our starting QB Nate Willington back on the field after a season ending knee injury last year."
Happily, with his school and work duties somewhat relaxed, Lenny has returned as an active member of the IPFC for 2021! He's assumed a role as league co-commissioner, along with Peter Miller. Lenny will again coach the Quebec Liberte. "Quebec should have a decent-to-good year in 2021. Up-and-coming Quebec native Quarterback Jeremy Lefevre turned Quebec's once run-prone offense into an air-attack offense. Lefevre will have some quality downfield targets. If he has to go to the ground game, he now has the Norton brothers who are adequate. Quebec's defense looks strong. Overall, the team is project at 5-5, but we are hoping for a win or two above .500."
Giorgio Salvadego hails from Marghera, in the mainland of Venice, Italy. Giorgio helms the Windsor Ambassadors, and he’s won a pair of IPFC Cartier Bowl titles. “The best part of the season is when I can play over Skype, and have the opportunity to chat a bit with the other coaches during the games. “Already my Windsor squad has developed a natural rivalry with Peter Miller's Saskatoon team!” Giorgio also enjoys channeling his inner sportswriter with regular post-game reports that are imaginative and fun. Some of Giorgio’s recurring topics are the love/hate relationship between the fans and star QB Shaun Parsons, and the die-hard fans who occupy the north stands at Windsor Stadium. Giorgio adds, “They call themselves ‘The Diplomaniacs!’”
Other coaches include Sean Culnan (London Monarchs) and Chris Bowler (Niagara Nightfall). Together, it's an even split of four US and four international coaches (three Canadian, one Italian).
So, what do have to look forward to in the upcoming IPFC season? Having created the teams, Lenny should know! "I am a huge fan of the young 'Shotgun' Johnson who is the quarterback for Vancouver. Johnson is a true gunslinger, and is several years away from hitting his prime. However, even this early in his career, he has an accurate and very powerful arm. He just needs to improve some of his decision making!"
Lenny continues, "I am also a fan of Nate Willington and Kevin Blanchard, Alberta's quarterback and running back. Defensively, I like London's Jon Ikeda who is likely the best defensive lineman in the league. Unfortunately, London's Rickey Harvey, one of the greatest IPFC defenders to ever play, retired this year."
Some other players Lenny points to as emerging IPFC stars are Windsor WR Alex Bosch, Vancouver WR Myles Molson, Alberta WR Chase Patterson, Alberta MLB Jaxson Leach, Quebec's OLBs Jovan Ridgely and Jean-Francois Giguere. "I don't really need to follow London QB J'Marcus Urban and Windsor QB Shaun Parsons because their numbers make them easily recognizable. I am also always rooting for the underdogs like Niagara's Quarterback Jeff Fountain, Halifax's Quarterback Joshua Gauthier, and Saskatoon's aging RB Ntwannu Nyamadi."
One thing's for certain, the 2021 IPFC season will be exciting, memorable and fun to follow! Quebec and Vancouver opened the season with the Liberté holding on for an exciting 34-27 win, setting the stage for another action-packed season of IPFC action. Lenny, Peter and the rest of the IPFC coaches would be delighted to share their 2021 adventures! There are a couple ways you can be part of things. First, you can download the official IPFC 2021 package, which will allow you to better follow the league, and perhaps create your own IPFC tradition. Second, you can sign up for the bi-weekly (or so) IPFC e-mail update from the commissioner's office. Just let us know you want to be part of the fun, and we'll get you connected.