There is one thing that can solve a decent chunk of the CFL’s woes.

Parity.

The CFL doesn’t have enough of it, but it certainly should.

There is really no excuse.

An example for the need of improved CFL parity was this past weekend’s games on TSN. The first two, both blowouts, were ratings killers. The Lions and Argos (respectively) exhibited a terrible display of football - thousands of TV clickers quickly switched over to Seinfeld reruns.

On the other hand the two Saturday tilts both featured entertaining upsets as Montreal hammered Ottawa while Hamilton out fought Calgary. Montreal is now past a reasonably recent 1-20 losing streak, while the Cats beat the Stamps for the first time in 15 tries - no clicks over to Seinfeld on those telecasts.

Major League Baseball and the NBA use the luxury tax system, rich teams can spend more but must pay a tax. Not good for parity.

The NHL has a floor and a ceiling, meaning rich teams can spend more. Not that great for parity.

The NFL has a hard cap but with very complicated rules so things can get a bit twisted. Better for parity but not perfect.

The CFL has a hard cap for player salaries (except for Montreal’s ex GM Kavis Reed?), coach's salaries and even tryout camps. The CFL has the perfect system for parity. Well done. On paper each CFL game should end in a tie.

So the CFL is set up for the best possible parity yet doesn’t have it!

What’s going on?

Another appearance by the Calgary Stampeders in the 2018 Grey Cup game may have been a factor in lower TV ratings - some viewers were tired of seeing the Horsemen, yet again, in the CFL title game.

The perennially strong Stamps have played in five of the past seven Grey Cups. This isn’t Calgary’s problem, very good on them, it’s the rest of the Western teams fault for not being up to Stampeder standards.

Poor performing CFL teams in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal is the last thing the league needs. There is a ton of entertainment competition in our three largest cities and losing means any one of these clubs can simply turn into a ghost. The Lions, Argonauts and Alouettes all compete against MLS outfits while the Argos are also pitted up against the Blue Jays.

These three teams have to win more than lose, to get bums in the seats, but they keep on fumbling, literally. The Alouettes have missed the playoffs for four years in a row.

These three cities are obviously the largest TV markets in the country.

TSN also needs the Roughriders to win more than lose because the Riders are Canada’s team ratings wise - games involving the green and white consistently draw TSN’s largest CFL audiences. A poor Rider season hurts the entire league because the TSN contract will only become more lucrative with more football shaped eyeballs tuning in.

At 1-3 it’s hard to say what’s in store for Rider Nation in 2019.

Here’s another issue - unlike the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL, with only nine teams, the CFL can’t hide weak sisters on national television. When’s the last time you settled down with a strong Pepsi and enjoyed a contest involving the Sacramento Kings or Miami Marlins? The other leagues have a pile of lousy squads but the losers can be swept under the carpet.

The lack of parity is not the Commissioners fault, it’s not the leagues fault - it’s the 100 per cent fault of certain member teams that can’t get their football act together despite having no disadvantages.

I don’t care about George’s latest crisis, or Elaine’s dating problems.

I want to watch some unpredictable Canadian football like I did on Saturday night.

Don Hewitt started covering the Saskatchewan Roughriders for CKCK-TV in 1979.