It is time to add CFL fantasy football to the list.

Since the launch of Fantas-Eh Football (http://fantaseh.ca/), a new CFL fantasy football site, crowds have been flocking to the site.

“Currently, there are a few thousand people registered on the site,” says Matt Brown of Regina, who was behind the creation of the site along with fellow Reginans Aaron Brown, Dan Brown, Aaron Cook and Lee Garinger. “The reaction from the public has been great. We have received many emails from customers thanking us for creating the site. People are having a lot of fun playing Fantas-Eh.”

Fantas-Eh Football follows a similar format to other fantasy football sites with some exceptions. Teams consist of one quarterback (one starter), two running backs (one starter), four wide receivers/slotbacks (three starters), four defensive linemen (two starters), three linebackers (two starters) and four defensive backs (two starters).

Drafting individual defensive players is obviously different from most sites where owners draft group defences. Fantas-Eh Football owners also have the option to draft team quarterbacks as well. Also, due to the unique import rule in the CFL, owners must start one Canadian per week (though that is only the default setting).

Due to some suggestions, Brown says more features may be added to the site next year.

“One of our next priorities after site functionality is to upgrade the site based on our observations and customer suggestions,” he notes. “Many improvements have already been made this year including the online draft and individual player stats during games.”

Brown adds “Our team is constantly working to improve and will release an even better site in 2011. Some upgrades that you may see in 2011 are increased roster limits, additional stat settings, including forced fumbles, fumbles, pass knock downs, special teams etc., a search mechanism in the free agent list and the option to sort the free agent list by point totals.”

Owners can easily set their starting lineup by dragging players onto the screen.

Before the idea for the site came around, the creators of Fantas-Eh Football were simply fans of the CFL who longed for a CFL fantasy football site. After some of their own attempts to run a league on paper “failed miserably” last year, they decided to try and create a site that would not only allow everyone easy access to CFL fantasy football, but look professional.

Mission accomplished.

On the main page, once an owner logs into their league, they can view the standings, talk some smack, customize their team or make a trade. The team management page gives an owner complete control over their team, whether they want to enter trade negotiations or sign a free agent. On the starting lineup page, owners can set their lineup by easily dragging the applicable player to the applicable spot on the screen. Finally, on the game day match-up page, owners can take a look at how their teams is doing in their game and view other scores from around their fantasy league.

On the front page of the entire site, there is all the information potential players need and the site has even added a fantasy column title “Prophet’s Picks” to keep fans informed on the latest fantasy news.

Fantas-Eh Football is not only easy to use, but it is visually appealing.

“Without a high quality site it is unlikely that CFL fantasy football would be taken seriously,” Brown explains. “Clearly, many of our customers are experienced fantasy players and would accept nothing other than a quality site. We have received many compliments on our site design and features. Clearly, our site has become a legitimate entity in the fantasy sports world.

“I still remember seeing components of the site for the first time and I was amazed. I think many of our customers felt the same way when they logged onto Fantas-Eh for the first time! We are very proud of what we have created and feel that Canadians are deserving of a quality fantasy site.”

Cook, a computer programmer, designed the site.

“To put it simply – without Aaron Cook, there would be no Fantas-Eh football,” says Brown. “He is an incredibly intelligent and talented programmer. Aaron has spent countless hours creating the Fantas-Eh site and providing tech support to our customers. One of the best things about Aaron is that he is very good at writing code, yet he still has the ability to build a site that demonstrates creativity and looks incredible. Because there are no other programmers in our group, Aaron has had a massive work load and has handled it very well.”

On the team management page, owners can sign or release players or offer a trade to another team.

One of the major questions facing the creators of the site when they undertook such a large project was: How will they record live stats? The creators of the site made a commitment to watch each game and collect “quickly and accurately”.

“Our stat collection process involves watching all games and then reviewing published statistics to check for discrepancies,” Brown explains. “There have been times when we see something other than what appears in the published statistics, but it is fairly uncommon. Any mistakes we make are generally fixed before the weekly turnover.

“Up until this point, the worst thing about collecting stats was giving up our season tickets for the Saskatchewan home opener against Montreal. Missing one of the most exiting games of all time was a true test of our commitment – and believe me, it was tough!”

If you’d like to give Fantas-Eh Football a try, but would like to give it a test drive before shelling out the $79.99 ($59.99 if you buy during the free trial) for a league, you’re in luck.

“Our free trial is still in effect,” says Brown. “We decided to extend the free trial because we wanted people to have the opportunity to test the product before purchasing it.  We feel very confident in our product and have received numerous emails from customers who look forward to purchasing a league.”

The CFL fantasy, that is.

The five Reginans have recently launched a CFL fantasy football website called Fantas-Eh Football. Fantasy leagues – where team owners draft a various number of players and are awarded points based on their performances as they go head-to-head against other owners – are popular among the NFL, NBA and NHL, but have not caught on in the CFL.

“The actual concept of fantasy football is far from being a ‘new idea’,” says co-owner Matt Brown. “Three things had to happen in order for this site to become a reality.  Firstly, we had to establish that there was a demand for a CFL fantasy site. Our research told us that Canadians were hungry for our product, particularly because the few sites that do exist are extremely limited when compared to NFL fantasy sites. Next, we had to find the right people to do the job. Fortunately, we were able to find an exceptional programmer (Cook), someone with business experience (Garinger) and individuals who possess a great deal of knowledge about fantasy football and the CFL (Brown brothers).  Lastly, we had to design a fantasy football experience that would be compatible with the Canadian game.”

The idea for this new fantasy league didn’t happen overnight.

“To make a long story short, some friends and I tried to start a CFL draft last year, but it failed miserably because we did not have a tool to facilitate what we were attempting to do,” says Brown. “After that, I gave up on the possibility of playing CFL fantasy football.  About four months ago, Garinger sent me a text message that said “We should start a CFL fantasy site”.  I replied by saying “Let’s do it”.  Shortly after, Dan Brown, Cook and Aaron Brown joined the group and the rest is history.”

On the site, players will have the option to draft both offensive and defensive players. The defensive players will collect points for tackles, sacks, interceptions and touchdowns. Because the CFL is a small league, the owners of Fantas-Eh Football are recommending that each league contain six teams, with eight being the maximum. Each week there will be head-to-head matchups followed by the playoffs at the end of the season. Anyone can join the site.

League commissioners will be allowed to select the number of teams and players in their league. They also have the power to select the types of players in their league, which statistics they will award points for and how many points will be awarded.

“We are working to develop a high quality site that is innovative and continually improving,” says Brown. “We are not “banking” on being the only site available to Canadians.  Instead, we are developing the Fantas-Eh site as though other good sites already exist. This will insure that we create a quality product.”

Brown adds “Our team is fully committed to watching every game and we believe that we have a system in place that will allow us to collect statistics quickly and accurately.  Following games, these stats will be cross-referenced with other published statistics to insure that we are accurate.”

While the owners of Fantas-Eh football are hoping to create a unique experience, it is not an experience that will be enjoyed for free. It costs $79.99 for a league, $59.99 for users who sign up before June 18, 2010.

“It is our goal to be compensated for the time, knowledge and money we are investing into this project,” explains Brown. “Currently, charging a user fee is our only source of revenue. Our research indicates that is not uncommon for fantasy sites to charge a user fee for the service they provide. With increased advertising revenue, it is foreseeable that we could reduce our user fee. As it stands, if you enter a six person league, each player will pay $10.00 for the entire season.  We feel that this is a reasonable cost for the product we are offering.”

The tentative launch date for the site is May 1, 2010. For more information visit http://www.fantaseh.ca/.

In one move, the Toronto Argonauts traded youth for experience by sending receiver P.K. Sam to the Calgary Stampeders for Jermaine Copeland.

At only 26 years of age, Sam should give the Stampeders a reliable target for years to come. The Florida State product has recorded 884 yard and five touchdowns in two seasons with the Argonauts.

Copeland, on the other hand, is a seasoned veteran in the league and should provide leadership to an inexperienced Toronto receiving core. Last season was one of Copeland’s best statistical ones. He nabbed 81 catches for 1,235 yards and 12 touchdowns.

In another big move, the Riders signed free agent running back Dominique Dorsey.

Dorsey, a perennial special team’s threat, will be making his second trip to Saskatchewan. Dorsey has excelled in the league as an all-purpose threat. During the 2008 season in Toronto, Dorsey won the John Argo Special Teams Award and led the league with 2,892 all-purpose yards.

It is unclear what role Dorsey will serve with the Riders, as the team already has a solid returner in Jason Armstead.

Other Signings

The Hamilton Tiger Cats boosted their defensive secondary on Wednesday by picking up Will Poole and Jason Shivers.

Poole and Shivers both spent the last two seasons with Argonauts. In his career, Poole has recorded 70 defensive tackles and two interceptions, while Shivers has recorded 94 defensive tackles and three interceptions.

Check back for updates…