Hey Halifax! Moncton begs to differ.

With all the post mortems of last weekends Exhibition game at Halifax's Husky stadium apparently very positive, one would think that a tenth franchise for the CFL is not far away for Halifax.

But hold on a minute say the folks in New Brunswick, (to read more you have to pay, so get the gist and save your cash) as the group looking to bring a franchise to Moncton says they're on the ground running and running hard. And while Halifax may have won the first skirmish, could it be that Moncton will win the war.

Moncton is about to put in a bid to place a ten thousand seat stadium for the 2008 IAAF track and field championships, once up and established it won't be a stretch to expand that structure to the 25,000 seats required to make a go of a pro franchise. Add to the mix that Moncton while less populated, is actually more central to the entire Atlantic region and well dream the dream folks. Moncton by its location can bring more people to the game in a shorter traveling distance than Halifax can from it's far southern locale.

In addition to those basic points, the New Brunswick government seems more inclined to offer assistance to the fledgling group, which is always a positive moves in the eyes of the cost wary CFL.

While the competing groups make their noise and set up their ducks, the prospect of one city or the other landing the franchise has Atlantic Football fans talking, talking and talking.

So while Halifax put on a terrific show and has been patiently waiting for the CFL to arrive for over fifteen years, there is still a lot of work to be done. The stadium issue is the Achilles heel in any bid, indeed this is one situation where if they build the CFL will come, all that remains to be seen is if they keep on traveling down the road to the port city, or hang the CFL shingle in the middle of New Brunswick.

The above post first appeared in my Twelve Men on the Field blog, a blog dedicated to Canadian football news, check it out for more on the three down game.