The 96th Grey Cup Classic - SPTO's Blog

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The 96th Grey Cup Classic

Posted on November 22, 2008 at 06:27 PM.

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Trivia question for you Americans out here: What's the highest rated sporting event in Canada?

Answer: The Grey Cup

Yes, as strange as it may be the championship game of the CFL is the highest rated event in Canadian sports. It's also an unofficial holiday for most people as it's often referred to as the Great Canadian Drunk.

This year's game isn't the sexiest matchup possible but it's a rarity on some levels. This will be a true battle of the best teams in the league as the Calgary Stampeders and the Montreal Alluettes are the #1 and 2 team in the league. The game is being played in Montreal and is only the 9th time in CFL history where the home team will be participating in the game.

The Als are led by veteran QB Anthony Calvillo, a man with a very interesting backstory to him. Calviillo was an undrafted player out of a tiny school and got his big break during the CFL's American experiment as he literally just walked onto the job as the starting QB for the Las Vegas Posse franchise. Since that time Calvillo has become one of the most prolific QBs in CFL history. He's a guy that has been very much underrated throughout his career and even to this day he doesn't fit everyone's image of a legendary QB. This game may very well be his swansong, not necessarily because of age (he's 36 IIRC) but because of his wife's health situation. In fact this may be the swansong for this current incarnation of the Montreal team.

The Als have been one of the most consistently stable teams of the last 10 years which is a feat in itself in a league where turnover is a hallmark. A lot of the O-Line and defense are made up of older guys and one of the best offensive players in CFL history in Ben Cahoon is more or less wrapping up his career.

To draw an NFL parallel the Als are akin to the Cowboys of '79-'83 except they've been more successful as they've played in 5 Grey Cups in the last 10 years with a 1-4 record. A win on Sunday would do a lot for the reputation of the franchise and this group of players.

On the other side of the ball are the Calgary Stampeders. A team with a better defense, probably a more explosive offense led by QB Henry Burris, RB Joffrey Reynolds, WR Ken-Yon Rambo, SBs Jermaine Copeland and Nik Lewis. The receiving corps for the Stamps have been under scrutiny the last couple of years for their showboating and seemingly cavalier attitude to the game. Reynolds is considered by many to be the best back in the league and is an integral part of the Stamps offense.

Henry Burris is also an interesting figure in that he has a reputation for choking in the big games so Sunday is going to be a huge career defining type game for him as well.

As far as defense goes they're led by a pretty stout defensive backfield but it was the play of Canadian and former NFL'er Mike Labinjo on the D-line last week that propelled the Stamps to the Grey Cup. Labinjo's performance last week generated a ton of buzz and he totally dominated the game which is a mean feat in a league where offense rules the day.

This year's Grey Cup is going to be a dawn of a new era and it's probably going to be watched with great interest by the NFL and ESPN. Why? Because this is the first time in CFL history that the Grey Cup game will be aired on cable rather then over the air on CBC. Before this move a lot of people were aprehensive about this but this past season has been a smashing success for the league and for TSN. There has been a blip on the radar however with the playoff games being moved from the traditional Sunday to Saturday where the ratings have fallen noticeably. Some have made the argument that it's due to the fact that no Ontario teams are involved. It's going to be very interesting to see how the Grey Cup TV numbers come out.

Last but not least, I know i'm writing to a majority of Americans and good news for you guys if you have VS. The game will be aired on VS live on Sunday at 5:30 PM so if you're interested check it out. CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon has said in an interview that he hopes this dry run on VS will lead to the League cutting a deal with that network for a US national package rather then having games scattered about on various US regional networks.

SPTO'S Prediction:

Als 40
Stamps 38

Comments

# 1 JAYMO76 @ Nov 23

Excellent blog... this is a very enjoyable read. I love the CFL. I also agree an Als victory will occur today but I think the 60,000 plus fans will make life tough for Burris and I say that the Stamps will sturrgle to break over 25 points.

A shout out to all of the "old" Baltimore Stallions fans!!! You guys rock!