What has single points, 3 downs, 12 players, and a 110X65 yard field?
November 24, 2001 2:17 PM   Subscribe

What has single points, 3 downs, 12 players, and a 110X65 yard field? Canadian Football! The 89th championship Grey Cup/la coupe Grey will be played tomorrow, Sunday November 25. The Calgary Stampeders kick off against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Montreal's Olympic Stadium (6:00 p.m. EST, 3:00 p.m. PST). The Canadian Broadcasting Company will carry the game, as will America One and some Fox Sports Network cable channels in the United States.
posted by Carol Anne (27 comments total)
 

posted by skwm at 2:49 PM on November 24, 2001


I haven't watched the CFL in about 15 years (when I was a wee lad), but I always end up watching the Grey Cup (second best looking trophy in sports, behind the Stanley Cup) game because it is almost ALWAYS exciting and close and high scoring.
posted by Grum at 3:02 PM on November 24, 2001


It's in all ways superior to NFL ball except in the commentary department. Bring Dennis Miller up North!
posted by Succa at 3:17 PM on November 24, 2001


skwm: Is the above photo a test? That's kicker Lui Passaglia, who played 25 years for BC Lions and was on three Grey Cup championship teams.
posted by Carol Anne at 3:18 PM on November 24, 2001


As a side note -- and feel free to correct me on this -- I do believe that the game will be played at Molson Stadium, not at the "Big O". At least that's where Montreal plays its home games. The CS monitor got that little detail wrong.

There's also the whole language thing which the CSM screws up (but that's hardly news). You'll rarely hear much French spoken west of St. Laurent, or much english east of that point, and that's been the case ever since I can remember.
posted by clevershark at 4:39 PM on November 24, 2001


Succa, take my Dennis Miller, please.
posted by gazingus at 4:54 PM on November 24, 2001


But will it ever regain the greatness of 1995, when an American team won the Grey Cup?
posted by Mack Twain at 5:02 PM on November 24, 2001


2 question. First why isn't it called hand ball, and second how does a competition that only includes the US and Canada qualify as a World League?

What I'd love is if the US started playing Rugby. From what I have seen of American Handball you guys would have some serious players.
posted by RobertLoch at 5:12 PM on November 24, 2001


I just wish the CFL and NFL would merge and figure out how to mesh the differences in field size and rules. A Blue Bombers / Raiders matchup...yeah.
posted by alumshubby at 5:26 PM on November 24, 2001


colleges do play rugby (there's a good men's and good women's rugby team at my alma mater).
posted by moz at 5:29 PM on November 24, 2001


(does his best Crocodile Dundee impersonation)

That's not football, this is football.
posted by briank at 5:31 PM on November 24, 2001


moz, what I meant was that I wished you played it properly at internaitonal level.
posted by RobertLoch at 5:34 PM on November 24, 2001


briank that is handball as well. Don't you guy know the difference between hands and feet.
posted by RobertLoch at 5:36 PM on November 24, 2001


A couple things. First, the Grey Cup is being played at the Big Owe - they can't pack enough people into Percival Molson Stadium for a big event like that. But the Als do play there - and the whole stadium is sold out, pretty much, to season ticket holders.

Second, I've played rugby against many American teams, and when they get some guys on the field (or women - women's rugby is getting huge, and the US and Canada are world leaders on the women's side) who really know the game, the US can field a great team. US rugby is strongest in SF and Boston, though Aspen has a great team, and there are two very strong Hawaiian club teams (if not more). The US has some world-quality international level players. Kevin Dalzell is definitely in the top 15 scrum-halfs in the world, for instance, and plays for an elite European or UK club (don't remember which one though).

Third and last (fitting, considering this is a CFL thread), the Grey Cup game has almost always been a very good game to watch - fun, exciting, and well-contested.
posted by mikel at 5:42 PM on November 24, 2001


Looks like the Blue Bombers are a good play at -5. Calgary has a losing record and were beaten twice by the B's. Any insights from some fans?
posted by poodlemouthe at 10:35 PM on November 24, 2001


Besides Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia, have any other CFL imports done well in the NFL?
posted by owillis at 12:25 AM on November 25, 2001


Didn't "Rocket" Ismail play a few seasons in the CFL? While not a superstar, he has done quite well in Dallas.
posted by gyc at 1:57 AM on November 25, 2001


Now that them rich gringos down south have bought hockey lock stock and barrel, I guess the CFL is all we Canucks have left.

Other than *giggle* lacrosse, of course.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:00 AM on November 25, 2001


Curling.
posted by pracowity at 5:07 AM on November 25, 2001


owillis, don't forget Warren Moon.
posted by alumshubby at 5:26 AM on November 25, 2001


Cup big draw, poll discovers. {Such a quintessentially Canadian headline}.
"The Grey Cup will once again be the sporting and cultural tie that binds Canadians this weekend...According to a new Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail survey released yesterday, almost half of Canadian adults--about 11 million--say they will be watching the 89th edition of the CFL championship game live or on television."

I "discovered" the CFL 20 years and watch the Grey Cup whenever my local (U.S) cable TV carries it. To me, CFL play is far more exciting and more truly foot ball than the NFL or NCAA game. The single-point or rouge is cool, eh!
posted by Carol Anne at 5:46 AM on November 25, 2001


Owillis, there are a lot of CFL players who move to the NFL, but most of them are second-stringers. (Sorry, I can't think of any other names right now)

I'm not much of a football fan, but this being Calgary, I'm legally obligated to go to a Grey Cup party. So I'm going. It's usually a good game (close, lots of points), and I get to hang out with friends and drink beer. What's not to like?
posted by sauril at 9:55 AM on November 25, 2001


don't forget Congressman and former CFLer J.C. Watts
posted by dreamer98 at 10:12 AM on November 25, 2001


Great college football players who might not be a prototypical NFL player (Doug Flutie) get a shot at the CFL and often do very well. My question for the Canadian football fans, do Canadian colleges play football, and if so is it as popular as college football in the U.S. Furthermore, do they use Canadian football field/rules or do they conform more to the U.S. standards?
posted by gyc at 6:00 PM on November 25, 2001


Hey, don't knock Lacrosse.

The NLL is growing fast, and the games regularly draw more than Expo games.

Ugly site though.
posted by mkn at 6:29 PM on November 25, 2001


The Calgary Stampeders have won the 89th CFL Grey Cup, defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers by a score of 27-19.

The Vanier Cup is the championship game for Canadian Interuniversity Sport football and will be played on December 1, by Saint Mary's University and the University of Manitoba, according to the Canadian rules.
posted by Carol Anne at 7:00 PM on November 25, 2001


I remember watching the Gray Cup with my grandfather when I was a teenager, shortly before he died. I was a teen geek, professing to hate sports on principle, but it was the last peaceful happy time I had with him before his body began to fall apart. I loved that yellow-fingered old bastard.

As a result, I have a big soft spot for the CFL as well.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:03 AM on November 27, 2001


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