I mean this in the nicest way possible, but following the CFL is strange.
Most football fans I know mean that in a very negative way, but I love the CFL and there’s nothing quite like the Grey Cup.
But, in dissecting the matchup in the upcoming 107th Grey Cup this Sunday (Nov. 24), I find myself confused and bewildered at the teams and players who will be taking to the field in Calgary.
First off, the matchup — the Winnipeg Blue Bombers against the Hamilton Tigercats — is the weirdest one I can remember since the Bombers lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2007.
I’ll just never get used to Winnipeg being in the Grey Cup. It’s not that I have anything against them, and I’m definitely hoping for a Blue Bombers win, it’s just that they haven’t won a championship since 1990, and that’s the least surprising thing ever.
In the 29 years since, Winnipeg has only made it back to six Grey Cups, including this one. Given that the fact that the league only has eight to nine teams each year, that’s possibly the most embarrassing stat in sports there is, and for the sake of Bomber fans everywhere (if there are such people) I hope they get the monkey off their back this weekend.
Then there is Hamilton. The Ticats made the Grey Cup in consecutive years in 2013 and 2014, but have done little before or since. In fact, they haven’t won it all since 1999. In that way, this should be an exciting, feel-good game, with one hardcore fan base experiencing euphoria and the other likely giving up on football altogether.
That the Ticats were pretty good all season and looked like the sure representative from the East is just bizarre. Their quarterback is Dane Evans, and if you don’t know who that is, join the club. I had to be corrected everytime I said, “Wow, I didn’t know Jeremiah Masoli is this good,” as I watched Hamilton destroy my Edmonton Eskimos last weekend. That’s because Masoli isn’t that good, and only the boy-wonder that is Dane Evans could beat Edmonton that bad. At least, that’s what I’ve been telling myself in the days since so I don’t feel as bad.
Similarly, the Blue Bombers were a strangely-good team all season-long, but I didn’t think they could actually get to the Grey Cup because I refused to believe Matt Nichols had it in him.
As the season went along, and Winnipeg gave up their lead in the West to the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders, I thought there was no way the Blue Bombers would hang on and beat those teams in the playoffs, especially considering the fact that Bo-Levi Mitchell has been in the Grey Cup almost every year that he’s been in the league.
I still stand by the fact that Matt Nichols and Grey Cup champion are two words that will never be used alongside each other. Fortunately, for Winnipeg fans, Nichols is injured and not playing. Unfortunately for Winnipeg fans, the man who is — Zach Collaros — is the only quarterback I have less respect for as far as his actual talent than Nichols. The ironic thing is that in his prime, Collaros was a much better player than Nichols.
So, despite the fact that Collaros has played for three teams this season, I’m declaring that he will lead his team, finally, to a Grey Cup title. For what it's worth, I'm predicting a 34-24 Winnipeg win.
When that happens, it will be the craziest, wackiest thing I can remember in Canadian sports. But that’s why we love the CFL and the Grey Cup. There are only nine teams, most of the players have to work in the offseason, and the league’s signature game is played in temperatures that few Canadians willingly go outside in.
I, for one, am glad that the CFL is strange and weird. And looking at this year’s matchup, it’s sure to stay that way another year.
- Dillon Giancola, Alaska Highway News
