Grey Cup 102

So here we are at the end and ultimate destination in the CFL...Grey Cup weekend.  We know my Riders aren't in it and I'm not going to dwell on why or how because I believe in celebrating for the whole Canadian league.

Celebrations are going on and I am not there.  Apparently 6000 others aren't either.  As of Wednesday that's approx how many tickets are left available for Sundays square off.  Some are saying it's because Vancouver hosted the Grey Cup only 3 years ago.  Let's not forget that David Braley, who they say "saved" the CFL, owns both the BC Lions and Toronto Argonauts.  Is it fair that those two cities also hosted in the last 3 years? I'm not sure about that.  What I am sure of is that when the Riders aren't involved everyone loses money.  We all know that the Roughriders have the strongest contingent of traveling fans in the league.  IF the Riders had indeed made it to the cup we know those 6000 tickets would have easily been snapped up by Rider Nation.

So that leaves me questioning...where are all the fans of the teams who are in the 102nd Grey Cup?  Where are all the Hamilton Tiger Cat fans?  Where are all the Calgary Stampeder fans, who let's face it, just live through the mountains?  It's not like weather is a factor in not wanting to go to Vancouver!  

Many Rider fans are saying they are siding with the TiCats.  I've heard how fans say they just can't side with Calgary because they whine about everything and are egotistical and then there's the whole mooning incident.  I've heard others say that you 'have' to choose TiCats because of Kent Austin and how he won the Riders 2 Grey Cups.  I think it's interesting how time changes things.

To me, Dave Ridgeway won the 1989 Roughriders the Grey Cup.  Sure it was Quarterback Kent Austin who got the team into position so the kick could happen.  But if you remember there was tandem quarterbacking that year with Tom Burgess and Kent Austin and that occurred due to injuries.  Also, Austin was Head Coach for the 2007 Grey Cup winning team.  I have such mixed feelings because I feel like that year was already set in motion by the previous coaching staff.  The talent was already there.  He just led them.  I am not diminishing his accomplishments in any way, but I don't care for the green pedestal which some seem to place him on.  Remember he did leave us twice.

But I'm trying to forgive the past.

A-B-C.  Anyone But Calgary.  Meh.  I have not had the same hate on for Calgary that I had since Henry Burris left the team.  I've also had a change of heart towards Jon Cornish.  Yes, it's true.  I did indeed make fun of him at one time.  And as I've realized I probably did deserve to be blocked by his Twitter account.  Heck, I block people all the time now.  (mostly those pesky and often insulting Bomber fans)  He probably does get a lot of verbal abuse and it is healthier to just block them and not have to deal with it than try to fight back.  One of the bigger revelations, and something EVERY Rider fan forgets, is that John Huffnagel was also once a Roughrider quarterback.  There is also one other very strong factor...Ron Lancaster's grandson is the Calgary Stampeders defensive assistant.  AND that fact alone is what makes them a different team this year.

In the 102nd Grey Cup, this Sunday November 30th we will have two ex-Rider Quarterbacks coaching their teams to try to win the coveted prize.  We will see two first year starting Quarterbacks, Zack Collaros & Bo Levi Mitchell,  lead their teams in a Grey Cup ever.  We will see TiCats & exRider Craig Butler try to repeat while Stampeder & exRider Jock Sanders watch from the Calgary sidelines.  One thing for sure is that in my opinion, the Hamilton TigerCats will have to play intense lights out penalty free football for 60 minutes to win the game. 

Even though I have chosen the Stamps as my pick to win the Grey Cup this year I have the gut feeling that IF the TiCats manage the game well it just could come down to a Justin Medlock field goal to win the game.  And how cool would that be 30 years after "The Kick" by Dave Ridgeway?

Where will you be watching?  I'll be huddled up in my living room around my 55 LCD LG TV fully clad in Rider green.  You can take the Riders out of the game, but you can't stop the fans from representing.