Congratulations to the heavily favoured Saskatchewan Roughriders who edged out a game but outgunned Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24-19 to win their third Cup overall and first in 19 seasons Sunday at the packed Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Dominated by defence and special teams, it wasn't until the fourth quarter that the winning Riders scored an offensive touchdown when Canadian boy Andy Fantuz, pulled one in to give the Riders a nine-point lead and put the game out of reach for the Bombers who still made a game of it late with a safety and a field goal. It was a great if slow game at times, but proved the old proverb that it’s defence and special teams that most often win championships.
Another set of kudos go out to the City of Toronto who did a great job in hosting the Cup and to Argo owner David Cynamon who took the CFL party to a new level this year with the wildest bash seen in this town in years.
It is just about a done deal that Mike "Pinball " Clemons will be stepping down as head coach of the Argos next week to move into the head office and take over the reins as team President. It's only a natural fit for the charismatic Pinball who will replace the outgoing Keith Pelley, who steps in to take over the television side of our 2008 Olympic Games in BC.
The only thing stopping the announcement so far is the news blackout on league business in place during Grey Cup week in Toronto. Word on the decision should break early this week.
Has there ever been a better all ‘round football player in the past two decades than 3-time league MVP Bret Favre of the Packers? Holder of just about every major record that a quarterback can earn (other than the great Dan Marino's 61,360 passing yards mark which Favre could break later this season ) Favre and the Packers have been reborn this season and it’s just great to see #7 playing with such joy and enthusiasm again. A lot of the accolades for their up to now 10-1 fairytale season has to go to head coach Mike McCarthy and his staff for some shrewd signings especially at wide receiver, where the once needy Packers have the strongest and deepest corps of receivers in the league.
To add to the team's bright future is that they currently employ the youngest roster of players in the NFL. Could another Super Bowl be in the cards for the Packs? We have learned never to count out the potential exploits of the great Bret Favre.
In getting back to the CFL, the Hamilton Ti-Cats have been aggressively searching for a replacement to replace fired GM Marcel Desjardin and are currently in negotiations with legendary CFL coach, GM and executive Bob O'Billovich to fill the post. Rumour has it though that the Tabbies are also interested in current Argo GM Adam Rita for the job and have asked the team for permission to talk to him. With so much going on in the Argo camp at the moment, can the team really afford to lose a solid GM of the likes of a Rita?
With all the new talk of the NFLs Buffalo Bills seriously investigating Toronto as a possible new home for its franchise, do not believe any of these football prophets that claim that the CFL will survive intact and strong from the NFL invasion of Canada.
The damage done to the league will be almost immeasurable especially in the Eastern Division where Toronto and Hamilton's fan base will be decimated. The Western Conference will remain strong and it remains a strong possibility that Canada's own unique and exciting brand of national football is destined to become strictly a regional game supported in the western provinces. The only way that the league can stay strong and intact is if the NFL and the new expansion team was to set up a strong agreement with the CFL to not only financially aid the league
To implement a program that would see the CFL officially become the chief developmental league for the NFL is the ticket.
The CFL Board of Governors and ex-Commissioner Tom Wright may have looked bad at the time for not granting self-promotion machine Frank D'Angelo a franchise in Ottawa back in 2006, but after all that has happened to the former head of Steelback Breweries recently it looks like it was the smart and right decision that was made.
With legal problems ahead for D'Angelo both criminally and financially, it would have been a disastrous ride for the already embattled city of Ottawa and its former Rough Riders. With his financial empire now crumbling with over a hundred million dollars owed to creditor, pharmaceutical billionaire Barry Sherman it now shows that D'Angelo spent over twice the amount in advertising and promotion than came in on product sales. Let’s see if the financially astute Sherman can bring this troubled scenario back in the black and continue to sponsor such sports events as the Steelback Grand Prix that D'Angelo has committed millions to.
It is with a heavy heart that I write tonight that sportscaster, ‘King of Fight’ Eddie Zawadzki is gone. Eddie’s sister, Christine called to tell Canada Free Press (CFP) that Eddie died this morning of a massive heart attack, age 55.
