5 GREY CUP STORYLINES
The Calgary Stampeders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats meet in the Grey Cup Sunday at B.C. Place. Here are five storylines to watch heading into the big game:
Grey Cup Drought – Both teams will be looking to end Grey Cup dry spells. The Stampeders last won a championship in 2008, head coach/GM John Hufnagel’s first with the club. The Ticats have to go all the way back to ’99 for their last CFL title, which coincidentally came against Calgary at Vancouver. Both teams also lost in their last Grey Cup appearance, with Calgary falling to Toronto in the 100th Grey Cup at Rogers Centre in 2012 and Hamilton dropping last year’s contest to Saskatchewan at Mosaic Stadium.
Swan Song? – A perennial all-star over his 11-year career in Calgary, Lewis had just 37 catches for 377 yards and no TDs this season. There were times the 32-year-old was a healthy scratch. After eight straight 1,000-yard seasons, Lewis has combined for 69 catches for 777 yards and three TDs the last two years, but to be fair his 2013 season was marred by fractured fibula that limited him to just seven games. There will be persistent talk this week about whether the Grey Cup game will be Lewis’s final one in a Calgary uniform.
Grey Cup Rookies – Both Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell and Hamilton’s Zach Collaros are in the Grey Cup as first-year starters. Mitchell led the Stampeders to a pair of regular-season wins over the Ticats but Collaros didn’t play in either game due to concussion symptoms. Hamilton’s offence is more potent with the versatile Collaros, who is an accurate passer but also mobile enough to escape pressure and buy himself time to pass or head upfield. Mitchell helped lead Calgary to a league-best 15-3 record and his eight interceptions were the fewest among CFL starters.
Kent Austin Show – Not only does Austin have the Ticats in the Grey Cup for a second straight year, he’s in the CFL title game for the third time as a head coach. Austin led Saskatchewan to the ’07 championship in his first season as a CFL head coach before heading to the NCAA. He returned to the CFL last season with Hamilton but his ’13 campaign ended with a 45-23 Grey Cup loss to the Riders at Mosaic Stadium.
Will They Come? – For the first time in four years, the Grey Cup host city won’t have its team in the big game. It remains to be seen how excited Vancouver will be this week without the B.C. Lions to cheer for. Less than a week before the opening kickoff, the game still wasn’t officially sold out.
(Canadian Press)
Hey Rod……the tweet about farmers obeying traffic laws….I bet you don't have the stones to tweet that about all the "new" drivers in the province….nope pick on the farmer and avoid the PC crowd.
The racists really don't like the "PC" crowd, as they long for the good old days of unfettered white supremacy. A time when someone new to the city like George Reed would have a tough time to find someone to rent a room to him.
PC is a way not to offend other people. So depending on your values …
No doubt Anon#1 has, himself, a lot more "stones" than Rod possesses, unfortunately unlike Rod, all Anon#1's "stones" rest firmly between his ears within a large head perched crookedly upon his red neck.
You are right Anon#2, everyone is entitled to their values, racist or otherwise, but better to keep them to the neo-nazi websites and away from this fine sports blog.
Old Hank
The F on ones license plate stands for:
Frig you – I can drive as slow as I want
What the eFF are turn signals
Farm fields are square, and so should the traffic signs I ignore
The farmers have it good, they have a socialist premier who looks after their interests and tax breaks. The rest of the province gets the right wing your on your own quit complaining and take the minimum wage. What do you want tax increases? Hmmm, Jason C, Geroy S, Nik L? A pattern? BC fans won't watch this game. It will be over by halftime. Nickelback could not save this one. 2014 one of the poorest CFL seasons from reffing to play to playoffs to grey cup. Get it over with and move forward .Hey Calgary you are going to… Read more »
So how is saying a farmer cant drive by the rules ok but saying that new people to sask can't drive by the rules racist?…people like anon#2 just can't wait to bring the R word out at every turn.
It is the use of "new" that is the red flag on Anon#1's comment.
He is referring to immigrants and not 16 year olds, otherwise he would have said young drivers.
The ways of racists these days are subtle when it comes to immigrants. Not like back in the day when they felt more comfortable trotting out the N word or derogatory terms for aboriginal people etc (before "PC" came along and exposed the ignorance behind the use of such words).
"Rosey fingered Pink" can have their new brown migrant immigration who use their fingers untoward unsanitary habit. Toilet paper? What's that? Steak, fast-food burger tastes mighty peculiar wouuld you say.
PCSubtle?
outside the people that go to the game nobody in vancouver will even know its going on or care
I hope the Stamps lose the Grey Cup in some sort of bone head play like our 13th man incident. That would be hilarious.
That 13th man play was the bonehead play of the century. Only Kavis Reed could pull that one off.
Gb is a bomber fan