DAYTONA HOMES (TUESDAY) MORNING GOALIE

A DOZEN FINAL GREY CUP THOUGHTS

1 – As Grey Cups go, the 2014 edition in Vancouver was good but not great.  Anybody will tell you that.  And it certainly wasn’t 2014 Grey Cup General Manager Jamie Pitblado’s fault that the match-up was a dog; Calgary vs Hamilton.

There were tens of thousands of people at the Vancouver Convention Centre for the parties and at B.C. Place for the game but for the most part outside of that, there wasn’t a whole lot of evidence of the game.  But who minds?  It’s the exact same way in Toronto.  Everyone in Vancouver had a good time, except for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and that’s all the counts.

2 – Which, of course, leads to “The Call”.  Nobody outside of Hamilton thinks the Illegal Block penalty on the Tiger-Cats’ Taylor Reed in the final minute was a bad call.  Kent Austin was upset after the game, but that’s not surprising.

I left the game at halftime with Luc Mullinder to watch the game in the hotel lounge and Luc was a literal quote machine when Brandon Banks’ game-winning punt return touchdown was called back on that penalty.  “That call is 30% as painful as the 13th Man,” Luc noted.  “That guy should be glad he doesn’t play for Saskatchewan.”

3 – “The Call” will be debated for years but minutes after the game it was debated correctly by the TSN panel.  The infraction didn’t affect the play but it was within five yards of the ball-carrier and if the ref hadn’t called it, he might have been fired.  The fact is it appeared as the Calgary’s Karl McCartney overshot Banks, and wouldn’t have been able to tackle him anyways.

4 – Que Sera, Sera.  We’ve been there and bought the T-shirt.   We still feel bad for Hamilton, because they were good enough to win the game over 60 minutes.  I wanted Calgary to lose more than the Ticats to win but I particularly felt bad for Andy Fantuz.  He’s 1-4 in Grey Cups and now experienced both the 13th Man and The Call.

I also ran into Andy’s father Max Saturday evening at Riderville and he thanked me for all the nice things I’ve said and done for Andy over the years.  Class people.  Those things mean the world to me.

Speaking of Riderville, it’s come a long way from when I was hosting it a over a decade ago when we had just a few hundred people in a hotel ballroom.  Luc tells me 7800 people passed through the doors on Saturday in Vancouver.  A fan of another team remarked, “There’s too much green.”  I thought that’s exactly what we want!

5 – It was colder in Vancouver on Grey Cup Sunday in 2014 (minus-3) then it was in Regina for Grey Cup Sunday in 2013 (plus-2).  Given what you might have been suffering through at home, I can hardly complain but it seemed frigid in downtown Vancouver.  I really felt sorry for the homeless people.  The coldest Lower Mainland people have ever felt in their lives, so they tell me, is minus-10.  So ya, it was Huddle Up In Vancouver.

6 – Imagine Dragons at halftime?  They seemed okay.  Clearly they’re not my thing.  However the way the stage was configured, half of the stadium couldn’t see them and weren’t happy about it.  That’s something to consider for 2015 in Winnipeg.

7 – Regarding the news of the Roughrider coaching potential changes, the team is saying nothing.  Sportsnet’s Arash Madani reported on Saturday that George Cortez will not return as Offensive Coordinator and when I asked him the next day how confident he is in his source, Arash said “very”.  A CFL assistant coach told Carm Carteri about it on Friday but I wasn’t touching the story.

8 – Regarding the possible dismissal of Richie Hall and Barron Miles – as reported by TSN’s Dave Naylor – that hasn’t been confirmed by the team either.  There may be an announcement this week, or perhaps not for weeks on any possible changes.  As I said, the team isn’t confirming nor denying anything.

9 – Danny Barrett is scheduled to interview for the B.C. Lions’ vacant head coaching job.

10 – There are a couple of rumours about who the next Commissioner of the CFL will be.  The guy from San Diego who works for the Chargers and is originally from Winnipeg has apparently pulled his name.  The other two names we’re hearing are TSN’s Jock Climie and Toronto sports executive Tom Anselmi.  It appears replacing Mark Cohon is no easy task.

11 – It was very strange being at a Grey Cup without the Roughriders being in it.  You think I’d be used to it since it was my 14th Grey Cup but since the Riders have been in four since 2007, I felt pretty much useless particularly after how hectic 2013 was.  It’s got me questioning whether to attend Winnipeg in 2015 or not.  Long ago Rider staff said to me, “Unless we’re in it, I don’t want to go”, and now I see why.

12 – As Carm Carteri pointed out on the flight home, this will be a very interesting and active off-season in the CFL.  The Riders will be front and centre with their coaching news, then free agents plus the announcement of a new President and the CFL’s search for a Commissioner.   That means the SportsCage will be busy with Rider talk.

I met SO many Rider fans from all across the country who listen to the SportsCage over the internet on their computer or on an app on their smartphone and they’re tuning in for Rider coverage.

So we’ll give it to them!

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THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY! SEE YOU IN THE CAGE AT 4 PM
RP
@sportscage