CONTEST - 2021 Grey Cup

[GA Russell]

It's that time of year again! It's time for the annual Grey Cup contest.

Past winners have included Noj (twice), indestructible, Bright Moments, brownie, paul secor, Soulstation1, danasgoodstuff, B. Clugston (twice), ejp626 (twice), BFrank and kh1958.

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The rules:

1) Pick the winning team.

2) Pick the number of total points scored by both teams (aka the tiebreaker).

Since approximately half of us will pick the winning team, picking the total points is necessary to win the contest. Your total points prediction must be a number which is a multiple of five (5).

The winning tiebreaker will be the one closest to the correct answer. If two are equally close, the winner will be the lower pick.

If two people pick the same thing, the first to make the pick will be the winner.

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The prize: 

If you live in the US, you will have your choice of
a) a $17.00 Mosaic Records Gift Card (which represents one CD of a Mosaic box set) or
b) a bundle of jazz books.

If you live in Canada, your prize will be a Canadian football book.

If you live anywhere else, I will paypal you the $17.00, and it will be up to you to decide what you will spend it on and in what currency.

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The contest deadline: 

Sunday Dec. 12, 6:00 pm eastern

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The Grey Cup Final:

The Grey Cup is awarded to the world champion of what I think is the greatest game in the world, Canadian rules football. That is to say, the champion of the Canadian Football League.

The Grey Cup was first awarded in 1909. They have played for it every year since then, except three years because of World War One and last year because of the covid virus.  Therefore, this year's game will be the 108th Grey Cup Final.  Fans from throughout Canada will attend the game.

This year's game will see the Western champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers face the Eastern champion Hamilton Tiger-Cats.  This will be a rematch of the last Grey Cup Final (2019).  These were the two teams picked by most pre-season pundits to play for the Grey Cup.

Winnipeg was the only team in the league which was consistently good.  They lost their last two games (of 14) playing their subs, having clinched first place in the West.  Through the first 12 games, they were 11-1.  In that span, they outscored their opponents 116-6 in the fourth quarter!

Pre-season pundits wondered if Hamilton might go undefeated, but they had a disappointing season until the end.  Including two playoff games, they have won six of their last seven.  

(By the way, the Hamilton Tigers were founded in 1869, the same year as the Cincinnati Red Stockings.)

The location of the game is chosen years in advance. This year's game will be played in Hamilton, so the Ticats will have the home field advantage.  Eastern Canada fans always root for the Eastern champion, and Western Canada fans always root for the Western champion.  I expect that many in the stands will be cheering for the Bombers, but undoubtedly the majority of the crowd will be loudly cheering for the Ticats.  The Tiger-Cats last won the Grey Cup in 1999, and they are now in the league's current longest drought.    

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The game will be carried live in the US on ESPN2, starting at 6:00 pm eastern Sunday.  ESPNews will carry the pre-game show at 5:30.

You can listen to the game here:

http://www.tsn.ca/radio

(To listen to the game, you will need Windows Media Player which you can download for free. So you might want to plan ahead if you don't already have it.)

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You can study articles analyzing the upcoming game as well as articles about the season as it unfolded in the CFL thread which I will update throughout the week.

Good luck everyone!

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Here's my pick:

I'm going to do you a favor.  Because Winnipeg was the best team the entire year, I'm going to go with the Ticats.    

Hamilton - 50

Edited December 7, 2021 by GA Russell

[BFrank]

Here we GO!

Bombers - 60

[JohnJ]

Winnipeg - 55

[danasgoodstuff]

Winnipeg - 65

[sidewinder]

Winnipeg 50

 

 

 

Probably a lost cause again but you never know..

Edited December 6, 2021 by sidewinder

[kh1958]

Hamilton 60

[T.D.]

My usual strategy, copying the "consensus" (current spread and over-under, I found Winnipeg -4.5 points, O/U 44.5):

Winnipeg 45.

Disclosure: This has never worked, I've never won the contest. 

[GregK]

Hamilton 45

 

Is the game later than usual this year? Isn't this typically in late November?

[GA Russell]

16 hours ago, GregK said:

Is the game later than usual this year? Isn't this typically in late November?

Greg, yes!

The season was shortened and delayed due to the covid situation.

This year's Dec. 12 date will be the latest the Grey Cup Final has ever been played.

[Big Al]

Hamilton - 40

Thanks for always thinking of me to play along! I've yet to win, so the odds have to be in my favor eventually!

[medjuck]

Hamilton 35. 

[felser]

Winnepeg 39.  I know nothing about CFL, just did some quick number crunching!  That being said, if any of you have followed it for decades, there was a QB named Condredge Holloway who had great success in the CFL (and is in the CFL hall of fame), and I played on a youth team with Holloway in Huntsville, AL in the mid-60's.  He totally dominated our league (I sat on the bench).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condredge_Holloway

[Bright Moments]

Hello all!!

 

Winnipeg - 70

[B. Clugston]

Winnipeg - 40. Go Bombers! Thank you Russell for organizing this again.

[GA Russell]

3 hours ago, felser said:

Winnepeg 39.  I know nothing about CFL, just did some quick number crunching!  That being said, if any of you have followed it for decades, there was a QB named Condredge Holloway who had great success in the CFL (and is in the CFL hall of fame), and I played on a youth team with Holloway in Huntsville, AL in the mid-60's.  He totally dominated our league (I sat on the bench).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condredge_Holloway

John, your number must be a multiple of five.  BClug already has Winnipeg and 40, so we'll put you down as Winnipeg and 35 unless you want something else.

[felser]

2 hours ago, GA Russell said:

John, your number must be a multiple of five.  BClug already has Winnipeg and 40, so we'll put you down as Winnipeg and 35 unless you want something else.

Sorry, didn't read close enough.  Winnepeg 35 is good, thanks!

[B. Clugston]

12 hours ago, felser said:

Winnepeg 39.  I know nothing about CFL, just did some quick number crunching!  That being said, if any of you have followed it for decades, there was a QB named Condredge Holloway who had great success in the CFL (and is in the CFL hall of fame), and I played on a youth team with Holloway in Huntsville, AL in the mid-60's.  He totally dominated our league (I sat on the bench).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condredge_Holloway

That's a neat story about Holloway. He was a great quarterback in the CFL--he could throw the ball like a rocket!

[GA Russell]

You can stream the television broadcast online for $7.99.
https://www.cfl.ca/2021/12/10/watch-tune-details-108th-grey-cup/

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As mentioned above, you can stream the radio broadcast for free.
https://www.tsn.ca/radio

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Here is what the bookmakers have to say.
https://torontosportsmedia.com/2021/12/09/cfl-108th-grey-cup-winnipeg-hamilton-odds-picks-betting-preview/

[GA Russell]

Two hours to go!  Procrastinators, the deadline is at 6:00 pm eastern.

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I want to point out to you stats-hounds a link I posted on the regular thread.  The league has this year posted the material passed out to everyone in the press box!

https://d3ham790trbkqy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_GC_Preview_Notes_Dec_8th.pdf

[GA Russell]

...And O Canada has been sung!  The contest is closed.

I remember that Noj won one year just because he had the lowest number.

Considering that Winnipeg's defense is so good, it wouldn't surprise me if the points total is lower than usual.

John and Joe have the low picks, both at 35, so I think it looks good for them.

[GA Russell]

After one, it's Winnipeg 4...Hamilton 0.

There is a 25 mph wind.  Winnipeg's offense hasn't shown much, but Hamilton's (going into the win) hasn't show anything.  The Ticats gained only 13 yards in the first quarter.

So John Felser is in the catbird seat.

[GA Russell]

And at the half, it's Hamilton 10....Winnipeg 7.

The Bombers stretched their lead to 7-0 with Castillo's second field goal.  

Last week, Hamilton started Masoli, who did not do well.  So they pulled him for Evans, who went 16 for 16 and won the game.

This week, the Ticats started Evans, who hurt his neck, and was replaced by Masoli, who has done well so far.

After that Bomber field goal, the Ticats (with the wind at their back) controlled much of the remainder of the quarter.  First they got a field goal, and with 15 seconds left Masoli found Dunbar in the end zone for the touchdown.

It looks to me like whoever has the wind at their back in the fourth quarter is going to win.

And at the half, Joe Medjuck is now in the catbird seat.

[medjuck]

We'll see how long that lasts.

[GA Russell]

51 minutes ago, medjuck said:

We'll see how long that lasts.

LOL!  Well, Joe is still looking good.

After three, it's Hamilton 19....Winnipeg 10.

The Bombers tied it at 10 with Castillo's third field goal.

But the Ticats again had the wind at their backs.  With 4:10 left Masoli threw a 4-yard pass to Speedy Banks at the 7, who ran it in for the touchdown.

With 51 seconds left, Legghio conceded the safety touch.

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And now the fourth has begun, and the Ticats finished their third quarter drive with a Domagala field goal.

So with 12:03 left in the game, the Ticats lead 22-10, and Joe Medjuck is still in the catbird seat!

But now the Bombers have the wind at their backs.

[GA Russell]

With 8:20 left, Castillo kicked his fourth field goal to make it 22-13.

With 6:09 left, Collaros threw a 12-yard pass to Demski on the 17, who ran it in for the touchdown.

Castillo then immediately scored a single (the famous "rouge") by sending the kickoff through the end zone.

So that makes the score Hamilton 22....Winnipeg 21.

The Bombers have the ball at the three minute warning.

And now in the catbird seat is...GregK!

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With 2:05 left, Castillo has kicked another field goal, giving the Bombers the lead 24-22.

And on the ensuing kickoff, White conceded the single point, making the score 25-22.

And so now T.D. is in the catbird seat!

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With 20 seconds left, Hamilton takes a timeout with the ball on the Winnipeg 5.

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With 16 seconds left, Acklin dropped the pass in the end zone!

So Domagala attempted a 13-yard field goal, and almost missed it!

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Now tied at 25-25, and going into overtime.

Sidewinder has Winnipeg-50, and I have Hamilton-50.

Edited December 13, 2021 by GA Russell