GA Russell Posted November 14, 2023 Report Posted November 14, 2023 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 (twice), kh1958 and Big Al. ***** 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. ***** The prize: 1) If you live in the US, your prize will be a surprise package of jazz CDs or books! 2) If you live in Canada, your prize will be a book about the Canadian league! 3) If you live anywhere else, your prize will be a $20 Amazon gift card! ***** The contest deadline: Sunday Nov. 19, 6:00 pm eastern ***** 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 2020 because of the covid virus. Therefore, this year's game will be the 110th Grey Cup Final. Fans from throughout Canada will attend the game in Hamilton, Ontario. The game is sold out. The weather is forecast to be sunny with a high of 41 F, which is quite mild for November. This year's game will see the Eastern champion Montreal Alouettes face the Western champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers. This will be the first time these two teams have met in the Grey Cup Final. Winnipeg has been the powerhouse of the league since 2019. They won the Grey Cup in 2019 and 2021. They were consistently good this year, but battled with the Vancouver, BC Lions all year for first place in the West. They finished 14-4. The Bombers' quarterback is Zach Collaros, who will set a record by being the only quarterback to start four consecutive Grey Cup Finals. (Collaros's college roommate was Travis Kelce, who is currently making headlines by dating Taylor Swift.) Montreal had a unique year, to say the least. One year ago, the company was in disarray. The owner had died, and the heirs sued the estate to get rid of the team and disburse the assets. As a result, free agents didn't sign with them. Nobody knew what the future might hold, or what the budget might be. Last year, the Saskatchewan Roughriders had a bad year, so they let go their offensive coordinator Jason Maas and their starting quarterback Cody Fajardo. Maas was then hired to be Montreal's head coach. The Als lost their starting quarterback Trevor Harris in free agency to the Roughriders. So they signed Fajardo because nobody else was willing to join the team. Because of these issues, all of the pundits (in their pre-season analyses) picked the Als to be the league's worst team. But lo and behold! The Als finished 11-7, with the league's fourth-best record. And here is the crazy part: They went undefeated against the five teams below them in the standings, and winless against the three teams that were better. The Als shocked everyone by clobbering the Toronto Argonauts Saturday to win the Eastern championship. Their defense has been their strong point, and late in the season they signed two free agents (Lemon and Sankey) who made their defense even better. Hamilton is an eastern city, sharing the airport with Toronto, and I expect most of the fans present to root for Montreal (another eastern city). Besides, the Als are a Cinderella story, and people are getting tired of the Bombers winning so much. Today the Bombers are 7.5 point favorites. You can watch the news unfold on the CFL thread. ***** The game will be carried live worldwide (except in Canada) for free on the league's website, cfl.ca, starting at 6:00 pm eastern Sunday. https://www.cfl.ca/plus 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.) ***** Good luck everyone! ***** Here's my pick: I expect the Bombers to blow them out. Saturday was the first time all year that the Als beat a team which finished with an over-.500 record. And I think that Saturday's game was the one glorious moment of the Als' season. Sunday they will revert to the mean. Nevertheless, I've got to root for Montreal. MONTREAL - 50 Quote
B. Clugston Posted November 14, 2023 Report Posted November 14, 2023 Thanks for doing this again! I pick Winnipeg, 50. Quote
felser Posted November 14, 2023 Report Posted November 14, 2023 Winnepeg 45 for me. Thanks as always! Quote
BFrank Posted November 14, 2023 Report Posted November 14, 2023 Going for a THREE-PEAT! Montreal Alouettes - 55 Quote
sidewinder Posted November 14, 2023 Report Posted November 14, 2023 Winnipeg 60 for me. Thanks for running this again ! Quote
GA Russell Posted November 15, 2023 Author Report Posted November 15, 2023 1 hour ago, GregK said: Montreal, 50!! Greg, I've already go Montreal - 50! Pick something else. Currently, everything for Montreal is available from 40 and below, and from 60 and above. Everything for Winnipeg is available from 35 and below, and from 75 and above. ***** I am thinking now that this might be a low scoring game, by Grey Cup standards. Montreal's offense isn't very good, but they do have a good field goal kicker, David Cote. I can see Winnipeg holding Montreal to a touchdown and maybe three field goals. Montreal's defense is good and getting better. I can see them holding Winnipeg to less than what they usually score, maybe 24. A final score of 24-13 isn't out of the question. Quote
GregK Posted November 16, 2023 Report Posted November 16, 2023 1 hour ago, GA Russell said: Greg, I've already go Montreal - 50! Pick something else. Currently, everything for Montreal is available from 40 and below, and from 60 and above. Everything for Winnipeg is available from 35 and below, and from 75 and above. ***** I am thinking now that this might be a low scoring game, by Grey Cup standards. Montreal's offense isn't very good, but they do have a good field goal kicker, David Cote. I can see Winnipeg holding Montreal to a touchdown and maybe three field goals. Montreal's defense is good and getting better. I can see them holding Winnipeg to less than what they usually score, maybe 24. A final score of 24-13 isn't out of the question. Ah, meant to hit 6, not 5! Montreal 60! Always a chance! Quote
GA Russell Posted November 19, 2023 Author Report Posted November 19, 2023 Last call! The contest will close at the top of the hour. I cannot see the Als winning a shootout. If they win a low-scoring game, Jim looks good at Montreal - 10. Winnipeg winning a low-scoring game gives sgcim a good chance. His tiebreaker would be anything less than 33. It appears that the league's website (to watch the game) does not like my VPN. If you tune in, try turning off your VPN first. https://www.cfl.ca/2022/11/12/gc110-winnipeg-blue-bombers-vs-montreal-alouettes/ I am currently listening to the Montreal radio pre-game show. https://www.tsn.ca/radio/montreal-690 Parlez vous francais? Try... https://www.985fm.ca Good luck everyone! Quote
GA Russell Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Posted November 20, 2023 After one... Winnipeg 10 Montreal 7 Winnipeg dominated the time of possession. Late in the quarter, they scored a touchdown following a bad call. Montreal then went 77 yards in four plays to score. So sgcim is in the catbird seat! Quote
GA Russell Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Posted November 20, 2023 At the half... Winnipeg 17 Montreal 7 Winnipeg again dominated the time of possession. Montreal almost scored with 8 seconds left, but Winnipeg had a great goal line stand. The halftime band is Green Day. I admit I have heard of them, so they must be superstars. The Canadians are very, very excited to have them perform at the Grey Cup. sgcim is still in the catbird seat! Quote
GA Russell Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Posted November 20, 2023 (edited) After three... Winnipeg 17 Montreal 14 Montreal scored a quick touchdown to make up for their failing to score at the end of the second quarter. Winnipeg again dominated the the time of possession. Montreal's defense is slowing down Winnipeg's offense, but they are not shutting down Winnipeg. And sgcim is still in the catbird seat! ***** Montreal's Austin Mack has caught a touchdown to give Montreal a 21-17 lead with 10:56 to go. So goodbye sgcim, hello Dub Modal! Edited November 20, 2023 by GA Russell Quote
GA Russell Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Posted November 20, 2023 Winnipeg's Prukop has scored on a sneak with 5:12 left to give the Bombers a 24-21 lead. And so Felser now is in the catbird seat! Quote
GA Russell Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Posted November 20, 2023 With 13 seconds to go, Tyson Philpot has caught a TD pass to put the Alouettes ahead 28-24. And so now I'm in the catbird seat! Quote
GA Russell Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Posted November 20, 2023 And that's it! This is the fourth big Grey Cup upset in the past seven seasons. This is the second time that I have won the contest, but since I do not win my own contests, the winner is...BFrank! Congratulations Brooks! This is your three-peat! Brooks, 1) please DM me your current address. 2) This year, you have a choice - jazz CDs or a Canadian football book. Please let me know which you prefer. Thanks for playing everybody! What a game! Quote
GA Russell Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Posted November 20, 2023 45 minutes ago, BFrank said: I'm a JUGGERNAUT 😆🏈 Yes, I think it is fair to say that winning three times makes you a juggernaut! Brooks, your package is on its way! Quote
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