jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) (11/08/84)
The question that most Canadian sports fans have been asking each other
this week is, "who will win the Grey Cup?" The B.C. Lions had the best
record in the league and were pretty consistent throughout the season,
so you can't argue too strongly against their chances even with
quarterback Roy DeWalt out of the lineup. But they'll be in
tough this Sunday with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Bombers have
sported the best offense in the league this season, and quarterback Tom
Clements (formerly of Notre Dame, for you American fans; he also had a
brief tryout with the Kansas City Chiefs) has looked even better than
when he led the Ottawa Rough Riders to the Grey Cup in 1976, ripping
apart opposing defences and piling up scores in the 40's, 50's and even
60's with amazing regularity (including last week in the playoff opener
with Edmonton), with the aid of the CFL's leading rusher Willard Reaves.
All of this sounds very impressive, except for one thing: all of the
big games have come against weaker opposition, and in recent games against
probably the two teams that stand in their way, B.C. and Toronto, Clements
and Reaves were shut down and the Bombers came out on the short end
of the score. However, the Lions had to show the Bombers everything they
had last time, so the Bombers will be ready for them this time.
In the east, the Toronto Argonauts seem to be the opposite
of the Blue Bombers. They had a terrible finish, winning only two of
their last seven games, but they had first place in the division locked
up by the halfway point in the season, so there was little motivation for
them to beat all of those weak teams that they lost to, but when they
came up against the two top teams, Winnipeg and B.C., they turned their
fortunes around and produced a win and a tie respectively. Given a
choice between a team like Winnipeg, that blows away weaker teams
and loses to the strong teams, or one like Toronto who loses to weak
teams and beats the good ones, I'd take Toronto at playoff time.
It's easy to dismiss Hamilton because of their 6-9-1 record, but
you have to remember the Hamilton-Toronto rivalry. It seems that no matter
how good the Argos are or how bad the Tiger-Cats are, the Argos always
have trouble against the 'Cats. Last year was no exception, when it took
a questionable pass interference call to give Toronto a last minute
win over Hamilton in the Eastern final. With Hamilton's strong finish,
it looks like they have an even better chance for an upset this year.
However, it's in Toronto's character to do only what they need to to win,
so don't count them out yet. I wouldn't be surprised to see Toronto and
Winnipeg in the Grey Cup this year.
--
Jeff Richardson, DCIEM, Toronto (416) 635-2073
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