Friday, November 23, 2007

This week’s Grey Cup match up is going to be exciting. The Saskatchewan Roughriders and The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, two teams that were underdogs in their finals went into their opponent’s stadium and came out with a win. The final scores make them look like close games but Winnipeg and Saskatchewan dominated the finals. The prairie is going to be rocking this weekend. This will mark the first time these two have met in the Grey Cup. Both are hungry for a cup, neither team has won the cup in over 15 years.
The Roughriders pulled off the biggest win, knocking off their biggest rival the BC Lions. I don’t think anyone but the Riders seriously thought they were going to win. It’s always cool to see the underdog win, even if you are a fan of the other team. Interesting fact, all 26 points the Riders scored in the final was made by Canadians. The win gives the Roughriders their first Grey Cup berth since 1997, and a chance to win their first since 1989. The last Roughriders win was in Toronto, with current coach Kent Austin playing quarterback. They won that game 43-40 over the Hamilton Tigercats. The Riders green will be out in full force, they are already saying that Toronto will be shaded green this weekend. If they win it will be the teams third in their 98 year history.

The Blue Bombers also had a big game knocking the Toronto Argonauts out of their chance for a home field Grey Cup game. The Bombers have made the playoff a record 53 years; have more playoff appearances, 109, and more playoff wins, 59, than any other franchise. The Bombers have 10 Grey Cup wins, but they also have 12 losses. The Bombers last Cup appearance was in 2001 and their last win in 1990 a 50-11 win over Edmonton. The big news for Winnipeg, starting quarterback Kevin Glenn will be out of the game with a broken arm. There were some real exciting things in that game, like Keith Stokes 81 yard punt return TD, but the game will be remembered for Glenn’s broken arm. The only way they will forget about Glenn’s broken arm is if Ryan Dinwiddie can take the Bombers to a Grey Cup win. This will be Dinwiddie’s first CFL start. He threw all of 24 passes in the regular season, and went 4-for-4 for 80 yards in the final Sunday. If you are going to win a game in your first start, make it a championship game.

As for my prediction, my heart says go with the Bombers. I always loved watching them back in the 80’s. How could you not like a team that has a beer, Labatt Blue, named after it, and had a quarterback named Indian Jack? The Roughriders will make this their 16th shot at the Grey Cup, with only two wins so far. They have the worst Grey Cup win percentage in the CFL. That said, I’m going with the Roughriders to win. I think Dinwiddie will be a good quarterback, but after seeing how the Roughriders defense tore up the Lions last week I’ll go with them this weekend. I get the funny feeling Dinwiddie is going to have a very long day in Toronto. Winnipeg has more weapons than Kevin Glenn, but I’m sure even they do not want to go with a quarterback in his first start. I also think after knocking the Lions off (this is the CFL's equivalent to the Red Sox finally beating the Yankees) The Roughriders aren't going to let anything stop them.

For cheerleaders first up is Nichole from the Blue Lightning. Nichole is student who wants to go on to be an elementary school teacher. Where were the teachers who looked like this when I was in school? Nichole's biggest pet peeve when cheering is when her hair gets stuck on her face and she cannot fix it.



Then we have Jade from the Roughriders squad. Someone has got to work on the cheerleaders web page. I really think someone has a thing against the cheer team looking good. Jade is a student and cheers for the University of Regina Cheer Team. When Jade gets nervous she just tries to breathe. I thought that function came naturally.



I'm also going to include Melayna from the Blue Lightning stunters. Melyna works full time in retail and plans on going to college. When asked what skills/things she learned being on the team she said, "I can do push ups now!"


Also from the riders, Jess U. and Jess P. Jess U. says she dances in her bedroom, someone get a web cam set up now!!

Jess P. says if she won a million dollars she would take a vacation somewhere hot and exotic!!

For a bonus I'm including Blue Lightning team assistant, Stacy!! Stacy's career goal is to be a middle school teacher, once again where was teachers who looked like this when I was in school? Since being on the team one of things/stuff she has acquired is public speaking and the power of philanthropy.