STAMPS SLIP, SLIDE ON PAST REDBLACKS
FIELD CONDITIONS MADE FOR SOME SLOPPY PLAY, AND OTTAWA WAS THE SLOPPIER OF THE TWO
Brad Sinopoli dropped a pass. Diontae Spencer reached out and lost the football. A momentary lapse in judgment from an Ottawa assistant coach.
With all those mistakes and more, the Ottawa Redblacks still had a shot at the Grey Cup. But a slippery field and a slippery performance meant whatever chance the Redblacks had of defeating the Calgary Stampeders was taken from them, partly by the Stamps, partly by their own miscues.
This was a terrific Grey Cup week in Edmonton. A sold-out crowd. Almost perfect weather. But the field itself, slippery without rain or snow, affected the quality of play as the Stampeders returned to the championship ring with a 27-16 win over Ottawa in the 106th Grey Cup.
WHAT COACHING?
There were 20 seconds left in the half with Ottawa punting. And the simple thing, really, was to kick the ball out of bounds. Or certainly kick the ball away from the punt returner.
But punter Richie Leone did neither of those things for the Redblacks. He punted to Terry Williams, no relation to Gizmo, who is now in the record books and deserving of a great nickname of his own.
Williams took the punt for a Grey Cup-record 97 yards to give Calgary a 21-11 lead at the half. Williams almost went down, put his hand down to keep his balance and raced past all the Redblacks players for a score that never should have happened.
The score at the half should have been 14-11 Calgary. Instead, the Stamps led by 10. Couldn’t have been a happy Ottawa locker-room at halftime.
The last punt return touchdown in the Grey Cup? Jimmy “The Jet” Cunningham, running for the Toronto Argonauts in 1996.
Bob Dyce is the Ottawa special teams coach.
SLIPPERY WHEN WET
The field at Commonwealth Stadium was the worst thing about the 106th Grey Cup. Players had difficulty with their footing all night, which hurt the quality of the game in several ways.
And the strange part was the weather was terrific. No snow. No rain. No frozen anything.
Almost-perfect placekicker Lewis Ward missed a first-half 48-yard field goal attempt, when he slipped just before the kick. The kick came up a touch short and wide.
Several receivers slipped running their routes and both starting quarterbacks, Bo Levi Mitchell and Trevor Harris, had difficulty planting when throwing.
The slippery field brought up the name of the late Tony Proudfoot, who suggested in the 1974 Grey Cup that the Montreal Alouettes put staples on their cleats to give the players better footwork. The Alouettes did that and went on to a one-sided victory.
A ROSE IS A ROSE
Jonathan Rose was suspended from the Grey Cup until he wasn’t. After pushing an official in the Eastern Final, Rose’s one-game suspension was put on hold when the CFL couldn’t arrange an appeal before the championship game.
So what did Rose do? He picked off a first-half pass. He made a block he was in position to make on an interception by Sherrod Baltimore, Ottawa would have scored a touchdown. Instead, the Redblacks fumbled the ball back to Calgary.
Rose had a chance for a second interception in the first half. He dropped the ball.
He will likely be suspended to start next season.
THIS AND THAT
For the first time in memory, there were no Grey Cup programs printed. Some collectors weren’t happy about not being able to buy a program ... Jon Gott, who became a household name after he chugged a beer and pulled a Stone Cold Steve Austin with the can after finishing it, did not dress for Ottawa. But he was part of a flag-carrying exercise before the game. Good for him for taking part ... The Grey Cup did not start well for Calgary receiver Lemar Durant, who dropped the first two passes thrown his way. He made up for it, though, with a terrific, difficult catch for a touchdown in the second quarter ... Harris had as many incompletions in the first four passes thrown as he had in the entire Eastern Final. In the East final, the Ottawa QB was 29-for-32 passing. By halftime in the Grey Cup game, he had nine incompletions and a 47.1 completion percentage. Against Hamilton last week, Harris threw to open receivers all day long. Almost every pass he threw in the Grey Cup was to a receiver either partly or fully covered ... Mitchell looked much sharper at times. He threw two touchdown passes and two interceptions in the game ... Next year’s Grey Cup Week will be in Calgary ... Things you don’t see often: Greg Ellingson dropping a pass. He dropped the first pass thrown to him Sunday ... This was Mitchell’s fifth time in the Grey Cup, fourth as a starter. His record as a starter: 2-2 ... Calgary placekicker Rene Paredes is 11-for11 in the Grey Cup on field goals, the best percentage with the most kicks in CFL history. Former Argo Mike Vanderjagt went 9-for-9 ... Littleknown Canadian Julian Feoli-Gudino scored on a 55-yard touchdown pass from Harris. Feoli-Gudino was born in Costa Rica and was Vanier Cup MVP in 2008 ... Attendance at Commonwealth was 55,819, or the basic equivalent of four Argos home games ... Brampton, Ont.’s Alessia Cara, wearing a weather-appropriate toque, gets full marks for her halftime show. The CFL is trying hard to skew younger. Cara is just 22.