Greatest Grey Cup ever? Not quite
Sunday’s battle was fun to behold, but Roughriders’ title 27 years ago set the bar
REGINA — The Greatest Grey Cup Ever — the story of the 1989 Saskatchewan Roughriders — is incontestably one of the top two books I have written.
But now I am beginning to question the title. Has the Grey Cup classic of 1989 been trumped by Sunday’s scintillating spectacle?
The Ottawa Redblacks and Calgary Stampeders treated CFL fans to a superlative show to punctuate the 2016 season. Calgary, which rebounded from deficits of 27-7 and 33-23, scored 10 points late in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Ottawa ended up scoring the only touchdown in OT and won 39-33.
The drama began before the opening kickoff. Redblacks quarterback Henry Burris injured a knee in warm-up and there was speculation he would not be able to play.
But, oh, did he play — throwing for 461 yards and three touchdowns in addition to running for a pair of oneyard majors.
Burris and friends maintained their composure after a wild conclusion to regulation time. With fewer than two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Calgary scored and converted a touchdown, executed an onside kickoff and proceeded to march for a chip-shot field goal that necessitated overtime.
The 41-year-old Burris took it from there, piloting the Redblacks to an improbable victory over a Stampeders steamroller that registered a 15-2-1 regular-season record. Ottawa, by contrast, was 8-9-1.
Comparisons to 1989 are especially applicable in light of the fact the underdog ultimately bared its teeth.
Twenty-seven years ago, the 9-9-0 Roughriders travelled to Edmonton for what seemed to be an obligatory West Division final and prevailed 32-21 — one week before defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 43-40 in the league final.
The 1989 Eskimos set a CFL record with 16 victories — registering only one more point in the standings than the 2016 Stampeders — but never even reached the Grey Cup game.
In 1989 and 2016, the recipient of the league’s most outstanding player award was a quarterback whose team lost its final game of the season despite being heavily favoured. Edmonton’s Tracy Ham was the league’s dominant player in 1989. Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell was the 2016 equivalent.
But is there an equivalent to the 1989 Grey Cup game? Upon considerable reflection, the answer is no.
Consider the fact 10 or more points separated the Redblacks and Stampeders for 27 minutes 15 seconds or 45.4 per cent of regulation time.
In 1989, there was a double-digit points disparity for only 7:58 or 13.3 per cent of the game. No more than a converted touchdown separated the Roughriders and Tiger-Cats for the final 30:44.
The second quarter, in which Saskatchewan and Hamilton combined for five touchdown drives in succession, is without parallel. A mere 27 seconds elapsed between TD receptions by Hamilton’s Derrick McAdoo and Saskatchewan’s Jeff Fairholm. The Tiger-Cats were still celebrating McAdoo’s score when Fairholm began and ended the ensuing possession by catching a 75-yard touchdown bomb from Kent Austin.
With 44 seconds left in the fourth frame, Mike Kerrigan threw a nineyard TD pass to a leaping, twisting Tony Champion to help Hamilton create a 40-40 tie. Champion made that remarkable catch while shrugging off the extreme discomfort of broken ribs.
Undaunted, Austin moved Saskatchewan into field-goal range, whereupon Dave Ridgway settled matters from 35 yards away with two seconds remaining in the greatest of all 104 Grey Cup games to date.
And here’s another kicker: In 1989, there weren’t any video reviews. Case closed.
Note: Brock Sunderland, 37, the Redblacks assistant general manager, declined to respond about whether he had been contacted by any other CFL franchise.
A tweet by Postmedia’s Herb Zurkowsky Monday said the Alouettes had requested permission to talk to Sunderland about their general manager’s position, which has been vacant since the team announced Jim Popp would not return.