The first three quarters were dull, but the 4th was bizarre and lively.
It surely was!
Hénoc Muamba, who did the interception and run back for the ARgos, got the MVP and the Most Outstanding Canadian award; only the second time the same player has got both.
Mrs P’s comment: “Glad to see that the Bombers didn’t win the Grey Cup in our stadium.”
He was so emotional at the award ceremony – it was very touching.
The F-word came out a couple of times on the live post-game interviews.
They broadcast Canadian football on ESPN? Never would have guessed. Do they show regular season games?
Yeah, that ending was insane. That’s the kind of football I love to watch! No way could you have predicted that last few minutes.
And it didn’t hurt that I ended up winning the big prize in the pool the guys at the pub were running!
It was indeed. He’s been playing in the CFL for about ten years, so getting close to end of career I would think. Sweet ending.
I think network tv has just given up. Wonder if they even still have “bleep” ability.
Quite a few, actually. I’ve been a CFL fan since the early '80s – when we first got cable, when I was a teenager, ESPN didn’t yet have contracts with the major US sports leagues, so they showed a lot of non-US stuff, including CFL games.
They’ve been carrying the CFL again over the past few years.
There was one episode years ago where the CFL was trying to improve its market share in the States and was working with ESPN to make the game more interesting in the US broadcasts.
One trick they tried was that the coaches were miked, and ESPN broadcast what the coaches were saying. This was pre-internet, so no probs, right? No way that feed would get back to the game in Canada in real time.
Except one fan in the US was watching the game, and had the Canadian phone number of the team he was rooting for. He got on the line, and relayed the opposing coach’s instructions live to his team.
Oops.
Saw most of it. How to best describe the CFL…it’s a game where you have to both think quickly and be patient. The big differences between our more familiar football is that there are only three downs and there are much fewer restrictions on pre-snap motion. That lends itself to higher-risk, wider-open offensive schemes…which in turn means a lot more punting, and consequently more possessions for each side. On a related note, a quality special teams unit makes a big difference here, as field goals are considerably shorter and even a miss can be worth a third of a field goal. (Whoever gave me this timeless classic, thanks! 
)
I also noticed that there were only five officials and there were very few penalties called. A long time passed between flags. and I don’t recall the announcers mentioning any really egregious missed calls. Is this league just more disciplined (or at least the Grey Cup)? If so, definite thumbs-up from me!
Fun game. Wouldn’t mind this becoming a regular thing on ESPN (although I have the nagging feeling it’s going to the way of yacht racing and Australian football).
I knew what that would be, before I even clicked on it. One of my very favorites.
CFL football is closer to the rugby roots than NFL, as far as I can tell. That crazy ending was just an example of it. The “missed field” goal is better thought of as the entire end zone is a goal zone. If you get it through the uprights, 3 points and done. If you miss it and the opposing team doesn’t get it out of the end zone, one point. I think that’s closer to the rugby origins.
Winnipeg the past few years has been one of the most disciplined teams in the league. As opposed to, say, a local team in green and white, that didn’t even make the playoffs this year, which is the most heavily penalised team. It’s almost as if discipline has some impact on winning games …