GREY CUP SUNDAY!! GO STAMPEDERS GO!

TIME TO BRING THE CUP HOME TO CALGARY.

Lets look at what happened in the division finals last weekend first.

in the East final, the hometown Montreal Allouettes came back from a slow start to defeat the edmonton eskimoes. Edmonton had a strong lead nearing halftime when Montreal took the lead with two touchdowns before the half and one not long after. The Montreal Allouettes (12-6)scored 33 unanswered ponits to defeat the Edmonton Eskimoes (10-8) and claim the East Division championship, the first Home team to play in a Grey cup since Edmonton in 2002(which they lost to the same Allouettes).

In the west division, the leagues best regular season team, the Calgary Stampeders (13-5) hosted the B.C. Lions (11-7). This was the first time Calgary hosted the west final since 2000 when they lost to the BC Lions after a Dave Dickenson injury destroyed thier hopes of playing the the Grey cup at home that year. the Stamps came out slow and BC was able to drive the field several times. The leagues number 1 defence was able to hold them in it by preventing the Lions from scoring touchdowns, allowing 4 fieldgoals. The sold out crowd of 35,650 urged the Stamps D and was a major influence during the game. The Stamps special teams in the first half also kept them in it, creating great field position on every return. The Stamps scored a touchdown near the end of the half, closing the gap to 12-9. in the second half the Stampeders played better on offence, though the Defence still won them the game. after trading turnovers, the Stamps D was able to stop the Lions on a first and goal from the one, another field goal for BC. later the Stamps would get a touchdown to go up by 7 at 22-15. the Lions added a field goal and later drove much of the field in the last 2 minutes before throwing an interception. Calgary had the ball for the last minute, up by 22-18, and almost blew it. on 3rd down with 7 seconds left, Burris threw out of bounds, but one second remained. BC had one chance for a hail mary, but couldnt convert a touchdown. The Stamps got the victory, aided by the crowd, in what is the best atmosphere for a football game i have been to. yes, better than the two grey cups (tho they were fun) because the Stamps were in it, the crowd was into it and had a huge impact on the game (plus i had great seats)The Stampeders will play in the grey cup for the first time since 2001, when they defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

this sunday at 4pm (mt) the Stampeders will play in Olympic stadium for the Grey cup vs the Allouettes, in what should be a sellout (near 70,000) crowd of mostly Montreal fans. It'll be loud. the matchup is perfect, the two best teams this season, two rookie head coaches, the two mvp candidates (Burris and Calvillo), west vs east...this game will be awesome. the Stamps and Allouettes have played in two grey cups in history, with Montreal winning both, most recently in...1970. This year, the Stamps defeated the Allouettes in both matches. with the two best offences and top quarterbacks, this could be an offensive game. although, the Stampeders boast the best defence in the league this season, and defence wins championships....

The oddsmakers wont pick a favourite at this point, Calgary would be favoured except for Montreals home team advantage, almost 70,000 fans at home. The teams have been preparing with loud noise at practice and the teams will be ready to roll on sunday. Montreal last won the grey cup in 2002 in Edmonton, Calgary won the year before in Montreal. the winner of this game will match Edmonton, and BC with 2 Grey cup wins this decade.

my pick for the 96th Grey cup....Calgary 33-Montreal 31.

GO STAMPS GO

in other news, the flames beat colorado 4-1 last night.