The Rookies

I’m in Calgary this week for the Grey Cup, the CFL championship game, which features the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Montreal Alouettes. It should be a great one. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. Eastern/3:30 p.m. Pacific, and I’m planning to live-blog the game over at Sporting Madness. Before that, here’s a little preview to get you prepped for the game.

Media interview Roughriders' coach Ken Miller (centre) at a breakfast with the Grey Cup (background) this week

Saskatchewan:

Number of Grey Cups won: Three

Last Grey Cup victory: 2007

Coach: Ken Miller

How they got here: Finished first in the CFL West Division, then knocked off the Calgary Stampeders 27-17 in the West Final to advance to the Grey Cup.

Key player: Running back Wes Cates. Cates is a rushing and receiving threat in the Ray Rice mould, and a very good one. He was key to the Riders’ Grey Cup win in 2007 and was their top player last year. He’s had a down year thanks to injuries, but if he can get the Saskatchewan rushing game going, that could be the crucial key to their success. Otherwise, Montreal will be able to drop too many men into coverage and pick off quarterback Darian Durant.

Montreal:

Number of Grey Cups won: Six

Last Grey Cup victory: 2002

Head coach: Marc Trestman

How they got here: Finished first in the league with a 15-3 record, then demolished B.C. 56-18 in the East final.

Key player: Quarterback Anthony Calvillo. Calvillo won his third Most Outstanding Player award and his second one in two years this week. He may be 37, but he threw for 4,639 yards and 26 touchdowns while completing 72 per cent of his passes and was only picked off six times. However, the Alouettes are a surprising 1-6 in Grey Cup games with Calvillo at the helm. Not all of that is his fault, but this edition of the team certainly goes as Calvillo goes. If he has a typically brilliant day, they’ll win. If not, he may drop to 1-7.

Alouettes' QB Anthony Calvillo receives his third Most Outstanding Player award Friday.

Thanks for reading The Whole 110 Yards this season! Be sure to stop by Sporting Madness for my other Grey Cup coverage and my live blog. I’ll have one final edition of the Whole 110 Yards posted early this coming week to wrap up the game and the CFL season that was.

B.C. defensive end Ricky Foley sacks Saskatchewan QB Darian Durant Friday. The Lions won 35-20, increasing the storm of questions around the Riders' quarterbacking situation.

It’s the second week of my adventures in CFL column writing. Video highlight reels of each game, as well as scores, stats and U.S. broadcast schedules can all be found on the league home page. As always, if you have comments or suggestions for future columns, leave them below or e-mail them to me.

The Week That Was:

It was a crazy week in the CFL, complete with a shutout in Montreal, a clash of passing and running offences in Hamilton and a surprisingly close game in Calgary. Still, my vote for the most interesting game of the past week goes to the B.C. Lions’ 35-20 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Vancouver Friday night. This game had it all, but it deserves special notice for marking a potential turnaround. Heading into Saturday, the Riders were sitting pretty at 3-2 and looked like the best team in the West. Meanwhile, the Lions were reeling at 1-4 and had just came off a brutal loss to Hamilton. Only a few of us nuts thought they might win this one. The victory improves their record to 2-4, while the Riders fall into a three-way tie for first in the West at 3-3. The game itself was a roller-coaster ride, including five interceptions, a couple of fumbles and a bizarre special-teams play.
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B.C. linebacker Javy Glatt tries to pull down Hamilton running back DeAndra Cobb Friday night. The Lions lost 30-18 to drop to 1-4, and Glatt lost his starting job to new signing JoJuan Armour.

This is a new column idea we’re trying out. To help you survive the NFL and college football offseason, I’ll bring you an update on the Canadian Football League every Tuesday. If there’s certain features you’d like to see included, let me know in the comments or at andrew_bucholtz at hotmail.com. If you’re looking for highlights of any of the games, you can check them out at CFL.ca. Read the rest of this entry →