View from the Cheap Seats is kind of an extension of the newsroom. Whenever our three regular reporters, Calvin Daniels, Thom Barker and Randy Brenzen are in the building together, it is frequently a site of heated debate. This week: Who will win the Grey Cup on Sunday?
First off, I have to hand it to Calgary for almost coming back from way behind in the CFL West Division Final and making last Sunday’s contest a game. If Calgary pivot Bo Levi Mitchell stays healthy, he could end up being the greatest quarterback to ever play the Canadian game and lead the Stamps to multiple championships, but the better Edmonton Eskimos won.
Speaking of quarterbacks staying healthy, Hank Burris--yes, Saskatchewan, you still love him--led the second-year Ottawa RedBlacks to the Grey Cup in the East Division Final over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. What a season for the Hall-of-Fame destined Henry.
I was born in Regina and lived in Saskatchewan long enough that the green-and-white flows virulently through my veins. After that, I moved to Ottawa and grew up there. The other Rough Riders soon became my go-to when the green guys were done. I was thrilled when our nation’s capital garnered a new franchise.
Following our Roughriders’ dismal performance this year this year, I am very glad to have my second choice vying for the Grey Cup on Sunday.
Who we want to win the Cup is not the question posed to the Cheap Seats this week, though, it is who will win. My colleagues will likely try make objective prognostications based on logic and come up with Edmonton. I prefer to go with my heart, so I’m picking Ottawa.
Go Redblacks!
-Thom Barker
The 103rd Grey Cup is less than a week away and the two teams who will be competing have finally been decided.
The East will be represented by the upstart Ottawa Redblacks - who went 12-6 in just their second CFL season and beat Hamilton 35-28 in the Eastern final - while the West will be represented by the top team in the league, the 14-4 Edmonton Eskimos, who dispatched their Alberta rivals from Calgary 45-31 in the Western final.
Now the question is, who will come out victorious? Ottawa? Edmonton?
Of course Ottawa is going to be a threat for Edmonton. Henry Burris (5,,703 yards passing, 26 TDs, 13 INTs) is out for blood and the 1,000-yard receiving corps of Chris Williams (1,214 yards, five TDs), Greg Ellingson (1,071 yards, nine TDs), Ernest Jackson (1,036 yards, five TDs) and Brad Sinopoli (1,035 yards, three TDs) has proven to be extremely dangerous all season long.
However the Eskimos also have some offensive dynamos on their team with Adarius Bowman (1,304 yards, seven TDs) and Derel Walker (1,110 yards, six TDs). Combine their receiving abilities with a now healthy Mike Reilly (2,449 yards, 15 TDs, 10 INTs) and the running game of Shakir Bell (633 yards on 113 carries) and suddenly Ottawa’s vaunted offence doesn’t seem all that impressive (although it most certainly is).
Defensively the two teams are very similar as they are both very capable of coming down with game changing interceptions (and both Reilly and Burris have been known to throw a few INTs here and there).
The big difference in my opinion will be up the middle. Who can stop the secondary attack of the run.
Yes, the air game will be where most of the points are scored, but if a team doesn’t move the ball on the ground then their passing offence can easily be keyed on.
I strongly feel that JC Sherritt will be a big factor in the game and will help the Edmonton Eskimos defeat the Ottawa Redblacks for the franchise’s 14th Grey Cup title.
Final score: Edmonton 35, Ottawa 21.
-Randy Brenzen
Before I get to who will win the Grey Cup, I want to say the two semi-final games were highly entertaining.
If you are an Ottawa fan, and with Saskatchewan out of the equation about 20-weeks ago, I have found myself cheering for the team that was 2-16 in their expansion season last year, then it was indeed a classic.
A gutsy Hamilton team with Jeremiah Masoli at the controls managed to tie the game late. The third man on the Ti-Cats quarterback depth chart threw for 349-yaards and two TDs.
Then on a bobbled snap 40-year-old Henry Burris found Greg Ellingson for a 93-yard TD with under two-minutes left for the eventual 35-28 win. It was a classic ending.
And Burris had 326-yards passing.
In the west I have been a Mike Reilly fan for a while based on his gritty play, and while the Esks and Stamps had near identical seasons, I was hoping for Edmonton, and I got what I wanted this time.
Granted the Eskimos won by 14 in the end, but Calgary made it interesting late.
And there was still tonnes of offence, 45-31, and that is great to see. Reilly threw for 370-yards and three majors, and Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 381-yards.
It’s a pretty amazing semi-final weekend when all four starting QB’s throw for 300-plus years.
So Ottawa and Edmonton match up in the Grey Cup Sunday in Winnipeg. The two teams finished first in their respective divisions.
Edmonton was number one in team defence, Ottawa two.
Ottawa was tops in offence at just more than 400-yards, the Esks third at 379-yards.
It all adds up to potentially a classic Grey Cup.
I want Burris, at 40, to complete the Cinderella season, from 2-16 in 2014 to the Cup.
If Reilly gets a ring, I won’t be too disappointed either.
But, I’ll pick the RedBlacks by 10 points in a game with 60-plus points scored between the two clubs.
-Calvin Daniels
