The 'Sleeper Play,' staples in the Big 0, the 13th man and the Fog Bowl: 105 years of Grey Cup classics
Grey Cup media veterans Doug Dirks and Mark Connolly revisit some of the most memorable cups ever
There was the Sleeper Play in 1948 that set Calgary on the road to victory
There was the staples in the shoes of the Alouettes in 1977, which led to an unlikely 41-6 triumph over the mighty Eskimos in a game forever known as the Ice Bowl.
For all the wrong reasons, Roughrider fans will never forget too many men on the field in the McMahon twilight of Grey Cup 2009 versus Montreal.
CBC's Alberta at Noon brought on two Grey Cup veterans, Doug Dirks (host of CBC Calgary's Homestretch) and Mark Connolly (host of CBC's Edmonton AM), both of whom have attended and covered the Grey Cup since 1989, to talk about some of their most memorable Grey Cups over the ensuing three decades.
But a funny thing happened by the time the callers had their say.
Namely, the timeline got stretched considerably (although Dirks started it, when the Montreal native cited the 1977 game, which he listened to en route to play in a high school basketball tournament, as his most memorable) back all the way to the iconic 1948 game.
Birth of the Grey Cup legend
That's the Grey Cup game that — fittingly enough — the Stampeders defeated the Ottawa Rough Riders 12-7 at Varsity Stadium in Toronto, where many say the legend of the Grey Cup as the country's best party was born.
That's thanks to a bunch of Stamps fans who showed up en masse in Toronto after a cross-country train trip, with chuckwagons, then threw a pancake breakfast for bewildered Torontonians, and created a legend when Calgary alderman —and future mayor — Don Mckay rode rode a horse through the lobby of the Royal York Hotel.
What gets lost in the legend of that year is the game itself, but that was the focus of one caller Friday, who happened to be the daughter of Stamps receiver Norm Hill, who caught a touchdown pass on the Sleeper Play, near the end of the first half.
That was a play where Hill lay down near the Stamps sideline, pretending to be asleep, only to be left uncovered by the Rough Riders, leading to the reception that he caught while still lying down.
What wasn't commonly remembered, according to the caller, was that the Sleeper Play had been used before but tended not to work because fans would alert their team to it — except at the '48 Grey Cup.
"Figure skater Barbara Ann Scott arrived at the stadium [right as they were running the play] so everyone got distracted," said Hill's daughter Avery, who now lives in Edmonton.
The Sleeper Play was made illegal in 1961.
Calgary won the '48 Cup, going undefeated that season. Hill eventually settled in Winnipeg, where he became a physician, leading to an incident in the mid-'50s when Blue Bomber Glenn McWhinney broke his neck on the field. The physician on the field that day was Norm Hill, who prevented McWhinney from moving, saving him from possible paralysis.
That all came full circle recently, Avery said, when McWhinney's son Jeff, who is now the CFL's Keeper of the Cup (and fittingly whose father was known as The Keeper when he played) brought it to Winnipeg to present to Hill on the occasion of his 90th birthday.
"That was a wonderful present for dad from Norm," Avery said.
Too many men
Another caller brought to mind a more recent football tragedy — at least for Roughrider fans — namely, the final moments of the 2009 Grey Cup came, the CFL's 97th, which unfolded in McMahon Stadium in dramatic, heartbreaking fashion.
Saskatchewan was nursing a 27-25 lead when Montreal's Damon Duvall lined up to attempt a 43-yard field goal, which he missed — until it was revealed that Saskatchewan had too many men on the field.
The 10-yard penalty made it a 33-yard field goal, which Duvall made, breaking the hearts of the Roughriders, who had already staged an on-field celebration of a cup they would not win.
Doug Dirks' most memorable Grey Cup moments:
The 1977 infamous Ice Bowl was played before 68,205 at Olympic Stadium in Montreal — still the largest crowd to ever attend a Grey Cup game.
"We were all stunned at how easily the Als beat the Eskimos," Dirks said (the Eskimos would go on to win five Grey Cups in a row, between 1978 and 1982).
"That was ugly but fun if you were an Alouettes fan," he added. (A caller later reminded everyone that there was a transit strike in Montreal at the time, leading to the federal cabinet minister of amateur sport, Iona Campagnolo, dropping in to hotels downtown and leading fans on a hike out to the stadium in East Montreal.)
Dirks also dug into his youth to recall another Stampeder notable Grey Cup moment: the 1971 Grey Cup in the rain in Vancouver, where a fumble by Argo running back Leon McQuay turned the game in the Stamps' favour, winning 14-11.
Connolly's most memorable:
Connolly recalled the 1989 Grey Cup, between Hamilton and Saskatchewan, won 43-40 by Saskatchewan on a last minute field goal by Dave Ridgway.
A caller cited Winnipeg's 28-27 victory over Hamilton in 1962's "Fog Bowl," which took two days to complete, thanks to a fog bank that descended on the field, making it impossible for anyone in the stands to see what was going on.
Passaglia's oops moment
Another caller's favourite memory was when Lions placekicker Luis Passaglia visit his school with the cup in 1994. Passaglia was horsing around and kicked a field goal that ricocheted off a wall, bounced back and dented the cup — adding to a litany of mishaps surrounding it, including being dunked in Ottawa's Rideau Canal, and surviving a fire.
What everyone — callers and guests alike — seemed to agree on is that the Grey Cup is a uniquely lovable championship, usually played in gruesome conditions, by players who still spend their off-season working second jobs.
The picks for the 2018 Cup?
Connolly, the Edmontonian, said: "The Ottawa offence looks extremely good. But so is the Calgary defence. Ottawa comes in pretty hot, so I'm taking them — the other reason is they're playing Calgary."
Dirks, the Calgary radio host said: "Close game. Calgary wins. Low scoring. 26-22 Stamps."
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With files from Alberta at Noon.
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